One More Reason

As if we needed one more  reason to despise the "United Nations", here comes their latest atrocity. They've decided that it's just fine for governments to murder their citizens for the "crime" of being gay or lesbian.

The United Nations has removed a plea for lesbians, gays and bisexuals not to be executed in a narrow vote.

---------------

But now sexual orientation has been taken out of the list. The amendment was supported by Benin in Africa on behalf of the African Group in the UN General Assembly. It passed on a narrow vote of 79 for, 70 against , 17 abstentions and 26 absent.


Some of those voting to remove sexual orientation were countries where gays are known to be or thought to be executed or summarily killed including Iran, Nigeria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iraq.


The UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and many European countries voted in favour of gays.

We didn't really need further proof that the UN was being overrun by savages and those who hate anything outside of their collectives, but we got it anyway. The time is long past when we should have torn that edifice to collectivism down and salted the earth it stood upon, as an example to everyone around the world. Sadly, the UN has decided to sign death warrants for thousands of people around the world. The inmates are running the asylum in New York. It's time we sent these slavers back to their own countries.

No Winners In This Go Around

There will be no winners this go around of the election machine. Especially for folks like me, whose ballot would look blank for the most part. It's highly doubtful that any of the folks I would choose to represent me will win their election bids. Some republicrat will likely win and take that victory as a mandate to do as they will to us for another cycle, as opposed to what it actually is. Just a loss by democrats. My prognostication in this arena says we'll see little substantive change, no matter who "wins" or who is retained. Government's going to continue its cancerous growth if the republicrats take the House and/or Senate. Spending may be cut by a $100 billion or so, but that's literally a drop in the bucket with spending in the multiple trillions of dollars.
The wars will continue apace and more people will die, more enemies will be made and more wealth will be squandered.

If there are any "winners" this time around, it will likely be those who didn't vote. They are likely to be in a majority, as usual. Maybe they know something that everyone else doesn't, huh? Even hamsters eventually tire of running in the wheel and slink off to do something better. Maybe we need a cycle where we all just take a time out and no-one votes for anyone, so we can show them how we really feel about them.

A Musical Interlude

Here's a little something to take your minds off of the election day sadness. Music from a time when they actually made really good videos to go along with it.

No More Microsoft

   As we all know, actions have consequences. That's especially true where politics and principles are concerned. If someone espouses a particularly odious political position there are numerous avenues that people may take that will result in consequences for that person. That's the case with me. The Gates family, Bill's Senior and Junior are using their wealth in an attempt to impose taxes on small business people and the other productive individuals in Washington state. They'd like to see special, class specific taxes levied on people whom they consider "wealthy". They're in favour of this, despite the fact that it will be bad for the economy of Washington, (just as taxes have had an impact on states like Indiana and others who were late to the state tax game) and bad for the people in general.
   Well, not being a resident of Washington, there's little I can do to impact the voting that will take place on Initiative 1098. But there is something I can do as a consumer. I can refuse to do business with the proponents of this scheme and withdraw some meagre amount of capital from their pockets. No more Microsoft products for me, not that I use many of them to begin with. This blog is proudly Made on a Mac. If, for some reason, I need a system in the future that requires another OS, it won't be a MS product. I'll stick with my Mac or find a Linux system. The Gates are more than showing their true natures as progressives. I can't be a party to their attempts to impose taxation on the very people who run the machinery that drives our economy. These two men are more than willing to see that machinery falter, I am not.

Five Years On

Today marks the 5th anniversary of hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf Coast. My family and I, as is our wont, took our summer vacation and made a return to the Coast this year. It had been 5 years since our last sojourn there, shortly before Katrina hit. Despite the presence of an oil spill we decided that it was time to make our way back and see what had been happening down there. The answer...not a lot.
The reminders of Katrina were still there, etched on the landscape like a wound that just refuses to heal. Where there were once houses and business there are still empty lots and bare slabs, scoured clean by the fury of the hurricane.
Some businesses have rebuilt, but far too few. There are areas where old and new homes mingle, fronting the beach (primarily between Gulfport and Biloxi), but there are far fewer now than there were prior to the storm. There are far too many empty and overgrown lots. The folks who once lived there have moved on, either farther north and away from the beach or out of the county or state entirely. A new diaspora has occurred and it has left its mark on the area where I once lived. It's painfully obvious that the coast was forgotten in the aftermath of the storm and that what attention was paid to the area was given to New Orleans, which did not suffer as much as points east. We even heard the same from a New Orleanian when we were there.
I must say, tho that I was pleased to see one thing. Where once stately live oaks grew and lined the highway along the coast there now exist wooden statues, carved from the remains of the shattered trees. Instead of digging them up and consigning them to the fire pits they have been lovingly carved into coast centric forms. Reborn as a symbol of hope along a still devastated coast.
I must also say that I was much relieved to see that the Deep Horizon oil spill had not taken a toll on the beaches. The vagaries of wind, tide, current and barrier islands had manage to keep most of the oil away from the beaches of Gulfport. There were some signs of the spill, tho. Cleanup crews festooned the beaches, removing even the smallest of tar balls. We even got to speak with two of them and they were informative, even going so far as to show us what the small tar balls looked like. This is not to say that there was no oil there. There certainly is some buried under the sand of the beaches at the water line. And there's a mix of scum, oil and dispersant that washes up. Rather nasty looking stuff. This latest disaster was something the coast didn't need or deserve.
It's just rather sad that, five years on, the signs of recovery are so few. Coastians are a hardy breed, tho. They have to be in that heat and with the constant threat of destruction via storm looming over them on a yearly basis. There is no doubt in my mind, tho that the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast have been forgotten. New Orleans is what comes to the minds of most people when you remember Katrina. Not the places that were actually hit with the full force of the storm. New Orleans today looks much like it did prior to Katrina. Oh, there are still signs of destruction there, but they're nothing like the scale of what one sees on the Gulf Coast. New Orleans was a city in decline before the storm and abandoned buildings existed all up and down Canal Street. Those buildings are still there and still abandoned. Signs, not of the storms fury, but of the inevitable decay that's been plaguing New Orleans for decades.
Here's hoping that the Coast is remembered and that the next five years are better than the previous. To see this wounded landscape remaining the same a decade after Katrina would be too much.

DOMA On The Defensive

A US District Judge has ruled against section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that it violates the Constitution in numerous areas. This is quite a victory for equal rights in this country and is a significant step towards getting Bob Barr's monstrosity repealed. No doubt the Obama regime will appeal the judges decision, but the stage is set for this abomination to finally be struck down.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro, appointed to the federal bench in 1972, ruled this afternoon in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A companion decision in Massachusetts v. U.S. Dep't of Health and Human Services also was issued, with Tauro finding that DOMA also violates the Tenth Amendment and the Spending Clause of the Constitution.

The Gill ruling: 2010-07-08-gill-district-court-decision.pdf

The Massachusetts ruling: 2010-07-08-massachusetts-district-court-decision.pdf

More on this story at the source.

The Widening Gulf

I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It's a place I remember fondly and still have a special place in my heart for. Now, I get to see what government incompetence is doing to it, (not that I had the least bit of faith that they'd actually do anything), in the wake of the Deep Horizon disaster. Unlike other countries that have crafted contingency plans and put equipment in place for the inevitable accidents that are going to occur with oil, the US has managed to thrash about and get virtually nothing done, despite being offered aid from other countries who have experience in these matters. One of the many aspects of the current regimes failure stems from their love of labour unions. The Dutch have offered immediate aid to the US with advanced machinery and trained personnel and the US has declined. Oh, they're willing to take the equipment, but they want US union people to be trained to do the task, rather than let the Dutch just get right to work.

This type of nonsense is par for the course where the Obama regime is concerned. They are putting the interests of labour unions ahead of the people and environment of the Gulf Coast. What else could we expect, tho? Unions put the man in the White House and he's paying them back in spades, no matter the cost to the coast. And, as usual, the American press are choosing to ignore and purposefully overlook his administrations monumental failings. Thankfully, the foreign press is not so enamoured of him.

Some are attuned to the possibility of looming catastrophe and know how to head it off. Others are unprepared for risk and even unable to get their priorities straight when risk turns to reality.

The Dutch fall into the first group. Three days after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began on April 20, the Netherlands offered the U.S. government ships equipped to handle a major spill, one much larger than the BP spill that then appeared to be underway. "Our system can handle 400 cubic metres per hour," Weird Koops, the chairman of Spill Response Group Holland, told Radio Netherlands Worldwide, giving each Dutch ship more cleanup capacity than all the ships that the U.S. was then employing in the Gulf to combat the spill.

To protect against the possibility that its equipment wouldn't capture all the oil gushing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch also offered to prepare for the U.S. a contingency plan to protect Louisiana's marshlands with sand barriers. One Dutch research institute specializing in deltas, coastal areas and rivers, in fact, developed a strategy to begin building 60-mile-long sand dikes within three weeks.

The Dutch know how to handle maritime emergencies. In the event of an oil spill, The Netherlands government, which owns its own ships and high-tech skimmers, gives an oil company 12 hours to demonstrate it has the spill in hand. If the company shows signs of unpreparedness, the government dispatches its own ships at the oil company's expense. "If there's a country that's experienced with building dikes and managing water, it's the Netherlands," says Geert Visser, the Dutch consul general in Houston.

In sharp contrast to Dutch preparedness before the fact and the Dutch instinct to dive into action once an emergency becomes apparent, witness the American reaction to the Dutch offer of help. The U.S. government responded with "Thanks but no thanks," remarked Visser, despite BP's desire to bring in the Dutch equipment and despite the no-lose nature of the Dutch offer --the Dutch government offered the use of its equipment at no charge.

More at the source.

Thank goodness there are people like the Dutch, who are competent. Here's hoping that Obama and his regime finally get out of the way and let the grownups handle things. We can't stand much more of his Hope and Change. Maybe his worshipers in the environmental movement will remember this debacle when the elections roll around.

Technorati Tags:
Obama, Gulf Coast, Deep Horizon

Coming Attractions

When I go to the theatre I look forward to coming attractions that air before you get to the main feature. It gives you a sense of hope in the future and something to look forward to. I like having my wife lean in and tell me, "That looks good" or "I'd like to see that". It's like making a date for a far off future point. It leaves me feeling good, even when the main feature may suck, (which is seldom in our case, as we are really picky about theatre movies).
Well, I got to see a new coming attraction today. I wasn't at the theatre and my better half wasn't with me, but I'm sure it would have elicited a comment or two from her. The new trailer for the next Harry Potter movie is out and it looks like it's going to be a great movie. It's going to be in two parts, since there was no way anyone could have made the final book into a single 3 hour movie. This one looks like a winner to me and I can hardly wait to get the family together to go see it. Here, why don't you have a look for yourself? Sorry about the embedded ad, nothing I can do about that one. Click through to YouTube if you want a larger version of it.




Technorati Tags
Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows, Deathly Hallows Trailer

The Muslims I Remember

Via Radley Balko comes this interesting piece on Afghanistan in the 50's and 60's. It's a surprising contrast to the 14th century hellhole it is today. The people of Kabul, all Muslims, were embracing the West, technology, reason and civilised culture. It was a place where women dressed much like their Western counterparts and embraced higher education, in a mixed sexes environment. Industry and infrastructure were growing and they were growing cotton and making textiles instead of exporting opium. The difference between then and now is stark and disturbing and the US bears a chunk of the responsibility for its descent into fundamentalist savagery.
Afghanistan was just one of many casualties in the USSR/USA Great Games of the 20th century. The Soviets wanted what little Afghanistan had and the US couldn't allow communism to expand, so we backed the foreign fighters who eventually morphed into the Taliban (who the US was giving money to right up till 9/11). Caught in the middle of this pissing match were the reasonable, secular Muslims of Kabul and the other cities. Needless to say, many of those folks fled.
These were the first Muslims I remember meeting overseas, when I first started traveling. Secular Muslims. Not the fundamentalists that have spread through many areas of the Middle East and now run Afghanistan, (with US blessings). People like YaYa, a Muslim from Indonesia and Afghan refugees I met stand out in my mind. They and many others never let their religious beliefs get between themselves and a new friend. The many Muslims I met during my years in Egypt were what some label "fundamentalists", but they sure didn't act as they were stereotypically supposed to. They were civil, kind and open people. They embraced the West and, almost to a T loved America and Americans. I was welcomed in their homes and businesses all the time. Shoot, even the members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a "terrorist" organisation that I ran across were nice individuals. Civilised. They hadn't been caught up in the full fury of the Great Games of the superpowers. Just the machinations of their local despotic government.
Our participation in those games, with the now defunct USSR, is having ramifications, decades later and will reverberate for many years to come.
Sadly, we're unlikely to see that old Afghanistan or those Muslims anytime soon in Afghanistan. And that's sad. Education, free trade, industry and freedom were what they had and it was all for naught. I wish I'd had the chance to see that Afghanistan.

Getting To The Root Of Things

Radley Balko has a piece up at the Agitator that shows what some of us have been saying for awhile now. "Libertarian" Wayne Allyn Root, would be head of the Libertarian National Committee, has a few screws loose. He makes a decent puppet for some folks in the party, but when he goes off the reservation he sure goes full bore. Funnily enough I have seen links to this story from some sites run by Libertarians who support Root being memory holed. That's rather sad, especially for folks who value the truth and openess under most circumstances. Root is running to be the face and voice of the National Libertarian Party and his supporters have made a point of haranguing his opponent, Ernest Hancock, for being a 9/11 Truther. Looks like both of them have taken to wearing tin foil hats, no matter how you spin it. George Phillies is looking better and better every day. I do hope that Roots supporters will decry his adherence to this particular insanity. This will reflect poorly on the LP at all levels, national, state and county. And, at a time when libertarians stand to make significant gains in the political arena the last thing they need is something like this. Hopefully his supporters will repudiate his actions, instead of seeking to cover them up.

Saying Goodbye To A Rock Legend

Ronnie James Dio has died in Houston after a long battle with stomach cancer. He's certainly going to be missed around here. I always loved his solo work, but his stint with Black Sabbath was a good one in my eyes and ears. His distinctive voice, ten sizes larger than himself were a welcome addition to Rainbow when he was their lead singer. There was a period when Dio was the go to guy for power groups. That voice was always something else. It brought a raspy power to any heavy ballad or song that no-one else could match. I'm definitely going to miss the man, but his musical legacy will live on with his longtime fans. Bye, Ronnie. You'll be missed.

Goodbye, Frank

Frank Frazetta has passed away at the age of 82. All too soon, in my opinion.
We're all going to miss you more than you anyone will know. Frank's works set my appreciation for fantasy/pulp and science fiction in ways that enhanced what I read. His works are in no small part responsible for my personal perceptions where feminine beauty are concerned. His women became the template against which I compared the female forms I found attractive. Frazetta's Dejah Thoris, Thuvia or Dian The Beautiful were the epitome of the female form, and still are to this day. Sadly, we'll have to be satisfied with the works Frank left us. Nevermore will his phenomenal works grace the covers of the writers out there. Thankfully, I still have plenty of his works to gaze upon in my library. And my kids will get to see those lovely women and brave fighting men as they grow older, too. Thanks, Frank.

Making Statements

Via a Facebook friend comes this story out of Florida. Seems like a medical specialist has decided to exercise his rights of freedom to associate, freedom of speech and the free market to make his sentiments on Obamacare known in no uncertain terms. He's advised Obama and "healthcare reform" supporters to take their business elsewhere. He doesn't want their monetary support and is willing to forgo having them as customers, as is his right. I do have to wonder, tho if he's taking this to its logical conclusion. If he's against socialised medicine does he still accept Medicare and Medicaid? They're are just as damaging as Obamacare and worked as the cornerstones for the latest depredation. I am glad to see that someone does understand the concept of shunning, tho. It's something we could all do that loses us nothing in the long run. If we all practiced it the world would be a much nicer place and people would have to either change or face the prospect of their neighbours refusing to associate with them.

MOUNT DORA — A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care "elsewhere."

"I'm not turning anybody away — that would be unethical," Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. "But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it."

The sign reads: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."

The Proof Is In The Pudding And The Soda

I, and many others beside, have been saying for years that the so-called "obesity epidemic" and the fattening of America could be lain at the feet of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Manufacturers have poo-pooed the idea that this was true, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. Well, now comes some serious evidence from researchers at Princeton University that shines a light on the HFCS conundrum and it doesn't bode well for the supporters of HFCS.
From Princeton

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."

Vindication feels good. Now, perhaps, the manufacturers will pay heed and start to remove this unnecessary sweetener from their products and replace it with sugar, (preferably cane sugar). Those manufacturers who have already done that have met with no small amount of success. PepsiCo's "Throwback" lineup has been a rousing success. Premium sodas made with sugar are selling like gangbusters, where they're available. There is a serious market there and people are more than willing to forgo HFCS for sugar.
If we can get the government to drop import restrictions and their price support and subsidy system we'll not only be healthier, we'll have access to tastier snack foods. What we don't want, or need it the government poking their super-sized proboscis into things. The market, backed by science is capable of making the right choice. Let's hope this latest science spurs a move away from HFCS, (which doesn't taste that good) to old fashioned sugar as the sweetener of choice.

Better Late Than Never?

We finally have confirmation that the Iraq Invasion was a "horrible mistake", via Republican representatives Dana Rohrbacher and Tom McClintock. At a recent Cato gathering they came right out and said that they and a good many of their Republicrat allies are now willing to admit that the war they so vociferously supported was a mistake. It really is too bad that their mistake has cost the lives of thousands of American soldiers and lives of uncountable thousands of Iraqi men, women and children. This is the kind of "mistake" that no sane individual can afford to make. If these people truly recognised that they had committed this type of "mistake" the least they could do would be to resign their office and return to their homes in shame. I'm not looking for that to happen anytime soon. People like this have no shame.

Two GOP congressmen say most Republicans on the Hill now believe the Iraq war was a mistake, and "more than half the Republican caucus" believes the way in which the US entered the Afghanistan war was also a mistake.

Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) made the comments at a discussion panel at the Cato Institute on Thursday.

Going into Iraq "was a mistake because I thought we had to finish the job in Afghanistan," Rohrbacher told the panel, echoing a popular Democratic talking point at the time.

"In retrospect, almost all of us think that was a horrible mistake," Rohrbacher said. "Now that we know that it cost a trillion dollars, and all of these years, and all of these lives, and all of this blood … all I can say is everyone I know thinks it was a mistake to go in now.”

There's a video at the source or via Youtube of their confessions.

Tax The Internet!

At least that's what one Microsoft executive has suggested. He would like a tax imposed on internet users to fund cyber-security measures.

A top Microsoft executive on Tuesday suggested a broad Internet tax to help defray the costs associated with computer security breaches and vast Internet attacks, according to reports.

Speaking at a security conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Vice President for Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney pitched the Web usage fee as one way to subsidize efforts to combat emerging cyber threats -- a costly venture, he said, but one that had vast community benefits. "You could say it's a public safety issue and do it with general taxation," Charney noted.

I find that interesting considering that the majority of problems on the internet seem to be with Windows based machines being attacked. I use a Mac, (and have for many years) and have never experienced a virus, trojan or malware of any type. Apple seems to make a machine that doesn't require extra security. Hmmm...maybe they'll exempt us Mac users from their taxation scheme. Naw. They'll likely want us to pay more.

A Heavy Metal Anniversary

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the birth of Heavy Metal. I must say that I have certainly listened to more than my fair share of that head banging goodness (and badness) that sprang from the Black Sabbath's birth. It certainly helped get me through the late 70's when there was a drought of decent music and I still manage to get in a listen now and again, even this late. Happy Birthday to Ozzy and the boys!

It began with a clap of thunder and a tolling bell. Then, as a heavily distorted guitar played a diminished fifth — a tone sequence once banned by the Roman Catholic Church for being the “Devil’s interval” — a male voice started to wail as if from the grave. A few bars later the drums came in, and the resulting din was loud enough to make it seem as if Earth was coming apart at the seams.

The date was February 13, 1970 — 40 years ago today — and the album Black Sabbath, by the band of the same name, had just been released. It gave birth not only to heavy metal, but also to a new kind of dance move for the working-class male: headbanging.

Here's to 40 more years of music. Good and bad.

In Honour Of The Birthday Of Heavy Metal

Happy Birthday to the originators of Heavy Metal.

After The Iceberg

What are you willing to get rid of to avoid the inevitable catastrophic debt driven crash that is coming due in the next few years? Are you truly willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that your family survives? Even if it means jettisoning your favourite sacred, political entitlement cow? I am. For the sake of my children I will gladly forgo Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the empire building military. It's all a matter of simple math and Jacob G. Hornberger, over at the Future of Freedom Foundation breaks it down into easily understandable parable for us.

Ship Captain: Ladies and gentlemen, the Titanic is sinking, but calculations made by our engineers show that there is still one way to save the ship and all the passengers. That’s the reason I have summoned you to this meeting. All of you have brought with you large suitcases containing your welfare-state benefits of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and your warfare-state benefits of military contracts. Our officials have made careful calculations and concluded that if you will just throw these suitcases overboard, the ship — and everyone on it — will be saved. Therefore, would you please proceed to your cabins, grab your suitcases, and toss them overboard?

We're going to hit that iceberg. It's now inevitable and unavoidable. The only question remains is whether we go down with the ship, make it to a life boat or manage to save the vessel.

Back To The Caves

The Global Warming cultists are out in force and showing their true colours. They won't be satisfied till we're all living in shacks and the factories lie dormant.
From the BBC comes this bit of propaganda from a cult "think tank".

Continuing global economic growth "is not possible" if nations are to tackle climate change, a report by an environmental think-tank has warned.

The New Economics Foundation (Nef) said "unprecedented and probably impossible" carbon reductions would be needed to hold temperature rises below 2C (3.6F).

Scientists say exceeding this limit could lead to dangerous global warming.

"We urgently need to change our economy to live within its environmental budget," said Nef's policy director.

Andrew Simms added: "There is no global, environmental central bank to bail us out if we become ecologically bankrupt."

None of the existing models or policies could "square the circle" of economic growth with climate safety, Nef added.

Yeah. China and India are just going to put the brakes on and slide backwards to where they were 50 years ago, in order to placate the cultists and the US will return to an agrarian society with horses and buggies. These folks just continue to show their true faces. Anti-capitalistic Marxism is alive and well in the global warming religion. Their hatred for industry, capitalism, markets and all that stands between us and a return to the caves keeps them warm. In the mean time, I'm going to go and throw another log onto the fire and send good thoughts in the direction of the industrialists that move the world. They may not be perfect, but they are preferable.

Exit Clov- MK Ultra

Catchy.

Flying Naked

Some people have laughingly said that naked flying is the logical progression for airline security. It certainly looks like that may be coming, in one form or another. The governments plans to install terahertz wave "x-ray" machines to give full body scans is proceeding at breakneck speed. So, what are they going to see when you step into one? Apparently an embarrassing amount as new scans show.

Is this something we really want to be subjected to in the name of security circus? Do we really want our loved ones, especially our kids, to have to go through this? Is being virtually strip searched really going to make anyone safer? No. We already know that there are thieves at TSA. Who is going to insure that there aren't perverts there, too? Undoubtedly there will be a mechanism to save images taken by these scanners. Do we really want people to have access to these pictures? How long till pictures start making their way onto the internet? Not long is my guess.

This is just the latest in a long train of government giveaways in the name of security. The companies that make these scanners couldn't sell them on the free market, so they're in bed with government, which is a sure thing for them. It's always about money, in the end and there's no doubt that the underwear bomber set off opportunistic alarm bells in the boardrooms of scanner companies worldwide.

And what about radiation? Do I really need to add to my lifetime exposure every time I decide to fly? How much radiation do these things give off? There's been no definitive study on terahertz wave exposure and yet governments worldwide are rushing to install these things. Maybe they're harmless. Then again, maybe they're not, but we'll be forced to accept the governments word on them or refuse to fly. I think I'll just drive from now on.

(For a look at what TSA really sees you might want to look at this de-negatived look from Freedom Flies A Black Flag)