MaxRedline

Panty-Wad Alert

The folks at Lawrence Livermore Lab have built a so-called "super laser" capable of generating temperatures and pressures previously associated only with the cores of stars.  Never before achieved on the planet, a fusion reaction triggered by the super laser hitting hydrogen atoms will produce more energy than was required to prompt "ignition," according to NIF director Edward Moses.

Fusion energy. That splattering sound you hear is AlGore and his acolytes collectively wetting themselves.

It Figures, In Portland

The idiots who call themselves the "Zoobombers" take light rail to the zoo station, move their bicycles onto the elevator and ride to the top of the stop, then blast downhill back into downtown, routinely violating every traffic rule in existence.  It's okay, though, because it's a thrill, and it helps Keep Portland Weird.

As part of the zoo bombing tradition, the bikes are left in a pile downtown to be used for the next ride.

Nearly three years ago, the group grew frustrated as bikes were stolen or damaged. The Zoobombers actually lobbied the city to give them a safe place to store their bikes.

Mayor Sam Adams, transportation commissioner at the time, made it happen.

"Commissioner Sam Adams asked us to work with transportation to find an artistic solution to the Zoobomb bikes," said Kristin Calhoun from the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

The group typically gives out $3 million dollars in taxpayer money each year to artists and groups and public art projects.

The Zoobomber monument got $10,000. It has loops on the lower portion of a tall mast with a golden bike on top.

The loops will allow Zoobombers to stack their bikes in an iconic pile -- but also lock them to the rings.

They are thrilled.

And I'll be thrilled to sign the recall petition to remove Adams from office.

In the meantime, the City of Portland plows on with more:

Portland Mayor Sam Adams says that the City is dedicated to "transportation transformation".

Sure, "Transportation Transformation".  Oh, what a catchy vibe. 

PDOT held a couple of "open house events" earlier this month in order to showcase their plans for more streetcars and more bicycle stuff.  Yessir, and here's the Bicycle Master Plan Project leader with the Portland Department of Transportation, Ellen Vanderslice.  You can see that she's wearing a shirt telling everybody to bicycle and walk more.  Just judging by the dainty hippo-shape shown in the photo, it seems reasonable to assume that like most bureaucrats, she's far more comfortable with "encouraging" other folks to change their ways than in actually following through herself. 

She talks a lot, she smiles a lot, she explains a lot.  More than she can even guess, actually.

Mass Murderer Murdered

Dr. Tiller, notorious for killing babies who would have lived (he referred to them as "late term abortions") has himself been murdered.  Oddly, the shooting occurred in the foyer of a church where he was serving as an usher.  It is utterly amazing that he could do what he did for so many years, yet still find it within himself to hang around a church; even more amazing is that any church would have him.

Tiller was shot once; likely a far better fate than the many infants suffered under his tender ministrations.

The man was arguably a mass murderer.  However, he did not deserve the bullet.  He deserved the slow torture of continued legal pressure, applied through the American judicial system.  It is truly unfortunate that some idiot decided to engage in vigilante "justice", because no matter how strong one's emotions, there is no excuse for it.

The Obesity Epidemic

Let's face it: over the past couple of decades, smokers have been targeted as pariahs.  Not only are they social outcasts, laws have been enacted in an effort to restrict their horrid behavior.  This is considered socially acceptable, even as governments extract tons of money from the pariahs by taxing their smokes.

Yet the human hippo goes unchallenged.  Until now. 

A leading expert in human nutrition has caused outrage by calling "over-fatness" a self-inflicted burden on the taxpayer.

Professor John Birkbeck, adjunct professor in human nutrition at Massey University, said anti-obesity efforts won't work until society refuses to accept the condition as normal and healthy, as it has done for smoking. 

His comments outraged groups working to reduce the obesity rate.

Maree Burns, coordinator of the Auckland-based Eating Difficulties Education Network, said they were "flagrant", "inappropriate", "intolerant" and "offensive".

"Shaming and blaming people has never been effective. This is the worst example of fat phobia and doesn't achieve anything except building discrimination," she said.

Bet you cash money that Maree "shames and blames" smokers.

But that's okay.  Human hippos who just can't seem to stop stuffing their faces should be a protected category.  It's interesting that she works for the "Eating Difficulties Education Network" - as quite obviously, hippos have no difficulty when it comes to eating.

The doctor nailed the issue squarely: morbidly obese people constitute a net economic drain.  And the condition is self-inflicted.  Nobody is forcing their mouths open and jamming that second, third, or fourth piece of pie down their gullets.  They do it all by themselves.

And while it may be politically incorrect to note that such is, in fact, the case, there is nothing phobic nor intolerant in making the observation.  Facts do not respect societal constructs such as political correctness - they are what they are. 

Unfunded Liabilities

Great news for Oregon taxpayers!  The economic downturn will cause pension costs to double in coming years for employers participating in the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System, consultants for the agency said Friday.

State agencies, local government, school districts and other public entities likely will be required to pay an average 25 percent of their total payroll in pension contributions to PERS by the biennium that begins in July 2013, according to an economic projection by the Portland firm Mercer.

Take a look at California.  What's killing them?  In large part, it's unfunded pension liability.  Take a look at Portland.  Unfunded pension liability:  roughly $2,600,000,000.  And growing.

Tick.  Tick.  Tick...

Here Come The Foot Baths

Oregon House has passed a bill that requires employers to afford their employees the opportunity to freely practice their religion in the workplace.  Sounds pretty cool, eh?  Wonder if it'll apply to Christians?  You also have to consider exactly who gets to define the nebulous term, "undue hardship".  I'm guessing that it won't be the employers. 

Senate Bill 786 requires employers to accommodate religious beliefs provided they don’t impose an “undue hardship” on the business. The bill now goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski for his signature.

 

Closing Up Is Hard To Do

Barry approached Germany about taking some the terrorists housed in Gitmo - no love there.  Germany turned him down flat.  Now, Italy's Interior Minister has taken it a step further. 

Minister Roberto Maroni said the detainees from the U.S. military prison on the Cuban island should be sent only to countries that are able to jail them again, if need be.

He called for unanimous agreement among the member nations comprising the European Union prior to transfer of any Gitmo residents.  For its part, Italy is considering accepting delivery of not more than two or three detainees.  Looks like Barry's got his work cut out for him.

Good News For Nancy!

According to the latest polling data, Congress now has its highest approval rating in two years - a whopping 23% of voters now claim that Congress is doing a good job.  5% of Republicans, 13% of unaffiliated voters, and 45% of Democrats now give Congress favorable ratings.  Undoubtedly, the mainstream media will trumpet the good news any day now.  Oh wait - Congress's favorable numbers are still below those of former President G.W. Bush.  Nevermind, then.

Government Motors

In a couple of days, you're going to own at least 70% of automaker GM, whether you want to or not.  Since the Bama took over, America has not leapt toward Marxism - it has flown.  The US government is now in the auto, banking, and insurance businesses.  We own GM.  We own CitiBank.  We own AIG insurance.

We're not supposed to - nowhere in our founding documents is there any provision for such takeovers.  But we do now.  The speed with which this is happening amazes even the good folks over at Pravda, where they note: It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed.

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a BurgerKing burger than for their constitutional rights.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

Oddly, the folks over in Russia seem to have a better understanding of what's happening in our country today than do most citizens.  Things are really out of hand when even uberliberal Ted Ralls starts dissing The One.  When he suggests that Obama should step down, you know that Bama's floundering around in really deep doo-doo.

MIAMI — We expected broken promises. But the gap between the soaring expectations that accompanied Barack Obama’s inauguration and his wretched performance is the broadest such chasm in recent historical memory. This guy makes Bill Clinton look like a paragon of integrity and follow-through.

Obama is useless. Worse than that, he’s dangerous. Which is why, if he has any patriotism left after the thousands of meetings he has sat through with corporate contributors, blood-sucking lobbyists and corrupt politicians, he ought to step down now — before he drags us further into the abyss.

Make no mistake: when love affairs end, things can get downright messy.  And when a partisan hack such as Ralls dares to print such material, it's a sure sign that the love affair is over.

Whose Planet Is This?

Wilderness areas. Aren't they great? The feds own most of the land in Oregon, and they keep designating more as wilderness. Um.

By definition, these are public lands. Are wilderness areas ADA-compliant?

After all the set of ADA laws are also federal mandates. They require accessibility for disabled folks, such as people in wheelchairs.

Should these people be disenfranchised from wilderness areas?  Their tax dollars pay for them, just as much as yours do.  Should wilderness areas be accessible only to back-packing 20-something kids?