This Is It

I just watched the Michael Jackson documentary concert film, since it was available free here at work. I wasn’t much interested until I read the Variety review. I’d say Barker is pretty much on the money.

The last 50-year-old that light on his feet was Fred Astaire. It’s hard to believe Jackson was nearly dead, because he’s keeping up with dancers young enough to be his children. the “MJ” in this film is still the emotionally-stunted weirdo you remember – but also obviously still a major talent. It puts the lie to the idea that he was about to keel over.

I call it the “inadvertant documentary” because, while it’s meant as a valentine to Michael Jackson and his fans, it actually reveals a lot if you look around the edges. The opening will convince you that dancers are the saddest people in the world. And the picture it paints of the incredible, massive amount of work it takes to put on a giant show is fascinating. The mixers did an astoundingly good job on this film and much of this rehearsal footage sounds as good as a produced album. I, and a friend who is also in the business, was paying attention and I am convinced that these are the real live recordings and not studio work.

Jackson was able to assemble a group of amazing dancers and just awesomely tight musicians. Man, those people could play. And some of the arrangements (I’m looking at you, The Way You Make Me Feel) are really sweet. As Barker notes in Variety it’s also obvious that Michael still had his singing chops. Human Nature is just beautiful.

It’s interesting to note that when he’s singing and dancing he’s eloquent, and when he tries to talk it’s barely English. And in spite of Jackson’s earnest, childish, over-the-top environmentalism (if you can watch the little butterfly girl hug the world and not laugh you’re a better man than I) you just have to sing along and tap your toes.

The context of Jackson’s imminent death makes the whole thing bittersweet, and one cannot help but mourn that this amazing concert never got to happen. Even a friend who isn’t a Michael Jackson fan at all and never would have attended it was sorry it never took place. Kenny Ortega is to be thanked for making this movie. It’s not a goulish attempt to cash in on Jackson’s untimely death, but a huge gift to the dancers, musicians and crew who put their hearts and souls into an event that never happened. The best thing about it is seeing that it’s clear that they, and Jackson, really loved what they were doing. That’s what comes through, and that’s what makes This Is It, flaws and all, worth seeing.

Banana Boy Bowdlerizes Darwin

As I suspected. It has now been confirmed that Ray “Banana” Comfort has dishonestly bowdlerized his free edition of On The Origin of Species.

The copy his publisher sent me is missing no fewer than four crucial chapters, as well as Darwin’s introduction. Two of the omitted chapters, Chapters 11 and 12, showcase biogeography, some of Darwin’s strongest evidence for evolution. Which is a better explanation for the distribution of plants and animals around the planet: common ancestry or special creation? Which better explains why island species are more similar to species on the mainland closest to them, rather than to more distant species that share a similar environment? The answer clearly is common ancestry. Today, scientists continue to develop the science of biogeography, confirming, refining, and extending Darwin’s conclusions.

Likewise missing from Comfort’s bowdlerized version of the Origin is Chapter 13, where Darwin explained how evolution makes sense of classification, morphology, and embryology. To take a simple example, why do all land vertebrates (amphibians, mammals, and reptiles and birds) have four limbs? Not because four limbs are necessarily a superior design for land locomotion: insects have six, arachnids have eight, and millipedes have, well, lots. It’s because all land vertebrates descended with modification from a four-legged (“tetrapod”) ancestor. Since Darwin’s era, scientists have repeatedly confirmed that the more recently two species have shared a common ancestor, the more similar are their anatomy, their biochemistry, their embryology, and their genetics.

Ray Comfort may be a scientific illiterate but, hey, at least he’s deceptive.

Cell Size and Scale

Courtesy of the University of Utah, a wonderful illustration of micro-scale.

The amoeba turns out to be much larger than I imagined.

How to Win in Afghanistan

Michael Yon has one of his best-ever pieces on Afghanistan. He makes the compelling argument that it is not a country, but an illiterate teenager in need of adoption.

In Mr. Filkins’ article, a couple of seemingly small points are keyholes to profound realities, and to a few possible illusions.  For instance, the idea that Afghans are tired of fighting seems off.  Afghans often tell me they are tired of fighting but those words are inconsistent with the bitter fact that the war intensifies with every change of season.  The idea that Afghans are tired of war seems an illusion.  Some Afghans are tired.  I spend more time talking with older Afghans than with teenagers, and most of the older Afghans do seem weary.  Yet according to the CIA World Factbook, the median age is 17.6 years; meaning half of Afghans are estimated to be this age or below.  The culture is old, but the population is a teenager.  Most Afghans today probably had not reached puberty when al Qaeda launched the 9/11 attacks.  Eight years later, Afghanistan is more an illiterate kid than a country.  The median age for the U.S. is given at 36.7.  In addition to the tremendous societal disconnect between Americans and Afghans, there would be a generational gap even if those distant children were Americans.  Clearly this could lead to frustrations if we expect quick results.

We ask Afghans for help in defeating the enemies, yet the Afghans expect us to abandon them.  Importantly, Mr. Filkins pointed out that Afghans don’t like to see Americans living in tents.  Tents mean nomads.  It would be foolish for Afghans in “Talibanastan” to cooperate with nomadic Americans only to be eviscerated by the Taliban when the nomads pack up.  (How many times did we see this happen in Iraq?)  The Afghans want to see us living in real buildings as a sign of permanency.  The British at Sangin and associated bases live in temporary structures as is true with American bases in many places.  Our signals are clear.  “If you are coming to stay,” Afghans have told me in various ways, “build a real house.”  “Build a real office.”  “Don’t live in tents.”  We saw nearly the opposite in Iraq where pressure evolved to look semi-permanent.  The Dr. Jekyll–Mr. Hyde situation in Iraq seemed to seriously catch hold by 2006 or 2007, by which time Iraqis realized we were not going to steal oil and might decide to pull out while leaving them ablaze in civil war.

Victory (yes, I used the v-word, Barry) is possible but by no means assured. If you remember reading about that amazing mission to deliver a turbine to a hydroelectric project you should read how it has turned into a failure.

It’s going to be a long war no matter what.

Update:

Deebow has a relevant open letter to the president on Blackfive.

As an American, I demand that if the leaders that I freely elect are going to commit blood and treasure to the defeat of our enemies, then we do not go about it in vacillating half measures following incoherent policies that lead to indefinable outcomes spread over generations.

We fight to win, or we don’t fight at all.

If you are unwilling or you are unable to fulfill your role as Commander in Chief, then you should tender your resignation.

Update, and bumped:

Krauthammer has a good point.

We always think of Pakistan as a place in which you create a haven for the Afghan bad guys that we are attacking, but it works in the other way as well. You have got to have hammer and anvil. And the hammer now in Pakistan is the Pakistani army.

But unless we secure the Afghan areas on the other side, the bad guys will relocate and have sanctuary in Afghanistan.

That’s why the wars are linked, and that’s why the increase in the violence now in Pakistan is linked intimately with our decision on Afghanistan. And I worry that if you adopt the McChrystal-light strategy…a narrow strategy, holding the cities and the infrastructure and leaving the countryside to the enemy. I’m not sure if that would in any way succeed.

The Stuff of Nightmares

Suzanne Somers Knockout

David Gorski has a long, but fascinating and important, post about Suzanne Somers’ dangerous ignorance.

He makes a great case that she has seriously injured herself with the brutal regimen of supplements she takes. Will any reporters interviewing her during her book promotion tour see this article and ask some tough questions?

Don’t hold your breath.

Best Argument Ever for Good Science Education

There are people who actually believe this stuff. Many of them are allowed to vote and to carry sharp objects.

Armageddon Time

Peter Robinson has a sobering article at Forbes. Just in case you need some cheering up.

“The Iranians are very good at procuring banned materials very easily,” said Baer. “They are very close [to having what they need to produce weapons]. They could move very quickly.”

How quickly?

“Six months, a year.”

The second observation: The Iranians have no interest in running a bluff. Once able to produce nuclear weapons, they will almost certainly do so.

Armey’s Axiom at Work

The axiom is: “The market is smart. The government is stupid.” Here’s how an entrepeneur is making a business out of having less obtrusive, stupid, unnecessary government in his customers’ lives.

“In the post-9/11 world,” Craford told me, “we identified a need and moved to fill it. Remember when Congressman (Peter) DeFazio threw a fit when he was pulled out of line at PDX for a security check and complained that he was one of the congressmen that established the TSA regulations? Well, we realized that business travelers were being terribly inconvenienced by the TSA regulations. So we decided to right-size the platform for the market and offered them a way to get from Portland to Seattle without dealing with airport security.”

Transportation Security Administration regulations apply only to aircraft that carry 30 passengers or more. Because SeaPort’s aircraft are smaller, business travelers to Seattle can enjoy commuting without the hassle of airport security screeners.

If SeaPort, or someone else, doesn’t introduce a service like this between Oakland’s North Field and, say,  Burbank, I’ll eat my hat. I see they are already operating also in the Mid-South. Yes, I see that they are taking subsidies. Using government money to get less government interference is a kind of economic Judo, I think. And:

“One thing I’m really proud of and that I think speaks well to the potential economic sustainability of the service is we never hit our subsidy cap, and we don’t expect to,” Craford said. “The amount of revenue as a portion of cost is going up. The subsidy is trending down.”

Besides, the Pilatus is a wonderful airplane.

We Are All Connected

It’s time to celebrate that which binds us all together and links us as brothers, right down to our cores.

I speak, of course, of physics.

The Beauty of Caustics

You may picture something different from the word “caustic” unless you work in a business like mine. We used the term all through the production of Finding Nemo. These are some impressive examples of just how beautiful they can be.

Ah, youth

Just kids. Jumping rope.

Grounded

Since 9/11 the Secret Service has been going way overboard on presidential security. Others are jumping on The Messiah for this, but I doubt it’s His fault. When He goes anywhere now there is an absurd, 10-mile radius no-fly zone installed. When the center of that zone is downtown San Francisco a lot of businesses get hurt, like my home FBO, Oakland Flyers.

Jim Gray, the owner of the club, is not taking it lying down. He is sending Dear Leader and the DNC a bill for the club’s losses while the planes are grounded.

Good for Jim.

There’s a reasonable need for security, of course. But General Aviation aircraft are really not much of a threat, and this kind of thing is overkill. Pity the poor pilots near presidential retreats during vacations. They get shut down for weeks at a time. It’s stupid.

The iPhone is Awesome

I actually like mine a lot. Even if I didn’t have one, I’d have to admit that any device that can inspire this is doing something right.

This is CNN

Yes, this is an old video. But remember that this is the same “news” network that buried stories unfavorable to Saddam Hussein in order to keep their Baghdad office open.

Never trust the MSM.

Mourning England

Jeremy Clarkson has beheld England’s demise from within. His diagnostic tool is a dead parrot.

Today my encyclopedic knowledge of everything Python is seen as a bit sad. Former fans point out that Cleese has lost it, that Jones is married to an eight-year-old and that Spamalot was a travesty. Worse. Liking Python apparently marks me out as a “public-school toff”.

There’s a very good reason for this. Nowadays people wear their stupidity like a badge of honour. Knowing how to play chess will get your head kicked off. Reading a book with no pictures in it will cause there to be no friend requests on your Facebook page. Little Britain is funny because people vomit a lot. Monty Python is not because they delight in all manifestations of the terpsichorean muse.

Stop The Presses

It turns out that Bill O’Reilly is an irredeemably stupid, dishonest moron. Who knew?

I’m short on time right now, but may later update this post with a list of the fallacies he presents here. It’s a long one. My differences with Dawkins are well documented, but the man showed supreme patience in this interview and, to anybody with an IQ above room temperature, clearly won the debate on merit.

Winner!

Happy Halloween

Here’s a cartoon from 2006 that is, strangely, still relevant.

Just Thought You’d Want to Know

Is the Messiah Jesus Christ?

Mmm, mmm, mmm. This has been a public service.

Liberal Mugged By Reality

You’ve heard the old saw: “What’s a Conservative? A Liberal who’s been mugged.”

Welcome to reality, Ms. Button.

Since I care more about my country than my personal pride, here’s how I lost my insurance: I moved. That’s right, I moved from Washington, D.C., back to Massachusetts, a state with universal health care.

In D.C., I had a policy with a national company, an HMO, and surprisingly I was very happy with it. I had a fantastic primary care doctor at Georgetown University Hospital. As a self-employed writer, my premium was $225 a month, plus $10 for a dental discount.

In Massachusetts, the cost for a similar plan is around $550, give or take a few dollars. My risk factors haven’t changed. I didn’t stop writing and become a stunt double. I don’t smoke. I drink a little and every once in a while a little more than I should. I have a Newfoundland dog. I am only 41. There has been no change in the way I live my life except my zip code — to a state with universal health care.

From Guns to Butter

Jacob Sullum on how a correct SCOTUS ruling on gun rights could “prepare the ground for a renaissance of economic liberty.”

[I]n 1872 the Supreme Court declared that the “privileges or immunities of citizens” included only those rights that were created by the Constitution (such as the right to petition the federal government), not the pre-existing rights the Constitution was designed to protect. The Court therefore upheld a slaughterhouse monopoly created by the state of Louisiana, an infringement of economic liberty that the three dissenting justices saw as a violation of the Privileges or Immunities Clause.

Those privileges or immunities, the dissenters said, include “the right to pursue a lawful employment in a lawful manner, without other restraint than such as equally affects all persons.” That view reflects the original understanding of the 14th Amendment, which holds great promise as a bulwark against arbitrary interference with economic freedom. The Supreme Court should seize this opportunity to revive it.

Speaking of gun rights, of which we have very few left in California, the clock is ticking on two very, very bad bills. One would make it nigh impossible (for non-criminals) to buy ammo, and the other tramples on both First and Second Amendment rights. If the governor does nothing by October 11th they both become law. So it’s vital to let him know he should veto SB  585, the Cow Palace gun show ban, and AB 962, the Ammunitions Sales Restrictions bill.

There’s an automated phone droid at 916-445-2841 (you have to press 1 for English!) which will let you easily register opposition for one bill at a time. So you’ll have to make two calls. The line is often busy, but you can keep redialing and get through. Since it’s a phonebot you can call any hour of the day or night.

You can (and should) also fax governor Schwarzenegger at 916-558-3160, and send him an “email” via his web site. It’s a simple two-step process.

Then do all three again the next day. He needs to feel the heat on this.

No Respect

Parody Proof

Apparently this hangs in the White House.

PhotoSketch

Wow.

So Much For That “Word of God” Thing

Here’s a group that has set out, ironically, to prove that the Bible is not the immutable word of God. Rather, as has been the case with just about everybody who has translated or edited the book, it’s a malleable political document.

Anybody who talks about getting to the “original text” of the Bible has no idea what they’re talking about in any case. We can’t even get back to the Greek or Hebrew, let alone the languages that came before that. I recently read a fascinating book on textual criticism, which is a kind of linguistic sleuthing aimed at figuring out what the original authors may have actually said. The takeaway is that there are easily more translation errors in the New Testament than there are words.

These Conservapedia cretins are a living example of one of the many reasons why.

Meanwhile, Pat Condell has quite a rant against organized religion.

He’s clearly mostly on the case of the Catholic Church and the Church of England. While most members of Christian churches (as well as most Muslims) will find plenty to be upset about, I suspect that some of my Mormon friends could feel smug about their lay clergy. There certainly are no Mormons living in castles off the tithes of the faithful.

Update:

Now this is funny.

Inconvenient

Penn Jillette tweets:

Once in a while I like breezy, & if it’s skeptical breezy, making fun of Al Gore, I’m grooving…

One should never miss a chance to poke fun at the eminence ris, the risible Algore. Enjoy.

England Death Watch

The English lost their freedom so long ago they don’t even know it’s gone. A once-great country has degenerated into a despicable nanny state.

The great-grandmother, who fled to Britain from East Germany following the Second World War, said youths in her neighbourhood had been making her life a misery.

She told the Daily Mail: “What justice is there? There are a group of youths who throw gravel at my window and use foul language against me.

“I saw one of them throw the stones against my window from my bedroom. I went out and found him hiding behind a wall. I poked my finger out at him and told him what I thought of him.

“Then the police arrested me – I thought ‘What a joke. What is going on?’.”

I would wish for those morons at the CPS to lose their jobs, but I fear they’d just move here and get jobs with the TSA.

President, or Cult Leader?

You decide.

On a related subject, everybody has probably seen that group of slightly older children supporting Dear Leader’s attempt to insert government control into the most intimate parts of your life.

Watch this brilliant PSA response.

Update:

Another one. (Thanks to our commenter for the pointer.)

Strange Definition of “Safe Schools”

Years ago a man arrived in Australia. The immigration agent was reviewing his documents and asking a few questions. One was, “Do you have a criminal record?”

The man responded, “I didn’t know you still needed one.”

The Messiah’s vetters seem to be channeling that old joke.

Let’s be clear: Kevin Jennings let a potentially terminally-ill minor and a victim of rape walk out of his office, and Jennings never reported the incident to the boy’s parents, the school nurse, the police, or anyone who might help protect this child. This Kevin Jennings is President Obama’s new “safe schools czar.”

Which reminds me of something I’ve been wondering of late. Just how naive and gullible is the average Messiah voter? I never, never understood how anybody could be taken in by such an obvious flim-flam man. My confusion at the anti posters that turned out to be pro is already documented. I mean, gee. A few minutes of watching this guy on TV and it’s blindingly clear that He’s a three-dollar bill. So how did He pull this off?

It’s obvious that His staff believes in Him to the point of risible tone-deafness. I don’t get it.