C-Poll

The latest C-Poll is closed. You can read all about it here!

August 27, 2005

I DON'T...LIKE...SPAM!



Attention, whoever suddenly started spamming this blog today.... GO AWAY.




You're a fool if you think I'll let your "comments" remain just because you pretended to say something flattering about C-Pol.... as if you had actually read anything here.




If you have something to say that's relevant to the topics posted here, you're welcome to stick around. Otherwise, take a hike.


August 26, 2005

Socialists and National Socialists join hands in support of Cindy Sheehan

Moonbat Central reports that the antisemitic white nationalists of Stormfront are coming down to join Cindy Sheehan's circus in Crawford this weekend, and that Sheehan and her fellow travelers apparently are just fine with that. Read the whole article to see how Sheehan and the Nazis have found common cause in many areas.

It's easier to just grumble at W for this

(Click image to view full size)

August 25, 2005

Selfish Americans, Europeans, Russians and Japanese threaten Third World by failing to reproduce

An August 23 AP article sounds the familiar theme that global population growth is being led by developing countries. But then the article takes an interesting twist:
The rapid growth in developing countries, combined with declining birth rates in some industrialized nations could affect the ability of the wealthy to aid the poor, said a demographer who prepared the group's report.
The global wealth transfer from the pockets of the taxpayers of the developed world to the pockets of the leaders of the developing world is gravely threatened by this trend.

If things continue in this way, the developing countries may be forced to raise themselves by their own bootstraps, rather than ours.

(P.S. Before anyone accuses me of being a cruel, heartless monster who hates the poor, please note that my main point can be found in the third paragraph.)

August 24, 2005

Abortion rate exceeds birth rate in Russia

Russia is dying.

Bloomberg reports that reported abortions outnumbered live births by more than 100,000 last year in that country—there were likely many more unreported abortions. Add to this the facts that the death rate (out-of-womb death rate, that is) exceeds the birth rate by 50%, and that there is no immigrant inflow worth speaking of, and we have a significant geopolitical disaster in the making.

A vanishing Russia has nothing to fear from its European neighbors (who are dealing with their own population crisis), but it has plenty to fear from its neighbors to the south: the Muslims in Central Asia and the mineral-hungry Chinese in East Asia, neither of which would hesitate to move northward at the opportune time.

Interestingly, Russian scientists blame the abortion rate on poverty—which makes sense until one realizes that most poverty-stricken countries have out of control birth rates. Europeans have apparently decided that children are a hindrance to their pursuit of happiness, and it looks like many Russians have concluded the same.


(Credit: Adam's Blog)

August 22, 2005

OT: Death by caffeine

For those of us still trying to wake up on a Monday morning, here's a site that answers a question I'm sure we've all asked before:

How many servings of [my favorite caffeinated drink] would it take to literally kill me?

(Credit: Jonah G.)

August 20, 2005

ACLU: Drug-using pregnant mom innocent of harming preborn baby, since baby isn't person

The American Civil Liberties Union, champion of depraved worldviews:
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union are appealing the conviction of an Easton woman who was accused of endangering a child by using cocaine while she was pregnant.

[...]

Defense attorneys had sought an acquittal, arguing there was never a risk of harm to another person -- because a fetus doesn't meet the definition of a person under state law. But a Talbot County judge ruled that the person who suffered the risk was the baby after it was born.

ACLU attorneys said prosecuting women for their actions during pregnancy is unprecedented elsewhere in Maryland and claim it is an attempt to create a new crime by charging pregnant women for harming their fetuses.

August 19, 2005

Yet another reason to kill preborn babies

I mentioned earlier that the discovery of a new cell type in umbilical cord blood might deal a setback to the Culture of Death's quest to ensure that as many babies as possible never see the light of day, but this August 18 WaPo article reminds me that the CoD is fighting on many fronts:
An experimental therapy that uses skin cells grown from an aborted fetus successfully healed severe burns in eight children, sparing them the need for skin grafts, according to a study published today.

The treatment led to the regrowth of essentially normal skin on second- and third-degree burns in about two weeks, according to the report by a Swiss research team. The scarring and tissue contraction seen after many burns did not occur, and dressing changes were easier and less painful, the researchers said.

The fetal tissue promotes growth of the patient's own skin cells rather than becoming incorporated into the recipient's skin as a true "graft." Further, it appears that a piece of fetal skin smaller than a postage stamp could be used to produce enough cells to treat hundreds of patients.

Yet another reason to homeschool

CNSNews.com, August 19:
Nearly two out of every three high school students and more than one out of every four middle school students in America will be exposed to drug use when they return to class this fall, according to a study released Thursday by the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

"This summer and fall, 62 percent of high schoolers -- some 10.6 million -- and 28 percent of middle schoolers -- some 2.4 million -- will go to schools where drugs are used, kept or sold," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., chairman and president of CASA.
My wife and I have yet to see a convincing reason to make us regret our decision to homeschool our son.

Another grilled-cheese sandwich discovery

Excerpt from top-notch satire at Sharp as a Marble:
Crawford Tx. – Thousands of people gathered today to try to catch a glimpse of a grilled cheese sandwich that supposedly sported the likeness of Mother Sheehan, the Patron Saint of Left Causes. Mrs. Sheehan is grieving her lost son Casey, who was killed in combat after apparently being forced to volunteer for military duty, and currently camping near President Bush’s vacation ranch to protest the war. Mrs. Sheehan was recently bestowed the highest honor the Left can give: Victim.

“There’ve been rumors of Mother Sheehan’s apparition showing up on the sides of insurance buildings and even around leaky cracks beneath over passes, “ said one Chairman of the Democratic National Committee who requested his name be withheld. “But this is the real deal. Mother Sheehan has spoken to us through Parkay, whole wheat and two slices of Kraft Singles. I swear I could almost feel her pain when some of the cheese dripped onto my finger.” The chairman refused to comment on speculations that the resulting burn resembled Howard Cosell.
(Note: Yes, I'm aware that Mrs Sheehan has left Crawford to visit her ailing mother. No, I don't think this fact makes it inappropriate to criticize her views.)

Juxtaposition

Story 1: Teen Killed By Tiger At Kansas Sanctuary

Story 2: Group Wants to Bring African Animals to North America

Newly-discovered cell type may deal setback to Culture of Death

This appears to be very good news:
A reported breakthrough in stem cell research may lend new weight to the campaign against the use of human embryos in research, one of the most pressing ethical controversies facing governments in the U.S. and elsewhere.

American and British researchers say that they have found, in umbilical cord blood, a new type of cell -- neither embryonic nor "adult" -- which is more versatile than the latter while avoiding the ethical dilemmas surrounding the former.

And in a further development, the scientists have found a way to mass-produce the new cells, sidestepping the problem of limited supply of embryonic cells.

The cord-blood-derived-embryonic-like stem cells (CBEs) share many of the same characteristics of embryonic cells and one day might be used to treat injuries or diseases.

The researchers already have successfully turned the cells into human liver tissue.
If this method lives up to its promise, I'll be watching to see if the celebrity proponents of embryo harvesting endorse it.

The worst crime of the 20th century?

Not Hitler's genocide, nor Stalin's, nor Mao's. Based on a comparison of the number of unjust deaths, the clear winner is the global ban of the insecticide DDT. Pretty much every scientific claim made to support the ban has been thoroughly refuted, and now Rachel Carson along with her fellow travelers can claim credit for tens of millions of deaths from malaria, a disease that had pretty much been eradicated in the Western world at the time the ban was imposed.

Despite the overwhelming scientific evidence, nobody of consequence dares to call for the lifting of the ban. And the death toll continues to mount.

August 18, 2005

No, Christopher Walken isn't running for president

A lot of sites are buzzing about Walken2008, and far too many people are taking it seriously. It's a hoax (a pretty well-crafted one, albeit with a few rough edges) perpetrated by a bunch of strange people over at a site called General Mayhem. I'm not giving the link, because the folks over on that forum go out of their way to be offensive, but if you really must, you can track it down yourself.

One easy tip-off for me was the "press release" on the website announcing to the press that he wasn't going to announce his candidacy to the press just yet.

Celebrate infidelity

...with Secret Lover greeting cards. Not that the creator of the cards, Cathy Gallagher is endorsing adultery:
Gallagher says she doesn’t talk about the social implications: “I’m neither a crusader nor an advocate for this lifestyle. I’m a businesswoman.” As for her critics, she says, “People are entitled to their opinions.”
Well, Mrs. Gallagher, brace yourself for an onslaught of opinions.