AdamSmith

OP-ED COLUMNIST How Hillary Is Winning MAY 9, 2015 Frank Bruni The New York Times AS fleetly as Hillary Clinton vacuums up the money, she piles up the paradoxes. She showed fatal weaknesses the last time she chased the presidency and her inevitability evaporated like a California puddle, but shes somehow inevitable all over again. Invincible, even. Journalists have to remind themselves daily not to type or say presumptive Democratic nominee before her name. Shes fashioning herself as someone uniquely attuned to everyday Americans while her husband fashions $500,000 speeches as amulets against the bill collector. Someones got to pay for the burrito bowls. And her Republican rivals convince themselves that Im not Hillary is their strongest argument and best bet, although the reverse holds true. At least for now, not being any one of them is her ace in the hole. The 2016 race in its adolescence is between the dependably messy, perpetually maddening spectacle of the Clintons and a party with a brand-decimating profusion of mad hatters like the two who announced their bids and grabbed the spotlight last week, Mike Huckabee and Ben Carson. Advantage: Hillary Clinton. Thats a clear takeaway from several surveys of voters released last week. They showed that despite her email shenanigans, despite the ethical muddle known as the Clinton Foundation, despite the growing confusion about whether the Hillary Clinton of 2016 will be of an ideological piece with the Hillary Clintons of yesteryear, voters will gladly take her, considering the alternatives. According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, she was six points ahead of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio in head-to-head contests with either. She was 10 points ahead of Scott Walker. Inexplicably and rather alarmingly, she was only three ahead of Rand Paul. The mysteries of the American electorate are boundless. Meanwhile a New York Times/CBS News poll found that over the past month and a half, during which she weathered a veritable hurricane of negative news coverage, her favorability rating improved, and the percentage of voters who see her as a strong leader rose to 65 from 57. Nearly 80 percent of the Democrats surveyed deemed her honest and trustworthy. There are many explanations. For starters, the hurricane I mentioned was experienced as a drizzle, if that, by many Americans, who arent exactly riveted by political news. Inasmuch as they notice journalists pouncing on the Clintons, theyre apt to shrug. The substance of the accusations is eclipsed by the familiarity of the tussle. Its like lions on an impala: bloody, yes, but the natural order. And the Clintons are being accused of what? Greed? Theres plenty of that to go around. Just ask Huckabee, a self-styled man of God and slave to Mammon. As recounted by Trip Gabriel in The Times, Ron Fournier in the National Journal and Max Brantley in Salon, hes a case study in financial high jinks, a master class in shamelessness. He reportedly used the Arkansas governors office as a personal ATM, in Fourniers description, channeling public money toward private expenditures (a doghouse, Taco Bell) and accepting tens of thousands of dollars in highly questionable gifts, some from people who later received prominent political appointments. More recently he did an infomercial hawking dietary supplements as a diabetes cure, even though reputable physicians and medical associations call it poppycock. Only three of the following four adjectives correctly describe that decision: tacky, mercenary, irresponsible and presidential. Clinton benefits from not being Huckabee, who described Obamacares contraception provision as a big-government sop to women who cant control their libido, blamed an absence of God in schools for the deadly shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 and then proceeded to write a book with a title that put firearms on a comforting par with breakfast food. Run, dont walk, to pick up your copy of God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy. Clinton also benefits mightily from not being Carson, who has lumped together homosexuality and bestiality and has likened Obamacare to slavery, President Obama to a psychopath and the United States under President Obama to Nazi Germany. It is said that Carson is a talented brain surgeon. Im taking my cerebellum elsewhere if it ever comes to that. And Clinton benefits as well from not being Carly Fiorina, who also declared a candidacy for the presidency last week. When Americans look askance at professional politicians, it doesnt mean that they long for the polar opposite and are poised to award the presidency to someone who, in Fiorinas case, has never held elected office, routinely failed to vote in the past, bungled her role as a surrogate for John McCain in 2008, had a miserable showing in her 2010 race for the United States Senate against Barbara Boxer, and claims a business expertise thats long been in vigorous dispute. Her campaign will be powered by hubris, not logic. REPUBLICANS crow about their deep bench. And they do have some formidable candidates, including Marco Rubio, who is an anti-Hillary in ways that could indeed work for him, and Jeb Bush. But Rubio and Bush share the bench with an unruly crowd that pulls them and the party too far to the right. Republicans also take heart from their majority in the Senate and their greater number of governors. But voters behave somewhat differently in presidential elections than in other ones, which is one reason Wisconsin has remained blue even during Walkers red reign. The partys image hasnt gone through the intended upgrade after its defeat in 2012. According to the Times/CBS poll, just 29 percent of Americans now view Republicans favorably, though 43 percent feel that way about Democrats. That number is unlikely to improve much with the likes of Huckabee, Carson, Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum roaming Iowa and foaming at the mouth. Besides, these two words come into play: Supreme Court. I know voters whod give more consideration to Rubio, Bush, Chris Christie or John Kasich if they didnt fear the kind of jurist one of them might nominate at the behest of the religious right. And the next president could easily wind up filling two vacancies on the high court. That thought is the soil in which love for Hillary Clinton flowers. Its a prompt for people who otherwise suffer bone-wearying Clinton fatigue to focus on her unquestioned smarts over her questionable scruples, her experience over her i.o.u.s, her sturdiness over her slipperiness. Theres a case to be made for her, and theres motivation to make that case. In another recent poll, by CNBC, she was the preferred candidate of voters with a net worth of $1 million or more. Apparently they, too, have made peace with her. Or maybe they just recognize a kindred spirit. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-how-hillary-is-winning.html?_r=0

Too good for the Politics forum! Florence Henderson Describes How Former NYC Mayor John Lindsay Gave Her Crabs http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/08/florence-henderson-crabs_n_7246404.html?cps=gravity_2677_8227369906427249878

Prayer, food, sex and water parks in Iran's holy city of Mashhad Since the escalation of Iraqi violence in 2011 and the appearance of Isis, the number of Iraqi Shia pilgrims to Iran has risen fast http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2015/may/07/prayer-food-sex-and-water-parks-in-irans-holy-city-of-mashhad

I must be the poopy equivalent of ice-nine. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice-nine

One condo renovation, the architect specified a toilet that had 2 flush volumes -- low for #1, high for #2. But the flush was electrically driven, so wastrel that way. Indeed can't win for losing.

My pleasure. SoCal is supposed to be desert and scrub, as you say. Our old idea that natural resources are infinite thus infinitely squanderable gets us to this point. Then compounded by perverse incentives. Just like raising corn on the high plains, a supremely unnatural endeavor that takes huge inputs of water and fertilizer to make it go. And then to grant subsidies to use that corn to produce ethanol, to try and get free of our petro-addiction -- but of course what is that very fertilizer but a petrochemical. Not to mention -- speaking of poop -- our mortal sin of using purified drinking-grade water just to flush away our night soil. What the third world would give for a few drops a day of what we waste every hour. And so forth and so on and on.

Scam scam scam scam scam! I know several escorts for whom Apollon21 took their pics from their ads. It used those pics to advertise those escorts on its own site, without ever contacting the escorts in any way. Note also all the up-front fees that Apollon21 asks for. DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!

Hope! NSA phone surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden ruled illegalhttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/07/nsa-phone-records-program-illegal-court

Re: golf courses, the renowned Pinehurst No. 2 where the men's and women's U.S. Open was played last year (about which I went on and on here about 11-year-old Lucy Li) had recently been restored to its original 1940s-and-before design. Among other things, this involved removing acres of lush green grass from the fairways and returning them to sand and native wiregrass, which slashed water consumption dramatically.

Doody Golem A doody golem is a man-like creature composed entirely of human feces. He or she is molded to look like a human. Unlike normal golems, a doody golem is much harder to destroy requiring a high concentration of fiber to solidify the monster in its place before smashing it into pieces. "Yankele, your doody golem is destroying our entire village!" "And what would you have me do, destroy it?" "That, and stop making living beings out of your own fecal matter!" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Doody+Golem

This chart is not from the article below, but is fascinating & relevant: Global carbon dioxide levels break 400ppm milestone Record carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the atmosphere were recorded worldwide in March, in what scientists said marked a significant milestone for global warming. Figures released by the US science agency Noaa on Wednesday show that for the first time since records began, the parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the atmosphere were over 400 globally for a month. The measure is the key indicator of the amount of planet-warming gases man is putting into the atmosphere at record rates, and the current concentrations are unprecedented in millions of years. The new global record follows the breaking of the 400ppm CO2 threshold in some local areas in 2012 and 2013, and comes nearly three decades after what is considered the safe level of 350ppm was passed. Reaching 400ppm as a global average is a significant milestone, said Pieter Tans, lead scientist on Noaas greenhouse gas network. This marks the fact that humans burning fossil fuels have caused global carbon dioxide concentrations to rise more than 120ppm since pre-industrial times, added Tans. Half of that rise has occurred since 1980.... http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/06/global-carbon-dioxide-levels-break-400ppm-milestone

Picking on those you love.

Picking on Star Trek is Fun I've been watching Star Trek since the '70s and I love it ... I really do ... but until J.J. Abrams brought us Star Trek (2009), Trek had always lacked that physical realistic believability. As a viewer, I generally don't care if the budget never permitted it or if the TOS was made in the '60s. I want believable effects and acting which enhances the story and envelopes my suspended reality into that universe (although the CBS remasters were a good start). True fans want to feel that the fantasy is real and therefore it's our duty to nitpick everything and poke fun at the inconsistencies so the producers will know how little they can get away with. The following are a few notables that always annoy me when I re-watch the series (note: most of my observations are based on TOS, TNG, and the movies; I've more or less missed out on most of DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise, and I won't even go into the animated series for my own sanity): TOS Enterprise Phasers Starfleet issued. High-quality and screeching. Turn the knob clockwise to make blue. Epic Special Effects Failures So cool that even today's CGI can't come close. All the things ILM would never have done. Firearm Safety 101 We come in peace ... shoot to kill. Kirk-Fu The Bruce Lee of the final frontier. Faster than a speeding bullet. The result of extensive tactical combat training on alien worlds and scientifically-proven systems of close quarter battle. Behold the Way of the Tiberius. No Pain, No Gain The first step in any diplomatic situation or negotiation between hostile parties. The definitive how-to guide for all things expressive, complete with illustrations. Humans With Stuff On Their Heads Extremely-convincing and so authentic that you would never, ever guess there was a human being underneath the war paint. Where Are The Seat Belts? The reason the phrase "All hands, brace for impact" is common within the fleet and why starships are the ultimate rollercoaster adventure ride. Fun for everyone when artificial gravity is out of order. Starfleet Uniforms Clothes that you'd never want to wear on the playground because you'd get beat up. The WunderKind Michael Jackson and Mozart weren't in the habit of saving the ship every week. Light Sources Multiple key lights make odd visual continuity. Press Any Button To Save The Ship Buttons, buttons, buttons - they're everywhere and I can't take it anymore! Someone grab the technical manual! Relic Transporter Sounds Scotty deserved better than this. Stuck On The Bridge Thou shall not become trapped on your own ship like a sucker. The Simplistic Self-Destruct Code Based on such quality entropy that it makes me want to use it as a combination on my luggage. Always Cloudy On Planet X Today's weather report most likely calls for constant overcast on any beam-down location. Highly-localized lighting available for photographic and filming convenience. Really, Really Fast Impulse Power Trust us, it's not warp speed. It's an optical illusion. Why Did They Even Make These Episodes "The City On The Edge Of Forever," "The Doomsday Machine," "Amok Time," "Elaan Of Troyius," "Journey To Babel," "Measure Of A Man," "Yesterday's Enterprise," "Schisms," "Cause And Effect," "Tapestry," "Unification" - great episodes that I always reach for any day. Then you have these other gems... Vortex Of Awe And Wonder When the warp speed button is pushed, one must go out in the most dazzling and visually spectacular method available. The starship equivalent of 0-to-60 in 3 seconds flat with skid marks leading off into the sunset. Everywhere You Go, There's Earth Episode 12: "Look, it's Earth!" ... Episode 17: "Look, it feels like Earth!" ... Episode 21: "Look, we're back at Earth, sort of!"... Episode 28: "We've got to go back in time on Earth to save Earth as we know it!" ... Episode 33: "Look, another planet that looks and feels just like Earth!" (Shall I go on?) Earthquakes On The Ship Since we can't shake the camera this time around, you lean right while I lean left. It'll be sure to confuse everyone. Worf's Half-Klingon Teeth While the medical facility on a starship is top-notch, the dental services leaves a bit to be desired. Or, what happens when Worf forgets to bring the co-payment to the office. The Vulcan Power-Throw Spock had special powers - the mind-meld, the nerve pinch, and now comes the most destructive arsenal in Vulcan martial arts training... Starfleet's Finest - Red Shirts If your job is to walk around the ship carrying a phaser all day long and the Captain taps you on the shoulder, you know what's coming. Ships Are Expensive When there's a shortage of hull material or original ideas within the galaxy, thou shall look into old boxes of plastic model parts. One-Shot Soft Spots We can't take any more hits like that, Captain ... but did you know we only need one well-placed torpedo to win? Nagging On Nemesis Star Trek, where the villains in the most powerful ship who have never lost a battle can never win because the script says so. Mainscreen Movie Night All the perks of working on the bridge: constant sensor pings, monitor read-outs that don't mean anything, and of course, the 60" high-definition plasma at the front of the room. When Stunt Doubles Are Obvious Every senior officer has a non-identical twin who will gladly take punishment when the time comes. Two Kirks Are Better Than One When the idea of duplication leads to more duplicate story-telling. Insurrection, Fun For The Whole Family There are times when I wish I could get a refund on the movie ticket. Captain LamoSoft Names to be afraid of when being assigned a post after acadamy graduation or to consider when thinking of a transfer to another ship. Recycled Klingon D-7 Shots There is apparently only one D-7 beauty shot angle, and that's the one we're going to use over and over again. Blow Up The Ship And Save The Day In case of emergency, break glass. Allowed only once per week. Cheap Shields What happens when Starfleet outsources research work to the Delta Quadrant. http://trekannoyances.com/index.html

P.S. No erectile connotations!

Kuru is an incurable degenerative neurological disorder endemic to tribal regions of Papua New Guinea. It is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, caused by a prion found in humans.[1] The term "kuru" derives from the Fore word "kuria/guria" ("to shake"),[2] a reference to the body tremors that are a classic symptom of the disease; it is also known among the Fore as the "laughing sickness" due to the pathologic bursts of laughter people would display when afflicted with the disease. It is now widely accepted that Kuru was transmitted among members of the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea via funerary cannibalism.[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_%28disease%29 http://prettyawfulthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ispa0y9bcxl4_t.jpg

Very cool. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/04/gps-history-of-cartography-amazing-maps

So before I go down on anybody I'll have to ask them what your doctor does now -- "Have you been out of the country in the last 30 days?"

http://www.motifake.com/forum/download/file.php?id=14177&sid=19ff18bf4458a0216658196e5ab0bb64