PLANET MORONIA

 

-Updated

 

Putin Padovis!

 

 

Washington Times: Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein’s weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned. John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security, said in an interview that he believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, “almost certainly” removed the high-explosive material that went missing from the Al-Qaqaa facility, south of Baghdad. – According to Drudge.

 

The Times site is presently swamped with hits, so more to come later.

 

 

 

UPDATE: 07:01

 

Of course, if we honestly expect the Russians to “explain” what they were doing, we really need to tighten our drinking water standards.

 

Now, according to the Financial Times of London, France may have helped out as well.

 

John Shaw, deputy under-secretary of defense: “For nearly nine months my office has been aware of an elaborate scheme set up by Saddam Hussein to finance and disguise his weapons purchases through his international suppliers, principally the Russians and French.

 

“That network included a major effort employing various Russian units on the eve of hostilities to both orchestrate the collection of munitions and assure their transport out of Iraq via Syria.”

 

FT goes on to quote White House spokesman Scott McClellan, calling the matter a “very real possibility”.

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier BB Posts:

 

The Axis of Oil

 

Germany’s Role

 

Kerry Warns Iraq to Become Another Lebanon: Syria to Still Play Syria

 

Russian Oil and Political Corruption

 

Humor: The UN’s Answer to Global Violence

 

Interesting Neurosis Department: Moscow Times Calls Churchill is a War Criminal

So what do you call those whose actions may have unnecessarily lead to allied beheadings and other atrocities?

 

 

 

Related Blogs and News Sites:

 

Beautiful Atrocities helps us to winnow the past year down to five easy paragraphs. If CBS had had their way would the January headlines have been, “Kerry Transition Team: There Were WMD After All”

 

Interfax:

 

Diplomat denies Russia helded Saddam move weapons

 

MOSCOW. Oct 28 (Interfax) – Russian Charge d’Affaires to Iraq Ilya Morgunov expressed surprise over an article published in a U.S. newspaper alleging that Russian special services aided the former Iraqi regime in taking explosives out of the country.

 

“These reports have greatly surprised me. Let them remain on the conscience of those who have circulated them,” Morgunov told Interfax from Baghdad on Thursday.

 

Morgunov said he personally witnessed events preceding the beginning of the military action in Iraq. “I didn’t hear about any weapons to be taken out. Moreover, there was nobody to take them out,, because we actually evacuated all of our personnel,” he said.

 

NOTE: Typos were in the original report, possibly due to too much Vodka on occasion of the mounting implications from all of this…

 

 

Props to American Warmonger who linked to the Interfax story, along with several other news links, blogs and great resources, including a surprisingly fair one from the horse’s mouth.

 

 

Michelle Malkin also reminds us about how the Russians,

 

GPS jammers sold to Iraq caused trouble for our forces in the early days of the invasion. President Bush privately lashed out at Russian president Vladimir Putin; the administration went public on March 24 2003 with the information. But it didn’t deter Russia, which also supplied night-vision goggles, technical support, and Kornet-E missiles to Iraq, among other weapons and goods that endangered American troops.

 

The source she cites is Bill Gertz’ new book, Treachery. Gertz also broke today’s Washington Times story. Malkin also points out this is not the first time Syria’s name has been mentioned in connection with Iraqi Convoys. And she predicts a likely personal attack-response to all of this from Gertz’ critics.

 

Also see Wizbang.

 

 

 

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PLANET MORONIA

PLANET MORONIA

 

The Hanoi Candidate

Recently discovered docs show Kerry received marching orders directly from VC while meeting in Paris

 

 

1993: Sen. John Kerry meeting with general secretary of the North

Vietnamese Communist Party, Comrade Do Muoi

 

John Kerry had claimed he only “happened“ to be in Paris at the time and met with “both sides“ (keep an eye on the legality of even that excuse), but previously unearthed documents show that Kerry traveled to Paris “to meet with Viet Cong leader Madame Nguyen Thi Binh“ several times during that period, the Worldnet Daily report says.

 

The report also cites newly discovered documents connecting the US anti-war groups Vietnam Veterans Against the war, the People’s Coalition for Peace and Justice and the American Communist Party to direction by, and coordination with VC operatives including one scathing account of Hanoi’s direct involvement mentioned in papers said to be captured from VC in 1971:

 

Of the U.S. antiwar movements, the two most important ones are: The PCPJ ((the People’s Committee for Peace and Justice)) and the NPAC ((National Peace Action Committee)). These two movements have gathered much strength and staged many demonstrations. The PCPJ is the most important. It maintains relations with us.

 

According to WND,

 

One freshly unearthed document, captured by the U.S. from Vietnamese communists in 1971, indicates the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese delegations to the Paris peace talks that year were used as the communications link to direct the activities of Kerry and other antiwar activists who attended.

 

The documents were said to be recently discovered by Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth’s Jerome Corsi who is the co-author of  “Unfit for Command,” and Scott Swett, the group’s webmaster (Wintersoldier.com.) Corsi says the documents are “100 percent” authenticated, however no word as yet regarding the nature of any independent verification – a necessary thing in an election year, as we’ve learned. Corsi says they were surpringly uncovered at Texas Tech University‘s Vietnam-era archive in Lubbock, during their search. The documents are among millions of others stored in the archive. Corsi says the timing of the discovery was only providencial.

 

Kerry has yet to apologize to veterans for his 1971 accusations that all U.S. Vietnam veterans were war criminals. When pressed during a phone conversation with one of the Swift Vets against Kerry, Kerry dug his hole a little deeper by clarifying his continued position: “When we dedicated swift boat one in ’92, I said to all the swift guys that I wasn’t talking about the swifties, I was talking about all the rest of the veterans.”

 

Whoa, that was a relief…

 

So far John Kerry is the only Vet from that era who has admitted to committing war crimes (the dirty little secret is his crimes were against U.S. troops), and who not only sided with the enemy, but actively worked overtime for the enemy while still in uniform. This begs the question (yet again) of whether a known war-criminal (now a double-entendre) should be elected Commander-in-Chief – especially in wartime.

 

 

 

 

Related:

Communist North Vietnamese Museum Suddenly Takes Down Honored Kerry Photo

The picture of Kerry meeting with North Vietnamese leaders in 1993 was said to honor sympathizers’ “wholehearted support and strong encouragement to our people’s patriotic resistance against the U.S. for national salvation.” The Kerry photo was also noteworthy due to its location within the Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon) museum: dedicated to Vietnam-era stateside anti-U.S. Protests.

 

 

Gen. Giap: Kerry’s Group Helped Hanoi Defeat U.S.

 

 

Blogbat 24 August: Anatomy of a Political Meltdown

 

 

 

 

 

ANATOMY OF ABANDONMENT

 

American advisor with South Vietnamese

soldiers in better times. But Those South

Vietnamese heros would soon face grave 

reprisals of terror, torture and murder that

carry on until today, along with the general

atrocities of religious, ethnic and political

persecution so acute to Communist totalitariates.

 

The Latest Human Rights Atrocities in Communist Vietnam

More than a “nuisance”: The communist regime has murdered and oppressed millions since taking control of power in both North and South Vietnam. Click the link to see the count for this year’s cost – and who still pays for “surrender”.

 

“Continuing a Campaign of Repression”

Russian Prima-News report says,

 

On 2 May this year the Vietnamese military arrested Ksor To, a resident of Buon Ga, on the grounds that he was distributing Bibles among local people. In prison he was beaten and tortured.

This year on 26 April police arrested I Tlut Kbiura, from Buon Ving, who had helped people hiding in the forest to avoid arrest. He was beaten up and tortured with electric shocks.

 

– perhaps wired to “human genitals,” by any chance? Makes one wonder who did what to whom way back when, doesn’t it?

 

 

More Vietnam human rights links

 

Dissidents of the Internet Age

 

Vietnamese-Americans Know the Truth… and Support Bush

“The multi-cultural population group (of Asian-Americans) was not unanimous in their support of the Democrat, with Chinese, South Asian and Japanese-American voters tilting towards Kerry, while Vietnamese, Korean and Filipino Americans were more in favour of Bush.”

 

Darkness and Light: Christmas Counterpoint in Hanoi

 

 

 

 Church that was confiscated by the Communist regime (note red star in place of cross)

 

 

 

 

 

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 PLANET MORONIA

 

 

Did Churchill Really Consider Seeking Terms of Coexistence with Germany?

New documents just unearthed say he may have

 

A book to be published next month cites new documents its author says he found while doing research for the book. In it, Churchill is said to have considered in top-secret documents the costs and benefits of negotiating with the Germans – something he publicly swore he would not do, says a recent story out of the UK.

 

“Churchill was at pains to say in his memoirs that he was never going to negotiate with Germany, but it is clear that in 1940 he had not ruled out talking to a non-Hitler German government. Here was a man who was looking into the abyss,” says the author, Cambridge Professor David Reynolds, who also says the documents reveal new insights into the Wartime Prime Minister’s feelings for Communist dictator, Josef Stalin and possible doubts about the effectiveness of the D-Day plans.

 

At one point, according to the story, Churchill offers a dark but personally-candid response to General Hastings Ismay’s seeming optimism during a conversation in the early part of the war – a response that certainly reveals a more mortal side of this Free World hero, but not one difficult to identify with - 

 

Ismay: We will win the Battle of Britain.

 

Churchill: You and I will be dead in three months’ time.   

 

The book clearly shows the decisive impact the United States and the USSR made on the war with Germany and that had either not joined the fight, Britain might well have faced a not too appealing set of options. Her only hope: a German coupe and an honorable negotiation with the new German leaders.

 

Reynolds also pokes fun at Churchill’s later muffling of his alternate D-Day plans once he wrote his memoirs after the war. At the time though, Churchill did cede that the American plan might be better, and as history points out, did not debate extensively on the matter. But the report also points out this was at worst, one of the leader’s very few wartime ”mistakes” as British allied effort.

 

The report published in yesterday’s Independent of London states the author of the book also says Churchill was more trusting of Soviet Dictator Stalin, than later recounted. No quotes were given, but perhaps Sir Churchill decided to take at least one of Stalin’s philosophies to heart: keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer.

 

Professor Reynolds’ book, “In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing in the Second World War“, published by Penguin, will be available in the UK on November 4. No word in the story when the book is expected to become available in the US.

 

 

 

Related:

 

Moscow Times: Churchill a War Criminal 

Pro-socialist Russian press still chooses to side with Hitler, believe Goebbels

 

 

 

Other stories:

 

Germany Gets Tough on Visa Rules – IOL

 

S C I E N C E: Comet Smashed into Germany in 200 BC – Spacedaily.com

 

 

 

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“EDJUMAKATE” ME, weekend edition

 

Why you should regularly clean the dust bunnies (or, dog hair bunnies) out of your computer if you have a pet:

 

 

 

That beauty looks as if it’s been around for awhile, but it’s just a baby – two months old to be exact – too young to even be hunted by John Kerry in most states, but probably about as challenging for him to catch.

 

For computers, dust bunnies can be not so good a thing. They clog air vents and cause overheating, which in turn can damage sensitive system components, causing system failures or worse: dust bunnies can also be a fire hazard. I wouldn’t want to have to tell anyone that bunnies burned down my house.

 

Since cleaning instructions may vary, refer to your system documentation. And be veeewy quiet…

 

 

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“EDJUMAKATE” ME, weekend edition

AD INFINITUM & ABSURDUM

 

 

Book-Burner Goon Squads March on Moviegoers

The anatomy of a hatching snake’s playbook

 

I originally planned to post tonight about the ins and outs of Eliot Spitzer, the New York Attorney General barely elected in 2000 whom Time dubbed “Crusader of the Year” and described as a “passionate and partisan Democrat.” So I’ll save his story and all the good stuff about the questionable timing of his insurance raids on Wall Street this week that has caused Wall to tumble…and something which also coincidentally happened two years ago before another election. All of that for a later time.

 

A poster at Little Green Footballs alerted me to a story out of a Philidelphia-area TV station that Kerry supporters threatened violence tonight unless a movie theatre cancelled a political movie the Kerry camp happens to disagree with. Video of the confrontation is also available.

 

Can one just imagine what these brown-shirted goons would do if they joined the ranks of the bureaucratic minions under a Kerry administration? Kerry camp: We don’t like what you say, so you shall henceforth be silent. -Welcome to Dictator 101. And Heaven help the First Amendment – at its very core of intent: political speech.

 

The movie, Stolen Honor, a sellout to 600 moviegoers, was to be shown at Baederwood Theater tonight, but under threats of violence from the looming Union/Kerry mobs, management cancelled the affaire. Many movie-goers however did receive complimentary DVD’s of the film from its promoters, to watch at home. Police, for some reason, instead of protecting the theatre’s right to show the film only stepped in when disgruntled movie-goers decided to fire back at the Kerry-fascists. One of those fascists wore a Union jacket and others held up Kerry signs.

 

Movie-goer: “Did you see what he said in the senate? Did you see that?”

 

Kerry-fascist/Union Thug: “If you’d shut your mouth we wouldn’t be arguing (slur).”

 

Movie-goer: “What (slur)?”

 

Kerry-fascist/Union Thug: “Give yourself a try. Come on. Hey. Hey. Hey coolaid.”

 

Movie-goer 2: “(The Kerry-fascists) denied me the right as an American citizen to see a movie that every American should have the right to see.”

 

Meanwhile, the film’s producer, Carlton Sherwood shocked (as if replaying a page from the oppressed of Cold War Eastern Europe) “What is John Kerry so afraid of with this documentary?”

 

In a statement that gave me déjà vu, Kerry-fascist/Union Thug 2: “We don’t believe it’s an honest movie. Doesn’t honestly state the positions of what he did.” So in other words anybody who doesn’t abide by your opinion of what the political reality is, should be shut down. Maybe we should just outlaw anybody from running against John Kerry and the Hardline-Left altogether. Then we can devote all our energies to lining the streets with bright red flags with pretty black swastikas or hammers & sickles and line ourselves up to cheer the glorious dictators with great hair, as they slowly move down the street in their 1938 Mercedes convertibles.  

 

Movie-goer 3: “I think it’s terrible, I think it’s ridiculous that they’re gonna shut this down and at the same time they’re gonna show Michael Moore the day before the election.”

 

While not interfering with the rights of leftist moviegoers, I would love to see folks show up at that Michael Moore film on Election Eve by the thousands and hold a rally- peacefully, of course. Peaceful, but rather loud also.

 

 

 

 

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Recommended:

On the Seething against the Red-States

Bob Just wrote a piece that practically foretold this new radical venture of the Left

 

More By Bob Just: Fascism, Corruption and my ‘Democratic’ Party

An amazing Pre-2000 Election analysis that shows someone saw all of this coming:

“We all know from history that when totalitarian forces, driven by their dysfunctional fury, seek to uproot the political establishment, they will use any means necessary. Bribery and character assassination are easy choices for them, even murder, because civilized limits are meaningless to the Stalins, Hitlers and Maos of the world. Their goal is to grab power, and “The Party” — whether Communist or Nazi — is the highest good. Loyalty to the party is everything because the party is the country. …”

 

 

Related:

“We confront them to show them they can’t organize in public” – Anti-Bushers in New York

 

GOP Answers Violent Attacks with Letter to Leftist Ringleaders

 

 

 

 

 

AD INFINITUM & ABSURDUM

PLANET MORONIA, Part II … Look – It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

 

Cheney: Terrorists May Bomb U.S. Cities

Hypocrisy: Sen. Kennedy says Bush will usher in a “nuclear 9/11”

 

Ah, the latest tactic from the left: attack Republicans for telling the truth: Revision 292, “Terrorists and Nukes”. You know, if this were not an election year, nobody would think of debating seriously against the notion that our enemies would love to lob a few radioactive isotopes in our direction.

 

But now that the darling of the Dems is behind in the polls these pols have decided to pretend we all have the collective memory of a single goldfish (about 15 seconds, if you’re curious) and are now calling Cheney’s statements that terrorists want to nuke U.S. cities a cheap political “fear tactic”, despite defending the threat of Nuclear gloom and doom under Bush by one of their own earlier in the race.

 

Of course you’re right to think that something does smell, uhm, fission here. Irrespective of the fact that unlike others to be mentioned more in a second, Cheney did not accuse the Dems of deliberately making things more dangerous for the U.S. Now, I didn’t notice anyone to my knowledge pick up on it tonight (granted, I was out late with a client), and I was really surprised by that. I think it would be worth the Republicans’ while to stop and jog the public’s memory for a bit so we might recall that not very long ago during this very same political race, Senator Ted Kennedy made essentially a more explicite and offensive claim, blaming Republicans for pending nuke annihilation: “The war in Iraq has made the mushroom cloud more likely, not less likely.” No, not a fear tactic at all when he does it!

 

Read the 28 September headline: Kennedy: Bush Made U.S. Vulnerable to Nuke Attack

 

So, who are they kidding? Moreover, why didn’t anyone nip today’s attacks on Cheney’s comments in the bud? Sure there’s a predominately liberal mainstream media and sure Sean Hannity only had two hours of sleep last night, but we need to be calling the Left out on the carpet for this blatant double standard. If anyone should be held out as being “radio active” for his threatening tone and “scare tactics” during a campaign, it should be the nearly-most-liberal senator from Massachusetts.

 

 

 

 

Related (Fun Department):

Kennedy, it turns out might actually have an alibi for Chappaquiddick. New photos released might prove he was on Mars at the time. Follow this link and scroll down to the bottom of that page to see the possible confuting photo… 

 

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PLANET MORONIA, Part II

PLANET MORONIA … Gather ‘Round, Kiddies

 

 

The Life and Times of Yasser and the Screech Owl

How Al Gore and the terrorists always find each other in the same van down by the same river

 

 

Politics is a tough game, Yasser it certainly is. Just ask anybody. Whether you ask a local official, a “world leader” or just a wannabe, they’ll tell you that to stay in, you gotta play hard ball. Just ask Chris Matthews.

 

Well, today Kerry gained ground with a significantly large group of people (too bad they can’t vote) with the endorsement of Yasser Arafat. Yasser joins other notable visionaries of freedom (and agoraphobia- not Al…nevermind) such as North Korea’s Far Side Kid, Kim Jong Il, China’s Hu “Dat” Jintao and Former Malaysian President Datuk ”Dat-OK” Seri Mahathir “Recycle” Bin Mohamad (read strange-bedfellows link). Malaysia’s Former prez, who by the way once blamed the troubles of the world on the never-ending encored presentation of the “world-wide Jewish conspiracy” (yes, four out of five anti-Semites choose Kerry – and we suspect the fifth one) is in good company, too. More Kerry-supporters include of course the doubtful Kraut, German Defense Minister Peter Struck(between Iraq and a hard place), Canada’s Prime-Beef Bull Minister Jean Chrétien and without a doubt, France’s Jacques Ch-Iraq.

 

But there is one notable exception- Russia’s President Vladimir Putin today came out and essentially but diplomatically, declared his de facto support for Bush by stating his belief that if Bush loses, it will be a loss in the War on Islamofascism that will have grave consequences for allies facing an enemy greatly spirited by Bush’s defeat. Putin:

 

International terrorism has as its goal to prevent the election of President Bush to a second term. If they achieve that goal, then that will give international terrorism a new impulse and extra power.

 

Now why would they, the terrorists be greatly spirited unless they want Kerry to win?

 

Next question is why anybody would vote for Kerry if it’s true.

 

As I mentioned before, Kerry considers himself an “anti-war” candidate. In the context of a question asked by Chris Matthews of Hardball back in January, Senator Kerry meant “anti-war” in the classical sense- the burn-your-draft card, Howard the Dean sense, if you will.

 

And then there is Al Gore, another certified Deaniac (he endorsed the quacking Dean before Dean had a falling out with his pharmacist). In today’s speech at Georgetown University, Gore tells the crowd that the coalition is falling apart because of Bush, making sure the crowd gets the point that without allies, more US soldiers in Iraq would die, and we would face humiliation and loss of respect on the world stage. But then things get sinister: He then tells them with a peculiar peak in his voice that Poland and Italy plan to leave Iraq, and, as if on cue, the crowd erupts in cheers and applause in a seeming act of DNC approbation of the imminent failure of the United States in this war, along with its potential casualties, as well as to cast their lot with those other people who oppose us: the terrorists.

 

 Read the following quote (along with notations from the Al Gore fan site whence this came):

 

 

America‘s moral authority in the world has been severely damaged, and our ability to persuade others (hard to persuade the Axis of Oil, Al) to follow our lead has virtually disappeared. The latest to announce they are beginning to withdraw from the coalition are Poland and Italy. (Scattered applause.) Our troops, because they are already bearing more than 90 percent of the burden borne by non-Iraqis, are stretched thin, under-supplied, and placed in intolerable situations without adequate equipment or training.

 

 

It might be also noted that in another speech back in August 2003 at the New York University, Al Gore asserted that,

 

 

For eight years, the Clinton-Gore Administration gave this … a strengthening of our military — as recently proven — and a foreign policy whose purposes were elevated, candidly presented and courageously pursued, in the face of scorched-earth tactics by the opposition. That is also a form of honor and integrity, and not every administration in recent memory has displayed it.

 

 

Speaking of courage, honor and integrity in the face of the “scorched-earth policies” of the opposition (by opposition, it sounds as if he is speaking of Republicans, not the nice, but misunderstood terrorists whom the Dems only want to arrest and put in jail with prostitutes and drug dealers), maybe we should remember just what the Clinton Administration (and any liberal administration) means for the military and by extension, the survival of our country.

 

Aside from the manifold base-closings, ship decommissioning, intelligence gutting and troop-number vivisecting, what else have the Clinton-era folks done for us in the War on Terrorism “as recently proven” (these, the same Dems now bemoaning troop-shortages)?

 

The answer is (and probably why we are now in this kind of war): The Dems in the 90′s (the decade of the ostrich) and today gladly kiss the left hand of Kerry-endorser/mass-murderers like Yasser Arafat and continue to follow the same policies they did back in the Clinton-era when they downplayed the terrorist attack on the USS Cole less than one year before 9/11- an attack that killed 17 sailors. Clinton State Department officials said in a memo the attack was effectively justified and was of less consequence because it “does not compare” with the violence (we evil Americans, along with those evil Israelis) perpetrate against muslim “Palestinians”, according to Drudge at the time. In a speech today, President Bush mentioned those “ostrich” attitudes which lead to the bombing of the Cole:

 

 

The terrorists concluded this was a sign of weakness, and their plans became more (ambitious), and their attacks became more deadly

 

The president later quipped,

 

 

If Zarqawi and his associates were not busy fighting American forces in Iraq, does Senator Kerry think they would be leading productive and peaceful lives?  (Laughter.)  Clearly, these killers would be plotting and acting to murder innocent civilians in free nations, including our own.  By facing these terrorists far away, our military is making the United States of America more secure.

 

But I guess if you’re a Liberal it’s hard to gain political support from the bad guys unless you coddle them. 

 

 

 

Previous Blogbatations: 

Greasing the Axis of Evil

 

 

 

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PLANET MORONIA

 

WEEKEND FUN:

Homemade Ball Lightening & The Cola Wars

 

 

Three recipes for making ball lightning (ionized plasmoids) using your microwave and some common forms of carbon

 

This is a tasty recipe I found on a message board doing some research several years ago (1997 to be exact) on ball lightning. (You know you’re a nerd when you do things like this in your free time.)

 

Ball lightning basically often loosely describes glowing, floating spheres which may or may not bear a noticeable electrical charge, may or may not radiate elevated temperatures and appear typically around electromagnetic events. Classic naturally-occuring ball lightning has been known to pass through solid objects, explode on contact with others –or with nothing at all. Or just simply disappear. It has been seen in a variety of colors and sizes. Other characteristics include an acrid odor, hovering or darting movements and buzzing sounds. Also, some may literally go away quietly while others prefer to go out with a bang.

 

Ball lightning is still a much-debated phenomenon in scientific circles. While many accounts have it occurring in most cases during or in proximity time- and space-wise to thunderstorms, others have noted apparent occurrence coinciding with earthquakes or other events as well. There are as yet, further unexplained manifestations not seemingly linked to any known weather or seismic electromagnetic activity. One thing over which many scientists are in agreement however is that the most common “fuel” for these is one form or another of combustible particles, held together, ignited and manipulated by various environmental forces. 

 

Ball lightning is said to be the most common cause of UFO sightings; drug-runners in Piper aircraft surely a close second .  

 

 

Microwave ball lightning has been a favorite experiment for a few years now. The below recipe has many variations and iterations, some of which might work better for you. It is recommended that you use at least a 500 Watt Microwave to really get things off on the right foot. Some related links at the bottom of this posting will include further information as well as tell you about some of the urban legends surrounding what I’ve dubbed “Geek-TV”. I also highly recommend you read the warnings and advice at the bottom of this post also, if you are seriously considering this or a similar experiment in your home/lab.

 

 

To explain what would be seen when running these experiments, I borrow an explanation offered by one researcher by the name of Sam Barros:

Flame heats up carbon, carbon vapor is exited by microwaves, ionizes and pulls itself together due to the electricity creating a magnetic field. Heat makes it glow.

 

Simple enough. (Though the heat and light are both naturally the by-products of excited particles)

 

 

     

Photography of “lightning” (or plasma) balls in a microwave courtesy of Hans Hochwald

 

 

 

Recipe One (Medium Plasmoids)

 

Add:

 

1. Wooden Toothpick

1. Makeshift plastic “holder”

 

Heating Instructions:

 

1. Light toothpick

2. Place holder with lit toothpick in Microwave with Rotating Platter

3. Set Microwave on HIGH

 

4. Set Microwave for one minute. In about 10-20 seconds you should start to see some activity, beginning with a few sparks, small flames followed by the appearance of COLORED SHERES, which will move about possibly emitting a “buzzing” sound.

 

NOTE: Be sure to turn off the Microwave before the toothpick burns all the way down.

 

 

Recipe Two (Smaller, Longer-Lasting Plasmoids)

 

Add:

 

1. Wooden Toothpick

1. Small Candle (about an inch)

1. Ceramic Bowl

 

Heating Instructions:

 

1. Remove any metal from candle, such as the wick retainer at the bottom (possibly hidden under a paper sticker)

2. Poke toothpick into the candle wax at the top of the candle. Be sure that the wick and the toothpick are touching one another.

3. Light toothpick

4. Place contraption in Microwave with Rotating Platter

5. Set Microwave on HIGH for a couple of minutes

 

In a few seconds you should see the Plasmoids again, this time a bit smaller moving in wider patterns, buzzing and hovering mysteriously and bobbing for a short while before finally going out one by one. Some may attempt to exit your Microwave’s air vents. While this typically should not be of grave concern, it is best to always keep an eye on them and be prepared with a fire extinguisher, just in case.

 

 

Recipe Three (Smaller, Longer-Lasting Plasmoids)

 

Add:

 

1. Steel Wool

1. Charcoal Powder

 

Heating Instructions:

 

1. Place contraption in Microwave with Rotating Platter

2. Sprinkle the charcoal powder “sparsely” upon the steel wool with a “small pile” in center

3. Set Microwave on HIGH for a couple of minutes and let ‘er rip.

 

You should first see a few sparks with the first few seconds emanating from the wool. Shortly thereafter plasmoids should begin to appear, moving and buzzing freely around inside the oven. These however may become more “vigorous”, lasting longer than their counterparts. The reaction will continue to intensify and you may see an orange-sized plasmoid or two appear. The larger ones may last for several seconds and display a wide variety of colors. Again, use good judgment and turn off the Microwave if you begin to suspect the plasmoid ball might be causing damage- particularly if they remain stationary for a long time.

 

Cool, huh? There are a lot more experiments like these if you follow the links below. Even if you aren’t one to try these yourself, it’s often just as interesting reading about them and understanding the laws set about which govern them and the universe we live in. We have yet to even scratch the surface in this masterful creation. Oh yeah, after turning off the microwave and allowing everything sitting inside the microwave to cool down, open the door and remove whatever remains (no, you cannot eat it!) and chuck it.

 

 

WARNING: For information use only. Only try this if you’re an adult and are aware of and assume the risks from putting combustible, metallic substances in your microwave. Wear goggles and protective gear at all times. This is a scientific experiment with combustible materials that utilizes sensitive electronic equipment. Improper use can be harmful and further study and understanding of the principles involved should be undertaken prior to engaging in this experiment. The author is in no way responsible for damages of any kind caused by conducting these or any experiments implicitly or explicitly discussed in this post. Any such experiment must be conducted with prudence and due-diligence. No warranty or guarantee as to any outcome of the experiment is granted expressly or implied.   

 

 

WATCH CAREFULLY AND USE GOOD JUDGEMENT

 

Some plasmoids may try to escape your Microwave through its air vents. While this typically should not be of grave concern, it is best to always keep an eye on them and be prepared with a fire extinguisher. Further, it is advised not to conduct these experiments anywhere near fresh paint, grease, petrol or other accelerants.

 

Also, it is good to allow the Microwave to cool down for awhile after running each experiment, since temperatures inside can climb and eventually produce a hazard to you and/or the hardware. Some damaged Microwaves may still seem to function but may nevertheless become a health risk to their owners.

 

 

CREDITS: James P Moore (jmoore@condor.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu) at the molecular biology department of Baylor College of Medicine is the original author of these “recipes”. (This to me was always particularly ironic since just a year later I ended up dating a girl who was a grad student at BCM and spending a lot of time there myself. It deeply grew my interest in the whole matter of her work as I frequently spent time in the labs with everyone, played (er, “helped”) with biohazards, radiohazards and centrifuges, and even chipped-in a bit to edit a few pages of a collaborative publication being worked on by members of the lab. The part of the work centered around perceiving how differing muscle tissue types are triggered by different means in order to better understand the big picture of excitation-contraction coupling of skeletal muscle and the molecular mechanisms of E-C-related human diseases. Specifically that portion of the paper dealt with “the identification of the determinants for CaM binding and a solution NMR structure for calmodulin bound to the carboxyterminal tail of the L-type Ca²⁺channel,” which later was part of a major publication. I also discovered their IT security a bit lacking- hope things have improved since 2000. Intensely fascinating stuff, I recall – I have a link to that department on my side bar because it is really just that cool, folks.)

 

Recommended reading:

 

Anatomy of a Lightning Ball

 

Some more tips for making your plasmoids spin with glee!

 

Ball lightning overview: Nature and un-nature.

 

International Symposium on Ball Lightning

 

Google it! – Look into the matter further yourself

 

 

Books:

 

Mark Stenhoff. Ball Lightning: An Unsolved Problem in Atmospheric Physics. Kluwer Academic Publisher, 1999.

 

James Dale Barry, and Dent Barry. Ball Lightning and Bead Lightning: Extreme Forms of Atmospheric Electricity. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1980.

 

 

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Cola Wars!

 

Baylor Neuroscience Breaks Down Soft Drink ‘Battle’ Inside Brain

Science Finds Cool Insights in Cola Wars (I promised, didn’t I?)

 

 

 

 

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WAYBACK: Old Headlines Rebut the Critics

Cyber Time-Machine Reveals the Political Truth

 

 

 

 

Bush’s Recession?

 

Read this archived page of the Drudge Report from 17. November 2000:

 

”New Study Counts 130 Dot-Com Shutdowns This Year…” – Yahoo News

”TheStreet.com Slashes Work Force…” – Washington Post

 

 

19. January 2001:

 

“NBC Axes 150 Internet Jobs…” – Washington Post

 

“INTERNAL CNN MEMO WARNS: HARD TIMES AHEAD…” – Drudge Exclusive

 

- Looks to me like the Media couldn’t have missed it!

 

 

 

Bush Weak on “War on Terror” and U.S. Readiness?

 

Drudge Report 19. October 2000:

 

Clinton State Department says American Deaths from the Al Qaeda Attack on the U.S.S. Cole “‘DOES NOT COMPARE’ TO PALESTINIAN TOLL…” – Drudge Exclusive

 

“STATE DEPT MEMO REVEALED…” – Drudge Exclusive

 

More…

“GERTZ BOMBSHELL: GORE KEPT SECRETS FROM CONGRESS AT URGING OF RUSSIAN OFFICIAL” – Drudge Exclusive

 

“China Spy Probe Shifts to Missiles…” – Washington Post

 

 

The One Hopeful Sign that Did Not Materialize:

 

“(Jesse) Jackson, in a statement, announces he is leaving public life until further notice… ‘I love my daughter very much… God, Please forgive me,’ Jackson said…” – Yahoo News

 

- Whatever happened to that promise?

 

 

 

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PLANET MORONIA

 

 

 

The “Oh, Really” Factor Not to fall into the trap of the same old dull news of the hour here’s something you’ll enjoy. We happen to have a little parody for you that we’ll get to in a sec. If you’ve been following the revelation brought out today by Matt Drudge that Bill O’Reilly, a commentator on the American cable Fox News Channel as well as of his own syndicated radio show is being accused of sexual harassment, then you are probably looking forward to a legal case that could quickly become another political battlefield- even though many conservatives would rather not be thought of in the populist host’s camp.

 

A lot of people seem to think that in the very least Mr. “O” was having some kind of extra-marital affaire and are also suspicious of the timing of the whole thing going public just three weeks out from the elections. They also point to the fact the woman left Fox News earlier in the year to work for CNN and then returned and accepted what amounted to a pay cut to work with O’Reilly again, even though she claims the harassment was full blown back when she originally worked with Fox. Still, it may be quite unlikely the case comes to any sort of conclusion until long after voters cast their ballots on 02 November, barring any kind of settlement. Obviously the allegations still need to be fleshed out and complete insanity aside, O’Reilly’s team does see a strategic benefit in bringing the matter out now (again also with the overall timing in mind both with regard to the case and in a broader scope) – something which could land them in hot water for “abuse of process” unless they provide good reason for doing so. Settlements seem right now at least to be fairly unlikely, since that is exactly one of the things Mr. O’Reilly’s attorney preemptively sued to avoid, calling the idea instead “extortion”.

 

According to the complaint by the woman who alleges harassment, Andrea Mackris, the talk show host is quoted making several offensive and imposing statements and judging by the detail of the quotes it has led many to speculate if she will produce those statements on tape. On the other hand, the complaint does not have any of her own statements from those alleged conversations, which draws into question the context under which O’Reilly was quoted, assuming there is no valid tape. A context which seems to hint at being somewhat broader than the allegations have revealed. That, along with the patently political anti-Bush, anti-Fox statements in the beginning of the complaint are likely two areas that O’Reilly’s team will focus on, along with any connections to relevant political interests or those seeking to dethrone O’Reilly, Fox News et al for whatever reason. But let’s move on to the fun…

Somewhat Important Note: Before reading you need to properly set the mood by clicking the fine MIDI file linked here.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Caca Moolah

 

 

( Duet with Bill O’Reilly and Andrea Mackris )

A loofa, Jamaica, ooo I wanna take you
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don’t we go

Far from Fox News
There’s a place called Kokomo
That’s where you wanna go to get away from it all

Bodies in the sand
Tropical drink melting in your hand
We’ll be falling in love
In the shower, won’t it be grand
Down in Kokomo

A loofa, Jamaica, ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don’t we go

Ooo …. I wanna take you down at Kokomo
We’ll get there fast
And then we’ll take it slow
That’s where we wanna go
Way down to Kokomo …

To my attorny, CNN behind the scenes

We’ll put out to sea
And we’ll perfect our chemistry
By the end you’ll see the gravity

Afternoon delight
Cocktails and moonlit nights
That divergent look in your eye
Give me a topical contract high
Way down in Kokomo …

 

You say,

A loofa, Jamaica, ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don’t we go

Ooo … I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We’ll get there fast
And then you’ll know
That where you’re gonna go
Is the poor house with the hobos …

Port Au Prince you wanna catch a glimpse

Everybody knows
A little place like Kokomo
Now if you wanna go
And get away from it all
Go down to Kokomo …

A loofa, Jamaica, ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don’t we go

Ooo … I wanna take you down to Kokomo
Kerry’s still down
And it’s a winding road
That’s where we wanna go
Take down that Fox, you know…

A loofa, Jamaica. ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don’t we go

Ooo … I wanna take you down to Kokomo
We’ll get there fast
And then we’ll take it slow
That’s where we’re gonna go ….

 

 

 

 

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PLANET MORONIA