JABbering Stooge

I don’t know. Something about this chart from Buttmissile over at Swingline Powerline doesn’t seem right. What could it be?

Oh, I know!

Having a GDP growth curve that’s O(e^x) doesn’t mean a thing when you’ve got Gordon Gekko conservatives creating debt on a Ω(n!) growth curve*, doofus!

* Cf.

You become a parody of yourself, Sen. McRove. Just ask your buddy, Rudy 9iu11ani.

Via greg at The Talent Show.

Is it just me, or does Pillz-E resemble Albedo from Xenosaga when he calls Michelle Obama “My Belle”?

ThinkProgress: The Bush Administration’s Plan To Make The Endangered Species Act Extinct

Today, the AP reports on new draft rules being proposed by the Bush administration to gut the Endangered Species Act. This would be the biggest change to the groundbreaking legislation since 1988, and would not require the approval of Congress.

Currently, federal agencies are required to consult with an independent agency — the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) or the National Marine Fisheries Service — to determine whether a project would harm an endangered species. The AP reports that under the new rules, agencies would simply be able to “decide for themselves[.]”

I’m sure that the Developers’ Lobby is popping the corks on their champagne bottles upon hearing this decision. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson just creamed his pants.

You know, when I was a student at Carnegie Mellon, one of the student organizations was known for promoting the "theory" that "CMU hates grass." The "theory" attempted to explain why there are no trees on the Wean/Doherty side of The Mall on campus. It went like this:

1. CMU hates grass.

2. Trees are just big grass.

3. Therefore, CMU hates trees.

4. Thus, the Doherty/Wean trees must die. QED.

So by this "logic," I guess we can say that The Most Holy George W. Christ hates endangered species. QED.

But it’s just the latest evidence that Bush and the GOP hate science.

One of President Eisenhower’s two signature achievements (the other being the Interstate Highway system), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration turns 50 today.

R.I.P. Dr. Randy Pausch (10/23/1960 — 7/25/2008)

Dr. Pausch was a CS professor at Carnegie Mellon University (my alma mater). He became famous for his “Last Lecture” speech at CMU in 2007, shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He also co-founded CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center, and will have a cameo appearance in the new Star Trek film.

I didn’t really know him personally, since my interaction with the CS department was limited to the introductory courses, but he will be missed.

* With apologies to Mark Twain.

MSNBC has a photo gallery of some of the latest robots being developed at my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon. Be sure to check it out!

AMBASSADOR DAVID SHERIDAN: John, I can’t imagine the kind of decisions that are going through your mind right now. I’m sure they’re not easy. The important ones never are. But when push comes to shove, you’ve always done the right thing. What was the first lesson I ever taught you?

CAPTAIN JOHN SHERIDAN: Never start a fight, but always finish it.

Babylon 5 — “Severed Dreams”

Oh, gee. Look what’s happening in Afghanistan because we didn’t finish the fight there.*

* I’m sorry if this breaks my pledge to not link to stories from the AP, but I couldn’t find any other source for the story.

Jesse’s got an interesting post over at Pandagon about why McBush says “my friends” ever other sentence. It’s worth a read, especially in light of McBush’s other habit of using the singular version when he’s pissed off at about to go apeshit on someone. My only reason for bringing up Jesse’s post is because it reminded me of a fictional character with a similar habit. The protagonist of David Eddings’ Elenium and Tamuli series, Sparhawk, has a habit of calling anyone he doesn’t know “neighbor.” At one point in the series, he even explains why he does it:

“Why do you call everybody ‘neighbor’?” Tynian asked as they rode on.

“Habit, I suppose.” Sparhawk shrugged. “I got it from my father, and it sort of puts people at their ease.”

“Why not call them ‘friend’?”

“Because I never know that for sure. Let’s go talk to the abbot of that monastery.”

The Ruby Knight, pg. 44 — paperback edition

I’m probably the only one who cares, but I thought it was an interesting similarity.

* In case you’re wondering, here’s the context of the quote:

“We ride to Ghasek as quickly as we can,” she replied. I have to find out what’s causing the infection before I can cure it. We absolutely have to get into that castle — even if it involves force.”

“We can handle that,” Ulath said, “but what are we going to do about that minstrel? If he can infect others just by touching them, he’s likely to come back at the head of an army.”

“There’s a simple way to deal with it,” Kalten said, putting his hand on his sword hilt.

“No,” Sephrenia said sharply. “I’ll put him to sleep instead. A few days’ rest might do him some good, anyway.” She looked sternly at Kalten. “Why is your first answer to any problem always a sword?”

“Overtrained, I guess.” He shrugged.

The Ruby Knight, pages 203-204 — paperback edition

So the last two Soyuz capsules sent to the space station have had rougher reentry than the mission parameters called for — to the point where the crew aboard the capsule "[were] in serious danger during the descent." Worse, the Russians’ diagnosis of the problem after the first reentry mishap turned out to be wrong. Now, normal people would find this situation worrying. NASA, on the other hand, says, "Nothing to see here, move along."

But NASA associate administrator for space operations William H. Gerstenmaier downplayed such alarm. NASA wasn’t aware of any danger for the crew although it didn’t ask if the crew was at risk, Gerstenmaier said in a Tuesday news teleconference.

Didn’t ask if the crew was at risk?! What the fuck are you DOING, NASA? Don’t you give a shit about the safety of those under your charge?

And yet, that’s not the worst part of the story. Here’s how NASA responded to the Russian space agency’s failure to successfully detect the problem with the Soyuz spacecraft:

"We may have missed the probable cause," Gerstenmaier said.

Still, NASA is satisfied with the way Russia is handling the mishap and hasn’t asked to be part of the investigation, he said.

For the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, how could NASA be so willfully blind?! Oh, wait. I forgot that Bush appointed a global warming denier to head such a critically important position. Heckuva job, Michael Griffin!

This rampant cronyism and corruption in the Bush administration has officially reached ridiculous proportions. I feel like my head is going to explode from all the frustration.

You could even say that I’m bitter about the whole thing…