Inside the Asylum

Over at Transterrestrial we get this comment:

Well, what else would you expect from Barack Hoover Obama? Or is he Jimmy Carter? At this point, that’s a best-case scenario, I think.

Personally, I think Hoover has always been treated unfairly by history ... but all the same, it's a sad day when a Carter comparison is a best case scenario!

The Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR!) eats things. I mean organic substances ... it's not fussy ... this battlefield robot is supposed to power itself by taking whatever is available in the local environment ... trees, grass, dead bodies ... I guess live bodies would do too. Officials at the company developing the robot have tried to reassure us:

"We completely understand the public's concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission," said Harry Schoell, the chief executive of Cyclone Power Technologies, one of the companies behind the machine. "We are focused on demonstrating that our engines can create usable, green power from plentiful, renewable plant matter."

Yes, we completely understand that you're worried about robots that can eat human flesh. Don't worry, the future is not set... Cyberdyne, Cyclone, whatever.　
[Update] Here's the original press release from Cyclone.

Stanislav Mishin at Pravda has some interesting observations on the whole "Czar" system the Democrats seem to love so much. [Update: I just noticed that Pravda picked it up from here.]

Americans can call them what they want, but we Russians and the US emperor know their true name: Commissar.

That's his conclusion ... a lot of his discussion is worth paying attention to as well.

There is a new silliness in the Western Anglo Media, comparing the US Emperor's Czar program to the number of Tsars that Holy Russia had. It is a good thing that the US/UK public is ignorant not only of ancient history but also of recent history, otherwise they might start to worry.

Then there's this, which seems to describe Obama pretty well, and not just his Czars.

The commissars were mostly young, had little achievement outside the power structure, self assured, true believers. They knew very well that outside their positions, created and granted by the dictator, they had little hope of career success. They were given responsibility much higher then their experience levels, further beholding them to their owner. It made them extremely jealous of their power, which in turn made them vengeful against anyone who stood in their way, especially other power hungry commissars.

If Biden visits a foreign country, and no one cares, is he still an idiot? He's in Ukraine at the moment:

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine Monday to calm fears that Washington's efforts to improve relations with Russia could come at the expense of former Soviet nations... public interest in the visit has been low, with newspapers offering little coverage ahead of the visit.

When everyone knows his message is false and that he's a moron, why bother paying any attention to him? When even the fawning western media have noticed (and still more surprising, to actually report it), you know that the Obama administration has lost all credibility.

But while Biden's programmes in Ukraine and, later this week, in Georgia, provide ample opportunities to express US backing in word, his trip was not expected to spur much new support from Washington in deed, experts said.

The Ukrainians know exactly what Obama's support is worth: in its latest edition, the Ukrainian weekly Zerkalo Nedeli said

"Times have changed, and the instruments of American 'influence' are minimal here."

Should union officials be allowed to work on union matters while drawing salaries from their employers? If you ask me, that's theft. If you ask the Japanese, apparently they think so too.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has decided to punish 1,237 officials and their superiors for involvement in, or tacit approval of, illegal labor union activities on taxpayer-funded time. A set of disciplinary measures announced by the ministry Friday includes a one-month suspension from work for 23 union members. The ministry will also dock the pay of 114 members and reprimand a further 208. The disciplinary action is the biggest at the ministry since 1985, when authorities reprimanded an even larger contingent over a dispute between management and the labor union. The ministry also found that 514 officials had inappropriately earned 2.5 billion yen in salary payments while engaging in labor union activities.

As I've noted with the union that I would belong to if I joined one, they're very hot about complaining about injustice inflicted by employers, but they have no problem with behaving immorally themselves. When I've challenged union officials about certain morally questionable things they've done, their defense was "well we can do it, and you can't stop us, so we do it." My response? I'm not going to join an organization that squeals like a stuck pig when someone else does something, but thinks it's fine to do the same thing themselves. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, and all that.

Published in Turkish media:

After 9/11, the Arabs have increasingly reached out to China investing heavily in its exploding industries and markets. China’s direct trade with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other Arab states has multiplied incredibly fast over the past couple of years. All this could change if China does not change its ways of treating its Muslims. And if festering wounds in Xinjiang are not treated soon, Beijing could have a problem on its hands that would make the Tiananmen Square carnage look like a picnic.

Yes, it's possible that Arabs and Muslims may change their attitude to China, but let's face it ... it's not all that likely. If the Chinese were Jewish, that would be a different story.

Yes, you heard right. It's your fault. It's not a condition. It's not a bad doctor. It's not luck. It's because you are a bad parent. I know it's not something you're supposed to say, but that's just the way it is: if you don't get your kid immunized, you are a bad parent, and not only that, you're a bad citizen, because you put other people's kids in danger too. Screw you. You deserve no politeness or understanding or tolerance. You are an enemy of the state.

Middle-class parents worried about the possible side effects of vaccination are partly to blame for an "epidemic" of measles, a child health expert says... The claim comes as the Health Ministry said there were 90 measles cases notified so far this year, more than seven times the total number of cases for all of last year... The Royal Australasian College of Physicians paediatrics chairman, Johan Morreau, said even one case of measles was considered an epidemic because it showed immunisation rates were too low and there was no "herd immunity".

This particular story is about New Zealand, but it applies equally well throughout the western world where ill-informed middle-class morons listen to the pseudo-scientific nonsense that gets spouted by idiots. You've heard of the saying "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing"? Well, it was invented for all you idiots who won't get give the jab to your sporn. Get your damn spoiled little brats vaccinated you scum. If I deliberately put your child in danger, would you be angry with me? Well, don't expect me to be polite to you when you put my child in harm's way. Grrrr.

Yes, you heard right ... Hamas is launching itself into the wonderful world of moving making. Facing a terrible economic crisis, what else did they have to do with the $200,000 they spent making a movie?

The two-hour feature film, with the screenplay written by Gaza Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Zahar, tells the story of Emad Akel, the commander of Hamas movement's armed wing al-Qassam Brigades, who was killed by Israel in 1993... the movie [was] shot over 10 months on a production lot located in southern Gaza Strip, which Hamas hopes will one day grow into a media city.

It's kind of ironic really, considering this:

Gaza used to have six major movie houses, but all were shut down because Palestinian activists felt entertainment was inappropriate at a time of struggle. A movie house called al-Nasser was only reopened in 1995 for three months before being burned and destroyed by radical Hamas protestors in Gaza.

Come on guys ... which is it going to be? Oh well, I guess it's appropriate since Hamas clearly lives in a fantasy world. Maybe they've finally found their true calling.

The Chinese should be liberals ... they think you can solve every problem by passing a law against it.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region would accelerate local legislation against separatism, said the region's top lawmaker on Sunday.

That'll certainly get rid of all ethnic tension, and make all Uighurs happy to be part of China. Just to make sure the Uighurs get the point:

A most urgent problem to be solved was the lack of law booklets in ethnic minority languages, he said. The region had organized experts to do the translation work and the booklets would soon be distributed to farmers and herdsmen across the region, he added.

You see, that was the problem. The Uighurs didn't know they shouldn't riot against the Han Chinese, because the relevant laws weren't widely available in Uighur. If only all problems were solved this easily.