Doing it Wrong: Helicopter Flight Edition

Medical helicopter flight crashes en route to a patient. 3 crew dead. People familiar with helicopters last seen not even bothering to put on their surprised faces.

My condolences to the families.

Trust My Instincts, "Small Business Aid Package" Edition

Yesterday I noted a big push in the press for Republicans to allow a 'help out the small businesses out there' bill to the floor. Today the press has continued. I was sure it must be bad for the country if there was such a press from the Leftist media, but nobody was giving any details. I was right; today Boortz brought the details and my suspicions were confirmed.

The bill is a $30B subsidized/guaranteed loan measure, supposedly to help small businesses. The Republicans are being painted as the bad guys for not letting the bill come to a vote. Missing from the MSM reportage: Democrats have refused to allow Republicans to bring any amendments to the bill. Is that a Republican blockade? Hmm. Fill in the blank: The ____________ Party has a majority in the Senate.

Hold on there.

Small businesses are able to get loans, if they can prove they will probably be able to pay them back. This has always been the case, even through the credit crunch in late 2008/early 2009. If you are a bad credit risk, you can't get a loan because banks are not charity organizations. Putting up taxpayer money for borrowers who that can't qualify for private loans is a good way to lose the taxpayer that $30B.

When a business is struggling to stay open due to an unsustainable business model or undesirable/obsolete product, and they get yet another loan, it is not helpful. The American economy is NOT going to recover and make them viable again in the near term future. All making loans to non credit-worthy businesses will do is deepen their debt, eventually causing greater losses for the lender, and prolonging the companies' and the country's economic pain.

Also not mentioned: 8% of small businesses are about to have a tax hike in January. This is bad for those businesses. The President and his surrogates are trying to say these tax increases affect only a minority of small businesses. Not mentioned is that those 8% generate 75% of all small business income, and pay 80% of the taxes paid by small businesses.

Of course it would just be silly to expect them to mention the Fair Tax proposal, which would immediately bring a huge pile of money into the economy and have the almost-immediate effect of creating huge numbers of jobs.

Why Would We Press Charges?

I mean, they didn't do anything illegal yet. Certainly "conspiracy to try a dry-run at a terrorist attack" isn't any reason to lock someone up. At least, not if you are suicidal, which the Dutch apparently are not, as they have locked these guys up.

Two "Arab men" with awfully fishy coincidences going on in their luggage and itineraries, and oh of course they don't know each other. Oh well, that's that then!

Yabba Dabba: No your honor I do not know this man.
US American Judge: Okay, have a nice day UR free to go!
Yabba Dabba: OK BRB BOMB LOL!

Seriously? We don't even want to hold onto them for a few days to dig up a few details from their friends and neighbors? Oh, and P.S. would it kill you reporters to mention the obvious, that these guys are probably super-peaceful Arab Muslim men and maybe make a hint of an innuendo about a religious motivation to see what they could get away with when it comes to American airline security?

Nah, why would they do that? After all, what does their religion have to do with the story?

I Hate The Phone Practices Of Experian

I had to call Experian today to get something taken care of, and had great success!

I had previously requested my credit report over the phone. It is super-easy to do, if you don't have an accent. I'm from Texas. The robot failed -twice- to figure out how to spell my name correctly, then it had me leave a voice recording of my name and how to spell it. The credit report came with all the proper information on it, but with my name misspelled.

I ran an internet search on "How to talk to a human Experian" and came up with this: Call 1-866-583-0303 and enter the report number and last 4 of your oh-so-secure-password Social "Security" Number. Then it comes up with a menu of options, none of which is "stop talking to a robot." You have to say "Agent" while it is telling you your options. It will stop talking and ask if you want to talk to an agent. Tell the robot "Yes" and be prepared to wait on hold for a while.

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When the robot initially answers the phone call, it rattles off a bunch of disclaimers, and also tells you that it looks at your area code to determine hours of service. This means that, as the business day was closed where I live last night when I got the erroneous report, I was out of luck until today. If you have the ability to spoof your area code, that might be a workaround (and illegal). I called back today during lunch, and got through to a human! . . . in India, where it was WAY past bed time. C'mon Experian, you have an overseas call center that's always open, and can't spend a little extra and just offer 24/7 service?

Texas Veterans' Widows Now Entitled To Benefits.

From the radio news today: The Texas Veterans' Land Board has announced the spouses (read: wives) of servicemen killed in the GWOT are entitled to benefits just the same as their Husbands would have been, had they not been killed.

Good.

Statist, An Ancillary Definition

A run-of-the-mill big government bureaucrat will steal your house from you and give it to someone else, so it can be used in a way that generates more property tax for the government.

A Statist, on the other hand, will ignore the letter of the new anti-eminent domain seizure State law, declare your house obsolete, and tell you to bulldoze it (or they will do it for you) - at your expense - and then sell the now-vacant property.

Hat tip: Uncle

People Who Top Off Piss Me Off

You sound and look like a moron, click-clunk click-clunk click-clunking that last 1/2 cup of gasoline into the overflow/gasoline vapor reservoir in your fueling system. You are NOT getting more gas in your car's tank, no matter how it makes you feel to keep jerking that valve's handle. In addition, when you round up to the next dollar, you are not necessarily getting what you pay for.

What's more, and more importantly, you are messing ME up.

To get a full tank of gas, as fast as possible, Squeeze the handle until the tank is almost full, then back off the pressure on the valve handle. You will note that the valve starts to push back a little, and then you ease off the pressure a little more. Eventually, you are barely squeezing the handle at all, and gas is trickling in, until it finally shuts off. The tank is then as full as that pump can safely fill it. If you squeeze the handle again, you are either going to spill gas on yourself, or you are sending gas into your charcoal canister, or you are giving gas back to the station.

The reason it pisses me off? When you click-clunk to get another 5 drops of gasoline, it messes up the pressure in the delivery lines across the whole gas station. It shuts off MY pump when it was about to shut off by itself in a few moments, when you click-clunk your top-off ritual. I don't top off after YOU shut the pump off for me, but it messes up my perfectly-full tank ritual.

The Environmental Protection Agency doesn't like it, either, but they give a few different reasons

Sky Blue, Water Wet, Glutamate Linked to Migraines

An international study has shown a possible genetic correlation between people who suffer from migraine headaches. Turns out if you have too much glutamate on the brain, it may make it hurt. Some people are predisposed to have a buildup of glutamate, according to this genetic study.

Of course, those of us who try to avoid monosodium glutamate have several reasons. Migraine headaches are only one of many. Sure it's yummy. It's also toxic. Dogs and cats die all the time from drinking that sweet, sweet antifreeze. Lay off the MSG if you value your health, especially if you have headaches.

Note to My Neighbor:

If you insist on having a drunken screaming fight at 01:30 in the morning, could you please do the rest of us the favor of having it inside your house? P.S. your women-choosing circuits may be somewhat faulty, given your recent divorce and the outward appearance of the latest female who's moved in with you.

The third car, which of course belongs to the next-most-recent shack up honey, parked in the neighbor's driveway this morning, did shed a little light on why I was so rudely awakened last night.

Oh, and P.S. if you all decide to make this a regular feature, I know a few guys who work for the city who would be happy to give you some free bracelets and a quiet place to sleep it off . . .

Who Is DRESSING This Woman?

If I were the POTUS, you would not catch me without a suit coat on, but maybe that's just decent people with respect for the office me. But his wife . . . SRSLY who is advising this woman on her clothing choices?



And no, I will not speculate what his major malfunction is with the umbrella.

So There Was A Rally This Weekend

Glenn Beck had a rally on The Mall in D.C. yesterday. Apparently about haffa million people showed up . . .



The rally was called "Restoring Honor" and I thought it was rather silly. I was honestly wondering how many people would show up, but I guess I am rather more jaded than your average bear. Apparently enough people are worked up this year about the blatant LACK of honor elsewhere in D.C. that this sort of event drew quite a crowd.

Good.

Extra bonus points: click here to compare the way Decent People left The Mall yesterday, and the way Obamunists left it when the President was sworn in. What does THAT tell you?

If Ammunition Is Banned . . .

If you can't buy lead ammunition on the (false) grounds that it pollutes the environment, and you can't buy non-lead ammunition because it is armor piercing and therefore evil, can you buy ammunition?

An hypothetical question:

If you are forbidden from buying ammunition by a state bureaucrat, is it time to start using it?

Apparently either somebody at the EPA figured out that 50/50 odds of a "yes" answer gets them -personally- dead, or the Democrats said they would like to have a chance at winning at least one election this November*. Fox is reporting the EPA has rejected the petition to ban the use of lead in fishing weights and bullets.

Good. To quote Homer Simpson: "Now let us never speak of this again."

*The last-possible day to announce a decision on this was the day before the election. Link credit: moonbattery

Another Story You Missed

Alan Simpson called Social Security a "milk cow with 310 million tits"

He was, of course, correct. But saying as much as a guy on the President's economic advisory board, to a representative of the Older Women's League* may indeed qualify as a gaffe. Political animals will apologize for such things, and he has done.

*SRSLY the Older Women's League? Wow. Sexism and Ageism as official policy of your organization and you can get away with it by being TWO protected classes at once! I LOL'd

Overseas Military? Wanna Vote?

If you are sticking your neck out for your country, it is likely you have a couple of other things on the ball, and you are planning to do your part to "throw the bums out" this November. If you live in one of these five States that are historically Democrat-leaning, when the leftest of them all is your Commander-in-Chief, you may be out of luck. A few more states apparently could care even less.

In a day and age when one person with a low-end workstation computer can do ALL the printing, envelope stuffing, and mailing, there is NO EXCUSE for not getting every man his paper absentee ballot in time for the election. That, of course, is completely aside from the fact that the election timetable is as near to set in stone as anything in America, and nobody didn't know it was coming.

But don't put all the blame on the States which got MOVE act waivers. Some haven't even applied for them, and are blatantly violating the MOVE act, possibly because Obama's boy Eric "white people can't be victims" Holder's Department of Justice NEVER issued guidance on how to comply with the law. Or maybe they think the DOJ won't do anything about noncompliance since DOJ lawyers themselves have been saying things that blatantly contradict the law.

Hey, that's probably not worth a call or an e-mail to your Senator, is it? I mean, what difference can a few tens of thousands of votes make, after all?

I'm Never Chewing Gum Again.

My teeth STILL hurt when the ibuprofen starts to wear off. At least it's not as bad as it was, thank God.

It's Called "Theft," Duh

Much outrage has been vented at the evil Obama administration. They were cracking down on the sale of arms to civilians. . . make that, they wouldn't let South Korea sell US Americans a bunch of M1 Garand rifles. Korea wanted to sell us the rifles, but they were not allowed! Conspiracy theories abounded.

Turns out, not so much. The rifles are US property. We won't let South Korea sell them at a profit to We the People because they don't own the rifles. They were lent to the Koreans. The proper solution to this mess is for Korea to give our rifles back and let OUR people sell them to our People.

Oh, and this has been known for five years.

Hat tip: Uncle

Three Stooges Playing With Pipes!

There is an unknown amount of pipe stuck in the blowout preventer in the leaking well in the gulf. They can't get it out. The BOP is too weak to withstand the pressures involved in a Bottom Kill. No worries, it'll probably be fine! Yank that puppy offa there! Prepared to be outraged by the details after you click the link.

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Holy cow! If this were happening under any President but the anointed one, this sort of shenanigans would be front page news and you'd be whipped up into a frenzy.

Two Problems With That Idea:

In light of the recent tide of bad economic news, the Powers That Be have announced they are (again) ready to take extraordinary measures to prevent a double-dip recession. They warn that interest rates may go even lower. There are only a couple of problems with this pronouncement:

Interest rates are already effectively at zero percent

The double-dip is inevitable

Stand by to be another trillion dollars in debt (again).

Georgetown, Texas GIVING Away Spayed/Neutered Feral Cats

Another one from the "old notes" file . . .

A few weeks ago on the radio, they announced that Georgetown was going to GIVE away spayed/neutered cats from the animal shelter. Feral cats. Cats you CAN'T have as a pet, for use in barns as a mouse control measure in your barn or whatnot. Give. No adoption fees, even. $0.

That would be, cats nobody wanted in the first place, you are going to pay to capture, sterilize and medically treat them, and then you are going to give them away. You. The taxpayer. That would be, instead of sticking the unwanted cats in the freezer ($0) or ziplock bags ($1) or gassing them ($15).

Why?

Because they're fuzzy and you are soft. This is dumb.

Somebody Give Me $20,000

I have a little dental work that needs done.

:(

Parenting Pro Tip: If you let your children eat all the candy they want when they are young, when they are old, they will not appreciate it.

Disabled Veterans in TX to Get Reduced/Waived Toll Fees?

I switched on the idiot box, and the county commissioner's court was having a hearing. Apparently there is an effort well underway to get free or reduced toll fees automatically applied to cars with Disabled Veterans', Purple Heart, and Medal of Honor license plates.

I say go for it. If the CTRMA board approves, it could happen as soon as September. If somebody is gimpy or a certified hero from their time in the military service of our country, they deserve a few bennies. Let's have a waiver of toll road fees be one of them.

Now if we could get property and sales tax waivers also that would be really something!

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ETA: If I were on some low or mid-level political functionary body, I would go insane. Blah blah blah blah blah blah all day long? No thanks. Everyone is on board with this idea and still it's blah blah blah blah blah. Ugh.

In Case You Were Wondering About That Whole Oil Well Leak Story

I know it was like weeks ago, so you may have forgotten about it, but BP et. al. are still not done killing the well which blew up the Deepwater Horizong drilling rig.

And it will be hard to kill because the earth is all broken-y down there. It may continue to leak for years and years.

Just saying. Because the MSM won't.

Here Comes The Double-Dip

The first dip in the current economic depression in the USA was led by the collapse in residential real estate. That has not come back, and it has led to continuing economic weakness. There was and is oversupply in every sector of the US economy, which is no longer being held up by the credit and housing bubbles. Now the oversupply begins to be undeniable, even to the people who went into debt to create it. Here is what it looks like for one segment of the economy: retail chains announcing store closures all over the country.

Every one of those stores represents at least a few, possibly as many as a few dozen people who will be out of work and making less contribution to the economy, leading to lower GDP numbers. Note that this is happening AFTER you spent a $Trillion in a vain Keynesian attempt to "stimulate" an economy which was in need of a major correction.

It's a cycle, and we are still on the ugly side of it. Expect things to get worse before they get better. Look for "unexpectedly" bad economic reports from everyone except Mish and a select few analysts like him.

Madness @ Work

He is back at it. And he has a name now.

Once upon a time, he announced he wanted to work on what I was going to work on. His reasoning was that, nevermind my history of repeatedly successfully selling them for top dollar, nevermind that I used to work with them and know all about them, and nevermind that nobody asked him, HE was the one who knew enough about this thing to sell it. It was delivered to my station, and I removed it from where it was in its old home, tested, cleaned, photographed, and wrote up the ad for it. As I was saving it, and it was pretty much completely done, he came up to me:

PI: VFD, do you have the thing?
VFD: Yep, it's almost done.
PI: You know that was supposed to go to me?
VFD: No it wasn't
PI: Yes it was.
VFD: No, it wasn't.
PI: walking away: you work for yourself around here now?
VFD: Yep, I sign my own paychecks.

That guy. He's at it again.

I listed an envrionmental stress chamber kinda like this one for sale today. It was completely finished being cleaned, tested, and written up. I went to go slap an inventory label on it so it could be put into storage prior to sale online, and it was gone! Turns out, he grabbed it for himself to work on, when he gets a chance. That would be, in addition to 1500 square feet of other big junk and three pallets of small junk that are waiting for him to get around to it.

From the perspective of the company, he practically went into the inventory stock room, grabbed something out, and decided HE would do a better job selling it. Without asking anyone. Without telling anyone. And he DOESN'T EVEN WORK HERE! He's a contractor fer cryin' out loud!

On the positive side of the equation, I had several minutes to straighten up my AO and actually swept the floor for a change, while LB was talking to company management and one of the owners, trying to correct the madness. Last I heard, one of the owners was talking to this dude, who was saying ALL similar items should come to him -according to him, because he's a super genius. No wonder he was fired for being a jerk before. I think I'll refer to him as Private Insano (PI) because Captain Insano would imply he has any influence around here, or that the management or owners like him. He's a private contractor, so Private Insano it is. I like it.

THIS Is Why You Don't Announce Planned Withdrawls. Duh?

Those people who could think past the first political impulse to the second obvious thought may now congratulate themselves. Those who said "If we announce a date certain for withdrawl, the enemy will wait and just increase their attacks after we leave" may feel free to say I told you so.

It is a sign of the incompetence/malignance (pick your preference) of our current President that he stuck to a timetable for withdrawing combat forces from Iraq. Our fighters are announced to have left, and BOOM there goes the neighborhood, as predicted by those with an ounce of military sense.

P.S. we are announcing withdrawl timetables for Afghanistan. Does anyone care to place any bets as to what happens to the peace-loving Afghans who worked with the coalition forces during our occupation?

Iraq AND Afghanistan have the potential to be Obama's Vietnam . . . but rest assured he will blame Bush for it.

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If your son or brother died over there, and the end state is worse tyranny than the people had under Saddam, at the hands of Al Quaeda, did he die in vain? Were your hundreds of billions of dollars spent in vain?

Made In China Calculator Dissappoints Big Time

One of the guys handed me this calculator with some mumbled comment about how it didn't take a charge.



I shone a light on it and sho' nuff it didn't come on. I figured I'd have a quick peek inside, maybe steal the little solar cell for tinkering with at a later time. I opened her up and . . .



Did you see it? Have a closer look.



For the non-electricians out there, what you are seeing is a FAKE solar cell. A mock cell. It mocks me by not being a source of electricity generated by incoming photons.

It's even printed with little lines like a real solar cell.



Fake. Intentionally misleading appearance and FAKE FAKE FAKE!!!!!111!!

Oh well, what do I want for free?

Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste

FDA Edition

So a few brazillion eggs may be tainted with salmonella, and are being recalled. A couple thousand people got sick. The Food and Drug Administration could have done NOTHING to prevent this, and the proper thing (the recall) is already being done. That will not stop the FDA from saying they need more power over the lives of men. Because there can never be enough government regulation, according to the people whose job is government regulation.

Getting Your Job Back FAIL

An ex-policeman in Manila wanted his job back. I'm not exactly sure how the appeals process goes, but I'm pretty sure this right here is not the proper procedure:

Step 1: Hold a bus full of tourists hostage, shoot 8 innocent people
Step 2: Be killed by the currently employed police force
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit!

Still Hurts. Boo.

It's gone from a nearly-debilitating pain to a persistent ache on the side of my jaw. I can feel my teeth standing proud where it's so swollen they are poking out farther than usual.

P.S. the dosage of ibuprofen on the bottle which is fairly ineffective, is about half the max. safe adult dose. Thanks, lawyers!

Since I don't feel like writing, you get copy/paste of a couple posts I wrote before I messed myself up the other day.

Please Pray For My Toofers

I made the mistake of chewing gum on a set of bad teeth and it pulled something important rather too hard. I've a splitting toothache which I hope for the sake of my wallet will go away overnight, otherwise I'm off to a dentist for the first time in a decade.

Christians, please pray for my poor widdle teeth.

And my liver. You can only take so much of the stuff that keeps pain away. Cloves seem to be most effective but they're abrasive. A mouth full of salt water and/or garlic helps too but it can only be kept in for so long. Ibuprofen and acetaminophen have their uses too but OOF! "Take THAT, liver!"

CRE Still Cratering

In case you forgot, commercial real estate is still in the middle of a crash very similar to what happened in residential real estate beginning a couple of years ago.

This is not good.

Hat tip: Mish

Timing Test: Hillary, Barry, Are You Paying Attention?

The soviets Russians have just begun delivering the (80 tons of) fuel for Iran's nuclear reactor. You know, the one that could be used as is claimed for peaceful power generation, or could be modified to make nuclear bomb-making materials. Next up, the announcement of an unmanned aircraft capable of delivering bombs to Iran's enemies.

Iran is poking Israel and the USA in the eye to see what will happen. If "nothing" happens, expect increasingly bold announcements of military might and ambition from Iran until Israel "unexpectedly" goes up in smoke.

I'm guessing Israel will react before we do. And I remember that they have a history of blowing up nuclear reactors in nearby islamic countries, as a preventative measure (to prevent themselves glowing in the dark).

We'll see what happens this time.

Money From Your Wallet Straight To "Teachers'"

There was recently a survey done of Texas school teachers, by their union. SURPRISE it found that Texas teachers are underpaid and want a raise. A couple of days ago, local teachers were talking to the people responsible for setting up the upcoming budget for the City of Austin. This is my shocked face: the teachers said they want a raise. It would be just fine with them if you lost $120 a year from your own wallet - $10 a month you would use to feed your own children - or if services were cut somewhere else, to provide the teachers with a raise.

Leave aside for the moment that, in a place where you have 20 people standing in line for every position that opens, NOBODY should get a raise. Leave aside for the moment that AISD is top-heavy and could have a raise with no difficulty on their current budget if they would lay off some mid-level administrators. No, my opinion is that you should not be surprised to see a proposed property tax rate increase to pay for teachers' raises.

Why?

Because less is never an option. It doesn't matter that your budget is also being cut back. When it comes time to write the government's operating budget, "they only answer more, more more." Due to my diligent searching, I was able to find a photo of the representative for the Austin teachers' association: Click here.

"Unexpectedly" Low Home Sales Number Coming.

Home sales are slow.

"Unexpectedly" will likely be the key word next week unless the surveyed economists suddenly start reading Mish and Calculated Risk this weekend.

It's Not That I Have Nothing To Hide

. . . It's that you shouldn't be watching.

Leon, Mexico to be infested with iris scanners. Police to scan criminals, with non-criminals to be encouraged to opt-in to the system.

Scratch Leon right off the list of places I'll ever be, then.

Quote of the Day 08/20/2010

"The President will hold bilateral meetings with the four leaders" -Hillary Clinton

Your Secretary of State, the brilliant oratrix. One supposes she meant to say "a conference" or at least "multilateral meetings" but the above is what she did say.

Don't Talk To ANYONE

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the beginning of the slaughter at Ruby Ridge. A dog and his boy, as well as a federal stooge agent and an unarmed woman, were all killed in those two days in 1992. The guy at the center of it all was shot but survived.

Why?

Because the man had disgruntled neighbors, and was not careful enough about the people to whom he sold guns.

SRSLY they killed them for that?

No, they killed them because over-reacting is what government does best. It is possible the whole mess could have been avoided if a judge could have gotten over himself for a week. Or if the ATF hadn't pressed charges out of retribution for lack of co-operation with their efforts to investigate the man's friends.

The charge that got Lon Horiuchi out to the Ruby Ridge murder zone? A fraction of an inch of metal was missing from the tip of a machine.

Another Reason To Not Buy A Chevrolet Volt

The phrase "coal powered car" is one we are trying to train into the public consciousness. The Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf are both pure coal powered cars. All of their energy is very likely to come from a plant that burns the dirtiest and cheapest fuel in the United States: coal. Coal produces more nasty [deleted] and pumps it into the air than oil, natural gas, or (perish the thought) nuclear energy generation. Coal is also a filthy thing to get out of the earth, and requires permanent removal of vast quantities of terrestrial structure to mine.

The Chevy Volt, in addition to being produced by a socialist government agency (General Motors) runs on power generated at old-style, non-carbon-sequestering coal plants. This is not changing. In an article that manages to be more about the lack of installations of budget-crushing pollution abatement equipment than the headline might imply, we find that 30 filthy old-school coal plants have been or are being built since the debate on whether to crush the coal industry through legislative fiat tax carbon emissions kicked off. You know why? Because we need more power generation stations and the power generating industry knows that alternative sources just can't cut it.

Note: there are no carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, or other harmful emissions from a nuclear electricity generation facility. Nowhere did they mention this in this anti-coal article.

Man, This Rabbit Hole Just Keeps Going . . .

As if I needed any more sources of information to check.

Apparently a scandal has been going on under the radar. You never heard about this because it does not fit the "the earth has a fever" narrative preferred by the press. Several of the few satellites the US government has in space looking down at us to see how we are doing, are gimps. Specifically, some of the ones that give us global warming data have faulty sensors. You've heard that the temperature of the planet is supposed to have increased 0.6ºC (+/- 0.5ºC) over the past however long? Yeah, that was based in part on data from a satellite that says every once in a while that the temperature rises to (e.g.) 604ºC at Egg Harbor, Wisconsin.

That's a bit of an outlier, eh?

So the next time someone tells you that the satellite data says "zOMG Global Warming!!!1!" you can tell them "yeah . . . not so much." The next time your Elected Heroes try to raise your taxes to save you from your own carbon dioxide emissions, you can tell them to go to . . .

The title of this post is in regards to the fact that there are at least a dozen links on this page that are worth following, and then the places where the links lead are worth reading on a frequent basis. It's hard enough to stay current when the MSM won't do their jobs, and now here is another list of things to pay attention to. Oh well, here we go down the rabbit hole.

Contact Your Senator!

If you think it is a good thing that your State and Cuonty and City are bankrupt due to outrageous pay and benefits packages for public sector unions, disregard the following.

If you would like to force public sector employees into unions, whether they would like to be unionized or not -even if unionization is a worse deal for the individual policeman or fireman- disregard the following.

If you would like to see the federal government impose union rules on States (and individuals), even though these are strictly local contracts which have nothing at all to do with national governance or regulation, disregard the following.

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Attention all patriots and advocates for less-intrusive government: please contact your Sentors and tell them that you are Opposed to S.1611, the intentionally-misnamed "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act"

Iraq Is Obama's Vietnam?

We WON the war in Vietnam. We left, promising to return if the South needed us again. They needed us again. We welshed and the South fell to Communism.

Tell me with a straight face we are going to be able to go back into Iraq to fight back the Jihad, after we pull out all our soldiers. If we get all our men back, including the 50,000 "support" troops currently still there, and the war flares up again and Iraq is looking like it will fall to the muslims, will we be able to re-authorize the use of force?

Sure, sure, maybe we can ramp it up again and the leftists will say it will be a continuation of BUSH's war. But always remember that it was Obama who pulled our fighters out before the job is done.

White People Can't Say "Nigger."

~ or, "Dr. Laura Pusses Out?" ~

This post contains foul language. The point of this is to cause the reader to think, not to be offensive. If you are offended after reading this post, please re-read it until you get past the words and understand the opinions with which they are expressed. This post has been rated R by the International Convention for the Regulation of Offensive Speech. Reader discretion is advised.

If you let a small child read this, you are a bad person. If you can teach these concepts to a teenager without making them mad, you are a good teacher.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger has been pissing off radical feminists by speaking truth to Anonymous for thirty years. She has said many.many.many controversial things, including things that are only controversial because people are too seeeeensitive to which particular words come out of someone's mouth, regardless of content or intent.

Dr. Laura is white as a bedsheet in a blizzard, and she is currently being criticized by racists who are typically the color of mud, because she did something forbidden. She, being white, said "nigger nigger nigger" as part of an illustration that you can find black people on cable television shows saying nigger to/at/about each other all the time. One of my most favoritest examples of this is the rap group "Niggaz With Attitude" who had a hit song about how the singer is a nigger for life.

To be clear: Dr. Laura was entirely correct, and the point she made is valid. The problem she has is two-fold. She, being white, is not entitled to say "nigger", according to people who think it is a word only available to black people. This is BULLSHIT. If you can say nigger, I can say nigger. If I can't say nigger, you can't say nigger. I suppose nigger must be added to George Carlin's list of seven words you can't say on the air: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits (as amended to include twat).

This is the real world, and we are adults. This is not the second grade. Must we really say "The N-Word" instead of "Nigger?" Fuck no. Fuckin' say nigger all you want, I don't give a shit. People get hung up on words. Not the content of the words. Not the context of the words. Not the intent of the speaker. The actual words themselves trip people up. This is stupid.

If Dr. Laura lets some retard nigger cunt's phone call drive her off the air, she's a dumbass bitch. Fuck her if she's too much of a damn coward to stand up for herself. The first amendment was written to protect unpopular speech. Dr. Laura claims she wants to retain her first amendment rights, but she is not being censored by the government. She is not being forced out by her bosses, either, unless the whole story is not being told. She is afraid of herself. She is taking the coward's way out, in my opinion - someone got all butthurt, and now she' quitting. Al Sharpton (who is himself a race hustler) said, "If I were her I would not want to leave with this legacy" (...but...). He says he doesn't think anyone should use 'the N-word,' black or white. I agree, for once, with Al Sharpton.

The only upside of this whole flapdoodle is that the national discussion of race which Eric Holder accuses us of being too cowardly to have, may be in the offing. Good. Let's talk about race. Then at the end of the day, I will go home to my Mexican wife, LB will go home to his black wife, and you will go home and realize "hey, this is a bunch of fucking bullshit. How about we just drop the whole god-damned subject and treat people like fucking people, according to the content of their character instead of the color of their skin?"

********

That said, 30 years is a pretty good run on a single-topic radio show. She can retire (and stay rich) when she feels like it. But to allow racist pressure groups to force her off the air as a result of a single radio call-in show's caller getting sideways over a single word, is stupid. She said the next day that it (saying nigger) was the wrong thing to do (say) because people were hurt by what she said. Well listen missy, what you said and how people feel are not necessarily related. You can tell (click the CNN link and listen to the sound bytes) that the caller completely shut off what Dr. Laura was saying because of one word she used. All thought was cut off and pure reactionary emotion came into play. She was offeeeeended because Dr. Laura said "nigger". If the woman caller were to use logic and reason *cough* she would have seen that Dr. Laura was using a word in a context which should not be offensive, as part of an intellectual discussion. Dr. Laura's mistake was assuming that this female caller had the intellectual capacity to get past a single word, and actually think about the words before and after it.

********

No, the real reason she must be forced off the air is because she has officially crossed the line. She called out the people who voted for the Dear President.

without giving much thought, a lot of blacks voted for Obama simply 'cause he was half-black. Didn't matter what he was gonna do in office, it was a black thing.

AND she called out the self-hating, non-thinking liberals, including those working in the mass news outlets. She called them right out and nailed them to the wall, and didn't even refer to a single one of them to do it. They KNOW what she meant, and it pissed them off so this story gets coverage.

SCHLESSINGER: Yeah. We've got a black man as president, and we have more complaining about racism than ever. I mean, I think that's hilarious.

CALLER: But I think, honestly, 'cause there's more white people afraid of a black man taking over the nation.

SCHLESSINGER: They're afraid.

CALLER: If you want to be honest about it ...

SCHLESSINGER: Dear, they voted him in. Only 12 percent of the population's black. Whites voted him in.

You are NOT allowed to criticize the Dear President! More importantly, you are NOT allowed to say that he was elected by white people because he was black! It does not matter that what she said, in context, was not about the Dear President or his ignoramus voting base. She must go.

So they win. She caved immediately and announced she would not be renewing her contract. If this is her idea, she is the real loser in all this.

You Know It's Bad When . . .

You know your approval ratings and the odds of your party winning big in the next election are both poor, when even strictly-economics blogs report on how bad things are. With graphics.

Cell Phone-Free And PIMPIN It!

This article would be a waste of my time to read, except that it puts me in the company of some of the richest and most powerful people in the world. They don't have cell phones, either. That's right, I don't have a cell phone. I also have no intention of getting one.

WTH VFD you don't have a cell phone? EVERYBODY has a cell phone!

Everybody but me and Warren Buffett. I have a home phone and a work phone. There are answering machines at both locations. I have a mailing and an e-mail address. If somebody wants to get ahold of me faster than those allow, tough cookies. My life does not revolve around the convenience of other people. If you are someone I might want to talk to when you are in a hurry to reach me, you know how to get ahold of me in a hurry, or you should at least have a pretty good idea of when and where I will be. Everybody else, including Uncle Sam, creditors, family, and/or the Publisher's Clearing House, can just cool their jets until I get around to them.

This has (let me be perfectly clear) N.E.V.E.R. caused me any inconvenience. And nobody interrupts me as I am safely driving to and fro. And nobody interrupts me during conversations, or during church, or during work, with inane chatter. If I want that, I can always log on to facebook.

But what about zOMG 911 SEND AMBALAMPS-type emergencies?!

I have a deactivated cell phone with a camera and the ability to call 911. I keep that nearby. Any other phone number I might want to call during an exigency or other non-life-threatening event may be reached by borrowing someone else's phone. . . after all, everybody else has one. I have had to do this exactly once that I can recall, and it could have waited.

Bonus points: I have a land line at the house and a corded phone is plugged into it. Recently, the power went out in the middle of the night. We called the power company and the electricity was on again by the morning.

Besides which, it's an extra $50/month I don't feel the need to spend. Not to mention the possible Repetitive Stress Injury risk. Or the brain cancer question. Or the deadly explosions.

Pie in The Face For Real. More Like This, Please.

Senator Carl Levin was pied as a form of anti-war protest. This sort of behavior must be encouraged very much.

It is sure that a large part of the ruling class (in both parties) are either ignorant or uncaring when it comes to the will of their constituencies. After all, they are routinely voted back into office and their offices are very prestigious, indeed. Don't bother them with facts, if they don't fit the narrative.

But a pie in the face, they can understand. A pie in the face of a member of the most elite and powerful club in the world is an unmistakable and very public sign of disrespect to the point of scorn. A pie in the face says "You are a CLOWN". Perhaps if they could be made to understand that they are in office more because they are rich and able to buy election ads, and less because they are such hot snot, and the People know it, they would be more inclined to listen to the voters between election cycles.

Besides which, I LOL'd.

No, It Was Cluelessness

Yahoo!/AP News headline: "White House: politics no role in mosque remarks."

I am inclined to believe it. One of the radio talking heads has the impression that Obama's first comments were based on a (faulty) understanding that the main problem was a zoning dispute or something. Now the Dear President understands he has stepped in a poop sandwich and appears to be backpedaling. One could laugh, if the man were not in so powerful a position.

He doesn't understand what is going on in his country, and he doesn't get why it bothers people, because he is completely insulated from Regular Folks inside his Washington bubble. Here's hoping he doesn't accdentally start a war or something.

Being A Small Business Owner: You Can KEEP It!

Taxes and overhead aside, you would have to deal with people. As a person told me recently who deals with them every day, "People are stupid.*" I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have to tell somebody to do something three times, and then they halfass and get it wrong. It kills me when I have to tell my children twice, but to have to babysit a supposed adult? Oy.

Maybe I should be nicer to my boss. Not to my manager, mind you, but to the guy whose pocket drains every two weeks and keeps my lights on.

*(not you, of course - you guys are the best)
********

Neal Boortz says government schools are for people who will work for people who went to private schools. He is an employee, and a government school victim graduate, like myself. You are likely in the same boat. One degree of separation! We're practically related, high five!

********

No point, just saying. The thought occurred to me, is all.

I'll Just Go Ask . . . Someone Else.

I'm filling out a history statement for a background check. They want a few personal references. I asked one of the men I know, and he said he wanted to have no part of it. He called the head of the organization an "Illuminus" and meant it.

. . . I asked someone else to be a reference instead of that guy. Wow.

TV Is Good For Something After All

At the California 200, 8 people were killed when a race truck went off-course. Those watching the race on television were uninjured. TV saves lives? Who knew?

Note: this is terrible, but it's an exception. People used to get killed all the time in racing, drivers and spectators both. Nowadays it makes the news. It used to be expected. Safety technology and television: I guess both save lives!

No Blogging. Busy.

Work in the garage
Birthday party
Birthday party
Paperwork

Blogging didn't make the list. Sorry.

Transparency Means You Know What I Want You To Know.

I can't help but wonder how (if?) this will be covered in the MSM headlines . . .

"President Obama has abolished the position in his White House dedicated to transparency and shunted those duties into the portfolio of a partisan ex-lobbyist who is openly antagonistic to the notion of disclosure by government and politicians.
. . .
"In August 2006 Bauer blogged, "disclosure is a mostly unquestioned virtue deserving to be questioned." This is the man the White House has put in charge of making this the most open White House ever."

Okay, then. Ethics for everybody and transparency here we come!

He Wouldn't Make It.

The Threepers will never allow it.

Michael Savage was talking about the reason Secretary Gates (in a speech to the Marines Memorial Club, as a proxy for President Obama) was talking about cutting down the United States Marine Corps: The USMC is the armed force most likely to be willing to take on Obama's sought-after private "security" force which is just as well funded and armed as the military. He speculated that the dismissal of General McChrystal (during wartime no less) was a warning to the rest of the General officers: keep your mouths shut about what the administration does, including cutting back the Marines.

So the USMC is reduced to a shadow of its former self. Then you get a "comprehensive immigration reform" (read: amnesty) bill through, and you have 40 Million new Democrat voters. Next up: removing term limits for the President of the United States. Then you have Idi Amin Hugo Chavez Barack Obama, President for Life, with an army that is loyal -not to the country- to Himself alone. As Savage was telling his radio audience to consider President Obama still being president 30 years from now, I said (out loud, to the radio, alone in my car): "No."

I considered my response for a moment and continued:

"He wouldn't make it."

There is a good chance that President Obama will survive his first, and maybe even a second term as President. But he would not continue to live if he set himself up as a de facto dictator. He would catch a hot one. The patriotic American tradition of not killing political enemies is deeply rooted in the soul of the Three Percenter, but there is certainly at least one of them (us?) out there who would not suffer it. It is almost 100% sure that he would be assassinated if he ended up in a third (or fourth) term.

Then the floodgates are open.

If, by that time, we still have a semblance of the Republic as it currently stands, there will be a Vice President and a Speaker of the House next in line. If the current model holds, they will also be wannabe dictators. If the shooting has started, do you let a Nancy Pelosi type step into office? Remember the Frenchmen and their guillotines.

It could never happen in America, VFD!

No, you're right. It couldn't happen here: we don't have guillotines. But we do have our thirty-calibers.

********

So. As a privately-owned rifle is the surest cure for the tyranny of a tyrant, beware the baby dictator who would like to restrict your private arms.

********

Note: I do not endorse the killing of anyone, including the President of the United States, without due process. This post is only pointing out that mine is not the only opinion on the topic.

Mexican Invasion. No, A Real one, With Guns And Soldiers.

Los Zetas have taken over a privately owned ranch in Texas. This was covered up and apparently it is about to be blasted into your consciousness by the New Media.

Hint: if armed gangs start saying they run the show in the USA, it's time to break out the Rangers. Texas or U.S. Army, you pick it, but somebody needs to catch a .308 for this, and it better be a [deleted] drug gang member or ten.

You didn't hear about it before, because it doesn't fit the narrative. Mexicans are peaceful, hard workers, who only want an opportunity they can't have in their native country. Criminals taking over your ranches won't get the Amnesty idea any more popular so weeeeee'l just not report on it, okay?

Ow My Head

I don't know what pill to pop. What I've tried so far isn't working. For two days, my nose is running. My own Darling Wife asked me if I had caught it! Boo! More sinus drugs and fewer lame old jokes please!

My only consolation is that I am not the only one. LB who is normally as resistant to allergens as a brick wall also has the sniffles.

:(

Oh well. It beats earthquakes.

General Motors Is Dead To Me

As far as I'm concerned, and until they make it right, GM owes us $50Bn. They can take their two quarters of profitability and shove them where the sun doesn't shine. Last quarter I thought it was some chutzpa when they declared their loans paid back with borrowed (from us) money. Now they're a profitable enterprise again? What, because they foisted off their union agreements on Uncle Sam? I didn't sit down at that collective bargaining table! How come I get stuck with the bill to pay for their gold-plated retirement and medical benefits, and GM gets to say they have $30Bn cash on-hand? That right there is messed up. And they're thinking of having an IPO now. Great. So Uncle Sam can sell my shares at a loss and GM can just go right on trucking with the same union that sunk them the first time, and then what? the cycle repeats. Fail. Suck. BOO!!!

The same type of sentiment applies to Chrysler as well, by the way. Never again until they revert to being a genuinely private concern will I be buying a new (or used) car from either of them.

I Refuse To Let You Swallow My Life!

My Darling Wife got a second-hand PowerWheels jeep for the Zoo. The battery is dead, at least. I did a little searching and found an online bulletin board dedicated to hopping up power wheels cars. Including a video of a grown-ass man riding a remote-controlled power wheels jeep at 17 MPH with someone else on the controls. There are people whose hobby it is to make power wheels go faster and/or be more capable. I will not cross over to the dark side. I will only get a battery and then see what else is wrong. It does not have to go faster.

Then I checked my email. Holy cow people on Facebook need to simmer down. Reading the News is like having a dozen 2-way radio sets on and everyone is talking at once. From what I can tell so far, it is largely talking about nothing. Boo. I scrolled through one page and I'm not clicking the Next button. Just won't do it. Don't have the time. You people have access to my e-mail and most of you (most of you who should) already have my phone number. Feel free to use those.

Two more rabbit trails I could (but refuse to) follow into Wastingtime Land. Besides which I have paperwork that needs filling out. And sleeping to do. And supper to eat. Boo.

I'm Signing On To Facebook.

I have now received a half-dozen invitations from my family. The final straw was my Grandfather inviting me. I feel like I almost have to join Facebook. No you don't get to know my username. If you know me, you will know how to find me there.

Ugh. I hope nobody is expecting a bunch of pictures and updates. They'd be pretty disappointed.

The Steeple Is Up!

The new building for my church is a bunch of rusty steel beams, a white metal roof, and now -finally- a steeple poking WAY up into the sky over Austin. It should easily be visible from the Capitol building.

My pastor and a lot of the church membership are very excited. Finally, it is looking like a church!

Why Women Are Better At Some Jobs:

Lack of testosterone.

One of the men at work had a bit too much coffee in him one morning and he started ranting about how women seem to end up with the (lighter) office work and the men end up with the "work" work. The phrase "glass ceiling" was trotted out. My part in the conversation went something like this:

VFD: We have women working up front because a man would choke a customer out.
LB: Are you sure?
VFD: Tell me you wouldn't
LB: Well, yeah . . .
VFD: ad hoc ergo propter hoc, we can't have men answering phones!

I know a guy who does just fine right now in customer support. He used to fly in combat zones. I know another guy who is so good on the phone, he can say with a straight face "A lot of keyboard manufacturers did away with the "any" key, but the space bar works just as well." Then again, I know a guy who will scream on the phone at people who might want to spend thousands of dollars with him. Personally, I am glad I don't have too many opportunities to interact with customers, because it probably keeps the number of return customers up. Women can be nice without trying as hard. A man has to fight himself not to reach through the phone and _____ when people are dumb.

Now, it so happens that the first two desks where I work are occupied by women, but only because women are the ones who can do the job without ripping somebody's head off, not because of sexism. We've had women work in the warehouse, but they washed out for various performance-related reasons - but we gave them a shot the same as anybody. we've had men try answering the phone, and they were quickly moved back (far) away from the phone.

I know it's illegal to teach such sexist things to school children any more, but stereotypes come from somewhere, and this is a good one. Men are well put away from customers, and women are well put in front of customers, because women do a better job at pretending to be nice than men. Sure there are exceptions (about one week a month, haha!) but if you are honest, you will admit you are smiling and agreeing with me.

(don't worry, I won't tell)

Progressives: Better Is Never Enough!

Mish points us to an article that says cargo ships have slowed down to save fuel and reduce pollution. The (admittedly dramatic) example given is a very large ship which used to emit as much CO₂ as the 30 least-polluting nations in the world. Slowing down 20% saves 40% on fuel costs, and cuts 'greenhouse' gas emissions by 30%.

The only problem: this puts the speed of cargo vessels back to where it was 150+ years ago. It takes a while to cross the oceans at 14 knots. Still, if you don't mind your freight being even slower than it used to be (the ocean is not a famously fast transport medium) this is an admirable thing to do. But what does Greenpeace (a.k.a. the people the US Government calls 'terrorists' for their radical environmentalist activities) say?

There oughtta be a law! They found a way to be slower save money pollute less, so let's MANDATE that they MUST!!!

It is not, and will never be enough pollution reduction for the watermelons out there. The desire for regulation on the part of a Statist and the mouth of hell are never full. Therefore, the logical thing to do is ignore them altogether and do what seems best at the most profitable price-point we can get away with. Make no mistake: if Maersk weren't saving a jillion dollars in fuel, they wouldn't give two cents for saving those tonnes of carbon dioxide. They should tell Greenpeace "what do you want for free!" and make a rude gesture at them, and go about their business.

Why Do Babies Cry All The Time?

You'd be grumpy too, if you only slept for two hours at a stretch for a few months at a time!

:rimshot:

Peak Oil

Don't sweat it.

Airport Security Backscatter X-Ray Scanners: Not A Privacy Concern.

I mean, really. Just because you are standing naked in front of a random, unknown, unknowable person you never met, and the image is recorded and stored for future "use" in an unspecified manner, what are you worried about? I mean, it's not as if the images are photo-realistic, right?

What do you think?

The federal government is aiming to have these scanners installed at all the airports in the country. Here is the newly released list of airports where they are "coming soon." They want you not to worry about it. They would prefer you didn't think about it. They would definitely rather you didn't have a concern that your teen daughter's nekkid picture was being made.

I mean, this image isn't really so bad is it? It doesn't look like much right? Is this going too far for the sake of security?



The feds like to say it's a grainy negative image. It's not like a photograph. It doesn't even really look like people! Okay, here's another sample. This isn't really going to get a pervert's motor going, is it?



Let's follow the road a few more steps together, shall we? In this image, you see what happens when we use basic photo editing software. Is it getting outrageous yet?




Well you know, it's funny what you can do with a little program called Photoshop. The following probably took all of thirty seconds. Given a skilled user and a couple of minutes I am pretty sure you would be looking at a high-quality nudie picture here. Invert the colors as in the image above, then tint it a little bit, and you now have something more like this going on:



But really, what's so bad about that? They said the pictures aren't stored! Just they take a quick look to make sure you don't have a knife or a gun or something, and then they send you on your way. Except that the pictures of you, your spouse, and your children are being stored. Without your consent or knowledge. Where? Nobody is saying. Images of whom? Nobody is saying.

Nobody is saying if they had a USB thumb drive and took home pictures of your 14 year-old daughter to "study" after-hours with their friends, either. Are child porn laws being violated? They won't say. You go ahead and draw your own conclusions.

Oh, and never mind that they expose you to a little more radiation than you would otherwise receive. It's really a small dose and you aren't likely to get cancer from it . . . not so that you could prove it, anyhow.

As for me, I'm going to get to the destination a little bit later than you do, if it's out of state. Give yourself 2 hours to get through security, an hour to wait for the plane to be readied, an hour in flight, and an hour to unass the aircraft, get your luggage, and find a rental car at the destination. By then, I have been driving for 4-1/2 hours, and I am driving a car (mine) that won't cost me $350 every time the rental company's GPS tattletale says I exceed the speed limit.

And I won't have paid to have my luggage sent clear over to the other side of the country. And my camera is still in the bag in which I packed it, instead of a thief's car. And I can eat what I please (peanuts included), use my cell phone, take a potty break, get up and walk around -all at times and locations, and for durations of my choosing- and not pay for the privilege of being treated like a criminal.

Flying? None for me thanks, I'm driving.

You Didn't Need That Privacy, Did you?

RIM has agreed to shut down Blackberry service in Saudi Arabia, rather than give the government access to the encrypted messages sent between their customers in that country.

LOL just kidding, they caved of course, because the almighty dollar trumps your petty privacy concerns!

Google/Blogger Spellcheck Lulz

I find it amusing that every time I type Obama in blogger's Create Post text entry box, it is underlined with a wavy red line. His name is still a misspelled word, a year and a half after he took office.

LOL

Texas Attorney General Abbot Writes Like Me? Nice.

Attorney General Greg Abbot and Dr. Bryan Shaw, head of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are pulling no punches when it comes to the discussion about the EPA trying to crush the economy of hick cowboy redneckland regulate CO2 emissions down in Texas. The opening paragraphs:

"In order to deter challenges to your plan for centralized control of industrial development through the issuance of permits for greenhouse gases, you have called upon each state to declare its allegiance to the Environmental Protection Agency's recently enacted greenhouse gas regulations - regulations that are plainly contrary to United States Law. 75 Fed. Reg. 31,514, 31,525, & 31,582 (June 3, 2010) (hereinafter, the "Tailoring Rule"). To encourage acquiescence with your unsupported findings you threaten to usurp state enforcement authority and to federalize the permitting program of any state that fails to pledge their fealty to the Environmental Protection agency (EPA).

"On behalf of the State of Texas, we write to inform you that Texas has neither the authority nor the intention of interpreting, ignoring, or amending its laws in order to compel the permitting of greenhouse gas emissions"

And a few other highlights:

"Notably absent from your rules is any evidence that they would achieve specific results; in fact, you assiduously (and correctly) avoid ascribing what environmental benefit may be achieved by mandating permits to emit a uniformly distributed, trace constituent of clean air, vital to all life, that is emitted by all productive activities on earth."
. . .
"Your view is not enough. Applicable law provides to the contrary."
. . .
"In other words, you have asked Texas to agree that when it promulgated its air quality permitting program rules for pollutants "subject to regulation" in 1993, that Texas really meant to define the term "subject to regulation" as set forth in the dozens of paragraphs and subparagraphs of EPA Rule 51.166, first promulgated in 2010."
. . .
"EPA has shown no intention of following the Clean Air Act procedures . . . ."
. . .
"Each of these objections to EPA's demand for a loyalty oath from the State of Texas would suffice to justify our refusal to make one. Indeed, it is an affront to the congressionally-established judicial review process for EPA to force states to pledge allegiance to its rules (or forfeit their right to permit) on the final day by which states must exercise their statutory right to challenge those same rules. Texas will not facilitate EPA's apparent attempt to thwart these established procedures and ignore the law. In the event a court concludes EPA's actions comport with the law, Texas specifically reserves and does not waive any rights under the federal Clean Air Act or any other law with respect to the issues raised herein."

They also note that EPA seems to be saying they can regulate CO2 because they feel like it, because just following the law would mean they couldn't regulate CO2. They assert that the whole shebang is (to paraphrase) beside the point, because the rules the EPA put out regulating CO2 emissions were not properly adopted in the first place (and therefore void). Indeed, they come right out and say the EPA got the whole thing exactly bass-ackwards and is trying to make an end-run around Congress! It's truly astonishing stuff. It kinda sounds like the stuff secessions are made of, but Pretty Boy Rick Perry seems not to be a fan of that (yet).

The trial lawyers of America were set for the next decade or so, the moment President Obama was sworn into office. Stuff like this is going to be tying up the federal court system for years, if not generations. It is my sincere hope that Texas will lead the way (or at least be in the van) when it comes to ignoring the illegal attempts of the leftist watermelons in the Obama administration to run the country just how they like, laws to the contrary notwithstanding.

********
All emphasis is mine.

Tip of the 10-gallon hat to Uncle

Don't Hit Girls.

At least, don't sucker-punch a woman unconscious in the street at night in Austin. Roger Huerta might just return you the favor. Don't bother clicking through to the video they linked up from the story.

LB says Huerta works out in the boxing gym where LB goes to beat up on guys half his age sometimes. LB says he's good people.

Madness @ Work

I was finishing up the photo shoot of a robot that came in a crate. The crate has big pieces of custom-cut foam to hold the robot securely in transit:


TS was walking by, watching as I put the last (middle) piece of foam in the crate. He said "hey, nice scorpion buddy" and I thought he was just being silly. I kept moving to put the foam into the crate and he grabbed the foam and pulled it away from me. We (guided by his hands) rotated the foam a little bit, and he showed me a live 2" long scorpion that had been inches away from stinging me on my (clothes over my) nads!

I took it back to show/give to LB, who eats scorpions. We have so many of them here, he has a special beaker with a tweezers on it, kept at his station just for holding scorpions who are on the menu. Say hi to Mister Bitey.



Anyhow, FDG was having a bring your son to work day today and there's a pubescent boy hanging out with LB all morning. When I went to LB's area, I told the kid to check it out. He saw: dude . . . dude carrying white foam block . . . white foam block . . . zOMG SCORPION!!!1!! and he flinched back (from a foot-and-a-half away) in most amusing fashion. Then LB grabbed the scorpion with his tweezers and put it in the holding cell. I took a picture of it. LB then says "You wanna see something badass?" LB showed me what happened one day when he had TWO scorpions at the same time: Rear naked scorpion choke!



(You are looking at the belly of a scorpion locked in battle with another (smaller) scorpion holding on to its back)

Queers Are Ambivalent; Marxists Are Not.

In light of the recent re-overturning of Prop. 8 in California, there has been much commentary, but only Savage has provided the critical insight required to understand "why all the fuss?"

Typically, 'gays' don't want to call themselves purple, call themselves fish, or call themselves married. They want civil union privileges and equitable treatment for their "partnerships" when compared to marriage unions.

Typically, 'straights' don't want queers to call themselves computers, giraffes, or married. They want queers in long-term meaningful relationships not to be discriminated against just because they can never be married.

So who is agitating for the 'right' of queers to marry?

Marxists*. Marx realized that as long as the corrupting influence of the family remains, the true collectivist society can never come into being. The family must be destroyed. They may be queer also, but the real activists for 'gay marriage' are, deep down, Marxists in the struggle for the international cause.

The secular core of our society is the family. When the family is eliminated by fools saying things like " . . . no rational basis . . . ." then society is that much closer to collapse.

Then, of course, we will need a dictator for a little while, and then we can have a worker's paradise!

********
*or useful idiots

EPA To Regulate . . . Dust?

Having declared that the gas you exhale with every breath is a pollutant, now the EPA is going to go for dust. You know, the stuff generated by everything a farmer does? Yeah, they want less of that. It's bad, apparently, or something.

And this is the first you have heard of it. Good job, nightly newscaster!

We Should Not Be There.

The USA is planning to send a delegation to Japan to attend the annual memorial of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Why? It is sure (under this Department of State) that they will not be saying "and then some!" and I hope there is to be no apologetic bow. Barring either of those things, what purpose is there in us going? It's about as tactful as building a mosque down the street from Ground Zero and a monument to the muslims who brought down Flight 93 right on the crash site.

. . . oh, wait.

Elena Kagan Confirmed as "Justice" on SCOTUS

May God help the republic.

BP's PR Nightmare Is Over?

They are saying the "static kill" procedure has worked. They are also saying "hey where's the beef oil gone? It looks like BP is starting to slip off the "enemy of the month" hook here.

I, for one, won't be cheering until there are 4.5 miles of concrete cured in the ocean floor, and at least one relief well is producing. We'll see I guess.

Note To Radical Patriots:

If you were planning to blow up the mulsim triumphal mosque symbol of tolerance and peace a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero, do us all a favor: wait until it's complete. Give them a week or so to get the furniture in and let all the minor repairs done that all new buildings require. Let 100% of the cost for the new facility be paid. Wait for it to be as empty as possible in the middle of the night. THEN, if you must, blow it up. If you don't wait, you will be leaving money in the pockets of those who wish to rub their victory over the west in our faces.

Until then, feel free to "accidentally" drop slaughtered hogs right on their doorstep as your butcher's truck is making its morning delivery every Friday.

********

Now let's be clear: VoteForDavid does not condone blowing other peoples' sh*t up, on American soil, without governmental authorization. Somebody is probably going to blow the place up, though, because it is intolerable. This post is not meant to incite, it is just a tip for that somebody.

USAID has released an an announcement (.pdf file) to declare that we will soon commit to saying something quite definite, in no uncertain terms. Here's the quote everybody is bouncing around the Internet today:

In September 2009, President Obama launched a study of U.S. development policy and will be issuing a new development policy in the near future. The policy will focus on achieving sustainable development outcomes by promoting broad‐based economic growth and democratic governance, investing in game‐changing innovations that have the potential to solve long‐standing development challenges, and building effective public sector capacity to provide basic services over the long term. The policy also puts a premium on selectivity, on leveraging the expertise and resources of others, on mutual accountability, and on evidence of impact. This new development policy will guide the U.S. approach to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This all sounds warm and fuzzy, which is why it is the money quote (that, plus it's right at the beginning of a 15-page report about a plan to announce a plan). But let's fisk it, shall we? My comments are (in parenthesis).

********

In September 2009, President Obama launched a study

(Yet another commission. How original.)

of U.S. development policy and will be issuing a new development policy in the near future.

(BREAKING NEWS! We will soon be announcing a plan to do . . . something!)

The policy will focus on achieving sustainable development outcomes

(because Government is the answer)

by promoting broad‐based economic growth and democratic governance,

(growth by what means, and democratic like Greece or democratic like USA circa 1779?)

investing in game‐changing innovations that have the potential to solve long‐standing development challenges,

(we will be announcing an attempt to misappropriate taxpayers' take-home wages and throw them at things that sound like really good ideas, but which are as-yet unproven (and may not pan out but hey it's worth a shot!))

and building effective public sector capacity to provide basic services over the long term.

(We're also going to be adding HUGE numbers of people to the public welfare roles, if we can possibly manage to sneak it under the radar)

The policy also puts a premium on selectivity,

(We will be emphasizing sexism and racism, as appropriate)

on leveraging the expertise and resources of others,

(we're going to pay consultants -and hire our cronies for- HUGE salaries!)

on mutual accountability,

(we will tell you everything. We hope you will tell us some things)

and on evidence of impact.

(they probably meant effectiveness vs. impact, but they really mean we want to see if this stuff helps, after we've poured our money down the drain to make it work)

This new development policy will guide the U.S. approach to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).

(It's a guide. We'll be sure to vary from the guide in any way that suits our nepotism, racism, sexism, fancy, and pocketbooks, thank you very much)

********

As an extra bonus, let's remember that the USA pays the lion's share of the UN's bills, and then read (from farther down in the report, which I did skim):

We will also place the United States on a trajectory to meet our long‐term Copenhagen commitment to jointly mobilize $100 billion per year in public and private sources by 2020 in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency from developing countries.

(excuse me, WHOSE Copenhagen commitment? Run that by me again? And for HOW MUCH?!)

Careful students of the Bible know that we will always have extreme poverty in the world. Attempting to mitigate it by charitable measures is fine. Taking from my wallet to do it -at gunpoint- without so much as a 'by yer leave' is Not Cool.

Pot, Kettle, Black: Obama The Liar?

Barack Hussein Obama is either a compulsive liar, or completely ignorant of what is happening outside the political bubble that surrounds him. Having advisers who all think exactly like you does not help either condition. It is hard to tell which is the case. The following are the words of the President during a speech at a fundraiser, with my commentary:

"They [Republicans] have not come up with a single, solitary new idea to address the challenges of the American people . . . . not one."

Excuse me, but this is only the opinion of people who only watch your MSM's nightly news. Those who are paying attention to other information sources know (vs. opine) that your press lackeys have consistently failed to report on the (superior to your own) ideas coming not only from Republicans and Independents, but even the non-party-line Democrats.

"They're betting on amnesia."

You, sir, are beting on amnesia, and what's more you are also betting on a compliant press continuing to only report news that paints you and your affiliates in a good light, while completely failing to report on your adversaries unless they do something bad.

********

These lines were delivered at a fundraiser where he was a speaker. Listening to the audio is rough. It's at least as bad as President Bush, with all the pauses for thought and dragging . . . .sentences out . .. . waiting to think of the next words to . . . say. If he was on teleprompter, this is probably intentional, so his audience wouldn't miss a single word. If not . . . this guy is proving even more that he has a completely un-earned reputation as an orator. Listening to one of his Constitutional Law lectures (when he was an adjunct lecturer, he was never a Professor) must have been enough to make you want to pull your ears right off.

Sad Sack, One More: Lindsay Lohan

More famous these days for being a junkie than for anything she has done for pay, Lindsay Lohan is in the news again. This time because she's out of jail (again) having served less than a full sentence. She served 14 of her 90 days and was remanded to three months in a rehab facility.

The sad part of this story is: it is very unlikely that she will get over the deep-rooted personal problems that lead her to substance abuse, and she'll very likely be back in jail (or dead) for some kind of intoxication-related crime. She needs Jesus but I doubt she'll be looking for him. *sigh* Prayers for all such are in order.

When Guns Could Have Saved The Nation Money

Nidal Hassan is still pulling down $6000/month as a Major in the US Army. That would be, he is still alive, and still holding his full military rank, despite having gunned down a dozen or so fellow soldiers in the name of allah.

This is because the United States' justice system is crippled by political correctness. They can't give this guy a .308 even though there is a room full of highly credible eyewitnesses, and a years-long paper trail showing he is a radical muslim. In your grandfather's day, this guy would have been shot the next day, if not the same day, and that would have been that.

Note: this would NOT be an issue if we trusted our fighting men with arms on base in the USA. It is the base commanders' prerogative on most military installations whether he will allow his men to go about armed on base. Most chicken out and do not.

This is a shame.

What's That Bump Behind The Ejection Port On An AR-15/M16?

I'm not so much of an AR lover, but that's changing the more my knowledge expands from "they sucked in vietnam (for various reasons)" to "They're a mature technology, and highly-refined at that." but that's not what this post is about. I've just had a "eureka!" moment.

There's a bump behind the ejection port on an AR, and I had heard it was a shell deflector, but I didn't really get why that ugly lump was hanging out on what seems an otherwise 100% function type of machine. Then I watched the slow-motion video of the ejection of spent brass from an AR, and it became crystal clear:

The empty brass slams into that bump
every.
single.
time.
and goes flying off to the right.


Image lifted from GunAccessories.com.

Well, Shut My Mouth!

~or, The Importance of Selecting The Proper Buffer In an AR-Pattern Rifle~

Vuurwapen has a comparison of AR recoil buffers . . . compared on slow-motion video. I watched the video of the first two and I was beginning to think "well, so the bolt bounces what's the big deal?" and then the third buffer test started up, and I said "oh."

It's just over a minute-long and there is a well-written blog post attached. Click it.

Hat tip and thanks for a freshly bookmarked gun-related site to: The Firearm Blog.

Somebody Pass Me A Salt Tablet

Man that was a wild ride today. I didn't eat ANY salts, beside what was in the butter on my toast this morning at breakfast. My body was ready for the sodium from lunch and it was down hill for my energy level after I didn't get it. Thank GOD for the green lights on the way home, because I was really hurting. I got here and my Darling Wife saw how bad off I was and decided to evaporate with the Zoo while #4 was sleeping. I took as much salt (by licking it off my hand) as my mouth would tolerate, ate a couple of cookies, and racked out. Here's the MS Paint version of how I was feeling today:



All's well that ends well I suppose but ugh. Remind me not to do that again.

Brick vs. Washing Machine. Round 1 FIGHT!

Bricks and washing machines don't mix, apparently. I'll have to make this post brief because #3 is saying "wess do 'gain" to get me to play it again . . . action begins around 0:48 from the beginning.

You will watch this video.

Yes It Can Happen Here

Sergey Larenkov has an impressive series of perspective-matched photos of then-vs-now in various places in Russia. I was reminded by some of them that "it can't happen here" is a very poor excuse for a mental defense against anything, including war. Check out the contrast: people going about their lives vs. soldiers going about their duties, on the same street.

Click through to see the images full-size




Very interesting. If the militia called you up, would you be ready to switch from going about your life to going about your duty? Would you even be willing? Hat tip to Every Day No Days Off

Satan Knows Your Weakness

Mine is fatigue. I slept badly and little last night due to various circumstances in the home, and I woke up as my Darling Wife was about to leave for church. Tonight she's off with the Zoo again, and I have skipped church again. The thought of being out until normal getting-home-from-church time made me tired, just to contemplate it. Boo. I'll be going to bed early tonight, if possible.