Car Guy Oddities

We in the Hot Rod community tend to be a conservative bunch. Face it, we fear change enough to keep driving, in some cases, seventy year old cars. To these guys I have a NEW car, mine is 16 years old.

Another bit of strangeness that comes up from time to time is the "Buy American" meme, also known as, "I ain't gonna buy no damn furrin cars!" I guess "American" can mean North America, because there are a lot of "domestic" cars made in Mexico and Canada. I love the guy proudly thumping his chest about how he supports the American worker by buying a Chevy Camaro. The Camaro was made in Canada for its last ten years, and in 2008 will be made there again. I read a letter to a magazine about how another guy would never buy an import and was going to be buying a new Pontiac GTO.

The Pontiac GTO is made in Australia.

It drives me insane that these guys can't do even a bit of basic research.

Gay Marriage

http://rivrdog.typepad.com/rivrdog/2006/10/nj_gay_marriage.html
The above link is quoted in full below.

NJ Gay Marriage ruling Unconstitutional

If the State Attorney General for New Jersey isn't in court(s) today to file a complaint against the NJ Supremes, he's missing a bet. He's also failed the citizens who elected him.
These NJ Supremes evidently don't take their Separation of Powers very seriously. There may even be a Federal civil rights violation here that could lead to the impeachment of the justices on that bench, for violating their Oaths of Office if nothing else.
It's not important WHAT the justices ruled, but it's VERY important that they ORDERED THE NJ LEGISLATURE TO PASS LEGISLATION WITHIN 180 DAYS.
In our system of government, that is impossible, or is supposed to be impossible. The Founders set up three branches of Government, and carefully delineated their powers so that one branch could not become pre-eminent or omni-potent. This action of the NJ Supreme Court fails that principle, and we're not talking some fine legal nuance here, they just cut the heart out of Separation of Powers, the most important legal concept in our Constitution.
A court may void laws that a Legislature writes. That happens all the time and is one of the chief duties of a court. The court may even SUGGEST to a Legislature that a topic is ripe for legislative consideration. A court may even make orders that have the effect of legislation, in the absence of it, but a court may never order a Legislature to pass legislation.
Also implicit in this ruling is a veiled threat to the Governor. His Attorney General will undoubtedly tell him that he shouldn't veto any legislation that comes out of this ruling, since it is clear that the Justices meant for it to be passed.
So, in one ruling, the NJ Supremes illegally usurp the function of the NJ Legislature, and improperly intimidate the Governor.
If there's a NJ State version of Treason (there is in Oregon), there is Probable Cause to believe that these Justices have committed that felony.
It matters not if the subject of this illegal ruling was Gay Marriage or Selling Moldy Bread, the US and New Jersey Constitutions have just been badly abrogated, and someone needs to answer for that.
The MSM, of course, have totally missed the point, jumping into this issue as if it was a collegiate debate, and totally ignoring the broken Constitutions. They are a perfect example of our broken educational system, and that's yet another tragedy.

I am NOT opposed to gay marriage.

I AM opposed to the State telling me what a marriage is.

That is neither here nor there.

What I am getting deadly sick of is liberals trying to circumvent the constitution.

First time I noticed it was with gun control. They tried to get around the second amendment by passing a law. Doesn't work and it's not like there is no way to change the constitution to make what they want possible. Just pass an amendment nullifying the 2nd and all constitutional challenge is gone.

Now we are full on into legislating from the bench.

It's getting to the point where shooting them all would be a decent start.

Resolve

Geff, "There's nothing that is forcing you to return."
Me, "Yes there is. You were all my guests when it happened."
"You couldn't have known what was going to happen."
"But it happened in my house. To my guests. I have to try."
"What will you do?"
"To find them? Start killing the primitive pinheads until I find them. If I run out of pinheads before I find them it will be just too damn bad!"
"Can you limit yourself to the Ministry of Serendipity and those who support them directly?"
"Sure."
"I'm in.

Day One

OK, roll against ST to open the door," I instructed Tim.

"13, missed," he answered.

CRACK!

"Wow! That storm is getting bad! If this was hurricane season I would say it was a hurricane," I said.

"In December it's very unlikely for temperatures to get warm enough for a hurricane to form," Geff intoned, "Besides," he grinned wryly, "I checked the web page, I have it on good authority that it is a clear star filled night. No iridium flare though."

"Let's just game, if the roof comes off I have insurance!" I state with false bravado.

CRACK! BOOM!
Silence.

For a moment, nobody moves. The music is still coming from the computer, but the light is wrong.

It takes us a second to notice, except for the computers everything electric has stopped. I almost say "blackout" until I notice the sun is shining brightly through the windows. At two AM. Um, something is definitely wrong.

I Wanna New Gun

One that will blow away!

I have a Daewoo DR200 in .223 Remington 1:12 rifling.

It's a rare gun and if I break something, like the firing pin, I will be shit out of luck for parts.

It has a lot of good points, like the magazine being the same as an M-16 or the piston gas system being taken from the best parts of the FAL and AK.

5.56x45mm M193 is prolly more than enough to stop the average goblin.

I have considered an AK clone in 7.62x39mm, but they aren't known for their accuracy. An SKS has a better reputation for accuracy, but the magazine doesn't suit me. The ergonomics of either isn't all that great either.

A couple of companies are offering AR clones in 6.8x43mm SPC. It has the thump that 5.56x45mm NATO misses and is accurate and ergonomic. It has the AR gas system, which sucks, but has the vast array of accessories that are available for the normal AR. Plus the lower (the part the BATFE thinks is a gun) can be used with any AR upper giving the option of using 5.56x45mm NATO if I want.

Looks like I can sell the Daewoo for about what an AR kit would run.

Next problem would be ammo and magazines. .223 is cheap and available ($15.79 for 50). AR mags are running $15 for a USGI 30 rounder. 6.8x43mm SPC magazines are running $43 for a 25 rounder. Ammo is $15.49 for 20 rounds of 115 grain ball.

More Yrth

"You have GOT to see this!" I exclaimed to my friend.
"What now?" He replied irritatedly, it being the hundredth time I had bothered him in the last hour with my project.
"They work now."
"Really?"

"They" being what I taken to calling a gun golem. A four legged self deploying maxim machinegun. Our round might even be interchangable with .308 Winchester, but I don't have any to compare it with. Heck, calling the gun a Maxim is stretching the truth, but it's water-cooled and long recoil actioned with a toggle style lock. I never could figure out Browning's bolt accelerator.

"Shoot the target with a two second burst!"

The animated steel creature pivoted slightly and twitched it's "finger" on the trigger. A short burst emanated from the gun and a promising number of the rounds hit the wood.

"Not exactly a sniper, is it?" Geff asked.
"Nope, but it doesn't have to be. But it's not afraid of taking fire and a reverse missle or two doesn't really phase it." I rapped the hard metal of its leg, "Isn't having tons of steel fun?"

"Yes, if you say. Want to see what I have been doing?"
"Sure"
"We now have an answer about using illusions to make a computer. It works and they are FAST. I think that I can even get them talking to each other in a network. And magic communication seems to be instantaneous too, there is no lag sending a message to the moon and back."
"Cool!"


Meanwhile, on the moon...


The outworlders could not escape this time!

The ministry had finally located their gate in Tredroy.

"Odd," the ministry mage thought as he stepped through, "I feel very light, as if I was in water." But he was clearly in a small room with two heavy steel doors, one to each side, and with a small sign hanging on the wall in front of him. The door to the left had a small green light coming from a glass sphere above it, the right side door had a red light. Both doors had a small round window in it, the green lighted door had a warm light shining through it and the red lit door was black.

"Please listen to the message and finish the sentence. WARNING! Do not speak until you are ready to finish the sentence. WARNING! Spell use is forbidden in the entrance, use of lethal force has been authorized by the base commander." the sign said in red letters on a white background in the outsider's "English". "They don't expect me to be able to read their sign! Fools!"

A voice began to speak, coming from all around him, "My baloney has a first name, it's..." in English.
"What in the name of the Emperor is 'bah loan ee'," he thought. Turning to his left, the mage noticed that neither door had any form of knob or handle.

"My baloney has a first name, it's..."

Touching the doors and walls revealed that the door with the green light was far warmer than the walls or door with the red light.

"My baloney has a first name, it's..."

What could the trick be? It would have to be simple, something trivial to them. What had the contents of that house had in it?

"My baloney has a first name, it's..."

The meat! That was it! 'Bah loan ee' must be how they pronounced 'bologna'! This must refer to the name on the package!

"My baloney has a first name, it's..."
"Oscar!" the mage shouted triumphantly.

"Now opening outer door." The door with the red light opened with almost a snap, all of the air in the small chamber going with it. The wind was furious, pulling at the mage's robes, but only for a moment, then nothing. No sound and a terrible pain in his eyes, ears and chest. Desperately attempting to cast a spell to transport him home as...blackness.

"HA! I really love this thing!" Geff was nearly choking on his laughter as I entered the entrance room. He was looking out the port hole in the outer door that led to the surface of the moon, "We got another one in the trap!"

"My baloney has a first name, it's..."
"Oh Es See Ay Arr," I say.

FINALLY A Reason To Vote Democrat That I Can Get Behind

Arizona Sen. John McCain, a likely Republican presidential contender in 2008, joked on Wednesday he would “commit suicide” if Democrats win the Senate in November.

McCain, on a visit to Iowa to campaign for Republican congressional candidates, was asked his reaction to a potential Democratic takeover of the Senate in the November 7 elections.

“I think I’d just commit suicide,” McCain told reporters, to accompanying laughter from Republicans standing with him.

Update from April, 2014: We're still waiting for you to do the honorable thing, John.

I Guess This Is It

OK, Republicans, wanna know why you are going to lose, even with a huge group of people fed up with the Democrats? Because when the people elected you over the Democrat choice they EXPECTED YOU TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THE DEMOCRATS! Now that we've seen you act just like they do, why not just have Democrats in the office and be done with it?

Not that they really want a Democrat in office, they don't. Which why I am calling the 2006 election a purge of the Republican party rather than a clear victory for the Democrats. What choice does a citizen have otherwise? There is no way to replace an incumbent on the ballot with a member of his own party in many places, and the party flat refuses to try in others.

So, the Democrats are headed for a small majority soon. If I am right about what this means in 2008 we should see some Republican candidates who are a lot less like Democrats than the sitting Congressthings.

I am a bit upset about this. The gun control thing is bound to come back with the Dems in charge. And they can't seem to learn that 5% of $50 is more than 10% of $20. If dropping the tax rate from 10% to 5% causes the economy surges from $20 to $40 that is the exact same amount collected in taxes. And tell me that doubling the GDP is bad, I dare you to prove it.

There is a lot about the Dems that don't bug me. I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-gay. I don't fit into the traditional definition of marriage dispite being straight and married to a woman.

I am also pro-gun and big on personal responsibility. I think that private charity is better than welfare. I think that the strings that come with private charity is more effective at making sure the recipient's kids aren't drags on society than welfare. I do not think multiculturalism is a good thing; divide and conquer is an old idea and multiculturalism creates a predivided situation.

Moslems And The Social Contract

If your job is to haul people around in a taxi, that is what you do.

In America, that means anyone who can pay the fare.

If your religion requires that you refuse to haul certain people, seek other employment! Your religion is keeping you from doing your job! If your beliefs force you to adhere to a certain code of conduct, be aware that this will prevent YOU from performing certain acts and holding certain jobs. Please note, this must be a planned event, there aren't any Moslem pig farmers. They know what jobs they are forbidden by their religion to do. What it is going to take is someone brave to stand up and tell them how America works, and if they don't care for it there are a multitude of alternate choices to choose from, can we give you a lift to the border because you seem to be unhappy here.

The exchange should have gone like this:

Driver, "I refuse to drive people who have alcohol on them!"

Dispatcher, "You're quitting?"

Driver, "No, I refuse to transport alcohol, it is against my religion."

Dispatcher, "Your job is to drive anyone who calls the service or walks up to the taxi stand, without discrimination. Refusal to do so is a termination offense."


Driver, "It is against my religion to..."

Dispatcher, "Then you ARE quitting, or are at least telling me you are going to act in a manner that will get you fired. Here's your write-up acknowledging that you have been informed about company policies concerning discrimination and bias."

And by the way, in case I come off as a bit rabid about the followers of the teachings of the prophet Mohammed PBUH: Until Islam is as innocuous to ME as Catholicism, then I oppose it.

And I have put my money where my mouth is. My personal code has kept me from working before, I refuse to work for a foreign held or owned company. I refuse to work for a company that is actively working to steal my guns.

How this translates to our Islamic taxi driver? Part of the job is hauling drunks home from the liquor store, if you cannot or will not perform this task you are disqualified from working there. It is not the employer who is the problem here, it is the employee.

Working is a social contract!

There is at least a verbal contract at the moment of hire, "You pay me, I do what you say." It's a form of servitude! The collorary is of course, "Refuse to work, expect to be fired." Job descriptions and titles are a way of negotiating what the employee is expected to do and what the employer is not allowed to ask of him/her.

What this means to the employee is you do what you are told if it is part of your job description. In my previous post about taxi drivers it means hauling drunks around. We spent a long time getting the drunks to stop driving their own cars to the liquor store! In my personal experience as a drafter, they wanted drawings, I made drawings.

What this means to the employer; you cannot ask them to do things outside their job description. A taxi driver is not required to hang drywall or mow the grass. A drafter is not required to clean the toilet. A policeman is not required to stock shelves.

Another implication about this deal of freedom to work is when you are fed up with the job, you can quit! This is what really distinguishes it from slavery or indentured servitude.

Your employer is not required to retain you for even a second past the moment where your services are no longer required unless, of course, you negotiated a contract to the contrary.

Comments:

Trebuchet!

It's a game, have a go!

Stupidity

When you make war, you take it to the enemy wherever they hide.

That means mosques and graveyards!

Never give the enemy a safe time or place.

If the poor oversensitive masses of Islam don't want their precious mosques and cemeteries blown up, then start shooting terrorists before they hide there. Or, even better, narq them out to allied forces so we can shoot them as they come out.

A Prediction

Americans are an odd bunch. We are the ultimate in forgiving and vengeful. And we go all out when we indulge in those two things.

We nuked Japan. Now we buy all the cars they can make. The nukes were vengeance, the cars are forgiveness, we could have stayed occupying them and starved their economy.

We tend to ignore most things, hoping that the problem will just go away. A lot of times it does.

Sometimes it doesn't.

We then tend to try to do the absolute minimum to solve it. Most of the time we play the "too little, too late" game.

This often makes the problem get bigger.

The next step on a problem that refuses to just dry up and blow away is; "Goddammit, enough is fucking enough!"

A lot of problems are coming to a head and the "Goddammit, enough is fucking enough!" people are starting to grumble and make themselves heard.

Think about what this means if, in addition to all the other problems, Americans decide that the government is the main factor in causing these problems?

It's happened twice before here. Never ever think it cannot happen again.

Problems that the "Goddammit, enough is fucking enough!" people are concerned about.

Terrorism. Almost ready to decide, "Hmmmmmm, if all these terrorists are Moslems, then getting rid of all the Moslems sure seems to solve the problem."

Illegal immigrants. Most would not care if someone started shooting them. Many are willing to pull the trigger themselves.

Welfare. Eliminate the illegals, there will be jobs. Give someone a choice between starving and working, most will work. After doing the manual labor they will start noticing that educated people aren't in the fields with them. There's their motivation for getting their kids in school and learning.

Schools. People want their kids taught. They want talented, motivated people as teachers. They understand that the teacher's unions are an obstacle to getting talented motivated teachers in and untalented unmotivated people out. They understand that it's a government job and government employees shouldn't be telling the people what they want.

Government is the servant of the people, not the master. They understand that there are things that need to get done that only a government can do. They also understand that there are a multitude of things that the government is doing that, should government end its monopoly, the people would do at least as well (and probably better).

Crime. Remember how I mentioned vengeance? Americans are an eye for an eye type of people. We are also a people that feel that the punishment should be just. Life for a dime bag doesn't make sense, especially if murderers are being paroled with years left to serve.

The quiet types also understand responsibility. It is no more the guns fault for shooting the victim than the buses credit for getting you safely to work. Both acts require a person, a shooter and a driver respectively. They also understand that if piss all your money away on things that have nothing to do with food and shelter you are going to be hungry and cold. They also don't think that they should have to pay for food and shelter for people who choose to buy things other than sustenance before securing survival. They especially resent having so much taken from them that they cannot afford anything but survival while the people they support buy luxuries.

A Dark Day For Outlook

Or should that be a dark outlook for Outlook?

I am giving Thunderbird a try. Outlook was the last MS program I used with any regularity.

I am sick to death of its inability to figure out spam. It must be possible, Spamcop's box identifies the stuff before it has a chance to get to me. MS must know how to do it, their Hotmail service very rarely has spam in my inbox.

I guess it's only a matter of time before I start using an operating system that is not MS now.

Vista and MS's boneheaded position on registration and security might just make the gamers move to another OS, making my move easy.

Some Things

There is a line in the Narnia movie where Peter asks the Centaur in the van, "Are you with me?"
The Centaur replies, "To the death." The actor NAILED it! The look on his face and tone of his voice was, "Mylord, that goes without saying!"

A Fine Morning In Tredroy

The House of the White Star. Typical of the businesses in East Tredroy the sign was symbolic rather than written, a white star on a dark blue background with the gold and blue trim of the merchant's guild. "Damn this planet needs printing presses," I muttered under my breath.

Taking a deep breath, I enter the shop. "Is Master McCool available?" I ask in my best, poor, Anglish. "JOURNEYMAN, McCool," a well dressed man replied a little cooly, "and I am available."

"Excellent!, I need something special."

"Of course, how can we be of service?"

In English, "I'm looking for something in 230 grain depleted necronium hollowpoint, .45 ACP."

"I'm afraid I don't speak that language, SIR!" McCool said, looking nervous.

"Of course you do. I know all about it. And I am desperate enough to be bold about it. I need things that only you can obtain and would much rather your secret be safe. But my secrets are almost out, I want to keep my mind, and given the choices I have; the risk of being open with you is very small."

"But you are a mage!"

"An untrained mage in his thirties. There is no way I can seek an apprenticeship. I don't speak Anglish very well and having 'the gift' without training at my age marks me for what I am. Can you assist me?"

"What can you possibly have to offer me to take such a risk?"

"There are people who are on to you, people who are not from Yttara, or even this plane. They have an interest in seeing that people who know magic don't gain access to what they call 'parachronic' conveyences. They have stuff that makes what happened in your version of the Trinity event seem like a fart."

"Maybe I can help...Let's go to my office. But be warned, if this is a trick, you will be dead bef..."

"It's not a trick, and that would be better than getting caught by the guild!"

OK I Am Getting Fed Up Now

I am mere inches from learning what I need to learn to write my own damn flight sim.

I have been frustrated in Wings Over Vietnam's lack of mid-air refueling becuase my favorite plane, the F-8E, seems to run out of gas really fast. So I looked up what I needed to do to add anachronistic drop tanks. So with an extra 600 gallons of gas I should be good, right? I am. But foolish me, I go and look further into the .ini file and find the values for the fuel. They are really detailed. Detailed and WRONG! The fuel quantities are in liters and are on average 50% of the actual amounts.

So I changed them.

Now I wonder how far off the other planes are...

Here's what I want:

Aerial refueling. Both probe and drogue and flying boom.

Functional meatball on the damn carrier. Why is this so damn hard?

Functioning LABS. Another dirt simple item that nobody bothers with, but every cockpit has the indicator (non-funtional).

Accurate field of view from the cockpit. Again, this should be simple! And getting this right means that landing and refueling will be possible.

Carrier ops. This will be hard. Gotta have the dudes on deck doing what they do. And for realism you have to have the parked planes too. And to really do it right, you'd have to have the Ouja board running too.

Start ups, taxiing and parking too.

For two seaters, like the F-4 have the guy in back be useful! In a dogfight he does stuff like look out the window and scream warnings.