December 31st 2005

End of Year Trojan

An exceptionally bad virus/Trojan called Exploit WMF (windows metafile) is out on the web, and you only need to open an infected web page, or open and infected email picture to get your system zombified. This one uses a big flaw in Windows, and it can zap your computer either when you use Internet Explorer, or older versions of Outlook with the viewing pane turned on.

If you use Firefox, Mozilla or Opera, you are less likely to get infected, and if you don't have the email preview pane turned on in Outlook, or if you don't use Outlook for email, you should be OK until Microsoft comes out with a fix.

What a great ending to a truly terrible year. War, pestilence, political malfeasance, torture, major disaster. But 2006 gives us the chance to vote some of the lying cheating bastards out of office, which could just make 2006 a much better year for all concerned than 2005.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! (except the lying cheating bastards in Washington).

                                             Dr. John

December 30th

The Pandemic Begins

Just like the alarmist Bush administration told us, the terrifying pandemic has begun. Cases are breaking out all over the United States and Canada, and the death rate is near 7%. Most of the affected victims contracted the disease at hospitals, especially if they were taking antibiotics. Is it possible that the Bush administration was right about something for once?

Not a chance. As I mentioned several weeks ago, there is no way to predict where a pandemic will come from, or how it will propagate, until it happens. It is not a predictable phenomenon. In fact, the potential pandemic that is now breaking out is not a bird virus from the Far East, but an intestinal bacterium from right here at home. The overuse of antibiotics has caused a certain type of gut bacteria to mutate, making the bacteria resistant to antibiotics, and at the same time making it far more deadly.

The strain of bacteria is known as Clostridium difficile, and it causes severe stomach cramps, vomiting, and severe diarrhea, which can be so severe that they actually lead to death in some of the victims. The chances of contracting this new strain of stomach bacteria dramatically increases under three specific conditions including; 1) you are taking an antibiotic, 2) you go to the hospital for a day or more, 3) you are taking certain acid reducing medications for acid indigestion such as Prilosec and Prevacid.

So to avoid this new mutated bacteria you should stay out of hospitals when possible, avoid antibiotics unless necessary, and do not take antibiotics and anti-acid medications at the same time. Eating fresh yogurt daily to maintain your normal levels of digestive tract bacteria might help too.

                                          Dr. John

December 27th

Have a Nice Failure Mr. Bush

George Bush and his minions have been yammering for weeks about how any criticism of the Iraq war is giving aid and comfort to “the enemy”. Even stealth Republican Joe Lieberman is telling the Democrats to get onboard with the war and stop criticizing. (PLEASE Connecticut; get rid of this abominably poor Democratic Senator in 2006).

You can see where they are going with this Karl Rove-style defense of an indefensible war. As the situation deteriorates further on the ground in Iraq, Bush and Co. will increasingly point the finger at Democrats as the cause of the problem, saying that they undermined the war effort through criticism. Hogwash.

The impending failure in Iraq is entirely the making of the Bush administration and their inept and fumbling attempts to create “a shining democracy in the Middle East”. How delusional can you get?

The first mistake they made was attacking Iraq in the first place; Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism, weapons of mass distraction, or any threat whatsoever to the United States of America. Bush and company wanted to attack Iraq before 9/11/2001 ever happened, and they just used the tragedy to their political benefit. They continue to use 9/11 to bludgeon anyone who criticizes them over the head.

The long string of subsequent mistakes included not enough troops on the ground, permitting looting and lawlessness, disbanding the standing Iraqi Army, using hit and run tactics that did not secure large areas of the country, and degrading and humiliating the populace into turning against us. Botched from beginning to end.

The only way that Democrats can avoid getting caught in the political black hole that is forming at the center of Washington right now is to get out of Dodge. Criticizing a failed war will only give Bush and Co. ammunition to attack the Democrats. The Democrats need to stand up in front of the microphones and say they disagree with the war in Iraq but they will not criticize the president.

It is up to the president to succeed or fail in Iraq, not the Democrats. The Democrats are out of power right now and have no ability to investigate wrongdoing or pass legislation. So if they want to avoid the hypocritical finger of Bush being pointed in their faces and denouncing them as aiding and abetting terrorists, they need to leave this debacle to him alone. Bush's war needs to become Bush's failure.

Have a nice failure Mr. Bush.

Maybe you should start thinking of the troops in harm's way and their families now, rather than your megalomaniac dreams of a puppet democracy in the oil-rich center of the Middle East.

                                           Dr. John

December 23rd

Christian War on Saturnalia

It's just like a Christian to steal a pagan holiday, and then claim that they have been robbed.

The celebration of the Winter Solstice has been around for thousands of years longer than Christianity has existed. Millennia before Christ was born (at a warm time of the year, when sheep could graze on the manger) peoples all around the world celebrated the shortest days of the year.

In Rome, they celebrated the holiday of "Saturnalia" around the time of the Winter Solstice, which was a celebration of the god of farming, Saturn. They cut down and adorned evergreen trees to commemorate the beginning of the new year, because these trees could continue to grow throughout the cold months of the Winter. They were looking forward to the new growing season.

They would also often give gifts to one another during Saturnalia, and sometimes masters and slaves would even exchange places for one evening of debauchery.

After stealing a perfectly good worldwide holiday, and festooning it with loads of religious clap trap that has no basis in fact or history, Christians have the gall to say that non-Christians are trying to "steal Christmas" by saying "happy holidays".

I suppose when you substitute bible studies for history studies, you can expect many Christians to be clueless about the origins of Christmas, or any other historical facts. In case you're wondering about the origins of Christmas, in about the 4th century, the church was so concerned about the wild pagan parties associated with Saturnalia that they robbed the holiday and many of its pagan symbols, and called it Christ's Mass. But it has nothing to do with the birth of Christ.

I'll take honest old Saturnalia any day.

                                            Dr. John

December 22nd

Open Letter to My Senators Today

Dear Senator,

I am a constituent of yours and I am writing to express my strong feelings about the following issues:

1) President Bush must be held accountable for breaking the law by bypassing the FISA courts and ordering illegal wiretaps within the United States. This is clearly an impeachable offense. Using the excuse that this is a time of war is irrelevant and immaterial. The FISA courts were put in place for a purpose. The domestic surveillance must stop unless court orders are issued.

2) A phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq must be initiated as per Congressman Murtha’s recommendations. The Iraqis have asked us to leave, and President Bush vowed that we would leave if asked. Our presence there is inciting the civil war rather than quelling it.

3) The recent budget cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and student loans must be reversed.

4) The tax cuts must not be made permanent and must be rolled back simply for the sake of fiscal responsibility.

5) Real campaign finance reform laws must be passed. The Jack Abramoff scandal, as well as the Congressman Cunningham scandal, are clear indications of the poisonous effect of money on the political process. This has to stop.

6) After the six-month extension of the Patriot Act expires the entire issue must be revisited and the statutes rewritten. We can't fight for freedom and democracy in Iraq if we are eroding our own civil liberties and freedoms at home. The Patriot Act is outrageous, and must be rewritten completely.

7) Based on recent school board decisions and court rulings it is time to make a federal law that prohibits the teaching of Christianity in science classes in the United States. The separation of church and state is codified in our Constitution and is not negotiable. This is not a Christian nation; it is a nation of laws.

8) Congress has not been performing its oversight duties as it should. Currently there should be ongoing investigations not only about the CIA leak, but about flawed intelligence for going to war, about secret wiretapping of US citizens, and about the influence of lobbyist’s money in Congress.

9) Samuel Alito must not be confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States. His pro-corporate, anti-consumer stance would ill-serve the American people for decades to come. I oppose his confirmation strongly.

Sincerely,

December 21st

Intelligent Design Ruled Unintelligent

The Judge in the Dover PA court case concerning the teaching of "Intelligent Design" in high school science classes ruled against the local school board, and declared that "ID" can not be taught in science classes as an alternative theory to evolution.

Judge Jones wrote: "The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ID [intelligent design] is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory,"

But the Judge went further than that, thankfully, and pointed out that several arguments used by ID proponents were illogical on their face. First, the Judge noted that a lack of evidence for one thing (let's say a particular missing link in evolution) is not evidence for the opposite contention (God must have done it). An example of this type of logical fallacy would be that a child failed to catch their parents putting presents under the tree, and concluded on Christmas morning that Santa Claus must exist. A lack of evidence for one thing is not evidence of another thing. In science, everything requires evidence in favor, and a lack of contradictory evidence. Absence of evidence is not the same as contradictory evidence.

The other argument that was found illogical was that of "irreducible complexity", which states that complex things can't evolve from simpler structures because all parts are needed right at the onset. This is clearly refuted by the fossil evidence that shows, for example, how fish fins slowly became paddle-like appendages and finally evolved into the limbs of land animals. The basic underlying bone structure remains very similar from fish to mammals. Many other examples of the gradual evolution of animals can be found in the fossil record. Just because there are gaps in the fossil record, it is illogical to discard the wealth of information that can be gleaned from it.

This ruling is but the first in a long string of wasteful, irrational court cases that will surely ooze their way through the US court system. No other civilized country will follow suit, this will be a purely American mental malady. However, the resounding loss in court, and the embarrassing ruling that even challenged the reasoning abilities of ID proponents, will forever remain the first nail in the ID coffin.

CHALLENGE: I hereby pledge to pay to anyone the sum of $50,000 if they can publish an experimental scientific paper in a good peer-reviewed science journal (impact factor of 3.5 or higher) that clearly supports ID, and refutes the theory of evolution. The paper must be experimental (no mathematical or theoretical treatments). That means you need lots of experimentally derived data in any area of biology or chemistry that shows that ID is correct, and that evolution is false. (Hint: religion relies tremendously on faith, but you'll need more than faith to collect the $50,000).

I will even volunteer to review your paper before you submit it if you would like a well-published biologist's comments on your data and discussion.

Bring 'em on!

                                             Dr. John

December 20th

Fighting for Oppression

Every time President Bush speaks, he says we are fighting for freedom, and we need to protect ourselves from "terrorists". Unfortunately, as when he talks about most things, he means the opposite of what he says. As we are supposedly fighting for Iraqi freedom, President Bush is spying on political groups just as Richard Nixon did in the 1960's and 70's. The NY Times today in a rare moment of candor describes how our government is spying on activist groups of Americans, including Greenpeace.

Bush says he can do anything he wants in order to fight terrorist groups, like Greenpeace. The scariest part is that the NY Times had this story over a year ago, but did not publish it. Why? Because the Bush Administration told them not to.

Watch dog... or lap dog?

Somehow, the idea that we are fighting for similar freedoms in Iraq is of little comfort.

                                              Dr. John

December 18th

For Bridgit

Stalin Would be Proud

When President Bush utters imperial jokes there is often more than a grain of truth in his jesting. Like the time when he said “It would be a lot easier to be a dictator… as long as I'm the one who gets to be the dictator.”

Now we find out that in addition to all the increased executive powers that Mr. Bush has bestowed upon himself and his office, he has personally ordered intelligence agencies to spy on US citizens, including simple peace protesters. Mr. Bush says that the Executive’s powers (his) in a “time of war are plenary”, meaning absolute. Stalin would be proud.

The setting up of a secret system of surveillance directed against thousands of US citizens is unconstitutional even in a time of war because it bypasses Congress and the judiciary. But to Mr. Bush things like the Constitution, the Congress, and the courts are merely an impediment to his grab for absolute power. Who needs three branches of government when you can be the dictator?

This is precisely why Bush and Co. have so emphatically insisted that we are in a time of war. Presidential powers can be expanded during times of war, but certainly not to the extent that Mr. Bush insists they can. The Constitution sets up a system with three branches of government that provide checks and balances against abuses of power. Mr. Bush will have none of that.

This unprecedented usurping of power by the executive branch will be far easier for Mr. Bush if he can load the Supreme Court with ultra-conservatives that concur with his draconian views of executive powers. That way, if a case such as illegal domestic spying on US citizens makes it all the way to the Supreme Court, the court will always rule in favor of the executive branch.

Don't be fooled when Mr. Bush tells you that this is all being done to protect you from terrorists. You don't spy on Democrats and peace protesters if you're looking for terrorists. This is about an unprecedented power grab by the executive branch of our government, and the use of intelligence agencies to knock down any dissent or protest. Stalin would be proud.

                                              Dr. John

December 10th

Prioritizing Fear

The shooting of an unarmed, mentally ill man at Miami International airport on Wednesday, and the strong-arm tactics used by authorities on the rest of the passengers following the incident, should give pause to those thinking of flying this holiday season. But this is what fear-mongering does to a country.

The Bush administration wants everyone to be afraid of terrorism... very afraid. That makes passing laws like the Patriot Act so much easier. It also gives them justification for shooting agitated but innocent people on planes as the "prudent course of action". It allows them to operate in secret, all the while claiming issues of "national security in the war on terrorism".

I've said for years that the so-called war on terrorism was more a psych-ops war on the US public than a real attempt at stemming the tide of terrorism. Fear is a great tool for oppressive governments, ask anyone who lived in the Soviet Union under Stalin.

But is the fear well founded? Let's take a quick look at what threats typically take American lives unexpectedly. Numbers 1 and 2 will be unexpected heart attacks and strokes that can hit at any time. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die prematurely every year due to cardiovascular problems that are often preventable. Is the Bush administration trying to drum up fear about those causes of death? No, it doesn't help them pass draconian legislation.

Another early and unexpected source of mortality involves drinking and driving, which can kill not only the drinker, but also the innocent people that they run into. Have Bush and Co. called for a war on drunk driving, which takes more than 5 times as many American lives every year as we lost on September 11th 2001? No, it wouldn't help their cause.

How about shootings? Statistics show that there were over 30,000 gun-related deaths in the US in the year 2002 alone. Of those, almost 12,000 were homicides. That's 4 times as many "killings" as occurred on September 11th.  Is Mr. Bush calling for stricter gun laws? No, that would alienate his base.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Terrorism is a miniscule threat to the average American, so low on the list of threats that to have the entire country mobilized in a false "war on terrorism" is the most illogical, wasteful use of resources time and money that I can think of. Terrorism experts will tell you that you can't have a "war on terrorism" because it is a tactic, not an army. Fighting terrorism requires tightly coordinated intelligence and law enforcement action around the world, not tanks in Iraq. Tanks in Iraq breed more terrorism, rather than "fighting it".

It's time for the American people to prioritize and control their fears, otherwise more innocent people are going to get shot because they are mistaken for "terrorists". As it is now, it seems air travelers may have more to fear from armed Air Marshals than they do from supposed terrorists.

                                       Dr. John

December 7th

Love Your Voting Machine

Don't you just love those new electronic voting machines? Well, if you are a Republican, you should really love your new voting machines, but if you are a Democrat or Independent, you might want to use a different word to describe your feelings toward these new devices.

An insider who works at one one of the most infamous electronic voting machine companies, Diebold (run by a staunch Republican, Wally O’Dell) has given an anonymous interview about the problems with the machines, and the company that makes them.

According to the whistleblower, Diebold distributed and installed uncertified patches on machines in at least Ohio, Georgia and California, and perhaps other states as well. If so, that violates election laws that require certification of voting machines and the software that runs them.

Also, according to the source, Diebold made the machines and software unnecessarily complex and temperamental so that their technicians would have to run them and tabulate the votes, rather than local election officials.

Recently, North Carolina rejected the Diebold machines because the company refused to turn over the software source code to the court for scrutiny. Then just last week, the NC election board reversed themselves and mysteriously certified Diebold machines without getting a look at the underlying software.

On top of all of this, Republicans in Ohio are about to pass legislation that would make their hold on the state government nearly impossible to break. The proposed legislation leaves voter registration activists subject to partisan prosecution, exempts electronic voting machines from public scrutiny, quintuples the cost of citizen-requested statewide recounts and makes it illegal to challenge any federal election results in Ohio.

Perhaps President Bush should be fighting for Democracy in the US before he sends troops overseas to bring Democracy to the Iraqis.

                                        Dr. John

December 4th

Your Country, Under Bush

It has become impossible to even catalog all of the corruption and criminal malfeasance of the Bush Administration. A simple list would consume pages.

For those who have not become numb to their corruption and criminality, and who have not reached outrage overload, you can read about Bush's plan to bomb Middle Eastern journalists here, or you can read here how our government can now hold anyone in secret detention for months, or years, or how are government is using fear to intimidate us, or you can read about the new documents released that show how the Bush Administration ignored requests to help hurricane Katrina victims here, or you can read here  and here about how political corruption pervades every level of our government.

Angered citizens are starting to amass lists of the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration. The general consensus is that this is not what a democracy is all about. How can you fight for the freedom of others overseas by dropping bombs on them and the local reporters, while all the time eroding democratic principles at home? That is not what America is about.

 Intelligent Design May be Downfall of Creationism

Intelligent design may be undermining creationism. Intelligent design is a pseudoscientific attempt to make creationism more palatable to skeptics. Unfortunately for its proponents it may be backfiring. Intelligent design makes the claim that scientific research can be conducted that proves life was created by an intelligent designer. Unfortunately, institutes that have offered grants to perform such research have so far found no takers.

The reason is simple; science can't be used to study magic or supposedly supernatural occurrences. It can only study nature. Intelligent design fails the first and foremost criteria for being a science: you can't do research on it. But, even more damaging to intelligent design is the fact that religious people have not accepted it in the way they accepted creationism. By trying to make creationism more scientific they made it much less palatable to religious people.

In the long run, the fight over intelligent design may finally end the creationism-evolution debate among the American populace. We can only hope so. There are far more pressing problems that we need to deal with.

                                         Dr. John

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