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Um.....yeah, OK. Here's a video clip of an interview with Cooper after the CNN/YouTube Democrat debate back in July of this year:
Yeah, that's the problem - the campaigns manipulating the process.
UPDATE: They really should spruce up the stage with some plants.
According to this article appearing in the Telegraph a few days ago (via Drudge), mankind has the capacity to accelerate End of Universe by merely measuring things, like the energy produced by dark matter.
Wow, does mankind really have that much control over the cosmos? And if we do, is it really such a good idea to exercise it?
And how about all those "what ifs?", like...
What if more advanced civilizations in distant galaxies have the power to mitigate our gall?
(The following is a dramatization...)
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Ensign, why is the End of Universe clock reading 8.2 billion years instead of 12.5? |
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| I'm not sure, sir, but incoming data suggests that Earthlings may be measuring Dark Matter Byproduct in Sector 17... |  |
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Happy Thanksgiving to all, and special thanks to those who defend and protect us.
It appears that all sorts of people are responsible for the MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) Superbug, but two professors in microbiology at the University of Miami, J.K. Bhattacharjee and G.R. Janssen, believe creationists (commonly referred to as Christians) deserve an extra shout-out...
| As more antibiotics are demanded by the public (including creationists, who might refuse to accept mutation and selection as driving forces for evolution) and prescribed by physicians, more bacteria are exposed to antibiotics and selected for resistance to the drugs. Thus everyone, including patients, physicians and drug companies, is contributing to this man-made evolutionary event, with hospitals serving as the primary incubators for the generation and propagation of drug-resistant bacteria. |
Hmmm...I'm no scientist, but I'm guessing that vaccines are to viruses what antibiotics are to bacteria, correct?
| The World Health Organization picks three strains
to create its yearly flu vaccination. But this year, two of the three strains
mutated, so the flu shot will only protect you against one of the strains.
"That means that the virus can mutate and become resistant to whatever vaccines we have available," said Dr. Travis Brownell. |
| September news reports about Prevnar, a vaccine
developed to protect against pneumonia in children, along with the overuse
of antibiotics, was "having the unfortunate effect of promoting new superbugs
that cause ear infections" that are resistant to all antibiotic drugs approved
for children... While physicians warn the public about the over use of antibiotics, it is the physicians themselves that over-prescribed these antibiotics for every ailment under the sun. And like antibiotics, every time a new vaccine was developed, it quickly found its way onto the immunization schedule along with the recommended booster shots. We are now reaping the unintended consequences of the overuse of these medical interventions. Instead of being healthier, we have a nation of very sick children. |
So why are parents of public school children in Prince George's County, Maryland being threatened with jail time because they've refused to have their children vaccinated?
| UPPER MARLBORO, Md., Nov. 17 — Hundreds of parents,
who had been warned that they might face fines and jail time unless they
had their children immunized, brought their children to a courthouse here
Saturday for the vaccinations. The families appeared at the request of Judge C. Philip Nichols Jr. of Prince George’s County Circuit Court, who is in charge of juvenile issues. Judge Nichols had sent letters this week to the homes of more than 800 households with children in public schools, strongly recommending that the children be immunized Saturday at the courthouse, where health department workers had set up tables to process paperwork and give shots, or that parents prove that the children had already been immunized in accordance with state law. |
It's a good thing Profs. Bhattacharjee and Janssen don't live in Prince George's County. If they did, and had school-age children, they'd be forced, by law, to "refuse to accept mutation and selection as driving forces for evolution" (have their children vaccinated) - or, go to jail.
By the way, why aren't Profs. Bhattacharjee and Janssen coming to the defense of these parents in Maryland, even if some of them are probably Christians? At least they're trying to do the right thing, correct?
No.
Although exemptions are allowed on medical and religious grounds, public health officials (and, more than likely, a few pharmaceutical companies) support government-mandated vaccinations (up to five shots per child, per roundup) claiming such measures are necessary in order to ensure public health safety.
Jeez, the way men of science (and reason) can speak mumbo-jumbo out of both sides of their mouths simultaneously, Christians can't win for losing.
Speaking of religion, Circuit Court Judge C. Philip Nichols had this to say about the scene at the courthouse-turned-mandatory-immunization-center on Saturday:
So many ironies, so little time to appreciate them all...“It’s cute. It looks like their parents are dragging them to church.”
| Quantum physics deals with the nature, behavior
and characteristics of the smallest, sub-atomic particles of matter. In this unseen world of particle physics, sacred laws of Newtonian physics no longer apply. In fact, the behavior of the smallest particles of matter defies all previously known and accepted laws of physics. That is why it took these new physicists a long time to realize and accept what they were seeing in their laboratories and in their mathematical formulations. In essence, what governs the behavior of the smallest particles of matter is human consciousness. This led the great modern physicist Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington to declare that the “stuff of the universe is mind stuff.” |
| In 1997, (Juan) Maldacena was contemplating
a stubborn paradox having to do with black holes. Stephen Hawking of the
University of Cambridge in England had long ago calculated that black holes
would slowly evaporate, eventually disappearing in a burst of gamma rays.
Apparently, no record would survive of the shape, size, or history of all
the stuff that had fallen into a black hole. But quantum mechanics does not allow information to be erased from the universe. Physical processes leave traces that could in principle be reversed to reconstruct the past, if accepted principles of quantum theory are correct. But perhaps, Hawking and others suggested, ordinary quantum theory breaks down inside a black hole. |
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
| Maldacena attacked the paradox using string
theory. But instead of using the extra elbow room afforded by six additional
dimensions, he took the opposite approach, suggesting that gravitational
phenomena in a stringy universe—including black holes—can have a representation
in terms of particles. So if the quantum physics of particles—where nothing can destroy information—can completely encapsulate the physics of black holes, then a black hole cannot destroy information either. There would have to be some other explanation for Hawking's paradox, but at least the foundations of quantum theory should be safe. |
But if you're still not convinced...
| In 2004 , spurred in part by Maldacena's work, Hawking admitted that he had changed his mind, and stated that black holes probably don't destroy information after all. |
Call now, or visit us at our website MightyHooey.com!
And now, back to...
Law Provides Order: Criminal Intent:
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Whoa, back up a minute...What do
you mean you're teaching your students calculus? Aren't they a little young for that? |
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| Not really... |
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But they're kindergartners,
for chrissakes! Most of them probably don't even know how to borrow when subtracting double-digit numbers. |
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| So? | |
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Just as the 2008 presidential race heats up, the news is that stem cell research (which requires fresh, frozen, and ample supplies of human embryos - cloned, aborted, whatever) may not be the end to every manner of human suffering after all.
Scientist have been rethinking previous claims and are singing the praises of less controversial methods of stem cell procurement, like the harvesting of menstrual blood.
How convenient. What a coincidence. It's a miracle. (Take your pick).
Whatever the case, this news is certainly a big "Whew!" for Democrats who turned embryonic stem cell research into a big red bandwagon during the 2004 presidential campaign - a bandwagon that subsequently backfired like a lead balloon with an internal combustion engine.
What Democrats campaigning on this issue failed to consider was the cringe-factor associated harvesting/creating/cloning/tinkering with human embryos for the sole purpose of experimentation - a distasteful proposition even amongst many pro-choice voters.
DNC strategists also underestimated the intelligence of American voters who may have been a wee bit skeptical of claims like this one:
| "When John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again." |
And in their efforts to demonize George W. Bush for denouncing their dreams for a conveyor-belt future of embryonic production, Democrats made Bushitler look almost human/enlightened in comparison.
But thanks to the latest news on scientific breakthroughs that render ESCR a non-issue (just in time for 2008 campaign races), Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama can breathe a big sigh of relief.
And it is highly unlikely that Wolf Blitzer (or even Tim Russert) will remind any Democratic candidate of the seemingly misleading, sky-is-falling hyperbole they engaged in back in 2004 with respect to this issue.
The fix was in. Two minutes into the debate, Wolf Blitzer had his heart on his tongue when he asked his first question...
| BLITZER: Let me bring in Senator Obama, because you've been among those critical of Senator Clinton. You've suggested she's triangulating, whatever that means, on some of the key issues; she's running a textbook Washington campaign, you've suggested that. I want you to explain, if you don't mind, Senator, what do you mean by that? |
Whatever "whatever that means" means.
It's not like 'triangulation'/'triangulated'/'triangulating' have never been used in the same sentence with 'Clinton' before. So what's with the snide? And why even bother unless it was meant to be delivered as some kind of brushback pitch?
(No wonder Mr. Blitzer made no effort to quell the cheering, jeering and booing in an auditorium packed and stacked with Clinton supporters).
That wasn't a debate. That was an ambush designed to set Hillary back up on her feet.
SOS. Damsel in distress. CNN to the rescue.
And the cable network's post-debate show wasn't any better. Anderson Cooper showing James Carville, David Gergen and Jeffrey Toobin various Hillary Debate Highlights, then asking these three Clintonistas to comment on her performance.
How and why the Clintons hold so much sway with major media outlets like CNN is as mystifying as it is frightening.
As the Democratic candidates prepare for tonight's debate in Las Vegas, oddsmakers are asking these questions:
Will tonight's face-off between presidential hopefuls pick up where last month's debate left off, with the Iron Damsel reeling on her heels?
That depends...
Will Wolf of Blitzer, moderator of tonight's debate, heed reported warnings to go easy on the Iron Damsel?
Or will he lay into her the way Russert the Terrible did in last month's debate as co-moderator Brian Most Unchivalrous stood idly by?
And what of the contenders who are closing in on the Democratic Front-Runner In Distress?
Will Dodd of Connecticut and Prince Son of a Mill Worker once again reduce the Iron Damsel to babbling doublespeak and simmering rage?
If so, will Bill the Gallant once again fail to shield the Iron Damsel from another pile-on?
Of most interest to oddsmakers, however, is the answer to these two questions:
Does Barack the Hesitant have the knockers to bump the Iron Damsel from her teetering pedestal?
Or will he allow her to regain her footing/composure so she can waltz away with the nomination?
Tune in tonight on CNN, 8:00 EST/5:00 PST...if only to see whether or not Lord Joseph of Biden will refer to the debate's moderator as Wolf "Blazer", as he did in this 2002 interview with the CNN anchor.
| If we find out that you, Wolf Blazer (sic), is contributing to a charity that we think is a charity that supports terror, we will come down on you, Wolf Blazer (sic). This government would not -- they, the government, stopped the direct funding, but they then were very hesitant to move on to Wolf Blazer (sic) and stop him from doing the funding. |
Shortly after this red-carpet photo was taken at the London premiere of Angelina Jolie's new film "Beowulf" on Sunday, it is reported that Ms. Jolie's snug leather pants started to, um, give way. Not to worry. Jolie's chivalrous beau had the situation in hand. The gallant Mr. Pitt saved "Jolie from any embarrassment by covering the hole with his hand while Jolie signed autographs and chatted with fans".
For a while, anyway...
Mr. Pitt was spared the prolonged indignity (of covering Ms. Jolie's backside as she took questions from the press) by a member of the Splitting Leather Pants Face-Saving Workers Guild (circled in the photo above).
May they never go on strike.
Some people just don't get it. Like Frank Sinatra and Robert Redford, Ellen Degeneres is a very, very special person, a person who fashions the world that all the rest of us poor slobs merely inhabit.
The question is, are we worthy? Apparently not. First, some nobody-losers from some animal rescue group tried to rain on Ellen's Parade, and now this:
| Ellen
DeGeneres blasted by striking writers... According to Us Magazine, the writers lashed out at DeGeneres In a statement released by the Writers Guild of America that says they are “extremely disappointed to see that Ellen has chosen not to stand with writers during the strike.” The statement continues: “Ellen’s peers who host comedy/variety shows have chosen to support the writers and help them get a fair contract, Ellen has not. On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise.” |
A bunch of nameless/faceless whiny babies from the WGA East are taking Ellen to task for what? Pledging to honor the WGA strike when it was called but changing her mind a couple of days later? Sorry, nitwits, that's her prerogative.
Didn't "Ellen vs. Iggy" teach us anything? Ellen can change her mind or piss on any contract (oral, written, unspoken, or otherwise) whenever she damn well pleases.
Seriously, who cares that Ellen uses WGA writers for her show? That's their problem.
To make matters even worse, Hollywood libs are starting to turn on Ellen as well.
Solidarity, schmolidarity. Just because Ellen (or any other self-respecting Democrat, for that matter) insists she is a strong supporter of unions does not mean she has to hang tough with union members when they're striking for a tiny piece of a the pie (for stuff they've written but don't receive any royalties from/residuals for).
Everyone knows it's the producers, directors, actors, talk-show hosts, and other on-air personalities who deserve all the spoils, but Ellen appears to be the only one with big enough genitalia to cross WGA picket lines. Who better to teach those nasty, loutish bastards who made Eva Longoria cry a lesson they won't soon forget?
And contrary to what some might think, Ellen Degeneres is not burning bridges. She's forging new ones, braving rough uncharted waters, taking us places that most of us would never dream of going.
So for God's sake, people, stop trying to suck the wind out of Ellen's magnificent, billowing sails.
The kids came into first period, they walked in, there were no desks. They obviously looked around and said, "Ms. Cothren, where's our desk?" And she said, "You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn them."
They thought, "Well, maybe it's our grades."
"No," she said.
"Maybe it's our behavior."
And she told them, "No, it's not even your behavior."
And so they came and went in the first period, still no desks in the classroom. Second period, same thing. Third period. By early afternoon television news crews had gathered in Ms. Cothren's class to find out about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of the classroom.
The last period of the day, Martha Cothren gathered her class. They were at this time sitting on the floor around the sides of the room. And she says, "Throughout the day no one has really understood how you earn the desks that sit in this classroom ordinarily." She said, "Now I'm going to tell you."
Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it, and as she did 27 U.S. veterans , wearing their uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. And they placed those school desks in rows, and then they stood along the wall. And by the time they had finished placing those desks, those kids for the first time I think perhaps in their lives understood how they earned those desks.
Martha said, "You don't have to earn those desks. These guys did it for you. They put them out there for you, but it's up to you to sit here responsibly to learn, to be good students and good citizens, because they paid a price for you to have that desk, and don't ever forget it."
Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elliethee admitted that the campaign had planted the question and said it would not happen again.
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“However, Senator Clinton did not know which questioners she was calling on during the event. This is not standard policy and will not be repeated again.”
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"Lions for Lambs" AND "Fred Claus" open nationwide this Friday, November 9th! "..All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." - Julian of Norwich (Countdown clock based on the the earliest showtimes found: 10:30 a.m. EST). |
It doesn't get any better than this...unless, of course, one could experience both films simultaneously.
Former atheist Norman Mailer has turned to God.
And noted evolutionist David Sloan Wilson mocks Richard Dawkins' simple-minded "Atheists for Jesus" t-shirt idea at the Huffington Post.
Impressive.
Not so impressive?
Christopher Hitchens' new book The Portable Atheist will be available in book stores next week, just in time for the Christmas season.
| "It is in the hope of strengthening and arming the resistance to the faith-based, and to faith itself, that this anthology of combat with humanity's oldest enemy is respectfully offered." |
As godless flights of fancy go, that one is damn near noble-sounding, but where's the skepticism?
Evolution vs. Skepticism
World renowned scholar and master of reason Oscar Beanbottom takes on Mrs. Abigail Pruitt's class of 4th graders.
(Classroom Q & A already in progress...)
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Oh, yeah, wise ass? Elongate the pectoral fin, make it more cylindrical, add a little hair, a hand... |
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| Looks like a human arm
to me... |
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Next question. |
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