Interesting trip report, from a regular contributor at “Cold Fury”. Anyone else whose traveled overseas lately have input?
Courtesy of Rantburg
When you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck, or that it’s just not worth it to chew off the restraints, so what do you do? Personally when I find that blue-bird of unhappiness…I’m going to grill it with a potato, and have a chilled glass of wine.
The only question is white or red?
So, this is one of those calls that you don’t want to hear on the answering machine, first thing after coming back after being dragged around the neighborhood by the dogs; a kind-of-upset voice from one’s only and dearly-beloved child saying
“Mom…I’m OK… I was run into by a truck and the car is totaled… I’m at 35 and Theo Malone, can you come and get me?”
There may be crappier ways to start a Monday. Frankly, I can’t think of any of them at the moment. Cpl/Sgt. Blondie is ok, but rather interestingly bruised. She is loaded up on painkillers, and her poor little Mitsubishi is in the SAPD impound lot; the concensus from the investigating officer, the EMT, the tow-truck driver and the FD response unit is that it is indeed, totaled.
It was only a light pick-up truck that hit her, after a very complicated series of events best left to the insurance people to sort out. She had the presence of mind to gather up most valuable items from it— including her textbooks from the trunk (which the tow-truck driver had to pry open for her).
She was waiting far me by the side of the road, with everything from the car loaded into a plastic tub, and a very nice and understanding SAPD patrolman (Yay, SAPD… where gallantry is not yet dead!) waiting with her, who gave me a lecture about having a cellphone of my own, since the accident had set up the most awful slow-down of traffic. I swear, I could have walked that last mile faster.
She is OK for now, but will probably feel like heck in the morning, especially when she starts to thread the maze of claims and adjustments, never mind the bruises. We plan to hold last rites for the Mitsubishi, and bury a portion of it in the garden sometime this week.
In about 500 years, someone doing an archeological dig in my garden is going to go nuts.
I am glad to know that all of the federal income taxes I pay for an entire year won’t even cover the cost of one hour’s flight time in a C-32 – the plane that Nancy Pelosi feels that she needs. Just think, I can pay taxes for half of my working career knowing that I have covered the expenses for one round trip flight from Washington to San Francisco. Of course, there will be a reimbursement (at coach rate) for friends and family. Undoubtedly coach rate will have been established by reference to a red-eye flight booked several months in advance. Wouldn’t a more fair way be to calculate the ticket cost by amortizing the amount of paying passengers over the total cost of the flight? Hell, they’re all rich anyway.
It makes me sick.
Okay, not only did Boston get shut down by a bunch of lite-brites yesterday, but they’re going to further embarass themselves by prosecuting the advertisers:
BOSTON — Livid about a publicity campaign that disrupted the city by stirring fears of terrorism, Boston officials vowed to prosecute those responsible and seek restitution, while others mocked authorities on Thursday for what they called an overreaction.
Officials found a slew of blinking electronic signs adorning bridges and other high-profile spots across the city Wednesday, prompting the closing of a highway and part of the Charles River and the deployment of bomb squads.
I would be one of those in the “mocking authorities” column.
Seriously folks, get your pantries stocked and start reading survivorist manuals. We’re falling apart fast.
And for the record, I’m thinking that if you’ve got that many people on your staff who can’t recognize a member of “The Aqua Teen Hunger Force” you have no right representing or protecting the public in the first place.
They say that NCOs aren’t happy unless we’re bitching. This guy over at Blackfive is absolutely ecstatic!!
Things that I am tired of in this war:
I am tired of Democrats saying they are patriotic and then insulting my commander in chief and the way he goes about his job.
I am tired of Democrats who tell me they support me, the soldier on the ground, and then tell me the best plan to win this war is with a “phased redeployment” (liberal-speak for retreat) out of the combat zone to someplace like Okinawa.
I am tired of the Democrats whining for months on T.V., in the New York Times, and in the House and Senate that we need more troops to win the war in Iraq, and then when my Commander in Chief plans to do just that, they say that is the wrong plan, it won’t work, and we need a “new direction.”
I am tired of every Battalion Sergeant Major and Command Sergeant Major I see over here being more concerned about whether or not I am wearing my uniform in the “spot on,” most garrison-like manner; instead of asking me whether or not I am getting the equipment I need to win the fight, the support I need from my chain of command, or if the chow tastes good.
I am tired of junior and senior officers continually doubting the technical expertise of junior enlisted soldiers who are trained far better to do the jobs they are trained for than these officers believe.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who fight this war with more of an eye on the media than on the enemy, who desperately needs killing.
I am tired of the decisions of Sergeants and Privates made in the heat of battle being scrutinized by lawyers who were not there and will never really know the state of mind of the young soldiers who were there and what is asked of them in order to survive.
I am tired of CNN claiming that they are showing “news,” with videotape sent to them by terrorists, of my comrades being shot at by snipers, but refusing to show what happens when we build a school, pave a road, hand out food and water to children, or open a water treatment plant.
I am tired of following the enemy with drones that have cameras, and then dropping bombs that sometimes kill civilians; because we could do a better job of killing the right people by sending a man with a high powered rifle instead.
I am tired of Democrats who tell me they support me, the soldier on the ground, and then tell me the best plan to win this war is with a “phased redeployment” (liberal-speak for retreat) out of the combat zone to someplace like Okinawa.
I am tired of the Democrats whining for months on T.V., in the New York Times, and in the House and Senate that we need more troops to win the war in Iraq, and then when my Commander in Chief plans to do just that, they say that is the wrong plan, it won’t work, and we need a “new direction.”
I am tired of every Battalion Sergeant Major and Command Sergeant Major I see over here being more concerned about whether or not I am wearing my uniform in the “spot on,” most garrison-like manner; instead of asking me whether or not I am getting the equipment I need to win the fight, the support I need from my chain of command, or if the chow tastes good.
I am tired of junior and senior officers continually doubting the technical expertise of junior enlisted soldiers who are trained far better to do the jobs they are trained for than these officers believe.
I am tired of senior officers and commanders who fight this war with more of an eye on the media than on the enemy, who desperately needs killing.
I am tired of the decisions of Sergeants and Privates made in the heat of battle being scrutinized by lawyers who were not there and will never really know the state of mind of the young soldiers who were there and what is asked of them in order to survive.
And there you have a good chunk of what’s wrong with the Global War on Terror. When I first heard that we were “starting” to target Iranians causing shit in Iraq my first thought was, “Are you fucking shitting me?!!!” We’re just STARTING to mess with these motherfuckers?
I swear to Christ I need to either stop reading the news or start drinking heavily.
What with the day job (which lately has stretched into evenings and weekends) my blogging time has been nil. While I have a few topics in my head that are deserving of in-depth consideration, today I am inclined to touch on various and sundry observations.
I finally got Red Haired Girl’s Mac Mini to run Windows – a project done in starts and stops since last month. Having already invested a small bundle on the computer and various accessories, I could not bring myself to buy yet another Windows package in order for her to run the dozens of Windows games she has. I decided to try using a Windows XP Pro disk that came with a since decommissioned Gateway, however, Apple Boot Camp software requires a disk with SP2 already integrated. In the course of working around this, I discovered a handy little program called nLite which combines all of the required updates onto a single disk. Also of possible interest to Loyal Readers is that it allows you to go into the basic Windows installation disk and eliminate all the crap that you don’t need (Transylvanian keyboard support anyone?). This not only saves hard drive space but speeds up the boot process as well. Windows seems to be functioning, except that the Mac drivers for the Airport 802.11 connection don’t work while in Windows mode (probably a godsend). Sometime in the next thirty day grace period I will have to go through the BS of activating Windows. More on that later.
In addition to Radioparadise, a very cool Internet radio station suggested by Kevin Connors some time back, I was recently turned on to Pandora. This free site allows you to set up personalized radio stations by choosing artists or songs that you like. As similar material is played, the user is able to provide feedback that apparently fine-tunes the algorithm to improve automatic selections. The only downside is that there doesn’t seem to be any way of ripping the music to a file.
My day job has recently brought me back into frequent interface with the ops side of the house; I’ve spent the past few years in the relatively parochial world of patents. For the most part, my recent project has been a stimulating experience, with opportunities to work with some very bright and motivated people. However, there seems to be a certain genre of manager that I call Dilbert II, The New Generation. They can usually be identified by such phrases as “I’ve been working on a PowerPoint presentation all morning” (as a non sequitur opening statement in a meeting of at least a dozen people who could not care less), or “That’s an excellent question” (in response to an obvious question asked in frustration because another Dilbert II type has repeatedly ignored it). Dilbert II person usually then proceeds to ask (what he thinks is) a very good question which, more often than not, confirms to everyone present that he is completely lacking in any clue as to what the issues really are. As a footnote to this particular rant, Timmer’s recent post “What Is An Airman?” indicated that this is not a purely civilian phenomenon. I mean, an Airman’s creed of not pencil-whipping training reports?
The last rant reminds me of a question I have been meaning to ask. Does anyone remember a hilarious USAF training film on ejection seat development that was shown at least into the early seventies? All of the tests for each development phase were conducted with a different holiday theme, i.e., present were the Easter bunny, Santa, etc. In the first, the test “pilot” struts to the device with total and complete confidence – after which the test is a complete failure and he gets fairly well banged up. Subsequent tests, although showing improvement in the technology, are equally brutal on the pilot. Toward the end, the technicians have to drag him to the test stand, covered in bandages, smoking cigarettes, and, as I recall, swigging from a bottle of hootch. That film defined for me what it means to be an Airman, and if anyone has it I would love to buy a copy
A couple of recent news items caught my attention (and raised the hairs on the back of my neck). First was the unidentified stench that pervaded New York city and which was first thought to be a natural gas leak. Subsequent investigation ruled that possibility (and the general accusation that New Jersey stinks) out, but no cause was ever identified. Then there was the individual who was captured on an LA subway surveillance video (who knew they had subways in LA?) pouring six ounces of mercury onto the ground. He then apparently called 911 which led to the dispatch of a HazMat team – eight hours later. The authorities claimed that there was no indication that either incident was terror related. Maybe they don’t have hard evidence to that effect, but the former sounds like the LA response team performance was being probed, and the latter sounds like a dry run for a dirty bomb/poison gas/biological agent attack. Remember kids, we are not being paranoid if they really are out to get us.
I have decided to go back and read several of the Federalist Papers to remind me why it is important to pay attention to the ’08 campaign season. I’m with Timmer on this one; I really don’t want to “chat” with Hillary. And the notion of her executing Article II Section 2. constitutional powers positively makes my skin crawl.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A drunken elk is terrorizing children at a school in southern Sweden.
“That could be the problem. We could be dealing with a boozy elk,” Jan Caiman, a police officer in Molndal, told the national news agency TT.
The elk was probably eating fermented apples in a garden and had become inebriated, Caiman said.
Elk can weigh as much as 500 kilos (1,100 lb) and personnel at the school described the erratic male as “completely mad.”
“The children are really scared,” the receptionist at the school near Molndal in southern Sweden told the Gothenburg Post.
Caiman said police had contacted hunters and that if the elk did not calm down, it could be shot.
And somewhere Rocky is laughing his furry butt off.
Summer has been mild here in South Texas, and so has the fall been: unnaturally so, for today it was into the 90ies, which made it necessary to turn on the air conditioning one more time. Usually it can be done without sometime in late September, or early October; the heat breaks and it is cool at night. It has been so mild, that the leaves on the trees are just beginning to fall; we haven’t had that prolonged cold snap that briskly reminds them that they need to be letting go and moving on, chop-chop. I trimmed one of the grapevines in front a couple of weeks ago… and the poor innocent thing is putting out new leaves already, under the delusion that winter has come and gone.
This has been truly the year of butterflies; they are everywhere, about the puddles and in the late afternoon a whole fair of them orbits the almond verbena. I have two, the size of small trees now, and the ends of the branches are hung with tiny white bracts that smell amazingly sweet on still air…is this fall, now, or is it already spring? We have two gardening seasons in Texas, and this is one of them. My favorite, as it happens. For the next six months, the weather will be lovely and mild— there may be a freeze or two, after Christmas, but nothing much to worry over, and in the meantime, there are butterflies. There are the little brown snout-somethings, but now we have monarchs, great lovely tiger-striped things and more than I have ever seen before, orbiting the buddleia bushes as if they can’t bear to tear themselves away, while the snout-somethings monopolize the verbena.
The sadness that we are supposed to feel in autumn for the end of all green and lovely things is focused this year on the street behind the neighborhood where I live. Stahl Road was a narrow strip of blacktop, a single lane in either direction, which for the longest time seems to have been no direction at all. There were empty fields on either side and deep grassy verges, and the backside of other developments. A couple of churches, the elementary school which is our polling place, and the high school which Blondie would have gone to if I hadn’t packed her off to the tender academic care of the scholar nuns of St. Francis, the site of a pumping station and water tower, a cluster of gas stations and little businesses at the intersections, and Ernie the Veggie Guy, selling produce off the end of his pick-up under the shade of a tree at the corner… not much traffic and all of that easily accommodated by a narrow back road, shaded with a double row of trees. But then one cross road was cut through all the way to the highway, and a couple of other developments went in, and the development we live in was extended all the way to Stahl Road, and an exit road cut through to it, and the traffic has been all too much for that poor little back-road. The City decreed months ago that Stahl Road was to be widened, but our rejoicing was mixed. The project would eliminate that place at the intersection of Stahl and O’Connor that accumulated a puddle of water the size of Lake Superior every time it rained… but it would cost us the trees that lined the roadway for most of it.
The trees would have to go; no two ways about it. Not enough space between them to accommodate two lanes-plus-center-turning lane, no way around that. And the trees were not the sort that people chain themselves to, or institute lawsuits about. They were not very well grown, or attractive trees, to be baldly truthful… not oaks or cypress or redwood, even, or very well grown or cunningly planted…just the usual sort of Texas trash-tree that sprouts wherever hedges have been, in a neat line along the verge, and making valiant attempts to meet in the center over the road and shading the sidewalk. They weren’t much but they were there and familiar most importantly, provided shade against the sun. This is a commodity rare and treasured in what is essentially a desert.
This week, the city crew came and worked their way along, felling every one of them, chopping the trunks into sections and methodically feeding the branches into a chipper. Another crew, with a small bulldozer, followed in their wake, grubbing up the roots and leveling the mounds on which the trees grew, and now it looks quite terribly bare and raw… and new. Another crew has been staging great piles of conduit; a second has been ripping up the sidewalks which had been previously built, and a third, relocating the utility poles to a position giving wider room to the new and wider roadway. The backsides of all those houses which were sheltered by the trees must be feeling their nakedness most particularly this week. It’s all going very fast, as these things happen in San Antonio, and our fear is that at some point all this work will stop and be held in stasis for a three or four years. The road looks so terrible without those trees, poor things that they were. I hardly know my own turn-in, without the row of spindly and yet valiant trees to guide me, after dark. All this week, Blondie and I have been thinking of this song, whenever we drove along this road:
“All the Birds in the forest they bitterly weep
Saying “where shall we shelter or where shall we sleep?”
For the Oak and the Ash they all cutten down
And the walls of Bonny Portmore are all down to the ground”
No, it wasn’t much of a forest, but we were used to it, and now it has been all cut down to the ground. Perhaps they will plant new, when they are done with it all… something sturdy, and fast-growing, and maybe as rich scented as the almond verbena trees.
… but I just had to share it.
2008 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION SCHEDULE
7:00 P.M. Opening flag burning.
7:15 P.M. Pledge of allegiance to U.N.
7:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
7:30 till 8:00 P.M. Non religious prayer and worship. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton.
8:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
8:05 P.M. Ceremonial tree hugging.
8:15 – 8:30 P.M. Gay Wedding– Barney Frank presiding.
8:30 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
8:35 P.M. Free Saddam Rally. Cindy Sheehan– Susan Sarandon.
9:00 P.M. Keynote speech. “The Proper Etiquette for Surrender”– French President Jacques Chirac
9:15 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast.
9:20 P.M. Collection to benefit Osama Bin Laden kidney transplant fund
9:30 P.M. Unveiling of plan to free freedom fighters from Guantanamo Bay . Sean Penn
9:40 P.M. Why I hate the Military, A short talk by William Jefferson Clinton
9:45 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
9:50 P.M. Dan Rather presented Truth in Broadcasting award, presented by Michael Moore
9:55 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
10:00 P.M. How George bush and Donald Rumsfeld brought down the World Trade Center Towers– Howard
Dean
10:30 P.M. Nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Mahmud Ahmadinejad
11:00 P.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
11: 05 P.M. Al Gore reinvents Internet
11:15 P.M. “Our Troops are Stupid War Criminals” — John Kerry
11:30 P.M. Coronation Of Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton
12:00 A.M. Ted Kennedy proposes a toast
12:05 A.M. Bill asks Ted to drive Hillary home
No, I didn’t miss the fact that our Senate has given The President and Secretary of Defense unprecedented powers that basically trash our bill of rights, I’m just still in a state of absolute shock that it happened so easily.
Military: You there, terrorist, get in the car.
Citizen: What? Who are you? What are you… I want a lawyer.
Military: THUNK.
Military 2: Terrorists, they’re so cute when they try to hide behind our freedoms.
Military: Freedoms…hehehe.
Military 2: Shaddup, he’ll get his tribunal…eventually…after he’s questioned.
Padme was wrong, freedom didn’t die amidst the cheers of a crowd, it died because America is still quaking in fear, five years later.
Even the most enlightened leader, the best guy/gal in the world, will be tempted to use this act in some way that’s abusive.
Again, I’m worried for the soul of America. Who are we becoming that we allow this to happen without so much as a blink?
Yeah, I know, the terrorists are bad guys, but what happens if “they” decide “you’re” a terrorist?
“First they came for the Jews, and I did nothing, because I am not a Jew.”
This is not who we are.
Is here.
I see the right and the left are going completely batshit about this.
My take?
It’s 2006, you got nuthin’ better ta do?
That’s Digital Video Recorder for those of you who don’t pay attention.
It’s September. Football Season has kicked off. There’s a nip in the air. The new shows are hitting the major networks. There are new episodes of our old favorites shows. Survivor is weirder than ever.
When we first moved here and decided to try the DVR with our cable package, we didn’t think we’d use it much. I mean it was nice now and then to record something that was going to be on later that night so you could watch it at a reasonable time. Recording Letterman to watch at 6 P.M. because I simply can’t watch O’Reilly work himself into a lather over some other imagined offense made by a hippie no one else has heard of. That’s an invention I can live with. Recording Glenn Beck at 7 P.M. because he is a sick, twisted freak and I like that in a person.
Tonight is a prime example of why DVRs were put on this earth. 7 P.M. My Name is Earl/The Office is on opposite Survivor is on opposite Grey’s Anatomy. 8 P.M. Deal or no Deal is on Opposite CSI is on opposite another episode of Grey’s Anatomy is on opposite the UFC on Spike. 9 P.M. This is evil at it’s purest. What the hell were the networks thinking? ER is on opposite Six Degrees is on opposite Shark. In some time zones, I understand the second episode of Grey’s Anatomy is on at 9 P.M. making this all the more evil.
Why do the networks do this? Every damn year I get comfortable watching good shows on different nights. I’m fine with this. I’m guessing you all are fine with this. And then the networks decide they’ve got to muck it all up. They’ve got to get in there and mess with a good thing. Let’s put THIS really good show up against THAT really good show and make America decide which show is better. I don’t want to make that decision. I want good television, which is a rare and wonderful thing, spread out through my week. I want sprinkles of brilliance, not clumps. STOP PUTTING ALL THE GOOD SHOWS ON THURSDAY NIGHTS. I swear, the next thing you know, BSG will be on Thursday night. I can only record so many shows at once. There are only two hard drives in my DVR.
And then there’s the classic; Take a really good show that’s too expensive to shoot and bury it in a time slot that no one will watch. This killed Third Watch and almost killed NYPD Blue before they put it out of its misery.
So my DVR will be getting a work out tonight. The problem with this time of year though is when to watch everything you record. Do you stay in all day Saturday to get caught up? I don’t think so. I mean come ON, it’s only television and we haven’t started really hibernating yet.
So, my questions to you are simple. Which new show are you most looking forward to? Which old show are you ready for more of? Me? I’m already hooked on Smith. The bit with the ankle bracelet and the cat killed me. Didn’t you think the cat was gonna die? Come on, that was just funny stuff. And I have to say I’m a Grey’s Anatomy fan. That’s got to be one of the best ensemble casts ever put together. It reminds me of how good ER used to be and how badly it’s sucked the past few years. I KNOW it’s a soap opera, but it’s a FUNNY soap opera.
You’ll notice Battlestar Gallactica isn’t my most anticipated old show. No. I’m still pissed at the way last season ended and the previews for this season, aren’t filling me with anticipation but with dread. I might be done with it. It’s not even on my top five. I’ll have to see what’s up on Friday night or see if I’ve got any space left in my DVR.
Anyone else tired of “all Katrina, all the time?”
TSA changes laws of physics, declares ice to be liquid
The War on Moisture continues! BoingBoing reader Dan says,
While listening to this piece on All Things Considered, Tony Jabbour mentions that ice is now prohibited from being carried onto aircraft – because it is a liquid. Though both Tony and Robert Siegel call ice a liquid, I am confident that both men are aware that ice is, in fact, a solid. Only the TSA could decide to either change the laws of physics or to put something (ice) into a category in which it clearly does not belong (liquid).
Actually I think the difference between liquids and solids was covered in my basic chemistry class vs physics but the point remains, we have idiots running our Airport Security. God help us all.
Reason number 242 why I’ll never consider myself a conservative.
It’s not that I’m pro-hardcore-porn, I prefer classic pin up styles myself, but, call me weird, I just think the FBI and the Justice Department have more important work to do than to be investigating cable hotel porn. I would like them spending less time on porn and what goes on in America’s bedrooms, either rented or owned, and more time on catching terrrorists and child-molesters.
How exactly are we supposed to take the folks seriously who say, “I don’t have an answer for terrorism, but Bush is wrong?”
It’s a long held principle in the military that unless you have a better answer, it’s best to not complain about “the way things are.” Usually when that happens, the complaining party gets told, “Fine, you don’t like it, fix it.”
Hope is not a plan. Diplomacy historically has simply given the enemy, terrorists, time to resupply and recruit.
If the Bush Administration is wrong? What’s right?
Are Airport Security Personnel the only people on the planet who’ve never watched MacGyver?
Well, contrary to form, and like a good politician, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D. – GA) is speaking in measured and rational terms. However, her attorney is calling for a criminal investigation of the officer involved in this ID check kerfuffle. This is totally over the top, and another sideshow to distract the public from the dysfunctional Congress. A tempest in a teapot, which unfortunately won’t go away, just because of who is stirring the pot.
I mean, she didn’t have her lapel pin on. And, while the capitol police should ideally have been able to recognize her, the woman does have a lot of different “looks”. I mean, if you’ve seen a few pictures of Condi Rice, or Hillary Clinton, or Liddy Dole, you would be able to pick them out of a crowd without a problem – not so with McKinney. We have to give the officer some benefit of the doubt.
Further, she has a documented history as a hot-head, who has been in other altercations in the past. And this just proves it out. She didn’t get molested or beat with a club; this is, at worst, an incident that should have been taken care of quietly and administratively. McKinney’s people are blowing it way out of proportion.
I tell you what, Brits – you give us Red Ken, we’ll give you McKinney. That’s how bad she is.
I just awoke to the voice of Democratic Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer (who will be on CBS’ 60 Minutes tonight) on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. He was from a flyover state, he was wearing a bolo tie, but he sounded for all the world like a San Francisco barking moonbat. I’ll have to catch the podcast, when it’s up on their website later, to get the details. But it included such gems a (to paraphrase): “and we will capture the carbon dioxide from burning coal-diesel, and pump it back into the ground.” Right,,, (assuming CO2 emissions are even a problem in the first place) we’re going to tie balloons to the tailpipes of all the cars. And: “back in the ’70s, when I was a kid, Saudi Arabia was dependent upon the US for wheat. And I thought, “ok – a bushel of wheat for a barrel of oil. But, since then, after a major program by the Saudi government, Saudi Arabia is self-sufficient in wheat. We should be able to do the same with fuel.” The truth is, Saudi is a net importer of food products (about 1,150 USD per capita annually vs. about 900 USD for US net oil imports). Further, they are only “self-sufficient” in wheat by virtue of massive government subsidies, and at the cost of critical aquifer depletion.
And, to a person, every caller was saying, “oh, this is sooo enlightening.” It’s a nation of sheeple.
And what’s really frightening is that this inveterate bullshiter might be running for President.
… $1226.00 for an old frickin’ Valiant we would have considered a $100 “beater” back when we were stationed together at Castle.
I, I, I’m just flumixxed – I can’t wrap my head around it.
Greyhawk over at Mudville Gazette tells us about an interesting story that is no doubt supposed to make us even more upset about the war:
The latest Iraq war urban legend: Several female service members have died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day due to fear of being raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women’s latrine after dark.
Say what you will about the story (be sure to read the whole thing). Here’s what is bothering me:
Why it matters: Because the Left believes what they’re told to believe. Random Lefty blog response via technorati:Female soldiers in Iraq are having to make an impossible choice: Risk being raped , or risk dying of dehydration. Many of them have ended up dead.
Nicole in London: Tales of Los Angeles Expat
If I get one comment from ANYONE saying that this proves that women don’t belong in the army. . . Grrrrrr.
And that last comment gets to my point.
Greyhawk pretty much shreds the story (now being perpetuated by Col Janis Karpinski, of Abu Ghraib fame) to bits. If it were true, it would be a horrible, horrible thing, and all of us at the Brief would be outraged. But considering how “shred-able” it is, wouldn’t the folks on the left want to tread pretty lightly before giving the “No Women In Combat” supporters ammunition like this?
(Hat tip: Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner)
Let’s see…
Hamas is now politically in charge of the Palestinians.
Iran is defiant and determined to have their nukes.
Mobs are rioting in the streets and killing Catholic Priests over 4 month old cartoons.
If I were more paranoid about fundamental islamic nutjobs, and more sure of their capability to coordinate, I might be wondering what they were trying to distract us from? From a strictly dramatic point of view, that’s a lot of increased tension in a short period of time.
Just sayin’…
Now, where’s my copy of Catcher in the Rye?
Perhaps I’m too tired to see it, but this frickin’ tit on a boar hog at Forbes certainly knows how to produce a 600 word article that says nothing:
BURLINGAME, CALIF. – E-mails have been flying back and forth for 35 years, but never have changes to the most popular e-mail applications been more wide-reaching than those now moving to the front burner.
Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO – news – people ), Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT – news – people ), Google (nasdaq: GOOG – news – people ) and Time Warner’s (nyse: TWX – news – people ) AOL all are retooling their Web-based e-mail systems to take advantage of new technologies that will result in radically different–and advanced–user experiences.
As I said, I’m tired, and I may be missing it. But this article seems to say nothing about just what these “radically different–and advanced–user experiences” might be. And a quick Google news search doesn’t seem to offer any alternative source currently. But I’m sure that, by afternoon, there will be plenty. I’ll update then.
Or perhaps some of our readers have been in on the beta testing, and can fill us in?
In the spirit of Julia’s last post, just call me Howard Beale. But my current outrage is with software updates.
You’re totally happy – doing just fine with the old version. And the dialog box keeps popping up – “you need the newest bells and whistles” – and you finally say, “ok, I’ll do it.”
Well, it’s 3:40 in the morning; I said that about 5 hours ago. Now my PDF reader doesn’t work (the same 6.0.1 I had before – I guess the new one doesn’t run on 98SE), Trend Micro HouseCall makes my screen go blank when I try to delete infections, and I can no longer click File>>Internet Radio in Winamp and select Radio Paradise, KCRW, or the few other things I listen to, from a simple list.
Arrgh. I’m too tired and frustrated to deal with this any more. Manana.
Update: It seems that the Winamp thing is a known bug. You now also have to click on Online Media>>SHOUTcast Radio. I know… “why am I not asleep?” I was just drifting off when this hit me. 🙂
Ever get one of those words in your head that just won’t go away? Or a tune that keeps on running through your head, and you can’t banish it no matter how hard you try? This long word did it for me. After seeing the GEICO Insurance commercial with the word in it for several thousand times, I just had to know what it meant. Yep. It’s a real word, for sure. A noun, the meaning is that it is a nothing word. Each element of the word has a meaning of nothing, or intense triviality. This leads to the word meaning something of really low importance, or low/no use. That gives floccinaucinihilipilification a humorous overall meaning in the context of the commercial and the product they are trying to sell. I really got a good laugh out of it when I looked it up in an online dictionary.
So there! Getting the new year off to a rousing, “my head hurts” post, we who are about to go back to bed salute you!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
This from Perry DeHavilland at Samizdata:
Alexia Harriton, an Australian woman who is deaf, blind, physically and mentally disabled and requires round-the-clock care, is suing a doctor for allowing her to be born, with the full support by her mother. Never mind that rubella during pregnancy does not guarentee what happened to Ms. Harriton.