Archive for February, 2007

Two Polls

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 by Matt Bors

A new poll reveals how incredibly ignorant and callous many Americans are.

Americans unaware of Iraqi death toll

Americans are keenly aware of how many U.S. forces have lost their lives in Iraq, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll. But they woefully underestimate the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed.

When the poll was conducted earlier this month, a little more than 3,100 U.S. troops had been killed. The midpoint estimate among those polled was right on target, at about 3,000.

—–

Among those polled for the AP survey, however, the median estimate of Iraqi deaths was 9,890. The median is the point at which half the estimates were higher and half lower.

The real number is, of course, much higher. There’s no official number, but one study put at 650,000. I don’t think an honest observer could put it below 100,000–The U.N. reported 34,000 deaths for 2006 alone. And just think, for every respondent who gave a figure in the hundreds of thousands it would take dozens of people answering absurdly low figures to average down to 9,000.

Add in the amount of people who were injured and the 40,000 Iraqis that are now leaving the country every month and you can start to understand the scale of devastation. Even another factor is the size of the population in proportion to ours. They have (had) 25 million people upon our invasion to our 300 million. Increase the death toll by a factor of 12 to get an idea of what a similar situation in America would be.

Another poll reveals our Anti-Troop Troops:

An overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and more than one in four say the troops should leave immediately, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows.

One thing: The poll was taken one year ago this month, meaning three quarters of the troops would already like to see us out of Iraq. Looks like the vast majority of the military is even ahead of the Democrats.

evil

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 by Stephanie McMillan

I’m going to be completely sick:

Bird-brained Chinese scientists learn to fly pigeons

2 hours, 41 minutes ago

BEIJING (Reuters) - Scientists in eastern China say they have succeeded in controlling the flight of pigeons with micro electrodes planted in their brains, state media reported on Tuesday.

Scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Centre at Shandong University of Science and Technology said ther electrodes could command them to fly right or left or up or down, Xinhua news agency said.

“The implants stimulate different areas of the pigeon’s brain according to signals sent by the scientists via computer, and force the bird to comply with their commands,” Xinhua said.

“It’s the first such successful experiment on a pigeon in the world,” Xinhua quoted the centre’s chief scientist, Su Xuecheng, as saying.

Su and his colleagues, who Xinhua said had had similar success with mice in 2005, were improving the devices used in the experiment and hoped that the technology could be put into practical use in future.

The report did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for the remote-controlled pigeons.

Flames — new cartoon 2/27/07

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 by Stephanie McMillan

In case anyone read yesterday’s post before I corrected it, the Center for New Words panel on women’s comics is April 1, not March 1.

In today’s cartoon, Kranti tries to make a fire. Click on the fragment below for the full cartoon at comics.com:

The more you click on my cartoons at comics.com during 2007, the better the chances they’ll appear in daily city papers in 2008. If you like Minimum Security, please click often!

War Is Boring #4

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 by Matt Bors

Read it here.

War Is Boring #4

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 by Matt Bors

Read it here.

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 by Keef

*EGADS..HAVEN’T POSTED FOR A WHILE..




Sorry folks. It’s been sorta crazy busy. I was hoping to get an update out to the mailing list but I just couldn’t get it together..




*TENNESSEE WRAP-UP..

Maryville College was a blast..and not only cuz it was freezing. Folks were mighty friendly, giving me a tour of the campus that sits not too far away from the Smoky Mountains. I even did a little long-boarding on the campus grounds.




After a tasty meal of good ol’ Tennesse BBQ, it was showtime! The slideshow turnout was nice. All seats filled. People laffed and picked up the new book. I was asked if I’d be interested in being a guest lecturer for a semester. Cool!!




Thanks to Massachusetts export Maria for bringing me to campus. And thanks for the spinach pie!




*EXTRA!! EXTRA!!

Disregard the new L.A. P.O. Box address I have listed on the contact and store pages. The Post Office effed up and gave me someone else’s P.O. Box!! I’ll be getting a new one this week, but I already had a stamp made of the wrong address..Damn.




*I’M TOO TIRED TO POST ABOUT MY TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY AT THE MOMENT..

..so I’ll do it in a coupla daze..but we had a great time. Even saw Busta Rhymes in the subway!!




*SEE YOU AT WONDERCON IN SAN FRANCISCO THIS WEEKEND..

..it’s like I haven’t even left…

Shocking report reveals Al Gore uses electricity, says popular idiot

Monday, February 26th, 2007 by August J. Pollak

And what’s up with doctors, huh? They look at people and tell them they’re sick, but they’re healthy! Hypocrites! Hey, Michael Moore is rich too M I RITE, PEOPLE?

I love South Park, but the one thing I’ll eternally hate it for is how it helped established the mainstream idea that “stupid and wrong, but clever in a ha-ha gotcha way” is an acceptable counter to actual facts.

Oh, and because there’s a microscopic chance a handful of you didn’t see this coming, “The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through free market policy solutions” espoused by Drudge in his attack on Gore is an Exxon-funded project of a 26-year-old right-winger that’s so fraudulent it’s not even considered a real organization.

Conservapedia!

Monday, February 26th, 2007 by Matt Bors

I had no idea this existed until I read about it in August’s latest comic. Check out Conservapedia, the user editable right-wing encyclopedia that includes such highly researched knowledge nuggets as:

Evolutionists have no real evidence that macroevolution occurs and there is no consensus on how it allegedly occurs…

and

Evolution Violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics

And there is about six encyclopedias worth of problems on their moon entry:

Our solar system is one of the few that has only one sun. Only one sun and only one moon: this uniqueness may reflect the existence of only one God.

Conservapedia!

Monday, February 26th, 2007 by Matt Bors

I had no idea this existed until I read about it in August’s latest comic. Check out Conservapedia, the user editable right-wing encyclopedia that includes such highly researched knowledge nuggets as:
Evolutionists have no real evidence that macroevolution occurs and there is no consensus on how it allegedly occurs…

and

Evolution Violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics

And there is about six encyclopedias worth of problems on their moon entry:

Our solar system is one of the few that has only one sun. Only one sun and only one moon: this uniqueness may reflect the existence of only one God.

Outdoors — new cartoon 2/26/07

Monday, February 26th, 2007 by Stephanie McMillan

[EDITED: April 1, not March 1!!]

I’ll be part of a panel on women’s comics with the great cartoonists Mikhaela Reid ([info]m1khaela) and Jen Sorensen, 11 a.m. April 1st in Cambridge, MA. It’s part of the Women, Action and the Media conference organized by the Center for New Words.

In today’s cartoon, Kranti agrees to sleep outside. Click on the fragment below for the full cartoon at comics.com:

The more you click on my cartoons at comics.com during 2007, the better the chances they’ll appear in daily city papers in 2008. If you like Minimum Security, please click often!