MaxRedline

Why They Were Voted Out

Give a Democrat a taste of power, and it goes to his or her head.

 

Aging Stopped Dead

By introducing an enzyme, telomerase, into rodents, Harvard scientists "reversed the aging process".  That's what passes for "news reporting" these days.

Had they actually reversed the aging process, then quite obviously, old animals would have reverted to babies or perhaps embyos, set to start life anew.  Of course, that isn't what happened.

Some older organs appeared to regenerate, rather than continuing to degenerate.  That's interesting, but even that modest gain doesn't necessarily translate to humans.  In humans, an increase in telomerase is a hallmark of most cancers.

Don't pop the cork on the celebratory champaign just yet.

Oddly Enough

A top Democrat has been fired - and arrested.  Allegedly, he likes children a little too much.

Another Icon Has Passed

Leslie Nielsen, a Canadian we'll all miss.

 

Caught With His Pants Down Yet Again

Today, Portland's pervy little "mayor" is huddling with his handmaiden over at the Portland cop shop, and they're thinking feeling that maybe it might be time to rejoin the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) that former "mayor" Tommy Potter stormed away from after they wouldn't let him have Top Secret security clearance.

They knew that Tommy was an idiot, and he quickly demonstrated that they may have under-estimated the true extent of his idiocy.

So Portland became an oasis; perhaps the only city in the nation to refuse to be part of the JTTF - and all because of Tommy's ego.

Sammy, subsequently elected to be "mayor", had the little issue with his pedophilia surfacing shortly after the election.  That, and playing bumper-cars in a major shopping mall parking lot, driving around with his pants unzipped and reeking of alcohol, likely all combined to ensure that he wouldn't get Top Secret clearance, either.  Portland continued to boycott the JTTF.

Well now, after the attempt by the Christmas Tree Bomber to kill thousands of people in downtown Portland, Sammy and his BFF Mike Reese are thinking feeling that maybe the time has come to re-join the JTTF.

Adams, who voted among the majority five years ago, emphasized that he has much more faith in the White House and the leadership of the U.S. attorney's office now than he did in 2005.

The bombing plot was "very unnerving," the mayor said."It came as a shock to me, as I'm sure it did for most Portlanders."

That, Sammy, is because you can't be trusted, and so you were left out of the loop.  Guess what?  Even if you now think feel that it's be a good idea to rejoin the JTTF, you're not going to get clearance.

Stuxnet

This elegant little bit of code has accomplished what sanctions and threats could not: temporarily derailing the Iranian effort to become a nuclear weapon-wielding nation.  It's a very cool design, which some have called a "game-changer" because it's built to run through systems, stopping only when it finds a specific target - which in this case, was the specific, protected control system intended to run the uranium enrichment tools in Iran.

Great reading, though of course technical detail is omitted.  It's a bit over the top, in that it appears to suggest that the worm, having found its targets and then self-destructed, has somehow made that little corner of the world safer by denying Iran its goal.

The Iranian government may be a lot of things, but stupid isn't among their characteristics.  They've been dealt a setback by the worm, but likely not a crippling - much less final - blow.

 

Saudis: Spineless

"Hey, we'll continue funding Al Quaeda and other terrorist organizations, but would you mind taking out Iran for us?"

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme, according to leaked US diplomatic cables that describe how other Arab allies have secretly agitated for military action against Tehran.

How about this, Abby my boy: quit funding terrorists.  And if you want somebody to bomb Iran, how about doing it yourself?

Portland Conquers Traffic Congestion

The formula is deceptively simple, and it actually doesn't involve "investing" in more light rail.  They'll still do that, of course, because rail is cool, shiny, and incredibly expensive.  They love toys.

But they've resolved the issue of traffic congestion by creating an anti-business climate.  Fewer jobs means fewer people driving to work.  Problem solved!

Some may complain that Portland and Oregon's consistent standing at the top of the nation's unemployment charts is a bad thing, because high unemployment means fewer tax dollars.

Fewer tax dollars means that less money is available to fund essential services.  In some parts of the country, that might be an issue.  But this is Oregon, and things look different here.

Our politicians just whip out the credit card.

It's free money!

Tone-Deaf And Proud

The TriMet Board is gearing up to ram another light rail line that nobody wants right down the throats of folks who have twice voted to reject it.  While it's unfortunate that residents fail to recognize the superior intellect of the TriMet Board and its many "planners", they just need to build it so that the residents can find out what's in it.

 

Allahu Akbar!

The annual Christmas tree lighting event in downtown Portland at Pioneer Square is always a blast, but one guy wanted to make it even more memorable.  Oddly, it seems that he wanted to leave the country after making one last phone call, but was persuaded to stay for the extended festivities.

Paging Tom Potter:  

This city is expected today to become the first in the nation to pull out of an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, following a series of disagreements between Portland leaders and federal investigators.

Mayor Tom Potter and several city commissioners, frustrated by the FBI’s refusal to grant them full access to classified information, say the withdrawal will signal Portland’s commitment to the protection of individual civil rights.

Portland "mayor" Sam Adams, of course, knew nothing until after the arrest:

Mayor Sam Adams was not told about the suspected plot to bomb the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Pioneer Courthouse Square until after a suspect had been arrested Friday night.

Adams says he is confident that federal, state and local law enforcement officials handled the situation well, however, and that Portlanders were never in danger.

“This is an international terrorism investigation that was top secret and all but a select circle knew about it,” Adams told the Portland Tribune Saturday morning.

In other words, everybody but him knew about it.