Category: Blogroll

Feelin’ just a tad curmudgeonly–why! almost (relatively speaking) gay! *heh*–today, so while this list won’t be all “rainbows and roses and whiskers on kittens” it may not be as grumpy and sarcastic as such a list would usually be…

So, just off the top of my head, a few of my favorite things:

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1. I love it when some doofus website designer sets the browser sniffer to tell me my browser won’t work for the site’s content. Ha! I laugh as such oafs! Set my browser to mask itself as the preferred browser for that site and screw the website designer. With a BIG, rusty screw.

2. Microsoft. It provides me with soooo much work via its bloated, buggy insecure-ware. Love it. Love to hate it. It’s a win-win for me. What’s not to like?

3. Zoom-zoom speeders. I love watching them zip by at unsafe speeds, knowing that it’s extremely likely I’ll pass them later at a traffic light (if not at the scene of the smoking wreckage). I frequently cheerfuly (sneeringly) wave as I pass… tootling along at the posted speed.

4. Crisp fall days; mouldy leaves; neighbors burning old sweat socks (well, it smells worse, but I’ve not been able to get the corrupt twc LEOs to bust ’em for meth manufacturing–if that’s what it is): the wonders of fall in America’s Third World Countyâ„¢.

5. Trick-or-treaters. Gives The Boys their fun workout barking their hearts out. Which cues the neighbors’ dogs to join in. Candy for T-or-T-ers? What? I should contribute to the growing epidemic of child obesity and juvenile diabetes? I’m not that cruel. I’ll scare the lil devils, but I won’t kill ’em with sweets. “Here, kid, have a peanut. Don’t hurt yourself cracking it open!”

*heh*

6. Gas prices. Heck, they’re only 10X (well, not even that quite yet) what they were 40 years ago when I was making 1/50 the $$/hour. What with that and my car getting more than twice the mpg that the car I had then was getting, I’m coming out WAY ahead!

7. Telemarketers. I love having someone that society, the law and my conscience gives me free rein to blast to my heart’s content. (Then I report them to our state’s attorney general for further harrassment. Man, I love this stuff!)

8. Stray dogs. Never can get enough target practice. (No, I live ~300 feet within “city” limits, so I don’t take the mayor’s advice and “mistake ’em for coyotes and shoot ’em”–firearm discharge w/in “city” limits is strictly regulated. No, no .30-.40*; I use my slingshot.)

9. Playing with the mess Windows networking makes of the simplest network. Yeh, yeh, this is a subset of #2, but it’s so special I had to give it a separate slot. Compared with SAMBA-enabled Linux boxes, Windows boxes are such a pain in the tuchous to manage that it brings in the $$. (I’m not sadist OR masochist enough to tout folks onto Novell’s networking products. Sure, it’d bring in lots more $$ for me, but the pain I’d inflict on others and the pain in the neck–really a MUCH lower pain–for me to maintain wouldn’t be worth it.)

10. Socks. No, no major negatives to rejoice in here. I just like wearing them. Laundering them and then mating them up later… well, that’s NOT a favorite thing. (Yeh, yeh: I’ve tried alla those lil tricks about securing pairs of socks together before washing: they do not work. Socks are escape artists, able to escape both the ties that bind them to each other in the wash and to another dimension, where they mate with socks from other pairs and produce weird hybrids like… ties!)

11. “…miles and miles of files, pretty files of your forefathers’ fruit”–the effluvia of years and years of not throwing out the junk family members dump on us. It keeps me living, I tell ya! (I just canNOT die before I’ve cleared out some of this crap! ;-))

12. Inkjet refill kits. Almost like playing with a kids’ chemistry set. I love exploring the chemistry necessary for removal of the inks from hands and clothes and keyboards and… *heh*

13. Pens. I must really love these things, even though I rarely use ’em any more. I know I must really love ’em cos I have drawersful, mugsful of ’em and they still clutter my desktop, keyboard drawer and I’m sure there are even some in my sock drawer (I just hope I don’t find some in my underdrawers). Of course, when I do need one…

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Noted at the Thursday Thirteen Hub–join in!

And, Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Right Truth, The World According to Carl, The Populist, Shadowscope, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Leaning Straight Up, and High Desert Wanderer, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

*The Winchester Model 1895 that is usually called a “.30-.30” is rightly chambered as a .30-.40

Some corners of the blogosphere are all a-twitter about Laura Bush’s supposed donning of an abaya during a recent trip to Saudi Arabia on a diplomatic mission about “women’s issues”–specifically, breast cancer awareness. As oftn is the case, the twitterers are straining at gnats and passing a camel.

Context is important. Here’s a contrarian view from an American woman who was present at the “incident”:

“The controversial photo shows Bush donning a black headscarf decorated with the iconic pink bows signifying breast cancer awareness. It was the only time Bush covered her head during the trip and the episode lasted perhaps a minute.

“The scarf in question was a gift to Bush from a dozen Saudi women who shared their experiences fighting breast cancer with the first lady. The morning meeting was touching and intimate, the sort of bonding experience that opens hearts and minds in diplomatically useful ways.

“Upon receiving the gift, Bush did what any decent, well-mannered person would do. She demonstrated her appreciation by placing the scarf on her head. In Saudi Arabia, it was a sweet, wordless gesture of friendship and mutual respect.”

While I don’t appreciate the administration’s cozy relationship with the Saudis* (heck, not just the administration: the State Department and Congress are also filled with Saudi-holics), this may not be the incident to hang ones hat on. I would, however, agree with the characterization of Laura Bush’s action as thoughtless, automatic “good manners” that ought to have been dispensed with on two counts: it’s a head scarf, in Saudi Arabia fer heaven’s sake! Come on, Laura! While it certainly showed respect and appreciation for the women who gave it to you, it carries a weight of symbolism beyond the pink bows.

The incident to be outraged about is the whole diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia thing. The only diplomacy the Saudis should recieve is at the end of a gun barrel. The kindest, gentlest “diplomacy” the Saudis have earned through their fake “friendship” with the U.S. would be to demolish their water desalinization plants, blockade the country and sell ’em water at $100/barrel.

The whole trip was a stupid, stupid idea to begin with. Laura Bush wearing a breast cancer awareness head scarf was just something for the ADD crowd to get in an uproar about.

*Do recall my name for Laura’s husband, “Fifi Mohammed I-never-met-a-Mexican-President-Whose-Lap-I-Didn’t-Like or a Saudi(*spit*)-‘Prince’-Whose-Hand-I-Didn’t-Love-to-Hold Bush”.

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Read ’em all here. First up, National Security:

The first responsibility of government is to protect the American people, the homeland, and our way of life. Today we face the urgent threat of radical Islamic terrorists. Al Qaeda is committed to attacking us here at home, and wants to use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to kill millions. We must never give them that opportunity. We must defeat the terrorists abroad, and that begins in Iraq and Afghanistan—the central fronts in this global war. We must show the world we have the will to fight and win. A weakened America – or an America that appears weaker – will only encourage further attacks. We must persevere. As Commander-in-Chief, the president must ensure the United States has the means to achieve victory. Presidential leadership requires talking to the American people about these stakes, mapping out a clear vision for success, and devising a comprehensive strategy for achieving it. I am committed to:

A larger, more capable, and more modern military that can defeat terrorists, deter adversaries, and defend the U.S. and our interests.
A missile defense system that can protect the U.S. and our allies from long-range ballistic missiles.
An enhanced intelligence community, with robust human-intelligence capabilities, focused on terrorism and proliferation.
A robust approach to homeland security that will protect our nation from terrorists and WMD, regardless of where they come from.
A strengthened system of global alliances to better combat terrorists, proliferators, and traditional threats to our interests.
A judicial system that deals with the realities of terrorists and unlawful enemy combatants.

What politicians *spit* so often lose sight of in our instand gratification, vote-buying, “gimme, gimme, gimme” society is that the primary purpose of government–the one without which no goivernment has any real legitimacy–is the protection of its citizens from outlaws. Fred seems to know this. Maybe it was his time spent as a feddle gummint prosecutor, or maybe it has something to do with his roots in Tennesee. *heh* (He was born in Sheffield, Alabama, but the family moved to Lawrenceburg, Tennesee soon after.) Whatever the source of that knowledge, he’s certainly on track with his national security comments.

See the rest of his position articulations at his site.

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Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate’s Cove, Perri Nelson’s Website, , Big Dog’s Weblog, The Populist, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Well, as reluctant as I have become to embrace any politician *spit*, I have read Fred Thompson’s positions, examined as much as I have yet had time to examine of his past history (record in the Senate, legal work, etc.) and have tentatively come to the conclusion that of all the men running for the Presidency (including the Hildebeast–who seems to have more testosterone than “her” hormone-driven “husband”), Fred Thompson seems to be closest to my views.

See his position statements–paying very, very careful to his statement about Federalism–and study them. Compare them to his record. The guy just makes sense on more topics than the other guys do, and has a track record that–more than most–bears out his committment to his stated positions.

Sure, I know some like Ann Coulter have gone to seed on his failure to vote for a conviction of Bill Clinton on the impeachment charges (and I’d like to have a heart-to-heart with him on that one, myself), but unlike Ron Paul–the only other person who (surprise!) even approaches my views on a majority of issues but who has a serious and glaring fault in his wrongheadedness on Iraq:cluebat, Ron–we broke it, it’s ours to fix–whose record is also consistent with his stated views. Thompson is 1. electable and 2. not a loon (Paul’s courting of conspiracy theorists and his accusations of deception leading up to the Iraq adventure are pure loony).

Duncan Hunter is far too tainted with Washington D.C. mentality.

Mike Huckabee wants to be the Second Coming of the Messiah (or is that “Southron Baptist Mahdi”? *shudder*)–watch out for his good intentions: “I’m from the government; I’m here to help” are probably the eight most terrifying words in the English language. *sigh* He actually thinks government should substitute for personal responsibility! Yep. From his own mouth and record.

*profound sigh*

Tancredo is a one trick pony. I like the guy and agree with his position, but he really only as one issue. Yes, it’s an important issue. Of paramount importance for the feds. But it’s not the only one, Tom. (Yeh, yeh, I know he has “positions” on other issues, but they’re just pale, imitation positions: all else is completely overshadowed by his one trick.

McCain? Puhlease! I’d not vote for Snake McCain for dogcatcher even were I lobotomized and given a one-choice ballot. I despise the air that creature breathes.

Rudy? Not a chance. His one qualification (Mayor of NYC–did a credible job, didn’t fall to pieces after 9-11) is not nearly enough to balance out the simple fact that he’d be the final stake through whatever shred of principle is left in the Republican’t Party.

Oh, forgot Mitt Romney, the Mormon winup toy. An automaton who can with a clear conscience flip from one position to another saying his former positions are (redundancy alert) “old history” … because he’s a construct, a puppet, a windup toy, and such things simply do not have consciences.

Who’s left? Realistically, Fred. And the more I look at the issues, his record and his position statements, the more comfortable I am with the choice.

And I mean that I’m much more comfortable in seriously considering actually supporting the guy’s run than I was voting for GWB in 04. Seriously. That was a “lesser of two evils” vote. Granted, it was a MUCH lesser of two evils vote. And even with the fact that GWB has utterly lost my respect by lying to me (to all of us) about his amnesty push, signing McCain-Feingold, playing footsie with the Saudis (instead of kicking their asses for their continued support of jihadism and the terrorism it actively encourages) and more, my 04 vote for GWB wasn’t wasted.

After all, at least I don’t have to wake up in the morning to read about “President Jean Fraud sKerry,” now do I?

But I’m growing more fond of the idea of a “President Fred.” Just say that a few times. Wouldn’t that roll trippingly off the tongue in introductions to foreign dignitaries? *heh*

Better than “President Bill” was or “President Hildebeast” *shudder* would be, eh?

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Trackposted to Pirate’s Cove, Perri Nelson’s Website, , Big Dog’s Weblog, and DragonLady’s World, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

It occurred to me a bit ago (though not for the first time) that while most campaign finance laws seem geared toward enabling skullduggery (just look at McCain/Feingold, for an example) rather than actually curbing it, the one real lack in political campaign laws is one that would allow common citizens to sue their elected officials for failing to actively pursue the platforms they campaigned on. Call it an “Truth in Campaigning” law. As it stands, everyone simply expects that 90% (or more–perhaps in some cases 100%) of a politician’s *spit* “promises” are anything from complete hot air to flat out lies, with the rare candidate who actually means what he says (and is likely not elected).

Heck, at the federal level, I’d support an “Honesty in Politics” amendment. We’d still have loony idiots, charlatans and creeps elected (by constituents who are themselves loony idiots, charlatans and creeps), but at least then we could more surely expect those who were elected to adhere to their campaign promises (heck, I’d almost be satisfied if they simply adhered to their oaths of office).

Until activist judges and Mass Media Podpeople got involved, of course.

*sigh*

Tea Party, anyone?

*heh*

Just a passing thought…

Saying “venal, dishonest politician” *spit* is like saying “stupid little Chihuahua” isn’t it? Perhaps not. While I am sure there may be one (perhaps even two!) politicians *spit* who are not lying, corrupt scumbags, surely there can be no Chihuahua (the so-called “dog” not the town or state in Mexico, of course)–that long-legged rat species that masquerades as a dog for gullible neurotics–that is not both stupid and little.

And as stupid as these critters are, what does that say about people they can fool into thinking they are dogs? Hmmm, come to that, as stupid and venal as politicians almost invariably prove themselves to be–or amazingly willing to become–what does that say about the people who continue to re-elect so many of them to public office?

After all, stupid is as stupid does, right?

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Trackposted to Stop the ACLU, Lost Paradise, Big Dog’s Weblog, A Blog For All, and Church and State, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

No, not Fred Reed this time, Fred Thompson. I saw this first at Leaning Straight Up and checked the Fred08 site out as a result. Folks, each and every point made in Fred’s position statement on this issue is straight and true and on target. Every one is in the X-ring. Read it. Really. READ IT. To begin with,

A fundamental responsibility of the federal government is to secure the nation’s borders and enforce the law.

*Hmph* That’s certainly something FIfi Mohammed Bush and his partners in crime (Democraps and Republican’ts alike who want to erase our borders) have sneeringly dismissed from their areas of responsibility. Fred’s “position paper” goes on to describe specific steps he proposes to “secure the nation’s borders and enforce the law”.

The only thing I’d add would be a system encouraging citizens to turn in companies and individuals they believe are violating immigration law. Perhaps a $5,000 reward per illegal deported as a result (tax free :-)) would be a good thing. No, not perhaps; I could retire a moderately well-off man on a reward like that. *heh* And still do a world of good for the citizens of this country, as well as for those who are willing to follow the law and seek entry legally.

Oh, and I very, very much appreciate Fred’s point 4:

English As Official Language. Make English the official language of the United States to promote assimilation and legal immigrants’ success, and require English proficiency in order for any foreign person to be granted lawful permanent resident status.

Yes, we really do need that. Heck, it’d do a world of good to have English exams for citizens born and raised here before they could exercise certain aspects of their citizenship… It’d have the salutory effect of limiting some of the harm done by subliterate Mass Media Podpeople, for example, if they had to show a proficiency in English (more and more of what I hear issuing from their pie holes is alien gibberish, straight from the Mothership orbiting Uranus *LOL*), but that’s another issue, eh?

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Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, AZAMATTEROFACT, Republican National Convention Blog, Jo’s Cafe, and The Uncooperative Radio Show!, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

“Never ascribe to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity.”–attributed to Napoleon

As I was out driving Prostate Washboard Road about 0-Dark-Thirty this ayem, I was once again reminded that the best intentions of even very intelligent, well-meaning people, urm, “gang aft agley“.

*heh*

Driving along on twisty-turny two-lane washboard of a road. High beams on, naturally. Another vehivle approaches and we both dim our lights, except… I turned mine completely off! You see, the engineers who designed the car put the on-off switch right on the end of the light stalk (how I often miss the old floor dimmer switch!) and it rotates very, very easily.

Right. Dimmed the beam and turned the lights off at the same time as I drew the light stalk–which is juuust far enough from the steering wheel to require removing ones hand from the steering wheel (on a twisty-turny two-lane road) to securely high/low beam–toward me to dim the headlamps.

Disconcerting? Yeh, and in slightly different circumstances potentially fatal.

I’m sure the design team carefully considered all the situations the average driver might encounter in average driving conditions, but it’s difficult to plan ahead to every circumstance, even more diffifult when planning for the “average person” in a diverse population, cos the “average Joe” DOES NOT EXIST. Such a person is simply a mental construct.

It’s even worse whenever politicians *spit*, bureaucrats, educrats or some other class that makes decisions affecting large numbers of people try to fix something they broke to begin with. The Law of Unintended Consequences insists that, however benign their intentions, however bright and capable individual politicians *spit*, bureaucrats, educrats, etc., may be, their meddling will always create proplems that did not exist before their intervention.

And, of course, savvy politicians *spit*, bureaucrats, educrats, etc., know this and simply consider it “job security”–though not aloud where those whose lives they’ve screwed around with can hear them.

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Trackposted to Nuke’s, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, , Woman Honor Thyself, guerrilla radio, Right Truth, The Populist, The World According to Carl, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, The Amboy Times, The Bullwinkle Blog, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

So, Steven Colbert *yawn* is “running for President” (in North–oops!– South Carolina, only, at last word)… and possibly running afoul of “feddle gummint” bureaucraps in the process. *sigh*

“How serious can you get about running as a joke?” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign finances. “The Federal Election Commission doesn’t have a great sense of humor.”

Hey! FEC, gettaclue! Colbert’s not even as serious a candidate as Pat Paulson was. Now, him I could see as a serious candidate, given some of the other loons running “seriously”. Too bad he died in 1997. Heck, Paulson’s corpse would be a better candidate than some of today’s current crop of politicians. *spit*

Loved one of Paulson’s campaign slogans (one that almost anyone could use in debating nearly every one of the current crop of presidential candidates):

“I’ve upped my standards. Now, up yours.”

Colbert is, urm, bush league by comparison.

UPDATE: A comment by Barb led me inevitbly to think of this:

*heh*

(BTW, the Bee Gees are often slammed as musicians by people with little or no real musicality of their own. Or even simple appreciation for music or the ability to recognize the lil things like, oh, pitches *sigh* The numbers of contemporary “artists” who wouldn’t recognize a song if it bit them in the a**, however, are legion. Take rap. Please. *heh*

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“sent to Coventry”

The explosive subject of race and genetics has sullied the reputations of many scientists over the decades but none quite so famous as James Watson, who was suspended by his laboratory in New York late Thursday over his comments implying that black people have inferior intelligence.

Now, before my post is misused to assert that I think all blacks are less intelligent than all whites, let me assure you that I know more (well more) than a few blacks I consider my intellectual superiors and I meet white folks (daily! continually! without ceasing!) who are dumber than a bag of hammers.

That has nothing whasoever to do with the simple fact that James Watson’s observation is true, is borne out consistently in scientific investigation: unquestionably true that as a class (see here for one discussion of classes as I use the term here) blacks consistently demonstrate a lower intelligence (lower “g” if you will). That is is true is made obvious by the fact that no critic of his comments (zero, zilch, nada, complete and total absence of any whatsoever) have done anything but make ad hominem attacks upon Dr. Watson.

Name-calling absent any facts to support the labeling is no argument. That Watson’s attackers have no argument is obvious in the fact that they make no attempt to make any argument whatsoever.

The sun and moon and stars revolve around their flat earth and you’d damned well better not say differently because they can’t hear you over the fingers in their ears and the loud chanting of “La-la-la-la-la”.

Fred Reed says it well:

All right: Will anyone give me one scientific reason why separated groups of people should not have evolved different levels of intelligence? Groups differ in hair color, color of skin, shape of eyes, ratios of various long bones to others, biochemistry, and brain size. Give me one reason why all groups must be precisely identical in intelligence. Just one reason, and Watson’s argument fails. I’m waiting.

No one doubts, as long as blacks (or women) are not involved, that differences in intelligence can exist between subspecies, which is what the races are. No one will take exception if I say that Border Collies are smarter than pit bulls, or that they have been genetically selected for intelligence. Nor will anyone suggest that the difference is cultural, or that breeds of dogs are “social constructs,” or that Border Collies do not exist because intermediate breeds do.

Oh, as always with Fred, there’s more. It’s just that this time his sarcasm almost entirely takes a back seat to simple, clear reasoning.

Update: a reader at Chaos Manor in Review points out,

We hear loudly from critics when a white scientist of European descent points out that black racial groups have lower IQ scores on average, than whites. But if the point is to prove the racial superiority of whites, then why do they also conclude that East Asians are smarter than whites, and that Ashkenazi Jews are the smartest of all. Those latter conclusions are hardly going to appeal to your average white supremicist….

As a plain old “white” guy of European descent who is neither an Ashkenazi Jew nor (obviously) Asian, I have no problem acknowledging the simple fact that those two classes are smarter than the class I belong to, and that indeed, there are many in those two classes who are worlds and away more intelligent than I am.

Big stinking deal. I guess that makes me a racist who’s biased against “white” folks of European descent, eh?

*Feh* All these claims of racism (or sexism) whenever someone notes facts distinguishing classes of persons is just B.S.

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Trackposted to Nuke’s, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, DragonLady’s World, The Populist, Shadowscope, Pirate’s Cove, Webloggin, Leaning Straight Up, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Cat, High Desert Wanderer, Right Voices, and Conservative Thoughts, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.