Yap

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
Mark Twain

There is no distinctly American criminal class, except Congress.
Mark Twain

Yap

Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what are we going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.
Ulysses S. Grant- the only time he ever lost his temper on the battlefield, after hearing once too often about Lee's ability.

Yap

It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue. 
Voltaire

Sunstone

A very determined group of researchers has found an example of the previously legendary Viking sunstone used for navigating while the sun was obscured by clouds or below the horizon.  The best and most concise article I've seen is this one at The Economist.  If there were a Nobel Prize for Archeology, this team would win it.

Yap

No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. 
Niels Bohr

Yap

Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real. 
Niels Bohr

Bohr In New York

When Niels Bohr and his son visited the US in 1944, they were placed under surveillance.  This is one of the reports from when they were in New York.  They apparently gave him the codename Nicholas Baker.  Click for big image.

Pix

         Rosa Parks, December 1, 1955

Yap

I like silent pictures and I always have. They are often so much more beautiful than sound pictures are. Perhaps they had to be.
Akira Korosawa

Pix

Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, Venice 1967

Yap

Practically the only way to dry the swamp of radical Islam is through economic development and an improved standard of living. 
Yitzhak Rabin

Ichiro

     Photo By Jason Miller/Getty Images

My hero this baseball season is Ichiro.  The most graceful man in baseball.  He is so famous in Japan that his agent claims he will receive any package addressed simply "Ichiro".

This season, the 38 year old's career was fading.  There was no way he would make the playoffs with Seattle and his time was running out.  In a delightful turn of events, he was traded to the Yankees.  There he had to start at the bottom, playing left field and at the bottom of the batting order.  But since joining the Yankees, he as been a man on fire.  In his last 10 games (as of Oct. 1), he's batting .356.  Girardi has put him back in right field, and he was hitting 1st or 2nd in the lineup this weekend. 

Ichiro is having a career year.  I only hope he gets to show his stuff in his 1st World Series. 

Yap

If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself. 
Albert Einstein

PIX

This man, and his colleagues, are why there were no super hero movies in the 60's.  Neil Armstrong with the X-15. 

Yap

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?”
God says, “Out on Highway 61”
Bob Dylan

Yap

Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.
Neils Bohr 

Personally, I understand quantum theory just enough to find it completely incomprehensible. 

Obama's Problems

     There are some things in politics money can't buy.  Obama sitting in Rosa Parks's seat. Photo: White House

Despite his many advantages in the 2012 election, Obama has two big problems to overcome: money and voter suppression.

The US Supreme Court's Citizen United ruling pretty much opens US elections to unlimited campaign spending.  Political Action Committees (PACs) can be set up by private citizens or corporations, can take donations anonymously and have no limits on their spending (a bit of an oversimplification, but only a bit).  Since rich people and corporations are usually Republican supporters, Romney will get most of this money.  Its possible the Democrats might be outspent 2:1 on all races in the November election. 

I think team Obama's unusual spending this summer is an attempt to offset the money problem.  Usually, the real money doesn't show before Labour Day.  But this summer, Obama has spent a ton ($40+ million) of money on negative ads in swing states.  Despite the poor economic news recently, the national polls show a small shift in Obama's favour.  So the attacks on Romney's character and business record are resonating with voters on some level.  I'm guessing team Obama is front-loading its spending in an attempt to define Romney before the tidal wave of Republican money in the Fall. If they succeed in creating a durable negative image of Romney, it could work. 

Money is a well-known quantity in elections.  Voter suppression less so.  The tactic is nothing new, of course.  But Jim Crow laws were used mainly to ensure white only candidates and voters for State and Congressional races.  They were never an issue in Presidential politics until the 1960s.  Since 2010, Republicans have been using their positions in state government to pass restrictive voting laws in an obvious attempt to disenfranchise Black, Hispanic and poor voters.  While States have long been able to get away with discriminatory registration practices, there has never before been a large effort to actually purge minority voters from the rolls. 

Universal suffrage in the US has only been around since the late '60s.  You'd think Americans would resist attempts to roll it back.  And you'd think the Democrats would have figured out ways to counter-attack.  Especially after the shenanigans in Ohio that cost John Kerry the Presidency in 2004.  Current and pending lawsuits in Federal Court may overturn some or all of these laws in key states.  Or not. 

Even with these issues, I think Obama will win.  But it may be very close.  If the lawsuits fly over voter suppression in the fall, the Courts may decide the election, again.

Yap

Contraception leads to more babies born out of wedlock.  The exact same way fire extinguishers cause fires.
Stephen Colbert

A Noteable Valentines Day Post

 

I guess its worth a try.  Source: the Internets.

Happy Birthday Muhammed Ali

He's 70 years old today, and still one of the most famous people on the planet.  People love him and respect him, but most don't remember when he used to matter.  And he mattered a lot.  This Esquire cover dates from his amazing refusal to serve after being drafted by the US Army during the Vietnam War.  He was stripped of his title, sent to jail and damned by almost everyone.  He was widely hated as a threat to all manner of tradition (i.e. keeping the niggers down).  The system tried to kick the shit out of him.  They lost.

Edit:  They didn't really lose.  He won.  And he won with style.