Correlation? Or...

Just the facts, m'am:

• On May 29th, 2012, I start reading former Democratic Congressman Artur Davis' blog.
• On May 30th, 2012, Mr. Davis announces that he has decided to join the Republican party.

Coincidence?

HA!  I think not!

Just more proof that the Mandarin is using my browser history to select victims test subjects for his orbital mind-control experiments.  "Plausible deniability" ain't just a river in Egypt, you know...

The Big Two-Oh

Twenty years ago today, I married a beautiful, amazing, wonderful woman who has only grown more incredible as the years have gone by.  The last two decades have had their ups and downs, but pretty much, it's been a grand adventure.  God willing, we'll have another 20 years to enjoy and experience together... each day grander than the one before.

Happy anniversary, Shari Lynn.  You are my sunshine.

It's All In How You Look At It

I'll be honest, I was a initially disappointed by - and somewhat depressed by - this story, "Russia and Japan aim for the Moon": 

It was a rare confluence — the heads of the space agencies for Europe, Canada and Russia, along with senior representatives from the space agencies of India and Japan — all up on the dais together at a hotel in Washington DC, where they were on hand on 22 May to talk about the benefits of international collaboration at the Global Space Exploration Conference.

Wait.  No NASA?  No US involvement?  I know we just retired the shuttles, I know our space program is  in some serious doldrums right now, but... no American involvement at all?

Then I read on:

Interestingly, the leader of the space agency whose headquarters is just a few blocks away was not on the stage. That’s because NASA administrator Charles Bolden was in Florida, watching the attempt by SpaceX to send its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.

Ah.  That brings it all into perspective.

The international community, as usual, are coming together and talking.

Meanwhile, we poor, nekulturny Americans are busy getting on with doing.

In fact, doing exactly one of those "Big Government" things that the statists insist private enterprise is incapable of accomplishing.

I find that... rather comforting, actually.

Ad astra per aspera, SpaceX.  Hang in there and let's show 'em what happens when free men look to the stars and roll up their sleeves.

"... be ye fruitful, and multiply..."

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome the lovely Mrs. Robb to the list of blog authors here at The Embedded Theologian.  I'm very hopeful that she'll provide some essential balance here at ETheo.  You see, while I'm a Christian, right-wing nut job, she's a gorgeous, Christian, right-wing nut job.

Worlds of difference.

Oh, and she's a better and more eloquent writer than I am. [1]

I expect that she'll pop in occasionally to vent her spleen, though as she's nowhere near as... spleeny... as I am, I expect she'll be a bit shy at first.

Be sure to say hello when she pops her head up, yinz guys!

[1] Though, as I've pointed out before, that's not a particulary high bar to cross...

We're Just Mean

Aaron Ross Powell on Libertarian Caring:

Of course, libertarians might be wrong about what helps and what hurts. Maybe we’re mistaken in our policy prescriptions. But those mistakes, if they exist, aren’t because we “care” less than liberals, just as mistakes by liberals (should their policies in fact not work) aren’t the result of them caring less than libertarians.

Indeed.  WJM is not reality, no matter how much you wish it were so.

Something New Every Day

I learned something new today!  Well, not today, but yesterday.  It turns out there's a pretty simple procedure used to diagnose DeQuervain's tenosynovitis called Finklestein's Test.

If you're like me - that is, a World of Warcraft player - you're probably now thinking of the somewhat deranged, definitely bizarre Forsaken alchemist named Finkelstein that resides in Zul'Drak.

Yeah, this guy here:

Charming, isn't he?

Keep that image in mind.

Finklestein's test is pretty simple.  Take your hand, and hold it perpendicular to the floor, thumb up.  Have someone (like your doctor) grasp your thumb and bend your hand down towards the floor. If you're healthy, then this test - coupled with the standard query, "Tell me if you feel anything" - is likely to elicit the response, "Um.  No.  What are you doing?"

On the other hand, if you've managed to royally muck up the tendons that control your thumb, the query/response protocol is much more likely to be something like:

Doctor: Now, tell me if you feel anyth...

Moi: YEOWWWWWWWWWW OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH!

While I only have a sample size of 1, based on my experiences, I'm going to say that the above response is accompanied by a 99.9% chance of spontaneous levitation as the flood of pain signals to the brain cause immediate thoughts along the line of STRAIGHTEN OUT THAT WRIST! NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW! THE PAIN THE PAIN IT BURNS OUCH OUCH OUCH STRAIGHTEN OUT THAT WRIST NOW!

So, you see, I have absolutely no problem imagining that alchemist Finklestein had a hand in the creation of this test.  In fact, once my eyes uncrossed and stopped watering, I even found it mildly amusing.

Oh, one more thing - another term for DeQuervain's tenosynovitis is "gamer's thumb". Which is pretty ironic, since (a) I've had it for a couple of weeks now, during which my gaming time has been limited, and (b) one of the few times during the day that  my thumb doesn't hurt is when I'm playing Diablo III on my laptop.  Probably because I'm actually resting it on the trackpad at that point, instead of waving it around like... like... some digit or something.

Meh.  Time to dig up a spica splint, apparently.

Well, Whaddya Know...

Shameless corporate shilling sometimes pays off!

Granted, I won on the random draw.  Fine by me! Besides, after perusing the blog posters who won on merit, I have to say... hmm, yeah, it's probably pretty obvious that I write code for a living.  The top three blog winners are all much more eloquent and skilled writers than me.  I mean, than I.

See what I mean?

Still very happy to win.  I'll take my Schlock goodness any way I can get it!

President Obama's Opinion on Afghanistan...

... evolves.

Srsly.  The man is, like, an evolution wizard.

Nip It in the Bud

I've been starting to see (and hear) the assertion that Medicare and Medicade are the most efficient health care options out there.

Or... maybe not.

That's a link to Health Afairs, by the way - a peer-reviewed journal carried in multiple major medical journal indices.  Wikipedia notes that it was described by The Washington Post as "the bible of health policy".

Just sayin'.

A Surfeit Of Evil

Given how heartlessly Bain Capital kept a unionized steel company afloat for eight years, I thought I'd document some of the other ebil excesses of capitalism.

Like Tom's Shoes.  Providing free shoes and glasses to children in need?  Evil.

Or WorldHaus.  Low-cost, affordable modern housing for the developing world?  Eeeeeevil!

Gah.  Next thing you know, there'll be some evil capitalist company working to provide light and clean water in third-world locations that are off the local power grid!

Naughty, naughty, naughty capitalism!