Category: FWIW

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Clowns to the Right. . . Jokers to the Left. . .

But I REFUSE to be stuck in the middle of them.

There is almost no real news anymore. Almost all that purports to be so is Hivemind propaganda. It’s to the point that such sites as The Onion, Duffleblog, and The Babylon Bee are as reliable (or seemingly more so *sigh*) than “accredited” media sources.

And the so-called “right” end of the spectrum is little more reliable than the so-called “left” end of the media spectrum. While the opinion columnists at Townhall are generally more truthful than front page “news” at the New York Slimes, so-called “news” sites/organs such as Worldnet Daily, Breitbart, The Blaze,and ZeroHedge are all, to varying degrees, propaganda for the putative “right.”

Frankly, I don’t ascribe to Zero Hedge, for example, any more credibility than any other Hivemind “reporting.” Sure, like ABCNBCCBSMSNBCFOX, etc., it is propaganda, but every lie at least has a truthful counter. Zero Hedge can serve as a source of “idiot bait” research. In that, it can also be a “serious” source of info. . . of sorts (about as much as with any other Hivemind organ, give or take), if one really digs. 😉 Also, just like other aspects of the Hivemind (reflecting the biases of every point on Pournelle’s Political Axes), it can serve as a way of checking on what the Hivemind (at least its portion) is trying to obscure, twist, or otherwise outright lie about. Pulling the threads for amusement, if nothing else, can provide a few moments of entertainment, at least, and occasionally, as with other Hivemind elements, the facts it twists can be verified and lead to real and useful information when placed in their original context.

I laugh at the times I took Walter Cronkite seriously (as anything but an effective propagandist).

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Warning Shots

I am a firm believer in ONLY firing proper “warning shots. The only exception to this rule is if an aggressor is wearing body armor. Or is a zombie. Or is a zombie wearing body armor.

Thatisall.

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Déjà Vu All Over Again?

AFAIK, I’ve read everything David Weber has written, even the insane book where Dracula saves humanity from an alien invasion. A laugh riot, for sure, though I’m not sure Weber intended it as such. And for the past ten books or so, every time I pick one up, I ask myself “Why?” Whole swaths of dialog and descriptive narrative seem unnecessarily repetitive (and of much of the “banter” dialog, the less said the better. Actually, the less written and even less read the better).

And would SOMEONE please get through to Weber (or someone–anyone–with a red pencil that works at Baen and/or Tor) to correct his sadly illiterate misuse of “temporal” in his descriptions of civil (secular) officials and clergy gatherings as “lords secular and temporal”? All the phrase does is MISdescribe the group as “lords secular and secular.” #gagamaggot

temporal =
a : of or relating to time as opposed to eternity
b : of or relating to earthly life
c : lay or secular RATHER THAN clerical or sacred : civil lords temporal

Ah, but skipping over the unfortunate babblegab in Weber books does come as the price one pays for otherwise not badly told stories with moral/ethical questions dealt with in ways that are at least somewhat edifying in the end. Maybe that’s why, oh, once every 300-400 books read, I’ll pick up another one by him.

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Transitions: Strange Decos

Until we purchase paint tomorrow, and then do the painting, our living room will look a bit. . . weird, at least to my eye.

The new flooring is fine–looks great–but we still have the “Amaryllis Yellow” (over plaster) on three walls, with a “Stadium Red” accent wall (muted by a black glaze sponge treatment) behind the bookcases/entertainment center. It all looked well pulled together with the blond flooring we had before, but just doesn’t work with the new “bronzed acacia wood” flooring. Besides, I just put up our new drapes (anticipating the paint to come; they’ll come down easily during the paint job), and while they are a really pleasant blue, the blue-yellow-red combo is just too, too Hobbit-ish. *heh*

The new wall color will be better: a dove gray on all four walls, with a black sponge glaze treatment on the book/ec wall over the dove gray.

Still need to add the trim back–and add a bit more–as well as a new valence for the drapes. Methinks the trim will be a nice oyster color. *shrugs* Probably. Oh, but speaking of drapes, hung them on dual rods, so we can add sheers later. The new drapes are “blackout” drapes, and with sheers added, that will give us a lot of flexibility in window treatment. I do need to repair my faux “stained glass” treatment of the bay window where the cats have worn out a viewport. Maybe I’ll make a “porthole” for them; maybe not. 😉

A nice lil fillip: dove gray will pickup the mottled gray 1’x2′ tile at the entry door.

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Rights: Whence Come They?

Sidebar: I avoid terms like “gun rights,” because the real issue is the inherent right of every individual to defend one’s own life and limb against an aggressor (individual or group) doing or threatening to do harm, and to defend his loved ones and the otherwise defenseless innocent from the same. Guns are just one of many tools (excellent and effective tools, indeed often the best of tools, but one of many) for effecting legitimate self-defense.

I also do not like the terms “constitutional rights” or “2nd Amendment right” for similar reasons, but expanding to include the fact that those rights which arementioned in the constitution are mentioned only to prevent infringement of those rights by the federal government.

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The De-evolution of Man

From “How to Cook with Hot Peppers Without Getting Burned”

“The Risk of Jalapeno Hands

“While the heat produced by the capsaicin in hot peppers is actually enjoyable for many in food (in moderation, of course), it is not so pleasant when it comes into contact with the skin, eyes, or ears when preparing the peppers for cooking. Home cooks are especially at risk for “jalapeno hands,” or the prolonged stinging and burning of the skin after it comes into contact with the capsaicin-rich oils of the pepper when slicing or chopping fresh hot peppers. The “jalapeno hands” effect can last for hours as the oil containing the capsaicin is not easily washed away. But this risk should not be a deterrent from cooking with these peppers, you just need to be prepared.”

I’d just bet this guy also gets humongous bruises from sleeping on a pea hidden under 10 or 20 mattresses, too.

Sure, capsaicin on one’s hands transferred to one’s eyes can sting a wee tad, but it causes no damage, and the pain–what there is of it–abates after a while. But “burned” skin elsewhere, in much less sensitive areas (well, much less sensitive on normal humans who’ve evolved, we are told to have skin that will protect them from such minor insults), indicates a genetic flaw that The Darwin Effect should be allowed to eliminate. Please. *heh*

Wear gloves when prepping capsaicin-loaded peppers? Nah. I’drather lick my fingers and then wash them. If I fail to wash well enough and end up with capsaicin transferred to my eyes or other *cough* “sensitive” *cough* areas, no problem. My genetics don’t belong to what very well ought to be (if it isn’t for sure) an evolutionary dead end.

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From the Bard to the Beegees*. . .

Whenever someone says something like, “It’s just an argument about terms/meanings/definitions/semantics” I want to dope slap ’em. “Now there abide these three: phonemes, syntax and semantics; and the greatest of these is semantics.”

Meanings of words (terms, whatever) is the very POINT of language. Clarifying and making terms as nailed down and unambiguous, as full of MEANING, as possible is not something that is “just” anything. Without such, any interlocution is just “Sound and fury, signifying nothing,” or at least nothing useful.1

*From the Bard to the Beegees:

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
Polonius: What is the matter, my lord?
Hamlet: Between who?
Polonius: I mean, the matter that you read.

*heh*

Beegees: It’s only words,and words are all I have to take your heart away.

1Ah, reminds one of most contemporary “music,” the babblings of Mass MEdia Hivemind Podpeople, and Academia Nut Fruitcakes, doesn’t it?