Deathwatch

Today is the 365th day of Terri Schaivo's death.

Still dead.

What I Did On Spring Break

Much fun was had by most. We got there about 1:30 and basically hung around and chit chatted. I didn't win the raffle prizes that I really wanted, but did win a set of vinyl decals. Not sure what I am going to do with them.

Special thanks to The Lovely Harvey for tolerating this car habit.

I might have burned a wheel bearing on the trip. It's squeaking really bad, but not getting hot or pulling. Have to see if I can get away with just repacking it. And even if it's toast, bearings are only $30 a side. I tried a new brand of synthetic grease the last time I did this and it might not have been up to the task.

Even with a possible bad bearing, I got off light compared to some others who came up from Tampa. Roger blew "something" in his valve train on the Beast. That car is essentially a race car and really shouldn't be driven on long trips. Phil broke his tranny, we think it was his fault. He had to decelerate suddenly and manually downshifted it to drive. He might have pulled too far and got second. That would be consistent with the way it is acting. Marv didn't break at all!

And this is an example of how to spend a lot of money on ruining a '95 Impala.

The Cash Hemorrhage That Is Biscayne

The failed ball joint took something else with it. Prolly a tie rod. There is a loud POP when I am steering.

But WHICH tie rod? They aren't expensive on their own, but there are four of them. Once a tie rod is replaced, you need an alignment, which is more money. I needed an alignment because of the ball joints, but now I need to either figure out which ball joint or just pay the alignment place. Considering how smoothly the ball joints went, I should pay someone who has the proper tools.

I have the tires to replace the ones which were ruined by my previous bad alignment. Interestingly, the Kumho Ecsta 712 in 275/40WR17 ($106 ea.) are not that much more expensive than the Goodyear Wingfoot in 225/70SR15 ($75 ea and discontinued) I used to buy. And the Kumho is a high performance wet/dry tire! The Goodyears were slighty better than average performance all season tires. So, if I was driving in snow, the Goodyears would have an advantage. Um, FLORIDA, doesn't get snow where I live, and rarely where I don't. And the Kumhos lasted two years (and 35k miles) of bad alignment, and the back tires are still in good shape. The Goodyears lasted about the same. Wonder if I can get three years on a set of tires with a good alignment. Tires on the Camaro lasted five, those were Goodyear Eagle ST in 225/70SR15, but the Eagle ST was discontinued. The Goodyear Eagle GT II in 225/70SR15 only lasted a year on my Caprice.

By way of comparison, the Goodyear Eagle RS-A in 235/70VR15 for The Lovely Harvey's Caprice run $123 per tire and that is the only tire in that size that is rated for what the car can do. We could get her the The Eagle GT IIs for $75 each, but the car would routinely outperform the tires and I refuse to compromise on her safety to save a whopping $176 spread over three years. How ironic is it that to save money on tires, we would almost have to change to 17" rim and buy racing tires? There are a lot more choices in the 255/50-17 sizes which are the stock Impala SS size, starting at $99 going to $193.

I don't want to spend any money on the car because of the way The Lovely Harvey treats me about fixing it. If it were her car, we would both give a resigned sigh, I'd say something like, "These parts wear out, we'll just fix it," and we'd fix it. With her radiator I was way more concerned that she had had to drive without coolant than I was about replacing the radiator. Driving without coolant would have meant a new motor! That's metric money. And when the frame on the blue truck was cracked and needed to be welded, I was more shocked that the design was bad enough that there were stress cracks on the frame than upset we had to fix it.

When it is my car, she acts like I have been conspiring to make the parts wear faster and that I sit around breaking things just to cause financial crisis'.

I will let everyone in on the secret. Shit like this breaking makes me hate my car. And when I hate my car, I don't want to drive it.

Because of the double tap from the sewer and the front end, I don't think I will be able to afford gas to go to the Daytona Spring Fling. I can take my pick of rides with someone else, but going to a car show without your car is like going to the prom without a date. As it stands, I will probibly have to dip into savings to pay for the tires and alignment.

Car Mod Madness

I have replaced the ratty headliner with a refurbished one from a 94 Impala. I had it recovered in charcoal gray.

Part of the installation is a set of lights just above the rear doors to allow the back seat passengers to read.

The headliner in a 91-96 Caprice/Impala SS/Biscayne is a dense open-cell foam covered in fiber-cloth on one side and an attractive fabric on the other. It's about 4' wide and 5' long. Imagine getting that into the 3x4 door. It's not pretty.

Actually, it IS pretty. I still have to cut the hole for the overhead console and get that back in, so no pics yet.

Kipling Corner

Danegeld:

It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation,
To call upon a neighbour and to say:
"We invaded you last night - we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away."

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld
And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away."

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray,
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:

"We never pay any one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost,
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!"

I'm Figuring It Out

I come to realize that to feel good about yourself you must be good at something you feel good about doing and you must be able to do that.

For example, the only thing I am good at, and am able to do, is be a fucking prick. But being a fucking prick doesn't make me feel good.

There was once roleplaying, I moved away from my group and I am no longer able to tolerate the online discussion groups. Which is sad because GURPS is a fun system. But since I am not Kromm or Hans, then my opinion matters not. And I want to matter. But I don't, and I never will so why butt heads?

There was once cars. When you don't have a job and your wife is sick of paying to fix the car, there is no way she'll let you buy modifications. And once again, there is an "expert" that everyone defers to, so I don't matter. And I want to matter. But I don't, and I never will so why butt heads?

The Joys Of Home Ownership

The Lovely Harvey was doing the laundry and when the washer went into drain mode, sewer water came gushing out of every drain!

The county thinks it could be their issue, but we don't seem to have a clean out.

I dumped a gallon of Main Line and Lateral Cleaner down the garage shower drain. I hope that fixes it.

A Story Too Good Not To Share

Music...

And while I'm at it, I'd like to pass along a story a friend shared with me some time ago, a gun show story that makes me smile every time I remember it. The details of the setup are a bit fuzzy, as I'd only heard it once.

It came to pass at a show out in Virginia, the one near the Dulles airport, perhaps a year after 9/11. Apparently, there was some sort of emergency at the airport that called for the evacuation of the gunshow. A voice came on over the PA, announcing the situation.

My friend tells me that the hall grew quiet, as people listened. In that silence, just about everyone in the show simultaneously arrived at the same decision, and for the next 30 seconds, all you heard was the kerplopple of steel on kydex and leather, the snips of zipties coming off, and the glorious ka shink! of a thousand people simultaneously racking rounds into chambers.

It was, my friend assured me, the coolest thing he has ever heard.

It was followed by another moment of silent appreciation, as everyone let what they'd just heard, what they'd just been a part of, sink in. And then, everyone simply made their way towards the exit, in no particular hurry.

That, my friends, is the music of America. It is the sound of a people, of every race, color and creed who are simply determined to be ready, come what may, soberly determined that no evil shall stand in their presence.

It is the sound of my brothers, my tribe and my nation.

I love you all for it.

Shamelessly stolen from: http://geekwitha45.blogspot.com/

You Could Get A Heart Attack From A Shock This Big

Objectivism You scored 55 Angst, 47 Weirdness, and 57 Freedom!

Not a religion so much as a philosophical and political system, Objectivism was first articulated by author Ayn Rand in her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged (the latter of which was listed second only to the Bible in a survey of college students about which book influenced them the most). Objectivism is based on the idea that reason, science, and objectivity are the only ways of knowing, and that laissez-faire capitalism is the best economic system around. Despite its open distaste for religion, many have accused Objectivism of having a cult-like belief system, one that includes the virtual deification of Rand. This ultimately led to a split between the hard-core Rand followers in the Ayn Rand Institute and the less dogmatic Insitute for Objectivist Studies. http://www.aynrand.org/

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 79% on Angst You scored higher than 72% on Weirdness You scored higher than 59% on Freedom

Link: The Which Cult Should You Join? Test written by MyPoMoLife on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

A Classic

A Pan Am 727 flight waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following:

Lufthansa: "Boden, was ist unsere Anfangsabstand Zeit?" (Ground, what is our start clearance time?)
Ground: "If you want an answer you must speak in English."
Lufthansa: "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?"
Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war."

But I Think We Knew This Didn't We

Gun Nut You are 93% of a gun nut!

You are a true gun nut. The number of guns in your house is probably over five. All of them are truly effective in your hands.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 95% on knowledge

Link: The Gun Nut Test written by slayer1am on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

The Universe Has A Sense Of Humor

At the bottom of my Concealed Weapon or Firearm License is the signature of the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Divsion of Licensing; Charles H Bronson.

Charles Bronson.

Let that sink in for a second.

Best Guns

Kim Du Toit has posted his. And with closed comments. Coward. Especially since he fucked up, the M21 is not a Remington 700, it's an accurized M14. The M24 is derived from a Rem 700, but it is NOT an actual Rem 700, nor is the Marine M40.

My favs:

Hunting Rifle: Remington 700, .30-06 with 4-12x scope. .30-06 is versatile. Varmits to big game it can do it. The 700 is a damn fine action. Winchester Model 70 and Savage 12 runners up here.

Fighting Rifle: FN FAL. 7.62x51mm NATO is an excellent choice. The FAL has proven itself in reliability and durability over the H&K and it fits me better than a M1A. If I was really going to buy a 7.62x51mm NATO semi-auto I would buy an M1A. Key to the reliability and durablity seems to be the FN part, US made guns just arent living up to the original's reputation. An AKM, SKS or Daewoo DR200 are also rans, but lack either accuracy or range.

Sniper Rifle: Remington 700, .338 Lapua Magnum with 4-12x scope. Just like the hunting gun, but with more thump. .30-06 would be fine for sniping, as would 7.62x51mm, but I want someone I snipe to stay down.

Pump Shotgun: Remington 870, 12ga 3", cylinder bore, rifle sights. More consistent quality control than Mossberg.

Automatic Shotgun: I don't like semi-auto shotguns. I have never fired one that worked right when it fit or fit right when it worked. SIGH.

Automatic Pistol: Glock 21. .45 ACP, 13+1, dead reliable. And guaranteed to piss about half the gun population off when it works better than they expected.

Revolver: Colt Anaconda, .45 Colt. My prejudiced choice. Cylinder rotates in the proper direction (as decreed by the Gods) big time proven bullets, stainless. I still have not forgiven S&W or Ruger.

It's A Hobby People

I love cars, no secret there. All of the neat modifications to my car, I have either done myself or the lion's share of the work. Hell, I even change my own oil and do my own brakes.

To me, the act of doing the mods makes you a car-guy. If you paid me to do them for you, you are not a car-guy. You are certainly interested in cars, a car-fan perhaps, but you are not a car-guy.

Too many people in this sphere of interest are simply paying someone else to do it for them. And there are varying degrees of paying for it. But the pride of pointing to something and saying, "I did that!" is well worth it. Especially when the car next to yours isn't any better and the owner paid someone else to do it for them.

And, yes, I am guilty of hiring a friend to paint my car. I learned a lot from that though (and I WAS helping) and would like to learn more about it so that I can paint my next car myself. But for the Rogers and Charlies of the world, congratulations, you have a job. You may even have a vision of what you want in a car, but YOU did nothing but write checks. People remember the person who did it, not who funded it. Most people remember Frank Lloyd Wright for his designs, who paid for them? Boyd Coddington and Chip Foose are not famous for buying cars, they are famous for building cars. To get famous for buying them, you have to be famous for something else first, like Jay Leno, Chris Titus or Tim Allen.

So, stop paying the Kennys and invest the money in some tools and some books. Stop paying the Kennys and ask someone in the club to teach you how to do some of this stuff. You will rapidly find that once you are participating in this hobby as a full member you will get more out of it.

I Just Dunno But I Am Getting Closer To Understanding

When I lived in Iowa, my main social activity was gaming. When I moved to Florida, I essentially abandoned gaming.

Until recently, my main social activity was hanging out with the car club. Because of mistakes and misunderstandings, the joy I felt from working on my car is gone. I have discovered, to my surprise, that it was the acceptance of my peers that I sought. I would have thought that the goal was the getting the car where I wanted it. Nope. What I was doing was seeking approval from others. Not what I expected of myself at all.

As one can tell from my previous post, I am still interested in gaming even if I don't get to play. Even when the opportunity to play presents itself, I shy away. I feel like a recovering alcoholic in a bar. As long as I don't drink, I will be able to face the day tomorrow. As long as I don't actually play, I will not have to face losing it again. FuzzyGeff, that is my apology for not setting aside some time when you were down. Oddly, when I visit Iowa, this isn't a problem.

I still have friends from when I was shooting regularly. I still like guns and feel strongly that the 2nd Amendment means we can have machineguns and has nothing to do with hunting or even crime. But shooting is EXPENSIVE with a capital $. And I have NEVER had the finances to shoot like I wanted or dreamed of. When the entry level guns are the price of a moderate used car, you need a very stable and large income. And I have too many interests, honestly, to commit to that level of shooting without a millionaire dropping dead and leaving me the wad.

I am still interested in cars. Cars are also expensive. In some ways as expensive as guns. Cars can be done in smaller installments than guns. One can slowly accumulate parts for a project for years and the total costs are quite invisible. For my car to be a meaningful hobby, I have to be doing it because I like what I have done and not care about or seek other's opinions.

With only the single income it is hard, if not impossible, to buy some of the more expensive items.

Losing the car club was hard. My entire social support network was evaporated in one fell swoop by a petty bitter prick named Kenny. With gaming, I chose to leave and am welcome back. No so with the car thing. I was kicked out and told to not return. My "friends" did not stand up to Kenny. He put his foot down and like good little dogs, they obeyed. Yes, I am bitter. Not one person said, "Kenny you are wrong and until Thag is allowed back, count me out." Not one person. Some told him he was wrong, but did nothing else. Gods forbid that they should take a stand for someone else and find something else to do on Wednesdays.

All of this has led to a black funk that The Lovely Harvey cannot ignore. I have not been doing my job as a husband while I was feeling sorry for myself. Sorry Honey.

My plan for the car is now simple. Install the parts that I already have stored up in the garage. Replace the transmission, I would LOVE the $4000 manual, but a $1600 GM rebuilt auto will do me fine. Fix the air conditioning, $721.13 in parts from AutoZone, plus another $100 getting it charged up. And finally just maintaining it. I really do love my car, I want it to be around for a while. Maybe the mod bug will bite The Lovely Harvey someday and we can start playing on her car.

Traveller

I have decided that the official GURPS version of Traveller is not cutting it. Too many changes made to make Marc W Miller happy (like going along with the post Zhodani war chronology).

Far Future Enterprises has republished all of the original small books in anthology form. I have Suppliments and Books is coming. I wouldn't need Books, except my original three are long destroyed by my apartment in Ames flooding and High Guard is falling apart. And I think that Mercenary is actually Geff's. Better check that Geff.

I have converted Traveller to GURPS before. We had a lot of fun every time. This time I intend to make a version that is faithfull to the original small book canon with the GURPS 4e rules. I am agonizing over some of it because Space for 4e is not due until April. Somehow I don't think that it will add much that isn't in the Basic Set or change much from the 3e editions.

Well some small changes, I am going to reconcile the Book 2 designs with Book 5. This is going to impact some ships like the Type S massively.

And I may choose to ignore GURPS Traveller Interstellar Wars altogether. I am curious about it, but not sure that I am $35 curious yet.

Suggestions and submissions are solicited and will be appreciated.

Insomnia Returns

So I have been entertaining myself with IL-2+Forgetten Battles+Aces Expansion Pack+Pacific Fighters which has just been patched to 4.03m.

The big change from before is a bunch of flyable Italian planes (M.C. 200 III, M.C.202 III, M.C.202 VII, M.C.202 XII, M.C.205 I and M.C.205 III). Those are in addition to the Fiat CR.42 (a biplane) and Fiat G.50. So I have been doing a lot of whomping on the wops! And I have been playing the guineas too, not a big strech since I am half greaser myself.

I have noticed that I have become a damn good pilot, most of my kills are at less than 100m now.

I discovered while looking up the real life stats of some of the new planes that the top scoring Italian ace got his kills over the Russian front. I honestly didn't know they were on that front!

For the Brits, the Tempest Mk.V and Mosquito FB Mk.VI got added with another version of the Spitfire.

Japan gets a J2M3 flyable now, before it was just AI.

Germany adds the Do.335-A0 and makes the Ju.88 flyable. New subvariants of existing planes are added Bf.109K4-C2 and Fw.190A5 with the big supercharger.

There are several tweaks to the flight model which seem to make things work the way I have read them working. And the AI seems to have been given smarter tactics, the wingmen have not.

Three random screen shots!



This is the Dornier Do-335A0, designed as a fighter-bomber redesigned into an interceptor. It still has a bomb bay! The pilots called it the Anteater.



I'm in the Soviet La-7 here. It took a couple of seconds to realize that I had not just had a mid-air.



Just Showing off!

Bad News

My mom called today.

Grandma Natto has passed on.

She was 85.

Freedom

Freedom is a topic near and dear to my heart.

It is the core of my religious belief, "Do as you will, harm none."

There is a down side to being free. You are free to fail. I will say it again, you are free to fail.

And if you are the failure, freedom sucks. The good side of this is that I am free to help you if I want. You are also free to refuse. It is your right to starve if you want.

Freedom can be offensive. If we were really free, I could tell a dirty joke in front of the secretary. Freedom means having a thick skin. You have a right to be offended, but not to force me to shut up.

Freedom carries responsibilities. The cliche is, "You cannot yell 'FIRE' in a crowded theatre when there is no fire." Yes I can, I shouldn't. It is at the very least, stealing a portion of the program from my fellow patrons.

This idea of freedom is the core of libertarianism.

Welfare is not freedom. It steals your right to fail. It robs me of the option of helping you. Welfare forces me to aid you whether you deserve the help or not.

Politically correct speech is not freedom. It robs me of the ability to say what I wish to say. By deliberately changing the meaning of words and phrases, you rob my words of the meaning I intend. And if I cannot say what I mean, I cannot mean what I say. And make no mistake, I will find a way to say what I mean. If you leave me no other method, I will use the forbidden words, like "CENSORED and cunt".

Forcing me to be a father is not freedom. Insisting that the woman has 100% of the decision about carrying a child to term contradicts the man's responsibilities. No rights, no responsibilities girls. Now, you have 100% of the rights, guess what percentage of the responsibility comes with that.

Forcing me to pay child support is not freedom. The man is not 100% responsible for the making of the child. He is 50%. If that confuses you, you need to buy a grade-school level biology text. Mommy, you were there too and willing, because rapists go to jail, not child support hearings.

Environmentalism is not freedom. What if I like manatee burgers? Your right to have a sea cow in your canal trumps my right to a tasty snack? Ever watch the ducks and geese flying over in the spring and fall? Don't thank the environmentalists or government for that, thank hunters. They did it on their own, because they want to kill ducks, and keep killing ducks forever in "unlimited" quantities.

There are more examples. The main point is most rights are negative, meaning that you cannot get between me and that right and are under no obligation whatsoever to aid me. This is completely different from a positive right, where you are compelled to give me what I am entitled to. Notice the difference between you cannot stop me and you must aid me. At the root of it, there are very few positive rights. An example of a positive right is when you have agreed to pay me for a service I render to you. Once I have completed this service, you are obligated to pay the agreed amount. The agreement creates a positive right for you to receive a service and a positive right for me to recieve money.

Freedom can lead to ugly things. You have the right to hate. You have the right to refuse service to people you deem undesirable. You have the right to force these people to sit in a particular place in your restaurant if they wish to be served. Freedom lets the market decide if your business thrives. If the undesirables decide to not bother with your rules and shop somewhere else and that means you lose too much business to stay open, so be it. Laws forcing business to allow the undesirables in or to forbid them from shopping there are not freedom. And in forbidding, they are eliminating the gem of free enterprise, the niche market.

I'll bet you are thinking I am talking about racism, don't you?

Nope, smoking. But now that I mention it, smokers are being treated like blacks in the south.

That's enough to think about for now.

From The Lovely Harvey's Blog

The average person only gets 7 correct. I got 20

This is based on U.S. info, so use all lobes of your brain. This can be more difficult than it looks - it just shows how little most of us really see!

There are 25 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right? These little simple questions are harder than you think-- it just shows you how little we pay attention to the commonplace things of life.

Put your thinking caps on. No cheating! No looking around! No getting out of your chair! No using anything on or in your desk or computer!

Can you beat 20?? (The average is 7) Write down your answers as you
go.

Check answers (on the bottom), AFTER completing all the questions.

REMEMBER - NO CHEATING!!! BE HONEST!!! That means no looking at your phone or anything on your desk...


Then, before you pass this on to your friends, change the number on the subject line to show how many you got correct. Forward to your friends and also back to the one who sent it to you.


LET'S JUST SEE HOW OBSERVANT YOU REALLY ARE.

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?


2. How many states are there in the USA? (Don't laugh, some people don't know)


3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty's torch?


4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell's soup label?


5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?


6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? (Don't you dare get up to see!)


7. How many matches are in a standard pack?


8. On the United State s flag is the top stripe red or white?


9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?


10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?


11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?


12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?


13 On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons?


14. Which way do fans rotate?


15 How many sides does a stop sign have?


16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?


17 How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?


18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?


19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?


20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?


21 On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?


22 On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?


23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?


24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?


25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?


Answers below the break.

Welcome Back

I stopped playing IL-2 when I got Wings Over Vietnam. I got fed up with WOV and started playing IL-2 again. I dunno what happened while I was playing WOV that grants skills to WW2 planes, but I am SHIT HOT now!

I feel damn good about this.

God Is Dead And I Can Prove It

Totally Clueless, ex Mrs Orca Shitheel, CONVICTED OF FELONY CHILD NEGLECT has been awarded custody of her children. Dead Link Do a search for Totally Shitheel at that site. Note that she is still on probation for the crime until 2009! Three years left on her punishment for neglecting these same children and they hand them back to her? WHAT THE FUCK, OVER?

Fucking judges are just fucking stupid. Judge William Webb, when these kids are suffering because of your decisions, I hope that you at least feel guilty about what you did.

She called here and expected me to be happy for her. Totally, how am I supposed to feel happy for you when I know that you aren't going to be a good parent. I know your work schedule, and Musclebound. You are going to be gone all morning and he is gone all day. Who is going to take care of them? You don't make enough collectively to pay a daycare.

If you live in Pasco County, Florida; vote NO to Judge William Webb's retention next time he is on the ballot.

I Sure Am Handy When Opportunity Presents Itself

The left toe brake on my CH Pro Pedal USB broke.

I opened it up and repaired the wire leading from the pot to the circuit board.

Wooo HOOOOO!

I also cleaned about a pound of fur and grit from inside there. I love pets.

Since most of the fur was gray, it had to have been left over from Sammy, who used to sleep under my desk as close to the pedals as she could without getting kicked. I got a little choked up about that. She really was a good cat.

I Know Exactly How This Feels

BatQuiz

A. FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
1. Tank Crewman
2. Pizza Delivery Driver
3. Assembly Line Drone (non-union)
4. Mechanical Drafter/Designer

B. FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Jackie Brown
2. Red Dawn
3. Trainspotting
4. Big Trouble in Little China

C. FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN:
1. Bolingbrook, IL
2. Stuttgart, FRG
3. Des Moines, IA
4. Tampa, FL

D. FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
1. Dirty Jobs
2. Battlestar Galactica (New Version)
3. Full Metal Alchemist
4. Simpsons

E. FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Daytona, FL
2. Sturgis, SD
3. Yellowstone National Park, WY
4. Padre Island, TX

F. FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:
1. Livejournal
2. Yahoo 360
3. Waspi Square
4. Astronomy Picture of the Day

G. FOUR OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE RESTAURANTS:
1. Pizza Pit
2. Miguels on Kennedy in Tampa
3. House of Chen
4. Karina Bakery (Closed)

H. FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Soups of all kinds
2. Pizza
3. Chicken and Broccoli, spicy with peanuts
4. Burritos

I. FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED:
1. Ames High School
2. Iowa State University
3. Des Moines Area Community College
4. Florida Metropolitian University

J. FOUR PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. Driving to Seattle (ROAD TRIP!)
2. Flight School
3. Museum
4. Book Store

K. FOUR THINGS YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING:
1. I'll explain this, again...
2. Really?
3. What the fuck, over?
4. GO TO YOUR ROOM!

Rule Of Man Or Rule Of Law

When is it legal for me to kill someone? The answers are readily available from numerous sources.

When is it legal for me to kill a policeman? Superficially, the circumstances where I can shoot Joe Nobody are the same, and the rules apply to shooting cops too. That is not how it works in practice. In practice, it is never legal to shoot a cop, ever.

When is it legal for a policeman to kill someone? Again, the police seem to be held to the same standards that I am. Once again, the practice is different from the theory. The police can shoot anyone they like and not be punished in a meaningful way. Being sent home for three months with pay is not a punishment.

I'm a person who feels that us common citizens have the right to own guns so that we may shoot the agents of the state should all other forms of redress fail. With that in mind, the circumstances where I, a common citizen, may begin shooting should be clearly defined. This serves two purposes, it lets me know when to start shooting, and it lets them know where the lines are.

I also have another radical reform idea. The standards where the police are allowed to use lethal force should be set a lot higher than the common person. As an agent of the state, the policeman can call more resources to bear than I can. And the loss of an individual officer is nowhere near as devastating to the state as the loss of an individual to a family. Currently the system is backwards, the state can kill someone because an individual officer "felt" threatened. If a common citizen should attempt this argument and the corpse has no weapon on it, common man becomes common convict.

Remember, it is not an individual shooting when a cop shoots. It. Is. The. State.

Yes, I know what I propose will make it more dangerous to be a policeman. Tough. There are many other fields hiring. The state MUST use more restraint than the individual and MUST use due process when meting out justice.

Alternatively, make the rules in practice be the same for both a private citizen and an officer of the law. Make it easier for me to shoot and harder for him. One little caveat, if the cop shoots and is justified, he is not a cop ANYWHERE for a year. And he is not paid by any government agency for that year either. He will be just like me, for a year. That lets him defend himself if he needs to, and forces him to think very hard about pulling the trigger because the consequences are extreme.

The Ring Of Truth

A U.S. Marine squad was marching north of Basra when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist, badly injured and unconscious. On the
opposite side of the road was an American Marine in similar but less serious state.

The Marine was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had
happened.

The Marine reported, "I was patrolling and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was that heavily armed
insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road.

I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein is a miserable, lowlife, scumbag, and he yelled back that Senator Ted Kennedy is a
good-for-nothing, fat, left wing liberal drunken murderer.

So I yelled that Osama Bin Ladin dresses and acts like a frigid, mean spirited woman!", and he retaliated by yelling, "Oh yeah? Well
so does Hillary Clinton!"

"And, there we were, standing in the middle of the road, shaking hands, when a truck hit us."

I Sure Get Around

visited 38 states (76%)
Buy Douwe's Machine Learning Book

create your own visited states mapor check out these Google Hacks.

Hans? Polen, ja?

Compare Contrast Time (A Wandering Rant)

Find someone who was obviously not born in the US.

Ask them for their green card.

I am willing to bet that unless your candidate is Hispanic, that card will be produced with a proud flourish! Or they will tell you the exact date they became a citizen.

Of course, some of the surliness is odd. A goodly chunk of the "Puerto Ricans" in the US were actually born in the US and wouldn't need a green card anyway. That means NOT born in Puerto Rico! IIRC someone born in a US territory doesn't need a green card either. Based on the level of English seen in their community, I would think that PR wasn't a US territory. For a contrast with another territory go look at American Samoa and Guam. English is the preferred language there, most of the residents are truly bilingual.

I know, shut my racist ass up.

My goal is America for Americans. You do not have to be born here to be an American. But if you live here, you should become one. If you work here you should become one. If you live and work here and wish to remain a Mexican or Canadian or Indian, stay home. And in the case of India, the jobs are coming to you, why come here?

Why do I think they should stay home? Becuase what we are getting in the Southwest is a Mexican Colony! Miami is now the most populous city in Cuba. There are more Spanish speaking Puerto Ricans in New York City than all of Puerto Rico for chrissake!

We have a family from ex-Soviet Georgia living not too far from here. They are AMERICAN. I was born here and I am just American. That's the kind of immigrant we need here. The parents might have thick accents, but they are speaking English most of the time and are intelligible. Could this be because they want to be Americans? Unlike their predecessors in that house, the PR family from New Jersey, who don't want to be American so bad they don't even register that they have never even been to Puerto Rico.

You don't wanna be an American? Fine with me, leave. There must be some reason that people are flocking here instead of Haiti. I am going to come right out and say it. Perhaps the reason that you left your homeland is because is being run by people who aren't Americans? Think about why you left home before you try to make here just like it.

Next time you hear someone talking about how much it sucks to be here because of how hard we treat their poor minority ass, offer them a ticket to ANYWHERE ELSE. One way. Even the South at it's worst KKK worshipping mode is preferable to Africa to virtually every Black, or there would be an exodus wouldn't there?

By the way, "BLACK" is not meant to mean anything bad. I have lost track of which euphenism is PC, so I have settled on Black as a descriptive term for a person of African descent with negroid genealogy. In no way do I intend "black" as a euphemism for "CENSORED". Speaking of which, I gather that the rapidly changing descriptive has a lot to do with English being able to make any word mean something else by they way you say it. Here's a clue, if I can make "valedictorian" into "CENSORED" by inflection, then I can make any word mean something racially derogatory and there is no term that you can apply that will keep me from slurring you. By changing the euphemism every five years or so, you give power to the racists by letting them take words away from their proper meaning.

But changing the meaning of words is what the PC crowd is all about. Remember: If you cannot say what you mean, you cannot mean what you say.

Idiocy Abounds

Some of my dear readers remember Dumbass and Escapee. They are in the middle of a very messy divorce. They both have blogs. Do I need to fill in the rest?

The son of a friend was beaten near to death Sunday night. He used to be in a gang, he had actually gotten out. The problem with having once been in a gang is the other gangs might not accept your resignation. SIGH. TJ is in a coma, he might not wake up, and if he does there is a high likelyhood that he will no longer be TJ.

By the way, if you are or used to be in a gang, the police do not give a fuck about you. There will be no legal justice done here. But they may have awakened the wrong sleeping giant, TJ's dad is ex-spec forces. I can see this having a happy ending after all.

Starship Troopers

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.

Seen On A Tee Shirt

G_ F_CK Y_ _RS_LF! Would you like to buy a vowel?

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."

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

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!

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.

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

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.

Just For You RavenclawEric

Stag Arms lefty rifles.

Finally a mouse-slayer that won't force you to eat brass!