Is Bjorn Lomborg being blocked by Google?
I was poking around the Internet a few minutes ago, and decided to do a search on Bjorn Lomborg to see what he is up to. So, I typed his name into Google and then clicked on the link for Lomborg.com. Next thing I know, my anti-virus software is screeching about a trojan horse being found (I use Avast).
OK. So, it was a fluke, right. Nope. Tried it again, and again. Same result every time, with the result being I had to dump the page. So, I tried it through two other search engines (Yahoo! and MSN) with no problems. Then I tried to go to the page direct, with no problem.
SO…what’s going on here? Is someone attaching something to this link? Is someone at Google messing around? I can’t help but think that someone is trying to prevent anyone from getting to Mr. Lomborg’s site. I also wonder what would happen if I didn’t use Avast.
Please try and see if the same thing happens for you…or maybe not, if you don’t use Avast the results may be less than optimum. Is there someone smarter than me out there that can figure it out without getting the trojan horse?
Obama’s Free Pass Already Printed
Every morning, before I look at the headlines (online) I take a few minutes to catch up on my favorite comic strips and thank the Good Lord that they still run classic Bloom County. I also like to muddle around the editorial cartoons although most of them are just visualizations of typical liberal fodder. This morning, something struck me…They are already preparing Obama’s Get Out of Jail Free card.
Almost every editorial cartoonist has drawn the oval office, with an ignorant President Bush (hey, that horse died years ago guys) and some kind of fanged, venom drooling beast in the background with the moniker “The Economy” or “The War” or “Energy Crisis” or “Automakers.” In other words, the problems President Bush is leaving behind (irresponsibly of course) are so great that perhaps no one, not even the messianic President-elect, will even be able to solve them.
Quick point here…I guess America has never, not once, had poor economic news, an unpopular war, or automakers in trouble.
I’m starting to wonder if the media is pumping up the situation to ensure that if Obama fails, that they will have his back and simply conjure up the name “Bush” and let their boy ride free. Hey, if NBC is selling a DVD of the election called Yes We Can, I think my wondering is probably not wandering at all.
By the way, doesn’t that DVD smack of ESPN’s annual football DVD that covers the entire season of the SuperBowl winner? When I saw the commercial, I was waiting for them to offer me a free Obama stadium blanket or leather bound pictorial with my purchase.
Anyway, I digress. There has been much kerfuffle about the media being in the tankfor Obama. If you think they aren’t, you dont no nothin. But, could it be this organized? Are they setting the stage to explain away potential future failure of an Obama administration to solve problems that others have in the past? I have to wonder.
For a minute, I thought perhaps President Bush would be left alone when he leaves the White House, but I think his name will be brought up again and again over the next 8 years by a media who won’t be able to admit they backed someone who wasn’t capable of miracles. Oh, and if you think he’ll only last one term…you dont no nothin.
Book Review – Field of Blood
I recently received a review copy of Field of Blood (Eric Wilson, author) from Thomas Nelson (publisher). A bit into the book, I found myself thinking “Great, another vampire story.” However, I must say that Wilson did a good job weaving an interesting historical and biblical web with this first installment in the Jerusalem’s Undead Trilogy. Having had my share of gore in my formative years at the hands of Stephen King and Clive Barker; Wilson has done a good job at letting the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks of the harsher scenes and I can appreciate that the author (or editor) had the guts to resist the temptation to “go gory.”
I’m thrown a bit by Wilson’s stacatto style of writing and tend to prefer a bit more teeth to descriptive passages, but it was still a comfortable read. I am looking forward to the next book in the trilogy which is unfortunately not due until November 2009.
Protect our children, first…
Just received the third “Hello! There’s a sex offender living in YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD” notice from the Johnson City School District. A quick complaint…are you people still using a mimeograph? Why in the hell can’t you produce a document with a picture I can recognize? (Or don’t you want me to?)
So, this all reminded me of an editorial I submitted to the Press & Sun-Bulletin in 2005 on sex offender legislation in New York. I was actually given an entire column in the paper (to my shock) and the piece was picked up by the New York State Senate Republican Campaign Committee and put on their site (unbeknownst to the author). Anyway, I have copied and pasted it below. With more liberals than ever both in New York and now the federal government, I worry about legislation that will loosen the penalties on these most heinous of people… Enjoy, and please comment.
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I have to admit when I am wrong, and doing in it a public forum is always invigorating. I recently wrote a letter to state Sen. Thomas Libous concerning sex offender legislation in New York. I challenged him to stop worrying about cleaning up Dorchester Park and the River Walk and start better protecting our children from sexual predators.
As a former correspondence and speech writer in the State Assembly, I fully expected to receive the normal cookie-cutter answer – in response to which I was fully intending to call Sen. Libous a wimp.
I was wrong. I received a large packet of information from the senator, along with a letter written and signed by him (I can tell a computer generated signature from a mile away) in which he outlined myriad bills passed by the New York Senate which not only stiffen penalties for sex offenders, but greatly restrict parolees as well.
So, before I rip the state Assembly, I apologize to Sen. Libous for being ignorant as to his position on this issue, and for being heavy-handed with the rhetoric in my original letter. I appreciate his sponsorship and support of legislation to protect our children.
Now – onto the members of the Assembly I fall with great wrath.
The leadership of the Assembly has consistently refused to allow significant legislative reform of current sex offender law to even come to the floor for a vote. Sen. Libous asked me in his letter to “encourage local Assembly representatives to do what is right and pass these bills so they can be passed into law.” Encourage? For a plug nickel and a previously chewed piece of gum, I would strongly consider “encouraging” them with my pitching wedge.
How is it that anyone can make a case (excuse) for opposing legislation that protects our children from deviants? Why is it that we must wait for grief-stricken parents to beg (i.e. Maureen Kanka – Megan’s Law) before action is taken? Do we have to see one more child raped and/or tortured and/or murdered before this legislation can be moved out of committee?
I remember writing speeches opposing the death penalty in Albany where I employed axioms such as “an enlightened society must not revert to committing acts of barbarism to punish crime.” I propose here that allowing predators access to children is the very definition of “barbaric.”
I also remember the wonderfully ironic slogan “We must do it for our children,” in regard to fixing budget deficits, or tightening environmental standards. Some legislators run that flag up the pole whenever it suits their lobbyist friends but when it comes to really protecting our children, their inaction shows me their core belief. The children are not worth it.
They can point to Meaghan’s Law, and numerous other sections of law that “protect our children.” It’s not enough. I reel over the fact that we put a GPS monitoring system on Martha Stewart, but the Assembly refuses to pass legislation that would do the same for Level 3 sex offenders. Was her crime more grim than child pornography, more heinous than rape? And do not talk to me about the Constitution. Change the damn thing. The people in Albany and their cronies in D.C. have the power to do so.
I would take some time to hammer ideology and go on about how some people think we need to love, counsel, and rehabilitate. However, I am not an expert, nor is this actually a “political” issue. In case they forgot, the number one function of a governing body is the protection of its citizens. It’s their job.
In closing, the current catch phrase on the street is? “There’s going to be a revolution.” Of course, everyone’s talking about gas prices, taxes, Iraq, skyrocketing energy costs. In the meantime, elected officials in the State Assembly are standing by and letting another child become a victim? and another? and another. Now that’s something to rise up about.
