Thoughts on Egypt

Let us be clear from the outset, Mubarak was a ruthless dictator. No question about it. But Egypt is not like the US either. They have very real internal security issues to deal with. That is a not insignificant fraction of the population which is in favor of a unified Arab Middle East lead by the Wahabbist/Shiite arm of Islam. Egypt made peace with Israel many years ago after having it's arse handed to it many many times by the Jews. Under that situation Democracy becomes very dangerous. It is said that Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what is for dinner, and true democracy is the fastest road to anarchy yet known to man. Our own founding fathers had a very justified fear of true democracy, which is why we do not have a democracy in this country, we have a constitutional representative republic where there are mechanisms in place to blunt the claws of true democracy. Mubarak's dictatorship served a similar function, preventing the dangerous radicals from gaining a toehold in Egypt's government. Those mechanisms just went out the window. Will Egypt as a country survive? Will the peace between Israel and Egypt? I do not know but I fear for the worst.

Is Apple a victim of hacking?

This afternoon at 1:39 PM, New York time, Apple stock took a massive nosedive in the course of 4 minutes. Losing $10 Billion in value before the stock began to recover. This selling pattern is extremely odd. No clear reason has been found to explain it, and no "circuit breaker" kicked in to arrest it. It has been discovered that a group of hackers had penetrated NASDAQ computer systems for some months. But it was believed that no access to the trading computers had been made. I wonder if the two aren't related.

WARNING! Product recall!

Federal Ammunition is recalling a number of lots of .45 ACP ammunition due to a manufacturing error that put an excessive powder charge in the case. Use of this ammunition could result in violent high speed random disassembly of your firearm (and you!). You can read more about the recall here.

Welcome to the land of Sharia, and the home of the depraved.

School officials in Mansfield, near DFW, applied for and received a federal grant to teach Arabic language and culture to high school students. But this is not an optional elective, this is going to be MANDATORY. The reason? The Department of Education has declared Arabic the "Language of the Future". Funny thing is, nobody ASKED the parents if they thought this was a good idea or appropriate, so now they are in a bit of a bind, it would seem they've already accepted and spent a large portion of the federal money but the parents are about to march on the schools with pitchforks and torches looking for someone to lynch. What to do, what to do....

Given the demographic makeup of the state, wouldn't it have been smarter to teach say maybe Spanish? But these are school administrators, not exactly the sharpest tools in the drawer now are they?

Pork the one you love....

Greenwood man caught having sex with hogs

By Monica Land | Posted: Monday, January 24, 2011 9:15 am

Gave hogs vaginal infection

GREENWOOD - Authorities said a man who was caught having sex with show hogs will have his case presented to the Leflore County Grand Jury next month. Andrew Lee Nash, 52, was arrested on Dec. 3, 2010 after police set up surveillance cameras in the owner's stalls near U.S. Highway 82 and the Yazoo River.

Greenwood Police Chief Henry Purnell said the hogs were examined by a local veterinarian, during a routine examination, and the owner was told that four of the hogs had a vaginal infection.

"The owner of the animals knew someone was messing with his animals," said Chief Investigator Huntley Nevels. "And the veterinarian confirmed the sexual assault. So, the owner contacted police and the officers staked it out and caught him out there."

Nash, who lives in the 700 block of Mississippi Avenue, was arrested at the scene and charged with 12 counts of unnatural intercourse.

Nash's bond was initially set at $600,000, but later reduced to $60,000.

Nash remains in custody at the Leflore County jail.

Greenwood authorities said Nash's case is scheduled to be presented before the Leflore County Grand Jury next month. If Nash is indicted and found guilty, he faces up to 120 years in jail.

H/T Michael Berry