The show is real

One of my guilty pleasures is the ever ridiculous Steven Seagal. Imagine my joy when I stumbled across the above trailer for a his new AE show, Steven Seagal: Lawman.  It is a reality show with the premise that, between movies, he's been a Louisiana cop for 20 years. He assures us, "well, the show is real. I mean it's... this is not a joke."

Now Steven, why would anyone ever doubt you?

As I patiently wait for the premier I've been wondering... how much would it suck if, drunker than a skunk in your trailer park, you answered a knock on your door to discover Steven Seagal, dressed like a cop with a camera crew shadowing him, spouting Zen inanities as he arrested you?

Man, talk about a 'Come to Jesus' moment.

Yeeps!

I almost lost the blog screwing around with the templates. Unfortunately, I did lose our links list, so I'm going to have to rebuild that -- I'm open to sites we should link to. I'll have to add some widgets and what-not to the side bar.

ETA: Whew, I got the contributors, sitemeter and the flags back. I was in a panic there for a while. When I blew the blog up I just about had a heart attack. Mrs. Sinistral was wondering why I was laying on the floor in a fetal position, whimpering and sucking my thumb.

Anyhoo... how's it look?

Never Forget.

Musical Face

My last post featured record album covers used as faces.
Now a face used as a musical instrument.

Daito Manabe via Odd Musical Instruments

Weird Corner of the Internet

One thing about the internet is there are enough people on it for some very strange clumps to form from time to time.

The pictures below are from a site called Sleeveface. There are many, many more at the site. It has page after page of pictures of people posing with old record album covers in such manner that the pose and the cover art blend into a single illusion. The care they have taken in not only cleverly staging the pictures, but also matching not only the poses and clothes, but even the wrinkles in the clothes, is quite remarkable.

Squaring the Circle

The blog The Gormogons has a post by Ghettoputer, Doctors and the CIA, that discusses an ObamaCare issue that has also been puzzling me.

Conspicuously absent from the bill is any mention of tort reform regarding medical malpractice. When Howard Dean was asked why such reform was not addressed in the bill he bluntly answered:

"Here’s why tort reform is not in the bill. When you go to pass a really enormous bill like that, the more stuff you put in it, the more enemies you make, right? And the reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everyone else they were taking on. And that is the plain and simple truth."

It is generally accepted that the real cost of malpractice law suits is not so much the cost of settlements, but rather the need for doctors to practice defensive medicine by ordering the maximum number of tests conceivable in any diagnosis.

ObamaCare attempts to address that problem by establishing boards, agencies and the like that will review medical best practices and mandate the scope of what treatments and tests should be performed (and for those who, like me, are too lazy to read the bill The Gormorgans has a good series of posts where he live blogs his reading of the bill in 100 page chunks).

That is ObamaCare seeks to reduce medical costs by setting up a set of guidelines that will free doctors from the need to do unessential medical procedures to protect themselves from lawsuits. Ignoring for the moment any questions about the wisdom of such a remote "top-down" approach to diagnosis, I wonder how malpractice suits will be impacted by the bill, especially in light of the fact that trial lawyers are such an important Democratic constituent that no attempt to reign them in is even considered?

The obvious answer is that, while the government insurance plan will be shielded from malpractice suits, the private insurers will still be exposed to them. However, it is rather more complicated than that, because over time the private insurers will be rolled into the treatment and testing guidelines mandated by the government. Would all insurers then not be shielded?

What then of the powerful trial lawyers lobby?

I think Ghettoputer might have squared that circle when he considers Holder, and the CIA investigation. The CIA interrogators had acted under Congressional and Justice Department review, yet at this late date the rules can simply be shifted and their cases opened again. Will the doctors end up facing a similar set of fluid rulings?

If they and private insurers are allowed to layer supplemental insurance on top of a government mandated minimum, does Holder and the CIA set the precedence of the rules being redefined after the fact move them into malpractice territory? Will that be the hidden fund the trial lawyers can expect to draw their settlements from?

Roh-oh! Bill might be in trouble again...

...but this time not with Hillary.

In addition, individuals interviewed during the Review identified other techniques that caused concern because DoJ had not specifically approved them. These included the making of threats, blowing cigar smoke, employing certain stress positions, the use of a stiff brush on a detainee, and stepping on a detainee's ankle shackles.

The Political Theater of the Absurd

In Henan Province, China, a local ordinance requires that the road-facing sides of all adobe or brick homes be painted white or blue. This is apparently an attempt to address urban blight by making people improve their properties.

This has translated to grand facades, like the one shown to the left, being attached to decaying houses.

Looking at the picture, I wondered why a poor Chinese villager would spend so much money building such a ridiculous facade instead of just improving their home? Were these facades status projects, a brick and mortar version of a peasant's "Sunday Best", or were they something else altogether?

An article in Weird Asia News sheds some light with the following:

When the time arrives for inspection, the view is always from a passing car and there is no way for those inspectors to know that behind the shining walls lie deteriorating adobe homes. (Whether or not they would care or not if they knew the truth is another issue.)
...
Keeping up appearances often comes at a terrible price. This ordinance is vainglorious and obviously only a band-aid solution to the growing problem of urban decay and neglect. In addition and even more insulting to the local populace, this ordinance is a non-remedy sponsored by wasting taxpayers’ money.
How much better could these funds have served the local peasants and farmers who need financial aid so badly?

Ah, it all becomes clearer. Chinese tax dollars at work under the unerring hand of a bureaucrat. There is a certain mad logic at work; it is the appearance of urban decay that disturbs the passing inspectors, so a bit of whitewash and plaster is all that is needed to solve problem. No doubt the expenses saved go into the nearest deserving pocket.

This post is of course an extreme example; none the less, the problem with large government solutions is that you can't distill the scoundrels and buffoons out of them. Worse, once in place the scoundrels and buffoons become the voice of authority. So, when you need your faucet to stop leaking, like it or not you end up with a two-story monstrosity tacked onto your hovel instead.

What could possibly go wrong?

Mongolian death worm revealed

That's it - I'm canceling my vacation to Ulan Bator.

I recently stumbled across an article detailing the plans for an expedition to locate the fabled Mongolian Death Worm.

What is a Mongolian Death Worm you ask?

The Mongolian Death Worm is a creature rumored to live in the Gobi Desert. It is said to hide in the sand and spring out to spit a fatal dose of acid on its prey (which includes humans). Also, if you try to sneak up behind one of the worms it will jolt you with a lethal bolt of lightning it shoots out of its butt.

This summer two New Zealand TV journalists, David Farrier and his cameraman Christie Douglas, have mounted an expedition to try to document one of the beasts. They have already left for Mongolia. Like most of humanity, I'm waiting with baited breath to hear their results.

The accompanying photo is of the camera man Douglas. I assume the microphone is to catch Farrier's screams as he gets fried by an electric bolt, or whimpers as his face is being melted by acid.

Apparently, much like the Grabazoids in Tremors, the Death Worms are attracted to vibrations, so they plan on blasting off a lot of dynamite to attract them. Sounds like a plan to me. You can read more about their expedition, and even donate to it if you're in the mind to fund oddball scientific endeavors, at their website Death Worm 2009.

ObamaCare -- a return to house calls?

Obama's remarks about the postal service got me thinking... why not combine ObamaCare with the Post Office to form a new Federal Agency to handle both?

It would not only be super efficient, it would also extend much needed, and healthy, competition for not only UPS and FedEx, but also to BlueCross/Blue Shield and other major insurers.

Also, along with your mail, you could get medical house calls to aid you with your coughs, colds, bumps, bruises and end-of-life planning.

Finally, if Obama played his cards right in appointing the first Surgical Post Mistress General, he could solve the problem of African students getting yelled at for asking about you-know-who.

Win-win-win!!!

Analysis of Talking Points Against HR3200 (Healthcare/Insurance Reform)

Old Lurker, a regular on Just One Minute, posted an email he had received listing a bunch of talking points against HR 3200, the House Healthcare/Insurance Reform Bill. The Bill is 1018 pages long, and creates a bureaucracy of commissions, commissioners, task forces, study groups, funding for all of that and, incidentally, some general requirements for public and private health care which will be supplemented by the usual Regulations to be developed by the bureaucracy this monstrosity creates. I have undertaken to compare the talking points in the email with the parts of the Bill it cites for its points.

Here is the first installment:

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure

Not exactly. This section sets up a committee to study and compare large market self-insured and employee benefit plans, including financial solvency of the employers providing self-insured plans.

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you receive

This is essentially true. The committee will be patterned on the current committee that does the same thing for Medicare

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED. You can only receive a certain amount of "care" per year

This is inaccurate. The annual limitations specified in this Section ($5,000 per individual and $10,000 per family) relate to co-pays or cost sharing by the insured, not to services covered by the plan.

Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice.

The statutory language is ambiguous on this point. The HCC has this duty under Section

142 (a)(1):
QUALIFIED PLAN STANDARDS.—The establishment of qualified health benefits plan standards 8 under this title, including the enforcement of such standards in coordination with State insurance regulators and the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury.

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided to ALL non US residents, illegal or otherwise

Not explicitly, but certainly possibly. Here’s the actual language:

SEC. 152. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise explicitly permitted by this Act and by subsequent regulations consistent with this Act, all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services.

Pg 58HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access to individuals finances & a National ID Health Card will be issued.

Partly true. Government will have access to National ID Health Card, but Section 163 deals with an electronic system to allow determination of coverage and co-pay in “near real time”. It does not even implicitly give the government the right to record or see an “individual’s finances”.

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access to your banks accts for funds transfer

Not accurate. The system will allow electronic funds transfers to providers and will allow automated reconciliation with “related health care payment and remittance advice”.

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions & community orgs (example -ACORN).

Not accurate. This Section sets up a reinsurance program for defined group health plans; eligibility for that program is not limited to union plans.
Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an HC Exchange to bring private HC plans under Govt control.

Accurate that HC Exchange is created by Title II (which begins on P. 72., and ends on P. 143). Title II covers all HC public and private health care plans including Medicare and Medicaid. Title II gives very broad powers to HC Exchange. Unless this federal statute is different from all predecessors (not likely), HC Exchange will exercise significant control over all health care plans.

PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs for private HC plans in the Exchange

Accurate

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare.

Accurate that Section 203 specifies benefit levels for plans. It does not expressly specify the power to ration, but that will be a likely result of this system.

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services...... Example - Translation for illegal aliens

Accurate that bill requires “linguistically appropriate services”. What this means is not specified, but there is no limitation on who is entitled to this treatment, so illegals presumably would benefit.

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individually for Govt HC plan

Unclear, but possible and maybe probable under this administration. Section 205 allows the Commissioner to use “…other appropriate organizations” to conduct outreach and informational functions. What is “appropriate” is undefined in the bill.

For just a dollar a day

I snapped the cellphone picture to the left at Florida Caverns State Park. It was a monument to the workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The passage through the caverns had been improved by the CCC.

At one point on the tour, to the left of the path you were on, you could see the original passage. It was little more than a crawl space that was two to three foot tall. The guide said the boys cut the larger passage with nothing more than pickaxes, hammers and chisels. They hauled the excess rock out one pail full at a time.

Their pay was a dollar a day, of which they only got to keep $5 a month, the other $25 was sent to their families.

The CCC was a popular and successful New Deal Program. Anybody who has been to a National or State Park has seen the result of their handiwork in the lodges, visitor centers and trails they built. In addition they planted over 3 billion trees, cut miles of road and strung miles of telephone cable.

The program's popularity is such that from time to time calls are made to create a modern version of the CCC. Obama is only the most recent of a long line of politicians, from both parties, who has evoked them as a model for paid volunteerism.

As potent as such appeals may be, that was then and this is now. The CCC was very much a product of the Great Depression. Because of the high level of unemployment of the day, its ranks were filled by young men looking for a pay check. Many of the boys were dirt poor, had little education (an 8th grade average) and few prospects. Further, it was ran largely by the military. It was organized into the same eight districts as the state-side army was, staffed by officers and its camps started out as tent cities and only later were military style built for the workers. They ate in mess halls and discipline was strict.

Still, the young men were happy for the work. Many of them speak fondly of their days in the CCC. If nothing else, three squares a day and a bit of cash lifted their spirits. However, the true effectiveness of the program was in the night classes it offered and the skills it taught. Many of them parlayed their experiences in the CCC into careers. The Justin Oral History Center has a pages with numerous anecdotes for those interested.

In reading about it for this post what stands out is how pragmatic the program was. No-nonsense managers exerted discipline and the boys worked hard. However, what they worked hard at wasn't busy work, rather it was work directed at strengthening the infrastructure of our parks and wilderness areas. To this day we can see the fruits of their labors.

As compelling as the CCC mythology may seem to modern ears, it is hard for me to imagine such a program working today. The thought of a graduate with a degree in the Social Sciences trying to supervise hordes of forced volunteer slackers leaning on their shovels and text messaging each other all day is not a pretty picture, but it is hard to imagine anything else. Hopefully it is a scheme that, while it may get mentioned from time to time, never gets beyond the speechifying phase.

Note: I edited this post to add a title and clarify the final paragraph.

Amazing sand animation, must see

ht: Chicago Boyz

Alligators in Ellesmere Island?

Ellesmere Island, which lies within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, appears to have once been the home of alligators, according to the fossil records of the Eocene epoch (see After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals, 2006. By Donald R Prothero. Bloomington (Indiana): Indiana University Press). Alligators cannot tolerate freezing temperatures for long. Such tidbits are of interest to any folks who want to take a long view concerning temperature variations of the earth.

Moving to more contemporary pursuits, Richard Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, suggests the signature of Greenhouse warming (that the warming should be accompanied by rather large changes in atmospheric temperatures in the tropics) has not occurred. The warming levels that have occurred in the atmosphere of the tropics imply that perhaps only a third of surface warming has been due to the greenhouse effect, and it is unclear how much of that small effect could be attributable to humans. Lindzen says:

This contradiction is rendered more acute by the fact that there has been no statistically significant net global warming for the last fourteen years. Modelers defend this situation by arguing that aerosols have cancelled much of the warming, and that models adequately account for natural unforced internal variability. However, a recent paper (Ramanathan, 2007) points out that aerosols can warm as well as cool, while scientists at the UK’s Hadley Centre for Climate Research recently noted that their model did not appropriately deal with natural internal variability thus demolishing the basis for the IPCC’s iconic attribution (Smith et al, 2007). Interestingly (though not unexpectedly), the British paper did not stress this. Rather, they speculated that natural internal variability might step aside in 2009, allowing warming to resume. Resume? Thus, the fact that warming has ceased for the past fourteen years is acknowledged. It should be noted that, more recently, German modelers have moved the date for ‘resumption’ up to 2015 (Keenlyside et al, 2008).

So should we hope that the political class taxes us to save us from ourselves? Who has lobbied hard for Kyoto? Enron (will we see some revisionist history on that score), Goldman Sachs lobbies fro cap and trade. If Healthcare is a 1000 page bill, how big will a final cap and trade bill be? If a bill is too big to read, maybe it's too big to pass.

Animated Engines

When I was a kid my brother owned a toy steam engine. It was similar to the Wilesco engine pictured to the right. You could connect a belt to its wheel and drive toy pieces of machinery with it. I remember it having a miniature table saw that could cut paper. We chopped up a lot of paper with that thing.

As you can imagine, it vastly entertained a young male's mind. There was an element of danger about it, with its little boiler of scalding water under pressure chugging away and, in our fevered imaginations, always ready to explode at any moment. Thus, we had great respect for the engine's pressure release valve. We fiddled with it endlessly to make sure it wasn't clogged.

However, the point of this post isn't really nostalgia. The other day I ran across a website called Animated Engines. The owner of it has methodically drawn frame by frame diagrams of engines with Autocad, which he then animates (and the speed of his animated gifs can be controlled). He's got 7 types of internal combustion engines, 10 steam engines, and 4 Stirling engines diagrammed. Quite fascinating to see all the approaches to building engines.

It was watching the animations of the steam engines that reminded me of my brother's toy. As much as we played with it, and as much as we fretted over the pressure release valve, watching the animation made me realize I never actually knew how it worked. Turns out the things had some really clever valve mechanisms to spin the drive wheel. The variety of their form is also interesting.

The site is worth spending a bit of time exploring.

What happens in Avaza stays in Avaza

The fireworks, in the picture to the left, are in celebration of the opening of the newest tourist destination on the planet -- Avaza. The 5 billion dollar project bills itself as the next Las Vegas, a must visit destination for the discerning, upscale tourist.

As you plan your next vacation you no doubt wonder, could this be true or is it all hype? Well, the fellow in the picture is President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, successor to the dearly departed Turkmenbashi as the ruler of Turkmenistan.

That fact alone should probably be enough to tip the scales solidly into the hype over truth department.

Yes, this is but the latest monstrous building scheme to be cooked up by the leadership of Turkmenistan. It boast of having luxurious hotels, seaside villas, casinos, an artificial island, a ski center and a children's area. However, during its opening ceremonies the hotels were decorated with huge portraits of President Berdymukhamedov, and there was a giant TV displaying his mug, so I wonder about the ambiance of the place. I know nothing speaks luxury to me quite as much as gigantic propaganda posters. I wonder if it has a copy of the Ruhnama in every night stand?

You can read about it here.

While we're obsessing over Michael Jackson...

While we're obsessing over Michael Jackson, according to the blog English Russia, a craze sweeping the Russian blogsphere are Russian Haired Sausages. They're "modding" sausages by sticking hard spaghetti into uncooked sausages and then boiling the whole mess.

They then photograph the result, sometimes decorating them with edible eyeballs and what-not, and post them to their blogs.

The link above includes pictures of some of them, a silly animated gif of a dancing hotdog, and a video instructing you in the culinary art of making Haired Sausages. Myself, I'll take a Hairy Sausage over Michael Jackson blather any day of the week.

Name that party

Gov. Ritter Steered Stimulus Money To Ex-Employer

Which party does Gov. Ritter belong to? Surely there is no need to ask, it's the invisible party, the party whose name shall not be spoken. Shhh.

Of course you know, this means war!

To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as “fact” that Governor Palin resigned because she is “under federal investigation” for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation. This is to provide notice to Ms. Moore, and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law. The Alaska Constitution protects the right of free speech, while simultaneously holding those “responsible for the abuse of that right.” Alaska Constitution Art. I, Sec. 5. http://ltgov.state.ak.us/constitution.php?section=1. These falsehoods abuse the right to free speech; continuing to publish these falsehoods of criminal activity is reckless, done without any regard for the truth, and is actionable.

Complete notice here. They have a little list, and I hope Sullivan is on it.

h/t: Conservatives 4 Palin

Isn’t elegance forgetting what one is wearing?

I have no explanation for this picture. Maybe it is an obscure joke, maybe it is photographic evidence of some hideous punishment from Mao's Cultural Revolution. The title of this post is a Yves Saint Laurent quote. Who knows, maybe it is just elderly fashionistas who have finally gone 'round the bend.

I have no idea. Any guesses?

Afghan War Rugs

After the 1980s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and to the present day, Afghan weavers have incorporated imagery of modern weapons into their Oriental rugs.

To the left are details from some of the rugs, from top left to bottom right, crouching infantry, a bomber, a retreating tank and a missile.

A wealth of information about rugs of this style, thir history, a blog, numerous images, as well as war rugs for sale, can be viewed at the site: warrug.com (which is where I got the pictured details from).

Both Soviet and present day Coalition forces are represented. There are also "War on Terrorism" rugs, which, according to Sergeant Major Herbert A. Friedman a psyops specialist, appear to draw heavily from propaganda leaflets distributed to the Afghans. The side by side comparisons of the leaflets to the rugs are convincing (sorry, I had to link inside a frame to get to that page so the site-wide navigation is broke on that link).

It is a fascinating and informative site. I'm sure many of the rugs are just cranked out for the troops in country, and Lord only knows the politics of whoever is weaving them, but the rugs do have a beauty about them.

Democrats In Control I

A thousand words worth. The data is taken from the Department of Labor UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT and represents the total increase of Ins. Unemployment (SA) plus Extended Benefits plus Extended Unemployment Compensation 2008

The period covered begins January 31 and continues through June 13. The data represents the increase in unemployment, not total unemployment. The total unemployment numbers (and the unemployment rate) are published by the BLS in Employment Situation Summary the first week of every month. The current rate is 9.4% and my bet is that next week's report will take it to 9.7%.

The weekly reporting by state media, such as Associated Press, focuses on the "top line" number regarding initial claims. A more interesting story would report the astonishing increases in Extended Benefits both "standard" and those covered by EUC 2008. Employers have reacted to the results of the November election with a fair degree of alacrity. The Democrats have provided ample reason for them to continue to trim - with a meataxe.

Beat the Morons

[This will be revised and extended]

The current economic situation provides an opportunity to test economic forecasting skills in a period of rather high uncertainty. The challenge is to come closer to the advance BEA estimate of change in GDP for Q2 '09 than the median of the Bloomberg survey of economists. The BEA advance estimate will be announced on July 31 at 8:30AM EST. The current BEA news release contains what amounts to a primer on factors affecting the GDP plus links to more extensive explanations. Following are links to data sources that I have found helpful in formulating estimates of how the economy is performing.

BEA Table 1.1.5. Gross Domestic Product

BEA Table 2.1. Personal Income and Its Disposition

BLS Employment Situation Summary

Fed H.8 - Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the United States

BLS/Commerce Weekly Unemployment

Railfax - comparison of weekly car loadings.

DAILY TREASURY STATEMENT

Other Statistical Resources for Economics

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Inspired by Obama, I had decided it was time for me to end my meddlesome ways and cease my Ugly American antics. Thus, to support our Dear Leader, I thought I would conduct some hot dog diplomacy of my own.

I planned on inviting somebody from the Taliban, hopefully Mullah Omar if I could find his email address, to my house for a little good ol' Fourth of July hot dog munching, fireworks, and a bout of apologizing for the U.S. of A. To the left are the franks I had picked out. I'm certain they would have been appreciated by my new Taliban friends.

Alas, CNN is reporting that Obama may be rethinking his earlier invitation. It now looks like, in keeping with his new posture of being "shocked and appalled" by the thuggery of the Iranian rioters, that the hot dog diplomacy has been called off. However, the invitations that have gone out will not be rescinded. So I guess hot dog semi-diplomacy is kinda, sorta, somewhat still on the table. Maybe.

Now, what am I going to do with three cases of Hebrew Nationals and a gallon of mustard?

Mullahs have feelings too

The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.
President Barack Obama’s administration said earlier this month it would invite Iran to US embassy barbecues for the national holiday for the first time since the two nations severed relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.
“There’s no thought to rescinding the invitations to Iranian diplomats,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
“We have made a strategic decision to engage on a number of fronts with Iran,” Kelly said. “We tried many years of isolation, and we’re pursuing a different path now.”

Spit. What's wrong with these people. I mean our government and the nutcases who dominate its policies. "Strategic" policies, no less. It's disgusting.

To live or to just be alive, that’s the question.

Then at Towhid Square the scene changes drastically. The streets to Azadi are blocked. But this time, people don’t change their path. They fight for it. There’s a shower of stones. Tear gas. Fire. People jam the sidewalks. The battle scene is huge. We cannot see the limits but it extends to nearby street. My student is keener to go forward than I am. Her mother could persuade her to stay home for two days, but now allows her to go out on the most dangerous day. The people shout, ‘Down with the dictator’. The anti-riot police are also throwing stones. People don’t run back anymore. I grab a broken brick and throw. I’m amazed. I never thought I’d do it. I should practice. It was a very bad shot. I grab another one, the size of a pomegranate and keep it with me, hiding it behind my back. My feeling is a mixture of a university teacher and a hooligan.

If we want to go forward we need to pass through tear gas. So we ask a car to give us a lift. Then there is an attack. They cannot tell enemy from other people although they want to show everything is fine and they’re only after trouble-makers. There is a woman who is being beaten. She’s horrified and hysterical but not as much as the anti-riot police officer facing her. She shrieks, ‘Where can I go? You tell me go down the street and you beat me. Then you come up from the other side and beat me again. Where can I go?’ In sheer desperation, the officer hits his helmet several times hard with his baton. ‘Damn me! Damn me! What the hell do I know!’

One person's account of a day in downtown Tehran. I wish her good luck. Read the entire post: A Day in the Life.

Basij building blown up

A poem

At Kamangir

Iran, I weep for you tonight

I weep for the 8

I weep for the hopes of millions dashed to the ground.

Tonight the night sky is devoid of stars, except one.

The Persian sky has turned from the green to black

and the world watches,

and I pray.

Iran, O Great Persia,

I weep for you tonight,

yet amidst the charcoal ballots

“a tender shoot, like a root out of dry ground”.

“Despised and rejected”… by many

Misunderstood and misrepresented… by more

“No beauty or majesty to attract us to him”

(like a politician),

“He will not shout or cry out,

or raise his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

he will not falter or be discouraged

till he establishes justice on earth”.

He wept over Jerusalem long ago:

“If you, even you,

had only known on this day

what would bring you peace

—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

He weeps for you tonight, O beloved Iran,

for the millions,

for the 8.

A bloody, barren tree stands,

neglected on the outskirts of Tehran,

with a placard nailed to it:

“Where is My Lover?”

The lone star descends tonight

pierced arms open wide for embrace

walking the streets of Tehran,

searching for His Lover…

eager for their honeymoon called Freedom

The Colors of Tsarist Russia

Prior to World War One, a Russian photographer named Prokudin-Gorsky developed a means of taking color photographs. He did it by taking three monochromatic pictures, each with a color filter, and then recombined them by projecting specifically colored light through them. The result are some extremely striking color photos of bygone days that we're used to seeing in shades of gray.

Supported primarily by his job in a metal works, he established his studio in 1901 to perfect his process. His break came in 1908 when he photographed Leo Tolstoy.

This brought him to the Attention of Tsar Nicholas II, who funded his scheme of traveling throughout the Russian Empire and making a photographic record of what he saw.

More of his remarkable photographs, as well as further details of his life, can be found at Socyberty in the post The Incredible Century Old Color Photography of Prokudin-Gorsky (H.T. Neatorama).

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Vanderleun .

60 years of doubleplusgood

Sixty years ago this week George Orwell's 1984 was released. You can read it online here. My favorite scene in it has always been the one below, when Winston meets his neighbor Parsons, as faithful a Party member as there is, in a holding room in the Ministry of Love.

This is the chapter where Room 101 is introduced. We don't know what it is at the time. We won't know until the rat cage is strapped onto Winston's head. Parsons had spent years savoring his Victory Gin, appreciating his Victory Cigarettes, and worrying about the enemy of the day. However, in the end, he ended up with his own version of the rat cage, and a bullet to the back of his head, all because he doubted in his sleep.

As sad as Winston's end is, Parson's is infinitely sadder. Sleep and its dreams as the betrayer -- the most sublime of all Thought Crime.

'Are you guilty?' said Winston.

'Of course I'm guilty!' cried Parsons with a servile glance at the telescreen. 'You don't think the Party would arrest an innocent man, do you?' His frog-like face grew calmer, and even took on a slightly sanctimonious expression. 'Thoughtcrime is a dreadful thing, old man,' he said sententiously. 'It's insidious. It can get hold of you without your even knowing it. Do you know how it got hold of me? In my sleep! Yes, that's a fact. There I was, working away, trying to do my bit -- never knew I had any bad stuff in my mind at all. And then I started talking in my sleep. Do you know what they heard me saying?'

He sank his voice, like someone who is obliged for medical reasons to utter an obscenity.

"Down with Big Brother!" Yes, I said that! Said it over and over again, it seems. Between you and me, old man, I'm glad they got me before it went any further. Do you know what I'm going to say to them when I go up before the tribunal? "Thank you," I'm going to say, "thank you for saving me before it was too late."

'Who denounced you?' said Winston.

'It was my little daughter,' said Parsons with a sort of doleful pride. 'She listened at the keyhole. Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh? I don't bear her any grudge for it. In fact I'm proud of her. It shows I brought her up in the right spirit, anyway.'

He made a few more jerky movements up and down, several times, casting a longing glance at the lavatory pan. Then he suddenly ripped down his shorts.

'Excuse me, old man,' he said. 'I can't help it. It's the waiting.'

He plumped his large posterior into the lavatory pan. Winston covered his face with his hands.

'Smith!' yelled the voice from the telescreen. '6079 Smith W! Uncover your face. No faces covered in the cells.'

Winston uncovered his face. Parsons used the lavatory, loudly and abundantly. It then turned out that the plug was defective and the cell stank abominably for hours afterwards.

Yaaaay! Yay yay!

Here's one for the "something you don't see every day" department* -- an ad with bubbly Japanese school girls hopping about and pretending to cut their wrists with color-coordinated toy suicide knifes. I must say the bubbles add a nice touch of zaniness to the whole thing, as if it were in need of more zaniness.

*Then again, maybe you do see it every day if you watch a lot of TV in Japan.

Revisiting

Way back at the end of November, 2005, I put up a post here at Flares titled "The Captain and The Sarge - Carpetbaggers".  It was about a memorial I'd discovered while out walking in Malmo, Sweden.

There reason I mention it now is that the daughter I was out strolling with that fine day is once again in Malmo, this time for an extended stay.  She'd come upon the memorial again and makes a point of going to see it with anyone she strolls with but had forgotten the story behind it.  So I went and searched out this post to send her so she'd know the story.

It turns out that nearly three years after that post had long since been forgotten a friend of one of the widows of the crew somehow found it and was kind enough to leave the link to Flygmonumentet vid Anten.  I just discovered this today and thought some of you may enjoy it.   Be sure to click the "In English" link at the bottom and wander around.  More info there than I was able to provide.  And mystery.

I didn't like the way they were looking at me.

I was sitting on my front porch this afternoon, drinking a coffee, when a fairly large branch broke loose and fell to the ground. It hit with quite a thump and raised a lot of dust.

I sat for a while thinking about a story somebody had told me once; a woman had gone out jogging and never returned. The search party found her body on the jogging trail under a tree limb that had fallen on her. A sad way to go.

After a while I started hearing creaking noises from the top of the tree. I also started seeing large shadows passing across the lawn. Puzzled, and by this point paranoid over falling trees, I stepped outside to see what was making the noise.

The tree, and all of the others in the area, were full of buzzards. There were a lot of them circling the area also. I snapped the picture to left of some of them in a tree top.

I read once that buzzards fly in a grid in the sky. When one sees something and drops to investigate, the ones nearest the hole in the grid it left move towards it to join in on any meal. Buzzards farther out then move towards the holes in the grid they've created, and that's how such a large flock of them arrive at a carcass.

I don't know what it was that attracted them, I hope not me.

Tea Party Draft Manifesto

The outline is from the Contract With America. I'll add a NINTH regarding benefits for Congresscritters shortly.

* FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;
* SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
* THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
* FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs;
* FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
* SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;
* SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
* EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.
___________________________________________________________________________________
SECOND DRAFT

* FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;
CHANGE - * SECOND, the pension and medical benefits provided for Federal elected representatives shall not exceed those available to civil servants employed in the District of Columbia;
* THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
[this one needs names for specific committees to be eliminated]
* FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs;
[define limits]
* FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
* SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;
* SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
* EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.
*NINTH Conduct a study, using independent audit firms, of all federal regulation. The purpose of the study is to identify duplicate regulation to be eliminated through legislative oversight.
*TENTH The costs associated with regulatory burdens shall be identified and a regulatory cost report issued coincidentally with approval of the annual budget.

Green Shoots

On Monday, March 9th, the DJIA hit a low of 6,547. It has since risen to a high of 8,574 on May 8th, a rise of 31%. I have yet to see a convincing explanation of what triggered the rise beginning on March 10th but the full court press by the Obama Administration, including Fed Chairman Bernanke's unprecedented "Green Shoots 60 Minutes appearance on March 15th certainly provided fuel for a rally which appears to be based more upon wish than upon reality.

I've been trying to determine just what the "green shoots" to which Chairman Bernanke referred might have been. I've been through the BEA data on the GDP (through Q1 09), the BLS data on the employment situation, the Fed Flow of Funds report for Q4 08 in relationship to its current Consumer Credit report through March and the INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION AND CAPACITY UTILIZATION report, also through March. In an effort to try and determine where Bernanke saw some green shoots I even combed the Treasury Daily Statements in an effort to find a hint of green in the tax deposit data. I did note a brief rise in tax deposits beginning on March 6th but it was completely and badly reversed beginning on March 20th.

The data for the graph below were drawn from the Daily Treasury Statements.



The jibber jabber from the Obama Administation is completely understandable. They prove their incompetence every single day and the smoke they were blowing on March 15th was neither thicker nor dirtier than usual. Lying comes as naturally as breathing to them and the public is finally beginning to apply the appropriate discount to every word emanating from the administration.

The Federal Reserve Board is supposed to be separate from the administration. I'm going to find it very difficult to continue to believe that such a separation exists unless Chairman Bernanke clarifies his definition of a green shoot with attendant data provided regarding the period preceding his March 15th remarks. His apparent donning of a cheerleader costume does nothing to inspire trust. The economy is going nowhere until some degree of trust is reestablished by at least one player in this melodrama. The great cowards of Wall Street aren't up to the task and the gross incompetents within the administration, tax cheat Geithner in the lead, inspire confidence only that massive theft is occurring on a daily basis. It's going to be a very long haul if Bernanke slides into the darkness with the others mentioned.

As an aside - the Treasury tax data is, IMO, the set to watch. I'll believe we've hit bottom when that 63 day average flattens out. Demographics dictates that the recovery, when it finally begins, is going to be weak and 'thin'. The last of the Boomers turn 45 this year while the first are already swelling the number of Social Security recipients. That means that the key (wrt disposable income) 45-55 bracket will shrink just as the number of retirees, watching their spending very carefully, grows. Add the increase in saving occasioned by the huge number of people very close to retirement trying to replenish what used to be healthy 401Ks and the source of funds to fire up the economy really becomes a question mark.

Unalienable Rights

The conversation concerning the National Tea Party platform quickly moved to identifying and stating underlying principles. Americans are in the habit of referring to founding documents as 'source material' for underlying principles without close examination of the Founders' intent and rationale in developing the phrasing which we have come to revere. This is particularly true with regard to the Declaration of Independence and most particularly to the Preamble:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

If the Preamble is stripped down to a rather harsh reality, this is what it looks like to me:

"People are entitled to commit treason by the Laws of Nature and Nature's God. The obvious truth is that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Therefore..."

The Founders understood the need for a theological basis for overturning the divine right of kings as then commonly preached through sermons focused upon Romans 13

Romans 13

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

They used a rhetorical device "We hold these truths to be self-evident" to assert an equality before God that is in rather stark contrast to the submission to "the minister of God" mandated by Romans 13. Had the rebellion failed, they would have been hanged by the minister of God and we would not be left trying to redetermine the consistency of our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I believe it to be rather difficult to identify the core principles for the National Tea Party at a time when the populace is strongly divided as to the meaning (as well as the point at which unalienable rights are "granted") of Life, when concept of Liberty has devolved, among many, to the license of an unsupervised barnyard and the pursuit of Happiness has likewise devolved into "if it feels good, do it". Difficult doesn't mean impossible but proceeding to principles without defining (or redefining) words which have been stripped of the intent of the authors seems unlikely to prove particularly fruitful.

I have never seen an exposition of the probable position of the Founders regarding the question of when life begins. They were, in general, men who were very familiar with the Bible and very familiar with the core of the Western canon as well as being well versed in the intricacies of British common law. My understanding of each of those sources is that "quickening", the mothers awareness of movement by the baby, was a point of determination as to whether a separate life (and separate rights) existed.

I understand that the issue of the point at which rights pertain to an individual is a real thicket of thorns but can a reform party focused upon the usurpation of individual rights by overweening intrusion on the part of the government and its creatures succeed without such a definition? If one considers the result of abandonment of the pious justification "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" in favor of "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons." to have resulted in the Civil War then the serious nature of the question becomes apparent.

I do not believe that the productive citizenry of the United States will long tolerate mob rule having the aim of reparation and redistribution. If we are going to complete the revolution to "when in the course of human events" it would be wise to begin the return with clarity.

National Tea Party

The following is an exchange lifted from comments at Just One Minute. I'll be editing it from time to time if interest warrants.
____________________________________________________________________________________

What do you think should be the first plank in the National Tea Party Platform? I've been wondering if formalizing the approach to rejection of the DC Thieves Club through a promise of denial of support might provide a vertebrae or two to some Washington annelids.

The Contract With America (LUN if Typhuspad remains dysfunctional) provides some ideas regarding form - possibly some content as well.

NOTE: Typhuspad et the whole comment when HTML was used. SixApart sucks like an industrial vacuum.

Posted by: Rick Ballard | May 21, 2009 at 08:10 AM



* FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;
* SECOND, select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
* THIRD, cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
* FOURTH, limit the terms of all committee chairs;
* FIFTH, ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
* SIXTH, require committee meetings to be open to the public;
* SEVENTH, require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
* EIGHTH, guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.

Rick,

I actually think we would go a long way to fixing our problems if #1 were implemented. I swear all of this mess starts with political cronyism. The problem is, who would every vote for that?

I think we need to find people willing to run to buck the system - who of course will be systematically destroyed by all the ins who have all the money.

Posted by: Jane | May 21, 2009 at 09:15 AM

Jane, that is an excellent list. I'd like to suggest one more.

Every member of Congress has to sign off that they have read and understand each bill they vote on.

It would not need to be a burdensome procedure, just look at how one has to click that one has read info that web sites require you read when you sign up.

Posted by: pagar | May 21, 2009 at 09:26 AM

Jane,

I begin with the premise that there is not one of our 535 elected representatives whose immediate departure from this vale of tears would have any measurable impact on the republic. I have a very real doubt that the immediate departure of all 535 would be a net negative as well.

If I were design that first plank for a National Tea Party, I believe that I would clearly state that no incumbent who has served more than eight years would receive any support from the party. That would be a first step towards limiting the cronyism to which you refer.

The second plank would be that any candidate seeking the support of the National Tea Party must maintain a searchable database of all contributions. The database must be open to the public and the datafiles easy to download.

Then we could move on to the First, Seventh and Eighth planks listed.

Posted by: Rick Ballard | May 21, 2009 at 09:46 AM

If I were design that first plank for a National Tea Party, I believe that I would clearly state that no incumbent who has served more than eight years would receive any support from the party.

I love it Rick. I think the entire thrust should be limiting government in every way possible.

And I think we should really think about making government a part time, unpaid endeavor.

Posted by: Jane | May 21, 2009 at 09:59 AM

Jane, if you do that you'd put the bureaucracy in charge because it often takes years for Congressmen to learn the ropes.

I think not only committee staff should be cut but so should personal staff and budgets--way overdone and creating nothing but trouble.

Posted by: clarice | May 21, 2009 at 10:11 AM


Clarice,

My guess is with the brilliance we have here we could come up with a concrete platform and also probably work out the minutia. So let's give it a whirl. I nominate Rick to be in charge. And if we end up moving we also have a blueprint for our own government.


The first plank needs to echo RR. Let's affirm that the contractual terms of our voluntary association are laid out in the founding documents, that all rights are vested by our creator in the individual, except for those voluntarily assigned by individuals to the 50 States, and except for those limited rights assigned to the Federal government, either by the individual or by the states.

Then we can get into the nitty gritty.

Posted by: Old Lurker | May 21, 2009 at 10:49 AM

NINTH Abolish the congressional parking spaces at Dulles International.

Posted by: Danube of Thought | May 21, 2009 at 10:54 AM


We should also do what we can to re-enforce federalism. As I understand it the ability to force the entire nation to follow Calif emission rules is a direct outcropping of a decision to allow Cal to enforce more stringent requirements than applied elsewhere. If the Commerce clause means anything it means that states should not be permitted to set their own emission policies--the Calif market is so huge than in effect whatever the turkeys there wanted was thru market forces--and now by law--expensively imposed on us all.

In almost every other circumstance the left has used the commerce clause to exercise federal sway over what really should be local decisions.

Go figure.

Posted by: clarice | May 21, 2009 at 11:06 AM

I'm in on just about everything.

How about this for a goal. We develop an outline, contact our local tea party coodinators, send it to PJTV, aim for it to be adopted at the Sept 12th Tea party in DC.

We continue to fill in the blanks as we go along.

Posted by: Jane | May 21, 2009 at 11:31 AM


Jane--

I think the NTP idea has legs. The problem is avoiding being "Alinkskyized" for as long as possible. In other words, because the Mediacrat left has absolutely no answer to the right's ideas, it seeks to personalize everything and attack individuals directly. The more organized and hierarchical the NTP is, the more certain individuals become targeted. It's a bit of a Catch-22. Anyone have ideas for working around this problem?

Posted by: Fresh Air | May 21, 2009 at 12:49 PM

Fresh:

Well let's talk about how we expect it to play out, and then we can think about how to defend. One thing I would do is keep politicians out of it. Have it just be citizens. We should network on the internet and maybe not talk to the press until we are ready altho that could backfire.

We need a place to work on it. This topic is going to be hard to find soon.

Posted by: Jane | May 21, 2009 at 01:08 PM


Jane--

This topic is going to be hard to find soon.

What does this mean?

Posted by: Fresh Air | May 21, 2009 at 01:14 PM

When the world gets you down...

...it's time for some Heavy Metal Bluegrass.

So... who did whatever it was that was done?

The picture to the right is of a 1943 police lineup in NY, NY. I don't know what the crime was, nor who, if anybody, was ever picked out of it.

Myself, I suspect the guy second from the left just 'cause he looks like a gangster should look.

It is from an interesting Flickr photostream called LeastWanted. The stream is composed primarily of old mug shots, although there are a fair number of old ID pictures, as well as some other stuff mixed in.

It is an altogether fascinating stream, with face after face, some defiant, some forlorn, some rather crazed looking, documenting long forgotten arrests.

That is of course the interest of nearly every old picture -- who are these people, what is the story behind the picture, and whatever became of them? Questions that realistically will never be answered and so we're left, if we care at all, to create a momentary scenario for them before we move on and forget them.

Below is one more picture from the stream. If nothing else, the hat certainly deserves its own story.

That could be me behind the black square

Except I'm not a young Asian woman, and the person picking my pocket is not a young Asian boy, nor is he attempting to be particularly sly about it. Other than that...

The picture to the right, and several other pickpocket pictures, can be found in the thread Street of Thieves at the blog bg11.

"You can’t go that way, It’s toward the road.”

This is an odd little experiment. A woman built a very simple robot, well... not really a robot, just a tiny little electric cart with a cardboard robot-looking body with a goofy smiley face on it.

She then stuck a little flag on it that said the robot needed help getting to a particular destination and left it loose in New York City. She put it down and stepped back, her camera hidden in her purse, and watched what happened.

On her site tweenbots.com she has a video of part of its travel from the northeast to the southwest Corner of Washington Square Park. It took 42 minutes for the little guy to make the trip, and 29 people helped it on its way.

The people who help have interesting reactions. They'll find it stuck against a bench or in a pot hole, read the flag and then fiddle around some trying to get the robot headed in the right direction. The title of this post comes from a comment one of the robot Samaritans spoke to the Tweenbot as he aimed it on then next leg of its journey.

At her site she has information about her future Tweenbot schemes. They're apparently part of a project she is doing for a thesis in her studies.