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Denmark Arrests 5 Suspected of Planning Terror Attack
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Page 4: Opinion
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
HI Gov seeks to end 'birther' business, sez "I was here when that baby was born!" Aapee
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2010 09:53 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The "Natural Born" business as a qualification for the Presidency has long been the one part of the Constitution I could live without. My objection to Obama is not where he was born, but what he is.
Posted by: Thereng Spawn of the Pixies3105 || 12/29/2010 10:51 Comments || Top||

#2  My objection is where he grew up.
Posted by: gorb || 12/29/2010 11:33 Comments || Top||

#3  The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It is the liberals who pick and choose which parts of it they choose to obey (and invent things which aren't even in it). I, however, do not believe anyone has the right or ability to pick and choose. I believe in the rule of law applied equally to everyone.

Anyway, I have long since said that producing a birth certificate would not be an issue if The One were elected president. Does anyone seriously believe that POTUS can't have a birth certificate ginned up? Hell, he could probably mail order one from China that would pass scrutiny. I can get a real SS Card and CA driver's license for less than $100 in LA. POTUS, and the Governor of Hawaii, can certainly take care of this annoying little problem.
Posted by: Spock the Ruthless6200 || 12/29/2010 11:38 Comments || Top||

#4  "He had a friendship with Mr. Obama's parents, and so there is a personal issue at hand," Dela Cruz said. "Is it going to be done immediately? No, the first thing on our list is the economy."

Possibly in 75 years.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2010 11:45 Comments || Top||

#5  I got to listen to a gubernatorial debate on a Hawaiian radio station between Abercrombie and his Republican opponent Duke Aiona. Abercrombie sounded like he had mush in his mouth and in his brains. Aiona had better answers and was a heckuva lot more articulate. Couldn't believe the Hawaiians elected Abercrombie after that. I know it's a blue state and all but the guy is an imbecile.
Posted by: Abu Uluque (new computer) || 12/29/2010 13:14 Comments || Top||

#6  My guess is Abercrombie hasn't seen the long form himself yet. Fools rush in....
Posted by: KBK || 12/29/2010 13:44 Comments || Top||

#7  It's likely to be Barry's undoing, but if they continue to insist on polishing the turd, let the Governor and others talk on.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2010 14:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Abu__

HI is owned lock, stock and barrel by HGEA (HI Gov't Employees Assc, AKA "Dems are US"). There is exactly 1 Republican in the state senate. The only reason Lingle was elected governor before Abercrombie was that her opponent "Lazy Mazie" Hirono was such a hack that even HGEA couldn't save her.
Posted by: Voldemort Slomorong6381 || 12/29/2010 15:08 Comments || Top||

#9  This is friggin nonsense. We don't need to debate this issue. Debates like this make the right look just as foolish as the 9/11 truthers (both are equally stupid). If there was even a drop of truth to this argument, the Clintonians would have jumped all over it.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 12/29/2010 18:46 Comments || Top||

#10  Disagree, CS, their mouths're zipped for the good of the "Party". Does not mean that they may not come unzipped at an opportune time.
Posted by: twobyfour || 12/29/2010 20:24 Comments || Top||

#11  There's a thread on this over at Neo's. One of the comments linked to this image of a young Stanley Dunham, Obama's grandfather. Tell me he isn't the spitting image of Obama! It's amazing how his genes dominated Barack Sr.'s.

Posted by: KBK || 12/29/2010 22:41 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Tim Blair: Stigma attached
Posted by: tipper || 12/29/2010 17:21 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Scottie Boy and Assange. Two peas in a pod that certainly deserve each other.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2010 17:42 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Brain thickness determines political leaning: study
Neuroscientists are examining whether political allegiances are hard-wired into people after finding evidence that the brains of conservatives are a different shape to those of left-wingers.

Scans of 90 students' brains at University College London (UCL) uncovered a "strong correlation" between the thickness of two particular areas of grey matter and an individual's views.

Self-proclaimed right-wingers had a more pronounced amygdala - a primitive part of the brain associated with emotion while their political opponents from the opposite end of the spectrum had thicker anterior cingulates.
Advertisement: Story continues below

The research was carried out by Geraint Rees director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience who said he was "very surprised" by the finding, which is being peer reviewed before publication next year.

It was commissioned as a light-hearted experiment by actor Colin Firth as part of his turn guest editing BBC Radio's Today program but has now developed into a serious effort to discover whether we are programmed with a particular political view.

Professor Rees said that although it was not precise enough to be able to predict someone's stance simply from a scan, there was "a strong correlation that reaches all our scientific tests of significance".

"The anterior cingulate is a part of the brain that is on the middle surface of the brain at the front and we found that the thickness of the grey matter, where the nerve cells of neurons are, was thicker the more people described themselves as liberal or left wing and thinner the more they described themselves as conservative or right wing," he told the program.

"The amygdala is a part of the brain which is very old and very ancient and thought to be very primitive and to do with the detection of emotions. The right amygdala was larger in those people who described themselves as conservative.
Posted by: tipper || 12/29/2010 01:56 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What about the saying that if you are not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you are not a conservative at 50 you have no brain? People's views can change over a life time. Does that mean that their amygdala grows and shrinks?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 12/29/2010 2:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Rambler, that saying's just a bit too kind on Liberals, methinks. A more succinct observation is that left wing inclinations and naivety go hand in hand.
Posted by: Bulldog || 12/29/2010 5:27 Comments || Top||

#3  I know many families that are split politically.

Posted by: Bernardz || 12/29/2010 6:43 Comments || Top||

#4  I just noticed the dig at conservatives.

I think we can file this "research" with Climate Fraud.

If anyone suffers from emotional thinking and lack of logic it's the left.

After all leftists have more religious faith in the state than conservatives have in god! IMHO
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/29/2010 8:08 Comments || Top||

#5  The good doctor is making up a link to support his agenda. Kind of like saying all serial killers do so after drinking water so water creates serial killers.

Seems to me the thinkness of the amygdala could be linked to emotional maturity and management - the thicker the more maturity and management of one's emotions - their political leanings is a side effect.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/29/2010 8:28 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't believe this for a second. I have long felt the emotion of the left thinker does not allow for consideration of opposing views. Anyone who has had a discussion with a left thinker has experienced this. Look at O now. He goes about business oblivious to the damage he has done. Climate change, global warming, fairness doctrine, health control, all filled with blind emotion. The defense of a left thinker is always you are wrong, not informed, Oh! you are one of those. They yell louder also to drown you out. Look at the view show for one of many examples. They will use the audience to lord over you. I am pragmatic but an idealist as well. It is the idealism that gets me into trouble with these people. Why do I think they would consider information that challenges them is my issue. The more educated the greater the rebuff. The cult leaders have a willing and eager following. Just another attempt to marginalize conservatism. Neuroscientists also are referred to in healthcare as the most neurotic as well.
Posted by: Dale || 12/29/2010 8:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Explains why liberalism is concentrated in cities - the brain misgrowth is caused by something in the water, perhaps a chemical added in treating municipal water supplies (but doesn't seem to be in beer, except maybe Lite beer - maybe the yeasties destroy it - so drink beer instead of water!)
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/29/2010 9:04 Comments || Top||

#8  The tabloids used to publish a lot of articles like this, using the format:

The ______ of your _____ predicts your _______!

And "fill in the blanks" means just that. For example:

The COLOR of your PET predicts your LOVE LIFE!

The LENGTH of your HAIR predicts your FINANCIAL SUCCESS!

The SHAPE of your FINGERS predicts if your SPOUSE WILL CHEAT ON YOU!

The important thing, as far as the tabloids was concerned, was that their shouldn't be any direct or obvious connection, like "The COLOR of your SKIN predicts if you CAN commit HATE CRIMES". Which, of course, would point out the obvious.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/29/2010 9:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Bottom line: "Who has thicker heads?" The answer will most likely explain a lot of what goes on in Congress.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/29/2010 9:15 Comments || Top||

#10  "He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities."

Ben Franklin
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/29/2010 9:17 Comments || Top||

#11  Speaking of amygdala
Posted by: tipper || 12/29/2010 9:28 Comments || Top||

#12  Tipper that was a good read. I would expect use would enlarge emygdala. I find it difficult to believe that each side is so independent(information must be commingled for central processing- selectively prioritized?). As I recall we are born with I believe one of four personality types. Perhaps this is why family views can differ so.
Posted by: Dale || 12/29/2010 10:16 Comments || Top||

#13  Scans of 90 students' brains at University College London

First - isn't 90 an awfully small sample size?

Second - These are college _students_. Not a very random sample in which to draw conclusions for the entire population at large.

Third - This could just as easily be linked to the amount of alcohol (or drugs) the person as been consuming over the previous month. (See College Student).

Talking about the experiment, he said: "I took this on as a fairly frivolous exercise: I just decided to find out what was biologically wrong with people who don't agree with me and see what scientists had to say about it and they actually came up with something."

Nope - no agenda there. Move along now.... nothing to see here....
Posted by: Crager de Medici7967 || 12/29/2010 11:19 Comments || Top||

#14  Whoops - 'Crager de Medici7967' was me, New browser - didn't set cookie/name.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/29/2010 11:21 Comments || Top||

#15  Sounds like an example of "Post Hoc ergo Propter Hoc" to me...
Posted by: Warthog || 12/29/2010 12:17 Comments || Top||

#16  Now I had to go look up Post Hoc ergo Propter Hoc. Perhaps my amygdala was too thick....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/29/2010 12:40 Comments || Top||

#17  Let me get this straight, at the behest of one of their finest scientific minds, a TV Comedian, they scanned the brains of the same kiddies who are rioting because their subsidised tuition went up to the same level as an inexpensive state school in the US and the 'test subjects' might have to take out loans or get part time jobs? And we are supposed to take this seriously?

My brain, it hurts
Posted by: Bill Griling5080 || 12/29/2010 13:30 Comments || Top||

#18  It may not be entirely correct to say this is the "emotional" part of the brain. Google "reptilian brain" and you'll find this is the part of the brain that takes over when you are in a fight or flight situation. It is supposedly the most primitive part of the brain that will keep on ticking when everything else is shut down, sort of a survival mechanism, if you will. My own theory, then, is that conservatives have better survival instincts. They are quicker to recognize threats to their survival. For instance, they are more likely to drive pick up trucks than Priuses because they want to be able to survive if things on the freeway get dicey instead of rolling down the road in a tin can. Sounds like a good thing to me. In fact, General Motors at one time hired a psychologist who basically told them to manufacture big cars and SUVs that would appeal to the reptilian brain. It worked, sort of, until fuel prices went through the roof and the mortgage crisis caught GM with their pants down. So it appears that we can be manipulated by clever advertising campaigns that appeal to our survival instincts. Now, in the case of Obama vs McCain in 2008, you could also say this primitive part of the brain was in play with voters who perceived McCain as being old and feeble compared to a younger and more vital Obama in spite of the self-destructive aspects of Obama's agenda. I think it would also explain why Ronald Reagan beat the crap out of jimmuh carter in 1980.
Posted by: Abu Uluque (new computer) || 12/29/2010 13:43 Comments || Top||

#19  #18 and #15; You all brought some good stuff today.
"Post Hoc ergo Propter Hoc"
"My own theory, then, is that conservatives have better survival instincts."
All good reading today.
Posted by: Dale || 12/29/2010 13:57 Comments || Top||

#20  #11: Speaking of amygdala
Posted by: tipper|| 2010-12-29 09:28


Tipper - excellent article. That would also go along with the amygdala being the part of the brain that is linked to survival. The larger the social network, the more help one could call upon to either work with you against your foes, or to help you escape danger. LOTS to think about!
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/29/2010 14:18 Comments || Top||

#21  I read once something somewhere that while for men it's "fight or flight", for women it's "fight, flight, or pull together a team to deal with the problem". I don't know how much science there was behind that claim, but it certainly feeds into Old Patriot's thinking about tipper's article. Even if the sexes differentiated in Homo sap., the selection would have been inherited by both, just like male mammals have nipples.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/29/2010 16:06 Comments || Top||

#22  just like male mammals have nipples

We do? Maybe we don't need females after all.
Posted by: gorb || 12/29/2010 17:34 Comments || Top||

#23  Bigger amygdala = more friends?

Yeah, I can see that. The extreme Libs I know all have problems with their social networks/families. Pretty much all of the Conservatives....don't.

But that is positive towards the thoughtcrime side of the equation, so don't expect academia to investigate that....
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 12/29/2010 19:22 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2010-12-29
  Denmark Arrests 5 Suspected of Planning Terror Attack
Tue 2010-12-28
  15 More Drone-zapped in North Wazoo
Mon 2010-12-27
  Pakistan drone attack 'kills 18 militants'
Sun 2010-12-26
  Burqa-clad suicide bomber kills 42 in Bajaur Agency
Sat 2010-12-25
  Pakistan suicide bombing kills dozens at food aid center
Fri 2010-12-24
  Iraq arrests 93 al-Qaeda suspects
Thu 2010-12-23
  Clashes between Houthis and Tribesmen in Sa'ada Province
Wed 2010-12-22
  Kenya bus explosion kills 3, injures 30
Tue 2010-12-21
  Adam Gadahn jugged in Karachi?
Mon 2010-12-20
  Police arrest 12 people 'plotting Christmas terror attack'
Sun 2010-12-19
  Iraq: 6 dead, 12 wounded during Ashuraa pilgrimage
Sat 2010-12-18
  Three US missiles kill 54 in Pakistan
Fri 2010-12-17
  Car Bomb Explodes at a Coppe Shoppe in Monterrey
Thu 2010-12-16
  Suicide Attack Kills 33, Wounds 95 Mourners in Iran
Wed 2010-12-15
  Border Patrol agent gunned down in southern AZ


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