Neanderpundit

Over at Moxie’s place, and here at Steve’s, there’s a couple fine folks referring to the likes of Moxie and Ann Althouse as the “axis of asshole”.

Now, I’ve been an asshole all of my life. I was born an asshole, and I have worked at it. And frankly, a lot of my friends are assholes. I was so objectionable that I was the only child my priest never tried to molest. I think, if THESE people are assholes, then frankly, I’m proud to be one. In fact, I have a logo I’d like to use, courtesy (in concept) of Kurt Vonnegut, the pacifist asshole himself. Let me know what you think!

Having struggled through the mind numbing over-the-topness of Ayn Rand, and jammed Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead into my skull, i can honestly say, this book is particularly refreshing and tasty.

Instead of fifty-seven page speeches by stony uberhumans who can prove what they’re saying merely by saying it, Crichton calls bullshit on the global-warming myth and has the cites and the resources to back up his claims. The book is classic Crichton, fast paced and dense with detail; the actual science is discussed in well written conversations by the characters, and those discussions are brief and devastating. Pitiably, in the book as in life, the moonbats are so immune to actual facts that they fail to see the stupidity of their positions until it kills some of them. Most gratifyingly, too, I might add. In one particular scene, a moonbat of superhuman stupidity goes on claiming there is and never was any such thing as cannibalisim right up to the moment he is eaten alive by his captors.

I reccomend this book for three reasons: One: the simple and concise logic used in the arguments. It’s amazing. Two: the cites used to prove the science. Most impressive- but then, Crichton has always been a man to do his homework- or get it done, properly. Three: there’s a simple phrase used in the book that people need to remember: any good science is done by, as Crichton says, “a true iterative process, externally assessed”. In other words, you try something, see if it works, and try something else to see if that works. And you don’t get to check your own work, because checking your own work by definition biases the results. It’s how industry has been doing it, right along, and it works, and works well. By the time you get to that phrase in the book, you will understand EXACTLY what it means. Now, go, read. Carefully read the end of the book, the author’s message, too. You need to hear that, to hear about marge Sanger, about eugenics, about some of the dirty laundry of the previous century; there’s some good information there that should be required reading in every classrom in America.

THe sole benefit to the airport security imposed on us by the TSA is the fact that everyone is required to remove their coats and shoes at the security checkpoint.

Now, hell, maybe it’s just me, but a woman in her nylons, bending over to slip her shoes back on? I always make it a point to get in line behind one. Especially if she’s dressed nice. And no, I’m not talking about models, I’m talking about normal women, with hips and thighs. Yesterday, going to the Omaha airport, there was a woman in the line ahead of me in the nicest suit, a dove-gray pinstripe thing, and watching her take off her coat, take off her shoes, walk her tight fitting pants walk through the metal detector, then slip back into her shoes, then her jacket, then step on to her gate, I barely had the presence of mind to hand the TSA girl my boarding pass.

Now, this woman was, oh, maybe 160? close to 6′ tall. Knew how to dress. Had hips like a lady, not that tiny boy-ass that the anorectics have. She could, in my opinion, maybe even have used a few more pounds. It made not being home even more painful than usual, but it also made the homecomeing more, er, enjoyable. It was good to get home to the Ogwife, and it helped me remember what a damned lucky guy I am to get a woman as good looking as her to hang with me.