Over at Smallest Minority, Kevin has a couple of posts on and in response to the comments of a history professor named Cornell. Prof. Cornell basically says the 2nd Amendment means that someone may bear arms only as part of a militia unit, that there is no individual right to arms, the group he's part of (Second Amendment Research Center, John Glenn Institute) is only trying to help with some 'common-sense' restrictions needed for the public safety(sound familiar?) and so forth. Kevin's reply is long, fact-filled and comprehensive. I'll not excerpt from it, it ought to be read in its entirety. I will include this:
"(Citizenship) "would give to persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one State of the Union, the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, singly or in companies, without pass or passport, and without obstruction, to sojourn there as long as they pleased, to go where they pleased at every hour of the day or night without molestation, unless they committed some violation of law for which a white man would be punished; and it would give them the full liberty of speech in public and in private upon all subjects upon which its own citazens might speak; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms wherever they went. And all of this would be done in the face of the subject race of the same color, both free and slaves, and inevitably producing discontent and insubordination among them, and endangering the peace and safety of the State." (My emphasis)"
That's from the Dred Scott case, one of the worst decisions to ever come out of the Supreme Court. It specifically denied fundamental rights to a whole people. But it a way, it's useful; it lists just what a lot of people were scared of blacks having equal access to.
As they say, read the whole thing.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Yeah! Here's how to do it!
From Free Iraqi:
"Citizens of Al Mudhiryiah (a small town in the "death triangle") were subjected to an attack by several militants today who were trying to punish the residents of this small town for voting in the election last Sunday.The citizens responded and managed to stop the attack, kill 5 of the attackers, wounded 8 and burned their cars.3 citizens were injured during the fire exchange. The Shiekh of the tribe to whom the 3 wounded citizens belong demanded more efforts from the government to stop who he described as "Salafis". "
Yes! These people have a chance to build a free country for themselves and their children, and they're grabbing it. And thank God they were armed; gave them the most effective way to fight the bastards.
To all the people who said the Iraqis could not really make it in a free society; screw you. They seem to be taking to the ideas of freedom from terrorists and self-defense and voting quite well.
Very important statement: "I consider it good even if the government forces were not there at the time to do something about it, because it shows that Iraqis are no longer paralyzed by fear from the terrorists and are able to organize themselves and defend their town when it's necessary." Exactly.
"Citizens of Al Mudhiryiah (a small town in the "death triangle") were subjected to an attack by several militants today who were trying to punish the residents of this small town for voting in the election last Sunday.The citizens responded and managed to stop the attack, kill 5 of the attackers, wounded 8 and burned their cars.3 citizens were injured during the fire exchange. The Shiekh of the tribe to whom the 3 wounded citizens belong demanded more efforts from the government to stop who he described as "Salafis". "
Yes! These people have a chance to build a free country for themselves and their children, and they're grabbing it. And thank God they were armed; gave them the most effective way to fight the bastards.
To all the people who said the Iraqis could not really make it in a free society; screw you. They seem to be taking to the ideas of freedom from terrorists and self-defense and voting quite well.
Very important statement: "I consider it good even if the government forces were not there at the time to do something about it, because it shows that Iraqis are no longer paralyzed by fear from the terrorists and are able to organize themselves and defend their town when it's necessary." Exactly.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
All honor to them
Clayton Cramer has this about one of the Iraqis that Moore & Co. don't mention:
"one story that is famous now in Iraq is about one brave Iraqi (A'adel Nasir) who saw a suspicious looking guy walking around a polling center in (Al- Hurriyah) district and soon the brave man realized that the suspicious guy was trying to commit a suicide attack; he ran towards him, wrestled him and knocked him down causing the bomb carried by the terrorist to explode, sacrificing his own life and saving the lives of the people standing in line at the gate of the voting center. It turned out later that the terrorist carried a Sudanese id.
Now, the school that hosted the voting center on the 30th carries the name of A'adel Nasir, as the Iraqi minister of education announced today."
And from FreeWill:
"I want to refer you to this incident from right at one year ago.That was when Iranian and Lebanese terrorists went on an early-morning rampage through Iraqi police stations and administrative offices, killing numerous officers, until they were finally caught at one station near Fallujah that made a stand. Despite being caught badly short on ammo, the Iraqi cops there fought back with everything at hand, and even when they ran out, did not flee. Fighting dragged on for an hour, and Coalition forces, only 10 minutes away, could hear the explosions and sent out a radio call to ask if the Iraqis needed reinforcement.
The Iraqi cops politely refused: Despite death and hellfire raining down around them, they didn't want reinforcements. This was their fight, and they wanted more ammo. They got their wish, and ultimately repelled the murderers, taking their RPGs as trophies.
(After the battle, the commander observed, somewhat prophetically in hindsight, that "there has to be a foreign agency that is financing this type of thing". You can read more about the battle in that article, or this one. Numerous related photos here.)"
I repeat, all honor to them. And screw Pelosi and Reid and company.(metaphorically, that is; you think I'm that crazy?)
"one story that is famous now in Iraq is about one brave Iraqi (A'adel Nasir) who saw a suspicious looking guy walking around a polling center in (Al- Hurriyah) district and soon the brave man realized that the suspicious guy was trying to commit a suicide attack; he ran towards him, wrestled him and knocked him down causing the bomb carried by the terrorist to explode, sacrificing his own life and saving the lives of the people standing in line at the gate of the voting center. It turned out later that the terrorist carried a Sudanese id.
Now, the school that hosted the voting center on the 30th carries the name of A'adel Nasir, as the Iraqi minister of education announced today."
And from FreeWill:
"I want to refer you to this incident from right at one year ago.That was when Iranian and Lebanese terrorists went on an early-morning rampage through Iraqi police stations and administrative offices, killing numerous officers, until they were finally caught at one station near Fallujah that made a stand. Despite being caught badly short on ammo, the Iraqi cops there fought back with everything at hand, and even when they ran out, did not flee. Fighting dragged on for an hour, and Coalition forces, only 10 minutes away, could hear the explosions and sent out a radio call to ask if the Iraqis needed reinforcement.
The Iraqi cops politely refused: Despite death and hellfire raining down around them, they didn't want reinforcements. This was their fight, and they wanted more ammo. They got their wish, and ultimately repelled the murderers, taking their RPGs as trophies.
(After the battle, the commander observed, somewhat prophetically in hindsight, that "there has to be a foreign agency that is financing this type of thing". You can read more about the battle in that article, or this one. Numerous related photos here.)"
I repeat, all honor to them. And screw Pelosi and Reid and company.(metaphorically, that is; you think I'm that crazy?)
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Computer modeling and weather
I wrote once before on the subject of 'global warming', just touching on it. Last night & today is a fine demonstration as to why so much of the crisis-mongering means nothing.
There was a snow advisory for the area. We were supposed to get 1" to 3" here; south & west, up to 6". Every meteorologist in the area, and the National Weather Service, was warning of this. What did we get? Some wet flakes and some rain. Of the predicted 6", some areas of southwest & east central OK had some icy spots on bridges. That was it.
This mess was less than 24 hours into the future, and they blew it bigtime. And it's not the first time, and won't be the last. Snow, thunderstorms, tornados... with multiple Doppler radars scanning a mesocyclone, they can say there might be a tornado, and they're often wrong. And sometimes they still don't spot one until someone reports it on the ground.
Correction: it's 'State of Fear'. What, you want perfection?
When the models cannot reliably predict what's going to happen within 24-48 hours, why in the hell do people believe it when someone says "My computer models predict the earths temperature will rise X degrees in the next century", or whatever the time frame is they're using? But a lot of people do. And they're scared to death by it; so they demand Changes Be Made, and Now! Don't tell me what it will cost in how many ways, don't tell me there's nothing to replace what I want to get rid of, we have to DO SOMETHING!!!
I just finished reading 'Climate of Fear', Michael Crichton's newest book. Not a bad story. In some ways the most interesting things were the charts included. Real charts, showing the results of studies of temperatures, of sea levels, etc. Guess what they indicate? That the crisis-mongers are full of crap.
Oh, he also references exactly where the data came from. Including Bjorn Lomborg, the Danish researcher whose former colleagues at Greenpeace want to hang. You see, he wrote a book pointing out just how full of crap all the predictions of crisis are, and they can't stand it. Pretty good book. No, I didn't understand everything in it, I still got the gist of it.
If someone used data like most of the modeling studies to sell their services to predict the stock market, they'd be in jail for fraud. But since they're 'only' predicting the weather a century away and scaring hell out of people, they get away with it.
At this point I've been up for 21 hours, with about 6 hours sleep before that, and I'm beat. But I wanted to get this down now. No particular reason, just needed to do it. Now goodnight, all, I'm for a shower and bed.
(Sondra K, where are you when I need you? Heh, heh, heh.....)
There was a snow advisory for the area. We were supposed to get 1" to 3" here; south & west, up to 6". Every meteorologist in the area, and the National Weather Service, was warning of this. What did we get? Some wet flakes and some rain. Of the predicted 6", some areas of southwest & east central OK had some icy spots on bridges. That was it.
This mess was less than 24 hours into the future, and they blew it bigtime. And it's not the first time, and won't be the last. Snow, thunderstorms, tornados... with multiple Doppler radars scanning a mesocyclone, they can say there might be a tornado, and they're often wrong. And sometimes they still don't spot one until someone reports it on the ground.
Correction: it's 'State of Fear'. What, you want perfection?
When the models cannot reliably predict what's going to happen within 24-48 hours, why in the hell do people believe it when someone says "My computer models predict the earths temperature will rise X degrees in the next century", or whatever the time frame is they're using? But a lot of people do. And they're scared to death by it; so they demand Changes Be Made, and Now! Don't tell me what it will cost in how many ways, don't tell me there's nothing to replace what I want to get rid of, we have to DO SOMETHING!!!
I just finished reading 'Climate of Fear', Michael Crichton's newest book. Not a bad story. In some ways the most interesting things were the charts included. Real charts, showing the results of studies of temperatures, of sea levels, etc. Guess what they indicate? That the crisis-mongers are full of crap.
Oh, he also references exactly where the data came from. Including Bjorn Lomborg, the Danish researcher whose former colleagues at Greenpeace want to hang. You see, he wrote a book pointing out just how full of crap all the predictions of crisis are, and they can't stand it. Pretty good book. No, I didn't understand everything in it, I still got the gist of it.
If someone used data like most of the modeling studies to sell their services to predict the stock market, they'd be in jail for fraud. But since they're 'only' predicting the weather a century away and scaring hell out of people, they get away with it.
At this point I've been up for 21 hours, with about 6 hours sleep before that, and I'm beat. But I wanted to get this down now. No particular reason, just needed to do it. Now goodnight, all, I'm for a shower and bed.
(Sondra K, where are you when I need you? Heh, heh, heh.....)
We're paying how much for these schools?
The Geek linked to this, demonstrating the ignorance of so many schoolkids about our freedoms.
Is this really surprising to anyone? There was just a story about some Massachussetts schools with 'multi-cultural math' that had nothing to do with teaching math, and everything to do with making people 'feel good' about everyone. Math and science scores tend to suck, but kids are taught that they're not allowed to say anything that might hurt someones feelings(obviously, feelings are more important than actually KNOWING anything), and when they do teach the Constitution or Bill of Rights, it's through a pretty set of P.C. filters to teach it the say the squirrels decide that they 'ought' to be.
My daughter had a class in high school called 'street law' that was apparently some teaching about the Bill of Rights, and out of the entire class she was the only one who could accurately name more than one or two of them. (she also had an interesting discussion one day on the distance at which someone with a knife is a threat; the teacher was impressed and the other kids wanted to know 'where do you find out this stuff?') It was discouraging then, and it's apparently gotten worse.
Bah. I need to hit the range today.
Is this really surprising to anyone? There was just a story about some Massachussetts schools with 'multi-cultural math' that had nothing to do with teaching math, and everything to do with making people 'feel good' about everyone. Math and science scores tend to suck, but kids are taught that they're not allowed to say anything that might hurt someones feelings(obviously, feelings are more important than actually KNOWING anything), and when they do teach the Constitution or Bill of Rights, it's through a pretty set of P.C. filters to teach it the say the squirrels decide that they 'ought' to be.
My daughter had a class in high school called 'street law' that was apparently some teaching about the Bill of Rights, and out of the entire class she was the only one who could accurately name more than one or two of them. (she also had an interesting discussion one day on the distance at which someone with a knife is a threat; the teacher was impressed and the other kids wanted to know 'where do you find out this stuff?') It was discouraging then, and it's apparently gotten worse.
Bah. I need to hit the range today.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Long list of quotes
FreedomSight has the link, lots of good stuff. There's one in particular that really ticks me off:
"If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees." -President Bill Clinton, August 12, 1993.
That quote demonstrates quite well why Kim du Toit said he never wants to read another news story about Clinton unless it contains the words "died suddenly".
"If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees." -President Bill Clinton, August 12, 1993.
That quote demonstrates quite well why Kim du Toit said he never wants to read another news story about Clinton unless it contains the words "died suddenly".
Monday, January 31, 2005
First-aid
Lo, these years gone by, I used to play a lot in a history group call the Society for Creative Anachronism. It specializes in medieval history, including using weapons made of rattan in combat. Make your own armor, go to events, become a character, etc. Due to the normal incidence of people getting injured even without meeting in a ring to hit each other with sticks, there was always someone around with some first-aid training. The local guy who was pretty much in charge of this went by Andreas, and was a fully trained EMT- it was his real-life job.
One summer my then-wife and I went to a war between Ansteorra(Oklahoma & Texas) and the Middle Kingdom(Kansas, Missouri and somewhere else). The first thing that happened was we discovered the wife was allergic to chiggers; when you find this out in a campground that has just been mowed for the first time in a couple of months, you've got a problem. If you're not familiar with the little bastards, they are a tiny- as in sharp pencil point tiny) little red insect that gets into your skin to feed on your blood. They inject an anticoagulant like a mosquito, but the itch caused by a chigger is a mosquito times ten. Unless you're allergic, then it's times God knows what. Since this was a War, there were a number of medical types around, including at least one doctor, and they provided a tube of some ointment that helped some. I had no chigarid, and nobody had any nail polish I heard of, so that couldn't be done(chigarid is a liquid that you dab over the chigger, it dries and kills it and helps kill the itch; nail polish will kill the bug also, though it doesn't seem to help the itch much). So she used most of a tube of the stuff and spent a large part of the weekend fairly miserable.
My own need for assistance came from clumsiness. I found a loose end of a wire on a sword hilt, and drew my knife to seee if I could push it back into place. Oops, slip, and the point skated off and sliced through my left hand on the thumb side of the index finger knuckle. Ok, wipe the knife off and sheath it, sheath the sword. A friend named Brian was standing there while I did this, and inquired did I have a bandage? Yes, of Course, I have bandaids in the tent! So I hold my left hand out so as not to drip on the floor and dig out a bandaid. Then we decided I really should wash it off first, so we walked about a 1/4 mile to the faucet, and rinsed it off. Then I stood there dripping red as we had the thought that, you know, bandaids don't stick real well on wet skin. Looking about, we spotted Andreas, set up with all gear handy near the water. So we walked over. "Andreas , to you have any gauze?"
Andreas was a BIG guy, currently sitting on a stool swapping stories with people. "Do I have gauze, of course I have gauze." Pause. "What do you need gauze for?" I held up my hand and said, "I cut myself".
You know how even a small cut, if you have water on the area, winds up looking terrible? This wasn't too bad a cut, but it had been bleeding fairly well, and now my whole hand was wet, so I now had red literally dripping off.
I'd never seen his face change that way. It froze for a second, and he jumped up and said "Sit down!"
"It's not that bad, I just need to-"
"SIT DOWN!"
Ok, ok, I sat down, and he sat down with a whole kit and began cleaning. Happily it had missed, or maybe barely nicked the vein, so after proper cleaning he put a pressure bandage on it, fairly bulky because of the location. So far so good. By the time he was done he had calmed down, and everyone there who'd looked at my hand and went "!*&$*!" had calmed down. However...
The bandage made it look like I'd damned near cut my hand in two, and I spent the rest of the weekend explaining no, I hadn't slipped with an axe, or no, it hadn't happened in the battle. But dammit, if I'd been single I could have played it into some interesting times. "Yes, it WAS bloody awful. But you just can't stop in the middle of things, so when all was over I wobbled over to the healer, and now I can't use my hand very well. Can you get that lace loose yourself, darlin'?" "Why no, I can't; however, if you'll roll this on we'll see how I work one-handed", etc.
I thought about introducing this in fairy tale fashion, except this is all true. Including that I used to hit people with sticks. For entertainment, I mean. Not for- never mind.
(start of a southern fairy tale: "You're not gon' believe this")
One summer my then-wife and I went to a war between Ansteorra(Oklahoma & Texas) and the Middle Kingdom(Kansas, Missouri and somewhere else). The first thing that happened was we discovered the wife was allergic to chiggers; when you find this out in a campground that has just been mowed for the first time in a couple of months, you've got a problem. If you're not familiar with the little bastards, they are a tiny- as in sharp pencil point tiny) little red insect that gets into your skin to feed on your blood. They inject an anticoagulant like a mosquito, but the itch caused by a chigger is a mosquito times ten. Unless you're allergic, then it's times God knows what. Since this was a War, there were a number of medical types around, including at least one doctor, and they provided a tube of some ointment that helped some. I had no chigarid, and nobody had any nail polish I heard of, so that couldn't be done(chigarid is a liquid that you dab over the chigger, it dries and kills it and helps kill the itch; nail polish will kill the bug also, though it doesn't seem to help the itch much). So she used most of a tube of the stuff and spent a large part of the weekend fairly miserable.
My own need for assistance came from clumsiness. I found a loose end of a wire on a sword hilt, and drew my knife to seee if I could push it back into place. Oops, slip, and the point skated off and sliced through my left hand on the thumb side of the index finger knuckle. Ok, wipe the knife off and sheath it, sheath the sword. A friend named Brian was standing there while I did this, and inquired did I have a bandage? Yes, of Course, I have bandaids in the tent! So I hold my left hand out so as not to drip on the floor and dig out a bandaid. Then we decided I really should wash it off first, so we walked about a 1/4 mile to the faucet, and rinsed it off. Then I stood there dripping red as we had the thought that, you know, bandaids don't stick real well on wet skin. Looking about, we spotted Andreas, set up with all gear handy near the water. So we walked over. "Andreas , to you have any gauze?"
Andreas was a BIG guy, currently sitting on a stool swapping stories with people. "Do I have gauze, of course I have gauze." Pause. "What do you need gauze for?" I held up my hand and said, "I cut myself".
You know how even a small cut, if you have water on the area, winds up looking terrible? This wasn't too bad a cut, but it had been bleeding fairly well, and now my whole hand was wet, so I now had red literally dripping off.
I'd never seen his face change that way. It froze for a second, and he jumped up and said "Sit down!"
"It's not that bad, I just need to-"
"SIT DOWN!"
Ok, ok, I sat down, and he sat down with a whole kit and began cleaning. Happily it had missed, or maybe barely nicked the vein, so after proper cleaning he put a pressure bandage on it, fairly bulky because of the location. So far so good. By the time he was done he had calmed down, and everyone there who'd looked at my hand and went "!*&$*!" had calmed down. However...
The bandage made it look like I'd damned near cut my hand in two, and I spent the rest of the weekend explaining no, I hadn't slipped with an axe, or no, it hadn't happened in the battle. But dammit, if I'd been single I could have played it into some interesting times. "Yes, it WAS bloody awful. But you just can't stop in the middle of things, so when all was over I wobbled over to the healer, and now I can't use my hand very well. Can you get that lace loose yourself, darlin'?" "Why no, I can't; however, if you'll roll this on we'll see how I work one-handed", etc.
I thought about introducing this in fairy tale fashion, except this is all true. Including that I used to hit people with sticks. For entertainment, I mean. Not for- never mind.
(start of a southern fairy tale: "You're not gon' believe this")
Further thoughts on the Iraqi election
Ted Kennedy and John Kerry are assholes.
Now that that's out of the way, from what I'm hearing at least 70% turnout! Bloody wonderful! God (whichever name you use) bless them all for their courage. Will it be a government that we'll approve of in every detail? Probably not. That's not the point of this; them choosing their government is.
Various places/people have been running 'ink your finger in support' stuff, not a bad idea.
Did I mention John Kerry is a jackass?
The local 'peace' group had a march today, leading into 'Non-Violence Month' or something. The head of the group, Nathaniel Batchelder(sp? no, I'm not checking, I really don't care) was interviewed on the radio. Among his other gems
"We're marching to protest the terrible conditions in Iraq"
"We're protesting the policy, this war should never have happened"
"War is never the answer", etc. I think those about cover it. He's one of the people who informs you that violence NEVER solves anything, war is ALWAYS bad, 100,000 Iraqi civilians were killed by us, etc.
After noting that you disagree with someone like this, you usually hear something along the lines of , "I disagree with him, but I do not doubt his sincerity, and I respect him for it." Well, I don't respect him. He's either idiot-level naive, or a fool if he means all he says. And he's dishonest; that 100,000 number has been ripped apart, along with the study it came from, but he keeps using it; got to have a big body count of innocents, you know. He's also part of the group that used to- may still for all I know- try to find trucks carrying nuclear weapon parts or materials and follow them. I don't know if he ever actually condemned the Soviet Union or the PRC, but we were definately sorry whatevers for having this stuff. So no, I don't respect him, and I don't respect his views. He reminds me of the people who say we shouldn't have gotten involved in WWI or WWII, etc. I have yet to hear an alternate solution to Nazis and Imperial Japan that makes sense, but they're sure it's there.
Day by Day says it pretty well, today and yesterday.
Sondra K has also been selling her butt. Er, sellin g the use of her bu... That's just not coming out right. Selling advertising on her butt! There you go! It has nothing to do with the election, but it's such a nice backside...
To all the troops, all the people at the sharp end, thank you. Many times over.
Now that that's out of the way, from what I'm hearing at least 70% turnout! Bloody wonderful! God (whichever name you use) bless them all for their courage. Will it be a government that we'll approve of in every detail? Probably not. That's not the point of this; them choosing their government is.
Various places/people have been running 'ink your finger in support' stuff, not a bad idea.
Did I mention John Kerry is a jackass?
The local 'peace' group had a march today, leading into 'Non-Violence Month' or something. The head of the group, Nathaniel Batchelder(sp? no, I'm not checking, I really don't care) was interviewed on the radio. Among his other gems
"We're marching to protest the terrible conditions in Iraq"
"We're protesting the policy, this war should never have happened"
"War is never the answer", etc. I think those about cover it. He's one of the people who informs you that violence NEVER solves anything, war is ALWAYS bad, 100,000 Iraqi civilians were killed by us, etc.
After noting that you disagree with someone like this, you usually hear something along the lines of , "I disagree with him, but I do not doubt his sincerity, and I respect him for it." Well, I don't respect him. He's either idiot-level naive, or a fool if he means all he says. And he's dishonest; that 100,000 number has been ripped apart, along with the study it came from, but he keeps using it; got to have a big body count of innocents, you know. He's also part of the group that used to- may still for all I know- try to find trucks carrying nuclear weapon parts or materials and follow them. I don't know if he ever actually condemned the Soviet Union or the PRC, but we were definately sorry whatevers for having this stuff. So no, I don't respect him, and I don't respect his views. He reminds me of the people who say we shouldn't have gotten involved in WWI or WWII, etc. I have yet to hear an alternate solution to Nazis and Imperial Japan that makes sense, but they're sure it's there.
Day by Day says it pretty well, today and yesterday.
Sondra K has also been selling her butt. Er, sellin g the use of her bu... That's just not coming out right. Selling advertising on her butt! There you go! It has nothing to do with the election, but it's such a nice backside...
To all the troops, all the people at the sharp end, thank you. Many times over.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
The Iraqi election, and other things
So the Iraqi people, by the millions, gave the finger to the bad guys/literally and figuratively/ and voted. Good for them. There's a lot left to do, but they've made a damn good start.
Instapundit linked to this at DU, wherein Steve Stirling, a fine sci-fi writer, does a bit of fisking(look for joatsimeon). Happily, he's not the only one there either horrified or pissed of by some of the other comments. I've always been a bit horrified by what I run across at Democratic Underground; people who insist that Bush is 'chimp' or a nazi, and that the elections can never be considered valid as long as our troops are there(and of course we shouldn't be there in any case) seem to either not be thinking with a full deck, or are so filled with hatred and disgust of this country that nothing we do can ever be good. I just flat cannot understand that attitude.
In any case, the Iraqis voted, the bad guys are scared and horrified, and both are to the good.
Spent the day helping some friends out at a small Midwinter Ren-Fair out at the fairgrounds. Considering it's the first one, and the weather sucked, not a bad turnout. Some good vendors and entertainers, and some nice people overall. Among the entertainers were the Bilge Pumps, nicest group of filthy pirates you'll ever meet. And among the vendors were Alain Viesca, who does prints of various kinds, mostly fairys. I now have the Tequila Fairy, which I will have to find a frame to hang her in. His websites a bit messed up right now, but you can still hit the gallery and see much of his work.
Another vendor was Storm Watch Jewelry. Mostly Celtic patterns, all designed and made by Ron Pace. Yeah, this is a commercial for these two, and I'm not getting paid(dammit) for mentioning them. I like their work.
Now it's misting outside, it's thrown in some periods of snow and sleet during the day, and my knees ache from walking around on concrete all day. See you later.
Instapundit linked to this at DU, wherein Steve Stirling, a fine sci-fi writer, does a bit of fisking(look for joatsimeon). Happily, he's not the only one there either horrified or pissed of by some of the other comments. I've always been a bit horrified by what I run across at Democratic Underground; people who insist that Bush is 'chimp' or a nazi, and that the elections can never be considered valid as long as our troops are there(and of course we shouldn't be there in any case) seem to either not be thinking with a full deck, or are so filled with hatred and disgust of this country that nothing we do can ever be good. I just flat cannot understand that attitude.
In any case, the Iraqis voted, the bad guys are scared and horrified, and both are to the good.
Spent the day helping some friends out at a small Midwinter Ren-Fair out at the fairgrounds. Considering it's the first one, and the weather sucked, not a bad turnout. Some good vendors and entertainers, and some nice people overall. Among the entertainers were the Bilge Pumps, nicest group of filthy pirates you'll ever meet. And among the vendors were Alain Viesca, who does prints of various kinds, mostly fairys. I now have the Tequila Fairy, which I will have to find a frame to hang her in. His websites a bit messed up right now, but you can still hit the gallery and see much of his work.
Another vendor was Storm Watch Jewelry. Mostly Celtic patterns, all designed and made by Ron Pace. Yeah, this is a commercial for these two, and I'm not getting paid(dammit) for mentioning them. I like their work.
Now it's misting outside, it's thrown in some periods of snow and sleet during the day, and my knees ache from walking around on concrete all day. See you later.
Friday, January 28, 2005
One face of the enemy
Instapundit had a link to this interview with the jackass academic who compared the people murdered on 9/11 to "little Eichmanns". Let's take a look, shall we?
Start with the picture at the top. Here's a 'progressive' for you: he looks like one of the idiots in the 60's who kidnapped 'evil capitalists' and murdered them after the ransom was paid, AK47 and all(and sunglasses, can't be real radical chic without the shades).
Let's take some quotes from the interview.
"Defining violence in terms of property—that basically nullifies the whole notion that life is sacred. People who want to elevate property to the same level of importance as life are so absurd as to be self-nullifying." Ok, so you can trash property that someone may have worked their ass of to get, and that doesn't count for anything. Check.
" The individuals who are perpetrators in one way or another, the “little Eichmanns”* in the background—the technocrats, bureaucrats, technicians—who make the matrix of atrocity that we are opposing possible are used to operating with impunity. If you’re designing thermonuclear weapons, you’re subject to neutralization, in the same sense that somebody who is engaged in homicide would be, in terms of their capacity to perpetrate that offense." Let's see, 'matrix of atrocity', 'little Eichmanns'(apparently a favorite phrase), and of course 'subject to neutralization'. Translation: if you're in any way part of the 'enemy' as we see it, we can kill you. Check.
" I’m actually a de-evolutionary. I don’t want other people in charge of the apparatus of the state as the outcome of a socially transformative process that replicates oppression. I want the state gone: transform the situation to U.S. out of North America. U.S. off the planet. Out of existence altogether." The U.S. is evil, so are all the other developed countries but less so, so the U.S. has to go. Check.
There's a fair bit of discussion connected to the post at Insty, and I'll have to agree with what Glenn says: it doesn't do any good to say that clowns like this don't represent the left when they aren't actually repudiated. As has been pointed out, when Mikey Moore is in the kings seat the the Democrat convention, when Barbara Boxer (hypocrite-CA) is sending letters of thanks and praise to MoveOn & company, and they're just accepted, then the are indeed the face of that political party. And it's a real ugly face. Whether they actually mean it or not- and some of them damn well do mean it- it's a face of the enemy.
Start with the picture at the top. Here's a 'progressive' for you: he looks like one of the idiots in the 60's who kidnapped 'evil capitalists' and murdered them after the ransom was paid, AK47 and all(and sunglasses, can't be real radical chic without the shades).
Let's take some quotes from the interview.
"Defining violence in terms of property—that basically nullifies the whole notion that life is sacred. People who want to elevate property to the same level of importance as life are so absurd as to be self-nullifying." Ok, so you can trash property that someone may have worked their ass of to get, and that doesn't count for anything. Check.
" The individuals who are perpetrators in one way or another, the “little Eichmanns”* in the background—the technocrats, bureaucrats, technicians—who make the matrix of atrocity that we are opposing possible are used to operating with impunity. If you’re designing thermonuclear weapons, you’re subject to neutralization, in the same sense that somebody who is engaged in homicide would be, in terms of their capacity to perpetrate that offense." Let's see, 'matrix of atrocity', 'little Eichmanns'(apparently a favorite phrase), and of course 'subject to neutralization'. Translation: if you're in any way part of the 'enemy' as we see it, we can kill you. Check.
" I’m actually a de-evolutionary. I don’t want other people in charge of the apparatus of the state as the outcome of a socially transformative process that replicates oppression. I want the state gone: transform the situation to U.S. out of North America. U.S. off the planet. Out of existence altogether." The U.S. is evil, so are all the other developed countries but less so, so the U.S. has to go. Check.
There's a fair bit of discussion connected to the post at Insty, and I'll have to agree with what Glenn says: it doesn't do any good to say that clowns like this don't represent the left when they aren't actually repudiated. As has been pointed out, when Mikey Moore is in the kings seat the the Democrat convention, when Barbara Boxer (hypocrite-CA) is sending letters of thanks and praise to MoveOn & company, and they're just accepted, then the are indeed the face of that political party. And it's a real ugly face. Whether they actually mean it or not- and some of them damn well do mean it- it's a face of the enemy.
Will the next one to pass Ted Kennedy slap him?
I just heard some excerpts of his current "we can't win, the administration LIED, we've got to run" speech. It brings up some thoughts, starting with
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN?
I don't care how 'passionately' he feels about his party, etc., to come out with this crap just before the Iraqi elections is, is... I can't think of the words. 'Stupid', 'careless', 'irresponsible' just don't cut it. To throw this mass of lies and exaggerations and flat crap out, ESPECIALLY NOW, is virtually criminal.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN?
I don't care how 'passionately' he feels about his party, etc., to come out with this crap just before the Iraqi elections is, is... I can't think of the words. 'Stupid', 'careless', 'irresponsible' just don't cut it. To throw this mass of lies and exaggerations and flat crap out, ESPECIALLY NOW, is virtually criminal.
General stuff
Over at Powerline, evidence that Barbara Boxer is not only a hypocrite, she is a real loon.
From Lileks on the coming Iraqi election:
"So there’s an election in Iraq soon, I understand. I haven’t been writing about this here because I’m just taking the long, long view, and haven’t the time or inclination to argue with people who think “No WMD!” is the argument equivalent of a spreading a full house on the green felt table. It may seem so, but unfortunately we’re playing chess. However the election goes will be one thing; how it’s reported is another. The thing to watch is the position of the Damning But, the old DB. The DB will probably bob up in the first or second paragraphs of most dispatches. “The election went as planned in 95 percent of the country, but violence marred polling in the disputed Sunny D Triangle, where insurgents opposed to Tropicana Juice fired automatic weapons into an juice concentrate factory.” That’s one spin. “The election, long anticipated as a flashpoint for insurgent activity, went off with few delays. Despite sporadic gunfire marred the overall mood of success in several provinces, observers said that the process was ‘smooth as a Sade groove,’ adding that they were annoyed Sade had simply faded away instead of letting her career end with a tasteful layout in Playboy.” See? No DB there. We’ll see"
Ah, the weather weenies. The chance of scattered showers ending by noon turned into snow and slushy roads this morning. I'd have better luck checking Granny's fuzzy caterpiller for weather forecasting.
Ann Coulter made a comment in her last book that Bush should nominate for a position someone who really doesn't care if they get it or not; then they'd be free to speak back plainly to some of the pompous windbags involved. Her personal suggestion for a reply to Ted Kennedy? "Well, Senator, we'll drive off that bridge when we get to it." Not only funny, it just might push Splash over the edge. Barbara Boxer? My thought would be, "Senator, coming from a two-faced hypocrite like you, being called a liar doesn't mean much". The possibilities are endless.
From Lileks on the coming Iraqi election:
"So there’s an election in Iraq soon, I understand. I haven’t been writing about this here because I’m just taking the long, long view, and haven’t the time or inclination to argue with people who think “No WMD!” is the argument equivalent of a spreading a full house on the green felt table. It may seem so, but unfortunately we’re playing chess. However the election goes will be one thing; how it’s reported is another. The thing to watch is the position of the Damning But, the old DB. The DB will probably bob up in the first or second paragraphs of most dispatches. “The election went as planned in 95 percent of the country, but violence marred polling in the disputed Sunny D Triangle, where insurgents opposed to Tropicana Juice fired automatic weapons into an juice concentrate factory.” That’s one spin. “The election, long anticipated as a flashpoint for insurgent activity, went off with few delays. Despite sporadic gunfire marred the overall mood of success in several provinces, observers said that the process was ‘smooth as a Sade groove,’ adding that they were annoyed Sade had simply faded away instead of letting her career end with a tasteful layout in Playboy.” See? No DB there. We’ll see"
Ah, the weather weenies. The chance of scattered showers ending by noon turned into snow and slushy roads this morning. I'd have better luck checking Granny's fuzzy caterpiller for weather forecasting.
Ann Coulter made a comment in her last book that Bush should nominate for a position someone who really doesn't care if they get it or not; then they'd be free to speak back plainly to some of the pompous windbags involved. Her personal suggestion for a reply to Ted Kennedy? "Well, Senator, we'll drive off that bridge when we get to it." Not only funny, it just might push Splash over the edge. Barbara Boxer? My thought would be, "Senator, coming from a two-faced hypocrite like you, being called a liar doesn't mean much". The possibilities are endless.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
'Cleaning up Dodge'
This post at Dean Esmay is really, really interesting. Especially the bits on the 'uncivilized' handling of troubles. Too good to excerpt, should be read in its entirety.
I grew up around law enforcement, and have a long acquaintance with the concept. In many sheriff's offices, some PDs and Highway Patrols, there's a long tradition of settling many matters 'off the books'. This has been everything from an officer having words with some kid heading into trouble and thumping him a bit, to some officer faced with someone about to do something really bad and telling them flat out that if they do it, they'll die.
I'm very in favor of rules of conduct in law enforcement, for a number of reasons. I'm also aware that there are countless kids kept out of trouble, or pulled out of it, by some officer giving them 'counseling'. There are people alive because some guy with a badge telling a bad guy exactly what would happen to him if he did what he planned. There's also God knows how many cases where an officer knew exactly why someone had moved, or cleaned up their act, or in some cases flat disappeared; some family member or neighbor or friend of a victim/victim-to-be had words with/beat the crap out of/killed someone. The officer knew it and did nothing. Oh, sometimes might let something drop to the someone that it would be a bad idea for such activities to continue, but usually it wasn't needed; they hadn't done it because they wanted to, but because they had to.
This is the problem with depending on courts/the law to solve everything. They can't act until someone has actually done something, and then only if they can catch the bad guy and/or prove in court they did it. Which means, if you truly believe that only the government is allowed to act, someone winds up robbed/raped/beaten/dead, and the minions of government then show up to do something.
I know, you can't go simply to 'take care of it yourself', but you cannot simply block out the right of someone to act. I'm told that one mark of a good military officer is that he knows when not to see anything when a good sergeant takes care of some types of problems; sometimes the mark of a good law officer is not seeing when someone does something essential that's outside the law by strict reading.
We've now had several court cases stating that if the police don't save you from some crime, you can't take legal action against them, because they have no responsibility to you as in individual; they are responsible only to society in whole or in general. But all too many of them will also crap all over you if you act in your own defens after being attacked; you do something about someone that you know is planning to hurt you, the cops will happily take you to prison. In all too many places, the means of self-defense themselves have been so restricted as to be out of reach of most, and too many law enforcement agencies- police, prosecutors, courts- take the position that simply owning, or wanting to own, the means of self-defense is proof that you are up to no-good. Which reinforces the attitude "you can't take care of yourself; that's OUR job, and you better not forget it!".
Surprise, surprise, the world is messy. A lot of the people who think the most of acting in the most civilized of manners have a bad habit of chopping up the freedom of people because 'they might not act in the right(approved) way'; never mind that they're helping trash the freedoms they claim to love so much, keeping the peasants acting in proper ways is much more important than that!
'Cleaning up Dodge' has never been neat. When the authorities were corrupt or incompetent or just refused to act, people did it themselves, which is how the Committees of Vigilence came to be. 'Vigilante' is a dirty word nowadays, but most forget that when the work was done, the committees generally disbanded themselves.
One thing I would love to see is an actual, no bullshit hearing on some cases. Some jurist with more concern for freedom and rights than for the 'privilege' of government to control us hearing the case of someone taking the law into their hands and saying "Why did they have to do this? Why did the officers of the law at all levels not do their damned jobs, and thus force this man to do this?" and then act on it. Serious action against those not doing their 'damned jobs' might have some good effect. Oh, the screaming and whining would be endless, partly because a lot of the officers of the law in question are scared to death of having to actually do something not 'approved of'. Approval generally breaking down to "I won't get in trouble if I follow the PC/Court/whatever approved rules, but if I actually THINK and do something, I can get yelled at!"
I'm throwing into this mess the idiocy known as 'zero tolerance' in schools. Some kid accidentally brings a pocketknife to school has two choices: keep quiet and hope not to get caught, or turn it in. If he turns it in, he's in trouble; if he gets caught, he's in trouble. Might as well try to slide through, because obeying the rules gets me in just as much trouble as getting caught. NOT a good thing to put forth as a rule. And the kid who made an honest mistake is in just as much trouble with the school as some jerk who intends to do harm.
This has kind of rambled around a bit. Basically I mean two things: 1, there has to be a respect for the law among people, and 2, the law has to understand that there are situations that really should have a blind eye turned to them.
Want a hard and fast rule about everything? Read a fantasy story, because I don't have one.
I grew up around law enforcement, and have a long acquaintance with the concept. In many sheriff's offices, some PDs and Highway Patrols, there's a long tradition of settling many matters 'off the books'. This has been everything from an officer having words with some kid heading into trouble and thumping him a bit, to some officer faced with someone about to do something really bad and telling them flat out that if they do it, they'll die.
I'm very in favor of rules of conduct in law enforcement, for a number of reasons. I'm also aware that there are countless kids kept out of trouble, or pulled out of it, by some officer giving them 'counseling'. There are people alive because some guy with a badge telling a bad guy exactly what would happen to him if he did what he planned. There's also God knows how many cases where an officer knew exactly why someone had moved, or cleaned up their act, or in some cases flat disappeared; some family member or neighbor or friend of a victim/victim-to-be had words with/beat the crap out of/killed someone. The officer knew it and did nothing. Oh, sometimes might let something drop to the someone that it would be a bad idea for such activities to continue, but usually it wasn't needed; they hadn't done it because they wanted to, but because they had to.
This is the problem with depending on courts/the law to solve everything. They can't act until someone has actually done something, and then only if they can catch the bad guy and/or prove in court they did it. Which means, if you truly believe that only the government is allowed to act, someone winds up robbed/raped/beaten/dead, and the minions of government then show up to do something.
I know, you can't go simply to 'take care of it yourself', but you cannot simply block out the right of someone to act. I'm told that one mark of a good military officer is that he knows when not to see anything when a good sergeant takes care of some types of problems; sometimes the mark of a good law officer is not seeing when someone does something essential that's outside the law by strict reading.
We've now had several court cases stating that if the police don't save you from some crime, you can't take legal action against them, because they have no responsibility to you as in individual; they are responsible only to society in whole or in general. But all too many of them will also crap all over you if you act in your own defens after being attacked; you do something about someone that you know is planning to hurt you, the cops will happily take you to prison. In all too many places, the means of self-defense themselves have been so restricted as to be out of reach of most, and too many law enforcement agencies- police, prosecutors, courts- take the position that simply owning, or wanting to own, the means of self-defense is proof that you are up to no-good. Which reinforces the attitude "you can't take care of yourself; that's OUR job, and you better not forget it!".
Surprise, surprise, the world is messy. A lot of the people who think the most of acting in the most civilized of manners have a bad habit of chopping up the freedom of people because 'they might not act in the right(approved) way'; never mind that they're helping trash the freedoms they claim to love so much, keeping the peasants acting in proper ways is much more important than that!
'Cleaning up Dodge' has never been neat. When the authorities were corrupt or incompetent or just refused to act, people did it themselves, which is how the Committees of Vigilence came to be. 'Vigilante' is a dirty word nowadays, but most forget that when the work was done, the committees generally disbanded themselves.
One thing I would love to see is an actual, no bullshit hearing on some cases. Some jurist with more concern for freedom and rights than for the 'privilege' of government to control us hearing the case of someone taking the law into their hands and saying "Why did they have to do this? Why did the officers of the law at all levels not do their damned jobs, and thus force this man to do this?" and then act on it. Serious action against those not doing their 'damned jobs' might have some good effect. Oh, the screaming and whining would be endless, partly because a lot of the officers of the law in question are scared to death of having to actually do something not 'approved of'. Approval generally breaking down to "I won't get in trouble if I follow the PC/Court/whatever approved rules, but if I actually THINK and do something, I can get yelled at!"
I'm throwing into this mess the idiocy known as 'zero tolerance' in schools. Some kid accidentally brings a pocketknife to school has two choices: keep quiet and hope not to get caught, or turn it in. If he turns it in, he's in trouble; if he gets caught, he's in trouble. Might as well try to slide through, because obeying the rules gets me in just as much trouble as getting caught. NOT a good thing to put forth as a rule. And the kid who made an honest mistake is in just as much trouble with the school as some jerk who intends to do harm.
This has kind of rambled around a bit. Basically I mean two things: 1, there has to be a respect for the law among people, and 2, the law has to understand that there are situations that really should have a blind eye turned to them.
Want a hard and fast rule about everything? Read a fantasy story, because I don't have one.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
From the land down under
comes GrinderCom, with the current piece being a description of the various states of Australia. And it's bloody wonderful!
"And there's Queensland. While any mention of God seems silly in a
document defining a nation of half arsed sceptics, it is worth noting that God probably made Queensland, as it's beautiful one day and perfect the next. Why he filled it with dickheads remains a mystery."
Anybody who can describe a place this way deserves to be read. One more reason to make it down there one of these days...
"And there's Queensland. While any mention of God seems silly in a
document defining a nation of half arsed sceptics, it is worth noting that God probably made Queensland, as it's beautiful one day and perfect the next. Why he filled it with dickheads remains a mystery."
Anybody who can describe a place this way deserves to be read. One more reason to make it down there one of these days...
Arguments & Outcomes
Over at Four Right Wing Wackos I found a link to Michael Totten. I started reading through, and found some good stuff. One post in particular caught me, and brought some things to mind.
A lady I used to know at a dance group that met every week was very big on the idea of socialized medicine. One night she started in on how we should take lessons from Canada, how wonderful it was there. When I pointed out that people are waiting weeks and months to get a scan for cancer, and waiting months/years for knee surgery, she basically countered with "the government covers it". Like that made up for the problems. I'm sure someone who's been told they probably have cancer and is having to wait a month for a test is very comforted by the fact that they don't have to write out an actual check for the test; on the other hand, they might be damn glad to hand over some money if it would get the test done now, which probably accounts for all the people who can coming over the border to the U.S. for treatment. But it didn't really seem to matter to her, what was important was that "you don't have to pay for it". Which of course set me off.
I said "There's no such thing as free health care, we're all paying for it!" Her attitude was basically "that's how it should be". The ineffeciency, the mess, the delays, all worth it because "that's how it should be". At which point I shook my head and dropped it.
Totten's post on not getting tied up in 'analysis' brought it back. This seems to cut to the bone in a lot of things. Gun control? Doesn't cut crime, makes it hard for honest people, but "that's the way it should be". Speech codes that chop at free speech? "Someone might say something hurtful, so that's the way it should be". And so on. Facts, actual outcomes, are not as important as what boils down to "It makes me feel good to be for this, and to push it on other people".
I used to work with a guy who thought I was fairly laughable because I'd get really, really pissed at people like Robert Byrd. He'd pop up with something that took millions of tax dollars to WV so he could have his name on something else, I'd have a fit, and Jim would give me a disgusted, wondering look and say "That's what he's supposed to do". I'd point out that while he does indeed do that, being a senator is NOT supposed to mean 'loot the rest of the country for your home state', and we'd argue. He took it as a given that that's what would be done, and I'd be pissed that he'd just shrug and accept this crap. He thought I was an idealist(guilty) and I thought he had given up. Point of this is, while I'm an idealist on a number of things, I do understand that if something does not work in the real world, the answer is not to force people into it, or throw money at it; the answer is to either a: fix the problems, or b: drop it. The trouble with a lot of the activists is that they can't do either.
You point out that something doesn't work and hear back that either "we haven't worked hard enough at it" or "there's no problem, it's just people like YOU getting in the way!" At which point it's time to go somewhere and have a drink. There is no way in this world to argue this, because to them, YOU are the only problem. You don't care, or you're too cheap to fund it, or if we'd ONLY put it in effect the problems would sort out eventually; enough education will take care of it, etc. 'Education' in this context means 'we'll shut you up so you don't stir up trouble! You're the enemy".
In case someone actually reads this and wonders, I say this to extremists on both sides, those who can't think/see past their slogans. Go away, weenies. You're getting in my light.
A lady I used to know at a dance group that met every week was very big on the idea of socialized medicine. One night she started in on how we should take lessons from Canada, how wonderful it was there. When I pointed out that people are waiting weeks and months to get a scan for cancer, and waiting months/years for knee surgery, she basically countered with "the government covers it". Like that made up for the problems. I'm sure someone who's been told they probably have cancer and is having to wait a month for a test is very comforted by the fact that they don't have to write out an actual check for the test; on the other hand, they might be damn glad to hand over some money if it would get the test done now, which probably accounts for all the people who can coming over the border to the U.S. for treatment. But it didn't really seem to matter to her, what was important was that "you don't have to pay for it". Which of course set me off.
I said "There's no such thing as free health care, we're all paying for it!" Her attitude was basically "that's how it should be". The ineffeciency, the mess, the delays, all worth it because "that's how it should be". At which point I shook my head and dropped it.
Totten's post on not getting tied up in 'analysis' brought it back. This seems to cut to the bone in a lot of things. Gun control? Doesn't cut crime, makes it hard for honest people, but "that's the way it should be". Speech codes that chop at free speech? "Someone might say something hurtful, so that's the way it should be". And so on. Facts, actual outcomes, are not as important as what boils down to "It makes me feel good to be for this, and to push it on other people".
I used to work with a guy who thought I was fairly laughable because I'd get really, really pissed at people like Robert Byrd. He'd pop up with something that took millions of tax dollars to WV so he could have his name on something else, I'd have a fit, and Jim would give me a disgusted, wondering look and say "That's what he's supposed to do". I'd point out that while he does indeed do that, being a senator is NOT supposed to mean 'loot the rest of the country for your home state', and we'd argue. He took it as a given that that's what would be done, and I'd be pissed that he'd just shrug and accept this crap. He thought I was an idealist(guilty) and I thought he had given up. Point of this is, while I'm an idealist on a number of things, I do understand that if something does not work in the real world, the answer is not to force people into it, or throw money at it; the answer is to either a: fix the problems, or b: drop it. The trouble with a lot of the activists is that they can't do either.
You point out that something doesn't work and hear back that either "we haven't worked hard enough at it" or "there's no problem, it's just people like YOU getting in the way!" At which point it's time to go somewhere and have a drink. There is no way in this world to argue this, because to them, YOU are the only problem. You don't care, or you're too cheap to fund it, or if we'd ONLY put it in effect the problems would sort out eventually; enough education will take care of it, etc. 'Education' in this context means 'we'll shut you up so you don't stir up trouble! You're the enemy".
In case someone actually reads this and wonders, I say this to extremists on both sides, those who can't think/see past their slogans. Go away, weenies. You're getting in my light.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
How does the library do it?
You put in a request for some books, and a video. All spread out over about three weeks. And they all come in on the same damn day.
I can't read that fast!
I can't read that fast!
Monday, January 24, 2005
Waiter! There's a glass in my dinner!
My daughter got a job today, and needed some clothes. So first we went shopping, then to Outback for dinner to celebrate.
As we began our cheese fries, I picked up my glass of tea, and as it moved over my plate the bottom fell out. Literally. Breaking my saucer and dumping ice and tea all over the table. Almost immediately our waitress and a waiter appeared, asking if I was all right, starting the cleanup, and getting a fresh batch of fries.
My son used to work there, so I also wound up with one of the other waitresses coming from the next section of the place to ask if I was hurt. Nice place to be a regular at. I informed them that I'd blog about this: "I was attacked at Outback! By my glass! It peed all over me!"
I think I made their night.
I looked the halves over before they took them away. It separated just below the bottom of the handle, and you could hardly have gotten a cleaner break if you'd worked at it. The things that happen...
As we began our cheese fries, I picked up my glass of tea, and as it moved over my plate the bottom fell out. Literally. Breaking my saucer and dumping ice and tea all over the table. Almost immediately our waitress and a waiter appeared, asking if I was all right, starting the cleanup, and getting a fresh batch of fries.
My son used to work there, so I also wound up with one of the other waitresses coming from the next section of the place to ask if I was hurt. Nice place to be a regular at. I informed them that I'd blog about this: "I was attacked at Outback! By my glass! It peed all over me!"
I think I made their night.
I looked the halves over before they took them away. It separated just below the bottom of the handle, and you could hardly have gotten a cleaner break if you'd worked at it. The things that happen...
Embarrasing moments... for someone else
One of the best I've seen happened to a lady down in Texas, when I had a booth at North Texas Irish Festival. We'd met a few months before at Scarborough Faire (yeah, I go to ren-fairs sometimes; bite me). Since I had been properly attired at the fair, kilt and all, she hadn't recognized me when she saw me that day- she knew she knew me, but not from where. Finally I gave her a hint(long backstory, maybe some other time), and she clicked.
Few minutes later I took a break and we were walking around talking, and I said something like "You took long enough to remember me". In the middle of a crowd, without thinking, she said
"I didn't recognize you with pants on!".
Ever seen a grown woman in a corner, choking and so red it practically reflected off the walls?
Few minutes later I took a break and we were walking around talking, and I said something like "You took long enough to remember me". In the middle of a crowd, without thinking, she said
"I didn't recognize you with pants on!".
Ever seen a grown woman in a corner, choking and so red it practically reflected off the walls?
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