I seem to have a different copy from everyone else who has reviewed it. I just don't see the Fascism.
I do not see: A system of government characterized by rigid one-party dictatorship, forcible suppression of the opposition (unions, other, especially leftists, parties, minority groups, etc.), the retention of private ownership of the means of production under centralized governmental control, beligerent nationalism and racism, glorification of war, etc...
In the book I have, there is no mention of what form the government takes beyond that one must do a term of government service to vote. There might be coalition controlled parlamentary politics, we don't know! It's not mentioned in the text.
Juan's father speaks of free speech. Not very suppressed. Juan's family had never had a voter, yet they were wealthy. Rico shared his Roll's copter with Carl. They had an olympic sized swimming pool. Emilio is doing amazingly well for someone who is not part of the ruling party. Remember, "retention of private ownership of the means of production under centralized governmental control" that means the state runs it. Emilio would not have joined as a Private under a real Facsist government, a business owner is a party member. And since he had never done his term, he was not a party member. Yet he owned a business, delayed putting it on a war footing well into the war and then abandoned it to join the Army. None of that spells central control. He states that he joined because of his son. Not that he was forced to join because he was removed. Old Man Morales was not appointed by the Government, but selected by Emilio. Emilio was also free to move stocks around for Juan's benefit before he resigned.
Not much racism going on here either. The Rico's are Philippinos. Hard to imagine the Philippines becoming THE major world power. But even this is shot down. Xim is not a Philippine name, nor are scores of others mentioned. If there is racism, it is more xenophobia.
The feel of the society that comes across to me is more like America than Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany or even Stalin's USSR. It seems like it's still a represenative democracy, with steep voting requirements. The book even mentions that our voting rights are truncated too. Gotta be 18 to vote, can't be a felon, etc.
There is even an explanation of how it got started too, but so many reviewers seem to miss it. A group of former troops happened across a group of people getting ready to punish another vet. After being left to rot by the peace treaty and basically forced to walk home, they decided that civilians would not be allowed to have a say in punishing him. They would take care of their own, and did what the people were going to do anyway. The decision was elitist, but they created a fairly egalitarian society with it later.
30 December 2005
22 December 2005
Finally
It's A Real World (After All) by Duck Logic
(parody of "It's A Small World (After All)"\
"C'mon."
"Hey, ouch!"
"Let's do it!"
"Mmmmmm" "Okay!"
It's a world of acne, a world of germs.
It's your brand new dog coming down with worms.
It's the notes being played
By a cockroach parade,
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of ulcers, a world of cysts.
It's the hole in the road that you never miss.
It's the cheap underwear
Creeping up to your hair,
It's the real world after all.
It's the real world after all,
It's the real world after all,
It's the real world after all,
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of hunger, a world of sin.
It's a million products to keep you thin.
It's machinery exhaust
Causing air to be lost.
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of stark mediocrity,
It's a world of mindless activity.
It's the little white lie
Inside Mom's apple pie,
It's the real world after all.
It's the real world after all,
Cold hard steel world after all,
Slimy eel world after all,
Well, it's the real world after all.
It's a world that's black and a world that's blue,
And you must duck logic to get you through.
It's the sudden attack
Of a knife in your back,
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of hate,
It's a world of pain,
It's all of your dreams flushing down the drain,
There's no one who cares and it's time you're aware,
It's the real world after all.
It's the real world after all,
Spinning wheel world after all,
Cold hard steel world after all,
Well, it's the real world after all.
"Yeah!"
"That was great!"
"That was really a lot of fun!"
"I can't breathe."
"I've got blisters on my fingers."
(parody of "It's A Small World (After All)"\
"C'mon."
"Hey, ouch!"
"Let's do it!"
"Mmmmmm" "Okay!"
It's a world of acne, a world of germs.
It's your brand new dog coming down with worms.
It's the notes being played
By a cockroach parade,
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of ulcers, a world of cysts.
It's the hole in the road that you never miss.
It's the cheap underwear
Creeping up to your hair,
It's the real world after all.
It's the real world after all,
It's the real world after all,
It's the real world after all,
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of hunger, a world of sin.
It's a million products to keep you thin.
It's machinery exhaust
Causing air to be lost.
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of stark mediocrity,
It's a world of mindless activity.
It's the little white lie
Inside Mom's apple pie,
It's the real world after all.
It's the real world after all,
Cold hard steel world after all,
Slimy eel world after all,
Well, it's the real world after all.
It's a world that's black and a world that's blue,
And you must duck logic to get you through.
It's the sudden attack
Of a knife in your back,
It's the real world after all.
It's a world of hate,
It's a world of pain,
It's all of your dreams flushing down the drain,
There's no one who cares and it's time you're aware,
It's the real world after all.
It's the real world after all,
Spinning wheel world after all,
Cold hard steel world after all,
Well, it's the real world after all.
"Yeah!"
"That was great!"
"That was really a lot of fun!"
"I can't breathe."
"I've got blisters on my fingers."
20 December 2005
It's A Thinking Day At McThag's
I do not understand why unions aren't considered illegal cartels. If I wanted to become a subway train driver, I could not do so without first joining the union, whether I wanted to pay the union dues or not. What's the difference between that and being forced to pay protection money to the mafia? In either case, the mob or the union "protects" me (or my job), whether I want the protection or not.
Similarly, if a group of merchants got together to decide that they're going to sell gasoline at $10 a gallon, it would be considered illegal collusion, and the merchants would be prosecuted. So why can individuals band together to fix prices for labor? They are in effect merchants of their work, and they're colluding, via the union, to subvert the free market and set artificially high prices for what they are selling. And they are now effectively extorting the entire City of New York in order to ensure the perpetuation of their monopoly on the transit labor market.
From here: http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2005/12/20/strike-shuts-down-nyc-subways-buses
Similarly, if a group of merchants got together to decide that they're going to sell gasoline at $10 a gallon, it would be considered illegal collusion, and the merchants would be prosecuted. So why can individuals band together to fix prices for labor? They are in effect merchants of their work, and they're colluding, via the union, to subvert the free market and set artificially high prices for what they are selling. And they are now effectively extorting the entire City of New York in order to ensure the perpetuation of their monopoly on the transit labor market.
From here: http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2005/12/20/strike-shuts-down-nyc-subways-buses
I Do So Like Kipling In The Evenings
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
Rudyard Kipling, 1919
As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I Make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place.
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Heading said: "Stick to the Devil you know."
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four --
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
* * * * *
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man --
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began --
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire --
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
Rudyard Kipling, 1919
As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I Make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place.
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Heading said: "Stick to the Devil you know."
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four --
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
* * * * *
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man --
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began --
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire --
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!
Quote Of The Random Interval
One of the reasons I support the present war is that killing 50K of the jihadis now may keep them from mounting the city-killing attack that will really enrage the U.S.. Because if that happens, millions on millions of Arabs will die and my country will be transformed by its rage into something I won’t like.
-Eric Raymond.
-Eric Raymond.
14 December 2005
Rohan's Meme
TEN YEARS AGO I WAS:
I was working at a decent job making enough money to pay my bills and buy a pretty nice used car. I also got to game every weekend with close friends.
FIVE YEARS AGO I WAS:
I was working at a decent job making enough money to pay my bills just barely and my car was reposessed. The close friends are in another state. I also got married.
ONE YEAR AGO I WAS:
Trapped here, unemployed, taking care of the retarded kid that I love, but am crushed under the realization that this is really as good as he will ever be.
YESTERDAY I:
Trapped here, unemployed, taking care of the retarded kid that I love, but am crushed under the realization that this is really as good as he will ever be.
FIVE SNACKS I ENJOY:
Pringles
Chips and Salsa
Beer
Vodka
Scotch
FIVE THINGS I WOULD DO WITH 100 MILLION DOLLARS:
Buy a house in the middle of nowhere with a huge garage.
Buy a classic muscle car.
Buy a WW2 Warbird, like a P-47D-27
Buy a gun collection.
Give 2 million to a charity.
TWO FAVORITE TV SHOWS:
Battlestar Galactica
Farscape
FIVE BAD HABITS:
Negative thinking
Drinking too much
Cursing
Yelling
Giving advice to people who really don't want it
FIVE BIGGEST JOYS:
Gaming
Hot Rodding
Flight Sims
Beer
Friends actually following my advice and succeeding
I was working at a decent job making enough money to pay my bills and buy a pretty nice used car. I also got to game every weekend with close friends.
FIVE YEARS AGO I WAS:
I was working at a decent job making enough money to pay my bills just barely and my car was reposessed. The close friends are in another state. I also got married.
ONE YEAR AGO I WAS:
Trapped here, unemployed, taking care of the retarded kid that I love, but am crushed under the realization that this is really as good as he will ever be.
YESTERDAY I:
Trapped here, unemployed, taking care of the retarded kid that I love, but am crushed under the realization that this is really as good as he will ever be.
FIVE SNACKS I ENJOY:
Pringles
Chips and Salsa
Beer
Vodka
Scotch
FIVE THINGS I WOULD DO WITH 100 MILLION DOLLARS:
Buy a house in the middle of nowhere with a huge garage.
Buy a classic muscle car.
Buy a WW2 Warbird, like a P-47D-27
Buy a gun collection.
Give 2 million to a charity.
TWO FAVORITE TV SHOWS:
Battlestar Galactica
Farscape
FIVE BAD HABITS:
Negative thinking
Drinking too much
Cursing
Yelling
Giving advice to people who really don't want it
FIVE BIGGEST JOYS:
Gaming
Hot Rodding
Flight Sims
Beer
Friends actually following my advice and succeeding
13 December 2005
The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Outstanding! Very well done and entertaining.
All of the tear jerking scenes are still intact and you cry anyway, "NO! Don't shoot Ol' Yeller this time, Arliss!"
I am SO geeked out by the gryphons. They are just the coolest.
The special effects are totally awesome.
Tilda Swinton did an excellent job, as usual. She's one of my favorite actresses.
And I didn't even know that Liam Neeson was Aslan. And I couldn't place his voice until I read the credits.
One thing that really stands out though. No blood. There was a battle, and not a single bit of blood, guts or gore. Proof that an anatomy lesson is not required to have an effective battle sequence.
All of the tear jerking scenes are still intact and you cry anyway, "NO! Don't shoot Ol' Yeller this time, Arliss!"
I am SO geeked out by the gryphons. They are just the coolest.
The special effects are totally awesome.
Tilda Swinton did an excellent job, as usual. She's one of my favorite actresses.
And I didn't even know that Liam Neeson was Aslan. And I couldn't place his voice until I read the credits.
One thing that really stands out though. No blood. There was a battle, and not a single bit of blood, guts or gore. Proof that an anatomy lesson is not required to have an effective battle sequence.
09 December 2005
06 December 2005
30 November 2005
It Sometimes Pays To Be Different
The Saturday after Thanksgiving I took my car to the Greater Orlando Florida Super Sport Team's (GOFASST) Turkey Rod Run Protest Cruise in Daytona.
The protest cruise started because the Turkey Rod Run in the infield at the Daytona International Speedway is restricted to cars 1984 and older OR "Special Interest Vehicles". Apparently the 94-96 Impala is not special interest enough. So, what we do is get between 20 and 40 '91 to '96 B-Bodies and cruise A1A in Daytona with all the other hot rods. We stand out because there are so many of us all together and we are all the same car.
This large group of the same car attracts attention. And once attention is drawn, being different from the crowd makes you stand out. '94 to '96 Impala SS' came in just three colors, black, green-gray and dark maroon. The maroon and black look the same at night. My blue and black two tone looks black at night too, but I have a day-glo green stripe dividing the two colors. Several people noticed that and looked closer.
Among the people looking closer was a photographer for the Florida Cruise News, a statewide publication for the hot rodding crowd! YEEE FUCKING HA!!!!
This is the payoff for all the hard damn work and suffering with the crappy tranny. And it is a slap in the face for all the snobby Impala SS people who looked down on my baby for starting its life as a Caprice. Bet that $10k motor is feeling real good when they ignored your car and drooled on mine, huh?
So ding a ling lang my dang along ling long.
By the way, visit here to see the beast.
The protest cruise started because the Turkey Rod Run in the infield at the Daytona International Speedway is restricted to cars 1984 and older OR "Special Interest Vehicles". Apparently the 94-96 Impala is not special interest enough. So, what we do is get between 20 and 40 '91 to '96 B-Bodies and cruise A1A in Daytona with all the other hot rods. We stand out because there are so many of us all together and we are all the same car.
This large group of the same car attracts attention. And once attention is drawn, being different from the crowd makes you stand out. '94 to '96 Impala SS' came in just three colors, black, green-gray and dark maroon. The maroon and black look the same at night. My blue and black two tone looks black at night too, but I have a day-glo green stripe dividing the two colors. Several people noticed that and looked closer.
Among the people looking closer was a photographer for the Florida Cruise News, a statewide publication for the hot rodding crowd! YEEE FUCKING HA!!!!
This is the payoff for all the hard damn work and suffering with the crappy tranny. And it is a slap in the face for all the snobby Impala SS people who looked down on my baby for starting its life as a Caprice. Bet that $10k motor is feeling real good when they ignored your car and drooled on mine, huh?
So ding a ling lang my dang along ling long.
By the way, visit here to see the beast.
20 November 2005
Clean! It Is Clean! Clean Like It Was Before Time Began!
I have cleaned and organized the garage!
Cleaning the garage and relinquishing the junk. Stage one, preparation. For this you will need one garage which you will not leave. Loud music. Good beer, ten bottles of. American beer, eight bottles of, for consumption cold. Ice cream, vanilla, one large tub of. Magnesia, milk of, one bottle. Gatorade, mouthwash, vitamins. Bottled water, pornography. One mattress. One garbage bag for shit that you know is junk, one for shit that might be junk and one for shit that might be junk but you plan on keeping. One television and one bottle of Vicoden. Which I've already procured from my wife. Who is, in her own domestic and socially acceptable way also a drug addict. And now I'm ready. All I need is one final hit to soothe the pain while the Vicoden takes effect.
Cleaning the garage and relinquishing the junk. Stage one, preparation. For this you will need one garage which you will not leave. Loud music. Good beer, ten bottles of. American beer, eight bottles of, for consumption cold. Ice cream, vanilla, one large tub of. Magnesia, milk of, one bottle. Gatorade, mouthwash, vitamins. Bottled water, pornography. One mattress. One garbage bag for shit that you know is junk, one for shit that might be junk and one for shit that might be junk but you plan on keeping. One television and one bottle of Vicoden. Which I've already procured from my wife. Who is, in her own domestic and socially acceptable way also a drug addict. And now I'm ready. All I need is one final hit to soothe the pain while the Vicoden takes effect.
19 November 2005
On Iraq
I really don't think we need nukes to get the job done. We need to finish what we started. Even if we started for the wrong reasons. Leaving the job undone signals that to beat America all you have to do is hold out for an election cycle, maybe two.
Assymetric warfare's victory conditions are entirely dependant on the will of the stronger nation. There is never any doubt that the stronger nation CAN win. The question is always, "Will the stronger nation do what it takes to win for as long as it takes to do so?" For the weaker force to win, the stronger force has to quit. That is the only way for them to acheive vistory. They hope to survive the attrition until we quit, nothing more.
I do not support a time table for withdrawl, rather a set of goals, "We stay until everything on this list is true." No dates given. If it happens tomorrow, no problem! If it takes twenty years, so be it.
I will say it again, in terms of our casualties per capita compared to WW2, it is slightly after midnight on Dec 8, 1941. Now compare that to the number of days we have been in Iraq. We're going to lose more people Super Bowl weekend to drunks than we have in years of fighting.
We as Americans have a bad habit of projecting our values onto the rest of the world. The problem with this is that the rest of the world tend to use its own value system when making decisions and that makes their decisions incomprehensible to us. Our refusal to understand their value system makes them unpredictable. The TERRORISTS understand our values and use them to predict our actions. Yes, Virginia, it is possible to understand values and still reject them.
And their values are not values that allow for other schools of thought. Find a world conflict that doesn't envolve Islam. Not many, are there? Sooner or later we are going to have to start fighting this war like one side is seeking to eradicate the other. They are. Guess who they are trying to eradicate?
It is also much better to have the fight there than here. Were the fight even in Mexico, it would still be better than having the fight here. The flypaper strategy might not have been a conscious decision, but it is happening.
I have a lot of friends who are still in. They all beleive in what they are doing and that it is better to have them doing it than not.
Assymetric warfare's victory conditions are entirely dependant on the will of the stronger nation. There is never any doubt that the stronger nation CAN win. The question is always, "Will the stronger nation do what it takes to win for as long as it takes to do so?" For the weaker force to win, the stronger force has to quit. That is the only way for them to acheive vistory. They hope to survive the attrition until we quit, nothing more.
I do not support a time table for withdrawl, rather a set of goals, "We stay until everything on this list is true." No dates given. If it happens tomorrow, no problem! If it takes twenty years, so be it.
I will say it again, in terms of our casualties per capita compared to WW2, it is slightly after midnight on Dec 8, 1941. Now compare that to the number of days we have been in Iraq. We're going to lose more people Super Bowl weekend to drunks than we have in years of fighting.
We as Americans have a bad habit of projecting our values onto the rest of the world. The problem with this is that the rest of the world tend to use its own value system when making decisions and that makes their decisions incomprehensible to us. Our refusal to understand their value system makes them unpredictable. The TERRORISTS understand our values and use them to predict our actions. Yes, Virginia, it is possible to understand values and still reject them.
And their values are not values that allow for other schools of thought. Find a world conflict that doesn't envolve Islam. Not many, are there? Sooner or later we are going to have to start fighting this war like one side is seeking to eradicate the other. They are. Guess who they are trying to eradicate?
It is also much better to have the fight there than here. Were the fight even in Mexico, it would still be better than having the fight here. The flypaper strategy might not have been a conscious decision, but it is happening.
I have a lot of friends who are still in. They all beleive in what they are doing and that it is better to have them doing it than not.
16 November 2005
Ave Roma!
You scored as Maximus. After his family was murdered by the evil emperor Commodus, the great Roman general Maximus went into hiding to avoid Commodus's assassins. He became a gladiator, hoping to dominate the colosseum in order to one day get the chance of killing Commodus. Maximus is valiant, courageous, and dedicated. He wants nothing more than the chance to avenge his family, but his temper often gets the better of him. 
|
Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com
Hoooah!
 |
You scored as Special Ops. Special ops. Your sneaky, tactful, and a loner. You prefer to do your jobs alone, working where you don't come into contact with people. But everyonce in a while you hit it big and are noticed and given fame. Your given the more sensitive problems. You get things done, and do what has to be done.
"VULCAN NECK PINCH!!!" "owww.......(slump)"
Officer
|
75%
| ||
Special Ops
|
75%
| ||
Support Gunner
|
69%
| ||
Engineer
|
63%
| ||
Combat Infantry
|
56%
| ||
Medic
|
50%
| ||
Artillery
|
44%
| ||
Civilian
|
0%
|
Which soldier type are you?
created with QuizFarm.com
11 November 2005
Veteran's Day
Don't get maudlin. If you are in the US, this is Veteran's Day, not Memorial Day.
Take a Vet out to lunch, dinner, drinks. Get them laid. PayPal them some money. Give them a hug, kiss, shake hands or whatever.
Just say thanks!
Take a Vet out to lunch, dinner, drinks. Get them laid. PayPal them some money. Give them a hug, kiss, shake hands or whatever.
Just say thanks!
10 November 2005
It's Shiny
Battlestar Galactica Season 1, Disk 1, Chapter 3, 0:14:42.
Look out the windows and see the Firefly!
Look out the windows and see the Firefly!
You Can't Get There From Here
I have a concealed carry permit.
Every state between here and Iowa, except Illinois AND Iowa recognize it.
Going around Illinois is a pain in the ass when heading to Ames, and the problem resurfaces once I enter the destination state.
So, I will not be returning to the state of my birth until there is reciprocity.
Mom, this goes for you too. New Mexico doesn't have permits either.
So, lets get with it folks! The "Full Faith and Credit" clause of the Constitution is on your side, run with it. All Iowa has to do is recognize Florida CCW permits to get Iowa permits recognized. Start stalking your congress critters.
Every state between here and Iowa, except Illinois AND Iowa recognize it.
Going around Illinois is a pain in the ass when heading to Ames, and the problem resurfaces once I enter the destination state.
So, I will not be returning to the state of my birth until there is reciprocity.
Mom, this goes for you too. New Mexico doesn't have permits either.
So, lets get with it folks! The "Full Faith and Credit" clause of the Constitution is on your side, run with it. All Iowa has to do is recognize Florida CCW permits to get Iowa permits recognized. Start stalking your congress critters.
08 November 2005
Quote Of The Randomly Selected Interval
No law ever written has stopped any robber, rapist or killer, like cold blue steel in the hands of their last intended victim. — W. Emerson Wright
07 November 2005
This Has Been Percolating For A While...
"...but not with my money!
The BSA isn't JUST a private organization. It is a private organization that takes lots and lots of money and benefits from public coffers, frequently in the form of land use they don't have to pay for, use of public school property for meetings, and tax benefits. The KKK does not get this, nor do the Pink Pistols, whom you mention. They operate entirely on their own, private funds, if they need money at all.
If the BSA wants to form restrictions, they must cease to take ANY and ALL public funds whatsoever, in any form. They must dig into their own pouches and pay for what they use themselves, not get handouts paid for with tax money that may very well come from people they will not allow to join. This is only fair and reasonable, if they really want to be private. If they want to keep accepting money, services, and taxpayer-provided benefits, they must allow taxpayers -- who may be gay -- to have some say in how the money is spent. That, too, is only fair and reasonable, if they continue to keep their hands in the public's pockets."
And posted anonymously too.
Churches get many of the same benefits, and can exclude members.
NAACP is a black (pun!) hole where public funding disappears into returning nothing.
Two examples of places where I don't get a say in how the money is spent.
The KKK is a private organization, funded without government assistance. Hmmmmmm.
OK, I can accept the no public funding arguement. But we must cut that funding to all, or provide it to any.
I felt the same way about the Citadel. Don't want that girl there, forego the funds. But Florida A&M had better be forced to let Whitey attend in numbers that match the population at large.
My real point is that everyone gets their panties in a bunch when it comes time to bash the WASP outlook, but forgets to apply it the other direction. I have heard the NAACP described as Klan with a tan. Not too far off the mark.
One should also try to recall it was the WASP work ethic that made this nation. Notice that we are not doing so hot after the destruction of that base. It takes real effort to live up to the standards the WASPs set.
When a white guy beats the shit out of a black guy, they hue and cry is racism and hate crimes. But when a white guy gets beat up by a black guy, the black guy was the victim?
To quote a movie, "When I grab a woman's ass and she hits me, she's asserting her rights; but when a faggot grabs mine and I hit him, I'm a homophobe?" Which is it? Either the girl and I are asserting our rights (I think so), or I am a homophobe and she is an androphobe. Pick one.
05 November 2005
King For A Day
Were this to happen...
I would order the ATF to get used to it's new role as tax collectors. All illegal machinegun investigations would end with the collection of $200 per gun or tax evasion charges. Read GCA1934 more carefully gun grabbers.
I would order the ATF to get used to it's new role as tax collectors. All illegal machinegun investigations would end with the collection of $200 per gun or tax evasion charges. Read GCA1934 more carefully gun grabbers.
01 November 2005
Something I Need To Ponder...
I've been reading this guy for a while http://www.alphecca.com/
He's gay, pro-gun and mostly conservative in the same way I am. I took stock of my opinions about things and noticed something, except for like three other guys, everyone else who agrees with me 100% are gay. I had no idea I was so in touch with the modern homosexual male. I am also starting to suspect that these guys also represent the mainstream of homosexuality. Gee, the media is out of touch on something? NEVER.
I know that they don't consider themselves republicans because of the GOP bias against gays. Nor do they think of themselves as democrats because of their bias against guns and industry. And can't really call ourselves libertarians because we think that there should be a government at all.
All I want is machineguns, fast cars, low taxes, no racism at all (in either direction) and a pony. Is that too much to ask?
He's gay, pro-gun and mostly conservative in the same way I am. I took stock of my opinions about things and noticed something, except for like three other guys, everyone else who agrees with me 100% are gay. I had no idea I was so in touch with the modern homosexual male. I am also starting to suspect that these guys also represent the mainstream of homosexuality. Gee, the media is out of touch on something? NEVER.
I know that they don't consider themselves republicans because of the GOP bias against gays. Nor do they think of themselves as democrats because of their bias against guns and industry. And can't really call ourselves libertarians because we think that there should be a government at all.
All I want is machineguns, fast cars, low taxes, no racism at all (in either direction) and a pony. Is that too much to ask?
30 October 2005
Oh REALLY?
Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor, Prince of Wales, Great Britian, does not like the "confrontational tone" coming from Washington since four aircraft had a Jihad assisted spontaneous navigation failure.
In the first place, Chuck, we sort of had a revolution against Great Britian some two hundred and some ago so that we could say anything we wanted without the approval of the Crown (that's you Chuck). If you are concerned about our rhetoric, then I think we are doing a damn good job.
I understand that you might be doing this because of our meddling in your little "Irish Problem", so I will not be angry as I ignore you.
In the first place, Chuck, we sort of had a revolution against Great Britian some two hundred and some ago so that we could say anything we wanted without the approval of the Crown (that's you Chuck). If you are concerned about our rhetoric, then I think we are doing a damn good job.
I understand that you might be doing this because of our meddling in your little "Irish Problem", so I will not be angry as I ignore you.
27 October 2005
Yesterday Was December 14th Just Before Noon
"Well, we’ve been fighting in Iraq for 136 weeks, suffering 2000 deaths, a rate of 14.7 per week.
The US was at war for 192 weeks of WW-II and suffered 405,399 deaths as a result, a rate of 2,111 per week.
In 1944 the US population was 138,397,345, but the US now population stands at 297,518,381 - so we have 2.15 times more people. Scaling the WW-II casualty figures to our modern population yields a comparison figure of 4,538 deaths per week for a real war, which is 308 times the casualty rate in Iraq. Put another way, the “ever increasing” death toll in the current “quagmire”, per capita, is 0.32% of what we saw in WW-II. If we compared this to the USSR in WW-II, which suffered approximately fifty times as many casualties as the US, Iraq would be inflicting about 0.006% the casualties of a real war. At WW-II per-capita fatality rates, Iraq would’ve cost us 617,168 deaths by this point, not 2000, and in WW-II, we didn’t even blink. If the country had listened to vile anti-American Jew haters like Cindy the media whore, not only wouldn’t we have conquered Hitler, belatedly liberating the death camps; we’d have surrendered in mid-December 1941."
The US was at war for 192 weeks of WW-II and suffered 405,399 deaths as a result, a rate of 2,111 per week.
In 1944 the US population was 138,397,345, but the US now population stands at 297,518,381 - so we have 2.15 times more people. Scaling the WW-II casualty figures to our modern population yields a comparison figure of 4,538 deaths per week for a real war, which is 308 times the casualty rate in Iraq. Put another way, the “ever increasing” death toll in the current “quagmire”, per capita, is 0.32% of what we saw in WW-II. If we compared this to the USSR in WW-II, which suffered approximately fifty times as many casualties as the US, Iraq would be inflicting about 0.006% the casualties of a real war. At WW-II per-capita fatality rates, Iraq would’ve cost us 617,168 deaths by this point, not 2000, and in WW-II, we didn’t even blink. If the country had listened to vile anti-American Jew haters like Cindy the media whore, not only wouldn’t we have conquered Hitler, belatedly liberating the death camps; we’d have surrendered in mid-December 1941."
26 October 2005
A Brief Explanation Of What Just Happened
There is a lot of screeching about the new lawsuit protection for gun makers in the news and on the web lately. Why did we need this? I will try to make an analogy that makes it clear.
I own a car. One day, I decide to sell it. The buyer comes, pays me, I transfer the title and he registers it. A month later, he gets drunk and kills a mother of two. Who should be sued? The logic that the gun control people are using tells us that I should be sued.
Now, we pass a law that says that sellers of cars cannot be held liable for the actions of buyers. After all, the seller did not force the driver to drink and drive. The seller didn't force the mother of two to walk out in front of the drunk driver. The seller took no action that contributed directly to this accident. The buyer did.
What that law does not prevent though is suing me for other things that I did contribute to. For example, I replaced the steel steering shaft with a decorative wooden dowel. This dowel breaks, the car spins out of control and kills the aforementioned mother of two. NOW I am liable, I did something that contributed directly to the accident.
Lets take some of this even further. _I_ buy a brand new car. I take the car and decide that it would be fun to run that lady right there over. I do so and she dies. Is Ford liable for my actions? No. Ford would be liable if I hit her while standing on the brakes and a design flaw prevented their operation.
The gun law does not keep me from suing Smith and Wesson if the gun explodes in my hand and takes off a finger. I does keep me from suing S&W if someone uses a Sigma to shoot my wife. In the first case, it is normal product liability. The gun failed to do what it was designed and intended to do, contain the explosion of a firing cartridge and expel a bullet down the barrel. In the second case, the firearm operated correctly and (get this) safely, but the shooter did something wrong. Smith and Wesson is not liable for the actions of the operator.
This law really shouldn't have been just guns. It should have been a massive tort reform. S&W is not responsible for criminals using S&W guns to shoot people. GM is not responsible for drunk drivers, nor is Jack Daniels. The bar that sold the booze is not liable either, the drunk it the person who climbed into the car and drove away. The tort reform should have been something along the lines of "No person is liable for the criminal use of any product sold in a legal manner."
I own a car. One day, I decide to sell it. The buyer comes, pays me, I transfer the title and he registers it. A month later, he gets drunk and kills a mother of two. Who should be sued? The logic that the gun control people are using tells us that I should be sued.
Now, we pass a law that says that sellers of cars cannot be held liable for the actions of buyers. After all, the seller did not force the driver to drink and drive. The seller didn't force the mother of two to walk out in front of the drunk driver. The seller took no action that contributed directly to this accident. The buyer did.
What that law does not prevent though is suing me for other things that I did contribute to. For example, I replaced the steel steering shaft with a decorative wooden dowel. This dowel breaks, the car spins out of control and kills the aforementioned mother of two. NOW I am liable, I did something that contributed directly to the accident.
Lets take some of this even further. _I_ buy a brand new car. I take the car and decide that it would be fun to run that lady right there over. I do so and she dies. Is Ford liable for my actions? No. Ford would be liable if I hit her while standing on the brakes and a design flaw prevented their operation.
The gun law does not keep me from suing Smith and Wesson if the gun explodes in my hand and takes off a finger. I does keep me from suing S&W if someone uses a Sigma to shoot my wife. In the first case, it is normal product liability. The gun failed to do what it was designed and intended to do, contain the explosion of a firing cartridge and expel a bullet down the barrel. In the second case, the firearm operated correctly and (get this) safely, but the shooter did something wrong. Smith and Wesson is not liable for the actions of the operator.
This law really shouldn't have been just guns. It should have been a massive tort reform. S&W is not responsible for criminals using S&W guns to shoot people. GM is not responsible for drunk drivers, nor is Jack Daniels. The bar that sold the booze is not liable either, the drunk it the person who climbed into the car and drove away. The tort reform should have been something along the lines of "No person is liable for the criminal use of any product sold in a legal manner."
24 October 2005
Wiiiiiilllllma!
Here I am, under my third hurricane. We are just getting the northern edge of the feeder bands. For you midwesterners, read "thunderstorms that follow a hurricane".
Getting a ton of rain and a bit of wind.
The big secret of the scary hurricanes is that unless you are in the high wind or flood areas, they are non events. Blizzards are more disruptive.
Getting a ton of rain and a bit of wind.
The big secret of the scary hurricanes is that unless you are in the high wind or flood areas, they are non events. Blizzards are more disruptive.
17 October 2005
"Fascist" Thought Of The Day
A modest proposal to end welfare.
A camp, in a remote place. Nice air-conditioned trailers. Well stocked Wal-Mart style store across the street. You can stay until the kids leave high school. They graduate, you get to stay six more years. They graduate college in that time, you get four more. Not too bad, huh, 28 years with no bills? All you have to do is keep your kids healthy and in school for K-12. Is that asking too much?
However, no cable. No satellite dishes. No cell service. No cars.
You can leave whenever you want. Daily bus service to a transportation hub to take you back to your home town. If you leave, you never come back. Even if you starve. Kids starve, you go to jail for premediatated murder, you CHOSE to leave a zero demand environment.
Now, the kids. They NEVER get to come here with their kids, neither do their grandchildren. We invested enough in them, far more than we invest in the people who never apply for welfare and work crappy jobs to take care of their kids (Thanks Mom!). They should have at least a high school education and hopefully many will have college.
Welfare gone in a generation. I think that it is worth it.
Michele Evermore questioned this idea, "Kinda takes away thier ability to get out of the welfare situation, though, doesn't it?"
Ravenclaw Eric replied, "You'd have to also make sure the schools were _tough._ NO slack cut for athletes, no excuses accepted for poor performance other than medically-based ones, no misbehavior tolerated, and severe punishment for misbehavior."
I responded:
What I have proposed gives Mom some interest in seeing the kids through high school (oh, no GEDs). Six years rent free if they don't even bother with college. Encourage the kids to get that college education and she gets four more. Potentially ten years of no rent and no kids to take care of. Pretty damn generous actually. And that is on top of the 18 years of rent free raising the kid.
I do not care about hurt feelings. I care that the system produces functioning, tax paying adults. The cost of the program should produce benefits that exceeed the costs, the current system doesn't.
There are several escape options. First and foremost, stop making babies that you cannot afford to raise. I call this the "Never touch the tar baby option". Any time the poor welfare mommy feels that she is being put upon, she can leave. The job market is still there for her. I am not asking her to do anything my mother didn't do. What I have proposed is the stick to go with the carrot. The kid cannot just pork out a kid and hop on the 18 year free ride in the camp. Welcome to motivation 101. The kids will be on their own, but have every opportunity to obtain the skills that will allow them to make it. Show me where the current system does this. To me this is all about the children, I want them to succeed. My idea does not deny them shelter, clothing, food, education or medicine. It does deny them some luxuries.
The program is not manditory either. You can CHOOSE to not enter the program and go it alone. I hope that this is a popular option. But if you expect me to pay for your kids, your kid is going to join me as a citizen. I demand it.
And another thing. I don't envision a ghetto or reservation. I want a nice, clean place. Playgrounds, grass and birds chirping. Give the lawn maintenance to the Army (some soldiers might even be visiting where they grew up!) Hell, give security to the military too.
Some stuff is going to be harsh though. Mom cannot plunk out any extra kids. She has to follow the camp rules (which won't be draconian) just deed restriction type stuff about keeping the grass mowed and such. She has to stay out of jail. She goes to jail, kids go to adoption. Remember, this is for the kids, not mom. Kids go to jail? There is a pickle. I have to think on that, but my first thought is kid goes to jail, mom leaves. If there are other kids with her, they go to adoption.
This program should represent the last chance, not the first choice. The goals are twofold, make responsible adults, and eliminate the need for such a place.
Ravenclaw Eric replied again: "One thing that a lot of people don't understand about the Victorians and their workhouses was that the Victorians were _not_ cruel. If anything, they were soppily sentimental by our standards. They just knew what did and didn't work. The reason Oliver Twist's workhouse was so bleak wasn't to punish the poor for being poor, but to make it a literal last resort, instead of a place to go for a free, parish-funded vacation. Yeah, it was tough on orphans...but maybe it was better to be tough on them than to allow a whole class of hereditary parasites to evolve."
16 October 2005
Unions
Recently I got into a fight over China getting all this money and how much they import here.
Two reasons keep popping up as to why we are exporting all our manufacturing jobs.
Envronmental Compliance and Labor Costs.
I like clean air, but I am concerned that the people pushing it are not using anything resembling science to make their conclusions. I started noticing this with car emissions stuff. Look up what platinum is used for sometime. Catalytic converters, corrosion protection and as a catalyst for making acids. Notice that catalyst is used twice, they are related. What a catalytic converter does is take the gasses emitted by the exaust and causes them to react into chemicals that the EPA doesn't measure. The only effective means of reducing emissions is to USE LESS gas. There are several effective methods of doing this, and because most of the emission devices reduce efficency (and are required to be there by law) we don't get better efficiency. And here is a news flash for the envirowienies, while a car that gets 30 miles per gallon does make 1/3 the emissions of a 10 mpg SUV; if you drive it three times as far, the net emissions result is the same. Also note that acid rain is a phenomenon that starts after widespread adoption of catalytic scrubbers in factories.
Labor? Hey UAW, does it help if I mention that the people who are taking your jobs would not be able to pass a GED with an answer key? What does that say about the skills and knowledge required to do the job of putting cars together? Need more time? What keeps the price of labor artifically high? Unions. And the threat of striking when the company has moved the plant to Mexico, or China is hollow. And the UAW can't explain why their members should get more money. I love my Caprice, but when I am hot rodding I see mistakes. My Caprice was made in a UAW plant in Willow Run, Michigan. I talk to other B-Body owners and have even talked to some of the people who worked the lines for my car, the same mistakes over and over. Like the exhaust bolts on the driver's side that were never tight because the girl who tightened them was too short to reach them with any leverage. People who have cars where the exhaust was installed near closing time have had it fall off because she was tired and wasn't putting them on more than finger tight. On a Civic, a robot does that process, the same way every time. If the skill set required from the worker can be obtained from a Chinese rice farmer and can be taught those skills in an afternoon, how valuable are they?
The price of labor also has to be balanced against the price the consumer is willing to pay for the product. Notice the price of cars (union labor) against the price of new housing (illegal immigrants). Now compare the rate of increase against inflation. It's pretty telling, especially since the price of real estate has gone up obscenely.
Two reasons keep popping up as to why we are exporting all our manufacturing jobs.
Envronmental Compliance and Labor Costs.
I like clean air, but I am concerned that the people pushing it are not using anything resembling science to make their conclusions. I started noticing this with car emissions stuff. Look up what platinum is used for sometime. Catalytic converters, corrosion protection and as a catalyst for making acids. Notice that catalyst is used twice, they are related. What a catalytic converter does is take the gasses emitted by the exaust and causes them to react into chemicals that the EPA doesn't measure. The only effective means of reducing emissions is to USE LESS gas. There are several effective methods of doing this, and because most of the emission devices reduce efficency (and are required to be there by law) we don't get better efficiency. And here is a news flash for the envirowienies, while a car that gets 30 miles per gallon does make 1/3 the emissions of a 10 mpg SUV; if you drive it three times as far, the net emissions result is the same. Also note that acid rain is a phenomenon that starts after widespread adoption of catalytic scrubbers in factories.
Labor? Hey UAW, does it help if I mention that the people who are taking your jobs would not be able to pass a GED with an answer key? What does that say about the skills and knowledge required to do the job of putting cars together? Need more time? What keeps the price of labor artifically high? Unions. And the threat of striking when the company has moved the plant to Mexico, or China is hollow. And the UAW can't explain why their members should get more money. I love my Caprice, but when I am hot rodding I see mistakes. My Caprice was made in a UAW plant in Willow Run, Michigan. I talk to other B-Body owners and have even talked to some of the people who worked the lines for my car, the same mistakes over and over. Like the exhaust bolts on the driver's side that were never tight because the girl who tightened them was too short to reach them with any leverage. People who have cars where the exhaust was installed near closing time have had it fall off because she was tired and wasn't putting them on more than finger tight. On a Civic, a robot does that process, the same way every time. If the skill set required from the worker can be obtained from a Chinese rice farmer and can be taught those skills in an afternoon, how valuable are they?
The price of labor also has to be balanced against the price the consumer is willing to pay for the product. Notice the price of cars (union labor) against the price of new housing (illegal immigrants). Now compare the rate of increase against inflation. It's pretty telling, especially since the price of real estate has gone up obscenely.
15 October 2005
What I Don't Like About GURPS 4e And Its Releases So Far
Eric said, "Myself, I am NOT pleased with Steve Jackson, of late. Between his ill-thought-out "upgrade" to GURPS, and the ludicrously-expensive format he's selling everything in (do we _need_ slick paper and colored illos and hardback? I'm happier without the hardback, at least---it takes up more room on my shelves) and not having come up with anything I find Interesting in some time, he's irritated me."
I don't care for the slick paper. Seems like the most comfortable position to read in is never the one that the glare from the light isn't where I'm reading.
I've worn the covers off several of the soft covers. I like hard covers. My original AD&D books lasted until I SOLD them. Nearly 20 years. I have killed three copies of Vehicles.
I hate the artwork. I have this thing about the art having something to do with the material on the page it is with. Color does not make it better.
I am VERY unhappy that the current plan places the design rules for vehicles and firearms in pdf format. Gohds but I hate pdf. If it must be digital format, gimme one I can EDIT. That way I can rearrange things to be in the order I need them if I disagree with the author. And bad ordering is a thousand times worse on a computer where I can't just stick a piece of paper in the pages I need and flip back and forth. All he is really doing is passing the printing costs down to me.
Lets talk about the G for a sec. The generic books so far are Basic Set, Magic and Fantasy. Two world books; Infinite Worlds and Banestorm. OK, five books and THREE are specific to FANTASY. I have been done with the Sword and Sorcery genre for something like twenty years. I jumped on Traveller as soon as I noticed it. Then Twilight 2000. Then Champions. Then GURPS, and rarely did I run a straight fantasy world.
They need to make more generic material. Redux of High Tech, Bestiary, Space, Ultra Tech and such. Space is the only one in the pipe. Powers is the next "generic" book and it is more of a "We didn't explain how to use the rules very well when making something other than a plain human, did we?" I make a lot of aliens, so this will be a purchase. But, dammit! This was obviously going to be needed with the huge changes they made in making things with the same effect cost the same.
What I am really cheesed about is how they COMPLETELY DROPPED support for Traveller and World War Two. People are crying for updated Traveller material, what do they announce as the 4e Traveller book? A Traveller setting during the first Imperium? Huh? Why ignore a huge fan base?
While they fucked around making little books for sideshow nations in WW2, they managed to skip Japan and the Soviet Union. Pardon me? The US isn't in the war without Japan and the main European front is the Eastern. There is no plan to EVER publish material for these two pivotal nations.
A good number of us are happy with the rules changes. Happy enough that we want things like conversion guides for existing material, or that material rereleased updated to the new rules.
I really like the new rules and how easy it is to do things that used to require GM fiat to get done. Without official support, I have to go it alone if I want updates. I have done a lot of this for the WW2 stuff, weapons and templates are done. But if I am forced to go it alone long enough, reconciling the offical version with the material I put my blood and sweat into might be too big a job. I hate having to do retroactive continuity.
I don't care for the slick paper. Seems like the most comfortable position to read in is never the one that the glare from the light isn't where I'm reading.
I've worn the covers off several of the soft covers. I like hard covers. My original AD&D books lasted until I SOLD them. Nearly 20 years. I have killed three copies of Vehicles.
I hate the artwork. I have this thing about the art having something to do with the material on the page it is with. Color does not make it better.
I am VERY unhappy that the current plan places the design rules for vehicles and firearms in pdf format. Gohds but I hate pdf. If it must be digital format, gimme one I can EDIT. That way I can rearrange things to be in the order I need them if I disagree with the author. And bad ordering is a thousand times worse on a computer where I can't just stick a piece of paper in the pages I need and flip back and forth. All he is really doing is passing the printing costs down to me.
Lets talk about the G for a sec. The generic books so far are Basic Set, Magic and Fantasy. Two world books; Infinite Worlds and Banestorm. OK, five books and THREE are specific to FANTASY. I have been done with the Sword and Sorcery genre for something like twenty years. I jumped on Traveller as soon as I noticed it. Then Twilight 2000. Then Champions. Then GURPS, and rarely did I run a straight fantasy world.
They need to make more generic material. Redux of High Tech, Bestiary, Space, Ultra Tech and such. Space is the only one in the pipe. Powers is the next "generic" book and it is more of a "We didn't explain how to use the rules very well when making something other than a plain human, did we?" I make a lot of aliens, so this will be a purchase. But, dammit! This was obviously going to be needed with the huge changes they made in making things with the same effect cost the same.
What I am really cheesed about is how they COMPLETELY DROPPED support for Traveller and World War Two. People are crying for updated Traveller material, what do they announce as the 4e Traveller book? A Traveller setting during the first Imperium? Huh? Why ignore a huge fan base?
While they fucked around making little books for sideshow nations in WW2, they managed to skip Japan and the Soviet Union. Pardon me? The US isn't in the war without Japan and the main European front is the Eastern. There is no plan to EVER publish material for these two pivotal nations.
A good number of us are happy with the rules changes. Happy enough that we want things like conversion guides for existing material, or that material rereleased updated to the new rules.
I really like the new rules and how easy it is to do things that used to require GM fiat to get done. Without official support, I have to go it alone if I want updates. I have done a lot of this for the WW2 stuff, weapons and templates are done. But if I am forced to go it alone long enough, reconciling the offical version with the material I put my blood and sweat into might be too big a job. I hate having to do retroactive continuity.
14 October 2005
Live From Yrth
I looked out of the window of the tavern, I noticed that there was no glass or screens over the opening. Turning to my companion I say, "I rember the ringworld you ran where my character built a railroad that went all the way around it. Even over the oceans.
The banestorm took us. The damn mages overlooked us and we managed to keep our memories. I even learned to use the magic."
"We've been here for twenty years. We've been hiding what we are. I am sick of it. I am sick of feudal lords and royalty. I am sick of mud roads and outhouses."
"I miss cars. I miss computers. I miss airplanes. I miss guns. I miss cold beer. I miss cola."
My companion smacks a mosquito-like insect, "I miss screens."
"Twenty fucking years is long enough," I continue, "We have more capital than we know what to do with and modern knowledge of how economies work."
I stand and start hitting the table with a fist, "Time to knock over some thrones. Time to start a revolution. Time for big changes."
I look back out over the serfs working the fields across the pitiful excuse for a road, "I will have my railroad."
The banestorm took us. The damn mages overlooked us and we managed to keep our memories. I even learned to use the magic."
"We've been here for twenty years. We've been hiding what we are. I am sick of it. I am sick of feudal lords and royalty. I am sick of mud roads and outhouses."
"I miss cars. I miss computers. I miss airplanes. I miss guns. I miss cold beer. I miss cola."
My companion smacks a mosquito-like insect, "I miss screens."
"Twenty fucking years is long enough," I continue, "We have more capital than we know what to do with and modern knowledge of how economies work."
I stand and start hitting the table with a fist, "Time to knock over some thrones. Time to start a revolution. Time for big changes."
I look back out over the serfs working the fields across the pitiful excuse for a road, "I will have my railroad."
Playing Against Type
Starz/Encore has The Incredibles in high rotation this month.
I really enjoy this movie. Not just because I am a comic fan.
It's well written. Despite the setting the characters are believable.
The scenes that really get me are when Mr Incredible is threatening to crush Mirage and when he admits that he's not strong enough to live through losing his family again.
In the first, you wonder, "Was Syndrome killing his family the trigger that sends him over the edge?" You know it's a Disney movie and that won't happen on some level, but the scene doesn't reveal that it is aware of the constraints. For a moment you think, "Holy SHIT, he's gonna do it!"
The second scene just stirs my sentimentality. He is willing to do anything, even die, for his family. ANYTHING as long as they are spared. That resonates the same chord with me as "stand between their lov'd homes and war's desolation". Bonus points if you can name where that quote is from without using Google.
I really enjoy this movie. Not just because I am a comic fan.
It's well written. Despite the setting the characters are believable.
The scenes that really get me are when Mr Incredible is threatening to crush Mirage and when he admits that he's not strong enough to live through losing his family again.
In the first, you wonder, "Was Syndrome killing his family the trigger that sends him over the edge?" You know it's a Disney movie and that won't happen on some level, but the scene doesn't reveal that it is aware of the constraints. For a moment you think, "Holy SHIT, he's gonna do it!"
The second scene just stirs my sentimentality. He is willing to do anything, even die, for his family. ANYTHING as long as they are spared. That resonates the same chord with me as "stand between their lov'd homes and war's desolation". Bonus points if you can name where that quote is from without using Google.
By The Way Cocksucker
You exist at my sufferance.
The thin veneer of civilization and the slim chance of incarceration are all that stands between me and your death.
Try to remember that when you go and piss people off, Prick.
Once all of the sheepdogs were wolves. It only takes a few missed meals to make us wolves again.
Try to remember that is not that I cannot end you, that I cannot take away all that you are and all you will ever be.
I choose to suffer your existence, Fuckball. Thank whatever fuzzy lord you pray to that this is so.
The thin veneer of civilization and the slim chance of incarceration are all that stands between me and your death.
Try to remember that when you go and piss people off, Prick.
Once all of the sheepdogs were wolves. It only takes a few missed meals to make us wolves again.
Try to remember that is not that I cannot end you, that I cannot take away all that you are and all you will ever be.
I choose to suffer your existence, Fuckball. Thank whatever fuzzy lord you pray to that this is so.
Rap Sucks
I will maintain that some music as a whole is shitty.
However, some individual songs are pretty good.
However, some individual songs are pretty good.
13 October 2005
This Is Just Asking For It
What is the first type of building slated for manditory evacuation for a hurricane?
What type of building attracts tornadoes like a magnet?
The trailer.
FEMA has set up a 600 unit trailer park for victims of a hurricane? Oh, irony, we meet again.
What type of building attracts tornadoes like a magnet?
The trailer.
FEMA has set up a 600 unit trailer park for victims of a hurricane? Oh, irony, we meet again.
09 October 2005
Communist Threat Equals Terrorist Threat?
Uhhhhh. That is so wrong I don't know where to begin.
What started this thread is George Clooney and his plan to make a McCarthy era period peice. He seems to think that the Communists in Hollywood equate to Terrorism. I guess if you draw the line about how Hollywood apologizes for both, I guess he's right.
But I don't think that is where he's heading with this.
Time to face things folks. Socialism and Communism DO NOT WORK. They are economic impossiblities. Take a 400 level economics course. Yes, I know that you didn't have to take that class getting the Journalism or Poly Sci degree. Or to get anything but a Business or Accounting degree. Hmmmm, hard to find a liberal accountant or CEO, wonder why?
BUT! Attempting wealth redistribution is just another cost of doing business in a nation that insists on trying it. Like paying taxes. Just another cost that a business can account for and work around.
Terrorists are killing people. Yes, I know that Communist governments killed more people in the 20th century than all terrorists AND war combined, but again I don't think this is where George is heading with this.
He's going to tell us that giving up our rights (which Hollywood always says is freedom of speech) to stop Communism is the same as giving up our rights to stop Terrorism.
Considering that the source of Political Correctness is liberal types such as George, I don't think I am going to rally under his First Amendment banner. Perhaps if he came out and talked about how important ALL of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights are important, especially the ninth and tenth, I would take him seriously. Wanna bet he doesn't?
I am so tired of Hollywood talking about how important freedom of speech is while trying to tell me what to say.
What started this thread is George Clooney and his plan to make a McCarthy era period peice. He seems to think that the Communists in Hollywood equate to Terrorism. I guess if you draw the line about how Hollywood apologizes for both, I guess he's right.
But I don't think that is where he's heading with this.
Time to face things folks. Socialism and Communism DO NOT WORK. They are economic impossiblities. Take a 400 level economics course. Yes, I know that you didn't have to take that class getting the Journalism or Poly Sci degree. Or to get anything but a Business or Accounting degree. Hmmmm, hard to find a liberal accountant or CEO, wonder why?
BUT! Attempting wealth redistribution is just another cost of doing business in a nation that insists on trying it. Like paying taxes. Just another cost that a business can account for and work around.
Terrorists are killing people. Yes, I know that Communist governments killed more people in the 20th century than all terrorists AND war combined, but again I don't think this is where George is heading with this.
He's going to tell us that giving up our rights (which Hollywood always says is freedom of speech) to stop Communism is the same as giving up our rights to stop Terrorism.
Considering that the source of Political Correctness is liberal types such as George, I don't think I am going to rally under his First Amendment banner. Perhaps if he came out and talked about how important ALL of the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights are important, especially the ninth and tenth, I would take him seriously. Wanna bet he doesn't?
I am so tired of Hollywood talking about how important freedom of speech is while trying to tell me what to say.
08 October 2005
Glad I'm Not The Only One Who Feels This Way
And by the way, Day By Day it's politics, but it's thoughtful.
Update 07Jan2019: I'd have been happy to leave this a hot-link but the author keeps changing the format of his archives.
06 October 2005
A Sudden Thought
Listening to the mainstream media explain Bush's faults is much like going to the KKK to ask about the habits of blacks.
01 October 2005
I Love The Net
Found in the comments to a blog:
"All intelligent replies are taken, so I will resort to petty name-calling."
"All intelligent replies are taken, so I will resort to petty name-calling."
27 September 2005
Taxes
Being a minarchist, I view the government as a necessary evil.
But it seems like we do taxes all wrong. Property taxes are punitive for owning something. Income taxes are punitive for working. Sales taxes are punitive for spending. Capital gains taxes are punitive for successfully investing. Inheritance taxes are, in a way, punitive on saving. Why on earth would I want to own anything or get a job to buy it? Especially when I can get paid tax free to be dead broke.
The message is "I see that you are supporting the economy, bend over."
And no, I have no solution to this problem. But it would sure be nice to know that the Shitheels no longer devoured my total tax contribution every year. It makes me feel like I am not getting the things that I feel the government is legitimate in supplying. Like roads, fire departments, police, military, post offices and stuff like that. But handing Dumbass, Crackwhore, Escapee, Orca, Childbeater, Illegit, Ashamed, Hopeful plus the two Totally Clueless' and their spawn $5-7k a year EACH just for not having a job and porking out kids? This way of doing things means that there are two families using the legit stuff without contributing to their maintenance. My family's contribution is negated by the redistribution to theirs, and they do not contribute.
And to what end? That earned income credit helped Dumbass' kids so that they could escape and become productive members of society, right? Actually, no. All three of his sons are following his template. Fuck, marry, lose job, divorce, welfare, and dead-beat on child support. And to think, if we had just let Orca, Childbeater and Illegit STARVE and put Dumbass and Crackwhore in jail for not feeding their kids we would have broken the cycle. And this is not the only example of this that I can put names to. (cough) Thunder McThighs (cough)
How many generations on the "help" before we admit it failed?
But it seems like we do taxes all wrong. Property taxes are punitive for owning something. Income taxes are punitive for working. Sales taxes are punitive for spending. Capital gains taxes are punitive for successfully investing. Inheritance taxes are, in a way, punitive on saving. Why on earth would I want to own anything or get a job to buy it? Especially when I can get paid tax free to be dead broke.
The message is "I see that you are supporting the economy, bend over."
And no, I have no solution to this problem. But it would sure be nice to know that the Shitheels no longer devoured my total tax contribution every year. It makes me feel like I am not getting the things that I feel the government is legitimate in supplying. Like roads, fire departments, police, military, post offices and stuff like that. But handing Dumbass, Crackwhore, Escapee, Orca, Childbeater, Illegit, Ashamed, Hopeful plus the two Totally Clueless' and their spawn $5-7k a year EACH just for not having a job and porking out kids? This way of doing things means that there are two families using the legit stuff without contributing to their maintenance. My family's contribution is negated by the redistribution to theirs, and they do not contribute.
And to what end? That earned income credit helped Dumbass' kids so that they could escape and become productive members of society, right? Actually, no. All three of his sons are following his template. Fuck, marry, lose job, divorce, welfare, and dead-beat on child support. And to think, if we had just let Orca, Childbeater and Illegit STARVE and put Dumbass and Crackwhore in jail for not feeding their kids we would have broken the cycle. And this is not the only example of this that I can put names to. (cough) Thunder McThighs (cough)
How many generations on the "help" before we admit it failed?
26 September 2005
Freedom Of Association
This meme comes and goes.
The freedom TO associate with someone INCLUDES the freedom to exclude someone too. It is most obvious when you associate with two groups that are mutually exclusive. Your association with one will exclude you from the other.
Freedom and voluntary are intertwined. If you force me to INCLUDE persons that I do not want to associate with, that eliminates my freedom to choose my own associations.
Case in point: Forcing the Boy Scouts to accept homosexuals when they don't wish to have homosexuals as members/leaders/etc. It sometimes takes a slightly different perspective to put this evil to light. If the BSA must accept gays, the NAACP must accept KKK members (Grand Wizard of the NAACP?), Jewish organizations must accept Neo-Nazis, Sara Brady must accept gun-owners AND vice versa. See how this works? And nice double standards too. Why are some organizations allowed to discriminate and others not?
That might have been too subtle. If you find yourself excluded, make your own organization that emulates everything that you like about the organization that excludes you. The Pink Pistols comes to mind.
And this doesn't even touch on the thread of why your stupid ass wants to be someplace you aren't welcome. Sounds like pain at the minimum. Just imagine for a second what happens to the charter black KKK member. Or what is happening to your gay son at Scout camp. Children are the cruelist form of human life.
And for the record, I think the BSA excluding gays is a stupid decision, but they have every right to make it. You disagree with them, don't enroll your children, form your own youth organization.
Try to remember, you have every right to hate. You do not have a right to use your hate to infringe on another's rights. To borrow from witchery, "Do as you will, harm none."
Yes, my philosophy allows a town to gang up and say "No blacks". Just don't forget the signs, I want to avoid doing business with your racist asses. The same mechanism that limits the length of your grass, what color you paint your house or how many derelict cars can be on the property works here; deed restrictions. Notice also, that if the restrictions are too onerous, the property loses value. This is a self correcting issue unless the people in favor of the restrictions are dedicated, or if the restriction is popular.
And nothing in my philosophy says that there cannot be a town that gangs up and says "No whites"! Just don't forget the signs, I want to avoid doing business with your racist asses.
Equal under the law, biased under contract is fine by me. As long as the contracts are administered in the same manner. But as long as the NAACP can exclude whites, the BSA should be able to exclude gays. And as long as neither opens a death camp or somehow prevents the formation of National Association for the Advancement of White People (and they have, haven't they?) or the Flaming Campfire Boys (feel free to use that one) there really isn't a rights problem.
True understanding of this issue comes with understanding of positive and negative rights.
Someone is bound to bring up public funding.
My opinion on this is either fund anyone who asks and let them run it however they want, or fund nobody.
I lean more towards fund nobody.
And since the gubmint seems to think that if they give me any money, they get 100% control of how I spend all of my money, I'd just assume go without the "help" anyway.
The freedom TO associate with someone INCLUDES the freedom to exclude someone too. It is most obvious when you associate with two groups that are mutually exclusive. Your association with one will exclude you from the other.
Freedom and voluntary are intertwined. If you force me to INCLUDE persons that I do not want to associate with, that eliminates my freedom to choose my own associations.
Case in point: Forcing the Boy Scouts to accept homosexuals when they don't wish to have homosexuals as members/leaders/etc. It sometimes takes a slightly different perspective to put this evil to light. If the BSA must accept gays, the NAACP must accept KKK members (Grand Wizard of the NAACP?), Jewish organizations must accept Neo-Nazis, Sara Brady must accept gun-owners AND vice versa. See how this works? And nice double standards too. Why are some organizations allowed to discriminate and others not?
That might have been too subtle. If you find yourself excluded, make your own organization that emulates everything that you like about the organization that excludes you. The Pink Pistols comes to mind.
And this doesn't even touch on the thread of why your stupid ass wants to be someplace you aren't welcome. Sounds like pain at the minimum. Just imagine for a second what happens to the charter black KKK member. Or what is happening to your gay son at Scout camp. Children are the cruelist form of human life.
And for the record, I think the BSA excluding gays is a stupid decision, but they have every right to make it. You disagree with them, don't enroll your children, form your own youth organization.
Try to remember, you have every right to hate. You do not have a right to use your hate to infringe on another's rights. To borrow from witchery, "Do as you will, harm none."
Yes, my philosophy allows a town to gang up and say "No blacks". Just don't forget the signs, I want to avoid doing business with your racist asses. The same mechanism that limits the length of your grass, what color you paint your house or how many derelict cars can be on the property works here; deed restrictions. Notice also, that if the restrictions are too onerous, the property loses value. This is a self correcting issue unless the people in favor of the restrictions are dedicated, or if the restriction is popular.
And nothing in my philosophy says that there cannot be a town that gangs up and says "No whites"! Just don't forget the signs, I want to avoid doing business with your racist asses.
Equal under the law, biased under contract is fine by me. As long as the contracts are administered in the same manner. But as long as the NAACP can exclude whites, the BSA should be able to exclude gays. And as long as neither opens a death camp or somehow prevents the formation of National Association for the Advancement of White People (and they have, haven't they?) or the Flaming Campfire Boys (feel free to use that one) there really isn't a rights problem.
True understanding of this issue comes with understanding of positive and negative rights.
PS:
My opinion on this is either fund anyone who asks and let them run it however they want, or fund nobody.
I lean more towards fund nobody.
And since the gubmint seems to think that if they give me any money, they get 100% control of how I spend all of my money, I'd just assume go without the "help" anyway.
BRAKES!
Being the hands-on, self sufficient, do-it-myselfer that I am. I performed a complete replace and repair front brake job on my car this weekend.
I used exceptional quality parts manufactured by Stainless Steel Brake Corp and Russell Industries. I even painted the calipers blue to better match the new paint on the car!
Everything went on smoothly and it looked GREAT.
Until we started bleeding the air out of the brake lines. Marv presses pedal, I open bleed screw, fluid and bubbles run into the catch basin, I close bleed screw, Marv releases pedal, Repeat. For an HOUR. And the pedal still feels spongy, like there is air in the system. Now we have used an entire 32 oz jug of brake fluid. Off to Wal Mart, buy two more jugs. Marv presses pedal, I open bleed screw, fluid and bubbles run into the catch basin, I close bleed screw, Marv releases pedal, Repeat. Pedal still feels bad. Fuck it, take a test drive. Pedal feels like always. A little spongy, but OK and the car stops fine.
That was yesterday.
Today the pedal is very firm and it takes about half the pressure for the same stop as it used. I am very satisfied. All we can think of is that some micro bubbles finally found their way up to the reservoir and stopped being a problem.
We hee!
PS: I had a whopping 0.0937" of pad material on the right, outside pad. And evidence of that pad being stuck. Another week and I would have needed new calipers.
I used exceptional quality parts manufactured by Stainless Steel Brake Corp and Russell Industries. I even painted the calipers blue to better match the new paint on the car!
Everything went on smoothly and it looked GREAT.
Until we started bleeding the air out of the brake lines. Marv presses pedal, I open bleed screw, fluid and bubbles run into the catch basin, I close bleed screw, Marv releases pedal, Repeat. For an HOUR. And the pedal still feels spongy, like there is air in the system. Now we have used an entire 32 oz jug of brake fluid. Off to Wal Mart, buy two more jugs. Marv presses pedal, I open bleed screw, fluid and bubbles run into the catch basin, I close bleed screw, Marv releases pedal, Repeat. Pedal still feels bad. Fuck it, take a test drive. Pedal feels like always. A little spongy, but OK and the car stops fine.
That was yesterday.
Today the pedal is very firm and it takes about half the pressure for the same stop as it used. I am very satisfied. All we can think of is that some micro bubbles finally found their way up to the reservoir and stopped being a problem.
We hee!
PS: I had a whopping 0.0937" of pad material on the right, outside pad. And evidence of that pad being stuck. Another week and I would have needed new calipers.
22 September 2005
Yelling Fire In A Crowded Theater
As the ACLU is so fond of reminding us gun owners when telling us our rights are not unlimited, "You cannot yell 'fire' in a crowded theatre."
I submit that the media has been doing exactly that when they speculate about $5 a gallon gasoline.
I submit that the media has been doing exactly that when they speculate about $5 a gallon gasoline.
21 September 2005
Kim Du Toit
Kim du Toit used to have a blog. He used to express his personal opinion about just about everything.
That blog is gone now.
Shortly after he started using the same logic as the people he opposed to support the opposition, he cannot obtain financial backing to run his own business. Oooops. Well, nobody will hire him because of the blog either. Oooops. Now the blog is gone and he has a day job.
But things ran fine until he decided that it was OK for the cops to blast anyone who ran from the police for any reason because a terrorist would run and shooting a terrorist would save lives. Exactly the "suspend rights for the children" rationale of the gun grabbers he opposed.
I was one of the people who tried to tell him that he'd crossed the logical Rubicon, but he wouldn't hear it. He was RIGHT you know. With every passing day he sounded more and more like the other side, and that had an affect I see.
Sorry Kim, but I tried to warn you...
That blog is gone now.
Shortly after he started using the same logic as the people he opposed to support the opposition, he cannot obtain financial backing to run his own business. Oooops. Well, nobody will hire him because of the blog either. Oooops. Now the blog is gone and he has a day job.
But things ran fine until he decided that it was OK for the cops to blast anyone who ran from the police for any reason because a terrorist would run and shooting a terrorist would save lives. Exactly the "suspend rights for the children" rationale of the gun grabbers he opposed.
I was one of the people who tried to tell him that he'd crossed the logical Rubicon, but he wouldn't hear it. He was RIGHT you know. With every passing day he sounded more and more like the other side, and that had an affect I see.
Sorry Kim, but I tried to warn you...
19 September 2005
Evil Capitalists
A lot has been said on the looting in New Orleans. I have something that hasn't been talked about.
What if the stores decide that they don't want to reopen? What if Wal Mart decided that the location was too risky because of the dual threat of looters and hurricanes? What if that same dual threat prevents any business from getting insurance?
I also want you to note that food stamps/ebt cards are for the welfare types to buy food from a for-profit grocery store, not a voucher to obtain food from the US Poverty Food Distribution Center.
If my neighbors gutted my house when I went on vacation, they sure as hell wouldn't be invited to the next barbeque.
How many years of profits were lost to looting? How many smaller business' will be plain shut down because their insurance just ins't enough to restart?
Even the mafia has this figured out, "Don't shit in your bed." I guess realizing that they rely on that business being there once the storm is over is beyond them.
I ask: If the stores stay closed because they don't want to be looted again, where are you going to buy food, dumbass?
What if the stores decide that they don't want to reopen? What if Wal Mart decided that the location was too risky because of the dual threat of looters and hurricanes? What if that same dual threat prevents any business from getting insurance?
I also want you to note that food stamps/ebt cards are for the welfare types to buy food from a for-profit grocery store, not a voucher to obtain food from the US Poverty Food Distribution Center.
If my neighbors gutted my house when I went on vacation, they sure as hell wouldn't be invited to the next barbeque.
How many years of profits were lost to looting? How many smaller business' will be plain shut down because their insurance just ins't enough to restart?
Even the mafia has this figured out, "Don't shit in your bed." I guess realizing that they rely on that business being there once the storm is over is beyond them.
I ask: If the stores stay closed because they don't want to be looted again, where are you going to buy food, dumbass?
18 September 2005
Dammit!
The absoulte worst part about my situation is that I cannot even cry on my wife's shoulder about it.
The Boy is fucked up. He's not gonna get better. I love him. His inability to learn and what that is going to mean to his "life" makes me incredibly sad.
I can't get sympathy about that from Harvey because that leads to a fight about me giving up. I don't want to fight, I want to have someone on my side about how sad I am that he will never be anything. Not a doctor, lawyer, executive, soldier, mechanic, politician, cook, janitor or ANYTHING. I will never have a moment where I will be able to say, "That's my boy!" chest swelled with pride. No, I get to be proud of acomplishments that most parents bore everyone around them with, when their kids are three. The Boy is almost 13. He still wears a pull-up to bed. He still can't talk intelligibly.
I feel like I have failed him, but what can I do?
I know that the local school system failed him, zero tolerance might work on someone who understands consequences, The Boy doesn't. If you threaten him, he forces the issue to see if you'll follow through. And then doesn't get it when the bad thing happens.
The Boy is fucked up. He's not gonna get better. I love him. His inability to learn and what that is going to mean to his "life" makes me incredibly sad.
I can't get sympathy about that from Harvey because that leads to a fight about me giving up. I don't want to fight, I want to have someone on my side about how sad I am that he will never be anything. Not a doctor, lawyer, executive, soldier, mechanic, politician, cook, janitor or ANYTHING. I will never have a moment where I will be able to say, "That's my boy!" chest swelled with pride. No, I get to be proud of acomplishments that most parents bore everyone around them with, when their kids are three. The Boy is almost 13. He still wears a pull-up to bed. He still can't talk intelligibly.
I feel like I have failed him, but what can I do?
I know that the local school system failed him, zero tolerance might work on someone who understands consequences, The Boy doesn't. If you threaten him, he forces the issue to see if you'll follow through. And then doesn't get it when the bad thing happens.
15 September 2005
Rust Never Sleeps
"Maybe the fact that so many people can still take Teddy Kennedy seriously after all these years and all the stupidity finally wore me down. If you can’t make people see through such a transparent blowhard how can you expect them to see anything?"
09 September 2005
A Revelation
Blogging is a fancy way to whine.
And all I do effectively is whine.
What I say here will not change anyone's mind. Nobody will be persuaded by my whining even if, perhaps especially if, I am right.
I will probably continue to whine here. Even if the readers choose to ignore what I say.
And all I do effectively is whine.
What I say here will not change anyone's mind. Nobody will be persuaded by my whining even if, perhaps especially if, I am right.
I will probably continue to whine here. Even if the readers choose to ignore what I say.
08 September 2005
Silly Quiz Time
| Humphrey Bogart You scored 45% Tough, 9% Roguish, 42% Friendly, and 4% Charming! |
| You're the original man of honor, rough and tough but willing to stick
your neck out when you need to, despite what you might say to the
contrary. You're a complex character full of spit and vinegar, but with
a soft heart and a tender streak that you try to hide. There's usually
a complicated dame in the picture, someone who sees the real you behind
all the tough talk and can dish it out as well as you can. You're not
easy to get next to, but when you find the right partner, you're caring
and loyal to a fault. A big fault. But you take it on the chin and move
on, nursing your pain inside and maintaining your armor...until the
next dame walks in. Or possibly the same dame, and of all the gin
joints in all the world, it had to be yours. Co-stars include Ingrid
Bergman and Lauren Bacall, hot chicks with problems.
Find out what kind of classic dame you'd make by taking the Classic Dames Test. |
 |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Classic Leading Man Test written by gidgetgoes on Ok Cupid |
Oh Boo Hoo
Dead Link To CNN
Yaaaaay! Finally!
The entire purpose of having your photo on an a driver's license is for IDENTIFICATION. Hiding behind a mask thwarts that purpose.
If your religion is so restrictive that a photo cannot be taken of your face for a driver's license, then I say your religion is requiring YOU to not drive. Take it up with God and ask him to change his silly laws. There are places on the planet where she will not be required to show her face for a license, because women are not allowed to drive there. All she has to do here, is OBEY THE LAW.
I grow weary of the colonization efforts of Islam and Mexico. I do not hate immigrants. You want to move here and become an American, WELCOME CITIZEN! If you wish to remain a Mexican, welcome tourist (leave your money and go home) or don't come at all. And honestly, we'll probibly be moving the job you came here for to your home country anyway...
Yaaaaay! Finally!
The entire purpose of having your photo on an a driver's license is for IDENTIFICATION. Hiding behind a mask thwarts that purpose.
If your religion is so restrictive that a photo cannot be taken of your face for a driver's license, then I say your religion is requiring YOU to not drive. Take it up with God and ask him to change his silly laws. There are places on the planet where she will not be required to show her face for a license, because women are not allowed to drive there. All she has to do here, is OBEY THE LAW.
I grow weary of the colonization efforts of Islam and Mexico. I do not hate immigrants. You want to move here and become an American, WELCOME CITIZEN! If you wish to remain a Mexican, welcome tourist (leave your money and go home) or don't come at all. And honestly, we'll probibly be moving the job you came here for to your home country anyway...
05 September 2005
Too Good Not To Link To
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000129.html <- Dead Link
Update May 15, 2021: Apparently not good enough for Bill Whittle to maintain his ownership of the webpage and archives.
OK I Lied But I Will Be Posting Meaner Now
I am through repeating myself here.
I will say this one last time.
President Bush could not have gotten help there any faster than he did.
The Mayor of New Orleans (a Democrat) and the Governor of Louisiana (a Democrat) could have. But they delayed asking for the assistance. Yes, they have to ask for aid. They could also have approved funding from local sources to improve the levy system. Who is more likely to need that levy to work? The people of New Orleans or my mother in New Mexico?
Even with that delay, aid began to move within three days. That is six days faster than Hurricane Andrew. And infinitely faster than the Galveston hurricane (where no federal aid was even available).
President Bush is not responsible for the weather. Try to remember that the Senate didn't ratify the Kyoto treaty when President Clinton was chomping at the bit to sign it. Former President Clinton has come out and said that HE could not have gotten aid there any faster!
Congress is more to blame for no federal money going to those levies than the president. Learn how our government works!
The money that New Orleans wanted to spend was available locally. They didn't spend it on levies, they spent it on a world trade center. I'm sure there are other examples of money that, in hindsight, should have been spent on levies.
The true people to blame for this disaster is the people of New Orleans. It's their fault for building below sea level in a hurricane corridor. It's their fault for not spending their own money on ensuring that the levies would survive any conceivable storm. Being the ones most affected by said storm it was their repsonsiblity first. It is not like New Orleans did not have the money to make sure those levies were up to snuff, they chose to spend it on other things. It is not the job of the federal governemnt to protect you from your own stupid decisions.
I will say this one last time.
President Bush could not have gotten help there any faster than he did.
The Mayor of New Orleans (a Democrat) and the Governor of Louisiana (a Democrat) could have. But they delayed asking for the assistance. Yes, they have to ask for aid. They could also have approved funding from local sources to improve the levy system. Who is more likely to need that levy to work? The people of New Orleans or my mother in New Mexico?
Even with that delay, aid began to move within three days. That is six days faster than Hurricane Andrew. And infinitely faster than the Galveston hurricane (where no federal aid was even available).
President Bush is not responsible for the weather. Try to remember that the Senate didn't ratify the Kyoto treaty when President Clinton was chomping at the bit to sign it. Former President Clinton has come out and said that HE could not have gotten aid there any faster!
Congress is more to blame for no federal money going to those levies than the president. Learn how our government works!
The money that New Orleans wanted to spend was available locally. They didn't spend it on levies, they spent it on a world trade center. I'm sure there are other examples of money that, in hindsight, should have been spent on levies.
The true people to blame for this disaster is the people of New Orleans. It's their fault for building below sea level in a hurricane corridor. It's their fault for not spending their own money on ensuring that the levies would survive any conceivable storm. Being the ones most affected by said storm it was their repsonsiblity first. It is not like New Orleans did not have the money to make sure those levies were up to snuff, they chose to spend it on other things. It is not the job of the federal governemnt to protect you from your own stupid decisions.
13 June 2005
On This Day
This day marks the first post I made on my original blog.
I changed my mind about the content and deleted everything from here to September 2005.
I laboriously copy and pastedall most of my posts from there to this Blogspot some nine years later...
I changed my mind about the content and deleted everything from here to September 2005.
I laboriously copy and pasted