Reality-Based Engineering: 2006/10

Making With The Funny II: Just Funny

"Mars Rover Beginning To Hate Mars"

Making with the Funny: NSA Is Listening!

Political Funny...

I'll Do My Part

Noteworthy Articles About GOP Candidates

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

WaPo's Froomkin Was Good Today

I try not to blog so far from the lunch hour, but I had to get this in... in it, he talks about Bushie and Bartlet trying to have it both ways, and the terrible job that Tony Snow does as the WH spokesperson - Froomkin describes it as trying to win the 1/2 hour debate when you have no 30 minute goal where you can be done. Plus, there are real reporters in the WH press room, not the likes of the PNAC borgs and other bushbots that alight upon the Fox News Sunday shows.

From Pollster.com: A Look At 2006 Voting Demographics

This is a fascinating graphic (click to enlarge) from the New York Times and Pew showing that depending on what administration you were born in, that you are going to be influenced as to which party affiliation you'd have today. From the article:

The chart plots data on the current party identification of Americans compiled from more than 23,000 Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center during 2006. With that many cases, the Pew pollsters were able to tabulate a result for party identification (including independent "leaners") for each birth year and plot the results. What results is a remarkable picture of the politics in play as each age group emerged into adulthood. The most Republican cohorts are those who came of age during the administrations of popular Republicans: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. In contrast, the current crop of 18-24 year olds, according to the Pew Research center data, is the most Democratic leaning group in the population.

The chart provides graphical evidence of the slow rolling realignment that is always at work as new young voters gradually replace their elders. Political scientists generally agree that young people tend to acquire political beliefs, including their partisan attachments, in their 20s. As Kirkpatrick writes, "voters typically develop a party preference based on the political atmosphere at the time they come of age and grow more attached to that party over the course of their lives." Once acquired, a true sense of party changes rarely changes, although some voters are less attached to political parties than others (as I speculated on Friday, some will shift back and forth on surveys depending on the politics of the moment or the wording or context of the survey question).

Jerk GOoPer Tries To Suppress Vote in CA

Te most direct evidence of the regular GOP voter suppression campaigns that they've pulled off in 2000, 2002 and 2004. Asses.

When Republicans Plead Guilty: Bob Ney

The 52-year-old lawmaker faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Huvelle said prosecutors had agreed to recommend a term of 27 months, and said federal guidelines suggest a fine of between $5,000 and $60,000.

Despite his guilty pleas, Ney did not resign his seat in Congress. His lawyer, Mark Touhey, told the judge he would do so before sentencing on Jan. 19. Under the Constitution, he'll be gone before then. His term expires when the new Congress is sworn in at noon on Jan. 3.

And, what is this with GOOPER criminals and drinking - first Foley going into rehab (an obvious push to get him out of the spotlight until after the elections) and now this from Ney:

The Ohio Republican did not speak with reporters as he entered or left the courtroom. It was his first public appearance since quietly entering an alcohol rehabilitation program last month.

The written statement referred to that. "The treatment and counseling I have started have been very helpful, but I know that I am not done yet and that I have more work to do to deal with my alcohol dependency," he said.

And, more Abramoff fallout is upcoming:

And former White House official David Safavian, who had been the Bush administration's top procurement official, was convicted of covering up his dealings with Abramoff. He is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 27.

Eat Inoculated Chicken, Increase Your Own Antibiotic Resistance

So says the linked article...interesting quote from the blog post:

"These results indicate that virginiamycin use in poultry leads to transfer of antibiotic resistance genes to human gut bacteria through the food supply and they provide additional evidence that use of growth promoters in animals may have long-term consequences for human health. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can use this information to improve its risk assessment procedures."

Asteroid Impact Effects Calculator

How cool is this! And, here's a flash from PBS' Nova regarding what if scenarios of an asteroid hitting LA...

Jupiter's Little White Spot Turns Red

Interesting...apparently it's getting more intense and the red is from sulfur being pulled up from lower in the atmosphere and having a chemical reaction...

Homeowners More And More House Poor in 2006

Duh. Tell me something I DONT know...heard recently that an aquaintence purchased a studio apartment in San Fransisco...price? 0.75 MILLION FUCKING DOLLARS.