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.
Click here to submit $0.00 US for a lifetime subscription
Posts
All Comments
23 February 2006
17 February 2006
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.
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.
15 February 2006
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!
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!
10 February 2006
09 February 2006
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.
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.
08 February 2006
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.
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.
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.
07 February 2006
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 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.
02 February 2006
01 February 2006
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!
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!
30 January 2006
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.
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."
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."
23 January 2006
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.
20 January 2006
18 January 2006
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.
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.
17 January 2006
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.
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.
30 December 2005
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.
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.
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?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)