From dailymail.co.uk.
A woman is hiring a new hair stylist. She has never heard of a hair stylist who will not uncover her hair, and considers showing off your hair an essential part of a stylist's job.
She gets a visit from a faithful member of the Peaceful Religion of Peace, and decides not to hire her. Note: this is not the first job (or the tenth) that this muslim woman has been turned down for because she would not remove her head scarf and show customers her own hair.
In America, we call this a self-disqualification. The prospective new hire is NOT qualified and will not get the job, tough [expletive deleted].
In UK, we call this a $67,500 "you discriminated" and $7,980 "you hurt my feeeeeeeeelings lawsuit. And instead of being tossed out of the courtroom on her [expletive deleted], the woman who refuses to fulfil the requirements of a job she wants, gets to pick on ONE of the people smart enough to not hire her, and gets a judgement because of her hurt feeeeeeeeelings.
Hold on there.
Let me tell you who would not be paying that 4000GBP penalty. Can you guess? * Let me give you a hint: it would be the same person filing a suit for defamation of character, attempting to ruin a business for arbitrary and capricious reasons, and hurt feeeeeeeeeleings.
If you want to be muslim and modest and still do womens' hair, how about you grow a pair and stick your neck out like this Sarah Desrosiers did, and get a small business loan and start your own business. See how many ladies want to get their hair done by a staff that won't show theirs. Wonder how they could be so discriiiiiiminatory. Or get a bolt of silk and start making custom hijabs so the other members of the Religion of Peace can be modest with you.
Just be sure they are black, so your husband doesn't beat your [deleted] [expletive deleted] for lack of modesty. Oh, also, don't get raped so he and his family won't kill you for their "honor". And don't try anything else funny because the fellow who invented the Religion of Peace liked variety, and set it up where you can be divorced by just saying a few words a few times. Nice hey?
You got hurt feelings and you caused it. I tell my daughter that means she doesn't get to have hurt feelings, it's her fault, and get over it. This woman evidently never had much good parental training, but then, that's what you can expect from The Place Where England Used to Be.
*If you guessed me, you're Co-Wrecked.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Is This A Commentary on State Controlled Economies?
The largest shopping mall in the world is also the largest empty shopping mall in the world. In China.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080612/REVIEW/206990272/1042
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080612/REVIEW/206990272/1042
The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act
I called them on it, but I was thinking about writing my Elected Heroes to comment. This is what I would have sent, if I had written instead. Yes it is too long to sent to a busy senate or congress staffer reading their bosses email. No it is not long enough to get all the points in that I was wanting to make.
*********
We have an OIL infrastructure. We are not the only country in the world. If we hamper ourselves by restricting burning of useful fuels we will be left behind in the world economy by other countries willing to pollute as required to be successful.
Why is the senate considering crushing the american economy with a global warming bill, when we have a group of 31,000 scientists in the field, all of them with masters' and over 9000 with doctoral degrees, who signed a letter rejecting the idea that we are causing global warming? Contrary to the lies told by Al Gore and others who stand to make money from carbon trading, the earth does not have a fever. The ARGO project has been telling us that the oceans of the world are cooling, since the bouys started being placed 4 years ago. Climate change computer models are continually being revised because they don't take into account the feedback mechanisms designed into the planet's thermal control systems, and reality continues to NOT agree with the global warming predicted by the computers.
The planet doesn't have a thermostat, and we can't change the temperature, even if we were all trying to do the same thing. It is the height of arrogance (unsurprising from the Democrats in the Senate) to think that the actions of one country can influence the climate of the world, especially as dozens of small countries and a couple of really big ones are going through industrial revolutions of their own -and polluting- regardless of what we do.
And contrary to Senator Lieberman's environmentalist religionist whacko statement, I would NOT be thrilled about a 50 cent increase in gas prices. I would also not be thrilled by an increase of other energy prices, that will certainly come about if this bill passes in any meaningful form. Especially when we are sitting on more oil than is in the Middle East, but not tapping it. We can't drill off the coasts because of the tourists (the environmental concerns are hogwash, we're doing it cleanly on existing rigs now). We can't take our oil shales because of the view (obviously removing rock to take the oil is going to spoil the surface). We can't even expand a currently existing refinery without getting the oil company's feet stuck in red tape!
Alternative energy? No wind farms off the coast, that spoils the view. Can't build nuclear, that's too dangerous even though a modern reactor has NEVER had a problem that endangered the public. Can't do LPG, that's too dangerous. Solar is inefficient and costly. For some reason, there is no interest in developing a Hydrogen infrastructure even though the planet is covered in a material that's 2/3 hydrogen and it is not a polluting fuel source.
Vote NO on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, and please work with your fellow elected representatives to convince them to do the same.
*********
We have an OIL infrastructure. We are not the only country in the world. If we hamper ourselves by restricting burning of useful fuels we will be left behind in the world economy by other countries willing to pollute as required to be successful.
Why is the senate considering crushing the american economy with a global warming bill, when we have a group of 31,000 scientists in the field, all of them with masters' and over 9000 with doctoral degrees, who signed a letter rejecting the idea that we are causing global warming? Contrary to the lies told by Al Gore and others who stand to make money from carbon trading, the earth does not have a fever. The ARGO project has been telling us that the oceans of the world are cooling, since the bouys started being placed 4 years ago. Climate change computer models are continually being revised because they don't take into account the feedback mechanisms designed into the planet's thermal control systems, and reality continues to NOT agree with the global warming predicted by the computers.
The planet doesn't have a thermostat, and we can't change the temperature, even if we were all trying to do the same thing. It is the height of arrogance (unsurprising from the Democrats in the Senate) to think that the actions of one country can influence the climate of the world, especially as dozens of small countries and a couple of really big ones are going through industrial revolutions of their own -and polluting- regardless of what we do.
And contrary to Senator Lieberman's environmentalist religionist whacko statement, I would NOT be thrilled about a 50 cent increase in gas prices. I would also not be thrilled by an increase of other energy prices, that will certainly come about if this bill passes in any meaningful form. Especially when we are sitting on more oil than is in the Middle East, but not tapping it. We can't drill off the coasts because of the tourists (the environmental concerns are hogwash, we're doing it cleanly on existing rigs now). We can't take our oil shales because of the view (obviously removing rock to take the oil is going to spoil the surface). We can't even expand a currently existing refinery without getting the oil company's feet stuck in red tape!
Alternative energy? No wind farms off the coast, that spoils the view. Can't build nuclear, that's too dangerous even though a modern reactor has NEVER had a problem that endangered the public. Can't do LPG, that's too dangerous. Solar is inefficient and costly. For some reason, there is no interest in developing a Hydrogen infrastructure even though the planet is covered in a material that's 2/3 hydrogen and it is not a polluting fuel source.
Vote NO on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, and please work with your fellow elected representatives to convince them to do the same.
Heller: Thank God, AFFIRMED!
w00t! The coffee is weak this morning and I am tired, so excuse me if this post is a little less excellent than all the others, but I am so happy I just had to say something!
SCOTUS No. 07-290
District of Columbia, et. al., Petitioners v. Dick Anthony Heller
"We affirm the judgement of the Court of Appeals. It is so ordered.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to read the syllabus of the decision. If you do know what I'm talking about, and agree with the vast majority of US Americans, you are as happy as I am about this.
Folks, this is why your vote for President matters. If we had one more leftist on the Court, it would likely have gone the other way, and we would now be on an ugly decline into absolute tyranny. As it is, we still have the option to say "no gentlemen, you are coming with me."
Look, the decision is not 100% the one I would have wanted, but it is a HUGE tipping point. Look for lawsuits in Chicago and NYC, possibly also in Kalifornia.
They upheld "reasonable restrictions" but that's a lot better for you than striking down "individual rights". It's easy enough for a modern level-headed person to understand but folks have not always had the same understanding. If this case had come 20 years ago, it would have gone the other way. There has been a lot of midnight oil burned and some serious scholars have done some serious research in the last decades, and we owe them all our thanks. It used to be common knowledge in legal circles that the People in the second amendment were not the same People in the first and fifth, and certainly not the 14th. Some anti-gun scholars were surprised when they learned the truth, and these we especially should thank, because they reported their results anyway.
This is a long decision and I have a yob, so it's going to be a while, but I'm thinking about a more in-depth posting about it. We'll see.
SCOTUS No. 07-290
District of Columbia, et. al., Petitioners v. Dick Anthony Heller
"We affirm the judgement of the Court of Appeals. It is so ordered.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to read the syllabus of the decision. If you do know what I'm talking about, and agree with the vast majority of US Americans, you are as happy as I am about this.
Folks, this is why your vote for President matters. If we had one more leftist on the Court, it would likely have gone the other way, and we would now be on an ugly decline into absolute tyranny. As it is, we still have the option to say "no gentlemen, you are coming with me."
Look, the decision is not 100% the one I would have wanted, but it is a HUGE tipping point. Look for lawsuits in Chicago and NYC, possibly also in Kalifornia.
They upheld "reasonable restrictions" but that's a lot better for you than striking down "individual rights". It's easy enough for a modern level-headed person to understand but folks have not always had the same understanding. If this case had come 20 years ago, it would have gone the other way. There has been a lot of midnight oil burned and some serious scholars have done some serious research in the last decades, and we owe them all our thanks. It used to be common knowledge in legal circles that the People in the second amendment were not the same People in the first and fifth, and certainly not the 14th. Some anti-gun scholars were surprised when they learned the truth, and these we especially should thank, because they reported their results anyway.
This is a long decision and I have a yob, so it's going to be a while, but I'm thinking about a more in-depth posting about it. We'll see.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Oil: Obama is Wrong, Again, Unsurprisingly
2 links to get you up to speed:
Shanghailist
ABC Local
China has been having gasoline shortages and long lines at their gas pumps when there is gas. They have been monkeying with the price of gasoline the same way we did in the 70's, with the same result. Without being able to fix the supply-side pricing, they fixed the consumer-side pricing. The little secret in this story is that they have been spending upwards of 5% of their federal budget to subsidize gas prices for the little people.
They have decided to stop, and the price of a gallon of gas is going to end up in the low $3/gal range, instead of the current middling $2/gal. range it is now. This is supposed to have the effect of discouraging gas use by the chinese people. We'll see. What we did see is an immediate drop in oil futures prices when the announcement was made. Because speculators -who care more about profits than people on fixed income who need to drive- are hedging against the dollar by buying oil. It looked like the demand might just fall SOME, and the speculation dropped a little, probably temporarily. Of course, that just proves the lie to (how did he get to be a) Senator Obama's contention that a resolution to start tapping our national oil resources would not have any immediate effect on oil prices.
Hold on there.
Let me tell you what would happen.
We announce that we are going to do things that will restore the world oil market to an oversupply condition. The speculators buying 5-year contracts are going to poop their pants and sell their contracts as quickly as they can to cut losses. There will be an oversupply of oil contracts, and the price falls by 50% or more in a month, tops. Then the people who actually buy the OIL on those contracts will have lower costs that will be passed along to the consumers in capitolist markets. They buy oil cheaper, and in about 4 months, the price of gas is cheaper. Like 40-50% cheaper. Right in time for an election.
If the Demicans were really smart, they would jump all over this and claim it as their own baby, and win controlling majorities in both houses, as well as the white house. If the republicrats were smart, they would force the demicans' hand by raising public awareness (and therefore bringing out the Loud Folks) to a point where "we must do something". Then the republicrats would have a chance at not being destroyed in this election cycle and Mr. Hopey-changey would have to keep his day job.
Of course, the Demicans are beholden to the environmentalist-socialist movement and can't be seen encouraging the raping of mother earth or encouraging capitolism; also, enough of the republicrats have had their testes removed by political office-seeking and they don't want to stick their necks out, either. Bold leadership anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Result? Even odds of seeing even any serious proposals for getting our own oil before the election. After the republicrats lose, they can say how if only they were in power we'd see some hopey-change, and not do anything.
Isn't this a lovely system you voted for?
What's that? You didn't vote?
Oh well, neither did anyone else you know. Who cares anyway? Is there anything on TV? I wish somebody would do something about these stupid gas prices. I'll vote for obammy because he's for change and I want gas prices to change.
Shanghailist
ABC Local
China has been having gasoline shortages and long lines at their gas pumps when there is gas. They have been monkeying with the price of gasoline the same way we did in the 70's, with the same result. Without being able to fix the supply-side pricing, they fixed the consumer-side pricing. The little secret in this story is that they have been spending upwards of 5% of their federal budget to subsidize gas prices for the little people.
They have decided to stop, and the price of a gallon of gas is going to end up in the low $3/gal range, instead of the current middling $2/gal. range it is now. This is supposed to have the effect of discouraging gas use by the chinese people. We'll see. What we did see is an immediate drop in oil futures prices when the announcement was made. Because speculators -who care more about profits than people on fixed income who need to drive- are hedging against the dollar by buying oil. It looked like the demand might just fall SOME, and the speculation dropped a little, probably temporarily. Of course, that just proves the lie to (how did he get to be a) Senator Obama's contention that a resolution to start tapping our national oil resources would not have any immediate effect on oil prices.
Hold on there.
Let me tell you what would happen.
We announce that we are going to do things that will restore the world oil market to an oversupply condition. The speculators buying 5-year contracts are going to poop their pants and sell their contracts as quickly as they can to cut losses. There will be an oversupply of oil contracts, and the price falls by 50% or more in a month, tops. Then the people who actually buy the OIL on those contracts will have lower costs that will be passed along to the consumers in capitolist markets. They buy oil cheaper, and in about 4 months, the price of gas is cheaper. Like 40-50% cheaper. Right in time for an election.
If the Demicans were really smart, they would jump all over this and claim it as their own baby, and win controlling majorities in both houses, as well as the white house. If the republicrats were smart, they would force the demicans' hand by raising public awareness (and therefore bringing out the Loud Folks) to a point where "we must do something". Then the republicrats would have a chance at not being destroyed in this election cycle and Mr. Hopey-changey would have to keep his day job.
Of course, the Demicans are beholden to the environmentalist-socialist movement and can't be seen encouraging the raping of mother earth or encouraging capitolism; also, enough of the republicrats have had their testes removed by political office-seeking and they don't want to stick their necks out, either. Bold leadership anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Result? Even odds of seeing even any serious proposals for getting our own oil before the election. After the republicrats lose, they can say how if only they were in power we'd see some hopey-change, and not do anything.
Isn't this a lovely system you voted for?
What's that? You didn't vote?
Oh well, neither did anyone else you know. Who cares anyway? Is there anything on TV? I wish somebody would do something about these stupid gas prices. I'll vote for obammy because he's for change and I want gas prices to change.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Juneteenth.
June 19, 1865, a date which should be forever celebrated by all citizens of the United States of America.
Why?
As Barack Redacted Obama says, "Just words."
It's just words, unless you happen to be a slave. Then it's liberty and wages instead of the lash. The freedom not to be separated from your wife and children because somebody needed some quick cash. The ability to walk away from where you work and not be killed like a dog by a bounty hunter.
"Just words."
Unless you value individual freedom. Then it's a day to remember and rejoice. Tell your children. Baloons, barbecue, cookouts, days off work, etc. A holiday.
We had hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch at work. What did you do?
Why?
As Barack Redacted Obama says, "Just words."
It's just words, unless you happen to be a slave. Then it's liberty and wages instead of the lash. The freedom not to be separated from your wife and children because somebody needed some quick cash. The ability to walk away from where you work and not be killed like a dog by a bounty hunter.
"Just words."
Unless you value individual freedom. Then it's a day to remember and rejoice. Tell your children. Baloons, barbecue, cookouts, days off work, etc. A holiday.
We had hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch at work. What did you do?
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
You DO Have Their Numbers, Right?
Your Elected Heroes. Their phone numbers. Their email submission websites. You have them, don't you?
Why not?
Do you really LIKE paying $4 for a gallon of gas? How about milk? Did you know milk has gone up, as well as other foods, because of oil and gas prices? How about $5? $6? It's high because they want it to be high.
Get this:
In the USA, we know that we have more than all the oil in the middle east. Guess why we are importing 60% of our oil from there, then.
Go on, Guess.
Wrong.
We don't WANT to get our own.
There is a federal BAN on drilling off our coastlines. This does not prevent China from drilling off our coastlines (as they are working on doing right now). This does not prevent Brazil from drilling off their coast, as they are also working on doing right now. The only people prevented from drilling our offshore oil is US. That means that the oil companies that are based in the USA can't get oil for us, and they are forced to go onto the world market to get oil from abroad.
So the ever-so-disappointing president Bush is going to address the Congress today and say we should lift the moratorium on drilling.
He's NOT reversing the executive order that HIS OWN FATHER signed in 1990 to prevent exploration, just saying Congress should reverse what they did. He knows full well the Democrat controlled Congress won't reverse the legislative ban, and the White house has said he will not be taking executive action.
And of course, it's an election year, so the Dems are going to sit on the issue. So nothing gets done. Of course, this is what they like.
Barack Redacted Obama has said his only problem with $4 gas is that it happened so suddenly. He wished it had gone up slower, but not that didn't go up. He wants us to not use so much (because he is an idiot and a bad person).
The environmentalists can go to Russia for all I care. Sign the petition. And then WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES! It takes 5 minutes. Do it now.
The House of Representatives
The Senate
The White House
Done? Good.
Now get this:
The socialists and communists around the world have seen their ideologies go down in flames. Wherever it is tried, a collectivist society FAILS. Oh, plus there are a hundred Million People or so DEAD because of the socialists/communists trying to "do it right." The ideologies lead to death and destruction of individuals and entire nations. So they have given up.
Hold on there.
They changed banners. The current rabid environmentalists are the former rabid socialists and communists. For the greater good of the WORLD now (formerly, just the country) they are trying to save us from ourselves. By destroying the capitalist societies of the world with unsound environmental policies. If the money for oil goes to the State (by the way, the feds got $3 in taxes for every $1 in profit the oil companies got in the first quarter of this year) then it is Good. If it benefits a private company then it is Bad and must be resisted. Consider the news in that light.
Who benefits if we don't drill? The planet? The planet is fine. It is actually (unless you get your news from CNN or MSNBC) cooling a little (see my previous post about the ARGO project). The problem is YOU people out there will have more money to spend however YOU want, and your evil capitolist lifestyle will get even BETTER if we get this oil out of the ground in the US. $4 gas is a good start. Maybe if it goes higher you will have to depend on the State more. Maybe you will not have such a will of your own.
Everybody knows that wind/solar/hydrogen power is coming, but maybe we can get you depending on the State before it happens. Maybe you will think that private industry failed on its own to supply energy to you (because of State action but let's not mention that). Maybe you will want the State to produce the wind/solar/hydrogen power. That would be Good, you see.
Nobody wants to talk about the nuclear energy elephant in the room. I'll talk about that in a future post.
Contact your representatives and tell them to lift the moratorium. Contact the president and tell him to lift the executive order. Do it. Do it now.
I dare you.
I double-dog dare you.
You're a red-bellied communist chicken sh*t if you don't do it. chicken chicken chicken Chicken Chicken CHIIIIKEEEN!!!!!
Okay, tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you did it.
You chicken.
If you don't tell me you did it, I'm going to just keep on thinking you are a communist chicken. Well, at least you'll agree with me, as usual.
No? Prove it.
Why not?
Do you really LIKE paying $4 for a gallon of gas? How about milk? Did you know milk has gone up, as well as other foods, because of oil and gas prices? How about $5? $6? It's high because they want it to be high.
Get this:
In the USA, we know that we have more than all the oil in the middle east. Guess why we are importing 60% of our oil from there, then.
Go on, Guess.
Wrong.
We don't WANT to get our own.
There is a federal BAN on drilling off our coastlines. This does not prevent China from drilling off our coastlines (as they are working on doing right now). This does not prevent Brazil from drilling off their coast, as they are also working on doing right now. The only people prevented from drilling our offshore oil is US. That means that the oil companies that are based in the USA can't get oil for us, and they are forced to go onto the world market to get oil from abroad.
So the ever-so-disappointing president Bush is going to address the Congress today and say we should lift the moratorium on drilling.
He's NOT reversing the executive order that HIS OWN FATHER signed in 1990 to prevent exploration, just saying Congress should reverse what they did. He knows full well the Democrat controlled Congress won't reverse the legislative ban, and the White house has said he will not be taking executive action.
And of course, it's an election year, so the Dems are going to sit on the issue. So nothing gets done. Of course, this is what they like.
Barack Redacted Obama has said his only problem with $4 gas is that it happened so suddenly. He wished it had gone up slower, but not that didn't go up. He wants us to not use so much (because he is an idiot and a bad person).
The environmentalists can go to Russia for all I care. Sign the petition. And then WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES! It takes 5 minutes. Do it now.
The House of Representatives
The Senate
The White House
Done? Good.
Now get this:
The socialists and communists around the world have seen their ideologies go down in flames. Wherever it is tried, a collectivist society FAILS. Oh, plus there are a hundred Million People or so DEAD because of the socialists/communists trying to "do it right." The ideologies lead to death and destruction of individuals and entire nations. So they have given up.
Hold on there.
They changed banners. The current rabid environmentalists are the former rabid socialists and communists. For the greater good of the WORLD now (formerly, just the country) they are trying to save us from ourselves. By destroying the capitalist societies of the world with unsound environmental policies. If the money for oil goes to the State (by the way, the feds got $3 in taxes for every $1 in profit the oil companies got in the first quarter of this year) then it is Good. If it benefits a private company then it is Bad and must be resisted. Consider the news in that light.
Who benefits if we don't drill? The planet? The planet is fine. It is actually (unless you get your news from CNN or MSNBC) cooling a little (see my previous post about the ARGO project). The problem is YOU people out there will have more money to spend however YOU want, and your evil capitolist lifestyle will get even BETTER if we get this oil out of the ground in the US. $4 gas is a good start. Maybe if it goes higher you will have to depend on the State more. Maybe you will not have such a will of your own.
Everybody knows that wind/solar/hydrogen power is coming, but maybe we can get you depending on the State before it happens. Maybe you will think that private industry failed on its own to supply energy to you (because of State action but let's not mention that). Maybe you will want the State to produce the wind/solar/hydrogen power. That would be Good, you see.
Nobody wants to talk about the nuclear energy elephant in the room. I'll talk about that in a future post.
Contact your representatives and tell them to lift the moratorium. Contact the president and tell him to lift the executive order. Do it. Do it now.
I dare you.
I double-dog dare you.
You're a red-bellied communist chicken sh*t if you don't do it. chicken chicken chicken Chicken Chicken CHIIIIKEEEN!!!!!
Okay, tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you did it.
You chicken.
If you don't tell me you did it, I'm going to just keep on thinking you are a communist chicken. Well, at least you'll agree with me, as usual.
No? Prove it.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Father's Day: Not So Much.
My standard response today evolved to "happy humbug to you, too." and it seemed to satisfy those whose interest in my answer was to be sure that words came back to them in response to the unthinking cordial greeting they put out.
It is not Fathers Day, it is Sunday. Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead and we go to church for worship services. Fathers Day is an exercise in feel-good humbuggery, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that Hallmark was 98% of the reason for it. You know what I did for Fathers Day?
Guess. Go on, guess.
No? Okay, I'll tell:
Bupkis, That's what. Same as for Valentines Day and whatever other holidays you can come up with to sell cards and cheap presents.
Fathers Day is every day like this last Thursday, when I came home and my kids (the ones that can walk) came to the door as I came in from work and gave me hugsnkisses. I kissed #3 on his melon and let him keep eating, and kissed L. SHAZAM, I know without cards and ties and golfing divot repair tools that they all love the daylights out of me. Earlier, I had called my dad from work and asked if he needed some cables for an audio setup he's putting together, before we offered them for sale to the general public. That would be the audio setup for which I managed to get him a free amplifier. The amplifier I made up some quicky patch cords to test out. Yeah, he knows that when I kissed him goodbye and told him I loved him before I drove off, I meant it.
This past Mothers Day we agreed the Mexicans have it right, observing it on Saturday, due to the extreme Bad Day action we had until L. changed her mind from it being Mothers Day to Sunday. Hey, make me a deal: no holidays except Christmas on Sundays, okay?
Oh, and by the way, don't hold your breath waiting for a Christmas card from me.
It is not Fathers Day, it is Sunday. Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead and we go to church for worship services. Fathers Day is an exercise in feel-good humbuggery, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that Hallmark was 98% of the reason for it. You know what I did for Fathers Day?
Guess. Go on, guess.
No? Okay, I'll tell:
Bupkis, That's what. Same as for Valentines Day and whatever other holidays you can come up with to sell cards and cheap presents.
Fathers Day is every day like this last Thursday, when I came home and my kids (the ones that can walk) came to the door as I came in from work and gave me hugsnkisses. I kissed #3 on his melon and let him keep eating, and kissed L. SHAZAM, I know without cards and ties and golfing divot repair tools that they all love the daylights out of me. Earlier, I had called my dad from work and asked if he needed some cables for an audio setup he's putting together, before we offered them for sale to the general public. That would be the audio setup for which I managed to get him a free amplifier. The amplifier I made up some quicky patch cords to test out. Yeah, he knows that when I kissed him goodbye and told him I loved him before I drove off, I meant it.
This past Mothers Day we agreed the Mexicans have it right, observing it on Saturday, due to the extreme Bad Day action we had until L. changed her mind from it being Mothers Day to Sunday. Hey, make me a deal: no holidays except Christmas on Sundays, okay?
Oh, and by the way, don't hold your breath waiting for a Christmas card from me.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Why I Am Willing
A friend and co-worker with whom I enjoy frequent -and sometimes spirited- polite debates, recently pointed out that some folks make entirely too light of the prospect of killing another person face-to-face. There was even a hint of a whiff of the inference that *I* might be taking life-taking too lightly. Allow me to explain.
If I am awake, generally speaking, I will be found in Condition Yellow, at least. My Little Friend or one of his big brothers will be hiding in Condition One somewhere *very* close by.
I did not start this way.
In a previous part of my life, I owned zero weapons (for those in UK: a knife carried about the person is a tool, not a weapon). I walked around in Condition White just like those around me. A little time and a few near-death experiences in the US Navy, combined with reading about 'accidents' involving my shipmates, started to wake me up a little. Reading the self-defence stories from old Guns & Ammo magazines (similar to websites like this) shook me a little closer to awake. Mostly, it was thinking that did it. When I began to consider that the only thing between me, my wife, and my kids, and eternity was a piece of warm steel and plastic, It began to sink in.
I bought a rifle, and something that had been missing without me knowing about it clicked into place. A man with a (n evil assault) rifle can't be told to Give Them What They Want. I had all the appropriate Life Experience boxes ticked, but I finally realized another part of the responsibility of being a Man when I took this pile of sticks and tubes to the range and killed some paper with it.
Armed with my own weapon at last, reality began to dawn in earnest. Here I held in my hands the power to destroy. What would I be willing to do with it? Would I give it if the Government demanded it of me? Would I use it in defense of me and mine? Would I use it in defense of the country as a Militiaman?
At first, it was a new thing to have a 'gun' in the house. It stayed unloaded. I got used to the idea of it being there. I left it loaded and then, on nights when the News was ugly, by the bedside.
Now I have an undisclosed nonzero integer number of guns, including one I can usually (at the farthest) reach out and grab. Usually one is ready to Go on my person. Even in my house.
How do you get here from there?
By thinking.
You have to understand one thing about someone who is willing to use deadly force on you to get what he wants (drugs, money, car, etc.): They are not worried about your kids not having a daddy. Not worried about how you will get home without your truck. Not worried that the cash in your pockets is food for your kids. You are not a People to them. You are a Mark. A target, a rube, a Thing to be used to achieve whatever end they have in mind. They do not regard you as the same type of entity as they are. To the criminal willing to kill an innocent, the innocent is NOT a person with the same rights and dignities as they have.
Since they will not class themselves with the decent people of the world, they deserve the appelation Col. Cooper gave them: Goblin. They are a subhuman race comprising all ethnicities and sexes.
To kill one is a last resort. You might even want to give up that wallet. But to remove a Goblin from the world is not the same thing as killing a People, as far as the righteous shooter is concerned. No sleep need be lost over a Goblin. If a People dies, their family is bereft of a breadwinner. Society is down a productive member that was going about at the very least driving the engine of the national economy. If a Goblin is put down, society is improved. They are parasites that may at need be removed with a 9-gram pill. to remove one from the picture means that they will NOT harm another People. Their recidivism rate is reduced to zero, instantly. Another wallet, truck, life, or innocence will not be stolen, which all means: another life will not be stolen.
This boils down to the libertarian concept of property rights: all your property came at the expense of your life. If you buy a car that costs 3 months' wages, that car is, in a very real sense, 3 months of your life in tangible form. Would you like it if, at the end of your life, someone came along and said "I'll be killing you 3 months early" and offed you, just because they wanted to?
Would you go softly into that night?
Would you let yourself be killed a year early? If you knew that you would be hit by a bus next year, would you sacrifice that year to the whim of someone who hates you?
Would you? I wouldn't.
Then why would you let them take your truck & boat? Didn't you give an entire year of your life to pay for them? Sure they can be replaced. That's not the point. The point is, you have a natural RIGHT to the fruit of your labor. "They" have NO right to take it from you. It's the same as killing you early. If you don't understand the concept of the right of property, then you don't understand that it is worth defending from those who would
steal
your life.
Would you have a moral problem killing a coyote that was eating your chickens? Would you have a problem putting down a rabid wolf?
Would you?
Then you may not be able to understand the concept of a hooman been as a Goblin, and the moral equivalent of a rabid dog.
Would it have been unjust for someone to kill the japanese Crazy who killed 7 folks recently, while he was still in the process of so doing? If so, then
a) your moral compass has a Leftist Magnet stuck to the side of it and
b) you are wrong.
It doesn't matter if you don't think you are wrong, because it doesn't change the fact that someone who will take the life of an innocent is NOT the same as someone who will take the life of a murderer.
Changing tacks...
Every time a People so much as draws his weapon, however justified, the LawyerSharks begin to circle. Every bullet fired leaves with the weight of the GSR left on the Righteous Shooter a weight of lawsuits, legal fees, and even possible jail time. This must be considered. It must also be considered that when a People confronts an armed Goblin it doesn't always turn out so great for the People.
A citizen who will go about armed must consider under what circumstances he will introduce a Goblin to his Little Friend, and under what circumstances he will not. Do you consider your own car to be worth the risk of your life? Does it matter to you that you are as likely as not to be shot once you exit the car, in order to keep both it, and the Goblin's trail, clean? If you consider your wallet not worth even the killing of a Goblin, reach for it instead of Mr. Glock's finest. If you consider it worth the effort to aim at a Goblin who is going about shooting people in Luby's at lunctime, reach for the thing that Works Every Time. Do you make a home invader a sammich and give him what he wants, or do you drop him without so much as a by'er'leave? What do you give when a thief says "give it to me?" You must consider, or you will end up being jacked up for unjustified actions whilst a Goblin rightfully claims victim status against your Perpetrator.
I have thought about it.
I don't like killing anything more sophisticated than cockroaches.
But if you insist on breaking into my house in the middle of the night, you have a few 10mm surprises waiting for you. If you tell me to give it to you, you may not like what you get.
If I joke about it, it is not kidding. Soldiers have told grizly jokes whilst walking past piles of corpses since the beginning of time, to cover over their own inner musings. If I whistle past the Goblins' graveyard, don't think me flippant. It's not a decision I have made lightly, but I have made it.
If I am awake, generally speaking, I will be found in Condition Yellow, at least. My Little Friend or one of his big brothers will be hiding in Condition One somewhere *very* close by.
I did not start this way.
In a previous part of my life, I owned zero weapons (for those in UK: a knife carried about the person is a tool, not a weapon). I walked around in Condition White just like those around me. A little time and a few near-death experiences in the US Navy, combined with reading about 'accidents' involving my shipmates, started to wake me up a little. Reading the self-defence stories from old Guns & Ammo magazines (similar to websites like this) shook me a little closer to awake. Mostly, it was thinking that did it. When I began to consider that the only thing between me, my wife, and my kids, and eternity was a piece of warm steel and plastic, It began to sink in.
I bought a rifle, and something that had been missing without me knowing about it clicked into place. A man with a (n evil assault) rifle can't be told to Give Them What They Want. I had all the appropriate Life Experience boxes ticked, but I finally realized another part of the responsibility of being a Man when I took this pile of sticks and tubes to the range and killed some paper with it.
Armed with my own weapon at last, reality began to dawn in earnest. Here I held in my hands the power to destroy. What would I be willing to do with it? Would I give it if the Government demanded it of me? Would I use it in defense of me and mine? Would I use it in defense of the country as a Militiaman?
At first, it was a new thing to have a 'gun' in the house. It stayed unloaded. I got used to the idea of it being there. I left it loaded and then, on nights when the News was ugly, by the bedside.
Now I have an undisclosed nonzero integer number of guns, including one I can usually (at the farthest) reach out and grab. Usually one is ready to Go on my person. Even in my house.
How do you get here from there?
By thinking.
You have to understand one thing about someone who is willing to use deadly force on you to get what he wants (drugs, money, car, etc.): They are not worried about your kids not having a daddy. Not worried about how you will get home without your truck. Not worried that the cash in your pockets is food for your kids. You are not a People to them. You are a Mark. A target, a rube, a Thing to be used to achieve whatever end they have in mind. They do not regard you as the same type of entity as they are. To the criminal willing to kill an innocent, the innocent is NOT a person with the same rights and dignities as they have.
Since they will not class themselves with the decent people of the world, they deserve the appelation Col. Cooper gave them: Goblin. They are a subhuman race comprising all ethnicities and sexes.
To kill one is a last resort. You might even want to give up that wallet. But to remove a Goblin from the world is not the same thing as killing a People, as far as the righteous shooter is concerned. No sleep need be lost over a Goblin. If a People dies, their family is bereft of a breadwinner. Society is down a productive member that was going about at the very least driving the engine of the national economy. If a Goblin is put down, society is improved. They are parasites that may at need be removed with a 9-gram pill. to remove one from the picture means that they will NOT harm another People. Their recidivism rate is reduced to zero, instantly. Another wallet, truck, life, or innocence will not be stolen, which all means: another life will not be stolen.
This boils down to the libertarian concept of property rights: all your property came at the expense of your life. If you buy a car that costs 3 months' wages, that car is, in a very real sense, 3 months of your life in tangible form. Would you like it if, at the end of your life, someone came along and said "I'll be killing you 3 months early" and offed you, just because they wanted to?
Would you go softly into that night?
Would you let yourself be killed a year early? If you knew that you would be hit by a bus next year, would you sacrifice that year to the whim of someone who hates you?
Would you? I wouldn't.
Then why would you let them take your truck & boat? Didn't you give an entire year of your life to pay for them? Sure they can be replaced. That's not the point. The point is, you have a natural RIGHT to the fruit of your labor. "They" have NO right to take it from you. It's the same as killing you early. If you don't understand the concept of the right of property, then you don't understand that it is worth defending from those who would
steal
your life.
Would you have a moral problem killing a coyote that was eating your chickens? Would you have a problem putting down a rabid wolf?
Would you?
Then you may not be able to understand the concept of a hooman been as a Goblin, and the moral equivalent of a rabid dog.
Would it have been unjust for someone to kill the japanese Crazy who killed 7 folks recently, while he was still in the process of so doing? If so, then
a) your moral compass has a Leftist Magnet stuck to the side of it and
b) you are wrong.
It doesn't matter if you don't think you are wrong, because it doesn't change the fact that someone who will take the life of an innocent is NOT the same as someone who will take the life of a murderer.
Changing tacks...
Every time a People so much as draws his weapon, however justified, the LawyerSharks begin to circle. Every bullet fired leaves with the weight of the GSR left on the Righteous Shooter a weight of lawsuits, legal fees, and even possible jail time. This must be considered. It must also be considered that when a People confronts an armed Goblin it doesn't always turn out so great for the People.
A citizen who will go about armed must consider under what circumstances he will introduce a Goblin to his Little Friend, and under what circumstances he will not. Do you consider your own car to be worth the risk of your life? Does it matter to you that you are as likely as not to be shot once you exit the car, in order to keep both it, and the Goblin's trail, clean? If you consider your wallet not worth even the killing of a Goblin, reach for it instead of Mr. Glock's finest. If you consider it worth the effort to aim at a Goblin who is going about shooting people in Luby's at lunctime, reach for the thing that Works Every Time. Do you make a home invader a sammich and give him what he wants, or do you drop him without so much as a by'er'leave? What do you give when a thief says "give it to me?" You must consider, or you will end up being jacked up for unjustified actions whilst a Goblin rightfully claims victim status against your Perpetrator.
I have thought about it.
I don't like killing anything more sophisticated than cockroaches.
But if you insist on breaking into my house in the middle of the night, you have a few 10mm surprises waiting for you. If you tell me to give it to you, you may not like what you get.
If I joke about it, it is not kidding. Soldiers have told grizly jokes whilst walking past piles of corpses since the beginning of time, to cover over their own inner musings. If I whistle past the Goblins' graveyard, don't think me flippant. It's not a decision I have made lightly, but I have made it.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Ex Infernis
This image is a source of happiness in my home. The global-warming orange glow you see is the heating coil in my clothes dryer. I fixed the old one about a dozen times when it kept breaking. Then one time my wife said it got too hot and wouldn't use it anymore.
Not that she could have, since the thermal fuse had gone.
A week later, having spent a couple hours' wages on eBay (thanks shopXmart!) to aqcuire a day's wages worth of parts, and the dryer is back up. With the exhaust air entirely tolerably cool (hot, but not burning), the operating thermostat switched off and the orange glow died off.
YAY!