Custom-built from what looks like a Bobcat earth mover:
Apparently the Sheriff's Department wants to use it to get quick access into house trailers:
More images here.
CALL THE SWAT TEAM!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wow. Gainesville SWAT Team Has Its Own Tank
Custom-built from what looks like a Bobcat earth mover:
Apparently the Sheriff's Department wants to use it to get quick access into house trailers:
More images here.
CALL THE SWAT TEAM!
If You're In the Wilmington, NC, Area Soon...
...you might prepare yourself for people asking, "Hey, guess what I found?" on a frequent basis.
It would probably be a good idea for vampires to avoid the Cape Fear area for some time to come. Just sayin'.
It would probably be a good idea for vampires to avoid the Cape Fear area for some time to come. Just sayin'.
The Mutt of Kiliminjaro
Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called the Masai "Ngaje Ngai," the House of God. Close to the western summit there is a scampering, mangy mutt of a dog. No one has explained what the dog is seeking at that altitude.
I doubt that I'll be the only blogger to parody Hemingway today.
I doubt that I'll be the only blogger to parody Hemingway today.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Meanwhile, In Murmansk...
...they apparently have caught a Jeffrey Dahmer-style cannibal serial killer.
An aspiring chef, he liked to render his victims into sausage and meatballs and post his cooking recipes on the internet.
For you students of crime, there are similarities to the crimes of Fritz Haarman, the "Butcher of Hanover."
An aspiring chef, he liked to render his victims into sausage and meatballs and post his cooking recipes on the internet.
For you students of crime, there are similarities to the crimes of Fritz Haarman, the "Butcher of Hanover."
Apt Metaphor
South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint (R), on the political divide in Washington:
DeMint said political Washington is incapable of compromise, comparing it to two opposing teams on a football field.
"You can't imagine a coach saying, 'Go out there, compromise with those guys,' " DeMint said. "You don't do that because the other team has a goal, going in the opposite direction of where you're going, and they are there to beat you."
"And I hate to say it, but in a lot of ways that's where we are in Washington."
DeMint said political Washington is incapable of compromise, comparing it to two opposing teams on a football field.
"You can't imagine a coach saying, 'Go out there, compromise with those guys,' " DeMint said. "You don't do that because the other team has a goal, going in the opposite direction of where you're going, and they are there to beat you."
"And I hate to say it, but in a lot of ways that's where we are in Washington."
He Has An Over-Developed Sense of Vengeance...
...and it's going to get him into trouble some day:
A Washington state fire chief says a man dumped gasoline on a beehive in a tree in retaliation for a bee sting, then ignited the hive, causing an explosion heard throughout his suburban neighborhood just a few miles south of the Canadian border.
Lynden chief Gary Baar tells the Bellingham Herald (http://bit.ly/pBBpg0) that the Sunday night fire caused a large "whoosh," singed the tree and killed the bees but no people were hurt.
Baar says the man's friend had been stung earlier in the day.
Now that's what I call friendship: a man who will wreak vengeance on an entire hive of bees in retaliation for one sting to a friend.
Of course, you know where I got the blog post title:
A Washington state fire chief says a man dumped gasoline on a beehive in a tree in retaliation for a bee sting, then ignited the hive, causing an explosion heard throughout his suburban neighborhood just a few miles south of the Canadian border.
Lynden chief Gary Baar tells the Bellingham Herald (http://bit.ly/pBBpg0) that the Sunday night fire caused a large "whoosh," singed the tree and killed the bees but no people were hurt.
Baar says the man's friend had been stung earlier in the day.
Now that's what I call friendship: a man who will wreak vengeance on an entire hive of bees in retaliation for one sting to a friend.
Of course, you know where I got the blog post title:
Monday, August 29, 2011
New Species of Bird Discovered In US
Unfortunately, the only example is dead and in a museum.
Pic:
Stiff. Bereft of Life.
They've named it Bryan's Shearwater. Since I've already started a Monty Python riff, might as well continue it:
Pic:
They've named it Bryan's Shearwater. Since I've already started a Monty Python riff, might as well continue it:
My Gods. If They'll Arrest People For That...
...then we're all in trouble.
"Pair Arrested For ‘Lack Of Common Sense’ After Rafting Down Main Street In Manayunk."
h/t Drudge Report
"Pair Arrested For ‘Lack Of Common Sense’ After Rafting Down Main Street In Manayunk."
h/t Drudge Report
What If...
...you could legally sell your vote to the highest bidder?
Both in primary elections and State/National elections?
You could set up a system for registered voters to accept bids, with the winning bid getting a guaranteed, certified vote from the voter.
Would "safe" gerrymandered seats remain safe? I doubt it.
Would you vote against your principles if the payoff was high enough? (the old punchline "We already agree what you are, now we're just haggling" comes to mind)
The way it would work best is if the result of pre-sold votes was made public knowledge, because then each political party would know how many votes it would still have to purchase; price of votes would work on the free market principle, being determined by the supply of eligible voters and demand for votes/victories.
Would you have voter apathy and refusal to participate in the civic duty of voting under such a system? I doubt it. You'd probably have close to 100% participation.
How high could payments for votes go? $50? $500? $5000? Higher?
And, just to have an incentive for the government to do this, imagine an instant 5% tax assessment when you cast your vote. "Wait a minute, that's a poll tax!" some dumbass might say. Well, no. It's a tax on money you have been paid for voting, not a tax that deters you from voting.
How about some commentary, here. I don't often come up with brainstorms like this, and I'd like some feedback.
Both in primary elections and State/National elections?
You could set up a system for registered voters to accept bids, with the winning bid getting a guaranteed, certified vote from the voter.
Would "safe" gerrymandered seats remain safe? I doubt it.
Would you vote against your principles if the payoff was high enough? (the old punchline "We already agree what you are, now we're just haggling" comes to mind)
The way it would work best is if the result of pre-sold votes was made public knowledge, because then each political party would know how many votes it would still have to purchase; price of votes would work on the free market principle, being determined by the supply of eligible voters and demand for votes/victories.
Would you have voter apathy and refusal to participate in the civic duty of voting under such a system? I doubt it. You'd probably have close to 100% participation.
How high could payments for votes go? $50? $500? $5000? Higher?
And, just to have an incentive for the government to do this, imagine an instant 5% tax assessment when you cast your vote. "Wait a minute, that's a poll tax!" some dumbass might say. Well, no. It's a tax on money you have been paid for voting, not a tax that deters you from voting.
How about some commentary, here. I don't often come up with brainstorms like this, and I'd like some feedback.
I Don't Think They'll Ever Earn Their Junior Detective Badge
A couple in Sundsvall, Sweden, confronted with maggots falling into their apartment and a horrible smell, couldn't quite put their finger on what was going on.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
This Way To the Egress
Storm surge and rain from Hurricane Irene added millions of gallons of water to Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds at North Carolina's Outer Banks at Hatteras Island. Water being water seeks to find its own level, and if there isn't a convenient means of escape, it creates one:
On the outer banks, these areas where water flows from the sounds to the Atlantic Ocean (and back in again, according to tide) are called inlets. Before man arrived, they opened and closed naturally via erosion and silting/drifting. Now, with man using the Banks to dwell on and a requirement that transportation up and down the Banks be made by vehicles, such inlets as open up must be closed by heavy equipment and the road (the famous NC 12) rebuilt. So, construction companies will be busy with repair work for the next couple of weeks, getting the Banks opened back up to vehicle traffic. In the meantime, air and ferry travel will be the only way in and out.
More information here.
update: And official information from the Coast Guard can be found here.
On the outer banks, these areas where water flows from the sounds to the Atlantic Ocean (and back in again, according to tide) are called inlets. Before man arrived, they opened and closed naturally via erosion and silting/drifting. Now, with man using the Banks to dwell on and a requirement that transportation up and down the Banks be made by vehicles, such inlets as open up must be closed by heavy equipment and the road (the famous NC 12) rebuilt. So, construction companies will be busy with repair work for the next couple of weeks, getting the Banks opened back up to vehicle traffic. In the meantime, air and ferry travel will be the only way in and out.
More information here.
update: And official information from the Coast Guard can be found here.
Comfort Inn Nags Head
An intrepid reporter from The Raleigh News & Observer captures the Hurricane Irene aftermath from the Comfort Inn Nags Head, which served as "ground zero" for the various media contingents during the hurricane.
Sara and I stayed in this hotel in late 2009 in similar circumstances. It wasn't much of a hotel.
Update: Here is a nice summary of Irene damage in NC.
Sara and I stayed in this hotel in late 2009 in similar circumstances. It wasn't much of a hotel.
Update: Here is a nice summary of Irene damage in NC.
Leftist Prick Says What?
The myth of the self-made man that emerged in the 19th century wasn't entirely a myth. There were people who came to America and did very well for themselves. They had to do things like kill Native Americans and destroy the land in the process, but they made better lives for their families.
Taken from a Salon interview titled "Why Won't America Embrace the Left?" Examples such as the one above might have something to do with it.
h/t Weasel Zippers.
Taken from a Salon interview titled "Why Won't America Embrace the Left?" Examples such as the one above might have something to do with it.
h/t Weasel Zippers.
I'm Still Here.
Spent Saturday watching Hurricane Irene coverage on various news channels. The Weather Channel, of course, had the best "storm porn" available. I guess the people they hire to make reports from hurricane landfall sites must have contract stipulations requiring that they make fools of themselves capering about in the surf, being buffetted by wind and rain; this will probably continue until one of them is either killed by debris or blown into the surf and drowned.
Update: My blog title might be misleading. Charlotte was not in the storm's path and I was in no danger from it. I only titled the post "I'm Still Here" because I missed posting on Saturday.
Update: My blog title might be misleading. Charlotte was not in the storm's path and I was in no danger from it. I only titled the post "I'm Still Here" because I missed posting on Saturday.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Headline of the Day
'Ferrets saved my life': How a suicidal sex-swap Falklands hero turned to her furry pets for help.
Reads more like a script for a Monty Python sketch than a news story, don't it?
Look on the Bright Side...
...they're probably all liberals.
Suicides are a bull market at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
Jump, Hippie!
Yeah, I know it's insensitive to post this. I only have one liberal reader anyway, though, and just about everything I write offends him already, so what the hell.
Suicides are a bull market at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
Yeah, I know it's insensitive to post this. I only have one liberal reader anyway, though, and just about everything I write offends him already, so what the hell.
Best. Toy. Evar.
Via Sipsey Street Irregulars, this guy has something a lot better than that puny little helicopter that you play with in your office:
Damn, you could bolt a knitting needle on the front of that thing and really be effing dangerous.
Damn, you could bolt a knitting needle on the front of that thing and really be effing dangerous.
Looks Like Irene Will Come Ashore In Beaufort
Story.
*sigh* I was there just last year on vacation. Pretty part of NC. My thoughts and best wishes to everyone out there, especially blogger Cassy Fiano, who is more often to be found on her Facebook page these days.
*sigh* I was there just last year on vacation. Pretty part of NC. My thoughts and best wishes to everyone out there, especially blogger Cassy Fiano, who is more often to be found on her Facebook page these days.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Hurricanes and the NC Outer Banks
I vacationed at the NC Outer Banks a couple of years ago. A Pacific Ocean hurricane actually crossed over into the Gulf of Mexico and across the southern US to follow us out there, arriving the day before us. It washed away much of the beach at our hotel in Nags Head, and even destroyed a wooden deck that was built outside the hotel's breakfast area. All night the waves washed the underpinnings of the hotel, so that I spent the night wondering if the hotel would collapse; some pictures I took can be seen here.
Anyway, during our visit we got out to Roanoke Island, which is within the Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds area, and not actually on the Atlantic itself. Roanoke Island is where Sir Walter Raleigh set up his first North American colony, the one we now know as "the Lost Colony" (the colonists, unsupported by the mother country and left to fend for themselves, dwindled and mixed with the Native Americans in the area). The island is half tourist destination and half fishing port. Manteo, on the north side of the island, is the touristy area, and Wanchese, on the south side of the island is the working/fishing area. It's a poor area, rather redneck. One of the amusing things we saw in Wanchese was a single-wide trailer lifted 10 feet off the ground on the sort of stilts you see on beachfront houses. Wish I'd taken a picture of it at the time, but I'm afraid that Hurricane Irene is going to put that trailer and its stilts to the test this weekend. I hope he does the smart thing and evacuates to the mainland.
Anyway, during our visit we got out to Roanoke Island, which is within the Albemarle/Pamlico Sounds area, and not actually on the Atlantic itself. Roanoke Island is where Sir Walter Raleigh set up his first North American colony, the one we now know as "the Lost Colony" (the colonists, unsupported by the mother country and left to fend for themselves, dwindled and mixed with the Native Americans in the area). The island is half tourist destination and half fishing port. Manteo, on the north side of the island, is the touristy area, and Wanchese, on the south side of the island is the working/fishing area. It's a poor area, rather redneck. One of the amusing things we saw in Wanchese was a single-wide trailer lifted 10 feet off the ground on the sort of stilts you see on beachfront houses. Wish I'd taken a picture of it at the time, but I'm afraid that Hurricane Irene is going to put that trailer and its stilts to the test this weekend. I hope he does the smart thing and evacuates to the mainland.
Kinky Friedman Is a Perry Guy
Proving that graciousness in victory can have unexpected results, Kinky Friedman, the Jewish country singer/novelist, is endorsing Rick Perry for President; Perry defeated Kinky in the Texas Governor's race in 2006.
I have been quoted as saying that when I die, I am to be cremated, and the ashes are to be thrown in Rick Perry’s hair. Yet, simply put, Rick Perry and I are incapable of resisting each other’s charm. He is not only a good sport, he is a good, kindhearted man, and he once sat in on drums with ZZ Top. A guy like that can’t be all bad. When I ran for governor of Texas as an independent in 2006, the Crips and the Bloods ganged up on me. When I lost, I drove off in a 1937 Snit, refusing to concede to Perry. Three days later Rick called to give me a gracious little pep talk, effectively talking me down from jumping off the bridge of my nose. Very few others were calling at that time, by the way. Such is the nature of winning and losing and politicians and life. You might call what Rick did an act of random kindness. Yet in my mind it made him more than a politician, more than a musician; it made him a mensch.
So would I support Rick Perry for president? Hell, yes! As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in this country, I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws, taxes, regulations, panels, committees, and bureaucrats. While Obama is busy putting the hyphen between “anal” and “retentive” Rick will be rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.
A still, small voice within keeps telling me that Rick Perry’s best day may yet be ahead of him, and so too, hopefully, will be America’s.
h/t Conservative Commune.
I have been quoted as saying that when I die, I am to be cremated, and the ashes are to be thrown in Rick Perry’s hair. Yet, simply put, Rick Perry and I are incapable of resisting each other’s charm. He is not only a good sport, he is a good, kindhearted man, and he once sat in on drums with ZZ Top. A guy like that can’t be all bad. When I ran for governor of Texas as an independent in 2006, the Crips and the Bloods ganged up on me. When I lost, I drove off in a 1937 Snit, refusing to concede to Perry. Three days later Rick called to give me a gracious little pep talk, effectively talking me down from jumping off the bridge of my nose. Very few others were calling at that time, by the way. Such is the nature of winning and losing and politicians and life. You might call what Rick did an act of random kindness. Yet in my mind it made him more than a politician, more than a musician; it made him a mensch.
So would I support Rick Perry for president? Hell, yes! As the last nail that hasn’t been hammered down in this country, I agree with Rick that there are already too damn many laws, taxes, regulations, panels, committees, and bureaucrats. While Obama is busy putting the hyphen between “anal” and “retentive” Rick will be rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.
A still, small voice within keeps telling me that Rick Perry’s best day may yet be ahead of him, and so too, hopefully, will be America’s.
h/t Conservative Commune.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Shh. Nobody Tell Murphy.
The German police have traded in their German Shepherd dogs for Belgian Shepherds (also known as Malinois).
And Lagniappe is spinning in his grave, I'd imagine.
And Lagniappe is spinning in his grave, I'd imagine.
One of the Local Hawks
This one was in our side yard just now, and flew into this tree when I came outside to walk the dog. The hawk watched us, I watched the hawk, and the dog dumped a load, oblivious.
US Marine Corps Rules of Engagement, Afghanistan
No farting around the Afghanis. That's an order!
Now I'm certain we have fools and poltroons in charge.
Can you just imagine a young Marine being brought up on Office Hours charges for violating Article 92 of the UCMJ, in that he violated a lawful order by ripping out a fart?
Fuck me to tears, as my US Navy drill instructor used to say.
Now I'm certain we have fools and poltroons in charge.
Can you just imagine a young Marine being brought up on Office Hours charges for violating Article 92 of the UCMJ, in that he violated a lawful order by ripping out a fart?
Fuck me to tears, as my US Navy drill instructor used to say.
After Surviving the Earthquake...
...people begin to reflect, and T-Bolt notices something: a bugout bag doesn't help you if it's at your house and you're at work.
What preparations for disaster do you have in your car? Or on your person, for that matter?
Something to think about.
FYI, I'm still kind of pissed at our Jack Russell bitch for not warning of the earthquake. As a matter of fact, she slept through it. What happened to all that crap we hear about animals being so sensitive to such phenomena?
What preparations for disaster do you have in your car? Or on your person, for that matter?
Something to think about.
FYI, I'm still kind of pissed at our Jack Russell bitch for not warning of the earthquake. As a matter of fact, she slept through it. What happened to all that crap we hear about animals being so sensitive to such phenomena?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I Thought I Imagined It
But no, that slight quivering in the house, that made me stop my reading and look up, puzzled, was a tremblor of an earthquake, hundreds of miles away.
The red area is the epicenter, I'm down at the bottom of the map, in Charlotte.
Update: A lot of bloggers are snarking about it, so I will too. Tonight's MSM headlines: 5.9 EARTHQUAKE IN VIRGINIA, OBAMA BLAMES BUSH
The red area is the epicenter, I'm down at the bottom of the map, in Charlotte.
Update: A lot of bloggers are snarking about it, so I will too. Tonight's MSM headlines: 5.9 EARTHQUAKE IN VIRGINIA, OBAMA BLAMES BUSH
Random Gun Thought
You never hear much anymore of people owning Marlin model 60 22LR autoloaders, yet at one time they were as popular (if not more popular) than the Ruger 10/22. Now it seems all you hear about is the Ruger. Where did all the Model 60 owners go?
His Widdle Feelings Are Hurt
In Australia, a mother forced her 10-year-old son to wear an "I Am A Thief" sign.
And, of course, the government organs get involved:
Diane Mayers, who has worked with Child Safety Services in the past, said she was so "horrified" when she saw the boy that she immediately notified the department.
"A lot of people walked past and were laughing at him, including boys who would have been his age," Mayers said. "At one point, the boy had taken off the Shrek ears. My daughter walked past and heard the mother say, 'Put them back on or I'll smack your head in.'"
Mayers said she feared the long-term effects from the public humiliation would be worse than the potential effects from physical abuse.
Yah, it's hard for a precocious thief to develop self-esteem if his parents are embarrassing him like that and threatening to smack him around. How dare they?
And, of course, the government organs get involved:
Diane Mayers, who has worked with Child Safety Services in the past, said she was so "horrified" when she saw the boy that she immediately notified the department.
"A lot of people walked past and were laughing at him, including boys who would have been his age," Mayers said. "At one point, the boy had taken off the Shrek ears. My daughter walked past and heard the mother say, 'Put them back on or I'll smack your head in.'"
Mayers said she feared the long-term effects from the public humiliation would be worse than the potential effects from physical abuse.
Yah, it's hard for a precocious thief to develop self-esteem if his parents are embarrassing him like that and threatening to smack him around. How dare they?
Monday, August 22, 2011
Mission Accomplished, Eh?
"Obama says ‘rule is over’ for Libya’s Gadhafi."
Maybe it'll work out better for Obama than it did for Bush.
Maybe it'll work out better for Obama than it did for Bush.
Oh, It's On, Now
My Southern blood is up as obnoxious New York-born chef Anthony Bourdain trashes Georgia-born cook Paula Deen.
Pick a side! Let's have a poll!
Pick a side! Let's have a poll!
Slept the Day Away
About an hour before I got off work this morning (6:00 a.m., to be exact) I had an allergy attack I had to take Benadryl for, so when I got home I went straight to bed and sleep. I'm awake now, but my sister gets the computer in the evenings. So, if I don't post something in the next hour or so, no free ice cream dated Monday.
Hey, it happens.
Hey, it happens.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Well, Not To Put Too Fine a Point On It...
...but you're far more likely to encounter a rabbit on a golf course than swimming around in your fishin' hole.
Just sayin'.
Of course, a 5-iron makes a much better weapon for self-defense against bunnies than a cane pole does.
h/t Weasel Zippers.
Just sayin'.
Of course, a 5-iron makes a much better weapon for self-defense against bunnies than a cane pole does.
h/t Weasel Zippers.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Someone Stand Him In a Corner, Please
It's bad enough giving chickens alligator snouts, but some fellow named Jack Horner wants to make "chickenosauruses."
Jack Horner, a leading paleontologist based at the University of Montana, is conducting similar work in an attempt to make a 'chickenosaurus' with a tail and hands similar to those of a dinosaur.
Just what we need: fifty-foot tall chickenosauruses with alligator bills. While it may solve the breast meat supply for everyone, there might be a problem with the chickenosauruses viewing humans as a food source, which I suppose would be ok with the environmentalist crowd, since they're always calling for population decreases (if not actively hoping for them via flu outbreaks, etc).
h/t Drudge Report
Jack Horner, a leading paleontologist based at the University of Montana, is conducting similar work in an attempt to make a 'chickenosaurus' with a tail and hands similar to those of a dinosaur.
Just what we need: fifty-foot tall chickenosauruses with alligator bills. While it may solve the breast meat supply for everyone, there might be a problem with the chickenosauruses viewing humans as a food source, which I suppose would be ok with the environmentalist crowd, since they're always calling for population decreases (if not actively hoping for them via flu outbreaks, etc).
h/t Drudge Report
Playing Chicken At Sea
Looks like the Iranians have been doing it.
Pretty common sort of game between navies, really. The Russians were notorious for it during the Cold War. In this particular case, with the USS Cole having been attacked by just such a boat, you can't take chances.
Pretty common sort of game between navies, really. The Russians were notorious for it during the Cold War. In this particular case, with the USS Cole having been attacked by just such a boat, you can't take chances.
Damn, Don't Scare Me Like That, People
When I posted this note chiding a few fellow bloggers for not observing Netiquette with regard to hat tips, I was unaware of the "blacklist" controversy regarding the blog known as The Truth About Guns, since I don't read that blog or have it bookmarked. So when I saw Alan's post coming so soon after I hit the send button, I thought that I was the subject of his vituperation, and was mortified when all the other bloggers I admire piled on, as well. Glad to see that wasn't the case.
Ok, back to the regular inane programming.
Ok, back to the regular inane programming.
Sneaky B*stards
Down in my hometown of Gainesville, Florida, police put up a sign advising motorists of a DWI checkpoint, then stopped all of the people that turned around when they saw the sign.
They stopped 58 cars, made 22 felony arrests, mostly on drug charges.
They stopped 58 cars, made 22 felony arrests, mostly on drug charges.
Seems Like a No-Brainer To Me
Advocates want President Obama to make Fort Monroe, a stone fortress guarding Hampton Roads in Virginia, a National Monument.
The fort has a lot of history to it. The article points out that slavery in the Americas both began and ended in the Hampton Roads area. Confederate President Jefferson Davis was imprisoned there after the Civil War. Edgar Allan Poe and Robert E. Lee have both been stationed there.
It's owned by the US Army, but is being closed as part of the base closing cycle as a money-saving measure. As a National Monument adjacent to a major metropolitan area it could generate tourism dollars, presumably.
I visited the fort several times during my Navy days. I enjoyed hiking along the top ramparts, where you could view ships entering Hampton Roads and read the tombstones of departed pets - - the ramparts were used as a pet cemetery by the Army personnel. Part of the fort is already a dedicated museum, featuring displays on the battle between the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, the fort's history with the US Army and Coastal Artillery, and the cell that housed Jefferson Davis after the Civil War, where you can see some of his personal possessions, including a beautiful meerschaum pipe.
Here's a pic of the fort:
Meanwhile, Over At Real Clear Politics...
...Caroline Glick has an article about "The Jacksonian foreign policy option."
It's an indication that Walter Russell Mead's Spectrum theory of US foreign policy is gaining more acceptance and recognition.
It's an indication that Walter Russell Mead's Spectrum theory of US foreign policy is gaining more acceptance and recognition.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Stars And Stripes
The newspaper, that is.
This article on Hadrian's Wall in northern Great Britain is the sort of thing that got me interested in reading newspapers, back in the mid-1980's when I was living in Rota, Spain, as a military dependent. I had never enjoyed newspapers before then; too much of a bother to mess with broadsheet pages, the opening, folding, smearing of ink. In Spain I was introduced to The Stars and Stripes, the military's newspaper, which was tabloid-sized and had no advertisements, so it was densely packed every day with real news, and informative travel articles such as the one I've linked. And when various newspapers in the US would censor stories or cartoon strips (Doonesbury and Bloom County, for example) The Stars and Stripes never did.
It's a good paper, and it's why I have it on my RSS feeds to this very day.
This article on Hadrian's Wall in northern Great Britain is the sort of thing that got me interested in reading newspapers, back in the mid-1980's when I was living in Rota, Spain, as a military dependent. I had never enjoyed newspapers before then; too much of a bother to mess with broadsheet pages, the opening, folding, smearing of ink. In Spain I was introduced to The Stars and Stripes, the military's newspaper, which was tabloid-sized and had no advertisements, so it was densely packed every day with real news, and informative travel articles such as the one I've linked. And when various newspapers in the US would censor stories or cartoon strips (Doonesbury and Bloom County, for example) The Stars and Stripes never did.
It's a good paper, and it's why I have it on my RSS feeds to this very day.
Gotta Love These Convenience Store Names
Earp's BP. Mighty Midget Mart.
They were broken into and cigarettes stolen, by the way. Sin taxes at work. Make something too expensive for poor people and they'll either steal it or bootleg it.
They were broken into and cigarettes stolen, by the way. Sin taxes at work. Make something too expensive for poor people and they'll either steal it or bootleg it.
Note To My Fellow Bloggers
On a point of Netiquette:
hat tip: In the 2000s, the term "hat tip" (often abbreviated to "HT" or "h/t") rose to prominence in the blogosphere to acknowledge someone who has made a significant contribution toward an effort, or someone who drew attention to something new or interesting. It is considered good netiquette when sharing a link or news item to give a hat tip to the person from whom you learned of the item. The on-line versions of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times regularly give hat tips to users who bring ideas for articles to their attention. (via Wikipedia.)
Now, I know I get a lot more readers than commenters here at The Drawn Cutlass, and that probably a lot of that reflects the non-PC (not to say racist) nature of some of my subject matter. If you don't want to comment or blogroll me, that's fine. When I see blog posts and material quite similar to mine on other people's blogs without the common courtesy of a hat tip, though, it tends to irk me. I won't name names here or otherwise get involved in a flamewar, but I'd appreciate if you see something at The Drawn Cutlass that inspires you enough to put it on your own blog, a h/t pointing back here would be appreciated. I'll do as much for you, and have.
hat tip: In the 2000s, the term "hat tip" (often abbreviated to "HT" or "h/t") rose to prominence in the blogosphere to acknowledge someone who has made a significant contribution toward an effort, or someone who drew attention to something new or interesting. It is considered good netiquette when sharing a link or news item to give a hat tip to the person from whom you learned of the item. The on-line versions of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times regularly give hat tips to users who bring ideas for articles to their attention. (via Wikipedia.)
Now, I know I get a lot more readers than commenters here at The Drawn Cutlass, and that probably a lot of that reflects the non-PC (not to say racist) nature of some of my subject matter. If you don't want to comment or blogroll me, that's fine. When I see blog posts and material quite similar to mine on other people's blogs without the common courtesy of a hat tip, though, it tends to irk me. I won't name names here or otherwise get involved in a flamewar, but I'd appreciate if you see something at The Drawn Cutlass that inspires you enough to put it on your own blog, a h/t pointing back here would be appreciated. I'll do as much for you, and have.
Yet Another Reason To Go Heeled
Unspecified "marine animal" bites.
That covers a lot of territory, especially if you include fishes in the "marine animals" category. What bit him? Fiddler Crab, maybe? Sand Flea? Walrus? Loggerhead Turtle?
Better safe than sorry.
That covers a lot of territory, especially if you include fishes in the "marine animals" category. What bit him? Fiddler Crab, maybe? Sand Flea? Walrus? Loggerhead Turtle?
Better safe than sorry.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Shit My Sister Says
Karen, who sells auto parts for "the green team," was interviewing for a job with the competing "red team." She told me that the interviewer was mildly, although not profoundly, cross-eyed. Karen is ASC-certified and has been selling parts for over ten years now, so she knows her shit. Her current job at "the green team" is the commercial desk, which means taking care of the needs of local repair shops/garages. She had specified interest in commercial work when she applied with "the red team."
Well, the interviewer told Karen that he thought that she "wouldn't be a good fit" for The Red Team's commercial side, and instead offered her a position in retail sales, that of assistant manager: the one who works all the hours without getting any overtime pay for the privilege. Karen rejected it as soon as he offered it, which startled him.
"It was obvious we didn't see eye-to-eye," she said. "Of course, with him nobody can," she added.
Well, the interviewer told Karen that he thought that she "wouldn't be a good fit" for The Red Team's commercial side, and instead offered her a position in retail sales, that of assistant manager: the one who works all the hours without getting any overtime pay for the privilege. Karen rejected it as soon as he offered it, which startled him.
"It was obvious we didn't see eye-to-eye," she said. "Of course, with him nobody can," she added.
Wisdom From the Magician
Penn Jillette, in a CNN article:
It's amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness.
People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we're compassionate we'll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.
People try to argue that government isn't really force. You believe that? Try not paying your taxes. (This is only a thought experiment -- suggesting on CNN.com that someone not pay his or her taxes is probably a federal offense, and I'm a nut, but I'm not crazy.). When they come to get you for not paying your taxes, try not going to court. Guns will be drawn. Government is force -- literally, not figuratively.
People have been linking this article this morning, but only the sections on atheism and belief. I think the sections I've excerpted are the more important ones.
It's amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness.
People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we're compassionate we'll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.
People try to argue that government isn't really force. You believe that? Try not paying your taxes. (This is only a thought experiment -- suggesting on CNN.com that someone not pay his or her taxes is probably a federal offense, and I'm a nut, but I'm not crazy.). When they come to get you for not paying your taxes, try not going to court. Guns will be drawn. Government is force -- literally, not figuratively.
People have been linking this article this morning, but only the sections on atheism and belief. I think the sections I've excerpted are the more important ones.
A Sweet Deal If You Can Swing It
Clothing maker Abercrombie & Fitch is willing to pay Jersey Shore star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino serious money if he will just stop wearing their clothes during filming.
I'd be willing to try that myself, if only Abecrombie & Fitch made clothes in sizes that fit blimps like myself...
I'd be willing to try that myself, if only Abecrombie & Fitch made clothes in sizes that fit blimps like myself...
Sometimes Bear Eats You
A Russian girl called her mother on her cell phone to let her know that she was being devoured by bears on Siberia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
The bears ate her stepfather, too.
Unlike a recent case in the US where a bear and cub that killed a hiker were allowed to go on their way unmolested, the Russians hunted down and killed the bears involved in these deaths.
The bears ate her stepfather, too.
Unlike a recent case in the US where a bear and cub that killed a hiker were allowed to go on their way unmolested, the Russians hunted down and killed the bears involved in these deaths.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Speaking of the Bataan Death March...
...which Borepatch was, a couple of weeks ago, news comes from around that same time the oldest survivor of the Death March passed away, at age 105.
Albert "Doc" Brown was nearly 40 when the Death March took place, and thus lived for another 60 years after WWII ended. It must have seemed to him like starting a new life, and 60 years would qualify as a complete lifetime to nearly anyone.
Men like Brown who survived the Bataan Death March itself were hardly free of care; the Japanese treatment of prisoners of war during WWII was barbarous and inhumane. Those men who survived in the Philippine POW camps until the Japanese were forced to evacuate faced the additional horrors of the Hell Ships before they reached their final destination of POW camps on the Japanese home islands.
During the controversy over prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, it was often claimed that, if we allowed "torture" of Muslim detainees that it would lead to Americans being tortured in turn. Well, here's the dirty little secret: with the exception of the Germans during WWII, Americans have been tortured in every war the US has fought in the last 60 years. The Japanese tortured, the North Koreans and Chinese tortured, the North Vietnamese tortured, and so did Saddam Hussein's Iraqis and so do the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Nor am I fully excusing the Germans, whose treatment of POW's was humane only in comparison to the Japanese. So to say that the US should refrain from using "enhanced techniques" of interrogation on terrorists because enemies will retaliate with torture is naive at best and disingenuous at worst.
Albert "Doc" Brown was nearly 40 when the Death March took place, and thus lived for another 60 years after WWII ended. It must have seemed to him like starting a new life, and 60 years would qualify as a complete lifetime to nearly anyone.
Men like Brown who survived the Bataan Death March itself were hardly free of care; the Japanese treatment of prisoners of war during WWII was barbarous and inhumane. Those men who survived in the Philippine POW camps until the Japanese were forced to evacuate faced the additional horrors of the Hell Ships before they reached their final destination of POW camps on the Japanese home islands.
During the controversy over prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, it was often claimed that, if we allowed "torture" of Muslim detainees that it would lead to Americans being tortured in turn. Well, here's the dirty little secret: with the exception of the Germans during WWII, Americans have been tortured in every war the US has fought in the last 60 years. The Japanese tortured, the North Koreans and Chinese tortured, the North Vietnamese tortured, and so did Saddam Hussein's Iraqis and so do the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Nor am I fully excusing the Germans, whose treatment of POW's was humane only in comparison to the Japanese. So to say that the US should refrain from using "enhanced techniques" of interrogation on terrorists because enemies will retaliate with torture is naive at best and disingenuous at worst.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Pssst. Ron Paul Came In Second In the Iowa Straw Poll. Don't Pass It On.
Not to say there's a conspiracy of silence here, or anything...
Ron Who?
update: Jon Stewart noticed the Ron Paul boycott; this is priceless:
h/t Radley Balko.
update: Jon Stewart noticed the Ron Paul boycott; this is priceless:
h/t Radley Balko.
The Galveston Vampire
GALVESTON — A man claiming to be a vampire faces felony burglary charges stemming from an incident early Saturday morning.
About 6:50 a.m., officers received a call about a break-in at an apartment complex in the 7800 block of Seawall, a Galveston police statement said.
According to the report, a woman was in bed when a man broke into her apartment. He then began to make hissing and growling noises while biting and striking the woman. He tried to drag her out of the apartment, but she ran away.
The man chased her into the complex’s parking lot, where the woman was able to get into a vehicle occupied by two of her neighbors. The man then ran up and began beating on the windows as the group drove away, the statement said.
The woman called police and described the suspect as a white male with multiple tattoos, wearing only boxer shorts. When officers arrived at the apartment complex, they found a man matching the description, but he ran away. The suspect was apprehended a short time later without incident. He told officers that he was a vampire, the statement said.
I lived briefly in Galveston, and in a strange coincidence, wrote a short story about a vampire while there. Small world.
About 6:50 a.m., officers received a call about a break-in at an apartment complex in the 7800 block of Seawall, a Galveston police statement said.
According to the report, a woman was in bed when a man broke into her apartment. He then began to make hissing and growling noises while biting and striking the woman. He tried to drag her out of the apartment, but she ran away.
The man chased her into the complex’s parking lot, where the woman was able to get into a vehicle occupied by two of her neighbors. The man then ran up and began beating on the windows as the group drove away, the statement said.
The woman called police and described the suspect as a white male with multiple tattoos, wearing only boxer shorts. When officers arrived at the apartment complex, they found a man matching the description, but he ran away. The suspect was apprehended a short time later without incident. He told officers that he was a vampire, the statement said.
I lived briefly in Galveston, and in a strange coincidence, wrote a short story about a vampire while there. Small world.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Down In a Deep Dark Hole
Buried alive by a serial killer, he managed to free his tied hands, dig himself out of the shallow grave he had been buried in, fight off the serial killer's dog, and escape.
Man must have 'nads the size of grapefruits.
Post title from the Gillian Welch song:
Man must have 'nads the size of grapefruits.
Post title from the Gillian Welch song:
In the Country of the Violent, the Bully Wants To Leave
Surprised that Rev. Paul hasn't picked up this story. A man who's in jail for, among other things, beating up a 7-year-old girl whose bicycle he was stealing, wants to be tranferred from jail to a halfway house because he was beat up by jail inmates.
Now, I'm not one of those people that winks at prison rape, and think that it should be part of the normal prison experience, but I'm not going to cry any tears for this particular bully for getting smacked in the face a couple of times.
Now, I'm not one of those people that winks at prison rape, and think that it should be part of the normal prison experience, but I'm not going to cry any tears for this particular bully for getting smacked in the face a couple of times.
Meanwhile, Over At Radley Balko's Place...
...Radley links to a gallery he made of a memento park in Budapest, Hungary, where the Hungarians placed all of the Soviet-era statuary that had accumulated, rather than destroy it, as happened throughout the rest of the former Soviet Bloc countries.
Even a gift shop, and I note with amusement that you can buy McDonald's-branded shirts there. Apparently that's a fashion statement in Budapest.
Sample pic:
When the Red Wolves Return
Story.
Robert Ruark's grandfather, the Old Man from the book The Old Man and the Boy, who was an avid bird hunter, especially of quail, would have been interested to know that when Red Wolves (canis rufus) thrive, so do quail, because the wolves prey on egg-eating raccoons. The old fellow might have mentioned coon hunts, but would probably have reflected a bit and realized that coon hunters more often than not don't bring back any raccoons at the end of their hunts. Wolves are more successful at it.
Pic:
A Hero's Passing
Colonel Charles P. Murray, US Army, recipient of the Medal of Honor, died in Columbia, SC.
His Medal of Honor citation:
For commanding Company C, 30th Infantry, displaying supreme courage and heroic initiative near Kaysersberg, France, on 16 December 1944, while leading a reinforced platoon into enemy territory. Descending into a valley beneath hilltop positions held by our troops, he observed a force of 200 Germans pouring deadly mortar, bazooka, machine-gun, and small arms fire into an American battalion occupying the crest of the ridge. The enemy’s position in a sunken road, though hidden from the ridge, was open to a flank attack by 1st Lt. Murray’s patrol but he hesitated to commit so small a force to battle with the superior and strongly disposed enemy. Crawling out ahead of his troops to a vantage point, he called by radio for artillery fire. His shells bracketed the German force, but when he was about to correct the range his radio went dead. He returned to his patrol, secured grenades and a rifle to launch them and went back to his self-appointed outpost. His first shots disclosed his position; the enemy directed heavy fire against him as he methodically fired his missiles into the narrow defile. Again he returned to his patrol. With an automatic rifle and ammunition, he once more moved to his exposed position. Burst after burst he fired into the enemy, killing 20, wounding many others, and completely disorganizing its ranks, which began to withdraw. He prevented the removal of 3 German mortars by knocking out a truck. By that time a mortar had been brought to his support. 1st Lt. Murray directed fire of this weapon, causing further casualties and confusion in the German ranks. Calling on his patrol to follow, he then moved out toward his original objective, possession of a bridge and construction of a roadblock. He captured 10 Germans in foxholes. An eleventh, while pretending to surrender, threw a grenade which knocked him to the ground, inflicting 8 wounds. Though suffering and bleeding profusely, he refused to return to the rear until he had chosen the spot for the block and had seen his men correctly deployed. By his single-handed attack on an overwhelming force and by his intrepid and heroic fighting, 1st Lt. Murray stopped a counterattack, established an advance position against formidable odds, and provided an inspiring example for the men of his command.
Requiescat in pace.
His Medal of Honor citation:
For commanding Company C, 30th Infantry, displaying supreme courage and heroic initiative near Kaysersberg, France, on 16 December 1944, while leading a reinforced platoon into enemy territory. Descending into a valley beneath hilltop positions held by our troops, he observed a force of 200 Germans pouring deadly mortar, bazooka, machine-gun, and small arms fire into an American battalion occupying the crest of the ridge. The enemy’s position in a sunken road, though hidden from the ridge, was open to a flank attack by 1st Lt. Murray’s patrol but he hesitated to commit so small a force to battle with the superior and strongly disposed enemy. Crawling out ahead of his troops to a vantage point, he called by radio for artillery fire. His shells bracketed the German force, but when he was about to correct the range his radio went dead. He returned to his patrol, secured grenades and a rifle to launch them and went back to his self-appointed outpost. His first shots disclosed his position; the enemy directed heavy fire against him as he methodically fired his missiles into the narrow defile. Again he returned to his patrol. With an automatic rifle and ammunition, he once more moved to his exposed position. Burst after burst he fired into the enemy, killing 20, wounding many others, and completely disorganizing its ranks, which began to withdraw. He prevented the removal of 3 German mortars by knocking out a truck. By that time a mortar had been brought to his support. 1st Lt. Murray directed fire of this weapon, causing further casualties and confusion in the German ranks. Calling on his patrol to follow, he then moved out toward his original objective, possession of a bridge and construction of a roadblock. He captured 10 Germans in foxholes. An eleventh, while pretending to surrender, threw a grenade which knocked him to the ground, inflicting 8 wounds. Though suffering and bleeding profusely, he refused to return to the rear until he had chosen the spot for the block and had seen his men correctly deployed. By his single-handed attack on an overwhelming force and by his intrepid and heroic fighting, 1st Lt. Murray stopped a counterattack, established an advance position against formidable odds, and provided an inspiring example for the men of his command.
Requiescat in pace.
Friday, August 12, 2011
3. Remember Not To Shoot Yo'Self Afterwards
To supply the other steps in this abortion kit of a crime:
1. Pretend to be a drug dealer.
2. Rob the person who comes to buy some drugs.
There's no accompanying photo of the clumsy robber, but with a name like "Dymon Laquinn Black" we can make an educated guess that he's a Usual Suspect®.
1. Pretend to be a drug dealer.
2. Rob the person who comes to buy some drugs.
There's no accompanying photo of the clumsy robber, but with a name like "Dymon Laquinn Black" we can make an educated guess that he's a Usual Suspect®.
He Lived His Dream
Andy Barker, who founded his own Old West town right here in North Carolina, has died at the age of 87.
I visited Love Valley last year, and wrote about it here.
Noted in the news article is the fact that the Allman Brothers Band once hosted a rock concert from Love Valley. Man, that would have been something to see.
Here's a pic:
Anyway, old Mr. Barker had a dream, and made it into a reality. Not all of us get to do that in this world. My condolences to his family.
Meanwhile, On the NC/VA Border...
...the Great Dismal Swamp is on fire.
Reports are that the smoke can be seen in satellite photography, much like plumes from volcanoes can.
I remember reading other stories of the Great Dismal recently; apparently archaeological work is being done to trace settlements made by escaped slaves in the swamp during the antebellum period.
Reports are that the smoke can be seen in satellite photography, much like plumes from volcanoes can.
I remember reading other stories of the Great Dismal recently; apparently archaeological work is being done to trace settlements made by escaped slaves in the swamp during the antebellum period.
Hey, Little Girl, It's Raining
A skier who urinated on an 11-year-old girl during a JetBlue airline flight has been kicked off the US Ski Team.
The drunken JetBlue passenger who treated a sleeping 11-year-old girl like his personal potty was booted today from the US Ski Team, officials said.
Robert "Sandy" Vietze, of Warren, Vt., was detained by police at Kennedy Airport on Wednesday morning after arriving on a red-eye flight from Portland, Ore.
Vietze, 18, had been among the 75 most elite skiers in the nation -- but he may have blown his chance to compete in the 2014 Winter Games in Russia.
His name was bumped from the team's developmental roster on Thursday.
The leaky loser expressed no remorse Thursday outside his family's palatial Vermont home, where he ignored questions about the incident and showed no interest in apologizing to his victim.
"Palatial" home. No remorse. Sounds like a spoiled rich kid, doesn't he? Needs his ass kicked, I'd say.
And, of course, you know where I got the blog post title:
The drunken JetBlue passenger who treated a sleeping 11-year-old girl like his personal potty was booted today from the US Ski Team, officials said.
Robert "Sandy" Vietze, of Warren, Vt., was detained by police at Kennedy Airport on Wednesday morning after arriving on a red-eye flight from Portland, Ore.
Vietze, 18, had been among the 75 most elite skiers in the nation -- but he may have blown his chance to compete in the 2014 Winter Games in Russia.
His name was bumped from the team's developmental roster on Thursday.
The leaky loser expressed no remorse Thursday outside his family's palatial Vermont home, where he ignored questions about the incident and showed no interest in apologizing to his victim.
"Palatial" home. No remorse. Sounds like a spoiled rich kid, doesn't he? Needs his ass kicked, I'd say.
And, of course, you know where I got the blog post title:
A Future Road Trip, Perhaps?
Shiloh Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Shiloh Presbyterian Church Cemetery - most of it in southern Cleveland County - dates from 1780, the year a pivotal Revolutionary War battle raged on nearby Kings Mountain. Lt. Col. Frederick Hambright, a key Patriot commander, is buried in Shiloh along with others who fought there. More than 100 stones mark veterans of the War of 1812, the Civil War and early settlers. John Bishop Harry, state senator from Lincoln County in 1835, is also there.
The cemetery's age and the people buried there are important parts of the nomination. But new research has led to another focus: Shiloh's gravestone art. Master craftsmen like Robert Caveny decorated the markers with folk motifs such as quarter sunbursts, eight-pointed stars, willows and trees of life.
This article cries out for a photo gallery, but the Observer didn't bother to provide one. Damnit.
Shiloh Presbyterian Church Cemetery - most of it in southern Cleveland County - dates from 1780, the year a pivotal Revolutionary War battle raged on nearby Kings Mountain. Lt. Col. Frederick Hambright, a key Patriot commander, is buried in Shiloh along with others who fought there. More than 100 stones mark veterans of the War of 1812, the Civil War and early settlers. John Bishop Harry, state senator from Lincoln County in 1835, is also there.
The cemetery's age and the people buried there are important parts of the nomination. But new research has led to another focus: Shiloh's gravestone art. Master craftsmen like Robert Caveny decorated the markers with folk motifs such as quarter sunbursts, eight-pointed stars, willows and trees of life.
This article cries out for a photo gallery, but the Observer didn't bother to provide one. Damnit.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Name 'Em and Shame 'Em
Up in Kannapolis a man has been murdered, and a 15-year-old human has been charged with the crime.
In most jurisdictions, juveniles are left unnamed and unpictured when they commit a crime, the rationale being that to name them and publicly shame them by making their identity public prevents them from making a new start or getting past a childhood mistake. Well, maybe that's worth trying for a minor first offense, such as shoplifting or criminal mischief crimes such as vandalism, but for murder or rape the crime is too serious for the perpetrator to be given such a kindness, and it dishonors the victim by doing so. If perhaps you wish to hold off on naming and shaming the perpetrator until after they are convicted I can go along with that, but at a certain point their picture needs to be in the news media with the caption murderer or rapist or habitual thief.
Just my opinion.
In most jurisdictions, juveniles are left unnamed and unpictured when they commit a crime, the rationale being that to name them and publicly shame them by making their identity public prevents them from making a new start or getting past a childhood mistake. Well, maybe that's worth trying for a minor first offense, such as shoplifting or criminal mischief crimes such as vandalism, but for murder or rape the crime is too serious for the perpetrator to be given such a kindness, and it dishonors the victim by doing so. If perhaps you wish to hold off on naming and shaming the perpetrator until after they are convicted I can go along with that, but at a certain point their picture needs to be in the news media with the caption murderer or rapist or habitual thief.
Just my opinion.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Random Reflection
I hate summer. Don't like the heat, the humidity or the bugs. It's not a season for fat men, and I am a fat man. I hate the hazy white bleached-out sky of July and August.
We must have had a front come through, though, because the humidity is down to a reasonable level today, and the cloudless sky is that blue you normally see in October and November. It's one of those rarities, a nice summer day.
I'll still be glad when summer is over, though.
We must have had a front come through, though, because the humidity is down to a reasonable level today, and the cloudless sky is that blue you normally see in October and November. It's one of those rarities, a nice summer day.
I'll still be glad when summer is over, though.
Today's Mother of the Year Candidate...
...is 29-year-old Holly Geary, who, when confronted over her drug use by her son, punched him in the face several times.
The boy, 13 years old, didn't turn mom in, but his guardian did.
Here's a detail that made me smile:
The 13-year-old boy was visiting with his mother earlier Sunday, and he argued with Geery over her use of drugs. That's when she reportedly punched him in the face with a closed fist three times, the report states.
He told officers that he was unable to defend himself against his mother.
When officers spoke to the teen, he was holding a frozen popsicle over his swollen eye.
It happened in Rock Hill, SC, naturally.
The boy, 13 years old, didn't turn mom in, but his guardian did.
Here's a detail that made me smile:
The 13-year-old boy was visiting with his mother earlier Sunday, and he argued with Geery over her use of drugs. That's when she reportedly punched him in the face with a closed fist three times, the report states.
He told officers that he was unable to defend himself against his mother.
When officers spoke to the teen, he was holding a frozen popsicle over his swollen eye.
It happened in Rock Hill, SC, naturally.
It Would Have Made a Better Joke...
...if the gun involved had been a .38 Special.
A Playboy Playmate was jailed after trying to board a plane with a loaded gun.
Glamour model Shanna Marie McLaughlin, who was Playboy's Miss July 2010, was arrested at Orlando International Airport on Monday evening after agents searched her bag and found a revolver.
The gun, a .45 caliber Colt revolver loaded with six hollow-point bullets, was immediately confiscated.
Authorities said the Playmate, who has been released from jail, has a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon.
I wonder what sort of revolver it was? I hope it wasn't a Peacemaker, because those aren't safe to carry with six cartridges loaded. New Service, maybe? Anaconda?
Anyway, a .38 would have made a better joke: She was carrying three .38's, only two of them legally...
Here's a SFW pic of the lovely lady:
I have to say that, for a holder of a CCW, she didn't behave much like an adult when confronted with her error/crime:
The 26-year-old is said to have insisted that while the bag was hers, she had no idea the gun was inside.
She claimed the weapon belonged to her boyfriend, according to police.
*COMMUNITY CHEST* You Lose $250 In A Bear Market
Meanwhile, up in New Hampshire, a bear interrupts an outdoor Monopoly game.
Yet another reason to go heeled.
Yet another reason to go heeled.
UK Riots: The Sikhs are UK's Koreans
If you'll recall, when the Usual Suspects® rioted in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict, Korean storekeepers prevented looting/vandalism of their stores by sticking together and openly displaying firearms. Well, in UK the citizens subjects are prohibited from owning firearms, but the Sikhs, showing the same sort of self-reliance that the Koreans did, have armed themselves with sticks and ritual swords and stood off the UK version of the Usual Suspects®.
Story here.
Story here.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
No Honor
A scumbag over in Gastonia, NC, used a child as a human shield to avoid being tased by police.
The old vikings used to call such men nithings.
There's a motivational poster that's germane:
Monday, August 08, 2011
When the Mob Comes To Call
There's a YouTube video of an encounter between a white Tea Party type and a mob of the Usual Suspects®. Please watch it:
Man with a gun trumps mob with rocks, even a gun as poorly suited for the role as the one shown in the video. It's a Russian Mosin-Nagant military bolt action rifle, and they have been around since the nineteenth century. It was the main Soviet battle rifle during WWII. It is slow to load and slow to make ready to fire. The man in the video didn't even prepare it for firing, he just showed it to the mob and they fled. Well, he was lucky. They could just as easily have snatched it from him and clubbed him to death with it.
The Mosin-Nagant has one huge advantage: it's cheap. They're sold on the surplus market for under $100, so anyone in need of a firearm can afford one. They use a cartridge that is fully as powerful as the .30-06 that was used in US military rifles such as the 1903 Springfield and the M1 Garand. They were built strong and built to last, and if your only choice is between owning a $100 gun and not owning a gun, then they make a reasonable choice. You'd still be better off with a pistol or a shotgun, or even a youth's .22 plinking rifle, but those are a little more expensive. And when the mob comes to call, the first rule is to have a gun. Having one on layaway at the gun store doesn't count.
h/t Sharp As a Marble and others.
Man with a gun trumps mob with rocks, even a gun as poorly suited for the role as the one shown in the video. It's a Russian Mosin-Nagant military bolt action rifle, and they have been around since the nineteenth century. It was the main Soviet battle rifle during WWII. It is slow to load and slow to make ready to fire. The man in the video didn't even prepare it for firing, he just showed it to the mob and they fled. Well, he was lucky. They could just as easily have snatched it from him and clubbed him to death with it.
The Mosin-Nagant has one huge advantage: it's cheap. They're sold on the surplus market for under $100, so anyone in need of a firearm can afford one. They use a cartridge that is fully as powerful as the .30-06 that was used in US military rifles such as the 1903 Springfield and the M1 Garand. They were built strong and built to last, and if your only choice is between owning a $100 gun and not owning a gun, then they make a reasonable choice. You'd still be better off with a pistol or a shotgun, or even a youth's .22 plinking rifle, but those are a little more expensive. And when the mob comes to call, the first rule is to have a gun. Having one on layaway at the gun store doesn't count.
h/t Sharp As a Marble and others.
Cracker Horses of Florida
Story.
I knew there were cracker cowboys in Florida, but had never heard of cracker horses. Learn something new every day.
I knew there were cracker cowboys in Florida, but had never heard of cracker horses. Learn something new every day.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Walter Russell Meade Discusses Black Flash Mobs
American Tinderbox.
An excerpt or two:
For some time now, residents of some US cities have noted occasional incidents of seemingly random, racially motivated violence in which young Black males are involved. The hot weather and bad economy seem to be combining to generate a small but possibly significant uptick this year. The national media are doing their best to avoid looking too closely at this disturbing phenomenon, and perhaps for good reason. What the United States doesn’t need is a media firestorm that triggers copycat violence.
---
Given America’s history and the lurid attraction race still holds for the public mind, the racial dimension of (many but not all of) these incidents makes this an even more compelling story. Certainly if random mobs of white kids were attacking peaceful Blacks going about their daily business the media and the commentariat would be deeply engaged. The articles I’ve linked to have been carefully couched and worded in ways that downplay the drama and the human interest. It is understandable and even meritorious that this is so; as I suggested at the beginning of this post no sane person would want to increase the chance that what is still a marginal and occasional pattern of behavior would go viral and enter the mainstream — and to vary the metaphor still further, mainstream media attention is like oxygen for this kind of potential firestorm.
But to a significant number of Americans out there, this restraint looks like just another case of an anti-white elitist media bending over backward to hide the real truth from the American people. Should this phenomenon grow and should the media continue to downplay both the extent and the racial nature of the violence, look for a deep and angry response. Many American whites are young, angry, poorly educated and male. So are many Spanish speaking immigrants. These guys also know how to organize a mob on Facebook.
---
The conditions for a Category 5 hurricane are all there; it is easy to see a political reaction taking shape in this country that would make the Tea Party movement look like a PTA bake sale. They say that great storms start with trivial causes: a butterfly waves its wings and, when conditions are just right, the wind begins to grow.
The country is so angry now that it would not take much more than the right butterfly in the right place to take us to the next stage of struggle over the Great Society legacy. Just as the urban riots of the 1960s played a role in the hasty adoption of the sixties policy complex, so a rash of small urban confrontations that caught on à la française could dramatically accelerate and intensify the current upheaval in American politics.
If that happens, the result is very unlikely to be a strengthening of the foundations of the Great Society state.
An excerpt or two:
For some time now, residents of some US cities have noted occasional incidents of seemingly random, racially motivated violence in which young Black males are involved. The hot weather and bad economy seem to be combining to generate a small but possibly significant uptick this year. The national media are doing their best to avoid looking too closely at this disturbing phenomenon, and perhaps for good reason. What the United States doesn’t need is a media firestorm that triggers copycat violence.
---
Given America’s history and the lurid attraction race still holds for the public mind, the racial dimension of (many but not all of) these incidents makes this an even more compelling story. Certainly if random mobs of white kids were attacking peaceful Blacks going about their daily business the media and the commentariat would be deeply engaged. The articles I’ve linked to have been carefully couched and worded in ways that downplay the drama and the human interest. It is understandable and even meritorious that this is so; as I suggested at the beginning of this post no sane person would want to increase the chance that what is still a marginal and occasional pattern of behavior would go viral and enter the mainstream — and to vary the metaphor still further, mainstream media attention is like oxygen for this kind of potential firestorm.
But to a significant number of Americans out there, this restraint looks like just another case of an anti-white elitist media bending over backward to hide the real truth from the American people. Should this phenomenon grow and should the media continue to downplay both the extent and the racial nature of the violence, look for a deep and angry response. Many American whites are young, angry, poorly educated and male. So are many Spanish speaking immigrants. These guys also know how to organize a mob on Facebook.
---
The conditions for a Category 5 hurricane are all there; it is easy to see a political reaction taking shape in this country that would make the Tea Party movement look like a PTA bake sale. They say that great storms start with trivial causes: a butterfly waves its wings and, when conditions are just right, the wind begins to grow.
The country is so angry now that it would not take much more than the right butterfly in the right place to take us to the next stage of struggle over the Great Society legacy. Just as the urban riots of the 1960s played a role in the hasty adoption of the sixties policy complex, so a rash of small urban confrontations that caught on à la française could dramatically accelerate and intensify the current upheaval in American politics.
If that happens, the result is very unlikely to be a strengthening of the foundations of the Great Society state.
Misleading Headline of the Day
Thousands line up for free health care in S.C.
Here, let me fix that up for you:
Thousands line up for "free" health care in S.C.
You're welcome.
Here, let me fix that up for you:
Thousands line up for "free" health care in S.C.
You're welcome.
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Remember Crystal Mangum...
...the Durham, NC, stripper who falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players of rape?
Well, she recently killed her boyfriend with a knife, and apparently is pretty damn skilled with it, or pretty damned lucky, as she managed to pierce six of his organs with a single stab.
Just call her Bladie Mae:
Bladie Mae Gonna Gitchoo!
Well, she recently killed her boyfriend with a knife, and apparently is pretty damn skilled with it, or pretty damned lucky, as she managed to pierce six of his organs with a single stab.
Just call her Bladie Mae:
Friday, August 05, 2011
Well, Well, Well, Lookee Here, Lookee Here...
...looks like the Usual Suspects® are running amok at the Wisconsin State Fair.
And it must be really bad, because the news report actually identifies the Usual Suspects® by race, instead of calling them a bunch of youths (with no distinguishing characteristics).
There comes a tipping point where you can't hide this shit from the public, no matter how PC your intentions.
h/t Dan Collins at Conservative Commune.
Update: The story has received various treatments from the MSM. The local Wisconsin outlets have been fairly honest in reporting the race of the "youths," but the major outlets are struggling to cover it up; here is a Reuters story that makes it sound as if 50's-style gangs were involved, rather than blacks running amok.
And it must be really bad, because the news report actually identifies the Usual Suspects® by race, instead of calling them a bunch of youths (with no distinguishing characteristics).
There comes a tipping point where you can't hide this shit from the public, no matter how PC your intentions.
h/t Dan Collins at Conservative Commune.
Update: The story has received various treatments from the MSM. The local Wisconsin outlets have been fairly honest in reporting the race of the "youths," but the major outlets are struggling to cover it up; here is a Reuters story that makes it sound as if 50's-style gangs were involved, rather than blacks running amok.
Jesus H. Christ In a Trailer Park!
Well, a painting, anyway, that was stolen 150 years ago.
Presumably if the painting could talk it would quote the Grateful Dead and declare What a long strange trip it's been.
Presumably if the painting could talk it would quote the Grateful Dead and declare What a long strange trip it's been.
Shake the Juju Beads, Pugsley
Hugo Chavez is seeking help from "indigenous deities" in his battle against cancer.
Not to put too fine a point on it, and I guess I'm risking a karma hit by saying this, but you can't die fast enough to please me, Pugsley.
Not to put too fine a point on it, and I guess I'm risking a karma hit by saying this, but you can't die fast enough to please me, Pugsley.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
A Name To Conjure With
A name in a news story at The Navy Times caught my eye just now:
A sailor whose wife was killed last year while he was deployed has apparently killed himself in his Virginia Beach, Va., apartment, police said Wednesday.
A final determination has yet to be made in the death of Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Scott Michael Dunn, 23. But based on the evidence, Virginia Beach police spokesman Jimmy Barnes said, a ruling of suicide is “pretty much where it’s going.”
Police responded to an emergency call late Sunday night made by a friend who was with Dunn at the time, Barnes said. The cause of death will likely be via gunshot, he said.
Dunn, who Navy officials said was on orders to transfer from Naval Air Force Atlantic to the carrier Theodore Roosevelt at the time of his death, was living in the same apartment complex – but not the same apartment – where his wife Shana Hight was found dead Sept. 13, 2010, Barnes said. The complex is located in the Shipps Corner neighborhood, just off the southwest corner of Naval Air Station Oceana, in the eastern part of the city.
Hight’s accused killer has yet to stand trial and probably won’t until early 2012, according to court spokeswoman Macie Pridgen. Gunner’s Mate Seaman Robert Lee Sadler, 22, is charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of capital murder in the commission of abduction and capital murder in the commission of a sexual assault. If convicted of the capital murder charge, Sadler would face the death penalty.
Hight and Dunn had been married two years when she was killed.
I wonder if the dead sailor - - God rest his soul - - was named after the late dwarf actor Michael Dunn? Dunn the dwarf entertained me often when I was growing up:
A sailor whose wife was killed last year while he was deployed has apparently killed himself in his Virginia Beach, Va., apartment, police said Wednesday.
A final determination has yet to be made in the death of Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Scott Michael Dunn, 23. But based on the evidence, Virginia Beach police spokesman Jimmy Barnes said, a ruling of suicide is “pretty much where it’s going.”
Police responded to an emergency call late Sunday night made by a friend who was with Dunn at the time, Barnes said. The cause of death will likely be via gunshot, he said.
Dunn, who Navy officials said was on orders to transfer from Naval Air Force Atlantic to the carrier Theodore Roosevelt at the time of his death, was living in the same apartment complex – but not the same apartment – where his wife Shana Hight was found dead Sept. 13, 2010, Barnes said. The complex is located in the Shipps Corner neighborhood, just off the southwest corner of Naval Air Station Oceana, in the eastern part of the city.
Hight’s accused killer has yet to stand trial and probably won’t until early 2012, according to court spokeswoman Macie Pridgen. Gunner’s Mate Seaman Robert Lee Sadler, 22, is charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of capital murder in the commission of abduction and capital murder in the commission of a sexual assault. If convicted of the capital murder charge, Sadler would face the death penalty.
Hight and Dunn had been married two years when she was killed.
I wonder if the dead sailor - - God rest his soul - - was named after the late dwarf actor Michael Dunn? Dunn the dwarf entertained me often when I was growing up:
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Because Perky Boobs Are a National Priority
UK trying to mandate sports bras for school PE classes.
They're better from an aesthetic standpoint, of course. And from an 'elf and safety standpoint, you don't want to accidentally step on them and trip while you're walking. Can't be too careful.
They're better from an aesthetic standpoint, of course. And from an 'elf and safety standpoint, you don't want to accidentally step on them and trip while you're walking. Can't be too careful.
Sellin' Jelly Roll At Dunkin Donuts
Because Lord knows she wasn't gettin' rich sellin' donuts.
A lot of people have sung about the ol' Jelly Roll, including Van Morrison:
A lot of people have sung about the ol' Jelly Roll, including Van Morrison:
It's Rarely a Water Moccasin
Joan, among others, has linked to a YouTube video titled Snake On a Car! that purports to show a water moccasin. It ain't a water moccasin. In this case it looks like a Brown Water Snake, which is often confused with a water moccasin.
Of course, to snake haters, there is only one type of snake: the late humorist Lewis Grizzard called it the Dreaded Copperheaded Water Rattler.
Anyway, see for yourself. I think I'll email Dean Ripa at the Cape Fear Serpentarium and have him positively identify it.
Of course, to snake haters, there is only one type of snake: the late humorist Lewis Grizzard called it the Dreaded Copperheaded Water Rattler.
Anyway, see for yourself. I think I'll email Dean Ripa at the Cape Fear Serpentarium and have him positively identify it.
Six Weeks of Jail For the Pie-Thrower
The guy that threw a shaving-cream pie at Rupert Murdoch in London is going to jail.
The judge had it exactly right:
"This is a parliamentary process, which as you know conducts itself with dignity and in a civilized fashion," District Judge Daphne Wickham told May-Bowles at his sentencing. "Everybody else in the room expected that, with one exception -- you."
Actually they'd save money on jail time if they'd just whip his leftist ass with a leather belt, because it's a good bet that's what he most needed when he was growing up, but didn't get.
The judge had it exactly right:
"This is a parliamentary process, which as you know conducts itself with dignity and in a civilized fashion," District Judge Daphne Wickham told May-Bowles at his sentencing. "Everybody else in the room expected that, with one exception -- you."
Actually they'd save money on jail time if they'd just whip his leftist ass with a leather belt, because it's a good bet that's what he most needed when he was growing up, but didn't get.
Spain To Protect Bullfighting On "Artistic" Grounds
Not so ridiculous as it might at first sound.
James Michener in his definitive book on Spain, Iberia, mentioned this linkage of bullfighting to art. In Spain, bullfighters aren't compared with sports figures, but with artists. Bulls were painted on the walls in the Altamira Caverns; Goya painted bullfight scenes, as did Picasso. American matador John Fulton, who lived in Seville during the time I was there (1980's) made part of his living painting bullfight scenes in bull's blood.
Bullfighting becomes more of an anachronism each year, and eventually it will be banned. But not yet, not in Spain.
James Michener in his definitive book on Spain, Iberia, mentioned this linkage of bullfighting to art. In Spain, bullfighters aren't compared with sports figures, but with artists. Bulls were painted on the walls in the Altamira Caverns; Goya painted bullfight scenes, as did Picasso. American matador John Fulton, who lived in Seville during the time I was there (1980's) made part of his living painting bullfight scenes in bull's blood.
Bullfighting becomes more of an anachronism each year, and eventually it will be banned. But not yet, not in Spain.
'Tweren't Nantucket...
...but Diamond, North Carolina's own small whaling community on the Shackleford Banks, isn't completely forgotten, either.
I vacationed in that general vicinity last fall, but didn't get out to Shackleford Banks or the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Hopefully I'll be able to do so some time in the future.
I vacationed in that general vicinity last fall, but didn't get out to Shackleford Banks or the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Hopefully I'll be able to do so some time in the future.
Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" Based On Welsh Pirates?
Maybe so.
Although the Daily Mail gets the facts wrong pretty quickly:
It's a twist worthy of any great adventure story – Long John Silver was based on a Welsh adventurer in the West Indies, researchers claim.
They say that Robert Louis Stevenson modelled his classic novel Treasure Island on the lives of Owen and John Lloyd, brothers born in the town of Rhuddlan, North Wales.
Owen is believed to have sailed to the West Indies and went on to bury 52 chests of Spanish silver pieces of eight on the deserted Norman Island, part of the British Virgin Islands.
And John had a wooden leg – just like the book’s famous character.
Sorry, but in the novel, Long John Silver has no wooden leg. He's described as "a seafaring man with one leg," which is off at the hip, and walks with the assistance of a wooden crutch.
Informative article, though, for the most part.
Although the Daily Mail gets the facts wrong pretty quickly:
It's a twist worthy of any great adventure story – Long John Silver was based on a Welsh adventurer in the West Indies, researchers claim.
They say that Robert Louis Stevenson modelled his classic novel Treasure Island on the lives of Owen and John Lloyd, brothers born in the town of Rhuddlan, North Wales.
Owen is believed to have sailed to the West Indies and went on to bury 52 chests of Spanish silver pieces of eight on the deserted Norman Island, part of the British Virgin Islands.
And John had a wooden leg – just like the book’s famous character.
Sorry, but in the novel, Long John Silver has no wooden leg. He's described as "a seafaring man with one leg," which is off at the hip, and walks with the assistance of a wooden crutch.
Informative article, though, for the most part.
Monday, August 01, 2011
Good Article About Gunwalker/Fast & Furious
Even ties President Obama to it directly:
The beginnings of Gunrunner can at least be traced back as far as Feb. 15, 2009, when President Obama authorized $10 million for it via the stimulus package. His signature on that document renders his subsequent denials of any knowledge of Gunrunner questionable at best.
An objection I have to the story is that the writer seems to think that semi-automatic versions of assault rifles, such as AK-47's and AR-15's, can be "easily" converted to full automatic fire:
(A little-known fact is that many of the guns sold during Gunrunner were assault rifles and similar weapons that are easily converted from semiautomatic to full-auto. In other words, our ATF looked the other way while men with criminal ties entered gun stores in Arizona and purchased weapons that are now de facto machine guns on the streets of Mexico and the U.S. Southern border.)
Sorry, it just ain't so. It usually requires significant gunsmithing to convert a semiauto into full auto. If any Bubba could do it...well, Bubba would.
h/t Sipsey Street Irregulars.
The beginnings of Gunrunner can at least be traced back as far as Feb. 15, 2009, when President Obama authorized $10 million for it via the stimulus package. His signature on that document renders his subsequent denials of any knowledge of Gunrunner questionable at best.
An objection I have to the story is that the writer seems to think that semi-automatic versions of assault rifles, such as AK-47's and AR-15's, can be "easily" converted to full automatic fire:
(A little-known fact is that many of the guns sold during Gunrunner were assault rifles and similar weapons that are easily converted from semiautomatic to full-auto. In other words, our ATF looked the other way while men with criminal ties entered gun stores in Arizona and purchased weapons that are now de facto machine guns on the streets of Mexico and the U.S. Southern border.)
Sorry, it just ain't so. It usually requires significant gunsmithing to convert a semiauto into full auto. If any Bubba could do it...well, Bubba would.
h/t Sipsey Street Irregulars.
Think I'll Give This Book a Try
Three Years Aboard a Navy Destroyer.
Kindle edition available for $7.69.
I saw it in a news story at the Gainesville, Florida Sun newspaper.
Kindle edition available for $7.69.
I saw it in a news story at the Gainesville, Florida Sun newspaper.
Maybe They Should Just...
...erect signs near the tops of waterfalls noting the current body count.
Nah. People would just steal 'em.
Nah. People would just steal 'em.
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