Exactly as I Predicted

via Instapundit, the latest development in carbon nanotechnology.  Nested graphene wires inside nanotubes.  I made the prediction several years ago that C60 and carbon nanotubes would be the LEGO blocks of nanotechnology.  Carbon naturally wants to form graphene, and buckyballs, and nanotubes.  You just have to tweak a few environmental conditions to get more of one than the other.  And because it is so (comparatively) easy to do, you can play with more combinations of things to get the eentsy-weentsy (scientific term) electronic devices we can use.  The more we play with carbon, the more we'll learn how to do the same things with compounds that don't want to make neat shapes all on their own.  At this rate we'll have wearable supercomputers.  Maybe even jet packs!

AVAST!

Arrrgh, and ye know well 'tis the day known to all that swill the rum and buckle the cutlass as

International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Run up the Jolly Roger!  Curse and loot and pillage and speak disrespectfully of sin!  Start a swordfight during a boring meeting!  Argue about the etymological origins of the word "Kraken", especially with regard to pronunciation of same!  Ponder the great philosophical questions of the ages!


Why?  Because it's fun!  And because while ninjas are cool, you can't have International Talk Like a Ninja Day for obvious reasons.  So, Pirates!

Random Snark

-Observed by Snarkatron her own self, to much bemusement--a motorcycle with handicapped plates.  The individual operating the motorcycle appeared to have all original limbs in working order.  The mind boggles at precisely what handicap would permit said special plates yet allow safe operation of A FREAKING MOTORCYCLE.

-Seasonal Weather, Transitions Of:  A gradual easing-in to new seasons would be appreciated.  None of this 80 degree sunny day followed by chilly overcast with a layer of dead leaves appearing out of nowhere.  *Some* of us do not go gently into that good night called winter.

-IMPORTANT REMINDER!  Monday, September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  This blog fully supports ITLPD and seeks to spread observance to every corner of the globe.  Arrrr!

-Poor Ace is getting a headache trying to figure out how anyone could be so stupid as to come up with Gunwalker, and what they were attempting to accomplish when they did it.  His problem is being able to think rationally.  See, rational people internalize the scientific method, to wit: if the data does not support the theory you dump the theory.  Many a beautiful theory has been slain by an ugly little fact.  For a distressingly large number of liberals (most of them in high positions in this administration) the scientific method is anathema.  They KNOW what the truth is.  Ergo, if they can't find evidence to prove what they believe there is *no ethical dilemma* for them in making shit up.  It puzzled them mightily they could find no evidence of massive illegal gun sales in the US to Mexico, because they *knew* it was happening.  So, they just "helped" reality a little.  And since they also have a low opinion of ground-level ATF officers (who probably made the mistake of telling them there was no massive illegal gun trafficking), they thought they could a) just order the cretins around and b) they wouldn't ask awkward questions like "how are we going to track the guns, then?"  They didn't think they would get caught because they thought they weren't doing anything wrong!  They've done stuff like this before.  They know the Tea Party is teh Racist, so they keep looking for racists and finding a) black Tea Partiers and c) LaRouche nutters.  They planted a flowing-robe, full-bearded Arab plus a few total burka-covered ladies at a NASCAR race and were all primed to video the ensuing vile prejudice--which never happened.  But they didn't go back and re-examine their assumptions, that would be *work*.

"Evil is real and so is courage"

This is the day we remember.  Remember the sinking feeling in the stomach as the news reports came in.  An accident.  Another plane.  Not an accident.  The Pentagon.  Not an accident.

There are no words to convey the contempt I feel for Dionne and his fellow travelers, who are tired of remembering 9/11.  It's so sad.  It happened ten years ago, can we just get over it already?  It's such a downer.

And then she was fire and then she was ash.

That little girl would have been 12 years old now, if she had lived. But no, some pinheaded jihadis just had to use a passenger airplane (that they could never have built) and fly it into a glorious skyscraper (that they could never have built) BECAUSE THEY HATE US.  They hate the West for inventing all the things they use for their bombs.  They hate science, they hate learning, they hate tolerance. They especially hate little girls.  So if you want more of that, Mr. Dionne, by all means bare your throat to the knife.  You do realize they also don't know how to sharpen them?

Today is not a day of community service, despite the President's attempts to make it one.  Islamic terrorists did not attack us because of roadside litter, or poorly maintained hiking trails, or unpainted housing for the poor.   (The uncovered hair and bare arms rate 3.8 fatwas, Mrs. Obama...)  The things we value, even the things liberals value, they loathe and want to wipe from the Earth.  I intend to fight them until they NEVER ATTACK US AGAIN.  When they fear to attack us again.  That's when we'll know "it's over."

Richard Fernandez puts it perfectly:

The story of September 11 must for all time become the story of how a certain date became unspeakable to al-Qaeda and its followers; a tale of how this day of all others,  became the blackest day in the history of Islam. It should forever be a date that can never be mentioned without arousing a deep sense of shame throughout the Middle East so that in generations hence, people should still come up to strangers unbidden and say, “I’m sorry for September 11. “  Until then it is unfinished business.
We have no right to forgive. We have no right to forget. We have no right to move on until this final condition is met. That in the holy of holies of our civilization’s enemies, in the innermost recesses of their sanctum sanctorum they should say with heartfelt ardor: never again. Never again. Never, ever again.

Saturday Funnies.

Comix a day early, to keep this Sunday for another purpose--that doesn't mix well with teh funny.

-Schlock Mercenary A subverted combat robot and an operative who believes in leaving a clean crime scene.
-TwoLumps Snooch swears off dental floss.
-Girl Genius Violetta figures it out.
-No Need For BushidoYori is not doing so good. Where the hell is Ina to tell off Uso?
-Delta Bravo Sierra Don't eat the squids.
-xkcd
-Amya Someone is displeased with Felix.
- Banished Rak displays a tactical understanding of 'the better part of valor'.
-Commander Kitty Zenith considers grading perfection on a curve.

Not Updated, fie!

-Dresden Codak
-Lackadaisy
-Gone with the Blastwave Waiting patiently for the December January February March ah hell with it, he'll update whenever Iron Sky releases, I guess.
-My Ninja Family
-Argghhh-onauts recalls the Cenozoic era fondly.

Sunday Funnies

-Schlock Mercenary The pros and cons of getting arrested.
-TwoLumps Setting food dish on fire? Bad plan.
-Girl Genius Otilia has some conditions.
-No Need For BushidoSome arrows are illusion--but one is not.
-Delta Bravo Sierra Pandas eat, shoots, and leaves.
-xkcd
-Amya Faye lands safely, Felix is annoyed.
- Banished Rak wants to know how to fly the ship.
-Commander Kitty Zenith considers grading perfection on a curve.

Not Updated, fie!

-Dresden Codak
-Lackadaisy
-Gone with the Blastwave Waiting patiently for the December January February March ah hell with it, he'll update whenever Iron Sky releases, I guess.
-My Ninja Family
-Argghhh-onauts is resting comfortably on the divan.

Progressive Worldview Holed Below Waterline

It's the little things that you keep sweeping under the rug/stuffing in to Fibber McGee's closet that eventually rear up and bite you.  Case in point, the recent decision by the Cherokee Nation's court to exclude the Freedmen from the tribal rolls (and the free healthcare and education and so on).  In and of itself, it's really only of direct interest to the ~3K Freedmen themselves -- not that I mean to trivialize the effect on them.  The Earth-Shattering Kaboom™ is the new public awareness of who the Freedmen are and how they got there.  All progressively-educated children are aware of the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee removal by force from Tennessee to Oklahoma.  Oppression by evil white people against pure, innocent brown people!  Easy to tell who the good guys are here.  Except that the Cherokee were quite capable of oppressing others even while they themselves were being oppressed.  Some of them owned slaves, and they took those slaves with them on the Trail of Tears.  The descendants of those slaves became the Freedmen, and were initially voted in to the tribe after the Civil War--a generous and fair decision.

Now, I knew about this because my Cherokee great-grandmother was one of those slave owners.  This history is personal.  I've never felt that I get to hide the shameful things my ancestors did while touting the interesting bits.  In my opinion, it would be better for everyone to drag the skeletons out of the closet and have a grand accounting, if only so that future generations don't have to hide the truth any more.  And, it makes everyone more human.  It makes the calculus of racial guilt so burdensome it can be finally discarded.  It no longer is enough to say "who oppressed you?" when handing out Absolute Moral Authority cards.  Regardless of the color of your skin, you are human--and all humans should be held to the same standards.  If it was wrong for white people to have slaves, it was wrong for the Cherokee to have slaves.