And they say there's nothing exciting about a John McCain presidency.

A Murderer's Row of Stupid. A Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame All-Star Jam of Liberal Pissants.

Yeah, yeah, he first has to win the presidency, but there's lots of buzz about whom Sen. Barack Obama might pick for his top cabinet jobs. Among them: Sen. Hillary Clinton as head of Health and Human Services. Her allies suggest she might be interested if the job were elevated to the top tier of agencies and if she were allowed to push healthcare reform. Other names: Sen. John Kerry as secretary of state, former Sen. Tom Daschle as White House chief of staff... and exiting Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel at Defense.

Change, yo.

Posted by: Ace at 04:09 PM | Comments (34)
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AIDS:

There is real hope that whatÂ’s happening in a Houston lab might lead to a cure for HIV.

“We have found an innovative way to kill the virus by finding this small region of HIV that is unchangeable,” Dr. Sudhir Paul of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston said.

Dr. Paul and Dr. Miguel Escobar aren’t talking about just suppressing HIV – they’re talking about destroying it permanently by arming the immune system with a new weapon lab tests have shown to be effective.

Ford Stuart has been HIV positive for 15 years. HeÂ’s on a powerful drug cocktail that keeps the disease in check.

“I’m on four different medications. Three of them are brand new, and it’s the first time that I’ve ever been non-detectible,” Stuart said.

... Dr. Paul thinks heÂ’s cracked a code.

“We’ve discovered the weak spot of HIV,” he said.

Paul and his team have zeroed in on a section of a key protein in HIVÂ’s structure that does not mutate.

“The virus needs at least one constant region, and that is the essence of calling it the Achilles heel,” Paul said.

That Achilles heel is the doctorsÂ’ way in.

Alzheimer's:

A new drug halts the devastating progress of AlzheimerÂ’s disease, say British scientists.

It is said to be more than twice as effective as current treatments.

A daily capsule of rember, as the drug is known, stops AlzheimerÂ’s disease progressing by as much as 81 per cent, according to trial results.

Patients with the brain disorder had no significant decline in their mental function over a 19-month period.

‘We appear to be bringing the worst affected parts of the brain functionally back to life,’ said Dr Claude Wischik, who led the research.

It is the first time medication has been developed to target the ‘tangles’ in the brain that destroy nerve cells, leading to deteriorating memory.

The drug helps to disrupt this process, preventing the formation of new tangles and loosening those already created.

Last night the findings were hailed as the biggest breakthrough in the battle against AlzheimerÂ’s since 1907.

And Barack Obama just coincidentally appeared on the scene a year ago?

Shyah, right.

Posted by: Ace at 03:37 PM | Comments (38)
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Apparently, Fox/O'Reilly had something on this, but it made it above the fold in the print version of the Palm Beach Post today, so the story must have enough traction that even the reliably Bolshevik PBP can't bury it. Wexler is of course a flaming moonbat, high profile Dem attack dog, and staunch supporter of the Messiah.

Acknowledging that accusations that he doesn't really live in Florida are raising "concerns" among his constituents, Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said Tuesday that he will begin leasing an apartment in his congressional district rather than continue to claim residency at his in-laws' home near Delray Beach.

Wexler made the announcement on the same day that his two challengers produced records showing Wexler received property tax breaks by declaring his house in Potomac, Md., a "primary residence" from 1999 to 2002. He also signed a loan document with his wife in 2005 describing the house as "my/our principal residence."...

Normally, one might consider perpetrating such a fraud on the voters in a district to be somewhat of an ethics problem. But this is the most ethical congress ever, so we know that can't be the case. Just rent an apartment, and 8 years of hoodwinking the voters will just be swept under the rug.

Ditching Wexler, even for a flakey republican, would be a major upset. In my circle of friends, many of whom live in Wexler's district as do I, there were quite a few snorts of derision over the nerve of this asshat. If there are further inconvenient revelations before Nov, it might be enough to get him booted. This one alone probably won't do it, but a few more could seal his fate now that there are actual challengers. In 2004/2006 he ran unopposed.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 03:09 PM | Comments (27)
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I was told there would be no math in this Messianic Cult.

Who knows what guileless stupidity lurks in the Hearts of Men?

Captain Bullshit knows.

Thanks to HW.

Posted by: Ace at 02:33 PM | Comments (41)
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A lawsuit claims yes, Google says "there is no such thing as complete privacy.

I always just took this as a neat, ambitious and neat (did I say neat?) feature, but, honestly, it is sort of creepy to have your home available to thieves and perverts online, isn't it?

Or what if you're just a bit embarrassed by your home (the one here looks pretty downscale)?

I think Google's right legally, and practically too (you can't fight the future, or at least you can't beat the future), but it's interesting.

Thanks to Slublog.

Supposedly -- unless this has been debunked as a prank -- Google's snap-happy picture-takers have caught, and posted, crack deals in progress as their representative street views.

Hookers, too.

Posted by: Ace at 02:25 PM | Comments (35)
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Wow.

Old Jesus asked so much of us. New Jesus just wants us to hit the airpump twice a month.

Advantage: New Jesus.

In more energy news swiped from Hot Air:

A CNN poll finds that 69% of Americans support expanded offshore drilling, which is actually down from the June figure of 73%.

30% of Americans prefer Obama's plan of "new technologies," specifically cars that run on Hope.

Will the Democrats back down on the oil ban?

Politically it seems they must. However, Nancy Pelosi seems to be a true believer, and has basically staked the success (ahem) of her Speakership on defeating expanded oil production.

Democrats will likely propose a continuing resolution to extend funding for the government through the end of the calendar year without making major changes. This bill will certainly include a continuation of the drilling ban — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), a zealous opponent of offshore drilling since the 1980s, has resisted all attempts to change it.

This is a win-win situation for us. If Democrats back down, our country moves to a rational energy policy, gas prices go down, foreign dependency goes down, we have a much better chance at avoiding a likely recession, and, as a kicker, dispirited leftists get a hell of a lot less enthusiastic about Hope, Change, and Granny Rictus McBotoxImplants.

If they don't back down, it's a possible game-changer in November.

Trouble is, it doesn't impact Congressional races like it might. Nancy Pelosi is blocking action from her position at leader, which allows all the moderate, potentially vulnerable freshmen Democratic Congressmen to agitate in favor of expanded oil drilling... without actually having to vote on the policy or do anything about it. They can, mostly honestly, say "The problem is the leadership, guys. I'm on your side, and I'm trying to convince them."

Of course they could do something about it -- depose Pelosi, threaten to ump parties, etc. -- but those options seem so unlikely and extreme the public will forgive them for not doing so.

Still, if Democrats continue defying 70% of the public on an issue that really matters to them, they'd better start scaling back those predictions of picking up an addition 20 House seats and 5-8 Senate seats.

I'd sure prefer it if they backed down. A recession is no one's idea of fun. But if these moronic cocksuckers force us into a recession that could have been avoided, at least there is the small consolation that they'll pay a political price for having done so.

I like trees too, fuckers. And caribou. And even snail-darters, I guess. I don't know what snail-darters are, precisely, but I'm sure they're capital chaps.

You know what I like better than trees, caribou, and snail darters? Human beings. Particularly those of the American persuasion.

Posted by: Ace at 01:34 PM | Comments (49)
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This weapon system has been linked here before, but this video of it is, I believe, new.

More:

The SFW, a 1,000-pound class weapon, contains our own BLU-108 submunition and Smart Skeet warheads. Equipped with dual-mode passive infrared and active laser sensors on each warhead, one SFW can simultaneously detect and engage many fixed and moving land combat targets within a 30-acre coverage area.

Combat proven on April 2, 2003 in Operation Iraqi Freedom, SFW took out multiple Iraqi tanks in a single pass. SFW's 40 warheads are also equipped with timed self- de-activation modes for clean battlefield operation.

More detail:

The CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon cluster munition combines 10 submunitions with 4 skeet type warheads in a single dispenser, providing 40 weapons total. After release, a fuze causes the dispenser to disperse the 10 submunitions, each stabilized by a parachute. At a preset altitude a rocket fires, propelling the submunition in an upward vector. As the submunition climbs, it is spun to disperse the 4 internal skeet warheads randomly by centrifugal force.

An IR sensor in each warhead searches for a target, and upon discovery detonates over it, firing a kinetic fragment. The fragment drives itself through the lightly armored top of the target. If no target is found, the sensor detonates the warhead above ground to spray the battlefield with a myriad of lethal fragments. This weapon is good against armor and soft skinned targets, covering a 4,800 square yard area.

And what could be better than a flyin' laser of death? A cutaway view of a flyin' laser of death, that's what.

Thanks to Krakatoa and Arthur for those.

Posted by: Ace at 12:30 PM | Comments (34)
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Whether it does or doesn't, it's likely to be at least the second-highest grossing picture of all time, beating even the mighty Star Wars. (Though Star Wars of course sold more tickets; they never adjust box office for inflation, because Hollywood always has a vested interest in new movies breaking old records.)

I saw the movie Monday. I haven't put up a review yet because it's nuanced.

My one word review? Meh.

My slightly longer than one word review: Overblown, overhyped, overplotted, overstuffed, and overlong. more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:29 AM | Comments (82)
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My, my. This couple certainly is very taken with itself. The four-way sex with the Obamas and their throbbing, outsized egos must be pretty hot.

In context, the quote isn't quite as bad as it is out-of-context... but it's still kinda bad. The "N.B" below is an editorial annotation by Newsbusters.

Q. A friend of yours said you are purposely not engaged in policy because, as an attorney, you so over-prepare that if you can't master something you won't dive in at all. Is that true?

Michelle: On some level I view myself – as do many women in my position – as 120-percenters, meaning we feel good about what we're doing when we're doing it at 120 percent. So, I could be very competent putting 70 percent in, but I don't feel good about it. I feel like, if I'm going to master it, I'm going to master it. Where I've had to come – not just in this campaign, but in my life of having so much that I'm doing, my career, the role of mom and exercise and all these other things that I have come to believe are just as important – is I've had to sort of let go of that 120-percent thing and say, I can't do everything. I am not going to realistically be the policy expert on every opinion and position that Barack has because I don't have the time to do it, quite frankly. And I have to be okay with that.

So, how does putting in a 70% effort help Michelle Obama's kids?

Q. I'm not sure people will buy that. They see you as so strong and smart and assertive [NB: tough interview!], that it's natural to assume that you're weighing in on policy.

Michelle: That is the internal struggle that I, and a lot of women, have. You listen to the outside, which says you have an obligation – because you're smart and well-educated – to do this. And it's like, 'Yeah, but I also have these kids.

Ah.

It has to be noted that studies have consistently found that incompetent people tend to wildly overstate their competence.

And, realistically, many people put in a 70% effort at work, and manage to get by with that. I can't help but think that Michelle Obama has gotten used to being, basically, lazy (racism alert!), but consoles herself that her own 70% effort is worth the 120% effort of most people who don't have superpowers.

Question: How many hours is Michelle Obama actually putting in at her $200,000+ hospital administration job these days? Does she still work there? Or, let's not ask about "work" per se -- does she continue drawing a salary?

What's the attendance rate at that political-posting gig these days? I have a feeling that the hospital would count itself lucky to get 70%.

Posted by: Ace at 10:37 AM | Comments (71)
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Plus speculation over why the Enquirer won't release photos it claims it has.

Although I don't think the photos prove much -- after all, we have a security guard confirming Edwards is there, which is all we need the photos to prove -- the fact that the Enquirer isn't releasing them -- any of them, even a teaser -- makes me doubt they have the pictures.

Which makes me doubt the rest of their coverage.

Posted by: Ace at 10:19 AM | Comments (34)
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