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Original Connections Episodes:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Connections II Episodes:
1-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16 | 17-18 | 19-20
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Connections: 301
Friday, May 30, 2008
A Tale of Two Shootings
[This was suggested by our buddy Paul via the tipline.]
Remember the massacre at Luby's in Killeen, TX, back on October 16, 1991? A similar death toll might have been tallied by the shooter at Player's Bar and Grill in Winnemucca, NV on Sunday, were he the only armed individual on the site. But he wasn't:
(emphasis mine)
Hasn't the coverage of this shooting on the MainScream Media been great? Oh, that's right. The MSM won't touch a story like this, because it doesn't fit the narrative. They'll never want us to know about a concealed-carry permit holder stopping a killing spree. Instead, they'll take a Columbine or Va. Tech as a reason to create even more "gun free zones". In many states, any place that serves alcohol is such a zone. I wonder how many of the patrons of Player's whose lives were saved realize how lucky they are that it wasn't "gun free" .
The subsequent investigation lead detectives to believe that Villagomez entered the bar and at some point began firing multiple rounds. At least two of these rounds struck and killed the other two decedents, Jose Torres age, 20 and his brother Margarito Torres, age 19 both of Winnemucca. At some point during this shooting spree Villagomez allegedly stopped and according to witnesses reloaded his high capacity handgun and began shooting again.
It was at this point that the second shooter, the Reno resident, produced a concealed handgun and proceeded to fire upon Villagomez who succumbed to his wounds. The Reno resident was in possession of a valid Concealed Carry Permit issued through the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office.
After further investigation as well as ongoing discussions with Humboldt County District Attorney Russell Smith, the decision was made that the shooting of Villagomez by the Reno man was a justifiable homicide as outlined in Nevada Revised Statute 200.120 and 200.160. Because of this the Reno man was released from police custody.
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]
Book Review "Shadow Warriors"
I read Kenneth Timmerman's book, "Shadow Warriors" a while ago. I was a bit concerned when I started reading it that it might be a right-wing version of the fevered conspiracy theories coming out of the left with alarming frequency these days. But after the first 100 or so pages I understood that Timmerman had tightly documented his claims and had provided evidence for the perfidy of the people he names here as traitors to our country.
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]
The basic premise of the book is that there are elements within the CIA and State Department that essentially refuse any responsibility to those elected to direct and oversee them, and which work to subvert the aims of those elected officials and in extreme cases to overthrow them in whatever way possible. Timmerman isn't coy about the identities of these people--he names names and provides details of their efforts to force an American loss in Iraq and to keep any oversight from lessening their grip on the control of their respective bureaucratic fiefdoms. He also points out the mostly Democratic legislators who collude with these traitors in attempting to undermine the President of the United States.
George Bush doesn't get off scot-free in this, however. The president is shown to be too willing to compromise with his opponents in the hope of reaching some non-existent middle ground. Evidently this tactic stood him in good stead as governor of Texas. But in Washington it just cedes the high ground to the enemy, the permanent government, and demoralizes the people working for the administration who come to realize that no one has their backs.
If you're not aware of just how rotten things have become within our diplomatic and intelligence communities, you need to read this book. If you are already aware, you still need to read this book to use as ammunition against all those who will parrot the disinformation provided to them by the permanent government through their public information arm, the mainstream media.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Today in History: May 29
- 1453 You can't go back to Constantinople. Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire.
- 1736 Patrick Henry "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
- 1903 Thanks for the memories Bob Hope.
- 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on Tenzing Norgay's (adopted) 39th birthday.
- 1990 Dow Jones Industrial Average hits a record 2,870.49
Yesterday | Tomorrow
Today in History: May 28
- 1754 The French and Indian War: in the first engagement of the war, Virginia militia under 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party in the Battle of Jumonville Glen.
- 1908 Ian Fleming, "Casino Royale" 1953, "Live and Let Die" 1954, "Moonraker" 1955, "Diamonds Are Forever" 1956, "From Russia with Love" 1957, "Dr. No" 1958, "Goldfinger" 1959, "For Your Eyes Only" 1960, "Thunderball" 1961, "The Spy Who Loved Me" 1962, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" 1963, "You Only Live Twice" 1964, "The Man with the Golden Gun" 1965, "Octopussy and The Living Daylights" 1966.
- 1987 A robot probe finds the wreckage of the USS Monitor near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
>
Qwer, having done one hell of a job, has handed the TIH baton to me for a bit. Don't expect as much science (I don't recognize the names). Feel free to tell me anything I missed or point out up-coming goodies.
Book Review "Liberal Fascism"
Very few conservatives have not had the experience of being called
"fascist" by someone on the left. In most cases the leftists use
"fascist" as a shorthand for "we hate you." However, words have actual
meanings, and "fascist" is no exception.
A new book, "Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left,
>From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning," by Jonah Goldberg, explores
the cultural and political underpinnings of fascism as it was practiced
in Germany and Italy. The policies and principles advocated by liberals
from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Hillary Clinton were remarkably similar to
those of the classical fascists. They believed in free health care and
guaranteed jobs. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent lots of
money on public education. They purged the church from public policy
and inserted state authority into every aspect of daily life. They
declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun
control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for
the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in
universities, where campus speech codes were nearly universal.
Does this mean today's liberals are also genocidal maniacs, intent on
conquering the world? Of course not. But it's hard to deny that modern
"progressivism" and classical fascism share the same intellectual roots.
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full post.]
Thanks Doug Loss!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Today in History: May 27
- 1927 In an obvious assault on alphabetical order, the Ford Motor Company ceases manufacturing the Ford Model T and retools plants to make the Ford Model A.
- 1907 Rachel Carson, author of the book "Silent Spring" which lead to a worldwide ban on the use of DDT.
Paul Hermann Muller was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his 1939 discovery of DDT as an insecticide useful in the control of malaria, yellow fever and many other insect-vector diseases.
One of these two is not like the other.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Today in History: May 26
- 1667 French mathematician Abraham de Moivre born; a founder of Analytic Trigonometry and Probability Theory; De Moivre's formula: (cos x + i sin x)^n = cos(nx) + i sin(xn); published The Doctrine of Chance (1718), a hit with gamblers.
- 1676 Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovers "animacules", using one of his microscopes looking in rainwater runoff from his roof -- making him the first microbiologist.
- 1826 English astronomer Richard Carrington born; discovered that during the solar cycle the zone of sunspots moves from the upper latitudes towards the equator; first to map sunspot motion, discovering that the sun rotates faster at the equator; first to record a solar flare. We are currently at solar minimum, awaiting the onset of Carrington Solar Cycle #24.
- 1907 American actor John Wayne (Marion Robert Morrison) born; Stagecoach (1939), They Were Expendable (1944), Red River (1948), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), The Quiet Man (1952), The High and the Mighty (1954), The Searchers (1956), The Wings of Eagles (1957), Rio Bravo (1959), The Alamo (1960), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Hatari! (1962), The Longest Day (1962), Donovan's Reef (1963), McLintock! (1963), In Harm's Way (1965), El Dorado (1967), The Green Berets (1968), True Grit (1969, Oscar Best Actor), Big Jake (1971), McQ (1974), The Shootist (1976).
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Today in History: May 26
- 1868 The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson ends, with Johnson being found not guilty by one vote.
- 1886 Al Jolson, American singer born. Would later star in the first full length "talkie", The Jazz Singer.
- 1907 John Wayne The prototypical American cowboy.
- 1969 Apollo 10 returns to earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
Today in History: May 25
- 1521 The Diet of Worms declared Protestant Reformer Martin Luther an outlaw and a heretic, banning his literature, and requiring his arrest.
- 1961 During a speech to a Joint Session of the United States Congress, U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced his support for the Apollo space program, with "the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth".
- 1977 Star Wars, a science fantasy film written and directed by George Lucas, was released, becoming one of the most successful films of all time.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Phoenix Landing
The Martian probe Phoenix is scheduled to drop onto the Martian North Pole Sunday evening.
Phoenix After nearly 10 months speeding across 422 million miles (679 million km), the Phoenix spacecraft is just days away from plunging into the Martian atmosphere on Sunday to land near the north pole of Mars.
For cable television subscribers without NASA TV or computer access for NASA's Sunday webcast, the Science Channel will also provide live Phoenix landing coverage and commentary from 7:00-9:00 p.m. EDT (2300-0100 GMT).
A cool video of how it's supposed to happen here.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
30,000 Scientists: AGW Is Wrong
Some 30,000 scientists have now signed to indicate their agreement with the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine's Global Warming Review Paper, "Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide". Read the report (here, as a web page) to get some highly interesting facts. This is the abstract:
A review of the research literature concerning the environmental consequences of increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide leads to the conclusion that increases during the 20th and early 21st centuries have produced no deleterious effects upon Earth's weather and climate. Increased carbon dioxide has, however, markedly increased plant growth. Predictions of harmful climatic effects due to future increases in hydrocarbon use and minor greenhouse gases like CO2 do not conform to current experimental knowledge. The environmental effects of rapid expansion of the nuclear and hydrocarbon energy industries are discussed.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Today in History: May 19
- 1848 Mexico ends the Mexican-American War by ratifying the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which cedes to the U.S. California, Nevada, Utah and parts of several states for USD $15 million in compensation. Mexico had started the War by invading the Republic of Texas ten years after it had been founded in response to General Santa Ana's abrogation of the Mexican constitution and assumption of dictatorial powers in 1836.
- 1914 Austrian-British molecular biologist Max Perutz born; 1962 Nobel (with John Kendrew), for deducing the structure of haemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Today in History: May 18
- 1048 Khorasan (northern Persian) mathematician, physicist and poet Omar Khayyám born; wrote Treatise on Demonstration of Problems of Algebra (1070), an advanced algebra text, and Explanations of the Difficulties in the Postulates of Euclid (1077). (For Heinlein buffs, this is Omar the tent-maker.)
- 1711 Ragusan (Dalmatian) mathematician Ruggiero Boscovich born; invented the process of three-observation orbit determinationa among numerous other discoveries.
- 1850 English physicist Oliver Heaviside born; predicted the ionosphere (also known as the Heaviside Layer), and its use for bouncing radio waves beyond the horizon.
- 1889 American chemist Thomas Midgley Jr. born; discovered tetraethyl lead (1921) making car engines safer and more powerful; the cleaning agent carbon tetrafluoride; and Freon, dichlorofluoromethane (1930), making refrigerators safer.
- 1897 Irish writer Bram Stoker publishes Dracula.
- 1897 American film director Frank Capra born; It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Lost Horizon (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), Why We Fight (1942), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Arsenic and Old Lace(1944), Pocketful of Miracles (1961).
- 1914 The Panama canal opens to cargo ships, greatly lowering the cost of shipping goods between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Today in History: May 17
- 1749 English surgeon Edward Jenner born; discovered a safe vaccine (cowpox pustule fluid) for smallpox. The term "vaccine", coined by Jenner, is from "vacca", Latin for "cow".
- 1836 Austrian-American chess player Wilhelm Steinitz born; invented the modern style of chess play; world champion from 1866 (his match against Adolf Anderssen, and given Paul Morphy's retirement) to 1894 (his loss to Emanuel Lasker).
- 1954 The Supreme Court unanimously ends state-mandated government school racial segregation in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The "Separate-but-Equal" approach had been used as a false front for separate-but-unequal facilities since the end of the Civil War (1865) and had been reinforced by Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
Friday, May 16, 2008
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