Rosie O'Donnell can't take being contradicted

Rosie's cheap emotional antics didn't work in a spar with Elizabeth Hasselbeck, so she's going to take her marbles and go home 3 weeks earlier than planned:

ABC: Rosie O'Donnell Won't Be Back on 'The View'

[...] A political discussion over the war in Iraq became heated when an angry O'Donnell decried Hasselbeck for not standing up for her when media outlets suggested that she'd called U.S. troops "terrorists" during a previous debate.

The argument with Hasselbeck began over O'Donnell's statement last week about the war: "655,000 Iraqi civilians have died. Who are the terrorists?"

Talk show critics accused O'Donnell of calling U.S. troops terrorists. She called Hasselbeck "cowardly" for not saying anything in response to the critics.

"What you did was not defend me. ... I asked you if you believed what the Republican pundits were saying — you said nothing, and that's cowardly," O'Donnell said.

"Do not call me a coward, because No. 1, I sit here every single day, open my heart and tell people what I believe," Hasselbeck retorted, and their riveting exchange continued despite failed attempts by their co-hosts to cut to a commercial.

O'Donnell and Hasselbeck were shown on a split screen as the argument progressed without commercial interruption.

"Do you believe that I think our troops are terrorists? And you would not even look me in the face, Elisabeth, and say, 'No, Rosie,'" O'Donnell said.

Responded Hasselbeck: "Because you are an adult, and I am certainly not going to be the person for you to explain your thoughts. They're your thoughts! Defend your own insinuations!"

O'Donnell said she wasn't going to fight anymore. "So for three weeks, you can say all the Republican crap you want." [...]

You can see the video here: War of the Rosie. I thought Elizabeth handled herself with restraint, but without backing down. Rosie did what most libs do when they are contradicted - over emotionalize, cry foul, claim THEY are the victim... anything to avoid a calm debate about facts. And when they can't get their way, they snatch up their marbles and go home. Like so many libs, Rosie can only tolerate a milieu where she's not contradicted.

And speaking about emotions out of control, there's more:

[...] According to a New York Post report, O'Donnell's chief writer, Janette Barber, was allegedly led out of the building on Wednesday after she was caught drawing mustaches on photographs of Hasselbeck in "The View" studios. [...]

Well there is a mature response from a rational adult. But since she writes for Rosie, I guess we are supposed to lower our expectations of civility?

Interestingly enough, O'Donnell's nemesis Donald Trump weighed in on the squabble and defended O'Donnell, claiming that anyone who supported the war in Iraq was an imbecile, among other things. You can read the article for the details. All I can say is, The O'Donnell and The Donald deserve each other. Do either of them have a sensible alternative on how to deal with this?:




Until they do, I can't take either one of them seriously. Thank you, Elizabeth.
     

Only in Marin... I wish!

Al Gore made an appearance at the Marin Civic Center to promote his book. The ZombieTime Blog has plenty of photos:

Al Gore Appearance at the Marin Civic Center


Al is starting to look more and more like Chairman Mao these days.



The Marinites came in droves, in there SUVs and sports cars, to hear Al preach about global warming.





Click the link to see more pics of what 2,000 hypocrites look like. And their car bumper stickers and Che bags too.

When I moved to California nearly 26 years ago, people would often say "Only in Marin" about this sort of thing. Actually, I wish it was only in Marin County that this type of hypocrisy goes on. Now it's not limited to there, but it IS still typical for Marin. Unfortunately it also would seem it's becoming increasingly mainstream among Democrats.     

Dell Finally Offers Linux Pre-installed

From DesktopLinux.com:
Ubuntu-powered Dell desktops and notebook arrive

On May 24, the rumors and speculation came to an end. Dell officially unveiled its three consumer systems -- the XPS 410n and Dimension E520n desktops, and the Inspiron E1505n notebook -- that come with the Ubuntu 7.04 Linux distribution factory installed.

DesktopLinux.com predicted that Dell would release Ubuntu-powered computers from these lines. We did not see, however, that rather than offering a variety of models, albeit not the full range from each line, that Dell would be offering a single system from each line. [...]

There was speculation for a while about if it would ever happen. This is the first time that one of the Big computer manufacturers has offered to ship their machines with Desktop Linux already installed.

Choice is always a good thing! We all benefit. See the full article for details.

Also from DesktopLinux.com:
These are Dell's Ubuntu PCs
More details about the actual machines Dell is shipping with Ubuntu Linux.
     

Are Americans too stupid to understand basic economics?

There seems to be a lot of evidence that the answer could be yes. And there seems to be no end to the politicians who would pander to that ignorance.

From Jeff at Jeff's Garage and Alehouse blog:

How About a Windfall Ignorance Tax?

[...] # As we continually remind people here at JG&AH, the oil companies profits average about 10 cents on the dollar. Other such industries average much more than that. When I worked in Automotive retail, a manager that I came up under would always say to me "Jeff, we need to make 20% profit on everything, just to turn the lights on." Profit is the necessity and motif of EVERYONE who is in business. As the above links demonstrate FTC investigation has already demonstrated that there is no corporate price gouging. The Gouging is from the government tax at all levels - more than twice the Big Oil Profit. Where's the outrage over that?

How many people have money in mutual funds or their 401Ks tied up in Oil Company Stock? Further, how many do and don't even realize it while they gripe about oil profits? Sad fact of the matter is, a windfall profits tax that the Populists and their leaching power whore buddies in office seem to threaten will do nothing but further hamper supply and damage many average citizen's investment portfolios. Way to stick it to yourself. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Too many people don't understand the difference between "profit" and "profit margin". The profit is how much money you take in. The profit margin is how much money you have left to keep as income, AFTER you have paid all your related business expenses to keep the business running.

Time and time again it has been proven that the oil companies are not price gouging. But that doesn't sit well with people too ignorant to understand what a profit margin is, or to understand basic economics like supply and demand. What ARE they teaching in government schools these days? Nothing practical, apparently.

Pat at Born Again Redneck Yogi has more, with some great excerpts from Jon Markman:

What a gas!

[...] Higher prices at the pump today are a matter of simple economics. U.S. refiners have the ability to churn out 17 million barrels of gasoline per day. Demand is around 22 million barrels per day. To make up the difference, we bring in gasoline from foreign refiners, which means that, at the margins, pump prices are set by import prices.

Total U.S. demand for oil products is up 2.7% year to date, boosted in part by the surge in cold weather in February. But since we are far from the only country importing gasoline and other key refined products, we don't have a lot of say in what those prices are.

Gasoline, like crude oil, is auctioned worldwide to the highest bidder, and with the dollar weak and overseas economic growth strong because of our fantastic appetite for iPods made in China and T-shirts made in Costa Rica, we have to pay up to keep our supply coming in. And that's all there is to it. [...]

It's not hard to understand. Too many people are not paying attention, and are thus becoming part of the problem instead of the solution, which requires understanding what's actually happening. The links I've provided here discuss the realities involved, and what we realistically can do about it. Knowlege is Power.
     

Ethanol Nonsense is wasting taxpayers money

I can't believe we are going forward with subsidizing Ethanol. The evidence against this as a practical solution is overwhelming. From John Stossel:

The Many Myths of Ethanol

[...] If ethanol's so good, why does it need government subsidies? Shouldn't producers be eager to make it, knowing that thrilled consumers will reward them with profits?

But consumers won't reward them, because without subsidies, ethanol would cost much more than gasoline.

The claim that using ethanol will save energy is another myth. Studies show that the amount of energy ethanol produces and the amount needed to make it are roughly the same. "It takes a lot of fossil fuels to make the fertilizer, to run the tractor, to build the silo, to get that corn to a processing plant, to run the processing plant," Taylor says.

And because ethanol degrades, it can't be moved in pipelines the way that gasoline is. So many more big, polluting trucks will be needed to haul it.

More bad news: The increased push for ethanol has already led to a sharp increase in corn growing -- which means much more land must be plowed. That means much more fertilizer, more water used on farms and more pesticides.

This makes ethanol the "solution"?

But won't it at least get us unhooked from Middle East oil? Wouldn't that be worth the other costs? Another myth. [...]

Read the whole article for the rest of the myths, and for a possible reason why Ethanol is being pushed anyway. Hint: it has to do with Iowa and elections.



Once again, government is doing something just for the sake of making it look like they are doing something to solve a problem, even though it really isn't. Isn't it time to put an end to this useless and wasteful posturing?
     

Slaves to Fashion or Fascism?

If only this were a joke. The Cox & Forkum blog has many links to articles and more pictures and videos of the harassment and arrests that have been happing in Iran as the Islamic Dress Code Crackdown continues. Here are just a few samples:









Men are not exempt from harassment or arrest. Their crime? Wearing short sleeves, tight pants, or western hairstyles?







Here is a woman being arrested for not dressing correctly. The policeman KICKS her into the car:

Hejab in Iran new
Uploaded by siamakold

Sometimes it's more than just harassment or a kick. Blood can flow, as these poor women discovered:

Iranian Fashion Police Publicly Bludgeon Women

The cartoon is not exaggerating about the violence. And they call this the religion of peace?
     

Iranian Fashion Police Publicly Bludgeon Women

Police, Improperly Clad Women Clash In Tehran

Male and female police officers clashed with women who were not dressed according to the Islamic dress code.

The clashes, which took place at Haft Tir Square in Tehran, came during the current Iranian security forces campaign to enforce the dress code.

One girl who refused to get into the police car was beaten by police, and removed from the area by civilians who were called to the scene.

Source: Rooz, Iran, May 21, 2007

My God!!! They're Beating Their Women to a Bloody Pulp!

[...] The Iranian blogosphere is all over this...
Will America ignore this brutality?????????? [...]

Iran Religious Police Now Beating Women in Public

[...] today's leftists are neither feminist nor progressive as they seethe and fume and argue for a complete abandonment of the women who are beaten, imprisoned, murdered and disappeared not only in Iran, but throughout the barbaric Islamist world.

I suppose when the world, even the United States, gives you a pass for murdering innocent civilians worldwide, beating up and murdering your own women becomes that much easier. [...]

Disgusting, but unfortunately not surprising. If they do this in public, imagine what they do behind closed doors?


Related Link:

Iranian Fashion Police at work... literally
     

Competition for OLPC: shameful, or good?

The CBS program "60 Minutes" recently did a feature on their show about the OLPC Project (One Laptop Per Child). OLPC is a non-profit organization devoted to developing a $100 laptop that could replace textbooks for children in developing nations, and greatly improve educational standards and opportunities.

The video is 13 minutes long, and is available on the CBS website:


What If Every Child Had A Laptop?
Lesley Stahl Reports On The Dream And The Difficulties Of Getting A Computer To Every Child

The page has a transcript of the story, as well as link to the video that was aired. I strongly recommend watching the video; it's a fascinating story, and a look at the vision OLPC is working to create.

During the course of the interview, the head of the OLPC Program, and it's inspiration, Nicholas Negroponte, blasts Intel, which has a competing product, The Classmate PC. He claims Intel is selling their laptop at reduced cost, to undermine the OLPC project. Says Negroponte:

[...] For Nicholas Negroponte it’s not just business – it’s personal. It’s about his dream, his baby.

"Has Intel hurt you and the mission?" Stahl asks.

"Yes, Intel has hurt the mission enormously," Negroponte says.

These laptops are prototypes. To get them into mass production, Negroponte needs at least 3 million orders which he thought he’d have by now. But so far he has lots of promises but no definite orders.

And he blames Intel. He spends almost all his time – about 330 days a year he says – lobbying government officials, going from one country to the next. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) What the program isn't telling you, is why governments are hesitating to place orders.

Negroponte is fond of saying that OLPC isn't a laptop program, it's an EDUCATION program. That's debatable. But there is no doubt that Negroponte has particular educational uses in mind with his laptop. Apparently he does not believe in structured curriculum or testing; teachers are supposed to be "co-learners" rather than leaders; he has some very free-thinking ideas about learning. One Laptop Per Child has based their project on a teaching method called Constructionism.

I have no objection to that; it's fine to try new things. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, then we still can learn from that. But the government education ministries and departments who are interested in purchasing these laptops don't necessarily want to spend millions to experiment on their kids: they want a solid curriculum. Some have said they want the option to run Windows and more conventional software on the laptops. The OLPC laptop, at present, can't run Windows. It uses a customized version of Linux.

Other companies, like Intel, are offering more options. Intel's Classmate PC can use Windows or Linux. If Negroponte wants to be the only game in town, so he can push his "Constructionist" education agenda, then he's not being realistic, or fair. Having multiple choices is better for everyone.

Wayan Vota at OLPC News makes the case that the competition between OLPC and Intel is a GOOD thing:

OLPC XO vs. Intel Classmate PC, a Beneficial Competition

[...] In his 60 Minutes interview, Negroponte says that "Yes, Intel has hurt the mission enormously," while in a recent lecture at MIT he accused Intel of trying to sell Classmates below cost just to dissuade governments from committing to OLPC. Professor Negroponte's summation of all this?:

"Intel should be ashamed of itself. It’s just – it’s just shameless."

Actually, no, Dr. Negroponte, its not shameless at all, its competition. Beneficial competition for everyone involved: OLPC, Intel, and the developing world.

First off, the pressure from Intel has made OLPC more responsive to government realities. Gone is Negroponte' arrogance around only dealing with heads of state and only for one million unit orders. He is now more open to different stakeholders and more manageable laptop lots. Gone is a Constructionist focus from the OLPC mission statement, replaced by a new-found focus on educational content.

Next, Intel is engaging in the All-American game of catch-up to the OLPC thought leadership. Intel is increasing its focus on the developing world as a real market, by developing new computing products like the Classmate PC. It is also centering the World Ahead program on the developing world outside of India and China. Last but not least, OLPC has broken Intel from its Microsoft myopia, spurring a Linux Classmate PC.

Now the real winners in this competition are the people in the developing world. [...]

Bravo! Wayan nails it down! See the full article for the embedded links, and further examples of why this competition is all for the good.

And Bravo to the OLPC team, for thinking outside of the box and creating an incredible machine that many people thought could not be done. Now, instead of whining about competition, think outside the box again and start marketing what you created, in order to finance the mission's vision.

OLPC's XO laptop can revolutionize the laptop industry, not just in developing countries, but worldwide. Many people, adult individuals as well as students in the developed and prosperous nations, would gladly pay for a commercial version, which could subsidize the OLPC Project. Some capitalistic savy and know-how can even help the dreams of a non-profit organization come true. Let's hope the OLPC project decides to take the best of both worlds and run with it.
     

$100 laptop: what it's about, what they have done

Here is a video, about 6 minutes long, about the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project. The project team members talk about their work on the project, about what they have done and what they are attempting to do.

Source URL: Awesome Tech Podcast!!! OLPC $100 Laptop

Monday Funnies 05/21/07

Farm Report 05/20/07

The "ladies" on bug patrol. They quite enjoy being free-range, but unfortunately have taken to laying half their eggs in the coup, and the other half outside in the brush. So practically every day there is an Easter Egg hunt at Robin's Wood.

In the background, the tall stick structure is a frame we've put around the cherry tree, to support netting to keep the Bluejays off. The squarish structure further back to the left is a pergola that Andy built for our Golden Kiwi vines.



Apple blossom time. This is the latest blooming branch of our Frankenstein apple tree (it has several different apple tree grafts on it, which bloom at different times, with different blooms).



Here are our Guinea fowl keets. We got them when they were just a few days old. I was going to take a picture of them when they were cute little chicks, but they grew up too fast. Here they are about 8 weeks old.



In the foreground, the blue flowering shrub is our Ceanothos, the blooms are already fading, I should have taken the picture a week earlier. In the background is our pergola. The vines are still too short to see.



All the leaves have unfolded by now; spring is sliding into summer.



The Calla lillies are adapting well to their new home on slope of our lawn. They don't seem to mind the clay soil.



Here is our blooming Columbine. The garden is singing, with the promise of many more blooms to come.



A Springtime cloud drama unfolding over the ocean as the sun sets. Another day at Robin's Wood comes to a close.
     

Intel's "Classmate PC" is one classy machine

I've previously posted about the OLPC project, (One Laptop Per Child), making cheap laptop computers availible for children in developing nations. Well, it seems they aren't the only ones. OLPC has competition.

Intel has created a similar, but more expensive flash memory laptop called The Classmate PC. It uses 1 to 2 gigs of flash memory, can run Windows or Linux, and is currently in the $400 price range.




They are higher priced than the OLPC machines, which last I heard were going to be $175 each. But the Classmate also has a bit more ability; it's able to run a version of Windows XP, which the OLPC machine is unable to do currently.




The Classmate PC program is also a bit further along than OLPC, having already produce and tested units in the field.




The devices have already undergone trial runs in Nigeria and Brazil, where they have been enthusiastically embraced. Intel has two videos from these trials on their website:



Nigeria – Abuja Pilot [video]

This pilot project launched in September 2006, at the Junior Secondary School in Jabi, Abuja, after a brief training session for four of the teachers. It has successfully completed its first academic term in the school curriculum.

The project objective was to explore the outcomes of a one-on-one experience of students with their own Intel powered classmate PC: how effective will new technology be as teachers teach students utilizing this new platform?

Brazil - Bradesco Foundation Pilot [video]

The EEBP Bradesco Foundation of Campinas was established in 1975 to provide education for the children of employees. It subsequently expanded its mission to reach under priveldged children across the region and provide educational and professional opportunities to them.

The foundation currently serves approximately 3,200 students ages 6 to 15 years old, as well as offering adult literacy courses.

This is great for the kids. The price of the laptops will probably drop, the more they are mass produced. Also, flash memory is being increasingly used in cell phones, ipods, pen drives and other devices; the more the chips are produced in mass quantities, the lower the price will, as it has been doing.

Both the Classemate PC and the OLPC units are made for children in schools; they are not available to the general public. Both programs take steps to insure that the units do not get stolen or resold for uses outside of schools.

Will such devices ever become available for the rest of us? Samsung is already making flash memory laptops for adults. They are still very pricey, but the prices will continue to fall as they become more common, and flash memory chips get cheaper.

I've read that India is also working on a classroom flash memory laptop of it's own. I've no doubt that the factories that build these kinds of machines are working on higher end commercial versions to sell eventually. But they have to be careful to not suddenly undercut the market for regular laptops, which these factories make for their big brand-name clients. It is most likely through those same clients that they will release flash memory machines for the rest of us.

If you would like to read a review of the Classmate PC, Riyad Emeran at TrustedReviews.com has one from last September:

Intel Classmate PC - EXCLUSIVE
     

OLPC project on TV's "60 Minutes" this Sunday

Announcement at DesktopLinux.com:
Linux-powered OLPC on "60 Minutes" May 20

CBS TV's "60 Minutes" will feature the Linux-powered OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) device on Sunday, May 20 at 7 p.m. EDT/PDT. Project director Nicholas Negroponte will talk about his dream of putting a laptop computer into the hands of every child as an educational aid.

CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl will report on the project's progress in such countries as Cambodia and Brazil. [...]

That should be interesting. See the link for more details.





Related Links:

One Laptop Per Child News

$100 laptop prototype is here

OLPC: becoming available in America?


UPDATE:

Competition for OLPC: shameful, or good?
Has a link to video of the 60 Minutes broadcast.
     

The road the Democrats are taking us down...

From former NYC mayor Ed Koch:
Democrats Force Surrender Now, Terror Later

Up until now a strong supporter of the war, he's now taking a bleak view. Koch claims the Democrats have won, crippling our forces and achieving their goal of making sure we cannot win. He suggests giving an ultimatum to regional Arab states and our NATO allies, that unless they step in with boots on the ground and assist, we will leave in 30 days!

Even if you don't agree with that assessment, his reasons are interesting to consider. He also predicts the Democrats are going to pay a terrible price for this in the future, when they will have to own what they have done.




From Bernard Lewis:
Was Osama Right?
Islamists always believed the U.S. was weak. Recent political trends won't change their view.

Lewis maintains that since the 1970s, the Islamists believed the Western powers were weaker than the Soviets, whose strength they feared more. When the Soviet empire finally collapsed, the West saw it as our victory; yet the Islamists saw it as theirs. They believed the West would be easy to defeat.

Americas initial response to 9-11 changed that assumption, but as time has wore on, and with current opposition by the Democrats succeeding, they now have reason to believe that they were indeed right after all. And if that is what they believe, then what do you suppose will come next?

In this article Lewis unfortunately repeats the often stated myth that the US created Osama bin Laden by funding him, despite evidence to the contrary. Yet he still gives us a good explanation of the Islamist's strategy, how and why they came to hold those views, and how they must necessarily interpret current events.
     

DEMOCRATS TO CHANGE 185 YEAR-OLD HOUSE RULE TO ALLOW TAX HIKES WITHOUT HAVING TO VOTE

From Jonah Goldberg at National Review:
Pelosi's Gambit

[...] In a stunning move, House Democrats today revealed they will attempt to rewrite House rules that have gone unchanged since 1822 in order to make it possible to increase taxes and government spending without having to vote and be held accountable. House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today vowed Republicans will use every available means to fight this unprecedented change.

“This is an astonishing attempt by the majority leadership to duck accountability for tax-and-spend policies the American people do not want,” Boehner said. “The majority leadership is gutting House rules that have been in place for 185 years so they can raise taxes and increase government spending without a vote. House Republicans will use every tool available to fight this abuse of power.” [...]

Absolutely frigging unbelievable. But hardly surprising, really. Socialists like Nancy Pelosi prefer not to be encumbered with things like votes and accountability. I lived in Pelosi-Land (San Francisco) for 23 years, and know this only too well from experience.

Socialists like her dominate the Democratic party now, and I think you will find they have no respect for American traditions and institutions; they just wish to abolish them and institute their own socialist agenda.



Pelosi promised the American people that Democrats would have the most honest and most open government. This is exactly the opposite, and just goes to show that socialists like her will say ANYTHING to get into office, and then just do what they want, trashing our institutions to advance their agenda without our consent. Do read the rest of Jonah's article for the dirty details.

(Hat Tip to Pat at Born Again Redneck Yogi)
     

Dog is surrogate mom for tiger cubs

From the AP, at BrisbaneTimes.com:
Tiger triplets at Chinese zoo nursed by dog

Newborn tiger triplets in eastern China are being nursed by a dog after their mother rejected them.

Officials at the Jinan Paomaling Wild Animal World in Shandong province are calling the cubs "One," "Two" and "Three."

They have been nursed by a dog since they were rejected by their mother shortly after birth 10 days ago, said Paomaling manager Chen Yucai.

The triplet's adoptive mother, a mixed breed farm dog named "Huani," is expected to nurse the tigers for about a month or until their appetites outpace her supply, Chen said.

Chen said it is common for Chinese zoos to use surrogate dog mothers to nurse rejected tiger cubs.

Huani has nursed tigers from Paomaling before, he said.

"The family is getting along well and seems to enjoy each other," Chen said.

AP

Mom looks a bit concerned, you wonder if she is feeling any little tiger teeth yet. Yikes!


Related Link:

Tiger adopts little pork chops as her own
The Sriracha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi, Thailand (near Bangkok), well known for mixing species. also raises tigers and dogs together.