Month: April 2008

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Another Thing I Just Don’t Get

One of the few TV shows I really enjoy features a gal who helps folks deal with their problem dogs. Recently, I saw her deal with some serious problem owners who had let their dogs become grossly obese.

I just don’t get it. Overeating, under-exercised dogs? Who’s in charge? Our son’s “big boy” started gaining more weight than he ought to carry. Investigated. He was stealing the other dog’s food. Now, we simply supervise them at meal time. Big boy still wants more than we feed him, but all he gets is what we give him. So, for the past several years, both boys have been trim and fit. They pretty well take care of ther activity part, chasing squirrels, groundhogs, etc., out of the yard, running around barking at passers-by (yeh, they’re very “terrortorial” and I like that about them–a lot. Better than an alarm).

Still, taking one or the other out for a walk is a good way for me to get off my lazy butt. *heh*

But, fat dogs? I just don’t get it. Lazy, stupid owners are just about the only reason for fat dogs.

Coda: “taking one or the other out for a walk”–not both. One medium sized male dog, another large male dog (who really should be pulling a cart)? Walked at same time by me? Sure, they’re well-behaved. Sure, I could do it, but why? It’d mean one dog on each side, both hands occupied (I’d never walk two such dogs off one hand–just not smart). Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen. I’ll do it once a year taking ’em to the vet, but aside from that? Nope.

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Nanny State=Anarcho-Tyranny

Peple who know me in the “real world” have long known that it’s easy to get a rant out of me: just present me with another instance of “gummint” knowing what’s good for me… and punishing me if I disagree.

Take the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign that’s been going on for a couple of years now as but one example of many intrusive “gummint” policies. What a piece of bullshit! (Nope. Not getting a bowdlerized euphemism out of me on that one.) Stealing from–and modifying–the Chesterton quote in my right sidebar,

“Though not using a seat belt may be dangerous, it is a danger that cannot be forbidden to a citizen, but can be forbidden to a slave.”

Or, as The American Spectator put it a couple of years ago when the “Click It” bullshit began,

The late conservative intellectual Sam Francis came up with an excellent term for all of this stuff — “anarcho-tyranny.” In brief, he meant a situation in which the truly lawless (violent criminals, big-time crooks) are increasingly treated with kid gloves while at the same time, ordinary schlubs who never commit serious personal or property crimes are increasingly hassled over Pecksniffy technical fouls and “lifestyle violations” such as failing to wear their seat belts.

Invariably, the punishment involves money.

Anarcho-tyranny has another dark side beyond the simple harrassment of citizens with ever more restrictive laws and regulations along with the encouragement of dangerous outlaws: the infantilization of America. Big Brother will force you to either give up what “he” considers bad habits or pay an ever-increasing price. You are no longer responsible to yourself, your family, your neighbors and community for the effects of your behavior, because now you are responsible directly to Big Brother for your behavior (and soon thoughts–that’s what “hate crime” legislation is about, after all) regardless the results.

“When will politicians realise that George Orwell’s 1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual?”–Derek Clark, Member, European Parliament

So, don’t wear your seat belt, drive safely to your destination and start home–still safe–until Big Brother’s thugs decide you’ll be an easy, safe way to fill a ticket quota. Your safety is NOT the issue: compliance with authority is the issue.

As this slide into infantilization of the American public continues, expect ever more interference in your life. After all, you asked for it, didn’t you, when you voted for Any of the Above instead of None of the Above every time you went to vote for the last couple of decades?

That said, do I wear my seat belt? Usually. Have I ever been ticketed for not wearing my seat belt? No. Does it matter that I have not been ticketed? No. The law restricting my freedom to make my own decisions about my own safety is reprehensible. As are all other laws that presume to dictate my actions supposedly for my safety.

Note also:

“A nation of sheep will surely beget a government of wolves.” -Henry de Jouvenel

Trackposted to DragonLady’s World, Adam’s Blog, Pirate’s Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, Wolf Pangloss, , Conservative Cat, Right Voices, D equals S, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Greed

Last Monday I posted a lil piece excoriating the growing intellectual sloth of what was once a democratic representative republic (the USA) using the sloth of an electorate that simply will not be bothered to learn to read and do its own homework to be able to vote intelligently. ANd I pointed out that such sloth is one of a few critical moral issues killing what was once a democratic representative republic.

Today: greed. But not only as you may think of the moral failing we call by that name. Yes, the greed (and sloth) of both “Big Bidness” (including especially the big business of so-called labor unions) and workers alike are pointing the way to the ruin of our economy, and thus the ideal of a democratic representative republic.

Huh? How’s that? A few simple facts of life and a few trends: essential to a democratic representative republic is a working class, if you will. As many people working at jobs that contribute to the overall health of the economy and republic as possible. And that must include many manual labor jobs for a very simple reason: we are not Lake Wobegon where “all the children are above average”. By definition, half the population is below average. What happens when the jobs they are suited to be successful in are shipped overseas by stupid trade policy or by simply greedy, short-sighted number-crunchers is that the ability of the lefthand side of the bell curve (anyone objecting to my use of such imagery had better be really careful to be solid in argument, cos I’ll rip you a new one if you advance some stupid lefty argument without basis in fact) to hold productive jobs essential to the survival of a republic is greatly reduced… and, long-term, the progeny of those who make such bad policy or make such stupid, short-sighted, greedy offshoring decisions will curse their progenitors.

But that’s just one aspect of the greedy behavior that’s driving this country to ruin–although that alone would be enough to accomplish our ruin. Consider also the individuals, parents, children whose greed demands more, more, more material goods but who have no desire to actually PAY for those goods. Nope. “Put it on the card.” Mortgaging ones own future for a new toy is stupid. An unwillingness to save, defer purchasing a luxury item until one can actually, well, PAY for it is evidence of a measure of childish greediness that is driving this nation of debtors to become slaves to mere stuff.

And politicians who know their constituencies well know how to play to this greed: play class against class (in what was once envisioned as a near classless society–or at least one where “class” was fluid, determined by personal, responsible behavior); rob Producer to pay Sloth; rob the Future to pay Now (Social Security=”Put it on the card” on a gargantuan level).

But perhaps the most insidious manifestation of greed is in those who covet what is yours to pay for their agendas often without directly benefitting themselves (except as such aggrandisement strokes and inflates their egos–yes, I intended that image). Of course, “often without directly benefitting themselves” doesn’t apply to such as Algore who, while lying through his teeth about Anthropogenic Global Warming, did so both for the ego strokes and to line his own pockets. But that’s pretty much political B.S. for you in a nutshell: double-sided greed for ego strokes and money.

These are just a few aspects of greed and how it detrimentally affects our society. You can list many, many more just off the top of your head, I’m sure.

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Epitaph: Dulce Et Decorum Est, and All That Jazz

Kat, of Cathouse Chat, tagged me with a blogosphere meme pool tag game that seems worth playing (note: worth playing or not, I’d play anyway for two reasons: the tagger and the fact that this is just a blog, you know, something to mollify the voices in my head, which is why most bloggers blog whether they admit it or not).

The Rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir (mind if I call it my epitaph? ;-)).
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

I hope my epitaph might read,

“Truth to power, regardless the cost.”

Tagees: Beagle Scout, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Maggie’s Notebook, The Random Yak and Soliloquy, all blogger’s whose “memoir” quote I’d be interested in seeing, just not carved in stone any time soon. 😉

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Dodging a bullet, twc style

Once again, strong and long Spring rains have offered a look at a new high water mark here at twc central. The small, usually dry, creek that is a tributary to another creek that offers tribute to a small river much further downstream approached our back door closer than at any other time since we moved here, prompting

13 Water “Names”

1. Creek

2. Stream

3. Cascade

4. Rain

5. Lake

6. Sea

7. Ocean

8. Swamp (what I dearly hope our basement will NOT become :-))

9. Fountain

10. Freshet

11. Spring

12. Flood

And how can one neglect

13. Dihydrogen monoxide, of course. *heh*

The dread “dihydrogen monoxide” has abated a bit, the rain stopped (for now) and things may well be on their way back to normal here at twc central. I hope. 🙂

Tacked up over at the Thursday Thirteen Hub.

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Liberty? What’s That?

About all that multi-culti hogwash (read, “poisonous bullshit”)that’s been going about making hash of political freedom all over the Western World for a couple of decades now, Samuel Francis had this to say,

“Political freedom relies on a shared political culture as much as on the oppositions and balances that social differentiation creates, and when the common culture disintegrates under the impact of mass migrations, only institutionalized force can hold the regime together.”1 (PDF file)

Erasing the common culture is resulting in the situation that forms this blogpost title. “…[O]nly institutionalized force can hold the regime together…” And so we have the TSA’s endless harrassment of citizens to achieve security theater2, 3 (and avoid even the appearance of “profiling” by ethnicity, culture or even typical signs of terrorist behavior) that does little, if anything, to enhance the safety of citizens while doing much to turn citizens into subjects; the embrace by our political masters of an alien invasion sponsored by a foreign state; the criminalization of political speech as “hate speech”; all fostered by the goal of erasing the benefits of Western Civilization in favor of embracing the “benefits” of a third world outlook on life.

After all, what did Western Civilization ever do for you, anyway?

Oops! A comment by Perri Nelson reminded me that I’d not provided a link to obtain a t-shirt of your own. You can get your own here.

Thanks Perri.

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It’s the little things…

For want of a nail
the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe
the horse was lost.
For want of a horse
the rider was lost.
For want of a rider
the battle was lost.
For want of a battle
the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want
of a horseshoe nail.

It’s always the little things. But little things are often very, very large.

Take one of three very, very large things that are dragging the U.S. over the face of a precipice and down to ruin: illiteracy. No, I’m not just talking about the lack of what Mass Media Podpeople, Academia Nut Fruitcakes, edu/bureaucraps, and politicians *spit* that are the Conspiracy of Dunces intent on bringing the U.S. to ruin have redefined literacy to mean (a simple ability to laboriously decode words from print).

No, literacy is much, much more than simply being able to decode the printed page or sign ones name, as the dumbed down version our wonderful Conspiracy of Dunces would have it. It is at the very least the ability to decode those words, make sense of them and use their meaning to make rational decisions or come to an understanding of things beyond ones personal experience.

That’s simple functional literacy. And functional literacy is on the decline in the U.S. Witness all the idiots who in 2000 were too stupid to be able to follow directions in voting and caused such a brouhaha in the Florida vote count.

Worse, college graduates who are unable to understand simple directions for taking prescription meds or a newspaper editorial written to a theoretical eighth-grade level. College graduates.

But the simple, little thing of functional literacy is essential to a democratic representative republic, for when voters are too stupid to make sound choices, the government they get will be… what we have.

It’s a little thing. Continue reading “It’s the little things…”

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You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up…

…but apparently Scott Ott can. *heh*

iTunes Rival iSlam to Offer Muslim-Friendly Fare

…as a counter to the video, Fitna

According to Ott’s “satire” piece, iSlam will counter Fitna with Muslim-friendly fare.

“We have not edited out any of the blood, gore, explosions, beheadings, bodies dragged through streets, execution-style shootings, female genital mutilation, ritual cutting of children and other normal religious scenes,” said one unnamed Dutch Muslim leader. “But we have removed the horrifying cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.”

*heh*

Droll, Scott.

Of course, given the norm of the Koran, the Hadith and the Sirah (the unholy trinity of Muslim “holy” writings), Scott’s piece, while technically satire (solely cos the Muslim-friendly iPod imitator, iSlam, doesn’t really exits… yet) is of course spot on in its painting of Islam’s normative (by the measure of the Koran, the Hadith, the Sirah and Mohammed’s own documented charater as a hate-filled mass murderer, pedophile, rapist, thief, liar and all-around scumbag) religious practices.

Trackposted to The Virtuous Republic, Nuke Gingrich, Faultline USA, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, Shadowscope, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, The Yankee Sailor, OTB Sports, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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An always timely reminder

FWIW

I’m just a tad paranoid about network security. Hardware firewall. Software firewalls on each computer. Up to date anti-virus/anti-spyware, etc., softwares. Strong passwords. Highest level wireless encryption compatible with all my devices (pretty high, lemme tell ya–I’ll just let you guess :-)), etc.

In my inbox today:

Did you Change the Password?

The article’s a short and sweet reminder to change default passwords on equipment you purchase, such as routers, firewalls, etc. I simply do not know how many times I’ve made a service call and discovered as a matter of course that the client has such a device with the default user/password combo still unchanged.

*sigh*

Can you say, screen door on a submarine?

BTW, my last wireless router default UN/PW combo was admin/admin. How hard is that to crack?

Just do it. Don’t buy a piece of hardware that has a default password and just leave it that way. Getcherself off your lazy butt and change the password. No, don’t use your birthday, your mother’s maiden name or your pet’s name. *sheesh!* Get real.

BTW, let me give you a hint how to crack some of my passwords. Some of my passwords are based on the technical names of specific mountains. I simply misspell them in various ways, as well as mixing cases in a semi-random fashion. There. That should get you started cracking those passwords.

Oh, what does that family of passwords go to? That’s your second level exercise, cos I’m not saying.

🙂

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The Greatness of the American Electorate

The American electorate’s amazing literacy, deeply informed knowledge of history, economics and current events combined with superb analytical skills and a deep committment to participatory government have inexorably led to the development of the wisest government in the history of the world.

Welcome to April 1, 2008

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Trackposted to Allie is Wired, DragonLady’s World, Adam’s Blog, Shadowscope, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, , Tilting At Windmill Farms, Conservative Cat, Adeline and Hazel, and D equals S, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.