With the exception of PA, who either didn't check his emails or wants to pull a Patrick Appel and passive-aggressively give the game away (PA = PA? surely no coincidence!; there must be some conspiracy afoot), the new "solitary voice" format is working pretty well, I'd say.

Even if you don't usually read Sullivan posts, you'll probably at least want to read the beginning and end of this one if you want to know how it is I've been posting like a demon all day well before my usual farmer's-hours wake-up at the crack of 2:30 pm.

Regarding that photoshop above: Credit to me, ace. Thanks to ace (myself) for the hat-tip. Via ace, me again, as I found it on my solitary-voice blog. Since no one else here is responsible for anything that's posted here -- I get the hat-trick of credit. Original credit, hat-tip credit, via credit: Me myself and I, baby.

(Also, if I have to confess it, thanks to some "underblogging" to McGurk for stewing in my cerebral juices long enough to intuitively understand I wanted a photoshop that looks exactly like that. But I was responsible for the substantive content of the picture.)

Sockpuppet Me! For the day, let's just suspend the "don't sockpuppet ace" rule. Sockpuppet away. It's my blog, and I do intend for it to have a solitary voice, so it's better if not only are the posts by me, but half the comments too.

Then I can claim to have the real "most popular one-man blog on the internet."

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Posted by: Ace at 09:33 AM | Comments (553)
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Out of the corrupt, socialist frying pan and into the corrupt, socialist fire.

The critical step toward fulfilling President Obama's pledge to shut the Guantanamo detention center will be announced Tuesday, said the official, who reported that Obama has ordered the acquisition of the eight-year-old Thomson Correctional Center, about 150 miles northwest of Chicago.

Obama made the move despite the objections of Illinois Republicans, who fear the transfer of prisoners -- some for indefinite detention, some for trial -- could make the state a target for terrorists. Rep. Mark Kirk has called the move "an unnecessary risk."

In telegraphing the announcement, the official said closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay "is essential to protecting our national security and helping our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al- Qaeda."

Oy. How far up Obama's butt do you think that guy stuck his head? 'Cause sure as shit, it's not going to give Al Qaida a recruiting tool to hold terrorists in "Thomson Correctional" instead of Guantanamo Bay, right?

Note the line: "some for indefinite detention, some for trial." If by "indefinite detention" you mean, "release sooner rather than later" because now they're on U.S. soil and entitled to greater due process protections than they otherwise would have been, then, sure, their detention is "indefinite."

Oh, but there is a sticking point. Obama is announcing this like it's a done deal. It's not:

Before prisoners can be moved, Congress must vote to allow detainees to be housed on U.S. soil for reasons other than trial.

The administration envisions the prison grounds in rural Thomson, close to the Mississippi River, where the former prisoners can stow away on a riverboat before taking a slow boat to north Africa.

I may have altered that last bit. Maybe.

No this is not a double post. This is so important I thought I'd mention it twice. Once for the early risers and once for those of us who sleep 'til noon. Except today I was up before noon. Really.

Posted by: Ace at 09:25 AM | Comments (74)
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Alright. Via email I'm told that all of the cerebral juice sharing is getting a leeettle intense for some commenters.

Just remember the safeword is "snowbeast." You say "snowbeast" and I promise I'll immediately stop whatever I'm doing and make sure you're okay. That's how this works. Trust. And handcuffs. But mostly trust.

You trust me, right?

Posted by: Ace at 09:05 AM | Comments (70)
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Not too often that GOOD is better that PERFECT.

...artificially introduced defects in nanotubes can aid the development of supercapacitors.

“While batteries have large storage capacity, they take a long time to charge; while electrostatic capacitors can charge quickly but typically have limited capacity. However, supercapacitors/electrochemical capacitors incorporate the advantages of both,” Bandaru said...

As an aside, we've been working on some laser fab stuff that could be used to introduce these "defects" in a very controlled manner. Nano tubes aren't our main thrust, but the nano-scale laser processing tech we've been developing has many applications.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:49 AM | Comments (51)
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Obama has a month in which to make good on his pledge to meet with Ahmadinejad so keep hope alive!

The accumulating evidence of Iran’s nuclear momentum emerges as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded Monday that the White House has little to show for nearly a year of diplomatic engagement with Iran over its nuclear ambitions. “I don’t think anyone can doubt that our outreach has produced very little in terms of any kind of a positive response from the Iranians,” Clinton told reporters.

In fairness this is all Bush's fault. I shouldn't have to point that out but there it is.

So after a year a relentless sucking up to a murderous regime, Obama has nothing more to show for his efforts than the cowboy diplomacy of the BushCheney Reich. Who, aside from everyone on this blog, could have seen that coming?

Unfortunately for those of us who aren't thrilled at the prospects of a nuclear armed Iran, the game of diplomacy is never truly over. There's always one more outreach effort to make or one more international conference to attend. All the while the mullahs, who are obviously more interested in nukes than taking 'their rightful place in the world community' that Obama is always going on about, are getting closer and closer to their dream.

I'd say that's worth a B+.

Posted by: Ace at 08:38 AM | Comments (47)
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The singular voice of this blog wrote about this yesterday and today Byron York has a piece in the Washington Examiner about the Democrats willingness to lose seats in the name of health care.

According to one Democratic strategist, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.

"In the House, the view of [California Rep. Henry] Waxman and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi is that we've waited two generations to get health care passed, and the 20 or 40 members of Congress who are going to lose their seats as a result are transitional players at best," he said. "This is something the party has wanted since Franklin Roosevelt." In this view, losses are just the price of doing something great and historic. (The strategist also noted that it's easy for Waxman and Pelosi to say that, since they come from safely liberal districts.)

"At the White House, the picture is slightly different," he continued. "Their view is, 'We're all in on this, totally committed, and we don't have to run for re-election next year. There will never be a better time to do it than now.'"

"And in the Senate, they look at the most vulnerable Democrats -- like [Christopher] Dodd and [Majority Leader Harry] Reid -- and say those vulnerabilities will probably not change whether health care reform passes or fails. So in that view, if they pass reform, Democrats will lose the same number of seats they were going to lose before."

The bill isn't going to include a public option or the Medicare buy in but it will be "something" that Obama can sign, a majority of the public be damned. Yes, Democrats will pay a price at the polls next year and maybe in 2012 but it will be too late. Nothing like this ever gets repealed, it only grows. So the left with throw their tantrums about not getting everything they want, the Democrats will see the majorities shrink (maybe even disappear) but in the natural flow of American politics, they will be back and they will say, "look at the problems this stupid half measure created!". Of course the answer will inevitably be more government, not less and in 10 or 15 years (max), they will get their public option and/or single payer system.

The 50 or 60 Dems who will lose their seats won't be mourned, they'll be celebrated as martyrs to the cause, if by martyr you mean someone pulling down mid six to low seven figures as a lobbyist.

Posted by: Ace at 07:55 AM | Comments (165)
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Since the dawn of womynkind, testosterone has been blamed as the root of all manner of evils. From mongering wars that claimed millions, to leaving the toilet lid up resulting in numberless midnight bum-dunks into the icy porcelain depths.

(blockbuster story after the fold) more...

Posted by: Ace at 07:26 AM | Comments (79)
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Co-founder of something called 350.org, Bill McKibben attended (ahem) church in Copenhagen ... and "sobbed for an hour":

This afternoon I sobbed for an hour, and I'm still choking a little. I got to Copenhagen's main Lutheran Cathedral just before the start of a special service designed to mark the conference underway for the next week. It was jammed, but I squeezed into a chair near the corner. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, gave the sermon; Desmond Tutu read the Psalm. Both were wonderful.

But my tears started before anyone said a word. As the service started, dozens choristers from around the world carried three things down the aisle and to the altar: pieces of dead coral bleached by hot ocean temperatures; stones uncovered by retreating glaciers; and small, shriveled ears of corn from drought-stricken parts of Africa.

Personally, I hate baby corn --- it tastes like yellow dirt. If it takes me homogenizing some data to get rid of it, then so be it.

McKibben's tearful plea continues. Be sure to check out the whole thing and leave Bill some encouraging words at his open comments here.

UPDATE: It appears McKibben has switched on comment moderation. What a surprise! Wiserbud offers some helpful advice to McKibben below the fold:

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Posted by: Open Blog at 07:26 AM | Comments (116)
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It's from The Telegraph, so I'm sure that the science is SETTLED. Peer-review, and all that, old chap.

Really, is anyone surprised? Bacon comes from pigs, and none of my acquaintances are afraid of pigs. But babies? Considering where they come from, its no wonder that men have some deep seated fear of them. Hell, I know I do. It's stewed into my cerebral juices, so to speak.

Posted by: Ace at 07:11 AM | Comments (21)
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In an utterly stupid move that is nothing more than a sop to Obama's main constituent groups, US liberals and the adoring billions around the world, the administration is officially moving some of the Gitmo detainees to a soon to be upgraded prison in Illinois.

Dozens of terrorism suspects being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be moved to a little-used Illinois state prison that will be acquired and upgraded by the federal government, an Obama administration official said.

The critical step toward fulfilling President Obama's pledge to shut the Guantanamo detention center will be announced Tuesday, said the official, who reported that Obama has ordered the acquisition of the eight-year-old Thomson Correctional Center, about 150 miles northwest of Chicago.

Obama made the move despite the objections of Republicans in Congress and in Illinois, where critics say the transfer of prisoners -- some for indefinite detention, some for trial -- could make the state a target for terrorists. Rep. Mark Kirk has called the move "an unnecessary risk."

...(Illinois Senator Dick) Durbin estimated that the move from Guantanamo could create as many as 3,000 jobs.

National Review has a scathing editorial which lays out the case that this move will almost certainly lead to a terrorist being released onto the streets of America.

Though the nationÂ’s attention has been focused on the administrationÂ’s absurd decision to grant the 9/11 plotters a trial in the civilian justice system, the fact is that many, if not most, of the remaining Gitmo detainees will not face a trial of any kind. They are being held under the laws of war, which permit the detention of enemy operatives until the conclusion of hostilities. The threat they pose is terrible, but it is known to us mostly through foreign intelligence that may not be used in trial proceedings.

This was not a problem in AmericaÂ’s prior wars. Handling enemy prisoners was properly considered a military matter. In this war, activist judges urged on by left-wing lawyers have taken on an oversight role: the power, codified by Congress in the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, to review the legitimacy of military detention. Many civilian judges are fundamentally hostile to the concept of indefinite detention under wartime protocols that do not require proof of a crime. With no political accountability to the voters whose lives are at stake, and no guidance from Congress regarding the rules for these detention proceedings, judges have made abominable rulings, vacating the combatant designations of detainees who were trained in terror camps and clearly connected to the jihadist network.

So far, these rulings have not resulted in detaineesÂ’ being released in the United States. But that is only because, at present, the detainees are physically kept outside of the country. In the 2005 Real ID Act, Congress barred aliens who either have been members of terrorist organizations or have received paramilitary training in terrorist camps from entering our nation. Though one judge has tried to order detainees released here regardless, his order was reversed on appeal. Other judges have been hesitant to hold that their power to review detention rulings implies a power to order detainees released, much less released in the United States, in defiance of statutory proscription.

Lawfare Fever, Catch It!

This is nothing but a PR move. There's absolutely no reason to do this. The left can go on all it wants about "Gitmo hurts our image" abroad. Well, to the extent it does, it's because of their lies and distortions about what was going on there and the history of how America and every other country has handled these hostis humani generis.

Obama will undoubtedly talk about how this move will impress the world community and serve as evidence America is once again living up to its ideals.
We've been down this road of pretending foreign jihadis are like car jackers. We did it after the first World Trade Center attack. The fact that there was a second attack shows how impressed the 'world' and the terrorists were.
Personally, I was unaware of any American value that required us to treat war criminals as common criminals but maybe that's just me. Certainly neither Lincoln, who Obama will no doubt invoke, nor the liberal God FDR were under this kind of illusion.

America will be less safe under this scheme but Obama will get to pander to his liberal base and 'save or create' jobs. At least there's no doubt what His priorities are.

Posted by: Ace at 06:57 AM | Comments (124)
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