GorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ bills, including subsidizing this website. Some of the products he has introduced from the future include oven mitts, the Guinness widget, Oxy-Clean, and Dr. Pepper. Due to his immense cybernetic brain, GorT is able to produce a post in 0.023 seconds and research it in even less time. Only ’Puter spends less time on research. GorT speaks entirely in zeros and ones, but occasionally throws in a ڭ to annoy the Volgi. He is a massive proponent of science, technology, and energy development, and enjoys nothing more than taking the Czar’s more interesting scientific theories, going into the past, publishing them as his own, and then returning to take credit for them. He is the only Gormogon who is capable of doing math. Possessed of incredible strength, he understands the awesome responsibility that follows and only uses it to hurt people.
Recently, the left was outraged at Komen’s decision to follow their rule of not funding any organization that is under federal investigation. After a massive social media barrage and mainstream media coverage, Komen reversed this decision and decided to continue … Continue reading →
Since others have been posting the random posters recently, here goes one near & dear to my heart: (click to embiggen) GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future … Continue reading →
The Archbishop of the Washingon Archdiocese sent the following letter out today: Dear Friends, Last Friday President Obama attempted to respond to the strong objections that have been raised by the Catholic Church and other faith communities to the … Continue reading →
So President Obama released his budget for FY2013 – possibly his last budget year. First, let’s walk through some simple civics relating to the budget. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 sets forth the process (before which, scarily, there was … Continue reading →
Minion ScottO writes in with a tuple of questions spread across three Gormogons: Gentlemen and overlords, Your 3 posts inspired questions, so you get a 3-fer email. First, GorTechie: I recognize the idea of Federal laws superseding State, but if … Continue reading →
1. Right, cue up option 2 and maybe option 3 from here 2. It’s not about contraception. It’s not about how many Catholics use it or not. If you haven’t read the various posts here and understood this point, you … Continue reading →
Anna Franzonello over at NRO’s Corner pens a great piece debunking what I’ve heard many liberals spit out in defense of the Obama Administration’s HHS mandate: many states (some claims say 28, some leave it as “many”) already have this … Continue reading →
The Obama Administration’s HHS mandate issue is growing. Leaders from not only the U.S. Catholic Church, but also several Protestant churches, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (a/k/a Mormons) and some Jewish organizations are beginning to discuss forming … Continue reading →
GorT got two messages over the weekend, I was having too much fun to work on them until today so here we go. First up is from operative KH: Estimable GorTechie, The only way I would go along with point … Continue reading →
GorT and family attended the Saturday 5:30 Mass yesterday since today is jam packed with various kids events. At the end of the Mass (GorT only remembered two of the four “et cum spiritu tuo” responses), the priest asked the … Continue reading →
A failing or flailing economy is a powerful thing for a candidate to use against an incumbent opponent. Remember, “It’s the Economy, Stupid” ? Or jump back just a few years and look at the “Hope and Change” campaign and … Continue reading →
When you have readers such as the ones we have, it does make our work a bit easier. Operative BG writes in with the following after toweling off having been slimed by the slippery lies: Last year, President Obama spoke … Continue reading →
Great bit by the RNC – amazing, one would think that the President hasn’t moved anything forward in the last year (and in some examples two years). Oh wait…. Hat tip to Jonathan Last. Good stuff! GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall … Continue reading →
According to the IRS, just over 98,000 civilian federal employees are delinquent on their federal taxes (this number does not represent any who are on a repayment plan) as of September 2010. The grand total owed is over $1.03 Billion. … Continue reading →
In the past several months, we’ve all heard about the Occupy Wall Street and the complaints of some of the OWS movement about the “obscene profits” made by Wall Street firms. How about this news: Apple earned $400,000 in profit … Continue reading →
We’ve been a bit remiss talking about the big SOPA swirl over the last few days. So let me give you the short summary and then a bit more of a detailed explanation: Summary: Congressmen do stupid stuff. Always have … Continue reading →
So the buzz is starting about Warren Buffett’s latest issuance: he’ll match any donation towards the national debt made by a Republican in Congress and he’ll go 3-to-1 with Sen. McConnell. Think about that for a moment as it should … Continue reading →
GorT loves him some email. So here is a great one penned by Operative ME, who is completely in the bag for the Gormogons. Dammit, that pun chip is going haywire, maybe the Mandarin can give it a swift kick. … Continue reading →
As GorT was reading the Czar’s post from this morning, it reminded him of a few tidbits that came across the optical interface this morning: Harry Belafonte (seriously, his best work is his Muppet show episode) is the latest in … Continue reading →
I think a potential difference, in general, between liberals and conservatives, particularly with regards to the fiscal aspects of government-led programs, is the scope of impact analysis. I tend to believe that liberals remain short-sighted on most of these and … Continue reading →
Well, maybe now craw…maybe I should say ultra-hi PSI servo-acutuated grasper. There are secrets, classifications and security clearances for a reason. Largely, and in a way a simplification, it is to protect the means and methods by which our country … Continue reading →
While the GOP nomination circus is going on there is still a country to be run and people might want to know a few of the things going on. The debt issue is still a mess. And President Obama continues … Continue reading →
Various media sites, blogs and news programs like to wrap up the year with some sort of top whatever lists of 2011. Usually it is a retrospective on the year and sometimes it is combined with a look forward into … Continue reading →
Welcome 2012! The Gormogons are looking forward to an exciting and brand new year. While I remain generally unimpressed by any of our leaders or potential leaders – something, as I’ve stated in the past, that I believe to be … Continue reading →
The final day of our calendar brings up the door to these charities: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (one of ‘Puter’s picks)The Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (GorT frequents this charity)The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (also a pick … Continue reading →
Continuing our advent calendar charity doors, today’s door is to the following charities: The Military Order of the Purple Heart (one of the Czar’s picks)Paralyzed Veterans of America (favored by the Mandarin) For those who like contributing to other charities … Continue reading →
We’re in the final stretch of the advent season and it is a time to be generous. Generous with your spirit, your hospitality and your charity. So today’s advent door is a door into some of the charities that your … Continue reading →
Rounding out the third pass through the castle of the advent calendar is Dat Ho – who has been enjoying his mini-hibachi grill down in the basement. He opened his door and unfolded a small shirt and held it up. … Continue reading →
Today was GorT’s turn to open a door on the advent calendar and while the treat was more along the lines of the traditional advent calendars, I still seem to feel like someone in the castle is snickering. GorTGorT is … Continue reading →
The Gormogons love us some grilled meat. A number of us like showing off our grill skills. The Czar got really excited when he saw the day 19 gift. He’s already fully assembled it and started making dinner for all … Continue reading →
The Gormogons aren’t into flashy jewelry. However, when it’s a piece of functional jewelry, eyebrows get raised. So the Mandarin had to immediately try on his new ring and give it a whirl. I think Dat Ho will be ok, … Continue reading →
The Volgi is old….school. Well, old too. So, he was happy opening today’s door on the calendar and getting his gift: It is nostalgic for him while functional as it has a 3-CD loader. He has already loaded up all … Continue reading →
Sometimes the items behind the advent calendar doors are just random and defy explanation. Maybe Dr. J will actually make use of his gift today: Then again, he’ll have to keep Mandy’s hands off them. GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot … Continue reading →
Traditionally, advent calendars are small and have tiny candies behind each door – usually chocolates. ‘Puter might have been disappointed at first that these were not real but rather chocolate, he got over it quickly and actually found a way … Continue reading →
Dat Ho has been on his best behavior: cleaning up the carcasses on the shores of the moat after ‘Puter’s grenade fishing, helping the Mandy and Czar back to their respective rooms after late nights at the Leaping Peacock, dusting … Continue reading →
Canada will become the first country to officially withdraw from the Kyoto protocol. Their Environment Minister, Peter Kent, announced the plans for the formal withdrawal on Monday: The Kyoto Protocol does not represent the path forward for Canada. It’s now … Continue reading →
Lucky me! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Day 13 is GorT’s second turn at opening an advent calendar door. A number of the Gormogons are early birds (and we get plenty of worms), particularly GorT and ‘Puter whose body clocks … Continue reading →
The Czar camped out all night watching the calendar just to make sure that a repeat of day 5 didn’t occur. So, a ragged-looking, spear-carrying Czar slowly opened the door on day 12 of the advent calendar to reveal: He … Continue reading →
A couple news outlets are picking up on Obama’s interview with Kroft on 60 Minutes and, in particular, the comments from the President stating that he doesn’t believe he “overpromised” improvements to voters, nor did he “underestimate” the difficulty of … Continue reading →
Like many of you, the Gormogons get busy this time of year. Office parties, tree trimming, cookie exchanges (one of ‘Puter’s favorites)…etc. So it wasn’t until late tonight when all of us could watch Mandy pry open the doors for … Continue reading →
Mandy finally got the Volgi to stop pushing those huge blocks about the castle. Periodically, you’d hear: thuuuump. Thuuump. Thuuuump. And you’d look out your door and the Volgi had lined up several blocks to spell some message in 2′ … Continue reading →
GorT, Sr. passed on a note pointing out a visual effect that is amazing to witness first-hand and scary when you apply it to real-world situations. The effect is termed “Troxler’s fading” after Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler who discovered it … Continue reading →
Our resident doctor had to get up early for rounds today, so when we made it to the common room, he left a kind note saying that he’s very excited to try out his new gift today as he started … Continue reading →
So it’s back to the top of the rotation and ‘Puter is all a twitter (seriously, go follow us on twitter…he is all a-twitter) with opening the next door. He was a little disappointed that the door was substantially smaller … Continue reading →
Surely you’ve heard the latest ridiculous commentary on the free market system from President Obama in which he aligns himself with the slackers and ne’er do wells in the Occupy Whatever movement. He claims he believes in the free market … Continue reading →
Better late than never. All was quiet for there was one more denizen of the castle to open a door before we head back to the top of the rotation – Dat Ho. Well, he’s been lying low since the … Continue reading →
Well, yes, it’s rolled around to you-know-who – GorT. I’m never in much of a rush. Heck, when you can time-travel, why does it matter, right? So I’m a bit later in the day today posting about my token advent … Continue reading →
Each morning the Czar sits patiently in the corner of the group as others open their advent calendar, but the look on his face tells the tale – he wants it to be his turn so bad that someone’s going … Continue reading →
The Mandy has been patiently waiting for his turn to open a door and sure enough, he drew day 4 of advent. They were a bit smaller than what he expected after a car and huge Chinese toy blocks but … Continue reading →
The Volgi drew Day 3 on the advent calendar. He’s not one to get up early so the rest of us waited for him to come down to the Castle common room. He excitedly opened the four-foot doors on the … Continue reading →
Courtesy of an excellent post over at The PJ Tatler by Bryan Preston who teased out the following from a Washington Times article. Click over to read the whole thing, but here are some of the highlights: Hollywood director Robert … Continue reading →
If you pay attention to the consumer privacy world or the smartphone world, you might have heard the recent swirl about something called “Carrier IQ”. I figured our readers might like a little info to be informed and understand what’s … Continue reading →
Dr. J was the next lucky draw to open the next door on our 30-story advent calendar (I told you, we like gifts and small chocolates just ain’t gonna cut it). He was dancing around like a little schoolkid. So … Continue reading →
The advent calendar started with German Lutherans who would physically count down the days to Christmas starting on December 1st. It has morphed into the modern ones which are traditionally cardboard/plastic frames with small doors that are opened on each … Continue reading →
There is a bit of a to-do happening across the pond with regards to climate change and the UK’s energy policies. In mid-November, the UK Secretary of State for Energy wrote a letter to Lord Lawson and Lord Turnbull regarding … Continue reading →
Subtitled: It is very likely that this report likely means very little for many with medium confidence. The UN’s IPCC began releasing an update recommending that countries prepare for “weird weather”. Seriously. They are “virtually certain” (which, apparently means a … Continue reading →
GorT used to believe that Chris Matthews couldn’t quit Obama. He was head over heels, cuckoo-for-cocopuffs, for the President. He was dismissive of much of the criticism, lobbed softballs when interviewing members of the Obama administration, etc. But on Saturday, … Continue reading →
So while the Congress kicked the can down the road for another month with the latest CR that was passed, there is a looming issue that our defense & intelligence sector faces if the “supercommittee”* doesn’t act soon. Various space initiatives … Continue reading →
No, this isn’t some flashback to the 1980s Faberge Shampoo commercial, this is your Congress “at work”. The brilliant idea of the so-called “Super Committee” seems to be doing what the Congress does, just with fewer people….hmmm, that gives me … Continue reading →
Starting at some point after 2003, China began constructing some odd things in the Gobi desert. Gizmodo has a post that details a number of them. Most are in the same general area. Most appear to be surface level, as … Continue reading →
If you happened to pass by the castle today you would have seen it adorned with American flags in honor of those who served and continue to serve our country here and abroad in military service. GorT has had the … Continue reading →
GorT got the following piece of mail and I’ve been too busy to post on it until now. Unfortunately, GorT misread some units on information about the LFTR technology and DJ MC Nuke caught it: RE: http://3.14.242.153/2011/11/road-not-taken.htmla thorium fueled liquid … Continue reading →
Ok, maybe I need a better title to this post. Maybe a straightforward one would be, “Why The U.S. Should Be Concerned About the Situation in Greece”. It is a complicated matter, but it comes down to the fact that … Continue reading →
I’ve been doing some light reading recently on nuclear power, history and chemistry. Specifically, I’ve been learning more about LFTR (pronounced “lifter” – much like Bungie’s SPNKr is pronounced “spanker”) which stands for liquid fluoride thorium reactor. I’m going to … Continue reading →
The pastor at GorT’s church delivered an awesome homily today. It’s always odd to sermonize about attending Mass as the target audience is likely not there, unless you preach it at Christmas or Easter. He opened by thanking us at … Continue reading →
From Michael Warren over at the Weekly Standard: Based on the average of the daily tracking poll from June 20 to October 19, Gallup found that Obama’s eleventh quarter ratings are historically weak. Since Gallup began polling presidential approval this … Continue reading →
It’s sometimes a hard pill to swallow when someone as insightful and innovative in the business community pops the balloon of hope for Mr. Hope and Change. In the pending authorized biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Jobs was … Continue reading →
From George Takei’s Facebook page GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this pay all the Gormogons’ … Continue reading →
So the Obama 2012 campaign just launched an effort to design artwork in support of Stimulus Part IIJobs Plan and re-election. A bit late on the Jobs Plan…but that might be a hallmark for this administration. The top three selected … Continue reading →
It’s fitting that Warren Buffett is associated with the Obama Administration as so many of the administration has had tax issues. Well, Buffett is no different: According to Berkshire Hathaway’s own annual report — see Note 15 on pp. 54-56 … Continue reading →
Ok, GorT has about had it with the Occupy Wall Street fascination. Let me break it down: 1. Turn on almost any news station (CNN, Fox, local affiliates, etc.) and watch an interview with these clowns. Once you get past … Continue reading →
Over the past week, GorT has had a number of conversations with some friends of liberal persuasion regarding a number of topics but largely around the economic situation of the country and the so-called “Occupy Wall Street” protests. First, the … Continue reading →
Check out this bit. Pretty darn amusing, well done. GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from the future and return it to the past for retroinvention. The profits from this … Continue reading →
In all of the early remembrances of Steve Jobs that I’ve read last night and this morning, Walt Mossberg’s piece is probably the best, deepest and most insightful. I’d recommend you pop over to read it to get a true … Continue reading →
Being a time-traveling robot, one doesn’t always think linearly so I have a couple thoughts that have been bouncing around the ol’ neural net and I figured I’d do a quick dump on each. ‘Puter would counsel me to say … Continue reading →
GorT and at least one other Gormogon are fans of the Josh Whedon’s canceled-too-early Sci-Fi series, Firefly. So when it is part of a PC-gone-crazy scheme, I had to alert our readers. Courtesy of a number of sites, including the … Continue reading →
Where there’s smoke there’s fire. After this Solyndra mess started, people started looking around at Solar Energy companies and the guaranteed loans that the Obama Administration is giving them. The Daily Caller writes: A Daily Caller investigation has found that … Continue reading →
In a recent survey of iOS game developers, the top 20 percent of iOS game developers in terms of lifetime revenue are earning approximately 97 percent of all the game revenue made on the Apple App Store. The top 1 … Continue reading →
By law, every ten years, everyone in the United States gets counted and congressional districts can be adjusted so the population in each district is roughly equal to preserve an equal representation in Congress by the 435 elected representatives. The … Continue reading →
So the (mild) panic is setting in with the UARS uncontrolled re-entry approaching. Current estimates put the re-entry time sometime this (September 23rd) afternoon or early evening. Websites with various tracking applications are being overloaded and, apparently, NASA is so … Continue reading →
GorT’s liberal friends and family members are likewise propagating the tripe that Dr. Warren spewed and that my esteemed collegue, ‘Puter, so eloquently dissected here yesterday. And it is complete garbage. At face value it is, at best, a call … Continue reading →
Many of you are likely Netflix subscribers and, as such, received the mea culpa letter from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. If not, let me orient you first. Netflix started with a DVD-by-mail business model with a distributed set of fulfillment … Continue reading →
Obama’s stimulusjobs act and deficit control plan is going over like a lead balloon and has more holes in it than ‘Puter’s poster of EJ Dionne mounted on the back of his man-cave’s door. The president’s plan tries to account … Continue reading →
President Obama is releasing his plan to reduce the deficit and pay for his “pass this bill now” stimulusjobs act. His target is $3 trillion in deficit reduction that comes in the following forms: It cuts $250 billion from Medicare … Continue reading →
The title is a shout out to my northeastern pals from the 1980’s where everything was wicked bad, wicked awesome, or wicked cold. Previously, we’ve asked how bad is it for President Obama? Well, Stephen Moore in the WSJ opinion … Continue reading →
It gets worse…when parts of your base start questioning whether an incumbent president could be removed from the top of the ticket for their 2nd term election…it’s not good: Mat Stoller is Fellow of the non-profit Roosevelt Institute and writes … Continue reading →
Well, Obama is running around campaigning (see Carney’s presser below…it’s at least good for a laugh) for his jobs bill and the democrats aren’t even totally on board (from Politico): Jim Webb (D-VA) – “Terrible,” he told Politico when asked … Continue reading →
You, our gentle readers, pay us to have the trained eye to catch things like the following….oh, wait, we don’t get paid? Hey, Czar – what’s up with this, you told me…sorry. Back to the point: One should be very … Continue reading →
Much like a huge swath of America, the Gormogons huddled up last week to conduct our fantasy football draft. GorT tried to maintain order and put out a schedule where the first round would start at 1700 on Wednesday evening. … Continue reading →
Here are some interesting statistics looking at the change from September 11, 2001 and September 11, 2011: Afghanistan’s GDP has risen by 645% from $2.46B to $18.33B Iraq’s GDP has risen by 473% from $18.94B to $108.42B Gold has gone … Continue reading →
Sometime late this month or early next month, a 6.5 ton satellite (the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite or UARS) will experience an uncontrolled deorbit. That’s a fancy term for: it’s failing to maintain orbit and it’s going to come spiraling … Continue reading →
GorT Replicant #1 had an assignment from school to watch the President’s speech last night and describe what his plan was. After GorT stopped laughing, I dutifully sat down and watched the speech with her and Mrs. GorT. If you … Continue reading →
Recently there has been a lot of hay made about Obama’s stimulus, Keynesian economics, space aliens, etc. but there is an underlying problem that needs addressing. This problem is the misconceptions between income, as a benefit of employment, and wealth. … Continue reading →
One of the themes that you’ll hear in the news over the next few weeks is how the Tea Party, the GOP and conservatives are mean and don’t want the government to help with assistance in the recovery from the … Continue reading →
GorT has written about taxes, Keynesian economics, and the current economic situation before but I’m always impressed when I read pieces that add a new dimension to it. This is the case with the brilliant piece by Victor Hanson here. … Continue reading →
I enjoyed the Czar’s post on reading but I figured I’d chime in with a missing element: there are generally three “modes” of reading – for instruction, for education and for enjoyment. The problem is that each require a different … Continue reading →
After we quelled the ninja zombies* and other madness that the “east coast earthquake” (as the media outlets are labeling it in fancy graphics), I had some time to reflect on what happened and what I observed. 1. People in … Continue reading →
Yes, the Gormogons felt the 5.9 Earthquake that was centered outside Richmond, VA. No, it’s not distracting us from our regular Gormogon business. GorTGorT is an eight-foot-tall robot from the 51ˢᵗ Century who routinely time-travels to steal expensive technology from … Continue reading →
On the way into work today one of the local news stations had a brief spot that highlighted the generational differences between those entering college this year and their professors. It was intended to show that some culutral references will … Continue reading →
