Robert Stacy McCain mentions me!
Well, sorta. Here's the quote:
"Once upon a time, patriotism was the last refuge of a scoundrel. Nowadays, libertarianism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."
Hey, I'll take it.
Yeah, that's worth a hit to the tip jar.
13 November 2009
11 November 2009
Note To Young Girls
Never do anything you would be ashamed to tell your grandparents about. On your mother's side. At least until after you graduate from college. Even then, make sure it doesn't end up on any recordable media.Keep in mind that, should you ignore the advice above, anything you do can and will end up on YouTube so your children will see it. Or worse yet, your child's nemesis in high school. (Think about how you would feel if your bitchy enemy found a video of your mother in a compromising situation.)
And yes, that boy that you think is so dreamy, the one that you Looooovvvveeee!!!!!!! really will sell that video for a million clams, or really will post it on the net (that's a not quite SFW Google search, BTW) to show all of his buds what a dirty whore you are after you dump him for being a complete pig.
Act accordingly.
UPDATE: And now it seems that there may be as few as eight and as many as 20 of these tapes. There's a phrase for this, ladies. It's called "Head Smashing Stupidity".
HT: Ace of Spades HQ and Pat Dollard.
06 November 2009
The Latest from Beltway Bob
"Imagine just a few years ago had somebody walked around with images of Hitler."
Nope. Can't imagine it.
HT: Ace of Spades HQ, Weekly Standard article by MKH.
Nope. Can't imagine it.
HT: Ace of Spades HQ, Weekly Standard article by MKH.
What Went Wrong
How could this have happened? An officer, a psychiatrist, at Fort Hood, has apparently gone off his nut and killed 13 soldiers, wounding 30 others.
The first clue might have been when the officer, a Muslim, compared suicide bombers to those who throw themselves on grenades to save the lives of their comrades.
Another clue might have been when he filled out a form seeking a spouse through a program at a mosque listing his birthplace as Arlington, Virginia, but his nationality as Palestinian.
The basic problem is that he saw himself as something else before he saw himself as American.
Theodore Roosevelt warned us of this over a hundred years ago, but we fell into the trap anyway. Why, you may ask?
Because we wanted to be nice.
We wanted to be nice, so instead of pointing out that "united we stand, divided we fall" we said nothing when once again people started identifying themselves as "whatever-Americans". We didn't want to be thought of as racist.
We said nothing when our language started to change, bending itself around political correctness. We didn't want to be thought of as intolerant.
We said nothing when our American beliefs and traditions came under assault from multiculturalism. We didn't want to be thought of as ethnocentric.
It happened when we pressed 1 for English. It happened when we let our public school administrators treat us as part of the problem instead of part of the solution. It happened when we allowed good people to be hung out to dry for BS reasons and didn't stand up for them.
Nidal Malik Hasan bore the weapon and squeezed the trigger that put 13 soldiers in their graves and 30 others in the hospital.
But we provided the bullets.
The first clue might have been when the officer, a Muslim, compared suicide bombers to those who throw themselves on grenades to save the lives of their comrades.
Another clue might have been when he filled out a form seeking a spouse through a program at a mosque listing his birthplace as Arlington, Virginia, but his nationality as Palestinian.
The basic problem is that he saw himself as something else before he saw himself as American.
Theodore Roosevelt warned us of this over a hundred years ago, but we fell into the trap anyway. Why, you may ask?
Because we wanted to be nice.
We wanted to be nice, so instead of pointing out that "united we stand, divided we fall" we said nothing when once again people started identifying themselves as "whatever-Americans". We didn't want to be thought of as racist.
We said nothing when our language started to change, bending itself around political correctness. We didn't want to be thought of as intolerant.
We said nothing when our American beliefs and traditions came under assault from multiculturalism. We didn't want to be thought of as ethnocentric.
It happened when we pressed 1 for English. It happened when we let our public school administrators treat us as part of the problem instead of part of the solution. It happened when we allowed good people to be hung out to dry for BS reasons and didn't stand up for them.
Nidal Malik Hasan bore the weapon and squeezed the trigger that put 13 soldiers in their graves and 30 others in the hospital.
But we provided the bullets.
I Wish
That I could be surprised.
God bless the Fort Hood soldiers and their families. May He have mercy on the victims. May He have none for the perpetrator.
God bless the Fort Hood soldiers and their families. May He have mercy on the victims. May He have none for the perpetrator.
What's Happening
So once again I have committed the number 1 sin of the blogging world in that I haven't posted anything new lately. The only excuse I have is that I've been working like an idiot for the past couple of weeks. In fact, the photo in my previous post was taken while I was on my way to work.In my copious off time, I've been working on a paper model of Serenity. It's my first cardstock model and it's surprisingly difficult. This is no "fold tab A into slot B" type of paper airplane, there are over eighty pieces printed out on twelve cardstock sheets. It's been a lot of fun.
My copy of "The Gathering Storm" has arrived, and I'm reading through it at the moment. Brandon Sanderson is an apt storyteller, but he isn't Robert Jordan. It's obvious that there is another voice speaking, but he is definitely telling Jordan's tale so I think it will end well.
On the political front, much is being made by the Democrats of Hoffman's failure to take NY-23, but they are strangely silent on the changes in the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia. Virginia may have not been much of a surprise, but New Jersey certainly was. I wish the new Governors well and hope they do good for their respective States.
The Hoffman saga is a horse of a different color, and although the established political parties don't want to make much of it I believe they do know what it's significance is. Time will tell if the RNC actually absorbs the lesson from NY-23 or not, if they do then they will see future success, and if not, they won't. It's as simple as that.
For me it's just a simple question, that being when does a moderate Republican cross the line into being a moderate Democrat? I've said there isn't an ounce worth of difference between the two parties and the NY-23 race certainly reflected that, at least initially. But then, a "moderate" Republican (who was more liberal than the moderate Democrat) got her head handed to her by the Conservative party candidate that wasn't supposed to be able to poll much beyond the normal 5 percent or so. Instead it was the Conservative party candidate that polled well, and the Republican candidate was at the 5% mark.
Party loyalists preach the party line, about how supporting the Party is paramount, that conservative Republicans can't win in "moderate" areas of the country, about how supporting third party candidates just split the vote and hand the race to the Democrat. This did certainly happen in this instance, but the major difference here is that the party candidate never really did have the full support of the party members. She was selected, not by a primary where the voters might have been able to voice an opinion, but by a panel of elites. The voters were understandably upset, and they broke for the candidate they might have supported had there been an actual primary.
The ironic thing here is that conservatives have never been very good at being party loyalists, they see themselves as independents and must be given a reason to vote for a particular candidate. They may hold their nose and vote for the R over the D because the Republican party more closely represents their values, but this is not always the case.
The plain truth is that the two parties must be different, they must have different platforms and their candidates must adhere to those platforms, otherwise there is no clear choice between them. If there is no clear choice, the ones that are left out in the cold (usually the conservatives) usually do choose the "lesser of two evils" and pull the lever with the "R" beside it. Lately, however, the conservatives have been choosing a third party, or they are choosing not to decide (and, like the song says, still making a choice). If the Republican party wants to remain the default choice of conservatives, they need to examine themselves and pull back to their conservative roots. Otherwise they will continue to shed members. This was the lesson that should have been learned during the McCain presidency bid (the only thing that saved it was the addition of Palin to the ticket) and clearly wasn't.
They have a chance again to learn this lesson from NY-23. We will see if they do so.
23 October 2009
A Sign Of The Times?
It may not look like much, but if you take a careful look at the bumper sticker...or at least, just below the bumper sticker...you get the idea that maybe there's a little bit of buyer's remorse happening here.Click on the photo for a bigger image.
22 October 2009
It Would Be Funny
If it wasn't happening to us.
How pathetic is it that the organization that served as the mouthpiece of the Soviet Union does such a bang-up job documenting our folly, while our "legitimate (IE, White House approved) news organizations" are missing it completely?
HT to The Knight Shift.
How pathetic is it that the organization that served as the mouthpiece of the Soviet Union does such a bang-up job documenting our folly, while our "legitimate (IE, White House approved) news organizations" are missing it completely?
HT to The Knight Shift.
09 October 2009
We're All H8RZ Now, Part III
If you don't think Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, you're just like the Taliban! So there!HT: The Rott
08 October 2009
02 October 2009
Egad
Mostly Cajun (see the link on the sidebar) had a piece up that I just read today concerning the march of time and the failure of some to learn, much less learn from, our history.
It put me in mind of this song.
It put me in mind of this song.
01 October 2009
Special Delivery
Well played, Sirs. Well played indeed.HT to MrsM-ITT at the Rott and Wyatt Earp at Support Your Local Gunfighter (I saw it first at the Rott, sorry Wyatt).
30 September 2009
"Not Yours To Give"
In comments at the Rott in a post about the generosity of FedEx, commenter AyUaxe linked a little gem from The Life of Colonel David Crockett (yes, that Davy Crockett), US Representative from the state of Tennessee.
A small excerpt:
"The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution."
This quotation is credited to one Horatio Bunce, a resident of Col. Crockett's district, as an explanation of why he, an influential member of that district, could not support Col. Crockett's re-election.
Col. Crockett took these words to heart, and was a valued member of the House of Representatives. We would be a very fortunate people indeed if our current crop of Congressmonkeys could understand the sentiment expressed in Mr. Bunce's words.
Go ye now to juntosociety.com and read these words in their fullest. You will not be disappointed in them, although you may be a bit discomfited with our current representation.
And in that vein, I add fellow North Carolinian The Knight Shift to the old blogroll for his entry here, in which he demonstrates that 1) he gets it, and 2) you don't have to be a lefty to miss the mark.
A small excerpt:
"The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation, and a violation of the Constitution."
This quotation is credited to one Horatio Bunce, a resident of Col. Crockett's district, as an explanation of why he, an influential member of that district, could not support Col. Crockett's re-election.
Col. Crockett took these words to heart, and was a valued member of the House of Representatives. We would be a very fortunate people indeed if our current crop of Congressmonkeys could understand the sentiment expressed in Mr. Bunce's words.
Go ye now to juntosociety.com and read these words in their fullest. You will not be disappointed in them, although you may be a bit discomfited with our current representation.
And in that vein, I add fellow North Carolinian The Knight Shift to the old blogroll for his entry here, in which he demonstrates that 1) he gets it, and 2) you don't have to be a lefty to miss the mark.
26 September 2009
Dirty Hippies
But there was no need to repeat myself.
Clicking on the title to this post will take you to Gateway Pundit, where you can see the difference between the conservatives having a gathering and the liberals having a gathering.
Or in other words, the difference between adults getting together and children having a play-date.
The adults clean up after themselves.
Clicking on the title to this post will take you to Gateway Pundit, where you can see the difference between the conservatives having a gathering and the liberals having a gathering.
Or in other words, the difference between adults getting together and children having a play-date.
The adults clean up after themselves.
New Link
The Indentured Servant Girl has the Hannah Giles sex tape!
Because RSM shouldn't get to have all the fun.
Because RSM shouldn't get to have all the fun.
24 September 2009
Constitutionalysis
Barack Obama campaigned on the promise that he would not raise taxes.
There is much discussion about the net that he is going to do exactly that, in the form of additional fees on a lot of things. During a 5 show whirlwind tour last weekend President Obama used the defense that since they weren't called "taxes" then they weren't, in fact, taxes. This is largely regarded as lipstick on a pig.
All of the legislation passed since his ascension, in addition to the bailout passed in the time of his predecessor, adds to the bill that will eventually come due, as all bills eventually do.
But, in his defense, he is absolutely right. He will not raise any taxes, in the same way that George W. Bush (and Ronald Reagan before him) never cut any taxes. He will only approve (or veto, fat chance) the legislation mandating those tax increases that passes over his desk.
So, who will it be that actually increases your taxes? For the answer, let me direct your attention to this document:
US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8
The main problem with the United States today lies with the fact that the American people are unaware of how their government is actually supposed to work. In large part they cannot number the branches of government, much less name them. Listing the responsibilities, duties and limitations of each branch is right out.
If you don't know how it's supposed to work, how can you tell if it is, in fact, working (or not working, as the case may be)?
If there is another person in the room as you read this, ask them the following questions. For that matter, answer them yourself. Chances are, unless they are a nerd like me or a naturalized citizen, they will not be able to answer them.
1. How many Senators represent each State?
2. What Congressional district do you live in?
3. How many Congressional Representatives are there for that district?
4. Name the people referred to in questions 1 and 3.
Not only can most Americans not answer the preceding questions, most of them cannot be bothered to care about the answers. All of them complain, and since everyone knows who the President is, for good or ill, he gets the blame (or credit).
If you don't know who is responsible for what, how can you be expected to vote intelligently? That is the underlying reason for all the problems the US now faces. And the inevitable result is this.
And yes, I can answer all four questions. Without looking it up.
There is much discussion about the net that he is going to do exactly that, in the form of additional fees on a lot of things. During a 5 show whirlwind tour last weekend President Obama used the defense that since they weren't called "taxes" then they weren't, in fact, taxes. This is largely regarded as lipstick on a pig.
All of the legislation passed since his ascension, in addition to the bailout passed in the time of his predecessor, adds to the bill that will eventually come due, as all bills eventually do.
But, in his defense, he is absolutely right. He will not raise any taxes, in the same way that George W. Bush (and Ronald Reagan before him) never cut any taxes. He will only approve (or veto, fat chance) the legislation mandating those tax increases that passes over his desk.
So, who will it be that actually increases your taxes? For the answer, let me direct your attention to this document:
US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8
The main problem with the United States today lies with the fact that the American people are unaware of how their government is actually supposed to work. In large part they cannot number the branches of government, much less name them. Listing the responsibilities, duties and limitations of each branch is right out.
If you don't know how it's supposed to work, how can you tell if it is, in fact, working (or not working, as the case may be)?
If there is another person in the room as you read this, ask them the following questions. For that matter, answer them yourself. Chances are, unless they are a nerd like me or a naturalized citizen, they will not be able to answer them.
1. How many Senators represent each State?
2. What Congressional district do you live in?
3. How many Congressional Representatives are there for that district?
4. Name the people referred to in questions 1 and 3.
Not only can most Americans not answer the preceding questions, most of them cannot be bothered to care about the answers. All of them complain, and since everyone knows who the President is, for good or ill, he gets the blame (or credit).
If you don't know who is responsible for what, how can you be expected to vote intelligently? That is the underlying reason for all the problems the US now faces. And the inevitable result is this.
And yes, I can answer all four questions. Without looking it up.
19 September 2009
Arrr.
Happy Talk Like A Pirate day, ye scurvy dogs.
I had a picture to put up here, so I did, but I thought t' would be a bit much for the kiddies.
Ye click it at yer own peril, so ye do. Ye have been warned.
I had a picture to put up here, so I did, but I thought t' would be a bit much for the kiddies.
Ye click it at yer own peril, so ye do. Ye have been warned.
Call It What You Want
Congressman Mike Rogers from Michigan calls it "government run health-care" and explains why it's wrong.
18 September 2009
How To Feed The World
Iowahawk has a well deserved reputation for bringing on teh funneh. But, every once in the while he shows his serious journalistic roots.
He has done so here, with a report of the death of an Iowa farmer. Not just any Iowa farmer, but noted agronomist and Nobel Peace Prize winner (when such things actually meant something) Norman Borlaug. He was 95.
His greatest contribution to the world was showing us how to get more yield per acre for grain crops such as wheat. In this simple way, he fed more people than all the past, present or future Live Aid concerts ever given.
You don't feed the hungry by confiscating wealth from the rich and giving that wealth to African dictators. You feed the hungry by showing African farmers how to get the most out of their cropland, and that's what Norman spent his life doing.
Rest in peace Mr. Borlaug. Well done.
He has done so here, with a report of the death of an Iowa farmer. Not just any Iowa farmer, but noted agronomist and Nobel Peace Prize winner (when such things actually meant something) Norman Borlaug. He was 95.
His greatest contribution to the world was showing us how to get more yield per acre for grain crops such as wheat. In this simple way, he fed more people than all the past, present or future Live Aid concerts ever given.
You don't feed the hungry by confiscating wealth from the rich and giving that wealth to African dictators. You feed the hungry by showing African farmers how to get the most out of their cropland, and that's what Norman spent his life doing.
Rest in peace Mr. Borlaug. Well done.
Again?
Another US Army officer uses the birther movement to try to escape the terms of her contract.
Predictably, it also goes down in flames.
Once more, if an officer in the US Armed Forces does not want to deploy, or otherwise discovers or decides that they can no longer effectively fulfill the terms of their contracts, they can simply resign their commissions.
Of course, this one had just finished med school on the taxpayers dime, so she would have been expected to pay that money back.
On a related issue, her attorney Orly Taitz is batting 1.000 on these cases.
HT: This Ain't Hell
Predictably, it also goes down in flames.
Once more, if an officer in the US Armed Forces does not want to deploy, or otherwise discovers or decides that they can no longer effectively fulfill the terms of their contracts, they can simply resign their commissions.
Of course, this one had just finished med school on the taxpayers dime, so she would have been expected to pay that money back.
On a related issue, her attorney Orly Taitz is batting 1.000 on these cases.
HT: This Ain't Hell
If You Have A Digital Camera
It might be a good idea to invest in a printer for it. Kodak makes one that takes photo cartridges, using photo paper you get as good an image as you would if you took your memory stick to Wal-Mart.
Without the added aggravation of being charged with sexual abuse and having your kids taken away from you for a month, I might add, so you can call that an extra bonus.
HT: Fark.com
Without the added aggravation of being charged with sexual abuse and having your kids taken away from you for a month, I might add, so you can call that an extra bonus.
HT: Fark.com
75 Democrats Vote To Support Child Slavery
The House voted Thursday to cut off all Federal funding to ACORN.
Seventy five Democrats voted against the resolution.
The Gunslinger has the story on that.
A constituent of one of the 75 is not pleased.
Smitty at The Other McCain has more ACORN related goodness.
Seventy five Democrats voted against the resolution.
The Gunslinger has the story on that.
A constituent of one of the 75 is not pleased.
Smitty at The Other McCain has more ACORN related goodness.
So True
16 September 2009
Raaaaacists!!!!!
Since we're all H8RZ now, we might as well be.
Many places have posted something about it, so far this one is my favorite.
And if you haven't bought the book, what are you waiting for?
(By the way, I have it on very good authority that if someone ponies up a huge bag o' cash, there will be a film version of Monster Hunter's International. Are you listening Bill Whittle?)
Remember, there are five a's in raaaaacism!
Many places have posted something about it, so far this one is my favorite.
And if you haven't bought the book, what are you waiting for?
(By the way, I have it on very good authority that if someone ponies up a huge bag o' cash, there will be a film version of Monster Hunter's International. Are you listening Bill Whittle?)
Remember, there are five a's in raaaaacism!
Eh. I Got Nutt'n.
I was going to write a long insightful post about this, complete with an analysis of the world economy, maybe with a little bit about the causes of the Great Depression here, including about how the aforementioned Great Depression was also a world-wide event.
But then I didn't so it all flew out of my head, like all of the rest of my really great ideas that would have made me rich a long time ago and allowed me to buy genetically enhanced monkeys that had been crossed with bald eagles to be used in an attempt to take over the world.
Thanks to Tam for bringing it up anyway.
But then I didn't so it all flew out of my head, like all of the rest of my really great ideas that would have made me rich a long time ago and allowed me to buy genetically enhanced monkeys that had been crossed with bald eagles to be used in an attempt to take over the world.
Thanks to Tam for bringing it up anyway.
11 September 2009
09 September 2009
Snark Attempt - FAIL!
Remember Baghdad Bob?
Robert Gibbs will now be referred to as Beltway Bob in all official Refuge posts.
HT: Ace of Spades HQ
04 September 2009
Wine, Women and Song
Red hair and green eyes will be the death of me yet. One or the other will turn me into a stammering idiot (according to the wife that's my normal state anyway) but the two of them together means trainwreck for sure.
The first little girl I fell for, way back in the first grade, was a redhead that barely acknowledged my existence at all. She was my classmate all the way up through high school. I never told her.
My first serious girlfriend was also a redhead. She hated being called a redhead, she preferred "strawberry blond." She's gone now, taken from us way too soon at twenty eight years old. I wish I could talk to her just one more time.
The green eyes come in right after high school. My first wife was green eyed, she broke my heart around 1988. Suffice it to say that I was in the Navy, she didn't like it, she figured out before I did that I was going to do 20, she found a way out. It took a while, but twenty years later I can look at it objectively and without regret.
Soon after that I met a green-eyed goddess. She was the friend of a friend's girlfriend, and I first saw her a mere two weeks following my separation from the first wife. I didn't say anything, mostly due to the aforementioned stuttering idiot problem, but I did remark to my friend that the only thing she would have to do to be absolutely perfect would be to dye her hair red.
I put it right out of my mind after that, after all she was an honest to goodness beauty queen (well, runner up anyway) and I was just an ugly little spud. The next time I saw her, about a month later, she was sporting a mane of auburn locks.
I was still self-absorbed, wrapped in my own little cocoon of self-pity, and I wasn't as good to her as I should have been. Still, she lifted me back onto my feet and proved to me that life wasn't over, that there was still plenty of life to be found out there.
Then, as soon as she was there, she was gone. I still miss her sometimes, and I'm a better man for having known her. I just wish I could have told her so.
In the book "The Great Hunt" Thom Merrilin tells Rand Al'Thor that one of the women he meets at a party "would give you an education such as every young man should have at least once in his life, if he can live through it."
My education came about at the age of 24. She was in her early 40's, recently divorced, her husband had left her for a woman about my age and she was feeling alone, unloved and unlovely. It was my task to prove that even though she may be alone, she was not unlovely. In that, I did for her what my beauty queen had done for me, and the education I received was well worth any price of admission. Happily I lived through it, although at times it was certainly a close thing.
She later married a wonderful man who took proper care of her until the time of her death, once again too soon. She died surrounded by those who loved her, in the company of a man who thought her lovely, and her final days were filled with happiness. I will always remember the sparkle in her deep green eyes.
I met my current wife about sixteen years ago. Red of head, red of temper, she kicked holes in my sandcastle walls and took me completely by storm. Before I knew it I was completely overwhelmed, and life just hasn't been the same since.
TROUBLE - Travis Tritt
Tonight as I crack open a few beers and listen to Bob Seger sing "Those are the memories / that give me a wealthy soul" I remember them.
The first little girl I fell for, way back in the first grade, was a redhead that barely acknowledged my existence at all. She was my classmate all the way up through high school. I never told her.
My first serious girlfriend was also a redhead. She hated being called a redhead, she preferred "strawberry blond." She's gone now, taken from us way too soon at twenty eight years old. I wish I could talk to her just one more time.
The green eyes come in right after high school. My first wife was green eyed, she broke my heart around 1988. Suffice it to say that I was in the Navy, she didn't like it, she figured out before I did that I was going to do 20, she found a way out. It took a while, but twenty years later I can look at it objectively and without regret.
Soon after that I met a green-eyed goddess. She was the friend of a friend's girlfriend, and I first saw her a mere two weeks following my separation from the first wife. I didn't say anything, mostly due to the aforementioned stuttering idiot problem, but I did remark to my friend that the only thing she would have to do to be absolutely perfect would be to dye her hair red.
I put it right out of my mind after that, after all she was an honest to goodness beauty queen (well, runner up anyway) and I was just an ugly little spud. The next time I saw her, about a month later, she was sporting a mane of auburn locks.
I was still self-absorbed, wrapped in my own little cocoon of self-pity, and I wasn't as good to her as I should have been. Still, she lifted me back onto my feet and proved to me that life wasn't over, that there was still plenty of life to be found out there.
Then, as soon as she was there, she was gone. I still miss her sometimes, and I'm a better man for having known her. I just wish I could have told her so.
In the book "The Great Hunt" Thom Merrilin tells Rand Al'Thor that one of the women he meets at a party "would give you an education such as every young man should have at least once in his life, if he can live through it."
My education came about at the age of 24. She was in her early 40's, recently divorced, her husband had left her for a woman about my age and she was feeling alone, unloved and unlovely. It was my task to prove that even though she may be alone, she was not unlovely. In that, I did for her what my beauty queen had done for me, and the education I received was well worth any price of admission. Happily I lived through it, although at times it was certainly a close thing.
She later married a wonderful man who took proper care of her until the time of her death, once again too soon. She died surrounded by those who loved her, in the company of a man who thought her lovely, and her final days were filled with happiness. I will always remember the sparkle in her deep green eyes.
I met my current wife about sixteen years ago. Red of head, red of temper, she kicked holes in my sandcastle walls and took me completely by storm. Before I knew it I was completely overwhelmed, and life just hasn't been the same since.
TROUBLE - Travis Tritt
Tonight as I crack open a few beers and listen to Bob Seger sing "Those are the memories / that give me a wealthy soul" I remember them.
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Here we have another picture of The Anointed One, complete with the holy nimbus cloud around his head.And where, pray tell, is this picture found?
Is it on the fawning media sites?
No.
Is it on the many "I Love Barack Obama" web pages?
Again, no.
Where then, may you find this picture?
Here you go.
Is that building even big enough for this guy's ego?
HT: Ace of Spades HQ
03 September 2009
Oh For Petes Sake
There's a lot of ire in the rightosphere about the leftosphere using the term "teabagger" to refer to those of us who attend tea party events.Get over it!
Own that term! We are the tea BAGGERS, not the tea BAGGED. If they want to make fun of us for being teabaggers, then they are obviously missing the point...it is they who are being bagged!
Next time someone calls you a teabagger, point that out to them.
Some of the ire is that there are people in positions of power who are using this term and their constituents see them as being crude and boorish. My response to that is to let them appear crude and boorish, and see how they fare come next election time.
At any rate, the use of the word does not harm us unless we let it. Don't let it!
Winner Of Teh Internetz
"Justice is a gallows, built with contemplation and remorse.
Retribution is a lamp post, with spittle and curses, and dogs nipping at your heels."
Read more here.
The Velociworld is not recommended for those who have weak hearts or minds, or for those who are easily offended. If you are the type that looks for things to be offended about, you will likely find plenty of offensive things here. Secure all loose items and keep your arms inside the conveyance at all times. Management is not responsible for lost or stolen items, either of a material or non-material nature.
Retribution is a lamp post, with spittle and curses, and dogs nipping at your heels."
Read more here.
The Velociworld is not recommended for those who have weak hearts or minds, or for those who are easily offended. If you are the type that looks for things to be offended about, you will likely find plenty of offensive things here. Secure all loose items and keep your arms inside the conveyance at all times. Management is not responsible for lost or stolen items, either of a material or non-material nature.
30 August 2009
Orb Spiders
This gentleman has taken up residence right outside my patio door. He weaves his web every night around sundown, and every morning he pulls it up out of the way again.It's nice to have good neighbors.
According to the Pugh collection he is an orb weaver, one of the most common spiders in North Carolina. Although he is huge, he is harmless. Except if you are a bug, that is.
I think that he has attracted a mate, because now there are two of them.
29 August 2009
Thoughts On The Second
I have a friend that open carries everywhere allowable by law that he goes. Usually he will chose not to go to those places where he is not allowed to carry, either by law or by the request of the place in question.I have yet to hear anyone comment, either for or against, in our hearing.
There has been quite a stir lately in the MSM about people openly carrying weapons at townhall meetings and other public gatherings. What you don't usually hear is that the weapons are carried legally and that no one has been arrested for carrying them.
The MSM has even gone so far as to call the carry of weapons racist, and to illustrate this has used a picture of a rifle being carried. What they failed to mention is that the weapon in question was being carried by a black man.
Fifty years ago it would not have been an issue, this open carry of weapons. Since that time we have gotten away from the practice, mostly due to the whining of the Gun Fearing Wussies.
Unfortunately also since that time the open carry of weapons has become something viewed as somehow criminal or crazy. Carry laws are not known or understood, even by the LEO's that are supposed to be enforcing the laws.
Reading around the net it is possible to find blogs who's owners claim to be all for the free exercise of Second Amendment rights, and yet those very same blogs have opinion pieces written by said owners who frown on those who open carry at the events. Their reasoning is usually that the open carry makes the wussies cry, and that making the wussies cry generally isn't good for promoting the Second.
I disagree.
I think that if everyone who can open carry does, the general public will become accustomed to seeing it, and the cries of the wussies would decrease (or at least fade into the background). Additionally, as the criminal element sees more and more people open carry they will become more aware that there are a lot of firearms out there. This has been shown to cause them to find another line of work. Both of these are good things.
Eventually I would like to see the open carry of firearms in accordance with the Second Amendment to be just as commonplace, and as unremarkable, as open carry of books and newspapers in accordance with the First.
I don't know that it would ever happen, but one can dream.
28 August 2009
Book Review
I just put down Stephen King's Cell.
The part where he wrote about a .45 caliber Colt revolver was enough to give me a moment's pause. There is such a thing, but most times one refers to a .45 it's an M1911 or a clone thereof.
When he wrote about the human brain only working at 2% capacity I was done with the book.
Most people will quote the ten percent figure, and I will admit that I believed it as well until I read the Snopes entry about it. Where two percent came from I don't know.
Anyway, I'm back to the opinion that Stephen King hasn't written anything since The Dark Tower.
The part where he wrote about a .45 caliber Colt revolver was enough to give me a moment's pause. There is such a thing, but most times one refers to a .45 it's an M1911 or a clone thereof.
When he wrote about the human brain only working at 2% capacity I was done with the book.
Most people will quote the ten percent figure, and I will admit that I believed it as well until I read the Snopes entry about it. Where two percent came from I don't know.
Anyway, I'm back to the opinion that Stephen King hasn't written anything since The Dark Tower.
26 August 2009
Ted Kennedy Dies At 77
My mother always told me that if I couldn't say something nice, don't say anything at all.Clicking the title of this post takes you to the BBC story.
15 August 2009
Wizard's Second Rule
The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.
In Ouray Colorado a woman was killed and eaten by bears on the seventh of August. It turns out that she had been feeding the bears for at least ten years. This act of kindness resulted in the bears losing their natural fear of humans, and in fact made them very aggressive towards humans that were not feeding them.
A five year old bear was killed by sheriff's deputies at the scene after he aggressively approached the officers, and another was killed at the residence a week later by USDA officials working under the authority of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Because she was feeding them they stopped hunting for themselves. They just came to her house whenever they got hungry. The long standing effect is that more bears and humans are going to die, because the bears have forgotten how to hunt for themselves and they now equate humans with food. This woman's good intentions led directly to her death as well as the animals she was caring for, and will lead to more deaths before it's all done.
The old saying is that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Combine that with the story about giving a man a fish, and you can see where some of our current problems have come from.
In Ouray Colorado a woman was killed and eaten by bears on the seventh of August. It turns out that she had been feeding the bears for at least ten years. This act of kindness resulted in the bears losing their natural fear of humans, and in fact made them very aggressive towards humans that were not feeding them.
A five year old bear was killed by sheriff's deputies at the scene after he aggressively approached the officers, and another was killed at the residence a week later by USDA officials working under the authority of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Because she was feeding them they stopped hunting for themselves. They just came to her house whenever they got hungry. The long standing effect is that more bears and humans are going to die, because the bears have forgotten how to hunt for themselves and they now equate humans with food. This woman's good intentions led directly to her death as well as the animals she was caring for, and will lead to more deaths before it's all done.
The old saying is that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Combine that with the story about giving a man a fish, and you can see where some of our current problems have come from.
14 August 2009
Linky!
Having just finished "Monster Hunter International" (and simultaneously becoming a huge fan), I have also just posted the link to Monster Hunter Nation.
Hurry fast and get yours, because according to the latest update on MHN there are only four copies left on Amazon.
Don't worry though, you can get a signed copy instead.
While you're there go make an entry into the "Hold The Pig Steady" lyrics writing contest.
Hurry fast and get yours, because according to the latest update on MHN there are only four copies left on Amazon.
Don't worry though, you can get a signed copy instead.
While you're there go make an entry into the "Hold The Pig Steady" lyrics writing contest.
13 August 2009
Trust Us!
The whole "Palins are getting divorced!" lie.
Union thugs as "concerned citizens" and concerned citizens as paid shills for Big Insurance.
"Obama didn't have anything to do with (insert appropriate act here, their name is Legion)." (That one reminds me of "Carter was a good man with bad advisors.")
"I don't want people thinking I just have a bunch of plants in here."
(and along with that, "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a shill!")
Dissent is patriotic (unless you're dissenting against Teh Won!).
Trust me! I'm from the government and I'm here to help!
Still want to play nice?
I think not.
Nice guys don't finish last. They get killed and eaten along the way.
Union thugs as "concerned citizens" and concerned citizens as paid shills for Big Insurance.
"Obama didn't have anything to do with (insert appropriate act here, their name is Legion)." (That one reminds me of "Carter was a good man with bad advisors.")
"I don't want people thinking I just have a bunch of plants in here."
(and along with that, "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a shill!")
Dissent is patriotic (unless you're dissenting against Teh Won!).
Trust me! I'm from the government and I'm here to help!
Still want to play nice?
I think not.
Nice guys don't finish last. They get killed and eaten along the way.
12 August 2009
Absolute Power
Next time some jackass, be they from the left or from the right, says "If you aren't doing anything wrong you don't have anything to be afraid of" punch them right in their monkey faces. If they spout some blather about the "common good" or some such dogsqueeze as that, punch them twice. It's for the chiiiildrennnn!!!! (who will ultimately have to foot the bill for all of our current nonsense.)
This, boys and girls, is why we don't give government - ANY government, no matter who's running it - any more authority than they absolutely need to do their Constitutionally mandated jobs. Sooner or later if it has the potential to be abused, it will be. That is quite simply the nature of power.
For what it's worth, I thought the Patriot Act was a knee jerk response that wasn't well thought out and shouldn't have been passed. It was passed under the "do something even if it's wrong" mindset, and it was wrong and (as we are now seeing) eventually dangerous.
The ironical thing here is that the "good Liberal" people who were up in arms about BOOOOSH and the ReTHUGlican Congress illegally seizing power were right about the potential for abuse, but now that Obama and a Democratic controlled Congress are actually doing the abusing they are strangely silent.
The porkulous bill was right up there with the Patriot Act, and cap n' tax and the healthcare bill is right there as well. The problem is that once they are passed they are almost impossible to un-pass.
Hat tip: Ace Of Spades HQ, your home for Valu-Rite swilling hobo hunters.
This, boys and girls, is why we don't give government - ANY government, no matter who's running it - any more authority than they absolutely need to do their Constitutionally mandated jobs. Sooner or later if it has the potential to be abused, it will be. That is quite simply the nature of power.
For what it's worth, I thought the Patriot Act was a knee jerk response that wasn't well thought out and shouldn't have been passed. It was passed under the "do something even if it's wrong" mindset, and it was wrong and (as we are now seeing) eventually dangerous.
The ironical thing here is that the "good Liberal" people who were up in arms about BOOOOSH and the ReTHUGlican Congress illegally seizing power were right about the potential for abuse, but now that Obama and a Democratic controlled Congress are actually doing the abusing they are strangely silent.
The porkulous bill was right up there with the Patriot Act, and cap n' tax and the healthcare bill is right there as well. The problem is that once they are passed they are almost impossible to un-pass.
Hat tip: Ace Of Spades HQ, your home for Valu-Rite swilling hobo hunters.
06 August 2009
Buy This Book
I woke up at 4:30 PM (get offa me, I work nights) and found my copy of "Monster Hunter International" waiting for me.
I just finished it.
I didn't know they stacked awesome this high.
Buy this book, make Larry Correia rich, and maybe he will write another one.
I just finished it.
I didn't know they stacked awesome this high.
Buy this book, make Larry Correia rich, and maybe he will write another one.
05 August 2009
03 August 2009
Birthday Presents
For my birthday (which was yesterday) Kevin Baker at The Smallest Minority got me a Quote Of The Day!Thanks Kevin, you shouldn't have!
For anyone following the link, have a look around and leave me a comment if you see something you like.
Thanks for dropping by!
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