April 2007 – Page 3 – third world county

April 18, 2007April 22, 2007

Cosmic Justice

SEE UPDATE BELOW!

I wrote a brief comment about this earlier, but it deserves expansion, because the root cause of Jon Corzine’s injuries is also the root cause of anarcho-tyranny in the U.S.–elite abuse of power and position.

Karma can be a bitch.

Oh, you probably know what I’m talking about: NJ Governor Jon Corzine’s little boo-boo on the Garden State Parkway. No, I’m not gloating that a politician *spit* was seriously injured. But I am pointing out that what happened to Corzine was cosmic justice. After all, why was his state trooper-driven vehicle traveling 91mph in traffic on the Garden State Parkway? Was there some legitimate emergency that required the attention of state troopers and he was just along for the ride as a passenger? Nope. Was there a genuine State emergency requiring Governor Corzine’s hurried transport? Not at all. He was on his way to a meeting with… Don Imus and the Rutgers women’s basketball players. Emergency? Hardly. And how about the excuse that troopers can exceed the speed and use their lights when transporting the governor “for security reasons”? Wasn’t very secure, was it, now?

Yeh, that “reason” is just more B.S. excusing politicians’ *spit* abuse of power. And as they abuse their power and position in everyday, commonplace ways–butting to the heads of lines, shoving ordinary people out of the way on the Garden State Parkway (among the many other places), etc., they continually turn the heat up on the frog in the kettle, teaching citizens about the priviledge of position that political power brings and training those citizens to submit as subjects to their power.

Little by little we are being turned into subjects. Rights? Those can be turned into licenses, priviledges controlled and licensed by politicians *spit* and bureaucrats *spit-spit*. Just see how much more clamoring for restrictions on gun ownership by citizens we’ll see in the coming days and weeks as a result of the incident at Virginia Tech, something that could have been cut way short had any of those UNarmed putative citizens been armed…

UPDATE: Over at Chaos Manor Mail, Peter N. Glaskowsky points out that another man intent on mass murder five years ago in a different Virginia school of higher education was not so “successful, because that school did not have a rule preventing its adult students being armed.

Put that in your “disarm law-abiding Americans” pipe and smoke it, “Brady Bunch” liberals.

Respect? Not due citizens by politicians *spit* unless thay have bigmouthed racist/sexist “spokesPEOPLE” to harrangue for them and Mass Media Podpeople to take up their cause. Go ahead, write or call your congresscritters. See just how much genuine respect you get. All you’ll get–at best–are words, sound and fury signifying nothing. Don’t believe me? Just look at the polls on border control/immigration. 70%-80% of folks do NOT appreciate the way politicians *spit* are handling the situation, want stricter controls and better border security, and even deportation of illegal aliens has a large majority support. But since almost zero of that support is played up by the Mass Media Podpeople’s Hivemind, the majority of politicians are firmly behind surrendering the U.S. to the invading horde.

*sigh*

So, whenever cosmic justice gives even one abusive politician *spit* a taste of his just eternal reward in hell, we ought to bow our heads in thanks. I do not rejoice that Jon Corzine was so seriously injured. No. But I do hope he at least gets a ticket for not wearing his seat belt.

Now, that would be cosmic justice.*

(*Yeh, I know, I know: NJ law would mandate a ticket for the driver for allowing a passenger to not wear his seat belt, but imagining the state trooper getting a ticket he’s earned is about as difficult a suspension of disbelief as imagining the governor learning a lesson in humility from his overweening behavior, after all, one’s is a Law Enforcement Officer, and so above the law *sigh* and the other is a typical politician *spit* and we all know they only get what they deserve when they die and go to hell… [some few exceptions may apply])

Also posted at The Wide Awakes

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, The Random Yak, Maggie’s Notebook, Adam’s Blog, basil’s blog, Helium, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Pet Haven, Conservative Cat, Conservative Thoughts, Pet’s Garden Blog, stikNstein… has no mercy, Blue Star Chronicles, Planck’s Constant, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

April 18, 2007April 19, 2007

Just Stuff/OTA

Not in a blogging mood. What?!? Are my non-existant “sponsors” gonna drop me or something? *heh* So, this is a linkfest (more about that below the wandering rabbit trails that follow) and a semi-random buncha stuff. You decide which is more useful. 😉

So, another dump off of computer junk. One useful thing, though, was a MessySoft “Internet Keyboard Pro” with a “whole lotta lumps” (shortcut buttons) and a bifurcating cable with both PS/2 and USB. The USB connection makes it serve as a hub, as well. Useful, especially when connected to a computer without front USB ports (yeh, antique). You’d think I’d have enough keyboards, what with 15 17 others (just spotted two more here in the office, hiding out over to my left ;-)) NOT connected to computers held in reserve. But, no. Never have enough reserve keyboards and mice, right? Who knows when a keyboard may bite the dust, or just need a trip through the dishwasher? (Almost ditto on “spare” monitors, right?)

While I’m in a compgeeky mode of thought, anyone else going to see if servers are swamped with attempts to download Ubuntu 7.04 on Thursday? That’s assuming it makes it’s projected release date. The RC was supposed to be out LAST Thursday, but got held up. Anywho, it promises some neato-keano stuff, like a tie-in with Linspire/Freespire’s Click n Run application installation and easier setup of media apps. Sounds like it’s truly getting closer to Joe Schmoe and Aunt Tilly ready.

The shooting at Virginia Tech? I’m with Ferdy on this one. All the bloviation of politicians and Mass Media Podpeople isn’t worth listening to. I’ll wait on the shake-out of info. One thing, though: if the victims hadn’t been universally UNarmed, the story would likely be quite different, eh?

Yesterday, the annual reinforcement of the lessons of serfdom was once again driven into we who were born free… Well, weren’t we? *sigh* Maybe that is another myth.

*heh* Russel Seitz: An Inconvenient Tree. Algore is probably chewing hi shorts (the things was written originally as an op-ed in the WSJ)

Not gloating, but evidence seems to indicate that politicians’ *spit* “I’m so special the law doesn’t apply to me” thinking had better at least consult the laws of physics before going 91mph in a 65mph zone… Oh, BTW, meant to include it earlier, but here it is now:

“The state trooper-driven sport utility vehicle was in the left lane with its emergency lights flashing… “

[More addendum] Yeh, but there was no “emergency”–just cops and politicians abusing their powers. Sometimes karma’s a bitch, Governor Corzine. He could have left on time for his meeting with Don Imus and the Rutgers women. Heck, being late for that media fluff event doesn’t qualify as a justifiable reason for the excessive speed and “emergency lights” use. And the tired old “doing it for security reasons” is a sick joke. It was all about casual, commonplace, everyday, quotidian *heh* abuse of power/position.

Ah, well, there’s an awful lot of other stuff going on out there in this Brave New World, but I’ll just let it slide for now.

Call it Spring Fever, if you will.

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April 16, 2007April 16, 2007

Semi-Good Poll, Misleading Report/Linkfest

Linkfest info below

I’ve found Newsmax to be pretty consistently lax with the facts. Oh, the facts are there, but I have to dig for them to remove the dlant of Newsmax’s “reporting”–just a right-wing version of typical left wing media tactics.

That’s not smart of Newsmax, IMO. Immitating liars to counter their lies just doesn’t work well.

Here’s an example from a recent email:

“NewsMax Poll: Americans Want Fred Thompson in Ã¢â‚¬â„¢08”

Oh, really? And how do you know that, Newsmax?

“An Internet poll sponsored by NewsMax.com reveals that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of Fred Thompson running for president in 2008.

Our Ã¢â‚¬Å“Should Fred Thompson Run for PresidentÃ¢â‚¬Â poll of nearly 100,000 people also disclosed that the former senator from Tennessee and Ã¢â‚¬Å“Law & OrderÃ¢â‚¬Â star would trounce all leading Republican candidates in a primary.”

Look, lefties are NOT going to get Newsmax mail (I’m not sure why I do, since I don’t consider myself a “righty”), let alone participate in a poll that is run by Newsmax. So the results were (nearly all) all self-selected Newsmax right-wing readers, OK? I didn’t take the poll (never do participate in their things). I don’t fit their demographic all that well.

So, what else did this poll of self-selected right-wingers determine? That among this self-selected (NOT random sample) group of about 100,000 the Q/A went something like this:

1) What is your overall opinion of Fred Thompson?
Favorable: 94 percent
Unfavorable: 2 percent
No Opinion: 4 percent

2) Is Fred Thompson your candidate for president in 2008?
Yes: 77 percent
No: 23 percent

3) In the following field, who is your 2008 candidate?
John McCain: 1.66 percent
Condi Rice: 2.64 percent
Mike Huckabee: .99 percent
Miss Romney: 4.14 percent
Rudy Giuliani: 7.53 percent
Fred Thompson: 62.54 percent
Tom Tancredo: 2.78 percent
Ron Paul: 1.25 percent
Newt Gingrich: 12.25 percent
Duncan Hunter: 1.23 percent
Sam Brownback: .97 percent
Other: 1.99 percent

4) In a Republican primary of the following, who would you vote for?
Rudy Giuliani: 7 percent
John McCain: 2 percent
Newt Gingrich: 13 percent
Fred Thompson: 78 percent

5) If the 2008 President race was between Fred Thompson & Hillary Clinton, who would you vote for?
Fred Thompson: 98.7 percent
Hillary Clinton: 1.3 percent

Now, it’s certainly encouraging that Fred Thompson is so popular among a list of Republican candidates/potential candidates, cos he’s among the best of a bad lot (Tancredo beats him hands down on the MAJOR issue of border control, but Thompson’s still better than any of the others on that issue, too, from what I can tell).

But. Remember I said “best of a bad lot” and that’s because all of them are still big government types. Just Democraps dragging their heels, as it were, when it comes to government interference in citizens’ daily lives.

But back on point: Newsmax is just another example of too many (how many is too many? One is too many) folks seeking to counter leftist crap who resort to twisting and outright lies at times to counter… twisting and outright lies by the left (all the time).

Taking a poll of right-wingers is all right. Deliberately misstating poll results as referring to “Americans” in general–well, deliberately unless the writer and editor that viewed the thing are genuinely stupid–that’s just stupid and wrong.

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April 13, 2007April 18, 2007

“Thank You” Card to Sponsors of Al-Qaeda!

Click here for more.

Now, most readers of this blog know I hold a contrarian view of the Iraq adventure, but let me restate it here: We can put this one in the “Win” column fairly quickly, but it would require some common sense, some (not even much, to tell the truth) knowledge of the history and culture of the area and a little simple honesty.

1.) Acknowledge the simple fact of the matter that NO ONE in nearly the past millennium and a half has managed to “peacefully” rule that region without either separating the barbaric inhabitants who nurture generational tribal and religious feuds (partitioning) OR ruling them with a bloody fist of iron. We are unlikely–for many reasons–to be bloody-minded enough to accomplish the latter, so partitioning the area is the only historically proven method left to us, but how to do it?

2.) Allow the Kurds to rule their own traditional homelands and give them all the help–materiel and personnel–needed to assure their safety and independence. They are the ONLY peope group in the region who are likely to be not only allies but actually friends to the U.S., for many reasons, not the least of which is their exceptional (for the area) tradition of religious and political tolerance.

3.) Send the savage kiddies to their rooms–separate the Sunnis and Shiites (since those religious distinctions also would allow separating almost all the tribal rivalries as well). Let ’em know that any fighting amongst themselves thereafter is on their own heads, but they are NOT to touch the oil-producing regions on pain of death. Period. Sure, allow fair oil revenue sharing, but messing about with the oil production would result in the Wrath of God (or at least His iron fist in the form of American bombs) descending upon the silly little savages.

There you have it: the prescription for a Win in Iraq… a bitter pill to the Jacobian lotus eaters in the Bush administration, and utterly unacceptable to the Defeatocrats, as well. Therefore, completely unworkable for purely political reasons.

The story of contemporary American politics: if it makes sense, it is verboten.

April 13, 2007April 13, 2007

Imus, Youmus, Wemus–can’t we all just get along-us?

I have resisted the Don Imus brouhaha, not because I don’t have a dog that wants to be in the fight, but because I’ve been vacillating between amusement and disgust at how it’s unfolded.

As it turns out, Imus was rightly cancelled (in both his main gigs), but for the wrong reasons. I’ve read and listened to (yeh, I even watched some fluff heads on TV) as much of the commentary as I could stomach, and the general consensus is that he was “fired” for his racist remarks that were in some way ioffensive to a broad group of people, a whole “race”.

And that’s just plain flat the wrong reason. He ought to have been forced to grovel before the people he had insulted, then “fired”. And by “people he had insulted” I mean the women of the Rutgers basketball team and thenm alone. (Ann Coulter is the only talking head I read who seemed to come close to making sense on this. In fact, she agreed with my comments to my Wonder Woman the other day, almost right on downthe line. :-)) Imus did NOT insult all black women (or even all blacks–I’m not going to call ’em “Afro-Americans because I despise all such hyphenated-American designations. Heck, the number of “Afro-Americans” approaches zero. Most are “Afro-Americans” to the same degree that I’m a “Celtic-American”. Fuggedaboutit.). He insulted a specific group of women who were not a fair target for such. “Public people”–those with egos the size of Texas–make fair targets for all kinds of insults (think darned near any politician *spit*, media celebrity, etc.) The Rutgers women are not in that class and should have been afforded the common decency dur the common man (yeh, and if some sexist woman out there dislikes my generic use of “man” then just bite me).

BTW, I have just one major disagreement with Coulter’s take on the issue, and that’s with her tag line:

Now, if Imus had called the basketball players “fat, race-baiting black men with clownish hairstyles,” well, then perhaps Sharpton would be owed an apology.

Ann’s pooed the scrooch with that sentence. Better would have been,

“Now, if Imus had called Al Sharpton–that race-baiting, lying racist— ‘a nappy-headed ho’ then nappy-headed hos everywhere whould have been owed an apology.”

Of course ALL this Imus flap, especially the argument that he insulted ALL black women– begs the question, “Where’s the outrage over all the trash talk in ‘rap’?” Oh, that’s right. I forgot. Double standard and all that. Just as blacks can say the “N” word with impunity (while anyone else is stripped bare, smeared with honey and staked out on an ant bed, then dragged behind a boat in shark-infested water as chum for doing so), so is it just fine and dandy, hunky dory for black rap “artists” *spit* to heap vile vituperation on the heads of women, because, well, they’re black, right?

That’s what the Mass Media Podpeople’s Hivemind apparently thinks.

(Update: Oh, BTW, I’ve never felt Imus was anything but a bag of noxious hot air, a worthless waste of oxygen. I never understood how anyone could listen to his line of B.S. for more than five minutes, and became convinced that those who did suffered brain damage resulting in an ability to continue to listen to his line. Ditto for Howard Stern and half a ditto for O’Reilly. Am of about the same opinion about Rush Limbaugh as O’Reilly: both arrogant air bags with appeal to some, but blind pigs who do manage to find an acorn now and then, which still makes them better than 99.999% of Mass Media Podpeople.)

Trackposted to Perri Nelson’s Website, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, basil’s blog, Stuck On Stupid, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Jo’s Cafe, Faultline USA, Allie Is Wired, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Pirate’s Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, The Yankee Sailor, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

April 13, 2007April 13, 2007

Six of one…

…half a dozen of another.

This is a sorta halfway almost compgeeky post, so if that’s not to your taste, read on down the page… And yeh, yeh, I know: two days in a row for computer-related posts. What can I say except, “[I] don’t get around much any more… ” *heh*

Oh, it’s also the weekend linkfest post, so I hope you know how to handle that. If not, read the foot of the post.

So, Lovely Daughter dropped off a discarded computer a friend of hers was trying to dump. Not much of a comp, frankly. 450Mhz box that doesn’t even have a couple hundred megs of memory, a 20GB HD and an apparently 8-year-old AGP 1X vidcard. And someone had loaded WinXP Pro on it… IOW, it’s a tad of a slug, but in a nice way. ;-).

“Well,” thought I, “Why not try to see if it can be made usable?”

First off: scrubbing the former user’s personal data. It looks like they made a stab at deleting personal documents, but lots was left behind, and a quick check reveals the empty space was NOT erased with a good DoD or other compliant eraser software, so… overwrite the empty/slack space, etc., as well as erase other pieces of personal data left behind.

Blow out the dust bunnies. Some brought to mind the recent feast North Korea’s high pandjandrum made of a prize-winning rabbit LOANED to North Korea for stud purposes. The thing weighed in at around 23 pounds. Yep. These reminded me of that. BIG, scary dust bunnies.

*heh*

Hmmm… Doesn’t look like the WinXP Pro install has ever been updated. Dozens and dozens (and DOZENS!) of security patches missing. Ahhh! Perhaps this is why! “Windows Geniune Advantage” (AKA “Microsoft Genuine ‘Screw You'” *heh*) says it’s not a legit copy of Windows. Let’s see… Yep. It’s an install of a “volume licensing” copy that’s had the license key invalidated by Microsoft (presumably because of improper usage). “Of course,” thought I, “there were plenty of legitimate uses of that license before it was invalidated, and surely Lovely Daughter’s friend was one of those!”

Still, I had to update everything using Bigfix (because Shavlik Netchk Protect was just too big and memory hungry to install and use on this machine) just to make it as “secure” as Microsoft Windows XP can be, installed a complete (ad hoc) suite of security products as well, of course. Then…

Aw heck, why not… Used a spare volume licensing key I have for WinXP Pro and changed the license/registration info in the Registry. Downloaded the full XP-SP2 and IE7 (because whoever gets this will probably wanna surf using IE, unless I can drum Opera into their heads. :-)). Sure enough, SP2 installed just fine. IE7 ran the validation tool and then installed (though it took forEVer!). Not bad.

But it sure does need more memory! *sheesh!*

Somehow, I kinda think I’d be doing the eventual user a favor to scrub the thing and install Linux or BSD. I dunno. Add memory and another hard drive and set it up to dual boot? I dunno… 512MB of memory for the thing might set me back $50, and the whole box is almost worth that, as it is. (Well, parting it out might yield more. The CDRW drive is not bad, but nice DVDRW drives are in the $30 range now, and the rest of it… I dunno. $50 more bucks for some decent memory might not be good sense.)

On this “old” computer (well, slightly older and more underpowered than my venerable 500Mhz Win2K comp with 512MB and five times the storage, LOTS better graphics, etc.–a computer that is still usable), the “essentials”–IMO–for a WinXP comp:

Continue reading “Six of one…”