The most famous of these is waterboarding (a torture technique that creates a sensation of drowning, invented during the Spanish Inquisition).

Here is a Bush quote which I’ll leave you to ponder.

“The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror”

When a President calls sensory torture a “most valuable tool,” it shows his views on the value of human life. John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton have all denounced waterboarding, but Bush continues to proclaim it’s value. I often hear Republicans blaming the left-wing influence in the legislature for halting things like abortion bans, but lets consider a situation in which such a bill makes it’s way to the oval office. Would George Bush have valued the human rights of the unborn like he values the human rights of our enemies?

 He would probably be quick to pass an abortion ban, but would that be a move to satisfy the conservative base of his party, or would he pass it because he really, truly believes in it? Based on current evidence, it causes one to wonder.

~Brian~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2LvSJimTTc

 Just checking some highlights of the debate last night. In this clip, Hillary is incredibly ungracious. She cheekily asks if Obama needs another pillow, and claims that the debates are skewed toward giving her the hard questions first. The moderator keeps trying to change the topic while she continually tries to get a word in, shouting and pleading, and making long sentences to be heard and get the most camera time. I hope no one was seriously considering voting for her. I disagree with both democrats on most all the issues, just to clarify that. Obama says she was putting up a bit of a filibuster during the debate, which I can understand. Both candidates proceed intterupt each other, each trying to get the last word, granted obama acted less like he was trying to grab the spotlight and make the moderator hate his job. Since when are both candidates 10 year olds?

And then there are the offensive comments made earlier yesterday by a McCain campain speaker. You can watch those here. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFceLPhAC28

 I find this head case hilarious. No wonder he is a radio host, eveything that comes out of his mouth is controversial. It’s a really bad blunder to get introduced by this guy (even if McCain apologised afterward). There are no good candidates left in this race. I guess we’ll have to see if any conservatives run as independents, because the picture isn’t pretty from where I am standing.

~Brian~

Thanks is due to Mr. W for the speedy news.

 We have sadly been informed that our very good friends the Es’ house burned down this past Sunday (Feb 24). They are safe; from some research via local papers, I have gathered that they sold their home (a bed and breakfast) and moved into the new residence 3 days before the fire, so this is really sudden. Cause of the fire is currently being attributed to a malfunctioning water heater. The articles state that the residence was owned by Mrs. E’s sister (a family-owned rental property which they were staying in after their move). Their dog, Molly, perished in the fire. She is pictured above. As far as I know, the only things they have are the clothes on their backs and one charred photo saved from the inferno. Please help us lift them up in prayer. Molly is the dog shown in the photo.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q36-Tii-hXk

 ~Brian~

“NASA has selected a proposal by an MIT-led team to develop plans for an array of radio telescopes on the far side of the moon that would probe the earliest formation of the basic structures of the universe. The agency announced the selection and 18 others related to future observatories on Friday, Feb.15.”

Nasa is researching the basic structures of the universe? I thought we were going to Mars by 2011? No need for moon telescopes for that. Oh, right… maybe this is why the Mars Scout mission was just put aside for 2013, after President Bush told the nation several times that 2011 would see the return of Americans to otherworldy soil.

And here is another bit of information that hasn’t been getting it’s due exposure… The new Mars lander will arrive to the red planet on May 25. We have two rovers there already, both of which will be celebrating four years of discovery soon… Not bad at all, considering they were supposed to last 90 days. I guess all our tax dollars went into massively over-engineering them against every danger, but seriously, i’m not sure I would trust whomever made those estimates with any important calculations in the future. All that aside, this lander is a bit different. Nasa isn’t controlling this one, because this is a project of the University of Arizona… interesting. I’d like to see less government funding and more private research go into the space program. Maybe our deficits would be less severe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_%28spacecraft%29

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/

~Brian~

A bad comparison, really. Henry ford actually invented something. This is existing technology applied in well-known ways. But it certainly resembles a model-T doesn’t it? 

From the video, it appears to be going 34 mph on 48 volts… not bad. The motor looks exactly like a starter motor off an SUV. And he is sitting on a chair mounted over a long row of batteries attached to the main chassis beams. The steering would appear to be rack and pinion (or something similar), controlled by a gallant pair of bike handlebars.

 ~Brian~

In one of his house speeches, Paul made this statement:

A free society rejects all notions of involuntary servitude, whether by draft, or the confiscation of the fruits of our labor, through the personal income tax.

-Ron Paul

I expect that Paul will do well in libertarian-minded New Hampshire. We will find out 2nite.

~Brian~

~Brian~

(one of my favorite Christmas songs)

The weather outside is frightful

the fire inside delightful

and since we have no place to go

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

well let me go back to school

~Chrissy~