An Unbroken Reed

Grim

2006-08-14T20:56:00.000-05:00

Grim cuts to the quick over at Blackfive. Go read the post here.

What is it, then, that makes the difference?
That you weep and mourn.
How does that matter?
They do not.
But I slay as well; does that not equivocate the actions?
No.
Why?
You slay so it will end.
And they?
They slay so it will continue.
So the only difference is one of motivation and goals?
It is enough.

So Yeah

2006-08-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

Been a while, hasn't it? Lots of stuff going on in the world, not all of it fun. It is interesting, of course, but only in the ancient Chinese sense of the word.

In any case, 'bout all I got here is some local news: for some reason or another, I've decided to start taking Krav Maga. There's an ATA school not five minutes from my apartment that offers it, I can afford it now, so I figured, why not?

Further bulletins as events warrant.

Katrina

2005-09-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

Glenn Reynolds, over at Instapundit, has a running list of charities and aid organizations who are participating in the relief effort for the victims of Katrina.

Just in case the five people (maybe) who still check here are wondering how they can help. It would be a good place to start.

I'm a geek

2005-07-15T19:52:00.000-05:00

Spent most of the day assembling a computer. Now, I'm watching the season premiers of Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica.

I'm currently geeking out about the fact that Ben Browder (formerly of Farscape) is now on SG-1. So is Claudia Black.

Also, for any X-files fans, Atlantis now has Mitch Pillegi.

And Battlestar Galactica... is still Battlestar Galactica. If you have the Sci-fi channel, or your regional equivalent thereof, and you are not watching this show, then you should be.

This has been a random update, we now return to our regularly scheduled program.

Microsoft is Evil

2005-07-11T20:21:00.000-05:00

I know, I know...

Look, it's like this. I'm trying to build a new computer. For now, it'll be running Windows XP, simply because that's the easiest route for me to go.

I'm ordering the actual hardware off of Newegg. Now, Newegg, in all their glory, can get $800+ worth of assorted computer parts to me in less than a week's time. In other words, I ordered them last Friday and they'll be arriving here on Wednesday.

The gals in the office are gonna love me on account of all the boxes, but that's neither here nor there.

Because it's cheaper (though not by much), I ordered a copy of Windows XP through my work discount. Which means that I am buying it from Microsft itself.

It'll be Friday before they even ship the blasted thing, and another three to four weeks before it actually arrives here. In other words, I'll have a fully functional computer sitting here for a bloomin' month without an OS.

Needless to say, I am currently downloading an evaluation install of SuSe Linus 9.3. Just to see. And as soon as I can, I'm canceling that darn Microsoft order.

God Save the Queen

2005-07-08T19:22:00.000-05:00

To the United Kingdom:

"Between us there can be no word of giving or taking, nor of reward, for we are brethren. [...]never has any league of peoples been more blessed, so that neither has failed the other, nor shall fail."

By our commonality of language, of parentage, of heritage, and of history, we are [i]brothers[/i], oh England. As we have stood together in the past, against flame and fire and all the hells of tyrants, so shall we stand again at this day.

Your brothers in America are with you, oh England. May the lives you have lost be repaid a hundred fold upon the adversary, and may your dominion last until the end of days.

God save the Queen, and God bless the noble and valorous people of the United Kingdom.

Obscenity

2005-06-09T19:57:00.000-05:00

Scott Kirwin, over at Dean's World hits the nail on the head:

Moral Equivalence. Another link in the "Why Terrorists Suck" category.

Okay... (II)

2005-06-07T20:31:00.000-05:00

Not a hoax this time:

This story off of Yahoo (via the AP), scores about a 8.0 on the "what the...?" meter.

Title: "Man With Bloody Chain Saw Let into U.S."

Good grief...

Irony

2005-06-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making excuses, that's the day you make it to the top.

- OJ Simpson

A story

2005-06-01T19:24:00.000-05:00

(hat tip to, and text shamelessly stolen from, Doug)

After twenty years of shaving himself every morning, a man in a small Southern town decided he had enough. He told his wife that he intended to let the local barber shave him each day. He put on his hat and coat and went to the barber shop which was owned by the pastor of the town Baptist Church.

The barber's wife, Grace, was working, so she performed the task Grace shaved him and sprayed him with lilac water and said, "That will be $20."

The man thought the price was a bit high, but he paid the bill and went to work. The next morning the man looked in the mirror, and his face was as smooth as it had been when he left the barber shop the day before. Not bad, he thought. At least I don't need to get a shave every day.

The next morning, the man's face was still smooth. Two weeks later, the man was still unable to find any trace of whiskers on his face. It was more than he could take, so he returned to the barber shop.

"I thought $20 was high for a shave", he told the barber's wife, "but you must have done a great job. It's been two weeks and my whiskers still haven't started growing back."

The expression on her face didn't even change, expecting his comment. She responded, "You were shaved by Grace. Once shaved, always shaved."

*rimshot*

(Above effect added by request of William. Who says I can't do customer service?)

New Toy

2005-05-31T20:10:00.000-05:00

Like y'all care, but I just figured I'd share that I am now the proud owner of a Hyundai Imagequest L90D+ 19-inch LCD monitor. They were having a sale at Newegg, so I took advantage of it.

What can I say? This monitor kicks tail, 'specially compared to my old one. It's actually... bright.

I can see all colors in pictures and videos :).

It's intended for the new system that I'm slowly collecting parts for, but it works well indeed with my old one.

Just thought I'd share.

I am also listening to the Toby Keith song, Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue. VH1 panned this song. Something about "putting a boot in your @$$" not being very nice or some idiocy like that.

I kinda like it.

Just some late night randomness.

So, now we know

2005-05-31T17:09:00.000-05:00

Deep Throat has now revealed himself, and it's been confirmed by the Washington Post.

That answers that, I guess.

On a related note, typing "Deep Throat" into Yahoo or Google is not a good way to research information on this subject.

Who is Zod?

2005-05-26T20:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know the title of the below post has nothing to do with the picture. I just felt like saying that...

Anyway, here's the breakdown from the quiz, just because...

Darth Vader

75%

Obi Wan Kenobi

67%

Chewbacca

67%

Anakin Skywalker

64%

Clone Trooper

61%

Yoda

58%

General Grievous

58%

R2-D2

42%

C-3PO

39%

Mace Windu

39%

Emperor Palpatine

36%

Padme Amidala

33%

Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Kneel Before Zod!

2005-05-26T19:57:00.000-05:00

Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

TMI! TMI!

2005-05-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note here...

Forget prisoner abuse, someone should sue the New York Post for reader abuse.

I mean, I'm almost positive that NONE of it's readers really wanted to see a picture of Saddam Hussein in his underwear.

That's just a bad mental image there...

The Temptation of Anakin Skywalker

2005-05-20T11:55:00.000-05:00

Let's see... it's 11:11 P.M. right now. I've just gotten back in from having seen "Revenge of the Sith".

That was cool.

I'm serious, y'all. This movie made the past two worthwhile, and now even Episode II makes sense. Which is quite a feat, when you think about it.

Just a few thoughts (warning, this will contain spoilers, so stop reading if you've not seen the film yet):

R2-D2 cooks. Battle droid flambe, baby.

Com links need volume control.

Gee... Palpatine, the old Apprentice, and the guy he wants as the new apprentice. A command to strike the old one down. My, doesn't THIS look familiar.

Grievous coughs. See the "Clone Wars" cartoon microseries to find out why.

I guess flying fire trucks are something a city-covered planet would need in a space-faring society.

Anakin! Discretion, boy! I know she's Natalie Portman, but...

The sad thing is, he's the first Jedi in generations to hear those words. "I'm pregnant."

Which is half the Jedi's problem at this point in history. But that's a whole 'nother story.

Dialogue, at least, Romantic Dialogue, does not seem to be Lucas's strong point. That being said, the actors are doing a decent enough job, nowhere near as bad as what I've heard.

Which probably says more about my judgement regarding acting ability than it does their performances.

You know, I have to wonder what would have happened if the Council had just told Palpatine "No". For not trusting him, they seem quite willing to acquiesce to his requests.

Now the plot begins to take shape. Anakin is being tempted, not by power or money or revenge, but through what he wants the most: to keep his wife alive, to not stand by and watch, helplessly, as someone else he loves dies. It's a powerful desire, for love is a very strong emotion, and extremely volatile.

And now, the line is cast.

Heh. Wookies!

I do truly hope that was Grievous's heart and not some other "dangly bits".

One disadvantage to being more cyborg than droid, I guess.

"How uncivilized." *snort*

Anakin delivers the message... and now the bait is taken. In his conflict between what he belived Palpatine was, what Palpatine actually is, and what he is willing to do to try and preserve Padme, Anakin now holds the fate of an entire generation in his choice.

I recognize Mace Windu and Kit Fisto. Don't know the other two.

The shots between Anakin and Padme are some of the best visuals in the movie. She knows that something is changing; he fears that without Palpatine, he will loose her.

He makes his first choice; he leaves the Temple to try and save Palpatine.

Kit! NO!!!!

Good grief, Palps is good with that.

And now, the fate of the galaxy revolves around the choices of Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker. Mace makes his; so does Anakin.

Mace does not go down like a punk.

For love, Anakin swears feality to the darkness. Wait, check that, NOT for love; to try and preserve what he loves, what he desires, he betrays everything he knows, INCLUDING what he loves, and binds himself to the darkness.

"You shall now be called... Darth Vader."

Go to the Jedi Temple, destroy all in your path.

Oh no... Anakin, you traitorous, murderous... So the Sith are now as bad as the Islamists.

"Initiate order 66."

Ki Adi Mundi... Aalya Secura... darnit, they just killed off the hot blue Twi-lek Jedi.

Bail Organa arrives... and can do nothing.

An attempt on Yoda. Heh. THAT didn't work.

Aww... Chewie helps carry Yoda to safety. As if that exists.

Jimmy Smits to the rescue.

The Jedi Temple has a beacon, currently set to "call home". Must be reset.

Anakin is now a good liar. But there is something to his eyes now, something... almost insane. But not, really; he is fully sane, here, just utterly without remorse. Without compassion.

The Last of the Jedi return to Coruscant.

And with a simple announcement, the Old Republic is no more.

No more separatists. Make a deal with the devil...

... and now Obi-Wan knows. So does Padme.

"Anakin's the father, isn't he? I'm very sorry."

And suddenly, Yoda's statement in ESB of "Go now, help them you could... but you would endanger all for which they have fought, and suffered..." means a WHOLE lot more than what it did. His father had acted on a vision he had, and did what he thought he had to do... and destroyed everything that they had fought and sacrified and bled and killed for.

Darkness pollutes love, and this is the result. He brings about his own vision.

Now THIS is a buildup. The fight itself is meaningless: no matter who wins, nothing in the galaxy will change. But for these two... each feels the other has betrayed him. One was poisoned by the half-truths and promises of a dark master, the other stayed true to principle and philosphy.

Correction, the duel DOES matter: whoever wins will control the upbringing of the Son of Skywalker. Much hinges on this moment, much that neither combatant can see: this is like Beren and Luthien descending into Angband to recover a Silmaril. Their actions will rule the fate of many for ages to come.

Obi-wan and Anakin, Yoda and Palpatine.

This is like, I dunno... a duel in the Rotunda with the future of the US at stake or something.

Duel of the Fates. Apropriate.

There is no quarter here; this is personnal.

And Yoda... fails. We knew it would be so, but...

"You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them!"

"I HATE YOU!" "Anakin, you were my brother. I loved you." The contrast between these two men...

Luke and Leia. Padme dies, believes there is still good in Anakin. Darth Vader, mask and all... arises. David Prowse really should be in this suit, as Hayden Christensen just doesn't have the build for it.

Vader realizes what he has done. You have to read Matt Stover's prose in the novelization to fully appreciate this scene.

So the disappearing act that Yoda and Obi-wan pull at their deaths is taught to them by Qui-Gon. 'k, I can live with that.

It is done, then. Vader, the Emperor, and Tarkin examine the Death Star. Bail Organa takes Leia with him to Alderaan.

And Obi-Wan Kenobi delives Luke to Owen and Beru Lars on Tatooine.

Go read. Now!

2005-05-19T16:52:00.000-05:00

Bill Whittle, at Eject! Eject! Eject!, has finally posted a new essay (posted in two parts).

Go read "Sanctuary", for it is excellent.

Okay...

2005-05-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

(Via Froggy Ruminations)

You know, there are some stories in this world that are so... well, all I can say about them is:

What the ever-loving crap?

Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight

EDIT:

Well, turns out this was a hoax, designed to "settle" a bet regarding a hypothetical matchup of midgets versus a lion.

Now you know... the rest of the story.

Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-18T19:44:00.000-05:00

Well, folks, Episode III begins tonight at midnight.

I will not be there; I am a working man now, and midnight showings, for me, are not things of the past. I will, however, be viewing the movie tomorrow at 7:45 P.M.

In honor of the release of Episode III, I've got a few links to send your way:

George Lucas goes moonbat. Marin County moontbat (Desmodus rotundus luna marinus), to be exact.

Arthur Chrenkoff, who knows more about living under a totalitarian regime than Lucas ever will, responds.

Darth Vader has a blog. Go read it, for it is good.

Jonathan Last, back in 2002, gives the Case for the Empire.

Purchased the Soundtrack a few days ago. It's pretty good. The new 'theme' on this one, entitled "Battle of the Heroes", is excellent; even if it feels like it could be about 60 seconds longer (it's easily among the shortest of the concert themes that Williams has come up with), it has a few moments that are just perfect for what it represents: the ulimate battle of Archetypes.

The real annoyance, though, is the End Credits suite. You have the statement of the Stars Wars theme, a brief segue, and then a restatement of "Battle of the Heroes". All's well and good, and then... it segues into... the Medal Ceremony music from the original?

WHAT does that have to do with what goes on in the film? I mean, use the Emperor's Theme, or the Imperial March, or something that makes an ounce of sense contextually!

Yeah. That piece just felt wrong.

I just hope that Lucas got better at writting dialogue. I cringed in pain and horror during the "romance" scenes. I mean, who talks like that?! The incoherence...

But then again, Anakin is married to Natalie Portman while I'm still single, so what do I know?

I still say that Padme should have slapped him after the whole sand bit. I know I wanted to...

Terrorists Suck

2005-05-05T21:31:00.000-05:00

Why? Because they produce stuff like this:

http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/2005/05/little-girl.html

Look at the picture, then read the story. Be sure to read the story, especially the part about the timing of the attack.

This is the fruit of Islamic terrorism. We saw it in Beirut, in Tehran, on the USS Cole, on 9/11, on 3/11, and in Beslan. Especially in Beslan. Now, in Mosul.

Zur Hölle mit ihnen.

Of course, it's really nothing different from what went on in Iraq under Hussein, at least not in concept: someone is in the way of your acquisition and retention of power, so you sweep them aside.

Actually, check that, I erred, there is something different: now, when the megalomaniacs murder little girls, there is an American there to comfort the child in her last moments, an American is there to struggle to save the child, and a whole bunch of Americans are there to bust a cap on the arse of whoever is responsible.

Another thing is different: we hear about it now. Not from the regular media, of course: Eason Jordan isn't taking copy from Hussein's propoganders any more, but you'll be more likely to see another repeat viewing of the Abu Ghraib pictures on the evening news than you will be to see the one I've just showed you.

Heck, if you have seen it on the News, leave a comment on this post (for this exercise, Fox News doesn't count: I known John Gibson went off on a rant about just this issue).

But now, the guy who actually takes the pictures has his own blog; and no ideological prejudice (American is BAD! Communism is GOOD! Terrorists are missunderstood! HALIBURTON! OIL!) can hold such an image away from public consumption.

So, visit the site, and let the picture of the Major and the dying girl be embeded in you mind, seared into you consciousness as a representative image of the fruit of Michael Moore's "Minutemen".

Zur Hölle mit ihnen und zur Hölle mit ihrem falschen Gott.

It's about time...

2005-04-25T18:31:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, a group of engineers was given an award by NASA. The reason? These were the guys who ad-libbed a lithium-hyrdoxide canister adapter to mate the CSM canisters to the LEM receptacles.

(story found here)

The money quote from the article:

Among the biggest concerns was whether the astronauts had duct tape, Smylie said. He later learned duct tape was commonly used on the spacecraft to clean filters and for other tasks.

"I felt like we were home free," he said. "One thing a Southern boy will never say is, 'I don't think duct tape will fix it."'

I think I'm gonna make that personnal motto...

(Hat tip: Doug)

I'm Just Sayin'...

2005-04-18T19:00:00.000-05:00

As the months roll by, I slowly begin to understand the stigma attached to Monday. It was never like this in college...

Anyway, I'd like to direct you towards the blog Silent Running, whose blogmaster, along with a few others, are currently running a SimTerror '05 simulation. Each blogger involved plays a different role, in this case the PMs of Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Great Britain, as well as someone as the shadowy Terrorist Mastermind.

It's getting interesting, so hop on over and have a read. It's started only recently, but the archives of what's been going on can be found here.

Notes

2005-04-13T20:14:00.000-05:00

Ever heard tale and rumor of the possible damage that terrorist frogmen could do? Matt Heidt over at Froggy Ruminations gives a detailed rundown of why such a concept is unlikely, the primary reasons being the shear difficulty of such an operation (especially when compared to the other, more mundane-guaranteed-of-"success" methods that a muj can utilize to obtain his eternal orgy), and the defenses that we have in place to prevent just such an operation.

What are those defense, you might ask? Well, amongst other things, we have horny attack dolphins.

No, I'm not kidding.

On another note, if you've never been to Gettysburg PA, then head over to Castle Arrrgh!, where John the Armorer has posted pictures from Gettysburg. Also, if you've never been to Gettysburg, I highly recommend that you do two things:

1. Read up on the battle, and what all occured there.
2. Go, and see the fields for yourself. When you know what exactly is meant by the two words "Pickett's Charge", and then you see the field itself... well, it's quite a sight.

A Bit of Levity

2005-04-04T17:25:00.000-05:00

It's been a somber couple of weeks around here, what with the Terri Schiavo situation and the death of Pope John Paul II. I've had a few things that I've wanted to blog about, but I just haven't had the hear to do so, what with the aforementioned events.

However, just to lighten things up a bit, I present you with a picture of me:

South Park Style

The above image was generated using the South Park Studio. The face, I think, is pretty close.

No, I don't have the sword or gun. I just thought they looked cool.

Head on over, generated yourself in the image of a South Park-style character, and post have fun with it.

Heck, if you have a blog, post it for all to see.

(Hat Tip: The Jawa Report)

The Pope is Dead

2005-04-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

Lord I come to your awesome prescence
From the shadows into your radiance.

By your blood I may enter your brighteness,
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness.

Now, Karol Wojtyla, known to most of us as Pope John Paul II, knows those verses to their fullest. May he rest in peace, until the Body is finally united after the last Judgement.

This Baptist has no qualms in saying that a Man of God has been called Home. He will be missed.

Unlikely Things

2005-03-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

It has been twelve days now since Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed. Twelve days with neither food nor water, a state-mandated death by dehydration.

Yet she remains.

Matt Heidt over at Froggy Ruminations has several excellent posts on the issue. So does Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters.

Though for now I'll just direct you to a particularly lovely rant by Captain Ed regarding the ad hominem attacks being leveled at those who are aghast at the barbarity of this situation.

As for the unlikely things referenced in the title, I just have to say that I never thought I'd see the day when I'd come down on the same side of an issue as Jesse Jackson.

(Hat tips: Drudge, Captain's Quarters, and Froggy Ruminations.)

What if Batman Played D&D?

2005-03-17T21:18:00.000-05:00

Just to prove that I still have a sense of humor, here's something I found on a message board:

Yeah, Bats would be a powergamer from hell. He'd carefully research every item, spell, class ability and monster in the game, min/max the hell out of his character, plan for every possible contingency and come up with unconventional uses for everything to let him take advantage of the weakness of whatever they come up against.

DM: You see three large trolls approaching--
BATMAN: I step behind the tree, giving me 75% cover. I use my Improved Tactics class ability to take a partial action before combat begins, which I will spend preparing a flaming arrow to nullify their regeneration--
DM: Wait! Your character has never seen a troll before! How do you know they're vulnerable to fire?
BATMAN: ...
BATMAN: I'm Batman.

-Lareth

Heh.

Just a Statement

2005-03-17T19:18:00.000-05:00

In less than 24 hours, by order and consent of a Florida judge, the feeding tube will be removed from Terri Schiavo, causing her to expire from dehydration.

Forgive the sanitation of the above expression; I should have said 'die of thirst', but I am attempting to constrain my passions at this point, or else there will be outpouring of enraged vulgarity displayed on this blog, the likes of which you have never seen before.

Here are a few sources of information on the case. They are, for the most part, slanted towards preserving her life.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6
Link 7
Link 8
Link 9
Link 10

(Hat Tips: Captain's Quarters, Dean Esmay, Discarded Lies, Hugh Hewitt)

From the point of view of a pro-life theistic Christian (pardon me, a right-wing religious whack-job...), I just want to make the following comments.

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy." (Ezekiel 16:49)

"Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of land, saying, 'When will the new moon be over, so that we may sell grain, and the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, to make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, and to cheat with dishonest scales, so as to buy they helpless for money, and the needy for a pair of sandles, and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?'

"The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, 'Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.'" (Amos 8:4-7)

I don't know if I really have a point with quoting the above verses, I simply felt them apropos to the current situation. There are many others, which I will save until I see what happens tomorrow.

If you wish to know, the pertinent word in the above quotes is needy. This word is translated from the Hebrew word ebyon, which Strong defines as "poor, needy, often as a class of persons with physical needs, of low status and little political power, with an associative meaning of oppression and misery".

Again, take what point from the above you want. Heck, some of you probably consider my admited status as a pro-life theistic Christian enough to completely invalidate anything I say. I don't care.

I take my stand with those who wish to preserve the life of Terri Schiavo.

Whatever will happen, will happen tomorrow at 1 P.M. Till then, I will pray.

Awesome

2005-03-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

A "Mythbusters" outtakes episode!

YES!

This is Cool

2005-03-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

I'm currently watching an episode of Modern Marvels on the History Channel. As you can probably guess, this segment deals with World War II.

The topic of this particular episode is about airborne bombs. As you can guess, it mentions the V-1 buzz bomb. Apparently, it turns out that RAF would, at times, have the chance to send up planes to intercept the V-1s. But they would prove hard to hit.

Therefore, then, the enterprising pilots would fly right up next to the V-1, place their wing right underneath the bomb's wing, and then bank. This would flip the V-1 over, and send it crashing to the earth out of control.

Nothing quite so much like a Jedi Knight as an RAF pilot in a Spitfire, or an American in a Mustang or a Hellcat.

Friendly Reminder

2005-03-14T21:25:00.000-05:00

Just one last thing, and then I'm done for the night.

Just a reminder to you all that tomorrow, March 5th, is the annual "Eat an Animal for PETA Day."

The mechanics of this should be obvious, so pick your steakhouse of choice. Me, I'm tyring to decide between Bugaboo Creek or TGI O'Chili's....

Homestar... Wunner.... Homestar Wunner

2005-03-14T20:15:00.000-05:00

Wow, I leave this thing alone for a month, then suddenly show back up again with tons of near meaningless posts!

In any event, Ed Morrisey of Captain's Quarters (one of my favorite politcal blogs, by the way) has now joined The Darkside.

He's become a Homestar Runner fan.

Run, Captain! Run!

Randomness

2005-03-14T19:47:00.000-05:00

Several of the channels in my cable TV plan (channels 800-844) are music channels, meaning that they play music instead of TV shows. Which is cool, because who doesn't like music?

Anyway, at the moment, I'm listening to a station entitled "Arena Rock".

Strangely, I'm enjoying it. It makes interesting background music for reading about the pro-democracy, anti-Syrian, pro-nationalist protests in Lebanon.

Calvin and Hobbes blogging

2005-03-14T17:42:00.000-05:00

If you look around Amazon for a little bit, you will find that a massive Calvin and Hobbes collection has now been released. This omnibus contains every single C&H comic ever to come from Bill Waterson's hand.

It costs $94-95 or so dollars.

In the meantime, there is a site that is either the greatest site on the Internet, or the single largest and most blatant copyright violation I've ever seen: The Calvin and Hobbes Archive.

For even more Calvin and Hobbes goodness, this site attempts to explain "Fight Club" in terms of Calvin and Hobbes characters.

No, I'm not kidding.

Important

2005-03-12T21:31:00.000-05:00

Odds are he won't come by anyone who reads this, but I want you all to watch for this vehicle anyway:

Blue Chevrolet GMT Truck
GA tags, Fayette county
Tag # APG6121

If you should encounter this truck, do not attempt to engage. Contact the police, and inform them of it's position. The suspect supposedly in the vehicle is wanted for the shooting of a Georgia Superior Court judge, a court stenographer, and a sheriffs deputy. He is also wanted in connection with the murder of a US Customs Agent, to whom the suspect truck in question belonged.

If this is the guy in question (details can be found here and here), then this fellow is a cop-killer. If you spot him, call the police. Let's help bring this guy down.

UPDATE: They caught the guy earlier this morning at an apartment complex in Duluth. They hauled him off in iron.s

Book Fair

2005-03-10T22:01:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm a bibliophile. Those of you hwo know me should know this by now.

What brings this on is the fact that the Cobb County Library System is having their Spring Book Sale tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday. As for selection,

An estimated 100,000 items, including paperbacks, hardbacks, CDs, records, magazines and reference books will be for sale. Paperbacks sell for 25 cents, hardbacks for $1 and reference books are $2 each.

*droool*

Let's see if I can top my $.50 purchase of a hardback copy of "Red Storm Rising".

Gosh, an Update...?!

2005-03-10T21:14:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a while here, hasn't it? I wish I had some grand excuse for having not done this for a month, but aside from a prize-fight with a cold/flu thing last weekend, I've got nothin'.

In any event, I'm going to try and cover a few things with this.

Huntsville guys (this means you two, Allen and Tommy), I just want ya'll to know that you have corrupted me beyond all measure. As you may know, I wake up each morning to the sound of the local news/talk radio AM station, AM 750. During the process of getting dressed, they come on with a commercial for the new Snapper lawn mower. The basic gist of the commercial was how easy the Snapper is to USE!, how easy the Snapper is to PUT TOGETHER!, how easy the Snapper is to PUSH!, and etc. along that vein.

And what, you may ask, was the first reaction that went through my head? Very well, I will tell you:

"The new Snapper Mower! It's easy, just like William's Mom!"

I'll never be free.

Today, at Mudville Gazette, Mrs. Greyhawk posts a link to a post on the The Jump Blog. At the bottom of this post is a link to a decently large .wmv file that the Jump Blogger and a few others put together. Click on the link (helpfully contained in the word "link" above), and get to the file from the post. It's a cool video, and well worth your time.

As might know, but most likely not, the local International Association of Machinists (Local 709) have gone on strike here. What this means is that the union guys have stopped working at the factory and are presently marching back and forth across the entrances to the facility. I'm not going to bother talking about the issues involved here, as I don't fully understand what the rationale behind this is. However, I would like to offer a few observations, as someone who has now witness his first strike:

1. No, I am not part of the strike (thank goodness). As a salaried employee, I am not a member of the union, and thus what that do doesn't directly affect me.

2. However, given the present state of limbo that we are in due to the proposed DoD budget, stoppage of work on the -130J and Raptor DOES have the potential to affect me indirectly.

3. The strike started at Midnight on Tuesday (the start of Tuesday, that is). Given what the weather was on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, I almost pittied the picketeers.

4. Though on Wednesday morning, when the wind was blowing like- (Let's not go there, -Ed) (err, sorry...), I thought that it would be funny if the wind was to rip one of the union placards from the cold, frozen hands of one of the picketeers.

5. When leaving on Wednesday evening, I got a look at one of the message signs. It read "We Know You Scab." Judging by a news report, this seems to be some sort of motto amongst the union.

6. I have no clue what it means.

7. After a brief phone converasation with my dad, I have discovered that "scab", in this context, refers to a union member who breaches the picket line and goes to work, or to outside help brought in by the company to cover the slack. Learn something new everyday, I guess.

8. Scab, then, is a noun/pronoun/derogatory term, and not a bizarre verb as I had originally thought.

9. So far, the picketeers and salaried alike have been behaving themselves, even if I do occasionally make snarky comments inside the building. However, something moderately disconcerting occured today: while exiting the premises, I passed through a picket line (yes, there was a large gap between marching clumps; I wouldn't have moved if someone was standing there) on my way to the main road. As I prepared to turn our into the exit lane, one particular fellow pulled out a camera and behaved as if he was taking my picture. I simply ignored him and went on, but it was a bit odd.

10. Still, if they were going to pull a cheap intimidation trick, they should have done it yesterday, when what I was wearing would have let me pull of a Roguish and Dashing Air.

11. No one who knows me believes the above point.

12. Since this started at midnight... I have to wonder if they're still there marching, and if they march on the 9/80 schedule...

Just a Note

2005-02-07T21:13:00.000-05:00

Before I finish the story of my adventure last weekend, I just want to make one statement.

First, read this story.

I'm skeptical. Very, very skeptical, but that probably just stems from the fact that, given it's prior track record, I don't trust Palestinian leadership any further than I can throw it.

I will say this: if this turns out to be a seven-year definitive guarantee of Israel's security, then I'm leaving. Where, I dunno.

But if this is Daniel 9:27 (granted, it's more than likely another false start, and will end when either Fatah, Hamas, or Hezbollah's anti-semitic blood-lust comes to the fore again), then things are about to get really, really interesting.

But that's just my opinion.

This Past Weekend Part I

2005-02-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, my life has the tendency to take a turn for the absurd. This tendency is generally manifested in sudden outbreaks of what is commonly known as bad luck. Apparently, I am not alone in this, and it seems to stem from my mother's side of the family.

In any case, this past weekend I made to travel home to Gainesville to pick up new glasses. The pair that I had been wearing had lasted me throughout most of college, and had recently developed a series of annoying scratches and blemishes in the lenses, that necessitated replacement. Between Christmas break and two weeks prior, I had taken the necessary steps (eye exam, selection of frames) to replace the glasses.

All that remained was to pick them up.

I set out on Friday morning, a little bit after 9 A.M. It's a cold day, very cloudy. We've got an ice and sleet storm coming in, but I'm not worried about it, as it's not scheduled to start till eleven P.M.

My first stop is at the bank, as a long awaited check had finally arrived two days prior. This was somewhat fortuitous, as I realized something in leaving the bank.

I had left the Allegra-D (yes, one of THOSE again) in my medicine cabinet. Okay, no problem, apartment is just down the road a piece, shouldn't put me out more than five minutes.

I get back on C_______ Road, and maneuver into the left hand lane, so I can be in position to turn onto the road that houses my apartment complex.

Traffic begins to build up in the lane next to me.

I look ahead: the cars in front of me are stopped, and moving slowly past a redlight. I look for the head of the line.

Backhoe. Going five MPH. Wonderful. I can't get over to go past him; there is too much traffic in the right lane! So we creep along. Minute stacks upon minute; I grumble and mutter, and turn up the volume on the CD player.

Some blast rap; I blast "The Phantom of the Opera". Counter-culture, eat your heart your.

Anyway, back to the story. By the time I CAN get over, the backhoe is trudging right next to the turn lane. Were I to try and go past him, I would then be unable to actually get into the turn lane that leads to my apartment. So I wait, at five MPH, until I can get into the turn lane. I do so, proceed to the apartment, and collect the medicine. Departure is smooth, as I am able to go around the backhoe on my way to the Interstate.

Trip to Gainesville goes well, and I cross the county line a little bit after 10:30. Bypass home (everyone is out anyway), and head directly for the eye doctor's office.

The office is located just off of one of the major thoroughfares. To get to this office, I have to make a left turn at a red-light, onto another street, and then another left turn into the parking lot.

There is a semi-truck with trailer running perpindicular to the parking lot entrance. This was mild as I simply drove forward a bit more and cut through the parking lot of a real estate firm.

Park the car, walk into the office. See the glasses person; he goes into the back to find the order. Comes out with a look on his face.

Both pair has actually arrived a few days prior. Both pair had problems in the lenses. One of the lenses in the sunglasses (prescription) had it's axis off, which would have produced an interesting 3-D effect. One of the lenses in the regular glasses had some kind of flaw in that would have caused any light viewed at night or in the dark to flare sunburst-like in the lense. Both of these issues were bad things, and thus necessitated the return of the glasses to be fixed.

So, my intended quest did not succeed as planned. The glasses will have to wait until this saturday, when I return home again (gas prices are gonna kill me, "war for oil" my wallet)for my cousin's wedding.

No jokes, I don't live in Alabama any more.

I'm gonna break here for tonight; I want to watch the State of the Union address. More to come tomorrow.

Snarkiness without warning

2005-02-02T19:46:00.000-05:00

To the Democrats in Congress: I might take your concerns seriously if I did not suspect that you would define looking at the prisoner askance as torture.

To the Republicans in Congress, and indeed President Bush: You are considering a ban on 527 organizations in politcal discourse. I have two words for you: First Amendment.

*EDIT*
To the Sunni Clerics who are crying about the election: Boo-hoo. Gee, you're low on representation in the body that will draw up the new Iraqi Consitution? Oh, however could that have happened? Maybe because the Sunni's didn't turn out to vote in the same numbers that the Shi'ites and Kurds did. Why, oh why, would they do that? Because you told them to boycott the election, you crybaby idiots. My heart bleeds.

Terrorism... Repudiated

2005-01-30T21:35:00.000-05:00

What more can I say about today, than the above title?

Go to my blogroll, read the posts on Iraq the Model and the Mesopotamian.

I'm watching Hannity and Colmes now. They are showing video of Iraqis dancing in the street. Geraldo Rivera is waxing poetic.

To Bin Laden: Earlier, you claimed that Zarqawi was the "emir" of Iraq. Well, guess what, you Saudi son of a whore... your butcher-of-the-month Zarqawi is NOT the emir of Iraq.

The Iraqi People are the Emir of Iraq.

To Zarqawi: Welcome to irrelevancy. I do truly hope you understand just how badly you lost today. You declared that those who would vote would become infidels; they turned out in numbers that should shame the average American. You threatened death and destruction and damnation to those who would participate in the rebuilding of their country; they ignored and defied you. You had to derail this new democractic process in order to win; you had no other choice.

And you failed. You failed utterly.

But enough of talking to those fools. My friends, between Afghanistan and Iraq, something has started. Time alone will tell if that is for good or ill.

But for now... we can rejoice with the Iraqis who now know democracy, just as we rejoiced with the Afghans back in October.

Hail, Iraq the free. Hail, Afghanistan the free. May you not be the last to claim that title.

Oh, and John Kerry is a French whore. So's Ted "water torture is bad" Kennedy. In face, he's Kerry's pimp. And that's all I have to say about that.

Moonbat freaks...

History

2005-01-26T21:13:00.000-05:00

It's just a little bit more than three days till the Iraq elections.

Odds are, folks will be yelling. A lot. Cries of "Haliburton" and "quagmire" will fill the air.

And that's just CNN. I haven't even started in on Ted Kennedy yet.

In any case, I wish to point you, ladies and gentlemen, to a new weblog: Friends of Democracy.

This blog, written and contributed to by Iraqis, will give you an inside look into that nation as it transits from a dictatorship into a democracy.

Consider it yet another counterpoint to what the news will try and feed you. It's an interesting time: let's hear about from the people who are living it.

Heh

2005-01-25T21:17:00.000-05:00

Funny story from LGF. THIS, my friends, is how you deal with jihadist punks on the Internet.

BTW, have I mentioned that LGF should be a daily read? Consider it mentioned now.

An Ad

2005-01-25T21:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm of two minds about this one. On one hand, the subject ain't all that funny. On the other hand, the ad itself IS, in a very, very macabre way.

In any case, judge for yourself.

Huntsvillians, see y'all in a couple of weeks.

Good News/Bad News

2005-01-21T19:22:00.000-05:00

While I'm thinking about it, I recommend that y'all check out Chrenkoff's blog, 'specially with the Iraqi elections comming up in nine days.

Chrenkoff does a monthly round-up of "Good News from Iraq", which chronicals the good things that have happened in the country since it's liberation. News which you probably haven't seen on the mainstream new outlets here. You can find the links to each of the individual posts on the right side of the blog page, towards the bottom.

Today, he has a post on "Bad News From a Iraq", which is essential a statistical breakdown of the media's coverage of the events in Iraq.

Give him a look. You'll probably enjoy it.

Does this surprise anyone?

2005-01-21T16:57:00.000-05:00

83.33333333333333% of me is a huge nerd! How about you?

Courtesy of MeRCTea.com. I doubt any of you are surprised by the result.

Test, in case you are curious of your own score, can be found here.

Boo...

2005-01-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

Did you hear about the college student who was upset about his end-of-semester performance in Caribbean History?

He wound up in a topical depression.

*is sacked*

Battlestar Galactica

2005-01-16T21:44:00.000-05:00

Look at those clouds. Sharon... Sharon, listen to me. Look at those clouds. Look at those clouds and then tell me that this isn't the end of everything?

Recently, the SciFi Channel has re-made the television series "Battlestar Galactica". The above quote comes from a scene in pilot movie where Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and Karl "Helo" Agathon are on the ground of their homeworld as it is being bombarded by the Cylons.

The "clouds" Karl refers to are mushroom clouds from the countless nuclear weapons that being detonated across the planet.

Why do I mention it? The miniseries was on again this afternoon, so I watched a portion of it before I went to church.

On my way to church, I drove into a sunset; the sun a large red ball on the horizon, it's light reflected in burning clouds; a beautiful sight.

What came into my mind?

Look at those clouds, and then tell me that this isn't the end of everything?

We are at war. Never forget that, never marginalize that; we are at war, not for "democracy in Iraq" or "to protect American from terrorist attacks", it goes far beyond that. We are in a war for the survival of Western Civilization.

Do you not believe that assertion? Go here, here, here... and many other places, sites, and news services. Pay special attention to LGF and Jihad Watch.

The enemy attacked the United States on September 11th, 2001. This was not the first attck of Islamism against the United States, it was merely the first we gave a meaningful response to.

Note that I said "islamism" and not terrorism in describing the enemy of 9/11: to say that we were attacked by terrorism, and by corollary, to say that we are now making war on terrorism, is the equivalaent of saying that we are making war against flanking maneuvers, or against entrenching troops.

Terrorism is a tactic, employed by many to attempt to foster change in one government or another, most famously used by the IRA and PLO.

Terrorists, in this case being primarially composed of Muslims (Islamists, Islamofascists, whatever), are the enemy who wields the sword of terrorism. They wield it to a very specific end: the complete and utter destruction of the West and the imposition, by force or by submission, of a gobal caliphate (empire) based upon Islamic Shari'a law.

i will not attempt to define Shari'a here, for you cna find far more eloquent and rigorous defintions in the sites linked above and in the blogroll; nevertheless, I will say that Shari'a is not something you wish to be under.

Of course, you probably a have a basic idea of the nature of Shari'a from what we heard of the fallen Taliban regime in Afghanistan. I ask you now to draw upon that understanding for the remainder of my pontification.

Wester Civilization is at war, led by it's inheritor and primary bastion the United States, with an enemy that seeks to snuff it out and replace it with it's own twisted concept of "civilization".

I am becoming repetitious, because the point deserves repetition: we are at war with an enemy who wishes to destroy us, not because we have not accomodated them enough, or tried to understand them enough, but simply because we exist.

Is this enemy Islam in general? I don't think so, but I do worry. Alleviate my fears, please: show me one comment from a leading imam or other Islamic scholar who repudiates the terrorist interpretation of the Koran in a manner that does not read like a "cover your ass" defense of Islam (i.e., "that statement does not come from the Koran"), that does not accuse the questioner of anti-Islamic bias and a closet desire to abrogate the rights of American Muslims, and that does not blame the "sins" of the West for the actions of the terrorists.

Please, show me one.

Either way, we can agree about a few characteristics of our enemy: they are motivated by the belief that they are doing the will of Allah, they desire our complete and utter annihilation, and they are willing to die for the chance to kill infidels and usher in Islam's dominion over the face of the earth.

Can we win this conflict of civilizations?

No, we can't.

Look at those clouds, and then tell me that this isn't the end of everything?

I hope I am wrong.

But when a large segment of our civilization seems content to prematurely kowtow to the wishes of those who support the enemy, when some of the loundest voices in the West deny that the enemy exists, when the information sources for the West whore themselves out to the propoganda needs of the Islamists, when Michael Moore proclaims that "there is no terrorist threat" and millions of Americans and even more Europeans agree with him, how can I say otherwise?

When such a portion of threated population gives up, surrenders, collaberates, and all without a fight, when they would seemingly leave Western civilation to the mercies of its very antithesis, how can any war fought under such conditions have even the slightest hope of victory?

Maybe there is; President Bush presses on, despite unprecedented vitrol from the Left and the media, despite being opposed and decried at every turn, he presses on.

Doing what? Bringing democracy to the realms where Islamofascism festers.

What do we mean, above, by "democracy"? The United States itself is not a democracy, and I doubt that we can export something that we ourselves do not posess.

No, what we are importing goes far, far beyond Athens and Washington; the "democracy" spread by the "Bush Doctrine" is a theory that extends into the politcal, economic, and philosophical regions of life. Most importantly here is the philosophical factor, i.e. that you are free to hold whatever beliefs you wish to chose, and those beliefs cannot be forced on you by the way of the gun, the prick of the knife, or the word of the government.

Such is the antithesis of shari'a.

Can such a thing defeat the enemy, by depriving it of new recruits for suicide missions?

Perhaps; even a pale light illuminates a dark place. Look to Afghanistan for an example of this; I pray that we will soon be able to look to Iraq for another.

But a pale light is not enough, and America is not the world's savior.

That title belongs to a Jew, of the line of David, who lives eternally.

Let us be clear about this: the only thing that will defeat Islamism is Christ. Christ acts, in part, though His Body on earth.

The United States is not the Body of Christ. Portions of the Body compose it, a member of the Body sits at its head, but this nation is not the Body of Christ.

Is it still an instrument of God? Yes, indeed. All are.

We were at a church in Cullman, AL, during the election drama of 2000, and it was obsevered that we might very well be looking at a moment in time whose consequences are far greater than what is immediately obvious, that there had to have been some form of spiritual struggle behind what we were seeing.

I believe that observation was correct; the events surrounding and following September of 2001 confirm it.

Who won that struggle? God. How do I know? Faith.

I said above that I do not believe that Western Civilization will not ultimately be able to win the war against Islamism, simply because so many of our people lack the will to stand against the enemy. Such is probaby needlessly pessimistic.

Should Western Civilization fall, what of my claim that the Lord won the spiritual struggle in 2000?

It will stand, whether the West fall or no. Should the West be destroyed, it's pale light extenguished and a new dark age of Shari'a spread across this continent and the world, then my faith in the Lord's sovreignty and victory will still stand.

Why?

Tell me, first: at what time do you notice a street-light, when it is day or when it is night? You do not see it during the day, even if it is the greater light, for it's light is obscured by the other light surrounding it.

You notice a street-light during the night, when all other lights are extenguished.

Should the pale light of the West fail, then the Greater Light of the Lamb will remain, and will shine all the brighter for being surrounded by naught but it's antithesis, that is darkness of the spirit.

Then the darkness will find an Enemy arrayed against it that no suicide bomber can overcome or terrify into dhimmitude.

This war of civilizations has both spiritual and temporal facets. Democracy and the United States can make inroads and great strides in alleviating the temporal pressures, but there is no final victory there.

The final victory will be spiritual one.

I appologize for rambling one as I have; these were just a few thoughts sparked by a marvelous piece of sci-fi and some wondrous light-work on the clouds, and I felt the need to record them as best as I am able. Feel free to discuss and tell me if I'm off my rocker.

Still, I wonder how long it'll be before someone finds this site, and starts sending me hate-mail?

EDIT (1/17/2005 at 5:18 P.M. EST): Fixed links in the above. Note to self: when using href tags, always include http:// in the link.

Abu Ghraib

2005-01-13T18:24:00.000-05:00

The Abu Ghraib incident has made its way back into the public eye recently, both due to the Gonzales hearings in Congress and the court martial of the miscreants involved.

In the interest of providing full information, I recommend that you go to this post from the weblog Mudville Gazett. It contains an informational quiz regarding the events of Abu Ghraib. Take the quiz, and see how well you do.

Confirm his information, as well; in such a thing as this, take nothing at its face. That goes double, of course, for the mainstream media and Ted Kennedy.

Well, maybe triple for Ted Kennedy, just as a matter of volume.

For more perspective on this issue, visit this post from Blogs of War.

The two situations don't even begin to compare, do they?

No matter how much Ted Kennedy rants and raves.

Plane Sightings II

2005-01-09T21:14:00.000-05:00

Forgot to add this on Friday, but I saw another Hornet, so the count is now:

C-130J Hercules: 5-6
C-5 Galaxy: 3
F/A-18 Hornet: 2
F-16 Falcon: 1
E-2C Hawkeye: 1

For a total of 12-13. Also, the F-22 is flying again, and they actually transported a quintet on Friday, but I wasn't outside at the time.

A Note

2005-01-09T21:12:00.000-05:00

Note to self and all others:

If you have a hard drive that has been acting "funny", do NOT install new programs on it until you've backed up it's content.

Ah well, I'd meant to switch to i-Tunes anyway.

Odd

2005-01-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

At the moment, I'm watching "Justice League Unlimited" on Cartoon Network. The plot of this particular episode is that an alien ship lands somewhere in Nevade, starts eating up everything around it, and keeps on producing more and more little spider thingys to eat more and more stuff around it. It does this through use of nanotechnology.

Following so far? Good.

So anyway, Batman figures out that the League needs to call in Professor Ray Palmer, the Atom. The Atom's power is the ability to control his size and mass and to then shrink himself down to even an atomic scale.

How, I don't know.

The League plans to transfer the Atom to the interior of the spaceship, so he can stop it. To facilitate this, Wonder Woman, escorted by Superman and a few other flying heroes that I don't recognize, has to carry the Atom the spaceship so he can get inside and do his thing.

She starts off carrying him in her left hand. Since they don't want to squish the Atom, she fights (for a while) with just one hand.

As the robot spider thingys are being regenerated at a rate roughly three times the rate of destruction, one-handed fighting on Wonder Woman's part quickly becomes unsustainable. She needs to free up the left hand.

Therefore, SHE STICKS THE ATOM DOWN THE FRONT OF HER COSTUME. He is nestled between the... clothing and, well, take a guess.

And there is no reaction shot of the Atom whatsoever. No joke made, no reference, not even a "look" on the character's face.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Minimalist

2005-01-08T20:43:00.000-05:00

Worked my first bit of overtime today.

That is all.

Events in Asia

2005-01-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

By now, I'm certain you all know of the events in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Indonesia. What more can be said, aside from the admonition to keep them in our prayers?

Much, actually; I do not mean to disparage the art of prayer by saying so.

Captain Ed, over at Captain's Quarters has started a collection, in conjuction with World Vision to raise money for the tsumani victims. He asks for his readers (and anyone we can find, really) to donate one day's worth of take-home pay by January 12th.

Go here for details; the link to the donation page is attached to the post, and labed "World Vision". Or, for convenience sake, just click here.

Also, Amazon is collecting money to donate the Red Cross; as of now, they have raised $14.2M+.

If neither World Vision nor the Red Cross suite your fancy, then head over to the USA Freedom Corps site, and scroll down, wherewithin you will find links to a large, large number of private charities that are contributing to the disaster relief.

I've provided the above information just in case any of y'all were curious as to what can be done to help.

If you are curious as to what all is occuring on the ground in the ravaged areas, then go no further than The Diplomad. The Diplomad is written by a group of career Foreign Service Officers (State Department, in other words), and one at least is stationed in one of the affected countries. It is always interesting and often funny, and is to be recommended.

It also rips the UN a new one. A LOT. In a funny, very sarcastic manner. Which explains why I like that blog, I guess.

You've Heard the One...

2005-01-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

...about the dyslexic agnostic who lies awake at night wondering if there is a dog.

He also isn't sure if said hypothetical dog goes "foow-foow" or "wow-wob".

*is arrested and shot by the Bad Humor Police*

Eggnog

2004-12-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

Two days ago, I had my first ever cup of eggnog. At work, it seems, everyone pitches in and supplies food and snacks for break time and lunch time during the week before Christmas break. On those days, then, we get to partake of a veritable feast of sundry goodies and libations.

Well, on Wednesday and Thursday, someone saw fit to bring in some cartons of Mayfield eggnog. I figured I go ahead and try, as I'd wanted to, but never had the chance.

It's pretty good stuff. It terms of flavor, it reminds a little bit of the yogurt milk the Korea Team introduced us to. Obviously, it's considerably... thicker than the yogurt milk was, and was considerable richer as well. But I liked it.

It was kinda scary how fast I developed a taste for that.

I'm sure by now all of you have heard the news about the suicide attack in Mosul. Go here for an eyewitness account of what came after (Hat Tip: Instapundit). They sent a suicide bomber into a mess hall, and then launched a mortar attack against the hospital where the wounded were taken.

Obviously we're loosing; it's Vietnam all over again; quagmire as thick as eggnog; Haliburton. At least, such seems to be the basic tone of the prevalent media coverage.

Please. Go here, and see what the brothers Omar and Mohammed (sans Ali now, sadly) have to say. Go here, and read what Alaa had to say, before the site went "thbbpth" on him.

The above sites are all run by Iraqis, by the way.

Go here and browse through Chrenkov's weekly "Good News from Iraq" installments. He's not on the blogroll yet, but he will be when I get back to my apartment in a week.

Go here and read an account of Secretary Rumsfeld's ("The Donald", as he is refered to in the tale) visit to Iraq this past week. Now, think through the MSM criticism of Sec. Rumsfeld in light of that account; read the harping of the MSM about the autopen thing, the lack of armor on vehicles, and their portrayal of Rumsfeld as a veritable incarnation of cruel indifference who hates the soldiers and wishes them all dead so he can devour their entrails in the hot sun, remember all of that... and then remember the actions of the wounded man.

Who is it, the media or "The Donald", who has the respect of the soldiers? And what can the answer to that question tell us about the nature of the sides in the debate over the war?

From CNN:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, how do we win the war in the media? It seems like that is the place where we're getting beat up more than anybody else. I've been here -- this is my third tour over here, and we have done some amazing things. And it seems like the enemy's Web sites and everything else are all over the media, and they love it. But the thing is, is everything we do good, no matter if it's helping a little kid or building a new school, the public affairs sends out the message, but the media doesn't pick up on it. How do we win the propaganda war?

The above quote is from another Q&A session with the troops, much like the one that produced the armored vehicle flap. But that is another story.

I'm not going to comment on the above, nor am I going to give Secretary Rumsfeld's answer; if you want to read it, follow the link. I am going to pose a few questions, just for y'all to think about.

1. "Sir, how do we win the war in the media? It seems like that is the place where we're getting beat up more than anybody else." This quote was said by a soldier, refering to our media. Why would he feel the need to make a comment like that, to ask a question like that?

2. What does it say about the MSM establishment that such a quesiton would need to be asked by an American soldier?

3. Why doesn't the MSM show the good we do along with the bad the enemy does?

Many of the weblogs I've linked to on the right-hand side of the page have taken on the mantle of carrying just such information, often from first hand sources. I recommend them all to you, and I'll probably add more as I come across them.

For now, just remember: good information is the only way to beat a steady diet of bad information, and the first step to winning the propoganda war is to recognize propoganda when you see it, and to reject it upon recognition.

As for the MSM... you can probably guess what my opinion is; I won't tell it here, as it is immaterial, and unprintable.

Ah, I have blathered on for long enough, forgive me.

Have a very Merry Christmas, and may the blessings of Christ follow you throughout the rest of your days. May He watch over our soldiers who are in harms way and who are home-stationed; may His gracious hands keep them and guard them and guide them to victory, in all wars that we may fight, according to His perfect will, until that Last War, when Christ Himself returns, and sets all things right.

Till then.

Dream Squelched

2004-12-21T22:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, okay, the above topic is a bit melodramatic, and in no way reflects an actual sense of squelched dream despondency on my part. I had hoped, before I returned home for Christmas, to get to see an F/A-22 in flight. Alas, it does not look like that will occur.

Yesterday a F-22 crashed on take-off at Nellis Airbase in Nevada. The pilot ejected safely (the fact that he is okay is why I feel like I can joke about this, to an extent), but the Air Force has put a hold on all further F-22 flights until further notice.

Now, that may seem like an extreme reaction to one crash, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Here you have a newly-produced line of air-superiority/attack fighter craft, and one is utterly flumoxed at take-off. There are a few possible reasons for such an incident (as near as I can see, at least), most of which revolve around problems in the flight controls or propulsion systems. Time will tell and fix, I guess.

Of course, it could also be that the engines ate an unladen Nevada swallow, but I won't say that outloud, as I don't know for sure if they even have swallows in Nevada.

On a positive note, Time Magazine has named President Bush 'Person of the Year' for 2004. Love him or hate him, I'm certain you can understand why. In my case, as I say in the hood (i.e., whenever I go outside in my raincoat or heavy coat with the built-in flop-back head protection), "Dubya's my homeboy, you dig what I say, yo?".

Unless you post on the forums of The Democrat Underground, of course, as their complete and utter revilement of everything Dubya (and Republican, and I think maybe even evangelical, for that matter) produces the brand of hateful, vulgar invective that would be amusing if it were not so... sad. Right Wing News has a listing of some of the best (unintenionally funny) and worse (downright disgusting, maddening, infuriating, inducing-incredulous-stares-at-screen-and-random-exclaimations) posts from the DU forums. While you're at RWN, browse through their Quotes Section. The Patton quotes especially are well worth it.

Also, to join in with the President's PoTY award in proving that Time Magazine does have some sense, Powerline has been award the first Blog of the Year award. They rapidly became one of my favorites during the months leading up to the election (hence why they are in the blogroll), and earned a certain degree of fame for their roll (right alongside Little Green Footballs and INDC Journal) in exposing and rending twain asunder the 60 Minutes Bush Memo Fraud back in September. I highly recommend the writtings of Hinderocket, The Big Trunk, and Deacon, so go check 'em out.

I mean, even Lynne Cheney likes 'em.

Earlier tonight (as in, about a half-hour ago), I was watching a piece of "investigative reporting" (hosted by Bryant Gumbel, no less), on some UFO landing/encounter that happened near a major RAF/USAF base in England.

Ah, here it is: "UFO INVASION AT RENDLESHAM".

All in all, in was actually rather (not in the Dan sense) interesting. The story behind the case was presently fairly and fairly well, even if there were the occasional breathless references to Roswell, NM. The basic situation involved the buzzing of the base at Rendelsham (which may or may have had a few tactical nukes stored on hand; rightly, no one confirmed that) over a period of two nights by a triangular UFO. Each night, it seems, it landed.

The guy who investigated it on the first night says he actually got close enough to touch the thing, and I had no reason to disbelieve him.

The big twist came when we discover that the two witnesses,the investigator from the first landing (who also investigated the second sighting) and another airman who was taken out to see the second 'landing site' were, in their recounts of what they saw on the second night, talking about the same phenomena but AT DIFFERENT SITES.

Gives ya gooesbumps, that does.

As with all UFO specials, this one managed to build up a good bit of suspense and paranoid tension. Between government conspiracies and hypnotic regression (which has got to be one of the most unexplainably FREAKY things I've ever seen, and I don't know why or how else to describe my reaction to it), you're rendered unable to turn around for fear of seeing a "Gray" backed-up by government agents, who are going to let the "gray" take you as part of their "agreement", and then do all sorts of obscene and degrading experiments on you and it hurts and the ACLU is too far away to file a complaint and oh my goodness is that Zeta Aquilae?

Erm, where was I? Ah, yes, agreements between the US Government and the "aliens" or whatever they are. Specifically, agreements whereby the "aliens" give "advanced technology" to the US.

Now, this is the part where all tension breaks down and I JUST HAVE TO LAUGH. They have some chick on there (a UFOlogist, I suspect) who is speculating on the nature of the technology exchange. She makes the statement that perhaps some of the great breakthroughs in this past century are as a result of "alien technology."

Her prime example? "Perhaps that stealth technology." .

Stealth technology. The best you can bleeding do is stealth technology? For the love of coherence, where do they find these people?

I can order a book from AIAA on how stealth technology works. How Stuff Works has a whole section on it. It's simply a matter of airplane geometry and the use of certain materials, nothing particularly "otherworldly" about it.

Just a bunch of smart guys at Burbank doing their thing. Granted, some probably were bald after the design phase.

Whether they were were gray and had big eyes I'll leave alone: it WAS in California, after all.

Did you know.... (II)

2004-12-18T21:18:00.000-05:00

That a city ordinance here in Kennesaw requires the head of each household to maintain a firearm and the ammunition required thereof? Provision is made for those who aren't physically or mentally capable of carrying/using a firearm, can't afford one, simply "don't belive in the things", or are convicted felons.

Either way, there you are.

Plane Sightings I

2004-12-17T22:55:00.000-05:00

Planes seen so far:

C-130J Hercules: 5-6
C-5 Galaxy: 3
F/A-18 Hornet: 1
F-16 Falcon: 1
E-2C Hawkeye: 1

The only one to take with a grain of salt is the E-2C. We were outside during a fire drill, and I did see a plane go past that matched the basic profile of the Hawkeye (complete with radar pod), but I'm not 100% sure of the ID.

90% sure, maybe.

Anyway, I'll be updating this list depending on what I see, and if I think I can report a sighting. Some of y'all know the drill.

This Past Sunday... (part II)

2004-12-14T22:07:00.000-05:00

Upon my return from church, and consumption of lunch, I proceed with the repairs. Now, the initial state here is that the computer is only recognizing the two hard drives and not the CD-ROM.

No problem: I open the case and pull the IDE cable off of the second hard disk. Knowing that I will have to go back in a few times, I do not put the case the whole way on when I reconnect the computer.

Boot up, act according to what I remember I did last time. Which means I simply install the CD-ROM drivers, power off again, disconnect, rehook IDE cable, put on case, reconnect power back on.

A quick check of Explorer reveals that the computer is only recognizing the two hard drives. I begin to grow frustrated; obviously my recollection of the prior recovery is faulty.

The next few hours proceed along the same vein. Around 4 P.M. or so functionality was finally restored to the system. Here I shall immortalize for your amusement and my own future reference the required steps for repair:

1. Open case and gain access to mother board.
2. Remove (billy yank) IDE cable from second hard drive (johnny reb).
3. Apologize to readers for the above bad civil war reference and move on.
4. Secure motherboard in case, keep cover off.
5. Connect monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
6. Power on computer. Wait for boot-up to finish.
7. Install Windows 98 Second Edition updates (this is the key to the whole operation).
8. Install required drivers (mouse, video card, LAN card, CD-ROM).
8.a. If video card install seems to stop, simply press ALT+TAB and follow the instructions on the pop-up alert box that didn't pop on top for some unfathomable reason.
9. Turn computer off.
10. Disconnect all cables.
11. Gain access to motherboard again. Reattach IDE cable to second hard drive.
12. Put everything back together, and do try to avoid throwning things across the room.
13. Reconnect monitor, keyboard, ethernet cable, and mouse.
14. Connect newly reset router to DSL modem. Connect computer to router.
15. Turn computer on. Enjoy full functionality and the firewall that comes with router.
16. Run Spybot, just to be sure.
17. Kill things Spybot finds.

So there you have my Great Virus Adventure. By this time the silvan elves of Mirkwood have slaughtered the vile orcs and I find myself as their guest. Somehow I have convinced them that I am one of the Dunedain.

Anyway, that night was also the night of Kennesaw First Baptist's Christmas Program. Fun night, that was, and just what I needed after the frustration and near computer-cide of the earlier afternoon.

It began frivolous enough; standard Christmas decorations of lights, fake poinsettas, the works. They even had a plastic/fabric facsimile of a snowman in one corner of the stage.

The choir began by singing the fun, easy going Christmas songs. "Jingle Bells", "Deck the Halls", etc. At "Frosty the Snowman", during a strategic verse of the song, the snowman is revealed to be a REAL LIFE PERSON IN A SNOWMAN SUIT who then proceeded to suit actions to song lyric and danced around on stage.

I pity the poor guy for having had to have spent the first fifteen minutes of the program crounched on the stage motionless pretending to be a fake snowman. Had to have been murder on his knees.

One good thing about living in Georgia is that there is little if any of the irrational "saying Christmas is teh (yes, I meant to type 'teh'=ed) right-wing religious nut conspiracy to disenfranchise athiests!" being thrown about here in Kennesaw. The songs that the adult choir and the kids choir sang together, just in the mixing of the words and the sounds of the voices, were things of grandeuer.

All for now; it's "late" for me. Good night one and all.

This Past Sunday... (part I)

2004-12-14T21:46:00.000-05:00

Was a fascinating day. To begin the tale, we must go back in time a pace, to Saturday night.

I'm sitting at home, relaxing, surfing the internet. For some motive as yet unexplained by reason and modern psychiatry, I'm using IE 5.5 instead of Firefox. It's about 11 P.M., I'm minding my own business (though I should be in bed), when suddenly, my computer beings to process very furiously. Now, this happens every now and then, depending on what I have running in the background.

The combination of applications at that point was not one that normally produces furious CPU and hard disk action. I begin to grow concerned.

Said concern reaches what I thought was a zenith of intensity as I press CTRL+ALT+DEL to call up the list of what programs are running at the time.

I do not recognize a good one quarter of the programs on the list. The zenith, I realize, was little more than a piddling lookout point facing a rice paddy, with a sign that points towards a darkened, weaving trail that winds and coils it's way into a dense, Mirkwood-esque forrest.

Did I mention that the winding path is one of those automatic horizontal-escalators you see at some airports and gigantic malls? Except this one is covered in a superglue-cement mix.

Drawn inexorably forward towards certain OS doom, unable to escape and knowing that there is no Thranduil waiting in the woods to great me with wine and meat; I am on my own and my only defense is a rusty blade from Dunland.

From the CTRL+ALT+DEL menu I proceed to shut down the anomolous programs. Some are running twice, none die easily; most required two presses of the shutdown button before the "Program Not Responding" box would appear.

Such was not the end of my travails; I continued to hack away at the spiders with the Dunland blade, wishing that I had an elven blade, even just a dagger, one that I might have more confidence in it's forged bite than I do my own.

In the end, a blade of elven smithery would have been fortuitous, as it turned out that orcs were near.

Knowing that whatever set the programs to running had probably installed something a little more permament (to snipe me in the rear when my guard is down and I'm not working, the viperous spawn of perdition...> I proceed to the Control Panel and call up Add/Remove Programs.

Yup. Not a whole lot of unauthorized stuff, but enough to make me nervous. It is a simply matter, or it should be; highlight the program, press the "Remove" button, and click okay when asked.

But always read the questions, as I half expect one of these "applications" to someday request my immortal soul and the right to consume my bowels when I die.

Most of these "Remove" actions go all right. Two do not.

One succeeds on the second time. The second produces yet more furious CPU processing and hard drive access; the computer begins, as the fellow in the AOL commercial says, to make the sound of a Yeti.

I close the Add/Remove Programs window and the Control Panel. The noise and access stops. Okay, I think to myself, it's probably over now. I'll just go into msconfig and make sure that nothing... unnecessary starts with Windows.

As I move the mouse to the Start button, I glance at the left side of the desktop.

*%^*@#!!

The Recycle Bin, My Documents Folder, My Briefcase Folder, and Internet Explorer Icons have all SIMPLY VANISHED INTO THE DIGITAL ETHER. Discovering a new definition of the "zenith of concern" as I contemplate the loss of the My Documents folder, I proceed to feel a STONE FORMING IN MY GUT as I watch my computer slowly SHED ITSELF in much the same way that Vladimir Komarov's Soyuz I spacecraft did on it's ill-fated maiden voyage.

I can no longer run programs by clicking on their icons, either on the desktop on on the quick-start bar. The only start menu function that woks in the Run window; from that I see that "My Documents" has indeed disappeared from the hard drive, and from experiment that most of the programs are well nigh dead.

By the time I recovered my mind enough to hit CTRL+ALT+DEL twice for reboot, all the icons on the desktop had gone to the default windows icon (white background with the small flying windows thingy in the middle) instead of their program specific images.

I tell myself not to panic; perhaps, I rationalize, this is some passing thing, and will recover with the reboot. Yes, that is it; a reboot solves all.

"General Protection Fault yadda yadda yadda in module explorer.exe". At boot-up.

*&*^#^%#!!! Orc ambush. I curse my lack of elven steel as I am carried towards the torture pits of Dol Goldur.

Needless to say, this means that my computer WILL NOT START, and I cannot remember which key to press, or when, to bring up the start-up options.

Fortunately, I have a Hewlett-Packard, so I have another option: the Recovery CD. This is a CD-ROM, that is bootable, that contains all the information that was originally installed on the computer.

Hoo-ray! I can recover!

I plug the CD in during one of the stare-at-non-functioning-windows moments, then reboot the computer. Boot up, go through a few menus, installation begins.

I go lie down. It is now well after 1 A.M., and I am tired. I can't sleep; I am overcome with worry and unabashed trepidation for the contents of the "My Documents" directory. I rise from my bed and return to my computer a while later.

The install has completed.

Now, some of you may remember that a few months back I reformated the C: drive and did a reinstall, just to try and fix some system instability. You may also remember that I discovered a conflict centering around the second hard disk and the CD-ROM: Windows 98, at the original install, would only recognize and access one, and not the other.

Yes, it was the same case again. Wearily, and still somewhat a captive of the orcs (though my captors have now been waylaid by on of Thranduil's hunting bands), I shut the computer down and proceed to bed.

More to follow

New Gadget

2004-12-14T19:05:00.000-05:00

If you will kindly scroll down to the very bottom of the page, you will see that this site now has a visitor counter. Special thanks to Site Meter for their free counter provision.

Did you know...

2004-12-10T23:11:00.000-05:00

That ALF has his own talk show now on TV Land?

Funny Incident

2004-12-10T18:15:00.000-05:00

Today I was reading through the manual for the Automated Technical Manual system that I'll be using. I'll be doing a lot of this, as they can't actually train me on the ATM system till after the new year.

Anyways, the system uses various SGML tags to generate the contents of a technical manual. Naturally, after it gives the tags for a particular part of the manual, it shows an example of what the tag sets produce when compiled and processed and whatnot.

One particular set of tags is used to produce a cover page that contains a set of byline tags. These produce a "By: ______" with the spaces filled in by entered text. Now, for whatever reason, the manual had two different cover page examples. I can't remember why, but there they were.

The first cover page had "A. Dent" next to the byline. Now, I didn't laugh too much at that one; I caught the possible reference, but figured it could have been a coincidence, or someone making a standard "dent" joke. Then I turned a few pages and all doubt was removed.

The second byline was "F. Prefect."

Had a right chuckle over that one, I did.

Title Explaination

2004-12-08T00:18:00.000-05:00

Howdy again. Work seems to be shaping up well, I'm getting set into a schedule (I think), so I figured I might as well go ahead and explain something.

The title of this blog, before some of you assume that I am taking a moderately egotiscial stance, is an allusion to Isaiah 42:1-3, specifically the third verse. In these verses, God tells Isaiah the character of Messiah:

Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

So anyway, you're probably asking where I'm going with the above quotation. Think through the bolded section, the statement that Messiah will not break a "bruised reed". He does not break those who are weak. By break, now, I do not refer to the brokenness that comes from and accompanies repentence; indeed, that I've experience many times in my life, and will more than likely experience even more as time goes by.

By "break" I refer to the brokenness that accompanies destruction, i.e., being rent twain assunder. As you can guess, this is not an occurance conductive to continued survival and growth. Yet, we would all, for whatever reason, deserve just such a "breaking" at His hands.

I am an unbroken reed; I am bruised, though foolishness and wrong actions of my own doing. Yet because of the mercy of my God and Savior, He hasn't not broken me yet. In time, then, under His care and preservation my "bruises" can heal; and this reed will stand tall and whole, with Him as the root.

Till then, just a few parting thoughts in a completely different vein.

1. Watched "The Last Starfighter" on Cinemax (I think it was Cinemax, at least). Good movie, very underrated. Best Line:
(Centauri has just told Alex Rogan about several Great Men from Earth and Star League history)
Alex: Look, Centauri, I'm none of those guys. I'm just a kid from a trailer park.
Centauri: If that's what you think, then that's all you'll ever be.

2. Currently watching "The Last Samurai" on HBO. Must be a "Last" thing going on here on something. However, I am glad that I'll have to go to bed before the ending. I like the movie, but the last part, where Algrin prostrates himself before the Emperor Meiji, just disturbs me. Both of my grandfathers, fought in one way or another to stop the imperial ambitions of Emperor Hirohito (who was a descendent of Meiji).

3. Today is the 63rd anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Our grandfather's saw it with their own eyes; we only have their stories and pictures to make our memories of that time. Let us remember how out nation was attacked then, and let us remember what our nation accomplished in response.

In any event, good night.

Hello

2004-12-06T00:04:00.000-05:00

Hello, blogosphere. Don't really know what I'm gonna do with this thing, but its something I figure might be fun to do now that I'm settled in one spot for a while. As for what next, well... we'll see. Tomorrow, I'll explain what the title refers too (just in case those of you who I'll send the link to can't guess. Following that, who knows; at times I'll be silent, at times I'll be funny, and at times I'll rant and rave.

In the mean times, here's one more word to y'all in Huntsvegas, something that I would have said if I hadn't been touched beyond the ability of coherent speach by the send-off at the apartment. Seriously, you guys have no idea how much that meant to me :).

Anyway, to (slightly) mis-quote from the musical version of "Les Miserables", the third verse of 'Drink With Me':

Drink with me
To days gone by.
Sing with me
The songs we knew.
At the shrine of friendship
Never say die;
Let the wine of friendship
Never run dry.
Here's to you
And here's
To me.

In any event, I must shortly go to bed, as work begins early for me in the morning. G'night, blogosphere.