Pictures from the Road

Some more photos from the California trip. Tomorrow, I'll discuss some TV in celebration of the return of Mad Men.

The Roaring River in Kings Canyon.

Roaring River Falls.

Hi.

Looking up to two sequoias.

General Sherman's tree.

The trunk of the General Sherman Tree.

Walking up Moro Rock.

View of the Great Western Divide from Moro Rock.

Perspective?

Look, Mom. Friends!

Dangerously Dumb People in the World

It's Friday, which means it's time for this week's dangerously dumb people in the world.

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3rd: A tie to John Boehner, Thaddeus McCotter, Johnny Isakson, John Mica, and Charles Grassley -- all Republicans -- for hypocrisy in the first degree.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/multiple-republican-leaders-voted-in-2003-for-measure-they-now-decry-as-government-euthanasia/

All have suggested the current health care bill could lead to government-led euthanasia. All have voted "yea" on a similar bill in 2003. Here's the conference agreement provision of relevance in that bill:

The conference agreement provides coverage of certain physician's services for certain terminally ill individuals. Beneficiaries entitled to these services are those who have not elected the hospice benefit and have not previously received these physician's services. Covered services are those furnished by a physician who is the medical director or employee of a hospice program. The covered services are: evaluating the beneficiary's need for pain and symptom management, including the individual's need for hospice care; counseling the beneficiary with respect to end-of-life issues and care options, and advising the beneficiary regarding advanced care planning. Payment for such services equals the amount established for similar services under the physician fee schedule, excluding the practice expense component. The provision would apply to consultation services provided by a hospice program on or after January 1, 2005.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp108&sid=cp108d60yh&refer=&r_n=hr391.108&item=&sel=TOC_2103579&

Don't believe me that they voted for it?

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/108/house/1/votes/332/

So what are these people fearing?

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=BE4A649B-18FE-70B2-A8D69613031185EB

(Boehner and McCotter)

http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0809/Isakson_rejects_Obama_shout_out_from_town_hall.html?showall

(Isakson)

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/12/gop-congressman-there-are-death-counselors-authorized-in-the-health-care-bill/

(Mica)

http://washingtonindependent.com/54853/grassley-government-plan-threatens-to-pull-the-plug-on-grandma

(Grassley)

Grassley's comments were particularly despicable. This type of rhetoric is exactly what I was talking about in my ominous post yesterday. It is this type of talk, I believe, that is dangerous to the current and future state of America. Grassley should do the country a favor and resign. Promptly.

Fear-spreading liars. Representing us daily.

2nd: Sarah Palin, for basically the same thing.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/13/palin-deathpanel-flipflop/

Guess what advance directives are, Ms. Palin? Don't know? Don't care? It is possible to be stupid and apathetic at the same time.

Here is the official document: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:_qjXL_3J08EJ:www.eeo.state.ak.us/archive-50122.html+%22HEALTHCARE+DECISIONS+DAY%22+palin&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a

So why does Palin deserve special recognition? Well, because I believe her comments, in particular, have fueled this "death panel" nonsense.

Now imagine her as President.

1st: Approximately 12% of North Carolina conservatives, for not knowing Hawaii is a part of the US. Rachel Maddow tells the rest:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/32396083#32396083

People who don't know Hawaii is a part of the US? And these people can (and probably do) vote? That's why those 12% are this week's dangerously dumb people in the world.

Calling Deputy Downer

I'm not known for being a doomsday theorist. I tend to mock people who prematurely believe the latest international skirmish is the slippery slope that leads to the so-far-nonexistent Third World War. Yes, I do call every disease in existence "swine flu" in the present-day sensationalistic media climate.

What concerns me most about this world is what we don't immediately see or classify, yet we know is there. Just under the surface, waiting for some event, or "spark", to ignite a conflagration of panic, anarchy, and inevitable macabre that sets us back years, decades, and -- in the worst of scenarios -- centuries.

What I see going on in America presently is people supplying the fuel for the destined match that drops onto it. And...as history has shown us...that fuel is propaganda, purposeful misinformation, and a growing sense of acceptance for fringe groupthink.

I had a few comments during my "birther spiel" a couple of weeks ago saying I was overreacting. "The birthers are a small number of stubborn idiots who don't really affect the mainstream." "They should be ignored, and that is how they will go away." It is enticing to just ignore them, certainly, and in many respects, this tactic works. I wholeheartedly believe that a good attack against dangerous media "P1s", as they are called, is to stop listening to them. The problem, obviously, is that the media P1s attract the audience P1s, and there is no way of stopping them from listening and acting upon their words/actions.

If we review the shenanigans pulled by the media P1s Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck in recent days, we would see two people who have recklessly called people racists, who have desecrated the American flag to "prove a point", who have dreamed up the murder of Congress members, and who have completely fabricated elements of legislation that are clearly not in existence. Lou Dobbs continues to believe that Barack Obama has not shown an official birth certificate since the reemergence of the birther movement, even though he has done so ad nauseum. And besides indirectly abetting the eventual murder of Dr. George Tiller by abusing the freedom to speak, Bill O'Reilly has "reported" a company's involvement in enemy attacks when there is absolutely no evidence to support such a claim.

I believe in freedom of speech, but there is a line in the sand...and somehow, this line has been drawn such that this idiocy and, in fact, very dangerous speech is allowed in the media today. O'Reilly's claims about General Electric actually do qualify as slander. There is no question. Even with the disclaimer that the information was not confirmed, it violates any version of journalist integrity and obviously results in the negative image of a business (GE) and a product (MSNBC). And who reported this? No identification was provided. With no factual basis for such a claim, the reporting of GE's involvement with selling roadside bombs is, as GE has indicated, "maliciously false".

But, what I am seeing in town halls is a growing number of P1s (Making them P whats, exactly? P5s? P10s?). With the health care debate, it has become an issue of "death panels", or the clearly obvious tactic of labeling the government as "all-controlling, all-Communist, all-the-time". It is fear-mongering in perhaps one of the most evil ways. It is scaring the elderly into believing the government will kill them. And, because it is fear-mongering, it is working. Because people who don't know all of the details behind health care in this country are going to believe what the "experts" believe. And the "experts" are saying things like "you should be fearful".

In these town hall meetings, it is the elderly who are standing up and yelling and accusing the government of being able to pull the plug, literally, on their lives. These aren't P1s yelling and screaming. These are serious people, with serious medical issues, who seriously believe the lies being spread by the actual P1s.

A casual scan of the "news" the past couple of days has allowed me to see those with "death lists", those who truly believe the birthers "have a point", those who believe that America has been "taken over"...

This has got to stop. Something bad ... WILL ... happen if such "speech" is allowed to continue. If high-profile, actually-intelligent, purposely misinforming people/politicians/members

of the media continue to feed the P1 groupthink and continue to scare the P99s, in a climate of economic turmoil, bad things will happen. Very bad. Violent. And potentially irreparable.

Ignoring P1s? It's not an option anymore.

Finally, there's this...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/32396083#32396083

In the video, which details several "issues of the day" yesterday...the North Carolina poll is particularly shattering and eye-opening. A staggering 12% of North Carolina conservatives (plus or minus) don't believe Hawaii is a part of the US?

And saying Stephen Hawking wouldn't have survived British (i.e., universal) health care? Yikes.

Full of Wonder

I wonder why Lou Dobbs still has a job.

I wonder if the advertisers at the Weather Channel realize how hysterically bad their "Storm Tracker Jim Cantore" commercials are.

I wonder if 7 billion people in the world is the tipping point.

I wonder if ripping up a poster of Rosa Parks is any indication of just how serious the racism problem remains in this country.

I wonder why economists believe the recession is over, but no one else does.

I wonder if my grandmother will die because the government will pull the plug. Wait...no, I don't. I'm not (that much of) an idiot.

I wonder if there is any curry better than that available at Pad Thai.

I wonder why so many people care about the status of Paula Abdul.

I wonder if people on death row who also use Facebook publicly update their status messages counting down the days until they die.

I wonder why Glenn Beck still has a job.

I wonder if I will ever have my hair cut again.

I wonder if the phrase "abnormally cool" in central Oklahoma during the summer is a misnomer.

I wonder at the infinite beauty of the Rocky Mountains.

I wonder if I will ever stop this blog entry.

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For those who have read my "find out things you couldn't care less about me" blog posts, you can stop reading. Otherwise, because I was tagged on a "Getting to know you..." note, read on:

1. What time do you naturally wake up in the morning? Morning?

2. How do you like your steak? Bloody as hell

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

4. What is your favorite TV show? Breaking Bad

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? New Zealand

6. What did you have for breakfast? See #1.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Anything Asian.

8. What foods do you dislike? Anything American. Well, not true, but anything American fast food.

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Pad Thai

10. Favorite dressing? Caesar

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Toyota (Corolla)

12. What are your favorite clothes? khakis

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Southeast Asia

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Both?

15. Where would you want to retire? Alaska

16. Favorite time of day? Anytime without sunlight.

17. Where were you born? Omaha, NE

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Hockey

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? N/A

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? N/A

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? N/A

22. Bird watcher? How is this a question? I like bird watching.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night

24. Do you have any pets? Any pet would be grateful not to have me as a pet owner.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Trust me, "new and exciting" don't really fly with me.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? Not little.

27. What is your best childhood memory? Realizing I was out of childhood. Technically, that would not make it a childhood memory, though.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Cat

29. Are you married? Heh.

30. Always wear your seat belt? Have you seen me drive? Of course I do.

31. Been in a car accident? Yes.

32. Any pet peeves? Read my blog, and you'll find about a million of them.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Those that you can eat without the pizza.

34. Favorite Flower? The flowers I don't have to buy for the girlfriend.

35. Favorite ice cream? chocolate chip

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Steak 'n Shake

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Zero, but I'm guessing that was a "false pass".

38. From whom did you get your last email? Andrew Mercer

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? What credit card?

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Climbed a very tall staircase at 12,000+ ft above sea level. I paid the altitude sickness price for it.

41. Like your job? It's the only reason I'm in Norman.

42. Broccoli? And cheese.

43. What was your favorite vacation? Wow, that's a hard question. I have loved every vacation I've had. I have very fond memories of my 2006 Canada vacation, though.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Somer and Amber. I guess only one of them is a person.

45. What are you listening to right now? My air conditioner.

46. What is your favorite color? Blue

47. How many tattoos do you have? Nada. Should this be changed?

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz? Zilch. And everyone thanks me for it.

49. What time is it: 6:02 pm CDT

50. Coffee Drinker? On rare, high-stress occasions. Tea is preferred.

Good night, and good luck

Goodbye, Kevin!

I understand that today was another one of Leo’s “big block of cheese” days! You all start out so cynical, but it never fails. By the end of the day, there’s always one or two converts, right? And today was no exception. C.J. Cregg is gonna be up all night writing a position paper for the interior department on the necessity of wildlife protection. C.J., I don’t mind the cost of this wolves-only highway. It’s the segregation. The ACLU is gonna file a petition on behalf of some reindeer, and then we’re all screwed. Sam Seaborn had a guy who spotted a UFO today, am I right? Sam laughed him out of his office, but you’ve been thinking about it ever since. But you can rest assured, Sam. It was not a spaceship from another planet, just another time. A long since abandoned Soviet satellite, one of its booster rockets didn’t fire and it couldn’t escape the earth’s orbit--a sad reminder of a time when two powerful nations challenged each other and then boldly raced into outer space.

What will be the next thing that challenges us, Toby? That makes us work harder and go farther? You know, when smallpox was eradicated, it was considered the single greatest humanitarian achievement of this century. Surely, we can do it again. As we did in the time when our eyes looked towards the heavens, and with outstretched fingers, we touched the face of God.

Here’s to absent friends, and the ones that are here now.

Salud.

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And I'm off on my own adventure, only temporarily. I may update occasionally during the trip, but it is unlikely. I will return on August 11.

Pictures from the Road

I've gone through more of the photos from the California trip. What a blast (truly).

No time for more tonight (besides the photos). Tomorrow will be my last post until at least August 10 because of vacation.

Just downstream of Yosemite Falls.

Yosemite Falls from a beautiful meadow.

Half Dome.

General Grant's Tree. Well, about a fifth of it.

A healthier sequoia trunk.

Kings Canyon.

Within Kings Canyon.

The Kings River.

Grizzly Falls.

Follow-Up to "Dangerously Dumb People in the World" -- The Lou Stands for Lou-nacy

So how has Lou Dobbs reacted to criticism from other journalists, political action groups, and the public at large? Like an egomaniacal child. Or somebody completely oblivious to what equates to an official birth certificate. Or someone who listens to what he wants to hear and ignores everything else. Lou Dobbs has become the most dangerously dumb "journalist" in America.

The left is trying to silence their opponents and their competitors in the public marketplace of ideas... One issue in which the ethnocentric issue groups have been trying to silence me is on the issue of illegal immigration. Many of those, if you will, have migrated to me here recently because I, even though I said I believe the President is a citizen of the United States, I don't understand why he shouldn't produce a birth certificate. My God, you're talking about the third rail of American journalism, baby! That's it. I'm not going to back off.

The Obama administration has presented the birth certificate to the public...many times. Your knowledge of the "long-form" certificate is astoundingly idiotic. The State of Hawaii has reported, multiple times, that the long-form version of the birth certificate was trashed when the state went digital with birth certificates. The short-form is an official birth certificate in the state of Hawaii. End...of...story. Except that a local newspaper in Hawaii reported Obama's birth the day he was born. Seriously, Lou, see a doctor. See a psychiatrist. Somebody. Anybody. Obama has already provided official documentation claiming he was born in America. This documentation has been authenticated by the state of Hawaii.

He goes on...

And tea-bagging queen Rachel Maddow over at MSNBC, she wanted another shot so apparently she twisted, she tried to twist my words. She ignored my statements on the issue. In other words, she was not being intellectually honest. Imagine that. [...] She lied. I never said I'm a 'birther.' I'm not. I don't know how many times I've said, 'Barack Obama is a citizen of the United States. Why not release your birth certificate?' What is the big deal with saying that?

Not saying you're a birther doesn't mean you aren't one, Lou. Since you are asking why Obama hasn't released his birth certificate...when he has...multiple times...makes you just as stupid and as "birther" as people who somehow believe he wasn't born in this country. I listened to Rachel's comments about you, and they were completely accurate. She is not lying at all when she claims that you (read: yourself and CNN) have contributed to the continuation of the "debate". The big deal with asking Obama to release his birth certificate is that he HAS released it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/28/lou-dobbs-slams-tea-baggi_n_246629.html

I reiterate, Lou Dobbs, RESIGN. Your complete ignorance and stupefying arrogance in your stance without one shred of evidence you've actually looked into the matter AT ALL is a travesty to journalism and CNN and an insult to your viewers/listeners.

And a runner-up here to our lovely Senator Inhofe, who says that birthers "have a point". "I don't discourage it."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25444_Page2.html

Oh? Later that day:

"The White House has not done a very good job dispelling the concerns of these citizens." What should Obama do? Make a time machine and export these morons to Hawaii in 1961 to watch his mother give birth to him? No one and nothing will convince these idiots that Obama was born in America. And all you are doing is stoking the fire.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/president-obama/inhofe-clarifies-claim-that-birthers-have-a-point-blames-white-house/