Watching Liberals kick themselves in the teeth is more fun than watching curling...

Last month, Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that the city had purposely discriminated against hiring blacks when it continued to use a test that was deemed biased against minorities.

Again, I invoke the "we just want to be treated like everyone else" mantra.

So...pass the damn test. I can only imagine the idiocy applied to indicate that the written firefighter test was...ahem...bias. It's a common victim mentality that always finds the excuse explaining failure.

A group of women sued the department in 1979 after failing the physical, claiming it was discriminatory.

You know...because...they unfairly made the women lift heavy stuff...which...you know...never happens at a fire, car accident or inner city mishap.

The women who sued were allowed to take a different test. As a result, 41 females entered the department in 1982.

Okayyyyyy...instead of lifting the long hose...lift that smaller one. We only need the long hose sporadically. What's a couple lives here and there...no biggie.

In 1983, the city devised still another test for women testing speed instead of strength.

Short hose too heavy? Okayyyyyy...see how fast you can sprint down the street to that Duane Reed and get us some bandages and sauve...we're going to need them.

The next year, the judge ordered the test changed again to be less physical and increased the weight of the written exam.

What? You might get winded running down the street? Jeez...Okayyyy...ummm...well, just stand over there and try not to get in the way.

"It's a physical job. It requires physical strength," said Deputy Chief Paul Mannix, who said he wasn't speaking for the department. "People ask why there aren't more women in the Fire Department. Why aren't there more women in the NFL or Major League Baseball?"

Egggggg...zactly!!!

But, I do enjoy how the Liberal inner city enclaves keep kicking themselves in the teeth while feeling really special about their diversity. So a couple buildings burn, people die...no big deal. Liberals FEEL better about themselves...until they have a fire, of course.

I showed you the werewolves...what about vampires?

I've shown you how to hunt down a werewolf using Google. Vampires, however, are a bit more tricky. You might come to the conclusion that there just aren't that many of them, and Google is worthless in that regard.

You'd be wrong.

Vampires are just a bit more organized than werewolves. They hire out and subcontract:

A laptop stolen during a recent blood drive contained sensitive information on 268,000 Minnesota-region blood donors, Memorial Blood Centers say.

The laptop was in a briefcase that was stolen just before 7 a.m. Nov. 28 as workers were setting up a blood drive, said Laura Kaplan, manager of marketing and communications with the blood center. "They were setting up for a blood drive and this was in a briefcase," she said. "The police have told us they believe it was a random crime."

Memorial Blood Centers is a nonprofit blood bank based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It operates 10 blood collection centers in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin and collects about 125,000 units of blood each year.

It's a clever approach. The laptop is a virtual smörgåsbord for those in the seethe looking for a night out on the town. Blood type listings does away with the usual "potluck" approach. Vampires will pay top dollar that information. It was taken in the daylight hours (7:AM) to mislead investigators.

Don't be fooled. Vampires are just as, if not more, prevalent than werewolves. And, they are quite continental.

Zodiac Killer press release...

Zodiac Killer to Be Revealed at Press Conference

FAMILY MEMBER Of KILLER WILL DELIVER STATEMENT Of EVIDENCE

Supporting Forensic Experts, Law Enforcement/Government Personalities, and Legal Representatives organized by members of the original Law Offices of Melvin Belli will be in Attendance

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 40 years have passed since the first ZODIAC murder. He may have killed 36 people. There has never been conclusive evidence implicating a single individual and no one has ever come forward to identify the real killer. This has remained one of the world's greatest unsolved crime sprees...until now. For the first time in four decades, there is new, never before seen or heard evidence of the identity of the Zodiac Killer. Through the efforts of many world renowned forensic experts under the direction of original partners of famed Zodiac Killer confidant/attorney Melvin Belli, a press conference will be held this Wednesday at the San Francisco Chronicle. At the press conference, a proven immediate family member of the Zodiac Killer will make a statement identifying the killer. Attending with her will be leading forensic experts, a Melvin Belli former partner, family lawyers and others who have helped solve this case that has been open for many years. Information of the forensic evidence - including cryptology, handwriting analysis, current law enforcement investigations, and most startling, the murder accomplice evidence - will be distributed. This historical revelation upsets the theories of the murder investigations in the past. Many cold case crimes have recently been solved because of 21st century forensic technology. This is one of the bigger breakthroughs.

Recently, there has been misinformation distributed to some media outlets from a source in Sacramento which fast tracked this press conference. Over two years have been spent in forensic investigations by the nation's best so there could be no question unanswered about the evidence to be distributed this Wednesday.


WHAT: Press Conference: ZODIAC KILLER Identified - Family Member, forensic experts, crime investigators and lawyers

WHEN: Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 12 Noon

WHERE: In front of the San Francisco Chronicle Building 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

WHO: Family member of Zodiac Killer, former associates of Law Firm of Melvin M. Belli, forensic experts, investigators

Obviously, Dick Cheney did it...

Seriously...this could be a very interesting PC.

________________________
UPDATE: To the individual who tried to lecture me on copyright because I reposted the entire press release from PR Newswire...read the Fair Use Doctrine. Then study up on transformative Fair Use (you can comment publicly below the post). But, most importantly, explain to me how my posting of this press release (in its entirety) damages PR Newswire financially. Actually, it expands their reach and enhances their services (arguably by the few readers who frequent this blog). Additionally, the litmus test on Fair Use also requires that the repost is not a commercial venture. See any advertisements on this blog? No? I have never asked for donations from readers, nor will I...ever.
Shut up!
Cheers,
The Worm

______________________

UPDATE II: Wow...I didn't see that coming:

A California woman has come forward to claim that her late father was the elusive Zodiac Killer and that she accompanied him on many of his shooting sprees in the late 1960s when she was only 7-years-old, KTVU.com reported.

Kevin Mclean, a California-based attorney, has led a 2-year long investigation into claims made by Deborah Perez that her father, Guy Ward Hendrickson, was the Zodiac Killer and urged her to come forward when he heard that another investigator was planning on presenting another theory to police.

It's one thing to say that you suspect a relative did it, but to admit to being along for the ride as a seven year old girl is...well...unexpected. I wonder how this will pan out.

More obtuse reasoning...(NYC)

The maximum fine for leaving your vehicle unattended and idling in New York City is only $5 — even if the car eventually kills people because it loses control or is stolen.

A Queens city councilwoman, Elizabeth Crowley, wants to increase the fine to $250, spurred in large part by two high-profile fatal accidents involving unattended idling vehicles in Queens and Chinatown. In early February, a drunken driver stole an idling car and fatally struck Alex Paul of Brooklyn and Robert Ogle in Middle Village, Queens. The car had been left running while the owner had gone into a neighborhood deli. The driver was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter, manslaughter, assault, leaving the scene of an accident, grand larceny and driving without a license.

“People need to realize there could have been situations that have been avoidable,” said Ms. Crowley, who represents the district where the Queens accident took place.

In clarification...if you leave your car running, you are breaking the law because someone might really break the law, steal your car, and do something bad with it. So...let's apply this philosophy to another arena:

I think the freezer manufacturer which produced the unit in which Congressman William J. Jefferson (Louisiana-D) hid his illicit money should be fined for providing a place to hide the ill gotten gains. The individual who planted this tree should be fined and locked up. Let's fine and confiscate the White Horse Tavern, because Dylan Thomas drank there incessantly, and died an alcoholic.

Once again...people are inherently stupid, and this Democrat councilwoman leads the charge to the land of vapidity...

Alas poor Yorick...another victim of climate change...

KOHLUA, India — “It’s hard to believe that this is what’s melting the glaciers,” said Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, one of the world’s leading climate scientists, as he weaved through a warren of mud brick huts, each containing a mud cookstove pouring soot into the atmosphere.

As women in ragged saris of a thousand hues bake bread and stew lentils in the early evening over fires fueled by twigs and dung, children cough from the dense smoke that fills their homes. Black grime coats the undersides of thatched roofs. At dawn, a brown cloud stretches over the landscape like a diaphanous dirty blanket.

In Kohlua, in central India, with no cars and little electricity, emissions of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming, are near zero. But soot — also known as black carbon — from tens of thousands of villages like this one in developing countries is emerging as a major and previously unappreciated source of global climate change.

Shameless!!!!

Follow the logic:

The world temperatures have not interacted and been associative to the increase of carbon dioxide. Therefore, in a sane world, the scientists of the world would capitulate and say..."Ok, yeah...we were wrong."

BUT, NO!!!

Instead, they have gone to "Plan B." We know that the whole basis for this outlandish accusation is to propogate a redistribution of wealth. The "Haves" of the world aren't buying the propoganda. So, the target now is third world residents who create "black soot" in order to cook their food, heat their dwellings... Of course, they aren't going to be able to change their living habits, because that's what keeps them alive.

Keep your eyes open for agenda driven nonsense about how we must provide these third world countries with the very same technology that they have been trying to limit in our own countries.

This is the tragic comedy of all tragic comedies. Shakespeare would applaud with vigor.

The downside of vegetarianism...

African Influence on the Runways

Guess who owns the mouth...

Hey...who do you think this is about?

In response to a question from a Nigerian journalist as to why his opposition to the ICC’s decision was at odds with the majority of suffering Darfur civilians who supported the decision, Brockmann blew off the whole premise of the question by replying that his views were in concert with the leaders of the Arab League and African Union. Then he launched into a nasty personal attack on President George W. Bush for having been the first world leader to charge the Sudanese leadership with committing genocide in Darfur.

"That should tell you quite a bit already. Can you imagine Al Capone calling the police to say that somebody stole milk from the market? It's Al Capone standing for uprightness," said Brockmann in comparing the former president of the United States with the Chicago mobster.

Not surprisingly, the only countries that Brockmann denounced during his press conference were the United States and Israel.

It's the president of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann.

Universal National Healthcare now exists...

Cambridge Health Alliance and Boston Medical Center are the two largest safety-net hospitals in the state, serving large numbers of poor patients covered by MassHealth, and they will receive $120 million of the $160 million in stimulus money going to hospitals in the fiscal year beginning in July. Both had said they would eliminate jobs, close programs, and consolidate other services after state budget cuts were made last fall.

You know that train wreck of an experiment in universal health care initiated by the State of Massachusetts? Well, with the application of Federal Bail Out funds, the failed experiment is now a national experiment.

You bastards are going to kill me...

Not long ago, when infectious-disease specialist Connie Price saw a patient hospitalized with flu at Denver Health Medical Center, she had a powerful weapon at hand: a drug that could shorten the course of the illness and lessen its misery.

Now, the strength of that weapon, Tamiflu, has been undermined by a widely circulating flu strain, type A H1N1, that has developed the ability to resist the drug.

Let me preface this by stating that I am middle aged, and I have NEVER sought out the use of a prescription medication...NEVER. I just don't take them.

I would, also, like to point out that I rarely have any form of illness (maybe a minor cold every five of six years). You pansies need to "man-up" and stop running to Dr. Feelgood every time you get a bit of a twinge in your tummy. The prescription medications being tossed out indiscriminately (and even encouraged by our government) are despicable. Tell me...please...how do you expect your body to build up a natural immunity and an efficient natural process of fighting disease/ infection/ and heal, if you never give it a chance to adjust, adapt and overcome (as they say in the Marines)?

A virus will evolve in front of your eyes. They have advanced mutation cycles and natural selection allows them to adapt quickly to changes in the host environment. And, as you mambie pampies pour those flu oral analgesics down your throat and acquire your shots to protect yourself, you are only speeding up the evolution of the virus into something much more sinister.

Some day (way too soon) I'm going to have to go head to head with some mutant virus in a fist fight while walking down a dark alley, and it will be your fault.

A whole slew of monkeys with loaded pistols...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House approved a bill Thursday that would impose a new tax on the $165 million paid to bailed-out insurance giant AIG as Senate Republicans stepped up criticism of the Obama administration's handling of bonuses.

The House measure would apply a 90% tax on bonuses given to employees who earn more than $250,000 at any firm that received more than $5 billion in bailout money.

Window dressing...to appear concerned. The fact remains that the Equal Protection Clause will shoot down this piece of unconstitutional garbage faster than a shotgun levied on a balsa wood glider.

The third test for Equal Protection is the only shot Congress has of keeping this bill intact...and its not a good one in my opinion.

Rational-basis test: the law is constitutional so long as it is "reasonably related" to a "legitimate" government interest.

I'm curious how the Courts will accept the argument that the "legitimate" government interest is congressional incompetence and trying not to look bad. Or perhaps it could be considered quid pro quo (in Chris Dodd's case).

Still, how exactly does an ex post facto law supersede a legitimate contractual obligation reviewed and approved by the sitting committee member of congress and the Treasury Secretary's office? This is further complicated in that CEO Liddy was installed by the keepers who are now second-guessing his decision making.

Jackasses one and all...

Make Durban II an online petition...

States preparing for a highly sensitive U.N. racism conference have removed references to Israel and religious defamation from its draft declaration, potentially clearing the way for Western states to attend.

The amended text, circulated on Tuesday, followed a European Union threat to boycott next month's "Durban II" conference in Geneva unless the declaration wording was changed to keep the meeting from becoming an anti-Semitic forum.

Remember the last one? Mary Robinson just sat on her huge Irish ass while the members of the 57-nation Organisation of Islam and various suspect NGO's proceeded to turn the affair into an anti-Semitic bashing.

Secretary of State Powell walked out.

I'm a bit in the dark as to why such a conference (much less a "sensitive" conference) is required. We all hate racism...right? Good grief...have someone with a laptop do an online petition. All the self-important knuckleheads can sign it (hell, I'll even sign it)...and we can all feel great about the "accomplishment." Because I'll tell you what...that's more than the UN will accomplish at this massive millions affair. And think of all the carbon emissions that can be avoided. DOUBLE WIN!!!!!

Here's the wording of the proposed online petition:

"I won't call my neighbor names that make fun of his lineage...even if the bastard never returns borrowed tools."

Now...on a substantive note...the fact that religious defamation might be off the table sort of puts a damper on the whole anti-blasphemy measure...eh?

More inherently stupid people...

Yesterday...in support of the concept that "humans are inherently stupid" I highlighted a successful website that catered to dating between "the stupid" and "the criminal." Today:

"They ask me if this (recession) is going to turn around or become even worse," says Morrison, a seer since age 7, when she says she foresaw an aunt's death. "I say chicken pox gets worse before it gets better. Do not panic."

Anecdotal evidence indicates that psychics, astrologers, palm readers, Tarot card shufflers, numerologists and other paranormal specialists have become the rage as investment advisers and brokers appear clueless. After all, if the times aren't normal, why not try the paranormal?

Psst...if you believe this crap, you should have been there a long time ago so that Madame Osmondo could have told you to buy gold by the truck load. Live and learn...

Just a theory...

It's my considered opinion that each year a group of old, downtrodden, and divorced men suffering from alimony fever get together in Milan and design the latest in women's shoes as a form of retribution.

Insane in the membrane...

Clinton said the United States was pledging $900 million. She gave no breakdown of the funds, but her spokesman, Robert A. Wood, said on Sunday that it included $300 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza and about $600 million in budget and development aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank.

Clinton said the Obama administration is committed to engaging vigorously and intensively in the Mideast to push for a durable peace.

"We have worked with the Palestinian Authority to install safeguards that will ensure our funding is only used where and for whom it is intended and does not end up in the wrong hands," Clinton told the conference, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks provided in advance by the State Department.

Meanwhile, high ranking Hamas officials (terrorists) required medical attention due to blisters forming while rubbing their hands together vigorously.

More HERE.

How about a soda with that straw you're grasping?

Tree deaths, spurred by global warming, have more than doubled in older forests across Western states, federal scientists reported Thursday.

Droughts and pests brought on by warmer temperatures have killed firs, hemlocks, pines and other large trees in particular over the past 30 years without allowing replacements to sprout, the study published in the journal Science finds.

"Very likely the mortality rate will continue to rise," says lead author Phillip van Mantgem of the U.S. Geologic Survey.

In 2007, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found it "very likely" that average temperatures have increased more than 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past century and probably will rise 3 to 7 degrees in this one. In the American West, temperature increases have led to longer summers, drought and the survival of tree-killing beetles at higher elevations. These beetles are widespread in outbreaks reaching to Alaska.

OK...let's assume that "global warming" is actually occurring. Exercises in creativity are always a nice little break from reality...so come along, won't you?

Fine...ready? We jump in our hypothetical Hummer and drive way north... Hey...will you look at that! Why...there are more surviving trees up here then ever before. Gosh darn...that "global warming" is fantastic. These northern forests are thriving...

Incidentally...the beetles they refer to are the Pine Bark Beetle populations. The last outbreak was back in the 1950's. Obviously...the retro-active carbon release program was in effect to cause such a drought. I'm just wondering who has the time machine.

Were you to ask the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service why these beetles are going a little nuts right now, they'd tell you that agressive environmental groups continuously sue to disallow selective removal, brush disposal and prescribed fire thinning. They'd also tell you that the failure to do such upkeep is one of the primary causes of large forest fires.

Though some people blame inadequate thinning of older trees by state forest managers, the study makes a "convincing case" that drought and pests are responsible, says entomologist Kenneth Raffa of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

USA Today mentions the USDA Forest Service's position as "some people"...and then discounts it with a bug guy in Wisconsin. What they fail to mention is that the USDA Forest Service files hundreds of proposals each year with the GAO to thin growth and scrub. Over half are appealed. Over half of the appeals originate from Environmental groups. These are the same groups that push the "global warming" theory at every turn. In addition to the stalling (which allows the bark beetle a more fertile breeding ground such that outbreaks can occur) the taxpayers end up with a quarter Billion dollars in litigation invoices.

And here's your nightcap:

"Climate change is not just affecting the ice cover of the Arctic Ocean — it's closer to home," says climate scientist Raymond Bradley of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, who was not part of the study. "Climate changes in mountain regions of the world are occurring at a much faster pace than has generally been recognized."

Raymond S. Bradley...Raymond S. Bradley....who's dat?

Raymond S. Bradley, director of the Center for Climate Change, is one of many researchers affiliated with UMass Amherst who contributed to reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in the past year. The reports earned the panel the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, shared with environmentalist Al Gore.

Bradley and Michael E. Mann presented a study back in 1999 on "global warming" that was thoroughly repudiated HERE. One of Al Gore's cheerleaders gets a shout-out from USA Today to push the agenda even though he has no connection to the basis of the article. That's how it works...enjoy the soda.

While Nero Diddled...

Were “Barack: The Movie” made today, cool dude Denzel, after dropping 50 pounds, would play him - one lean, mean, cool dude machine.

Someone donate batteries to the news media...before there is a carpal tunnel epidemic...

From the overly freaky wing of the Democratic PARTY...

Billed as a bacchanalian strip-show-cum-sideshow by way of a speakeasy, recurring East Village party The Sunday Show is planning its January Inauguration Edition tomorrow.

Host Babraham Lincoln will hold court at "the only NC-17-rated inauguration celebration in America." Organizer Kristine "Kiki" Rakowsky says, "Just as in the great depressions in the past, I'm providing entertainment-aided escapism from the current economic fallout."

Such attractions are said to include go-go dancing by the "sexretary of state," a "constitutional cabaret show" and "exit poll" dancing with fire eating, fire hula-hooping and fire juggling thrown in for good measure.

I don't mind saying that (almost) without exception...there are a number of groups that will vote for that other guy and not the candidate for whom I would vote. It's a nice barometer to determine if I am a misguided, self-indulging, overly liberal freak...or just a regular guy.

Uh....your mom is...ummm...fat

Tim Blair at the Daily Telegraph (incidentally...voted Best Blog Down Under) outlines for your convenience the accusations of torture at Gitmo as stated by Susan Crawford. The recipient was Mohammed al-Qahtani according to Crawford, a Pentagon official.

• Forty-eight of 54 consecutive days of 18-to-20-hour interrogations.

• Standing naked in front of a female agent.

• Subject to strip searches.

• Insults to his mother and sister.

• Threatened with a military working dog named Zeus.

• Forced to wear a woman’s bra.

• Had a thong placed on his head.

____

Personally, I'm not impressed:

• Forty-eight of 54 consecutive days of 18-to-20-hour interrogations.

Did it in college, from a certain point of view. I got stuck in a couple Urban Studies elective courses due to a lack of seniority during the registration process. On the first day, upon hearing that minorities have been (and continue be) oppressed by the white authority, I made the mistake of inquiring as to who, specifically, made up this sinister “white authority.” Imagine my surprise when I was informed by the minority professor, that I was a full fledged member based solely on my skin tone. Good Lord… Up until this point, no one would let me join anything. Everyone likes to be included, and I was no exception. I was, also, the only “white guy” in the class, so that allowed me a certain level of self-importance such that each issue discussed during the semester would not be complete without my added words of contribution as a card carrying member of the “White Proletariat.” I am a strong believer in the power of diversity.

The discussion, over time, became more and more pointed. It wasn’t long until name calling entered the fray as the rest of the class joined the professor in heated exchanges between them and me. They interrogated me on my lineage, and suggested reparations right there in class. My books were “misplaced” on a regular basis as was my pride. After 48 consecutive days of these heated exchanges, I finally cracked and made the only choice I had left. I renounced my “white authority” and secured a student discounted membership to the “Tan-R-ific” tanning salon to show skin tone solidarity.

• Standing naked in front of a female agent.

Did it in college…although it was more fun to stand in front of the French Maid, or the Jungle Temptress. My girlfriend at the time was an English major with access to the Drama Club storage area.

• Subject to strip searches.

Did it in college. It was, of course, preceded by the simple phrase…”I have a present for you in one of my pockets.” The fact that the falsehood worked continuously without payoff suggests that my dating standards weren’t necessarily tailored towards the cerebral.

• Insults to his mother and sister.

Did it in college. At least, I think I did. It was a wild graduation party and it is entirely possible that they were related in some fashion. Hey…you hoard the blanket, you risk verbal abuse. These are hard and fast rules.

• Threatened with a military working dog named Zeus.

Did this in college, but the dog was, affectionately, named Mange. No one knew his real name…or owner. He just meandered throughout the apartment complex begging out a few scraps here and there. This particular dog really didn’t put too much stock in hygiene as was demonstrated by the unbelievable stench and mud-caked coat. It had become a tradition of sorts to welcome Mange into our humble abode each time someone visiting had the temerity to over-indulge and require a session of mandatory catatonic rest. Perhaps the cagey canine didn’t have an impressive and aggressive name like “Zeus.” But, there’s nothing more breath-takingly frightening than waking up half in the bag only to see a mess of mud tangled locks that smell like the south end of a horse.

• Forced to wear a woman’s bra.

Did it in college…but was not mandatory. Someone had the brilliant idea that the best way to sneak adult libations into a Joe Jackson concert was by means of “hidden pockets.” I froze my bloody nipples off, but I didn’t sag. They were longnecks.

• Had a thong placed on his head.

Did it in college…and I wasn’t alone. One of my roommates (who is now a full bird Colonel in the Army) and I had Kamikaze pilot helmets (the old leather ones). Every so often, after a few liquid refreshments, we would go visit some of our more prudish sorority sister friends and trade our mission headgear for a more pedestrian look. It never solicited the response we were looking for, but I don’t claim to be a sophisticated lady’s man.

On a side note, we had a friend who had acquired the nickname of “Scrounger.” He was one of those young men who had no difficulty admiring the personality of a young woman over her more physical attributes. One fine evening, I walked in (quite accidentally) on one of his conquests and him. At that particular moment, “Scrounger” was wearing, not only, a thong on his head. He was wearing the woman attached to the thong. His continued exploits in that regard could, arguably, account for the flatness of his head.

__________________

Andrea Harris knows what I'm thinking:

Is that the best we’ve got? Come on! What have we been doing with this reputation we’ve been building up for being a ruthless, warmongering, baby-killing, ice-cream-from-kids-snatching, old-lady-pushing-to-the-ground, rough, tough, mean hegemonic empire for? What about thumbscrews? What about iron maidens? What about the rack???

Real torture is being confined to the waiting room of your dentist in advance of a root canal marathon with only one ten year old magazine highlighting the "Best of Susan Sontag" while a musical produced in India plays jaggedly in the background. Gitmo seems to be more tuned into the sophomoric hijinks-type shenanigans.

I have thumbs...how 'bout you?

Human actions are increasing the rate of evolutionary change in plants and animals in ways that may hurt their long-term prospects for survival, scientists are reporting.

Hunting, commercial fishing and some conservation regulations, like minimum size limits on fish, may all work against species health.

The idea that target species evolve in response to predation is not new. For example, researchers reported several years ago that after decades of heavy fishing, Atlantic cod had evolved to reproduce at younger ages and smaller sizes.

We’re only in January, but this research report may very well qualify as “Inanity of the Year.”

Take a moment and think about this for a second…and do so with the considerable fact that MAN IS AN ANIMAL THAT IS PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM. Sure, fishing in bulk causes changes in the habitat since animals instinctively will try to survive. Why do regions of the world dictate the amount of melanin in a man’s skin? Evolution, adaption, adjustment and overcoming adversity.

Man adapts…evolves (at least physically). Fish adapt…evolve. Bacteria adapts…evolves (thanks to the abuse of antibiotics).

The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance is an outcome of evolution. Any population of organisms, bacteria included, naturally includes variants with unusual traits--in this case, the ability to withstand an antibiotic's attack on a microbe. When a person takes an antibiotic, the drug kills the defenseless bacteria, leaving behind--or "selecting," in biological terms--those that can resist it. These renegade bacteria then multiply, increasing their numbers a millionfold in a day, becoming the predominant microorganism.

My problem with this article, besides the fact that the conclusion is patently obvious…is that the by-line calls this “harmful.”

Here it is: "Research ties human acts to harmful rates of species evolution"

No…it’s just life and death. This has been happening before man graced the big blue marble. It will happen after our demise. Man is the top of the food chain. We are the predator. Each deer we kill for food leaves one less deer which means there is one less mammal stripping away the lower branches of the wild cherry trees…which allows the tree better health and makes it less susceptible to insect manifestation…and woodpecker habitat.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction…(Thanks Albert).

The only real attribute to this entire study is that there is an obvious observation of evolution in action due to the magnitude of the change in the habitat. While this effects some species negatively…it, ultimately, effects other species to the positive (which the author and the researcher have failed to mention).

Every animated being evolves. Every animated being will continue to do so. It will occur at different rates due to the varying factors around them. How do you think you got your thumbs?


UPDATE:

Hey...LOOK!!!

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Eradicating the cat population on Macquarie, a remote island between Australia and Antarctica, has damaged the local environment, allowing rabbits to rapidly reproduce in their absence.

Hey...LOOK AGAIN!!!!

Rabbits, first brought to Macquarie in 1878, became the main prey of feral cats that arrived earlier. The rabbit population reached 130,000 in 1978, then fell to 20,000 as the result of a viral disease introduced to reduce their numbers. The cats lost their main source of food, resorting to eating native burrowing birds, and were then eradicated from the island in 2000.

Miracles do happen...

I CAN WALK! IT’S A MIRACLE! . . . A woman who begged for money from her wheelchair on the streets of Monterrey, Mexico, planned to assist her husband in the robbery of a furniture store. She threw a rock through the window as a distraction, but when the caper went bad, she got up and ran away.

I posted this little blurb from the Boston Herald because a couple times a week I meander over to Liberty Plaza (Broadway & Liberty) to grab some lunch. There's a little park there overlooking Ground Zero.

Every once in a while there is a gentleman parked on the corner in his wheel chair playing a clarinet. A sign sits propped up against the corner building stating:

"Paralysized...Please Help"

Of course, it seems miracles do indeed happen in NYC...and not just on 34th street. He taps his foot to the music every time I see him.