Randy Haddock

Brain scan can read people's thoughts

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:37:00 -0500

In the study, Maguire and her colleagues Martin Chadwick, Demis Hassabis, and Nikolaus Weiskopf showed 10 people each three very short films before brain scanning. Each movie featured a different actress and a fairly similar everyday scenario.

The researchers scanned the participants’ brains while the participants were asked to recall each of the films. The researchers then ran the imaging data through a computer algorithm designed to identify patterns in the brain activity associated with memories for each of the films.

Finally, they showed that those patterns could be identified to accurately predict which film a given person was thinking about when he or she was scanned.

The results imply that the traces of episodic memories are found in the brain, and are identifiable, even over many re-activations, the researchers said.

The results reinforce the findings of a 2008 US study that showed similar scans can determine what images people are seeing based on brain activity.

Dolly Parton - The Bridge

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:48:14 -0500

Dolly Parton - The Bridge

Pelosi: We have to pass ObamaCare so that you can find out what is in it

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:28:10 -0500

Unbelievable:

You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting.

But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.

Sean Penn: American journalists who call Hugo Chávez what he is, a dictator, should be jailed

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:44:00 -0500

It seems impossible but Sean Penn somehow finds a way to take his zealotry to a whole new level. Sean Penn, a man whose lavish Hollywood lifestyle and artistic accomplishments would never be possible under the brutal Chávez regime, is best pals with the thuggish dictator. And he hates it when others criticize him.

Here’s what Penn said on, you guessed it, Bill Maher’s show (via The Lonely Conservative and Newsbusters):

The collaborative opportunity in Haiti, when you talk about Hugo Chavez, and some of the other people who are demonized [think Castro], and you know, when some of these countries accuse us of an occupation — where I believe this was strictly a humanitarian action by the United States military, and an incredible one – I’m a little sympathetic. Because every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it! And accept it. And this is mainstream media, who should – truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.

This is days after Penn wished his critics would “die screaming of rectal cancer.” Oh and let’s not forget about his nonsensical rambling last night at the Oscars. He’s on quite a roll lately.

There’s something particularly aggravating about people like Sean Penn and Michael Moore. They would NEVER live in either Venezuela or Cuba. They’ll praise evil men like Castro and Chávez, and their respective regimes, while fully enjoying their freedoms and prosperity here in America. They care not one iota about the people living in Venezuela and Cuba where freedom of speech and economic freedom are pretty much nonexistent. Penn and Moore don’t seem to realize that, if they lived in Cuba or Venezuela, their outspoken nature would be severely curtailed if it happened to go against the government, and here in America they are free to spout their moronic drivel.

And that’s yet another reason to love America—that even a dimwit like Penn can say a journalist should be jailed for calling his preferred political leader a dictator, and he has the freedom to say so.

9.8 trillion dollars!

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:19:42 -0500

9.8 trillion dollars!

Wife Crying After Marley and Me (via Althouse)

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:37:00 -0500

Wife Crying After Marley and Me (via Althouse)

Obama Caught Lip-Syncing Speech

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:00:00 -0500

Obama Caught Lip-Syncing Speech

AP: Obama signs one-year extension of Patriot Act

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:06:34 -0500

AP: Obama signs one-year extension of Patriot Act

Pictures: Earthquake in Chile - Boston.com 214 people are...

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:15:00 -0500

Pictures: Earthquake in Chile - Boston.com

214 people are reported dead so far according to @BreakingNews.

LOL — taken today in my neighborhood.

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:49:00 -0500

LOL — taken today in my neighborhood.

People playing in the Washington Square Park fountain.

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:09:03 -0500

People playing in the Washington Square Park fountain.

Washington Square Park right now.

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:07:00 -0500

Washington Square Park right now.

Pelosi: This bill will create 4 million jobs and 400,000 jobs...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:55:00 -0500

Pelosi: This bill will create 4 million jobs and 400,000 jobs almost immediately!

Via Greg Hengler and Say Anything Blog. Seriously, is there anything ObamaCare can’t do? I guess Americans will also get their long awaited unicorn and a baby pug for good measure. I would love Madam Speaker to further explain this bizarre claim, what with all the new price controls, added bureaucracy and regulation that will impede hiring.

Modern Political Lexicon

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:29:05 -0500

Via Victor Davis Hanson:

partisan bickering—a period when conservatives are unexpectedly gaining the upper hand.

gridlock—a time when liberal legislation polls less than 50% among the American people.

bipartisanship—triangulating Republican legislators who join liberals on key legislation.

filibuster—a sometimes necessary Senate remedy to thwart reactionary excess—in its perverted form, unnaturally turned on progressives.

centrist—a Republican who votes for Democratic-sponsored legislation; to be distinguished from an opportunist, who, as a Democrat, votes for Republican-sponsored legislation.

"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered..."

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:58:00 -0500

“I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics.”

- Canadian premier Danny Williams on the controversy over his decision to have heart surgery in the US

More than 31,000 views in 2 days

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:44:00 -0500

So that video I uploaded on Thursday has been all over the blogosphere. It’s been linked by some of my favorite blogs including Instapundit, Hot Air (twice by them), The Corner and Newsbusters and a host of other blogs as well. Right now it stands as the 8th most watched video for the day in the News and Politics section, and the 5th most watched video in Australia’s News and Poltics section thanks to a link by Andrew Bolt. And there are more than 500 comments.

Needless to say, I’m really happy that the video took off. The response has been generally positive and I think most people got the point of the video. The point, expectedly, has been entirely missed by some. It isn’t that the Tea Parties aren’t racist because minorities attend them, it’s that the overwhelming majority of Tea Party members simply don’t care one iota for skin color. It’s an unremarkable attribute to a person. It’s neither here nor there. The issue at hand is government spending and politicians that won’t listen, not the shade of your epidermis. At the very least, the video shows that everyone is welcomed at a Tea Party. Moreover, there is not some sort of racial quota Tea Partiers are looking to fill. Race is just not an issue. It becomes an issue when leftists start throwing around accusations of racism for political gain and force the Tea Partiers to go on the defense. And the debate goes somewhere completely different. It’s a tactic and it works.

Hopefully, the video sheds some light on the ridiculousness of the Left’s obsession with using race to promote political agendas and attack political opponents. For the likes of Olbermann, a minority really isn’t an individual person. In their minds, we minorities are racial beings, political tools. His use of the expression “people of color” further shows his misguided views on race.

And yes, the video, in some ways, is absurd (it is, after all, answering an absurd question) and meant to be as such. One shouldn’t have to give in to the racial head-countin’ demands of race-mongering demagogues such as Olbermann. Like Ed Morrissey said, it’s a no-win game. If you don’t provide an answer to Olbermann’s moronic question, then, in his deluded mind, he’s proven right. And if you do provide a response, then you’re trying too hard and you’re accused of giving the “I’m not racist! I have black friends!” excuse and, again, in Olbermann’s mind, he’s proven right. And this is then used as “proof” that Tea Parties are indeed racist. It’s a nifty little trap. There’s just no way to win with ideologues whose minds just won’t change about anything. They disagree with you, you’re racist. Period.

You should see some of the comments these ideologues have made on the video — some of the most vile and disgusting stuff I’ve ever read. It broke my heart to read them. One person compared the “colored people” in the video to Jews at the Final Solution. And others used the words “house n**gers,” “tokens,” and “sellouts” to describe the men and women they saw in the video passionately standing up for what they believed in. The hate and contempt these people have for minorities who don’t align with left-wing political beliefs is utterly frightening.

Racial head-countin’ is no way to prove a group’s racism or lack thereof. If this were the case, the antiwar protests during the Bush years, dominated by the white and young upper-class crowd, were the resurgence of the Klan and MSNBC, with its overwhelmingly white staff, is where they go get their news. Of course, this would be a ridiculous thing to assert.

So, that’s it for now.

Anti-gay bigot is forcefully booed at CPAC Via Allahpundit. This...

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:43:00 -0500

Anti-gay bigot is forcefully booed at CPAC

Via Allahpundit. This video is so incredibly powerful that I still have the chills after watching it. I’d never heard of this Ryan Sorba person before and I hope to never hear of him ever again. He goes on this anti-gay tirade against CPAC for allowing gay group GoPride at the convention. He’s booed to the point where it’s him against the entire crowd. It’s a thing of beauty.

GayPatriot was there when it happened and I agree with him that this is huge for the movement:

Today was a turning point for gays in the conservative movement. I’m so glad I am here to see it in person.

If the Democrats lose their stronghold on identity politics, they’re toast. Like John Aravosis says, “when CPAC starts defending the gays, the Democrats ought to start getting worried”:

[W]hen the Republicans increasingly say the right things, like repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell now, and even supporting marriage, and all the Democrats show is political homophobia, gays get the message.

[…]

[I] think, come November, and come many more Novembers in the future, a lot of gays and lesbians, are going to realize that we’re talking about our lives, rather than our right to attend a cocktail party. And when it comes to our lives, and voting for someone who treats us with the same kind of shame every single one of us grew up, I think you’re going to see an increasing number of gay Americans distancing themselves from the Democratic party with their donations and their votes. They may not vote Republican, they simply may not vote at all.

Response to Olbermann: ‘People of color’ at Tea...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:20:00 -0500

Response to Olbermann: ‘People of color’ at Tea Parties

So last night that race-peddlin’ buffoon over at MSNBC… wait, that’s pretty much everyone on that network. Let me be more specific. OK, so, last night Keith Olbermann used his self-parodying Special Comment segment to ask the following question: Where are the people of color at the Tea Parties? Now, implying and outright saying that Tea Party protesters are racist is commonplace in the far left. No news there. But two things in particular bother me about his question:

First, his choice of words. People of color? Who are these colored people he’s referring to? What does that mean? It may be because I’m not a native English speaker, but I find this “people of color” business to be really bizarre. So as a Boricua, am I colored? I guess I’m olive but if I hit the beach on a sunny day I can be golden brown. Is he referring strictly to skin color? Culture? Ethnicity? I mean, I’m not that much darker than Mr. Olbermann himself. Do I fall into his “people of color” category?

Or, as I suspect, are “people of color” just code for those who deviate too much from the skin color which Olbermann seems to deem as the standard? I mean, come on, Olbermann has no color, right? He’s white. That ain’t no color. That’s just how it’s supposed to be, right? So, all I can think of is that he means “black.” Black people are colored, and everyone else is just normal and a-OK. Man, this race and colors stuff is difficult to understand!

And secondly, the question is stupid, the premise terribly moronic and the insinuation totally insulting. The Tea Party protesters aren’t racist. Are there a few kooks with nefarious motivations? Sure, every movement has them. It’s nice how, during the Bush years, the MSM did everything they could to whitewash the fringe elements of the antiwar movement, but I digress. What’s Olbermann’s evidence that Tea Parties are overwhelmingly racist? Apparently, that there are no “people of color” at these rallies. That is so blatantly false as to induce uncontrollable laughter. There are people of all backgrounds at the Tea Parties. But even if an event is dominated by a certain race group, what does that prove? Similar to what Glenn Reynolds said earlier this month, if you look at a group of white folks and the first thought that pops into your head is “racists!” then you have some serious issues.

So I put together this video response to Olbermann’s burning question. Here are his “people of color” he’s been inquiring about.

"[S]arah Palin agreed to do commentary at Fox News. Which is actually very similar to her day job -..."

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:15:00 -0500

“[S]arah Palin agreed to do commentary at Fox News. Which is actually very similar to her day job - talking to a baby with Down Syndrome.”

- Bill Maher

Via Rusty Weiss. This is what the far left has come down to: Picking on an innocent infant to promote their toxic and rotten ideas. His studio audience even applauds after he utters this disgusting remark. It’s a favorite right now among lefties.

Oh, you’re a fan of Maher? Congrats, you’re a fan of a full-fledged, hate-filled bigot with an intense disdain for Americans who don’t adhere to hard left-wing ideology. For the likes of Maher and his fans, it’s not about criticizing those with different ideas — the point is to dehumanize them. No wonder him and Ann Coulter kinda get along. Their punditry comes from the same ugly place.

Bayh to announce retirement from Senate - CNN.com

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:43:00 -0500

Bayh to announce retirement from Senate - CNN.com:

Sen. Evan Bayh is expected to announce Monday afternoon that he will not seek a third term in the Senate, a source close to the Indiana Democrat told CNN.

The senator has scheduled at 2 p.m. ET news conference in Indianapolis.