Art illustrating politics: A semblance of truth and a passel of lies can co-exist.

The portrait of a young girl, highlighted at Ace of Spaces illustrates this well. The artist, Sully, wrote: From long experience I know that resemblance in a portrait is essential; but no fault will be found with the artist, at least by the sitter, if he improve the appearance."   The face is a good likeness and the legs are stretched beyond belief.  We now call this "photoshopping" in images and "spin" in politics.

Lincoln: Don't trust the internet

How newspapers disguise attacks on Trump as news. Four tweets.

From Kevin Reiss' twitter feed, ranked from fair to ferocious fiddle faddle.

Russians hacked the elections? Two cartoons

Winning: Support for Islamic terrorism in Pakistan suddenly muted in late January

The threat of adding Pakistan to the list of temporary travel bans is making our world a safer place and doing it cheaply.  "What made this threat so convincing is that the newly (since January 20th) installed U.S. government started keeping campaign promises".  (Strategy Page).   No bullets were fired or marines deployed.

"Surprisingly the vocal popular support for Islamic terrorism in Pakistan was suddenly muted in late January as the military made some unexpected concessions regarding its support for terrorism and the government was able to go after a major Islamic charity that was long known (by literally everyone) as a front for Islamic terrorist fund raising. What caused this sudden change was the unexpected American threat to declare Pakistan a supporter of Islamic terrorism and restrict the movement of Pakistanis to and from the United States.What made this threat so convincing is that the newly (since January 20th) installed U.S. government started keeping campaign promises and banned seven nations (Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen) that have long been the source of most Islamic terrorism. Many in South Asia believe Pakistan should be on the list. Afghanistan and India have long called for such action against Pakistan but Pakistanis thought the Americans would never do it. The leaders of Pakistan’s Islamic parties, who normally call for violent demonstrations against any effort to shut down Islamic terrorists who only attack outside Pakistan were quiet. That was because many of their key supporters may be enthusiastic about Islamic terrorism, they are more concerned about family in the West, especially the United States, or seeking to go there. ... The fear may not last, but it’s a refreshing change of attitude for people in the region, including most Pakistanis."

And this: "January 29, 2017: In Pakistan, three days after pro-Islamic terrorist host Amir Liaqat was banned from appearing on TV, four of five online critics of the military who had mysteriously disappeared three weeks earlier reappeared and two of them promptly left the country."

Voter fraud? The exception proves the rule

You've heard the line about progressive politicians: "If they didn't have double standards, they'd have no standards at all".  (Maybe this applies to all successful politicians.)

Dissent was the highest form of patriotism, and then it wasn't and now it is again.  A supermajority was needed to pass important bills until Obamacare when a majority of 1 was enough. Now a supermajority is back for Democrats.       Filibuster was good until the Democrats got the upper hand, when it became bad.  Now it's good again.   The electoral college was good until it didn't favour Democrats and then it was bad.  Fearing Russia's power was foolish '80s policy but the danger of Russia is now obvious to every Democrat in Christendom.   Texas secession was for crazed rednecks but now it's favoured by one third of enlightened Californians.

The one standard that never changes when Democrats are in power or out of power is the claim there's no problem with vote integrity.  That tells me that leaving an unexamined and undisciplined voter policy in place is a bedrock value.   Voter integrity doesn't affect their sojourn in Washington but it must play a big role at the margins for getting Democrats there in the first place.

Some painful background on the voting swamp: Read the excerpt from Fitton of Justice Watch's book.
You get a pdf download of a chapter that is worth reading.

Dressing up as assholes: Vagina costumes

Enough said.

The First Hundred Hours

No need to debate "The First Hundred Days" of President Trump.  The first hundred hours is enough Winning.   Never in my life have I seen more consequential leadership. Even press conferences are entertaining and move the needle. A sip of this cordial will be nice in Ottawa too.

The Trump Restauration (and Ezra's comment)

"Restoring something to its proper or original condition, renewal of something which has been lost." Domestically:  This morning, business leaders and union leaders were equally enthusiastic about President Trump's support.  (See quotes below). In the Middle East:   Israel is enthusiastic about Trump's direction and some Arabs like the Iran angle.  (See quotes below).  
Enemies finding common cause? Better than dogs sleeping with cats.

Quotes from the business leaders:
Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical: "He is going to make us more competitive"
Mark Fields of Ford Motor Company:  "The president is very, very serious about making sure that the United States economy is going to be strong.  And have policy, tax, regulatory or trade, to drive that. And I think that encourages all of us."

Quotes from the union leaders:
Wayne Ranick of United Steelworkers said on behalf of the group: "When the President laid out his plans about how he is going to handle trade, how he is going to invest on infrastructure, and how he is going to level the playing field for construction workers and all Americans across this country...and then took the time to take every one of us into the Oval Office and show them the seat of power in the world...the respect he just showed for us ... and when he shows it to us he shows to three million of our members in the United States .. was nothing short of incredible, and we will work with him and his administration."
And two more union quotes from the last couple days:
James Hoffa of Teamsters:  "Today, President Trump made good on his campaign promise to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With this decision, the president has taken the first step toward fixing 30 years of bad trade policies that have cost working Americans millions of good-paying jobs."
Rich Trumka of AFL-CIO said TPP withdrawal is "a good first step toward building trade policies that benefit all workers.".

Quotes from Israeli leaders:
Jerusalem mayor, Nir Barkat: "I applaud President Trump on his historic announcement that the White House has begun discussions regarding moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.  President Trump has proven that he is a true friend of the State of Israel and a leader who keeps his promises."
Tzipi Hotovely, Israeli deputy minister of foreign affairs:  "I think that all the declarations of the Trump administration were showing a deep friendship to Israel.  They understand the complexity of the situation in the Middle East."
Prime Minister, Netanyahu: "After eight years in which I withstood enormous pressure on various issues, primarily Iran and the settlements, I certainly welcome the change of approach, President Trump believes that peace will only be achieved through direct negotiations. Does that sound familiar?” said Netanyahu. “He spoke to me at length about the threat from Iran. He also believes the nuclear deal with Iran is a bad deal. That certainly must ring a bell. We are facing great and significant opportunities for the security and future of the State of Israel."

Quotes from the Arab world:
The first foreign government to congratulate Trump November 9th:   'Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday on his victory in the U.S. presidential election and said he hoped his election would unleash a new era of closer ties with Washington. The Egyptian Arab Republic is looking forward to the period of Donald Trump's presidency to imbue new spirit into the path of Egyptian-American ties with more cooperation and coordination in the interests of both the Egyptian and American people," he said in a statement.'
From a Maclean interview in Dubai: 'Gulf Arab states are quietly applauding the arrival in the White House of a hawkish leader opposed to their adversary Iran, even if they suspect Donald Trump's short temper and abrasive Tweets may at times heighten tensions.'
Also quoted, Abdulrahman al-Rashed, a veteran Saudi commentator:  "Trump does not look like the kind of guy who will bend towards Iran or anyone else. .. If he behaves as he says, then we will see another Ronald Reagan, someone all the forces in the region will take seriously. That's what we have missed in the past eight years, unfortunately."  "We hope Trump can correct (Obama's) policy, and while we are not sure of that yet, his choices to run the administration all sound experienced."
A Gulf Arab businessman:  "I think he is going to be very, very tough on Iran. He will be decisive", noting he expected the deal-maker Trump would demand something in return.

A rince-bouche to finish the tale, this one a tweet from Ezra Levant:
"While the Media Party was obsessing over tweets and crowd size, Donald Trump just took over the blue collar wing of the Democratic party."

Holding the election is more important than winning it. Kudos to Stephen Harper for Bill C36 (2007)

A fair open challenge by popular vote at regular intervals is far more important than which party wins.  The body politic is forced to renew itself or displace its rulers bloodlessly.  This is done by institutionalizing the violence that otherwise would develop.    Calls in the U.S. to have a third term for Barack Obama or to overturn the results of the 2016 vote invite the death of democracy.

Has it not always been so?  The latest iteration is Turkey's Erdogan:  "Democracy is like a train. You get off once you have reached your destination".    In Canada, we don't have a president-for-life as Kazakhstan seems to have, but we used to game the system with election dates.  The prime minister could juggle to get a three to five year term, watching the polls and choosing the best moment in two years to strike and recapture the spoils of power.  The party in power always had its thumb on the scale.

Stephen Harper brought in Bill C-36 in 2007.  Wikipedia summarizes:

 "It requires that each general election take place on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the previous poll, starting with October 19, 2009. During the legislative process, the Liberal-dominated Senate added an amendment listing conditions under which an election date could be modified, in order to avoid clashes with religious holidays, municipal elections, and referenda, but the House of Commons, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives, rejected the amendment and the Senate did not pursue it."

Kudos to Stephen Harper.

 

Toronto Zoo and Orangutan Earwax - Too good to skip

From a US health and medicine website comes this gem in Statnews on the dangers of poking at earwax:

"Ear canal cleaning is a hard habit to kick. It may be as innate as tool use itself. (Dr. Vito) Forte was once called to the Toronto Zoo to treat an orangutan that seemed to be having ear trouble — and found out that the ape was known to pick up secondhand wads of chewing gum, check them for stickiness, and then use them to extract whatever might have been buried in its ears."

Picture source 

The article also cites a survey of a teaching hospital that found over 90% of the health professionals there admitted sticking objects into their ears to get at wax.

First ever Super Nova Prediction 2022 - Show the kids.

An eclipsing pair of binary stars are going to spiral into each other in 2022, give or take a few months and for half a year will probably become the brightest star in the sky.  This is amazing!    Their light pulses every 11 hours as they block each other from earth view.  This viciously fast orbit has been picking up speed lately and some orbital math shows they have about six earth years left until they spiral into each other and self-obliterate.  The red nova will appear in Cygnus, The Swan.   Watch for the  end-of-life explosion of KIC 9832227, some 1800 light years away.

Reported at National Geographic and The Daily Mail.

There was an earlier prediction of a supernova appearing in 2016 but of a very different character.
Light from that one had arrived here by several pathways, some via a gravitational lens.  After seeing the supernova once, scientists were able to predict additional images would appear soon. The KIC 9832227 story will allow us to observe the violence as it happens and is predicted from first principles.

The Inman Aligner: Orthodontics Fast And Cheap

This Orthodontic front-tooth aligner looks promising.
Eight to twelve weeks is probably enough time.
Cost looks like $2000-$4000.
You can take the Aligner out yourself part of every day which makes it easy to clean your teeth.
It's less obvious than the traditional braces and you can leave it at home for a few hours a day.
If just works on the front teeth but they're the one's everybody sees.
It has a middle push section and two sides that anchor the spring-loaded connections.
It doesn't need to be re-calibrated because the springs can travel all the way from the starting point to the place you want the teeth to end up.
You can get a hidden retainer spring wire bonded into place behind the straightened teeth so they stay put.
You still need an initial mold and the orthodontist will keep an eye on progress every few weeks.

Where I read about it:  The Daily Mail
The Inman Aligner home page.

The Hoity Toity don't get to live my life for me. "Trump Voter"

"Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken" is good advice.  And the Hoity-Toity don't get to live my life for me.  Not even when they are brainier than me, better educated than me, more globalized than me, more gender-neutral than me and more woke than me.  Ace from Ace of Spades explains it:

"Suppose you want an architect to draw up plans for a house. You want a dining room because you never had one as a kid, and always associated it -- from old magazine pictures, from old movies, whatever -- with a stable and happy home.
Suppose your architect comes back with no dining room -- just one big great room combining living room, kitchen, and dining area.
"Where's the dining room I asked for?" you want to know.
"No one has dining rooms any more," the expert tells you. "It's all Open Concept now, one room sweeping into the other, bringing together the family in one big room at all times."
"That may well be, but I want a dining room."
"Walls are passe," the experts smugly tells you. "They interrupt the sight-lines."
"I don't care about sight-lines. And honestly, I love my kids, but I'm not so crazy about them so much I want to be locked in a giant room with them 24/7. I want walls and I want a dining room," you say again.
"No one eats in a dining room and anyway dining rooms are too formal."
"I'd like to be formal on occasion."
"Well," the architect tells you, "I've decided that dining rooms are in bad taste and I'm the expert and you can't have one. You're getting Open Concept whether you like it or not, Trump Voter."

Bicycle helmet for a four year old on a trike in a parking lot.
Four recycle bins but no garbage.
Spank a kid and be a criminal.
Thinking "He" and "She" for the men and women you meet every day means you're a gender thug.
Take off your shoes and be treated like a criminal to board a plane.
Buy plastic bags because the grocery store wants you to use dirty fabric bags instead.
Hire a HazMat subcontractor before installing a new plug in older drywall in BC.
( "Exposure control plan for cutting small amounts..." )
I don't want my betters telling me what to do, a one-size-fits-all policy swamping common sense.

California likely to become "A cross between Tijuana and Hawaii, a land for the aging rich and their servants"

Joel Kotkin crystallizes California with this unforgettable observation.  Follow the link.

Your Daily Trump Trolling: CIA Intelligence

A calculated tweet from The Donald again reverses the narrative.
Old narrative:  Trump doesn't think he needs intelligence briefings and wants Putin for his bro.
New narrative:  Is the CIA politicized and using the media to undermine the president elect?
I love it when he says don't brief him yet with possibly suspect information.  The experts have to come clean first.

Remember, if you follow Donald Trump tweets, you are ahead of the news cycle.

In case you think this is all bird-brained impulse, take another look at his signature.  Neither you nor I can write in that angular style without energy and intentioned hand control.

Perfect soft-boiled eggs from an egg cooker - Points to remember

Egg steamers are awesome and can deliver a perfect soft-boiled egg but there's points to remember:

1  Don't use the clever egg-puncture pin.   (Egg white leaks out, foams up, the device turns off too soon and it's hell to clean).

2  Consider using bought water if you like clean tools.   A wipe with a paper towel or dishcloth will keep the base shiny.Tap water leaves residue when it evaporates and is hard to clean. If you don't care, don't bother.  The eggs will taste the same.

  (Water Note:  If you have a cooker that lets steam come up from below through the empty egg holes, you'll find an odd instruction:  The more eggs you cook at a time, the less water you need because the steam escapes slowly when more of the holes are filled with eggs.  So yes, you add more water to get a hard boiled egg but you also add less water to get six hard boiled eggs than you do for one hard boiled egg.)

3   When cooking is almost done, sprinkle some salt and pepper in a row on a piece of paper towel and keep it handy.

4   You can let eggs sit in the cooker when they're done.  They keep cooking for a while. That way you can get really soft for your wife and half-firm for yourself from the same batch. 

5   Chill briefly under cold water so you can hold an egg in your hand and to help pop the membrane free from the egg.

6   Open the fat end of the egg first.  There's a little bubble at that end which makes it easier to start.

7   Use a teaspoon to peel open the egg.  Pick a spoon with about the same curve as your egg.

8   Don't bother cracking the egg shell a lot before you start peeling.  The shell can come off in large sheets.

9    Use a teaspoon!!

10  When I get the teaspoon started, I slide it most of the way down and then twist it towards my other hand holding the egg.  This cuts the membrane.  Then twist the spoon in the other direction and see if you can get the rest of the shell off in one or two pieces.  

11  Briefly rinse the egg to clean off any bits of shell.

12  On the paper, roll each egg along it once so it's evenly coated with salt and pepper. There's room for several side by side paths without using up all the salt.

13  Use the paper towel to wipe things up.

13  Eggs stay hot for several minutes which helps you get a warm breakfast on the table.

Palestinian terrorist kills U.S. presidential candidate: Remember Sirhan?

Sirhan Sirhan, the American Palestinian shooter, was briefly in the news asking for parole the fifteenth time.  Looking back at accounts of the time, I see nothing has changed.  Despite his repeated statements that he planned the shooting with acknowledged malice aforethought, planned because Robert Kennedy spoke in support of Israel and supported selling bombers to Israel, officialdom denied it.   Like the Fort Hood shooting and all the others, he was treated as a kid gone wrong showing bad behaviour with a gun.   The judge wouldn't let him confess.  Sirhan wasn't a Muslim jihadist, so there's that.  The rest fits the discredited narrative that Trump may, hopefully, bury.

From Wikipedia:

In 1989, he told David Frost:
"My only connection with Robert Kennedy was his sole support of Israel and his deliberate attempt to send those 50 bombers to Israel to obviously do harm to the Palestinians". Some scholars believe the assassination was one of the first major incidents of political violence in the United States stemming from the Arab–Israeli conflict in the Middle East.                 The interpretation that he was mostly motivated by Middle Eastern politics has been criticized as an oversimplification that ignores Sirhan's deeper psychological problems. During his trial, Sirhan's lawyers attempted to use a defense of diminished responsibility, while their client tried to confess to the crime and change his plea to guilty on several occasions. Sirhan testified that he had killed Kennedy "with 20 years of malice aforethought". The judge did not accept this confession and it was later withdrawn.

To see all Physics in a glass of water

Ask the right questions while observing a glass of water and you can come across most of physics, discovering the nature of light, of electricity, of gravity, and more.  You could have beat Newton to discovering the composition of light with a prism.  Your curiosity could have been piqued by the meniscus curve a couple millimetres up the side of the glass caused by surface tension involving a layer of nearly free electrons.  You could wonder why bubbles form out of a liquid and why they cling to some surfaces and why they rise at a certain speed and what triggers these changes. You could wonder where the beads of water on the outside of the glass came from.  You could wonder why the glass doesn't drift off the table and why the water doesn't fly away and yet disappears slowly over time.  These observations are triggered by activity at atomic and subatomic levels.  You could look at specks on the water and wonder why they float.  You might be curious enough to see if you could float a pin and then wonder why the pin slowly turns to a north-south direction.  It's all there if you have eyes to see and a good question or two to ask.

Blake wrote of this in Auguries of Innocence:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour.

Democracy is a means, not an end

From the comments at Instapundit:

Democracy is not the end state.  It is a process to establish and maintain rights-respecting governance.  "Ritchie the Riveter"