Wednesday, March 31, 2010
SurpRISE SURprise! Hutchison Not Resigning.
Senatrix Hutchison says she will not be resigning, even though she said she would, after she was not picked to run for Governess of Texas this year. Raise your hand if you are surprised by this announcement. Nobody? Yeah, me neither.
Prepare to Be Offended. Like WOW.
You have to realize, before you even read the rest of this post, that I was not always the same person I am today. I did a partial undergraduate course in the School of Hard Knocks and sometimes my sense of humor can find amusement in things that are . . . not good.
The thing I am going to link below officially qualifies as Not Good. If you click the link, you will encounter text that describes a seriously Not Good situation. Very many laws were broken, and interpersonal relationships were messed with in ways that would get you shot if a gun were handy at the moment.
If you are easily offended, or at work, or at a place where the people even pretend to be civilized, do not click this link. NOT safe for work. Not for children. Seriously, it is a Bad Thing.
I was crying laughing by the denouement, but as I said, you stand a good chance of being astonished at the badness of it all.
The thing I am going to link below officially qualifies as Not Good. If you click the link, you will encounter text that describes a seriously Not Good situation. Very many laws were broken, and interpersonal relationships were messed with in ways that would get you shot if a gun were handy at the moment.
If you are easily offended, or at work, or at a place where the people even pretend to be civilized, do not click this link. NOT safe for work. Not for children. Seriously, it is a Bad Thing.
I was crying laughing by the denouement, but as I said, you stand a good chance of being astonished at the badness of it all.
When Worlds Collide
~or~ It's A Small World, After All.
JF, a brother in Christ and a friend, who attends the same church as I do, surprised me.
He found out he is one of my Father's clients. For years, he has been dealing with my ol' dad and going about their business. He's known my pop longer than I've known JF! How very odd!
I was pleased to hear that JF found this out when he, unassertive as he is, brought up the subject of church attendance, trying to see if he could sneak the gospel in to my dad's ears edgewise. I wish more Christians would try that sort of thing. Fortunately, my father knows my Father personally, and no introductions were necessary. It must have been a bit odd for dad also, finding out that his long-time client was an acquaintance of his son's.
Neat!
Christians, I'll pass along the admonition our pastor gives to us around Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas: The things of God are more likely to be on the backslidden Christian's and unrepentant sinner's minds at this time of year than at any other. Invite them to church. They may be more inclined to come, if invited for this weekend's services, now more than another random day.
JF, a brother in Christ and a friend, who attends the same church as I do, surprised me.
He found out he is one of my Father's clients. For years, he has been dealing with my ol' dad and going about their business. He's known my pop longer than I've known JF! How very odd!
I was pleased to hear that JF found this out when he, unassertive as he is, brought up the subject of church attendance, trying to see if he could sneak the gospel in to my dad's ears edgewise. I wish more Christians would try that sort of thing. Fortunately, my father knows my Father personally, and no introductions were necessary. It must have been a bit odd for dad also, finding out that his long-time client was an acquaintance of his son's.
Neat!
Christians, I'll pass along the admonition our pastor gives to us around Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas: The things of God are more likely to be on the backslidden Christian's and unrepentant sinner's minds at this time of year than at any other. Invite them to church. They may be more inclined to come, if invited for this weekend's services, now more than another random day.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
ClimateGate Scientists Acquitted!
. . . or something. Well, it makes for a dandy headline, anyway.
Money quote from the article at Yahoo (emphasis mine):
Money quote from the article at Yahoo (emphasis mine):
Lawmakers stressed that their report — which was written after only a single day of oral testimony — did not cover all the issues and would not be as in-depth as the two other inquiries into the e-mail scandal that are still pending.Willis said the lawmakers had been in a rush to publish something before Britain's next national election, which is widely expected in just over a month's time.
"Clearly we would have liked to spend more time of this," he said, before adding jokingly: "We had to get something out before we were sent packing."
Meet The New Boss . . .
Obama to allow drilling for oil off the East coast of the United States, and open up 2/3 of the off-limits areas in the Gulf of Mexico for more drilling as well.
You know, like the other guy wanted to do. That "W" fellow, whose fault everything is.
The fun part will be if he allows drilling for oil only as part of the Cap and Trade bill, and when the bill becomes law you find out (oopsy!) it doesn't allow for any actual drilling to take place.
You know, like the other guy wanted to do. That "W" fellow, whose fault everything is.
The fun part will be if he allows drilling for oil only as part of the Cap and Trade bill, and when the bill becomes law you find out (oopsy!) it doesn't allow for any actual drilling to take place.
Quote of the Day 03/30/2010
. . . maybe I'm just a white guy with a fantastic tan . . . -LTC Allen West (on the Laura Ingraham show today)
(regarding the ubiquitous-in-the-leftist-media accusation that anyone who opposes Obama's agenda must just be a racist)
For those who aren't up with the times, here is a photo of the good Colonel, in living color (that's racist!)
FDA Trying To Increase Federal Budget Deficit!
The new Socialist Healthcare law has a tax on things only white people do the use of tanning beds. This is supposed to offset the brazillion dollars Obamacare will cost if it isn't repealed.
The radio news said the FDA is looking to ban the use of tanning beds by persons under 18 years of age. Nevermind any therapeutic benefits they might derive from tanning bed use, and nevermind that your children should be out getting some sun instead of using tanning beds in the first place.
The FDA, by banning the use of tanning beds by minor persons, will be adding to the already-crushing deficits imposed on the united States by Obamacare. This is going to end up as footnote #421 in the Wikipedia entry for "unintended consequences."
The radio news said the FDA is looking to ban the use of tanning beds by persons under 18 years of age. Nevermind any therapeutic benefits they might derive from tanning bed use, and nevermind that your children should be out getting some sun instead of using tanning beds in the first place.
The FDA, by banning the use of tanning beds by minor persons, will be adding to the already-crushing deficits imposed on the united States by Obamacare. This is going to end up as footnote #421 in the Wikipedia entry for "unintended consequences."
Student Loan "Reform" Is A Vicious Cycle
Rewind to The Beginning. You want to have an institution of higher learning for the betterment of mankind, and to let people get closer to God* in an institutional setting. You put together the best and brightest minds of your day and charge students a fee for admission. You get more and more students, who are all paying tuition fees, and you can-and-have to hire more professors and expand your facilities. You have to have increased costs. This leads to:
College is expensive. You get a loan. Everyone else gets a loan. The college has lots of money to buy expensive stuff. They get more expensive stuff and people keep paying, so tuition goes up.
College is so expensive you need a loan you can't afford. The government will give you money (Pell grants) or guarantee your loan. Then the college will have a bigger revenue stream, buy more fancy stuff and hire more (expensive) professors, and raise tuition.
Now -as of last week- the government will be giving you more money for college (as part of the new Socialist Medicine law) and making the loans per se instead of guaranteeing them. This will lead once again to higher education costs for all.
The student loan reform is billed as a way to make college more affordable. This is a headfake, and it works because you went to government schools. If you don't want to go to the government for a loan or a private bank for a more-expensive loan, you are going to be even farther away from being able to afford "higher" education.
Fast Forward to the Socialist utopia they want, and it will be so expensive to go to college they will just rob EVERYONE at gunpoint to pay for it, as they currently do for primary and secondary school "education." Then, you see, post-secondary education will be "free."
********
*That's right, closer to God. You'd be surprised how many hudreds-of-years-old colleges and universities in the United States started off as religious or partially-religious schools. You'd be surprised because they've mostly banned God on campus anymore.
College is expensive. You get a loan. Everyone else gets a loan. The college has lots of money to buy expensive stuff. They get more expensive stuff and people keep paying, so tuition goes up.
College is so expensive you need a loan you can't afford. The government will give you money (Pell grants) or guarantee your loan. Then the college will have a bigger revenue stream, buy more fancy stuff and hire more (expensive) professors, and raise tuition.
Now -as of last week- the government will be giving you more money for college (as part of the new Socialist Medicine law) and making the loans per se instead of guaranteeing them. This will lead once again to higher education costs for all.
The student loan reform is billed as a way to make college more affordable. This is a headfake, and it works because you went to government schools. If you don't want to go to the government for a loan or a private bank for a more-expensive loan, you are going to be even farther away from being able to afford "higher" education.
Fast Forward to the Socialist utopia they want, and it will be so expensive to go to college they will just rob EVERYONE at gunpoint to pay for it, as they currently do for primary and secondary school "education." Then, you see, post-secondary education will be "free."
********
*That's right, closer to God. You'd be surprised how many hudreds-of-years-old colleges and universities in the United States started off as religious or partially-religious schools. You'd be surprised because they've mostly banned God on campus anymore.
If You Can Read This, Thank A Particle Physicist
I told my wife to congratulate the German living next to me in Texas who (somehow) works on the Large Hadron Collider straddling Switzerland and France.
They fired that puppy up and smashed them some atoms real fast-like. I'm fairly certain it wasn't up to full power to-day, but they had her all the way up to 7TEV, which is 3x-ish higher-charged than the nearest competitor. That would be (particle collider enthusiasts will please excuse the simplification) something like 7,000,000,000 volts of atoms-go-fast power. Your computer is powered by just over 12 volts inside.
According to the radio news on the way home from work today, the world was not swallowed up in the black holes formed by two colliding atoms, and the stars were apparently not thrown so badly out of alignment that you would notice.
They fired that puppy up and smashed them some atoms real fast-like. I'm fairly certain it wasn't up to full power to-day, but they had her all the way up to 7TEV, which is 3x-ish higher-charged than the nearest competitor. That would be (particle collider enthusiasts will please excuse the simplification) something like 7,000,000,000 volts of atoms-go-fast power. Your computer is powered by just over 12 volts inside.
According to the radio news on the way home from work today, the world was not swallowed up in the black holes formed by two colliding atoms, and the stars were apparently not thrown so badly out of alignment that you would notice.
Ruger MkIII 22/45 Magazine "Safety" Delete
I still haven't decided on a .22 handgun for a training tool in my new shooter classes (see "Let Me Take You Shooting" on the right side of the page). The Ruger MkIII 22/45 is a strong contender due to a reputation for quality, combined with a price point that might see me getting one this Buy-A-Gun Day. The only problem is that it comes with a lawyer key lock in the gun itself. I don't see lots of reports of these breaking, however, so it can't be THAT bad (unlike with Taurus revolvers rendering themselves inoperable)
Anyhow, one thing I can't stand in a semi-auto arm is a magazine disconnector "safety" that prevents firing the weapon without a magazine properly installed.
Fortunately for the tinkerer who realizes gun safety lies between the ears, there is a fix. Rip out the new "safety" parts and replace them with a bushing or washers to take their place.
The elegant way to do this is to replace the MkIII hammer bushing with a MkII hammer bushing.
There are also a couple of rimfire enthusiasts who produce a replacement bushing that will work.
The cheap/free method is to use washers in place of the removed "safety" pieces, to take up the empty room so everything will still work properly. I don't understand why you would use stainless or plain steel instead of brass washers for this, but I haven't been there or done that yet.
Of course, you will need to know how to detail strip the piece, so it is handy to have instructions with lots of pictures for that while you study up on the project.
***
ETA:
It will also need a Loaded Chamber Indicator filler/replacement (also available premade if you want to pay for it).
And a blast shield is definitely in order as well.
Anyhow, one thing I can't stand in a semi-auto arm is a magazine disconnector "safety" that prevents firing the weapon without a magazine properly installed.
Fortunately for the tinkerer who realizes gun safety lies between the ears, there is a fix. Rip out the new "safety" parts and replace them with a bushing or washers to take their place.
The elegant way to do this is to replace the MkIII hammer bushing with a MkII hammer bushing.
There are also a couple of rimfire enthusiasts who produce a replacement bushing that will work.
The cheap/free method is to use washers in place of the removed "safety" pieces, to take up the empty room so everything will still work properly. I don't understand why you would use stainless or plain steel instead of brass washers for this, but I haven't been there or done that yet.
Of course, you will need to know how to detail strip the piece, so it is handy to have instructions with lots of pictures for that while you study up on the project.
***
ETA:
It will also need a Loaded Chamber Indicator filler/replacement (also available premade if you want to pay for it).
And a blast shield is definitely in order as well.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
