More minor points...

They are making a Ghostbusters game. Whether it very good or very bad doesn't matter: it'll be funny and I'll buy it.


This is the best summary of Islamo-fascist terrorism I have ever seen:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Mumbai Tragedy

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Plexico Burris is a colossal moron. Apparently the thug culture, that apparently urban people perpetuate, ignores basic safety and throws common sense out the window.

Problem one: He carried a gun in NYC illegally. Do I think NY's laws are asinine? Hell yeah, but I obey them just the same. He shouldn't have had it with him in the first place. Hell, clubs/bars and guns don't mix for a myriad of reasons. Guns and alcohol don't mix in any situation or quantity.

Problem two: He stuffed a loaded Glock in the waist band of his sweat pants. I have never found a pair of sweatpants that would support a couple of pounds of stainless steel, plastic, and ammo. In fact, I purchased a heavy duty gun belt to wear when I carry to support the weight of my sidearm - no pair of pants would do it by it self. In addition to this being unsafe and insecure; I have a major problem with pointing a loaded gun at my junk and at my femoral artery when sitting. In the worst case scenario the gun goes off taking my boys off and severing the major artery in my leg. The shame of becoming androgynous will be short lived since I'll probably bleed out in less than minute.

Problem three: He was sans holster. Nearly all holsters cover the trigger guard preventing accidental contact with the trigger and thus helping to prevent a negligent discharge. Most holsters also have belt clip that will prevent the gun from sliding down your pants leg.
Problem four: It should be a rule - don't try and grab a falling gun!

Who wears sweatpants in public anyway? Many people do when it makes sense to do so (jogging for example) - but to a club? Isn't that a sign you've given up on life and plan on spending your days in a recliner, chugging cheap booze, channel surfing and hoping not to wind up like half the people on COPS. I think this was a basis for an episode of Seinfeld.


And again whe turn to Americas best source for news an commentary to help put this in the proper perspective:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jon Stewart Touches Kids - Plaxico Burress

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

I was thing about changing the title; Latin may be a little pretentious. Besides, it implies that I have anything really important to say Or that right better than my broken prose.

This surpises me a little bit...

I really want to know what mechanism is used to determine this.

Today in History...

The Knights Templar ceased to be a major organization in Europe. This is where (more than likely) the term and superstition about "Friday the 13th" came to be. On Friday, October 13, 1307, Under the orders from the King of France and the Pope the Templars were assailed as heretics, their lands seized, and many were executed - all for the kings greed and power. The remnants were absorbed into other orders. Few organizations have had such myth, legend, and popular imagination associated with it. (Pic from Wikipedia)

Revolution

This is just wrong and Stallone agrees! The pictures alone make me mad and sad.

For a comparison; tomorrow is the anniversary of the Battle of Gonzales. I don't expect the monks to take up arms, but the general population seems like a place for a little un-official CIA assistance.
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In other new the AFL-CIO is pandering to illegals. I can only assume that this is to encourage them to join unions and fill their dwindling rolls. Of course this is in San Fransisco so they will probably get their way.

SF is the city that gives the middle finger to the military every chance they get yet allow public gay (not that there is anything wrong with that) pride that borders on soft core porn. I say this never having been to that festival but after seeing two guys in bondage gear whipping each other and doing... other things on a public street on two different news channels. I support the right to do that; just not were a 4 year old can see it. At least in NY they call it what it is.

Some one should tell those hippies that illegals are bad for the environment!
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I don't see the problem requiring this like most other employers.
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Is the two party system in trouble? Probably not, since, as a general rule, people vote for a third party that siphons votes for the party that they would otherwise vote for (if at all) leading to that party's failure in a general election. That failure often brings about unwelcome changes that forces those voting for the third party to rethink voting for them in the next election. Just look at the effect the Reform party had in'92 and the Greens in 2000 and 'o4. To be fair G.w. Bush had lost the aura of Regan by the end of his term and the the Dems had pretty sad candidates in the last two. I should write more on this...
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I'm not sure if this is funny, sad, or scary. It shows some real pie-in-the-sky naïveté about the world around us and the people in it! As an interesting side note the NY Times wort in the linked article: "approach of the fifth anniversary of the Congressional vote authorizing military action in Iraq" Does this mean that they've stopped mentioning that the war in Iraq wasn't authorized?
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I don't know enough about Russian politics or government to properly comment on this, but it seems unusual for a head of state to step immediately on to the office of head of government after his term ends.
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If you need further proof that Bloomberg is a commie look here and here. Welcome to 1984 New York.
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I have some mixed feelings on this, but not many.
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This is called testing you enemy's defenses and response times or simply playing a game of 'I don't give a damn'. This may also turn into a an elaborate 'the boy who cried wolf' scenario...
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If I have to explain why this is bad you still would not get it.
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This is funny...
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Normal people use a .357 magnum for bears not a sword! It's not news... It's Fark
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The Israeli raid on Syria apparently has had unintended consequences. It looks like a lot of countries will be stuck with their old Soviet-era crap limiting the ability of those countries to upgrade to newer (though not necessarily better) equipment from Russia, China, Iran and N. Korea.

And as a bonus...
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The surge is working, imagine that!
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This is fascinating.
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This is just wrong.
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I'm sure this is going to work as well as Clinton's agreement in the '90s. If your kid is being bad do you bribe him ice cream and then continue to not pay attention?
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The death of languages isn't a bad thing think the Tower of Babel
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I read this on Madogre.com:

This was posted on 29 Sept 07

“The following is a series of impressions and thoughts written right before and after I left China. I did not feel comfortable keeping a diary of these thoughts while I had much time left in the country. No significant attempt has been made to make the ideas logically flow and while I have tried to write it well, it is not well written. I did not have a particular audience in mind when I wrote this. I just wanted to get down my impressions so I could share them with others. I don't know what I will think in the future but what follows is a pretty good representation of what I thought in July of 2007. It is not exhaustive (I figured five pages was long enough) but it is reasonably complete.

China is not our friend nor are its people. Individual citizens of China may love individual citizens from the US but they will not be friends of the US until their government tells them that the US is the friend of China and the friend of China's people. I have never heard anything genuinely positive about the US from anyone, anywhere in my whole time here. Additionally they are being unfriendly as evidenced by the discovery of Chinese weapons in Afghanistan.

The lack of critical thinking skills amongst the university students is striking.

Isn't it interesting that everyone is mad at Starbucks for being in the forbidden city and nobody is talking about the managers of the Forbidden city who were the ones who allowed and may have even asked (I'm not sure) them to be there. This is a small example of the prevalent idea of the west imposing or bullying China or the east.

There is this mania for never coming to a conclusion which dictates action. “Both sides have good points. This is a complex issue and we will need to continue talking about it.”

It feels to me like there has been a long and concerted effort to improve the world's view of China. Factual errors like the great wall being the only man-made structure that can be seen un-aided from outer space. The sudden influx of Chinese movies. I am hearing a lot about China in pod-casts for everything from news programs to cooking shows. I am always hearing positive things or almost always. Occasionally I hear about exploited workers and the fiasco of the Three Gorges Dam but I never hear about the brutally suppressed farmers who are starving and disenfranchised. I hear polite references to the PRC government's denial and revision of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. It feels to me like there is almost some sort of psy-ops against the American people (and perhaps the world) so that they will not so readily support military conflict with mainland China.

The PRC is building it's Army. Why? Attributing motivations to actions is fraught with peril, even when it is your actions, but I think I can put forward some reasonable possibilities. In fact I would go so far as to say that they are likelihoods.

To begin with a sane person does not acquire something without intending to use it. Therefore I will treat the PRC's intent to use the military as a certainty. This begs the question of what this use will be. Two possibilities immediately present themselves. The first use is the suppression of uprisings, particularly from the farmers and peasants. The second use is imperial expansion. I know that in current times imperial expansion sounds antiquated but I will substantiate this.

The suppression of uprisings is clearly an intended use for the military. There are reports of using the military to put down revolts of farmers in recent years. We are well aware of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. It is reasonable to believe that the military will continue to be used for this purpose in the future. However, this does not account for the military buildup. I am not educated in these matters but it seems to me all you need to suppress uprisings of peasants is infantry.

From my understanding of Chinese history I see thousands of years of imperialism. I don't mean dynasties and monarchies. I mean that each dynasty went out and conquered as much territory as it could. The present government is no different. With the possible exception of the Qing dynasty (the most recent), the current boundaries of mainland China bear little resemblance to any of the previous dynasties and its claimed boundaries are that much more different.

However, just the habit of imperialism does not mean that imperial expansion is going to happen. There needs to be land available to take. Without doing any research beyond listening to the news and looking at a map I am aware of several different areas available for armed conflict*. Aksai Chin at the north of India is claimed by India but controlled by the PRC. Most of India's state Arunchai Pradesh is claimed by the PRC. The Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands are administered by Japan but claimed by the PRC. Finally Taiwan and its associated Islands are controlled by the ROC but claimed by the PRC. I watched the president of the PRC speak about Taiwan and heard the translation of his comments while in China. Words like “rogue” and “renegade” were used. The PRC wants the ROC.

A couple of my more “liberal” friends have said that military actions on a large scale are a thing of the past because it would mean one country invading a part of its own economy. They say that it will not be a military takeover (i.e. Taiwan) but a willing coalition from the business men. I hear what they are saying and I think that there is some truth in these statements. However, I see a flaw in that thinking. Those statements are built on the idea that things change, but things don't change. It has been powerful people with armies since the beginning and it will continue to be so. To add to this, The PRC president's language was clearly military minded and mentioned nothing of a proposed business alliance and can only be described as barely stopping short of threatening (or not stopping short).

I do not know what the PRC's grand strategy is but I guarantee they have one and that we have seen the preliminary steps being implemented. I cannot say exactly why I thought this but my gut seemed to think, after spending 11 months there and listening to the people and watching what was going on, that the ultimate goal of the PRC is world domination and I don't think it cares in what way, military, economic it doesn't care. I am aware that this sounds a little kooky and I am not going to defend it. That was my sense of things, do what you will with it.

There is no question though that the PRC's ambition is to be a super power. I'm not sure how one would define a “super power” but what ever it is Mainland China wants to be one. I believe that they will do ANYTHING to accomplish this.

In China, right and wrong, and good and evil are far from absolutes except as it pertains to family. It is my sense after listening to my students speak (and has been confirmed after talking with other foreign teachers) that if something is good for the family you do it and if it is bad for the family you stop and this is without reference to the well being of anyone who is not your friend or your family. I do not believe that the government of mainland China cares about the wellbeing of anyone else at all. This is supported by its cruel treatment of its own people.

China's weakness is energy, in particular oil. But if you can put a kink in the energy supply line you can significantly interfere with almost every part of China.

I had a great experience in China. I would heartily recommend anyone who can walk two or three miles at a time to go there. We met some wonderful people, both Chinese and ex-pats. With everything that I know now I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It is a different culture and as you begin to understand parts of it you begin to see your own beliefs and culture from a new perspective. You find that things you thought were givens and reasonable certainties are actually wildly ranging variables.

That being said. . .don't believe the hype. China is not a land of wonder and mystery. It is a land of pollution and ignorance. It is a land where most of the people don't know that plastic bags are not biodegradable and so dump their garbage in ditches by the road and railroad tracks, and in waterways. It is a place were nearly all of the trains' toilettes dump their waste directly on the railroad tracks (you are not allowed to use the bathroom while the train is stopped at a station). The people do not know about germ theory. I have a friend who works at a cheese factory there. They are having a very hard time getting the workers to wash their hands at all and to get them to do it well and every time after using the bathroom is almost impossible.

It is a land where the national hero killed MILLIONS of it's own people yet his portrait is hung from Tiananmen and his mausoleum is located in Tiananmen square. It is a country that censors the Internet. It is a country that distorts it's facts. It is my understanding that government agencies routinely inflate or deflate figures and statistics to make them more favorable. (As a result if the figure passes though many different agencies it is often inflated or deflated beyond any semblance of reality.) This is a country that is built on lies.

They are a people without dignity or a sense of fair play. Just observe any bottleneck. Buses are great examples. Everyone mobs the door. They push and shove. There is no dignity. This was driven home when I was in Xian on a bus coming back from the terracotta warriors. The whole bus wanted to get off but we couldn't at first because of the mob pressing up against the door. When we finally got off, and had pressed our way through the crowd, I looked back and saw people pushing and shoving and, since you would buy your ticket after the bus was under way, people were climbing in through the windows. It is not about right and wrong, it is about what you can and cannot do.

As a general principle we need to not do business with immoral and corrupt governments. There are obvious moral reasons for this. However, there is a purely practical aspect and this practical side is extremely significant with China. If you support the immoral government, do business with them, establish a relationship with them. You keep them in power and give them no reason to change. Then there will come a point (or even many situations) where the corrupt government will, for lack of a better expression, be corrupt to you.

We are engaging in trade relations with a government that essentially denies the Tiananmen Square “Incident.” We are engaging in trade relations with a government that is afraid to give the public uncensored news. A government that regularly puts down revolts using the military. A government that is supporting the government of Sudan and thereby NOT helping to end the genocide in Darfur. A government that is selling weapons with full knowledge that these weapons will be used against us in Iraq and Afghanistan. This government is not our friend. Its people are not our friend.

I wish I could explain it better but I didn't have this clear realization until I had been in country for several months. There is this constant “buzz” of propaganda. A few big things, like constant hashing and rehashing of Japan's invasion and occupation. Continual coverage of “The Rape of Nanking” and so on. However, it is this constant. . .pressure. It is almost like background radiation. No clear incident but this ubiquitous force of over-statements, under-statements, lies, ethnocentrism, nationalism and so forth. At first I attributed this to a natural and reasonable pride in their country which does have a great history. However, I began to realize that it was something more.

There is nothing wrong with China! It is perfect! Everything that is wrong with it is being addressed in the best way possible! (yes the sentences contradict) However, everything that is wrong or could be wrong with other countries, the US in particular, amounts to their sum total.

I realized while I was there that I could not classify the government or its economy. So I decided to ask my classes. They said it was socialist. Since I couldn't see a single socialist thing about mainland China I asked them how it could be socialist when there was nothing socialist about it. This was about halfway into the second term so my students knew me and knew that I wasn't attacking them or the country and really wanted to know. One class in particular got rather excited and eloquent. (The following are not true quotes but they are close. I should have written then down at the time.) “No, China is not socialist now but it will be. This is just a step towards a wonderful dream. Maybe you don't believe in this dream but we do. No one will have to work if they don't want to. Everyone will get paid for what they do. Everyone will work for himself.” I think they also said something about everyone being equal (which obviously implies that people currently, in China, are not). I asked them how you could not need to work when you don't want to, get paid for what you do, AND work for yourself. They were so enamored with the “beauty” of their “dream” that I got no real answers. What was striking was the unity in the class on this idea. Sometimes I got the feeling that students were saying what they knew they were supposed to say. This was not the case with their “beautiful dream.” Their enthusiasm was clearly genuine.

This reminds be of another interesting thing. In the textbooks for Intro to the US and Intro to the UK classes. When the cold war came up it was never Democracy vs Communism, it was Capitalism vs Socialism. I thought that was an interesting distinction to make considering that the UK was socialist for some time and that much of Europe was/is based on some degree or flavor of socialism. I also discovered that they do not view the PRC or the USSR as communist but as socialist.

I had a class where I would bring in contemporary articles in English and we would read them. Not wanting to stir up feelings I was careful to not select articles that were at odds with the Chinese government's policies. North Korea had just detonated a nuclear device. This was a historic situation. Not because there was now possibly a new nuclear power but because the PRC and Japan were on the same side working together. I brought in an article that discussed the situation and how the East Asian countries were working together. I broke them up into groups and told them to give me a summary and write about there opinions of the article's contents. Every single group returned papers discussing the unfair treatment of North Korea by the west and how the US needed to stop bullying North Korea and said nothing about the cooperation between the PRC and Japan. I found these results particularly interesting in light of the fact that the only reference to the west and the US was that it was a US government agency that had confirmed it was a nuclear device and not a conventional one.

The people seem to be carefully taught all the negatives and problems

With few exceptions, perhaps 5%, no one in China can think. They are carefully trained, very effective recording and play back devices. Students are regularly incapable of admitting that there is another point of view much less conceding it has any points worth considering. A fact all the more disturbing when you consider that these are the educated people who will be running the government in the future.

I had a class where I showed movies. It was up to me to select and purchase the movies. I showed the movie “Spy Game” with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. I selected it because it had a lot of dialogue. It had completely slipped my mind that the PRC was an antagonist in the movie. While most of the movie takes place in other parts of the world the beginning and end take place in China. When the movie was over I asked them how they liked it. You could feel that they were not entirely happy. I said, “Did you like it?”

They said, “No.”

I said, “Why not?” expecting them to say that they thought China was shown in a bad light or something like that.

A student said, “They break our laws!”

I was surprised at that reason.

“This is a movie about spies! That is what spies do! They break other countries laws. Do you not think there are Chinese spies in America right now trying to steal American secrets?”

This seemed to unsettle them a bit. There was a pause and the student who spoke before said somewhat hesitantly, “We don't know.”

My initial interpretation of this response was that they were afraid that by admitting to the existence of Chinese spies in America, they would be divulging state secrets. Upon reflection I found that there may be another explanation. The students, or at least that student, felt that to acknowledge the existence of Chines spies would somehow make them loose face. Clearly to acknowledge their existence would diminish the absolute evil of spies breaking Chinese laws. That said I am not entirely confident the students were capable of this level of reasoning.

I was also surprised that the response about the movie was based on the breaking of Chinese laws when the rest of the movie was rather damning of the US intelligence service. However, their language skills may not have permitted them to follow the movie very well. Additionally, there may have been other cultural factors I am not aware of influencing or directing those responses.

I said, “Of course there are spies in the US! At least there had better be! Your government would not be doing its duty if there weren't.” This statement appeared to be a new way of thinking to them.

I was not able to get them to continue talking about this.

In my Introduction to the United States class I had a policy of requiring all the students to write questions (about anything) on slips of paper and giving them to me at the beginning of class. One day I had a slip of paper with the question, “Why does the west say that people were killed in Tiananmen square when all witnesses and historical documents prove that it was resolved peacefully?”

Feeling deportation was at hand but not wanting to lie (I had decided that I would do my best to always speak the truth) I spoke to the dynamic. The one thing that I soon started trying to teach was how to think. I said, “In a situation like this, where there are two such different accounts, one person is lieing and you need to decide which one to believe.”

I have been reading T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom. I think that China, its people, and its culture are just as different from the west as the Arabs he describes. The difference is that Lawrence's Arabs are riding around on camels and set on staying the way they are, whereas the Chinese are furiously emulating the West. As I trying to get more specific about this I see a lifetime of research and writing on this topic opening up before me so I will leave it there.

I could just keep going on. I didn't know what I wanted to say exactly when I started this and I didn't know who would be reading it. It is a mess but it is a reasonable collection of thoughts and impressions from 11 contiguous months and 15 months total.

• To add weight to the point I have included an excerpt from the world fact book on China based on principles drafted in 2005, China and India continue discussions to resolve all aspects of their extensive boundary and territorial disputes together with a security and foreign policy dialogue to consolidate discussions related to the boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, and other matters; recent talks and confidence-building measures have begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; lacking any treaty describing the boundary, Bhutan and China continue negotiations to establish a boundary alignment to resolve substantial cartographic discrepancies, the largest of which lies in Bhutan's northwest; China asserts sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" eased tensions in the Spratly's but is not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some parties; Vietnam and China continue to expand construction of facilities in the Spratly's and in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord on marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; China occupies some of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; China and Taiwan continue to reject both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared equidistance line in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting; certain islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers are in dispute with North Korea; China seeks to stem illegal migration of North Koreans; China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance with their 2004 Agreement; in 2006, China and Tajikistan pledged to commence demarcation of the revised boundary agreed to in the delimitation of 2002; demarcation of the China-Vietnam land boundary proceeds slowly and although the maritime boundary delimitation and fisheries agreements were ratified in June 2004, implementation remains stalled; in 2004, international environmentalist and political pressure from Burma and Thailand prompted China to halt construction of 13 dams on the Salween River.”

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We have problems with this country. One of them is the fact that we don't apply the same standards to out trade "partners" and allies that we ( the Carter administration) demand of CIA informants. We should be more selective or, at least apply pressure or apply change.

Don't forget this:

Found here.

Some Quotes

I found an old text file of quotes I had. Here's a sampling:

Artificial Intelligence is no match for Natural Stupidity

"Mark Twain could preach a sermon and entertain at the same time. But Mark Twain had talent."

bah weep graaagnah wheep ni ni bong

"Political correctness is tyranny with manners."

James Madison, wrote in defense of the proposed Constitution, in the Pennsylvania Gazette of Feb. 20, 1788: "Their swords, and every other terrible instrument of the soldier, are the birth right of an American. ... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or the state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people."

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto - “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.”

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
(Whatever is said in Latin, sounds profound.)

"By nature's law, man is at peace with man till some aggression is committed, which, by the same law, authorizes one to destroy another as his enemy." --Thomas Jefferson to Edmond C. Genet, 1793.

To: lakewriter
They simply hate everybody. They are equal opportunity despisers. The Shi'ites hate the Sunnis and the Sunnis hate the Shi'ites. Both hate the Kurds. They bomb the Turks. Iraq and Iran warred on each other. Hamas hates Fatah and vice-versa. There's a Fatwa on Muslim preachers who cooperate with the West. The trouble is, most anybody can issue a Fatwa and you have mutual Fatwas.

They hate the Indians, Russians, Filipinos, Europeans despite all, Americans and most of all the Jews. They hate everyone, individually and personally. They hate those who hate them and hate those who love them. They hate those who surrender and those who resist. They hate, hate and hate. We shouldn't take it personally. I'm beginning to think that if you took the hate out of Islam you would find nothing at all.
46 posted on 04/03/2004 by wretchard (I'm not sure what board I found this on)

I believe it was Cpt. Kirk who said... "Fortune Favors the Foolish"

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Regan:

"Government is not the solution, it's the problem." — Inaugural address, Jan. 20, 1981

"I had a copy of the Soviet Constitution and I read it with great interest. And I saw all kinds of terms in there that sound just exactly like our own: 'Freedom of assembly' and 'freedom of speech' and so forth. Of course, they don't allow them to have those things, but they're in there in the constitution. But I began to wonder about the other constitutions -- everyone has one -- and our own, and why so much emphasis on ours. And then I found out, and the answer was very simple -- that's why you don't notice it at first. But it is so great that it tells the entire difference. All those other constitutions are documents that say, 'We, the government, allow the people the following rights,' and our Constitution says 'We the People, allow the government the following privileges and rights.' We give our permission to government to do the things that it does. And that's the whole story of the difference--why we're unique in the world and why no matter what our troubles may be, we're going to overcome." -RR

"Honey, I forgot to duck." — To Nancy Reagan in the emergency room after he was shot by a would-be assassin, March 30, 1981.

"I've always stated that the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth is a government program." — April 1986

"I urge you to beware the temptation of pride, the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil. ...

"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." — Joke while testing microphone, Aug. 11, 1984

"Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born."

"Back then (before 1981), government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
-Ronald Reagan, Remarks to the White House Conference on Small Business, Aug. 15, 1986

"I heard those speakers at the other convention saying, 'We won the Cold War,' and I couldn't help wondering, just who exactly do they mean by 'We'?"
-Ronald Reagan, Address to the Republican National Convention, Aug. 17, 1992

"No one has yet found a way to repeal the law of supply and demand."
-Ronald Reagan, Address as Governor of California, 1972

"If the U.N. does not like New York, they are free to move, perhaps to Moscow." --Reagan

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"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you," Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." --Hillery Clinton @ A democratic fundraiser for Sen. B. Boxer - BETH FOUHY, AP Political Writer in SFGate Monday 28 June 2004

"You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." --Clint Eastwood, as The man with no name "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in confederacy against him. --Jonathan Swift 1667—1745

Never express yourself more clearly than you can think. --Niels Bohr 1885—1962

"Windows is a 32-bit extension to a 16-bit graphical shell for an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor by a 2-bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition."

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -- Churchill

When asked if violence did not simply beget more violence, Colonel Cooper responded "It is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure — and in some cases I have — that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy"

"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country. France has usually been governed by prostitutes." --Mark Twain

“Having a gun and thinking you are armed is like having a piano and thinking you are a musician.” -Jeff Cooper

"Owning a gun no more makes you a gunfighter than owning a Stradivarius violin makes you a concert violinist." -Jeff Cooper

"when one is being swarmed by squadrons of impassioned zulus, one shot stops are entirely acceptable -Jeff Cooper

"Leadership is getting people to do something they dont want to, & like it."-Teddy Roosevelt

"The welfare of the people became the responsability of the government, ,whereas before then government was the responsability of the people. American thought & outlook were altered. Large segments of our people were willing to exchange personal freedom for a sense of social security". -Charles E. Sorensen

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?" --Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

Most people come from the Creator equipped with 2 hands. One to reach out to the fallen, the other to hold the club should he come up with a knife.

Mad as a hatter!

Here's a surefire way to kill the economy.

This makes you wonder... doesn't it?


This may or may not be a good thing but, at the very least the socialist should stop bitching.


Go home or enter legally of you want the right to sue! This is a bloody joke and the punch line is that some yuppy judge will let it through.

This isn't unexpected but, this site also has a story about UFOs attacking the Ukraine. It is a good video....

Something is going to happen sooner or later. If Iran keeps oushing, eventually someone will push back and it might not be us.

WTF. I say that not knowing all of the facts.

Well the women there are already making bad decisions (Obamba, etc.); why can't one of them be me?

Nudie Bars

I've figured out why guys like me go to strip clubs. I want to state up front that I do not frequent strip clubs. I have only been to two different clubs on a handful of occasions; every time was with a bachelor party or as a wingman (yes, I said wingman). For most people, those clubs do little more than create a bad case of blue balls while separating you from your money and leaving you horny and frustrated ad the end of the night. Honestly, porn is cheaper and you can finish when you are done. I will also say that some of the most attractive women I've seen at those places were not working, precisely because they generally wore normal clothes and normal style heels.

The club I went to in AC last year was kind of sad really. There wasn't a lot of pole dancing (part of the reason to go is the show), it was byob, and the girls basically begged you for money. We got there early, so the selection was very limited. By the time we left at around 11 or 12 o'clock the place had gotten very crowded and the line was around the block.

The other club that I have been to was Club Risque in Bristol. That was a much more enjoyable place to be. For one thing it wasn't just horny/lonely single guys filling the place up - guys brought their girl with them! The place was set up more like a hang-out with a (reasonably) priced bar and pool tables; Going there you don't have to spend $20 a lap dance or stand around doing nothing. The biggest difference was the quality and temperament of the women who worked (you) there. First, they were generally more attractive. Most importantly, they didn't spend all of their time hitting you up for lap dances or to stuff $5 in the "kitty". They were hanging out too - playing pool, stuffing money in the Magic-touch at the end of the bar, and chatting with regulars (who generally don't spend of time on couches in the back). Granted, damn near anything they do has the ultimate goal of separating you from your money (they are working after all) - they simply were not pushy.

This brings me to the 'thesis': Why sad lonely men, such as my self, outside of a bachelor party or other gathering. There is the obvious reason: Attractive women, wearing next to nothing beyond the mandatory (?) platform heels, gyrating in front of you while you pound beers. Women who can pole dance are a truly impressive, acrobatic site. Believe it, or not: a train of women strip down to a thong while rhythmically grinding away would get boring without the pole dance. (Damn now I sound like a strip club connoisseur. That can't be a good thing).

The thing that made this club so much more enjoyable was the simple fact that they made small talk with you. Were else can an average joe go and have attractive women walk up to the and say hi. I know that it is part of their 'shtick, but it is a bit of a confidence builder. Honestly, most of the time I have to be half lit before I even think about walking within 5 feet of a women, let alone talking to a woman - having them come to you and say hello is bloody fantastic! This is especially true if you fall into an actual conversation; all of a sudden I can talked to an attractive woman - wow!. I'm not saying that it is an ideal environment to learn that particular art (only so much blood...), but it can't be that bad a place to get a start. Additionally, the chance of be rejected on site is damn near zero. If you look like Igor or smell like you've been playing in a pig pen you might still have a problem, assuming the bouncers at the door even let you in (Apparently, strippers have standards too). For normal and shy guys it is a fantastic mental icebreaker that makes approaching women seem less insurmountable. I will say that moderation is key. Any progress made will be lost after the second or third lap dance; at the point physiology will take over and you'll probably be so horny that up is down, left is right, and the Lions could win the Super Bowl.

I'll have more on this later.

Stupid Genious

I used to wonder how adults could believe in which craft. That was until people started calling me a 'genius' when I fixed something, or made use of some inane knowledge. All i simply did was learn how to do something; those who didn't bother are then amazed by my skill. WTF?

Random Mumblings...

1) They voted against a provision preventing illegals from getting citizenship if they committed a felony. An amendment instead excluding a much smaller number of crimes was passed. I would like to point out that THEY ALL COMMITTED A CRIME - THAT IS WHY THEY ARE CALLED ILLEGALS!

Update:
The bill is dead! I guess congress does listen to the vast majority of the people; even when they don't want too. I know that republicans supporting the bill have lost many a donation - the ouse is free speech!

2) Paris (the semi-attractive, spoiled, it pains me to type the name) Hilton spend two nights in jail and it was too hard!?!? Too damn bad! There are so many things wrong with that it is unbelievable. Their must have been a quid pro quo, money changing hands, or the belief that some act of "mercy" would net a gain for those involved. The real mercy would be not having to here about her for a month and change.

Update:
It looks like the judge doesn't give a damn who she is and sent her back to jail kicking and screaming. I doubt she will get off for goo behavior after that cour room outburst which makes me ask the question: are you a five year old?

3) Gary Sheffield said something, that angered some body... so what. I read the quote, and I can see why some people might be upset. I won't comment on it with out reading the whole interview. In the end, his comments don't affect me in any way that I can think of... so I really don't care

4) I feel like a pack mule too many days. Ahh, life on the bottom rung sucks - partially because I make things harder than they need to be and I have spent too much of my life looking down and around, but rarely up. My short attention span, absent mindedness, and (at time) poor time management skills aside: It is difficult to do either of the (in effect) two positions that I have without a certain amount of focus on one or the other. Some of the problem is the outside pressure from the boy(s) who said wolf, some of it is me - I need to find a balance or something more fulfilling to do. I probably shouldn't blog work, but it is necessary for my own sanity at times.

5) Scooter Libby got screwed form all sides. Rush made some good comments on it, and it has been heavily written about so not much more need to be said.

6) I need another carry gun or revolver... I simply like the Colt too much to beat it up. I am also starting to miss my M1 carbine a little.

7) Corzine wants to raise the gas tax. Now that's comedy! Raise the price on the one cheap thing in the Garden state; the one thing that isn't taxed into oblivion. Make people pay more when gas is at record high prices. I know a lot of people who wait until they have to go to Jersey before they fill up and will by gas in PA and closer to home.

8) You can't to mad men (N. Korea, Iran) - they are at best semi predictable, blinded in some way, and power hungry. You can't talk communists (China, N. Korea, Venezuela, et al.) - they lie and power hungry, but they are (mostly) predictable, they can be reasoned with, and (their leaders) have strong survival instinct. You can't talk to terrorists and religious zealots - that should be clear after the last 2000 yeas of world history. I'm not sure about Russia right now (post-empire hangover) or France ever. Be sure that no one is our friend - except, possibly, most of the time, Briton. It sucks at the top some times. More on this another day...

..That is all...for now.

Fun Weekend

I had a fun weekend.

Friday evening I hung out with a friend, drank Johny Walker Blue, and smoked cigars. I've only had JW Blue Label once before; It was so damn good I couldn't drink scotch for a year after! If you let it sit in you mouth it actually changes flavor - amazing stuff.

Saturday I went to the range and shot my new Colt Cobra.
I picked it up Thursday - It hadn't been in the case a day when I saw it. Colt revolvers fit my hand like they were made for it and I think they look more elegant than most. I wasn't looking for a nickel finish, but the price was right and the condition superb! It doesn't have a lot of recoil for an aluminum framed gun and is quite accurate with 158 gr. FMJFP - I was wacking a jug at 100 yd. with it. It does not like the light 123 gr Silvertips. Shooting those really opened up my groups. (To be 100% honest: I really do suck with handguns) I helped close up the range and went out to dinner with the range officers.

Sunday I did yard work and then spent some time with my buddy from VA. Spent the afternoon grilling, drinking and catching up.

Monday I did all the stuff I should have done on Sat. and Sun.

As a bonus: The Phillies swept the Braves in convincing fashion! Of course they lost today, but they fought 'til the end. I'd be happy if they stayed over .500, the play-offs would be a bonus.

All in all it was a refreshingly good weekend.

24

I just watched the 24 finale and was not terribly impressed. It was a good episode; some things were simply too obvious. The best example of this was Chloe fainting - I said she was pregnant to my buddy, and lo and behold! That was the obvious TV plot twist! Over all, however, it was a good finale. A lot of ends got tied up...ish, and the few lose ends are minor. Their is much more to mention, but I'm tired and not motivated to type at 11:30. I will say that Nadia is the hottest woman on the show thus far.

I also saw The Departed, The Great Raid, and Smoken' Aces this weekend and will probably post a review - basically for the hell of it.

This is an exercise in making me less broody and introverted, so the more I write the better. I've always had a bit of a hard time writing anything (I live in a perpetual state of writer's block) and these short little entries help.