That shooting by a Marine in Fallujah

Caught some info about in on the NBC news last night- just happened to be in a place where it was on- and based on the incomplete information they gave, my first thought was, "So what?"

Among the things I don't know;
Were his hands in sight?
If so, were they open & empty, or closed?
Did he react at all to commands?

If his hands are out of sight, you have no idea what he may be holding, gun, grenade or detonator.
If his hands are in sight, but closed, you have to look for anything he may be holding, and/or any wires.
If he can obviously hear you and ignores you, that factors in with the above.

You're in a place where the bad guys are booby-trapping the bodies of their wounded and dead(hey, NBC, that's not a new tactic, it's been around a long time), and the wounded themselves may well use a weapon- gun, grenade or bomb detonator- to try and take a few infidels with them. You do not take chances with them, not if you want to stay alive and whole.

So, based on what I do know, big deal. We're dealing with people who think cutting people's heads off on camera shows what true believers in God they are, and they want to die- preferably while killing one of us. I know a lot of people are going to scream about how horrible we are, etc. Screw 'em. Those marines are alive, and the bad guys are dead. And that is the point of this.

There are, from what I understand, basically three ways to win a war. 1, you outmaneuver the other side so badly they realize they can't win and either surrender or sue for peace. 2, you smash them so badly in battle- maybe several battles- that they give up. 3, if 1 or 2 don't do the job, you kill them until either the survivors surrender, or there are none left to fight. It ain't pretty or nice, but that's the way it works. The Nazis fought until the very end. The Japanese were set up to do the same, hoping to bleed us so badly we'd negotiate a peace leaving that government in power... until Fat Man and Little Boy shocked them enough to end it. The people we're fighting here are just as bad, they'd rather see the whole world blighted than not see their beliefs in control; and since being dhimmi, converted or dead is not something most of us will tolerate, it's on until the end. And stopping people like this, things like this will happen.

Semper Fi, guys.

'Day of Destruction'; it's a turkey

Now, I like good monster and disaster movies, but I've become more critical over the years. Which means I have to dump on this movie.

Massive storm systems forming, ok. Two of them meeting, ok. The rest of this? Crap.

Where to start? The head of the Severe Storms Lab in Norman is blaming global warming. They show a display of the 'polar jet stream', except the video is a mesocyclone that could be anywhere. And a severe storm system doesn't just 'appear', not one of the sizes depicted.
The Evil Power Company Executive is screwing several state's power systems up for profit, AND causing fish-kills by working a nuclear plant above safety levels.
The Dedicated Public Servant is bitching how nobody will listen to her, she's been warning them for years, etc.
The Crusading Reporter can't get her boss to approve her Crusade Against The Evildoers.
And there is the obligatory 'we need alternate power sources, coal and oil are dirty, nuclear is bad for the environment', but nobody mentions what these other sources are.

Steven den Beste has written a number of times on the subject of power sources, and what amounts to magical thinking on the subject. "WE NEED THEM NOW" does not translate to something appearing, no matter how hard you wish it. If you can find a new system of power generation that can, cost-effectively, replace oil/gas/nuclear, more power to you. And you will become very, very rich. Which means that if someone had found it, they'd be very, very rich, and we'd be replacing the old plants.

So what we have is another disaster movie with lots of politically-correct bitching at the usual villains, and the usual portrayal of the PC heroes. And lots of scientific inaccuracies. Hey, I'm not a dedicated weather guy, but I can still spot lots of crap in this, and it really takes away from the movie.

At least for me.

'First' Americans?

Clayton Cramer has a post touching on the question of 'who got here first?'.

Interesting question. And the piece points out the hostility that tends to be directed at those who question the 'accepted wisdom' on scientific issues.
As I recall, Jenner and his vaccinations were mostly stomped on by various eminent scientists and doctors, and the germ theory of disease almost got its discoverer run out of medicine- again, by eminent scientists and doctors who didn't like their beliefs being questioned.

Read a book called "America B.C." some years ago, and it presented evidence of Celtic contact with North America. It struck me then that a lot of the criticism of the idea sounded a lot like "It can't be, I tell you! So shut up!".

Not a good way to reasearch anything.

There has to be skepticism of new ideas, I have no problem with that. When new ideas, new evidence, are dismissed out-of-hand simply because they break with or contrast with what we already 'know', there's a big problem.

Communism-lite

Was looking at a blog run by, surprise surprise, a guy working for tenure in social studies(no, I'm not linking to it). He says that the blue-state types need to ally with red-state types because militant Islam is such a threat that working with the fascist-lite Bushword types is a lesser evil.

This blog annoys me no end. Here's a teacher, planning on tenure(think he'll have anything good to say in class about anyone with a conservative bent?) who says neither Bush-fascism or left-communism can save us, only socialism is the answer.

Sorry, guy. I think teachers like you are part of the reason we have some of the troubles we do, and I think socialism is, at best, communism-lite. I don't want you in control any more than the other nazis/communists/fascists(and don't yell at me about name-calling; all of them are socialist systems).

I have a number of disagreements with President Bush, but saying that he's pushing us into fascism does not come across a believable. I'm a lot more worried about various people in Congress and some judges than I am him.

Just how good do we have it?

Every once in a while I think about how much easier we have it in many ways. I'm not talking about political stuff right now, but simply physically.

How many people do you know who died of tetanus? None for me. My parents knew some, my grandparents more. But in any place where you can get that one shot, it doesn't happen unless someone doesn't bother to get it. And if there's a nastier way to die than tetanus, I don't know what it is; it's right up there with smallpox and plague and ebola.

How often do you have to skip fresh fruits or veggies because they're not available? Not because the price is too high this week, but not there? They're always there, now. And canned or frozen if you're not insisting on fresh.

Fresh meat? Go to the store, it's there. Or you can take some frozen out of the freezer; unless you messed up storing it, it'll be good.

Medical troubles? Appendicitus (I speak from experience) sucks; appendicitus without surgical help/including anaesthesia/ would suck a LOT worse. Same for a variety of other things.
Yes, I know paying for medical help can be a problem. But the treatment is there, and payment can be worked out. Not that long ago, most treatments just weren't there.

You can argue about guns all you want; fact is, if someone breaks into your house and isn't waiting for the cops to show up, a firearm beats hell out of a knife or club, or nothing. Yeah, yeah, martial arts are great; somebody comes into my home and offers threat to me, I want a boomstick. Beats hell out of having to get in arms-reach of the bad guy(what if his reach is longer?)

Books. Lots and lots of books. Not rare, not priced out of reach. New books, used books, BOOKS!

Transportation? My parents, and older relatives, remember a trip to the store being something that took at least a day, from the farm to town and back. My great-uncle can make what used to be a day-there-and-day-back trip in an hour or so each way. Motor vehicles of all types, mass transit, bicycles, and all on good roads.

Not even getting into the internet and such, God, we are so much better off in many ways.

Yes, there are drawbacks, which I'll touch on later. But in so many ways... Go back to the medieval period? Visit yes(with a .45 in my tunic, thank you very much), but to live there? No bleepin' way.

Stuff you should read

And stuff I don't want to forget where is

Smallest Minority has a lot of good stuff; self-defense, 'neckies', movie reviews, etc. Go there & work your way down.

And remember National Ammo Week! I got my first batch yesterday.

Velociman is one sick dude. Don't miss him.

And Cold Fury has a marvelous piece you should get to.

It's not just CBS a lot of people are mad at

And here's one of the reasons why.

When networks do stuff like this, and then insist that they have "no bias in what we report"... And then seem truly unable to understand why people don't believe them.

Found at Tim Blair's place

And by the way, what is CBS going to do about Rather and company? Or are they still hoping it'll go away?

Solve that crime!

If you can't use DNA evidence, then what good is it?

Belief

Was thinking about some things I saw over at Heterodoxy & Orthodoxy, brought something to mind.

All of the various stuff from Democrat commentators and leftist news weenies about 'you know, some of these religeous types actually believe this stuff' brought it up.

When someone does not themselves have any religeous beliefs, or when those they claim are just window-dressing, how do you discuss this with them? How do you explain an idea to someone who, down inside does not believe that anyone could take it seriously?

It's like talking to someone who simply cannot believe that a 'civilized' human could actually believe in a right to arms. There is simply no frame of reference they can place it in except "deluded fool who doesn't know what's good for him", so that's how they treat you.

So much of the commentary on moral and religeous beliefs from the above-noted is on the level of "talk nice to them and say you will respect them in the morning, and they'll see how smart and progressive you are and vote for you", and it is stupid. You do not get through to someone on any meaningful level with condescension; you just piss them off on one level, and make them pity you on another. (those more generous in outlook will feel pity or sorrow; everyone else will just get more pissed off at you).

The other part is the commentary on the lines that "Your beliefs are just being used, you are being fooled," and so forth; often from someone with no real religeous beliefs themselves. Or, from those who do have true beliefs, "MY religeon does not allow starting a war on lies", etc. There, it's down to "If you believed properly, you would not have voted for that man!"

It's the attitude that "You're not smart enough/sophisticated enough/caring enough to really understand" again.

And that won't get you anywhere.

Does anyone else want to see Steve Irwin chomped?

SERIOUSLY chomped?

First time I ever saw this boob, he was in Arizona chasing rattlesnakes. After about ten minutes I asked if anyone else was hoping one of the snakes would get him, and my dad and son both said yes. My opinion hasn't changed.

He's generally annoying, and after seeing the shots of him feeding the crocodile while holding the baby, I was willing to speed up the process by shooting him and then throwing him to the lizard.

Closely following him is Jeff Corwin. The actual critter stuff he does is pretty good, but then he either breaks into enviro-weenie-level lectures, or trying to do comedy with some beast for background.

Where's the serious man-eater-type beasts when you need them?

Oh, this is wonderful!

Found a place called 'Orthodox & Heterodox' with a lovely little 'Red State/Blue State piece. Go thou, and enjoy.

Link found at Instapundit

Guards and grips and pommels

Guards on using knives have almost always been simple; flat cross-section, rounded ends that may have a bit of forward or back bend, no bigger than necessary. And many did not have a guard at all.
Grips were bone, wood or antler, either riveted to a flat tang, or with a hole bored or burned through to fit a narrow tang.
Many did not have a pommel, a piece that fits onto the back of the grip. Those that did, again they were generally simple, a round or flat piece the end of the tang fit into.

As you moved up the economic scale, of course, things got fancier. Guards of much more elaborate design and materials- bronze and brass and silver and gold instead of iron and copper- with carved or wire-wrapped grips, pommels of many different designs.

I've always liked antler and wood best. Antler has a texture just as it is, you just have to find a piece that fits the piece you're making. A good piece of many woods have a grain that can be breathtaking, though some are so soft they may not hold up well(cedar, for instance). I've never used ivory; too expensive. Horn can be lovely stuff. Hard, pretty much weatherproof, it can be carved and inlaid and polished.
Note about horn: when polished, glues don't hold very well. Not even epoxy. You have to rough up the glueing surfaces if you want it to hold.

I'm going to figure out how to post pictures on this, will have some examples then.

National Ammo Week Starts Tomorrow!

National Ammo Week is nice and simple; buy at least 100 rounds of ammo. .22's, centerfire, rifle or shotgun, whatever.

It keeps, it's good for holiday gifts, and you'll irritate the right people by getting it.

Let's see, Academy here has Federal Lightning .22's for $6.95/brick right now...

What is sexy about looking like a concentration camp victim?

A the store the other day, some magazine had a picture of Renee Zellweger, having lost the weight she put on for the 'Bridget Jones' movie. I'd been hearing commercials for the program she followed, the 'you can look just like her!' stuff, but after seeing the pictures, I wondered why the HELL you would want to?

Dammit, she looks like hell. Skinny arms, face with the skull showing through. This is NOT what a woman is supposed to look like.

I have seen women who were lean almost to the point of skinny, and looked great. I've see women who were, by most definitions, fat, and looked great. I have not, despite the beliefs of Hollywood and the fashion industry, seen a women with stick-legs and arms and a ribcage like a xylophone who looked like anything but a victim. Of themselves or some idiot who told them that was great, but a victim.

I've a friend who used to spend all her spare time worrying about losing 'that last five pounds'. She looked good, she was healthy, but if you told her that you heard the litany of "I'm fat, I need to lose that last five pounds, I'm flabby", etc. And since she was at a good weight, and was overall healthy, she couldn't lose it. So she started taking diet pills. That worked really well.

The rebound from that mess was a collection of problems and putting on a lot of weight. So now she's depressed about that, and the medication she's on causes her to sleep a lot so she doesn't exercise, and if she did lose weight she'd get to a nice size and obsess about the 'last five' goddamned pounds again...

THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL GOOD WEIGHT/APPEARANCE. For women or men. Be healthy, understand that the people the entertainment industry keep shoving in our faces aren't the ONLY way to look, and be happy.

By the way, the Body Mass Index sucks. If I weighed what that says I should, I would look like I'd escaped from a camp before things got too bad.

And ladies? I've never personally met a man who, in real life, preferred a female who looks like she'd break if you touched her to one with curves. Not implants, curves on her body.

The magma-risin' boogie in WA

According to this article, Mt. Ranier is showing signs of doing something. This is a good news/bad news thing; while the thought of possibly two volcanos making the landscape dance in one area delights me, it would truly, truly suck for a lot of people if Ranier cuts loose.

From what I've read, the big threat with it isn't considered to be explosive eruption, it's lahars- mudflows. The top of the mountain has been slowly rotting into clay over the years due to sulphur dioxide leaking to the surface, mixing with water to form sulphuric acid, and soaking into the rock. I don't have the book handy, but the Osceola mudflow /name?/ some hundreds of years ago traveled for many miles from the mountain and left deposits many feet deep; deep enough to fill in rolling hills and make a plain. And since such a flow, and landslides, can travel more than 100 mph... I forget how many towns/cities are in the risk area, but it includes a lot of people. And since there might be little or no warning of the actual event, this could truly be an "Oh S**t " moment as you look out the window.

An amazing thing, but definately one to see from a distance.

How not to manage a crime problem

The British are now wanting to ban 'assault knives', among other things, in response to rising crime rates. I guess since restricting/banning firearms has worked so well, huh?

Guys, it's not a knife problem, it's a criminal problem. This article presents all the usual stuff; greater police 'random stop and search' powers, restricting sales of 'non-household' knives, etc. It also has this: "photographs of makeshift weapons, including scissor blades taped to a broom handle, to demonstrate the extent of the problem.". Which points out the problem, but not in the way they think it does.

I can take a piece of metal, a hacksaw, a vise and a file and turn out a working knife in a few minutes. People in prisons do it all the time with less. The problem is not the object, it is the people using them. Same with firearms; an honest citazen with an automatic weapon is not a threat, a criminal with a zip gun is. And all the laws in the world won't change that.

And as long as they keep thinking that adding more laws will solve the problem, the problem will continue to get worse.

Liberal condescension

"You know what? Just let me make one point. You were talking about the map before. If indeed all those blue states all got together and seceded from the union, think what would be left for those red states, nothing. There would be no educational system. You would have nothing. What would be left to you? I mean, where is all of this talent in this country? It's on both sides, the Northeast corridor." -Geraldine Ferraro to Sean Hannity on Hannity and Colmes, November 6.

Oh, yeah, no talent, no working brains, no schools, no manufacturing, no nothing except around the Northeast Corridor. Can you belive this crap? This is one of the the most blatant examples imaginable of how the 'liberal' upper reaches of the Democrat party view the rest of the country. And they wonder why they're losing voters?

Just think about that nonsense. She apparently thinks that if half-a-dozen states went away, the whole rest of the country would fall apart. Apparently all the local schools, all the community colleges, all the universities, all the businesses, all the everything would just collapse. This woman, and those who think like her, have a massive disconnect from reality.

And she might have been vice-president? Thank God people saw her for what she is.

Found at Acidman's place

Veteran's Day

We've got people at the sharp end fighting the bad guys- and winning- while flags fly over the graves of those who died doing it, or after years of physical or mental handicaps from the terrible doings of battle.

If you're religeous, say a prayer for those out there now, and for the repose of those who died. If you're not, give due respect and honor to them.

I had two great-uncles who went through WWII, one in the Navy as a diver in the Pacific, the other in 3rd Army Infantry, from somewhere in France through to the end. The Navy uncle died a year ago, the Army uncle was recently treated for cancer and seems to be doing well. In all the times I was around them over the years, I never heard either of them speak of those days, with two exceptions.
The Navy uncle, when Clinton was making noises about invading Iraq and looking stunned when people he expected to support him asked hard questions, talked a little bit about his tour of Pacific vacation spots like Iwo Jima and Tarawa and about dead Marines in the water and on the beaches.
The Army uncle spoke a bit about a couple of souvineers he has hanging on the wall; nothing about the fighting, just some bits about those things. They went to do a dirty job, survived, and as much as possible put it behind them while building their lives here.

To those who made it back and to those who did not, and to those out there now, thank you.

Note: I think it fitting in a way that Yassir Arafat, that murderous dirtbag, finally and officially kicked the bucket today. As someone wrote, I'll pray for his soul with all the honest fervor of a French diplomat.

More on books

One of the versitile authors is John Maddox Roberts. He's done sci-fi and historical fiction and fantasy, and does all pretty well. I think my favorites are the 'SPQR' books. Mysteries set in ancient Rome, and he must have done boatloads of research, his people, places and things all ring true. There are eight of them now, I believe, with another coming out soon. And I now have all of them, he he he.

I wrote earlier about other authors I like, one I don't much care for is L. Sprague de Camp. Not a bad writer, but two things prejudiced me against him. One, he's the guy who 'edited', rewrote in some cases, Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. And two, in a collection of short stories called 'Rivers of Time'- about a man leading hunting trips into the past- he wrote enough bullcrap about firearms that it fairly permanently ticked me off. So there.

Cooking

Having been inspired by Steve, I have done a bit of cooking the last couple of days, beyond my usual efforts. The first produced leftovers, the second some more, so I also have lunch tomorrow.

Yesterday, browned a pound of Jimmy Dean Italian Sausage. While that cooked, I dumped two bottles of Wal-Mart green pepper & mushroom spaghetti sauce in a pan and added some garlic and a couple of bits of other stuff. Yes, Wal-Mart sauce. I'm che-, uh, fiscally responsible, as I once mentioned. Also, it's easier than making sauce from scratch; I wasn't quite that inspired. Drained and added the sausage to the sauce and made pasta, and it was good.

Tonight I put some olive oil in a pan, sauteed a little garlic, then browned two chicken breasts in it, then added some of the sauce and simmered. While that was going heated up the leftover pasta and the rest of the sauce. When the chicken was done, put some pasta on a plate, then a breast, sauce, some chopped green onion and sprinkled with mozzarella. Not bad.

And there's enough pasta and sauce for lunch at work tomorrow. I need to do stuff like this more often.