A Little Good News

Time for a little good news. It's a good article, except for that last sentence...

anagrams

I entered the name "hatless in hattiesburg" on an automatic anagram generation page. It gave literally thousands of results - but a lot of them contained coarse language. Here are some of the better clean ones, to which I added a brief possible explanation/scenario/definition:

• HEATABLE STRINGS HIT US - cause for ultralight aircraft crash
• STUN HIS TREATABLE SIGH - harsh medical treatment
• TUT HISSES ALGEBRA HINT - cheating pharaoh
• HE TUGS STAINABLE SHIRT - scene from slacker movie
• SING US THREE TABLA HITS - bombay karaoke request
• SLUSH IN EGRETS HABITAT - environmentalist nightmare
• SETTLERS BANISH AI THUG - matrix in the old west
• REESTABLISH TITAN HUGS - obscure protest slogan
• THE SLIER THUG ABSTAINS - zen and the art of burglary
• HAIL TUBE STRAIGHTNESS - kudos for excellence in pipe manufacture
• IRISH ATHLETES STUN BAG - soccer incident
• ISIS GATHERS HUN TABLETS - scene from stargate sequel
• GAUSSIAN BETHEL THIRST - surreal band name
• HEARTLESS BATHING SUIT - dieter's fear

Y.A.C.H.

The Y.A.C.H. acronym stands for Yet Another Computer Hijacking.

The term became necessary because (drum roll please) my computer was hijacked YET AGAIN!!! It can become tiresome to keep typing out "Guess what? My computer was hijacked yet again", so now I can just title an entry with YACH!, and you'll know that (moviepreviewvoice) in a world of cyberthugs... a new chapter has been added... in the story of one man... in his ongoing struggle... to try to maintain control... of his own computer... (\moviepreviewvoice)

This time the hijackers are my former ISP - or more accurately, the faceless corporation that bought out the faceless corporation that bought out my original ISP. I discontinued service with them to switch to SBC* DSL. Now, on about one page out of ten, the content that I wanted to see is replaced by a warning which says I need to change my DNS settings to make sure that I can still use the service that I CANCELLED OVER A YEAR AGO.

YACH!


* SBC has been wonderful. They have that rare winning combination of having both good customer service and a good product.

good news

it seems that the war on drugs is having some effect. as i've been traveling, most towns have a sign near the city limits which reads "reduced speed ahead"...

Last-Minute Gift Idea

If you just can't think of the perfect gift for someone, consider getting them a FREE promo Hatless in Hattiesburg desktop wallpaper image! They're an especially good gift idea if you're on a tight budget.

The Real Che

"Inside every rebel, there’s a tyrant trying to get out."

not a happy thought...

Are any of these things named Wormwood?

light holiday posting

As with many blogs, there probably won't be much new here until 2005.

I wish all of you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

cool idea

Why would a Flying Space Monkey care how we mere mortals could get into space?

Migration of Waterfowl

After a somewhat circuitous migration, it looks like the Rightwing Duck has finally settled into a new nest. Even though there's still some remodeling going on, I'm sure visitors are welcome.

You know what's cool?

1) New and improved resealable strips on frozen food bags, which are designed to tear away from the bag upon opening..

2) Migrating office supplies.

3) Metamorphosizing desserts in tv dinners:
a) chocolate brownies that change into armor plating when microwaved.
b) pudding that crawls up the sides of its compartment to invade the other sections.

5) When you cut your finger on a piece of porcelain that broke off the lid of the commode because you set it in a place which was rather precarious when you had to replace the float in the commode tank that you broke because you were trying to adjust it without realizing that it was fragile because of age, shoddy design, and the effects of long term exposure to hard water that tastes and smells funny and makes you wonder what was in it when you were rinsing off a cut finger in it.

8) Run-on sentences.

9) Houses designed with no electrical outlet in the only wall that will fit the entertainment center.

6) Poorly numbered lists.

7) Ancient rustbucket Volkswagen microbuses, with underinflated tires and covered in hippie bumperstickers, that belch more smoke and leak more oil in a block than my car does in a month. We'll probably have to drill in ANWR because of their waste. (NO OIL FOR HIPPIES!!!)

What is it, exactly, that we celebrate?

Christmas has a "meaning that's a bit more worth celebrating... than that Santa was able to cajole Rudolph into guiding his sleigh onto every rooftop before dawn."

Free Desktop Images

There's a new link on the right for the page of Hatless in Hattiesburg's free desktop images. Take a look, download your favorites, and tell your friends.

(lamest. ad. copy. ever.)

New Math Reporting

33 = 170,000

holiday reading

Here's a heartwarming holiday anitrevisionist tale.

What's the frequency, Kofi?

Go read "Annan Would 'Like to Break' UN Scandal Story" by Scott Ott. Heeheehee.

The Trees

"and the trees will be kept equal, by hatchet, axe, and saw".

if this is true, there will be unrest in the forest.

shopping can be fun!

...for others. i'm not too fond of it, though.

(yes, i'm rambling)

yesterday i went to the mall. i was under the impression that malls were supposed to have a variety of stores under one roof - apparently that means a variety of clothing stores, with just a few extra places with overpriced bric-a-brac that nobody i know would want.

i was looking for toys for a two-year-old. the department stores no longer sell toys, or they are keeping them well hidden. there was one toy store in the mall. kaybee. (is it against the law for them to have stores not in a mall? maybe it's part of the wright amendment...) anyway, they had some cute stuff, most of them for ages 3 and up.

3 is larger than 2.

of the under-three toys, none of them seemed "right" for this two-year-old. the toddler already has plenty of stuffed animals and bath toys. then i remembered someone mentioning duplo - lego's double sized building blocks for smaller kids. that particular kaybee location had lots of knockoffs, but only one duplo kit, a giraffe, and its box was bent.

no sale. but now i knew what i was looking for.

i left the store trying to remember where the closest toys 'r us location was. then i saw their logo on a billboard. what luck! wait a minute - it's an ad for the toys 'r us aisle at albertsons. argh.

i gave up and went to walmart, where i found several duplo brand building sets for about half of what i was expecting to pay. so i bought two.

i also bought a few other things (it's true that you always buy more than you planned at walmart, even for an antishopper like me), including some little red bows for the packages. i set them on the top of the pile in the cart so they wouldn't get crushed, but (unexpectedly) where they would blow off into the lane directly in front of a speeding cadillac, with comedic timing worthy of a laverne and shirley episode.

Go Read...

I'm offended too, but remember, the ACLU (Anti-Christian Liberty Usurpers) won't help us. (link via Flying Space Monkey)
---
Hugh Hewitt makes many good points in this article - here is one of the best,

The January 30 elections are hugely important to the entire region, and when you hear domestic political opponents of George W. Bush urge the delay of the elections or minimize their importance, make a note that you have identified a dangerous fool.

---
"Gosh, that's a tough one, Buffalo Bob!"
---
Profane, but still true.

Desktop Design Update

Free promo H.I.H. desktops should be available by the end of the week, with many thanks to Mish Mash, who has graciously donated hosting space for the images.

Current plans are to have four designs to choose from at first, then add new ones on a regular schedule starting in 2005 (i.e. after the holidays).

WOW!

I've seen it, and I still not sure I believe it - A C130 landing on an aircraft carrier! (link from I Love Jet Noise)

Post-Election Democrat Strategy

The American Spectator has this to say about the Democrats' post-election strategy"

They usually end up saying in one form or another: we need to fool people better. At some level they know that the problem the party faces is not that the American people don't understand their positions but that they understand them too well. So what options are they left with?...

When the Democrats say something is "un-American," they usually mean something very American that they don't want in America anymore. Very reasonable American expectations fortified by history and custom, such as placing crosses and creches in public places, are suddenly declared "un-American" when what the Democrats really mean is un-European. Under this twisted thinking, even America's founding documents are "un-American."

Read the whole thing.

Desktop Designs

Would you fine folk like some free promo desktop images? I'm considering the possibility of designing and uploading them somewhere. If you do:

1) What size would you prefer - 640x480, 1600x1200, or somewhere in between?

2) Do you have any favorite colors? Least favorite?

3) Where is the best/easiest free place to host images? I have Hello from Picasa for this blog, but don't want to take up space posting directly here.

Please comment.

A better take on Alexander

My previous article about Oliver Stone's reinterpretation of Alexander was not serious, but Bruce Thornton at VDH wrote a much better article which examines that movies' specific problems.

Salute!

Via Yahoo News, NASA's Longest-Serving Astronaut to Retire.

John W. Young, 74, announced Tuesday his plans to leave the space agency on Dec. 31. He was the first human to fly in space six times and the only astronaut to pilot four different spacecraft. He flew in the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said "He's never sought fame and often goes out of his way to avoid the limelight", but he certainly does deserve some, especially in contrast to some of the overexposed hollywood "stars" these days.

Smart Kid

According to Billie Mercer of the Coleman News, Zeke Adams is a very smart young man...

(this news report has been edited for content, to run in the time alloted, and to fit in your screen)

During the presidential debates between President George Bush and John Kerry, Zeke was listening very carefully. He told his mother, “I do not like John Kerry.” His mother just laughed it off, but Zeke proceeded to write a letter to Pres. Bush which said, “Dear Mr. President, We do not like Mr. John Kerry. Will you pop him in the nose? (emphasis mine) We hope you win the election. You are the best president. Mr. John Kerry is not the best. The End!” The letter was sent on Oct. 26.

After the election, Zeke received a letter from the President, dated Nov. 10, which said “Dear Zeke, Thank you for your kind words of support. I am honored to have the responsibility of serving as President of this great country. You also have an important responsibility to become a good citizen. I encourage you to study hard, make the right choices and help others. By setting high standards you can achieve your dreams. Mrs. Bush joins me in sending our best wishes. May God bless you and may God continue to bless America. Sincerely, George Bush.” The letter also included an autographed picture of George and Laura Bush. Zeke wrote a thank-you letter on Nov. 20.

Although it would have been cool to see George Bush pop John Kerry in the nose, the election results are more than satisfactory.

Wizbang Resolution 1441

...shorter than the typical UN resolution, and even less effective, Wizbang has this suggestion for a blogger code of ethics (summarized):

1) A blogger must be honest.
A) Every piece should a sincere expression of how the blogger perceives the facts to be, and all opinions should be heartfelt.
B) A blogger should not put forth themselves as an expert on any given field unless prepared to back up such claims with proof.
C) A blogger should not attempt to "hide" mistakes.
D) A blogger should give credit where credit is due.
2) A blogger must be accurate.
3) A blogger must be interesting.
4) A blogger must always put forth their best efforts.
5) A blogger must be responsible.

Let me begin by saying that I generally like Wizbang, and harbor no ill will to the writer(s?) personally. I have no problem with the points in and of themselves; I generally try to adhere to them on this blog and in real life. I have no problem with any blogger who CHOOSES to subscribe to that set of rules (or any other) on their own blog. But...

I have a HUGE problem with being FORCED to limit my speech on MY OWN BLOG. At best, that set of rules would only add "blogging correctness" on top of "political correctness". At worst, it would kill the blogosphere as we now know it, and replace it with a new-media elite telling us what to think.

Besides, who would enforce it? The Mafia? The UN? The Ministry of Truth?

In the comments, opine6 says, "Part of the appeal of the blogosphere is the wide open, anything goes, say what you want, aspect of it. The readers can pretty much sort out who is a straight-shooter and who is not."

UPDATE: Here's my newer take on the same subject.

questions

Frank J. Imao says that "seeing unfrequently asked questions would be more interesting", but does not state what it would be more interesting than. There is quite a range of possibilities, as low as watching rocks erode up to watching Aquaman beat Mikey Moore in a lightsaber fight. Nevertheless, a list of "unfrequently asked questions" does give me some ideas...

(Since the question "Why did Frank use the silly made-up word, 'unfrequently', instead of the correct word, 'infrequently'?" is likely to be asked frequently, I will not include it in my list.)

• Does paper spoil when it is not refrigerated?
  
• Should I make these fifty scorpions stop biting me?
  
• Can you please charge me more for that?
  
• Would you like to try our value meal, Mr. Kerry?
  
• Will I notice it if I stop breathing?
  
• When will the trombones swim to Schenectady?
  
• Do these documents look fake to you, Ms. Mapes?
  
• What is the difference between a lunar eclipse and a Peruvian spotted mountain gecko?
  
• Do you have racing slicks for a Yugo in stock?
  
• Will Roseanne be singing the National Anthem at tonight's game?
  
• What's that bright thing rising in the east?
  
• Is 'Alexander' sold out again?
  
• Does spaghetti purr when you pet it?
  
• How do you spell "a"?
  

Feel free to add your own questions in the comments...

weather report

Our weatherman just reported that we would not have any rain for the rest of the week because the last storm front "removed all of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico".

That is quite remarkable! Now Houston and New Orleans are a few hundred miles inland of a new, as yet unnamed desert. I am surprised that such an environmental catastrophe was not mentioned in the rest of the newscast.

massively unscientific poll

I have been thinking about the amount of additions/updates to do to my blogroll. I assume most people who read blogs know who the major bloggers are, and have them bookmarked or can find them easily. Therefore, I try to keep my list relatively small and quality-checked, rather than a huge list of any sites I ever found remotely interesting. I like to think of it as a neghborhood map rather than a country map. (Besides, I don't know how to code those auto-updating blogrolls like the one at Scrappleface.)

So here is my question: Should I keep my link list smaller, or drastically expand it? Please comment.

Firefox Fixed It!

at least for now, my wacky slow computer seems to not be plagued with the data-mining spyware that glommed onto m$ internet exploder. perhaps having a functional browser will inspire me to post more often? stay tuned...

Duuuuude...

Lately, I've been having dejavu from the future. Like, I'll be in the middle of something, and all of a sudden I realize - hey - I've never done this before!

Like Keanu says in all his movies, "whoa!"

;^)>

If Compassion Is Not Tempered With Reason...

... It Can Be A Destructive Force.

doorknob ankle cold

This is stoooooopid funny. If you let it, the song will keep playing over and over and over and over and llama and over and over and duck and over...

Even better than usual

Scrappleface's Scott Ott outdoes himself with "CBS Mulls Reality TV Newscast"

• What if the news itself were the star of the show, rather than the newscasters?
  
• What if the length of the newscast were determined daily by the volume and significance of the news?
  
• What if we reported on the important stuff even if we didn't have any b-roll video to illustrate it?
  
• What if reporters spent the first 20 seconds of every story admitting their preconceived ideas, biases and opinions on the subject?
  
• What if we didn't care about who wins the ratings war, but only about the accuracy, fairness and relevance of our reporting?

ssslllooowww

was the blogosphere this slow last year between the holidays? or is it just a post-election slowdown?

anyway, go see the incredibles movie. it's funny, clean, and has a good story line.

"Bush the Insurgent"

Another reason to like our President.

"Question Authority"

The tired old saying "Don't trust anyone over thirty" finally makes sense, in context of this silly list, which is proof positive that rolling stones can, in fact, gather moss.

"Imagine there's no Beatles. Now we're halfway there.
No music they had written, Just the boomers care.
Imagine there's no Yoko, screeching like a goose. woo-hoo-oo-ooo..."

Thanks Giving

Psalm 107, KJV

1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.
28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
34 A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
36 And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
37 And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

39 Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
41 Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
42 The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

43 Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Lileks on ACLU vs BSA

Lileks' column at Newhouse News Service has this to say about the ACLU picking fights with the Boys Scouts:

And we're talking about the BOY SCOUTS, for heaven's sake, not some Junior Klan League noted for torchlight parades through Jewish neighborhoods. Who has the time to worry whether the scouts are meeting in the local library? Isn't there some real, actual evil handy you could sue? Better yet: If you don't like the scouts' oath or rules, how about you drink a nice hot cup of LIVE AND LET LIVE and start your own group?

(ed. update: i added the link in the middle)

Fallujah coverage

In case you missed the story on the evening news... go read this article (and this linked one) about the victory in Fallujah. The best quote:

The resistance has suffered a loss of more than 2,000 combatants, out of a total force estimated by U.S. Central Command at about 5,000 (other estimates are higher) as well as its only secure base in the country. But both the Arab media and ours emphasize that the attack on Fallujah has made a lot of Arabs mad. By this logic, once we've killed all the terrorists, they'll be invincible.

Unbelievable

Are you as offended by this as I am?

Go read...

UPDATE: This is a must-read, as usual for VDH.

"Intellectual elitists see red all over" by Richard Kirk, who coins the term "Starbuckeroos".

"If they’re so eager to flee to Canada, by all means, let’s help them."

repost: Oliver Stone's "Alexander"

(A slightly edited repost of this from last June, when I first heard that the movie was in production.)

Oliver Stone is making a movie about Alexander the Great. Given the "factual accuracy" of his previous movies, here are some enhancements Mr. Stone may be considering:

• A bungled break-in at the Library of Alexandria, resulting in an eighteen minute gap in several parchments.
  
  
• A detailed explanation of the "Magic Phalanx Theory".
  
  
• Drugged-out Alexander collapses in battle while yelling "I am the Lizard King!".
  
  
• Quote: "It's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma wrapped in a pita bread with some feta cheese!"
  
  
• Odd flashback sequences in the style of "Father Knows Best".
  
  
• Bucephalas is the name of Alexander's black Huey helicopter.
  
  
• Discovery that his father Philip was actually assassinated by Jack Ruby (who was working for the Persian Mafia).
  
  
• Working title: "Born in the Summer of 356 BC".
  

sympathy for the green bean

This article was so bizarre, it required little editing to produce a 'Scrapplefaced' version:

---

Vegetable-rights activists have launched a novel campaign arguing that vegetables -- contrary to stereotype -- are intelligent, sensitive entities no more deserving of being eaten than fish. Called the 'Think Vegetatively' Project, the campaign reflects a strategy shift by People for the Ethical Treatment of Vegetables as it challenges a diet component widely viewed as nutritious and uncontroversial.

"No one would ever pull a fish out of the ground and eat it." said PETV's Fred Fennel. "Once people start to understand that vegetables are just as intelligent as we are, they'll stop eating them."

The grass roots campaign is still in the germination stage and will face broad skepticism. Major groups such as the American Heart Association recommend vegetables as part of a healthy diet; some academics say it is wrong to portray the intelligence and pain sensitivity of vegetables as comparable to fish. "Vegetables are very complex organisms that do all sorts of amazing things," said University of Seattle scientist Rose Jimson. "But to suggest they know they what's happening to them and worry about it, that's just not the case."

PETV, headquartered in Greenleaf, CA., has campaigned for years against gardening, challenging claims by Jimson and others that harvested vegetables do not feel pain. PETV also has joined other critics in decrying the high levels of manure the vegetables are subjected to on farms.

The 'Think Vegetatively' Project is a departure in two respects -- attempting to depict the standard practices of commercial farming as cruel and seeking to convince consumers that there are ethical reasons for not eating vegetables. The project was inspired by several recent scientific studies, which discovered that certain vegetables' intelligence actually exceeded that of the researchers.

"Vegetables are so misunderstood because they grow in such foreign lands, like Nebraska," said Robin Carrotson. "They're such interesting, fascinating individuals, yet they're so incredibly abused."

"Most people dismiss vegetables as dimwits... Yet this is a great fallacy," wrote University of Edinburgh biologist Kale Green. "In many areas, such as memory, their cognitive powers match or exceed those of 'higher' vertebrates, including activists and protestors."

"There's no doubt that vegetables of all shapes and forms are capable of learning fairly complex tasks," Green said. "They can learn from their environment and experience." Oxford University researcher Rudy Baga de Treesa, for example, reported that the Chilean cave beet is able to draw detailed mental maps of its surroundings in Photoshop and post them on the internet.

To press their argument, PETV activists plan demonstrations starting next month at selected vegan restaurants nationwide. PETV also will urge changes in commercial farming practices, for example proposing that tractor drivers perform show tunes for the vegetables before uprooting them.

National Farm Institute president John Redcorn says "It's irresponsible to discourage people from eating vegetables at a time when doctors and dietitians advise eating them twice a day. If anything, we should be eating more vegetables."

Fennel questioned why there is popular support for sparing the cute vegetables -- such as tomatoes and celery -- yet minimal concern for species like artichokes, "whose suffering should warrant felony vegetable cruelty charges."

He also acknowledges the difficulty of changing long-held customs, but thinks his project is worthwhile. "We'd rather go too far than not far enough," he said.

Her voice quivering with emotion, Robin Carrotson exclaimed, "Won't someone PLEASE think of the cabbage!"

---

See also: Carrot Juice Is Murder

Aucum sang pour le chocolat!

CHIRAC LIED!!! IVORIANS DIED!!! NO BLOOD FOR CHOCOLATE!!!

Someone needs to investigate these war crimes.

Some evacuees echoed the Ivory Coast government's complaints of excessive force. An American restaurant worker and other witnesses said French helicopters fired on demonstrators in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

''Man, we heard of a lot of Ivorian friends dying,'' the worker said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hospital officials and the AP confirmed 27 deaths and 1,000 injured in the past week.

p.s. Hopefully this headline will be the only time Phrench appears here...

Memo to cBS

We're still waiting...

cool random stuff

I have no idea what Fljúgandi....ehhh....sláttuvél? means, but you must go see it!!

Periodic table, really.

A pipe organ that plays in just intonation, controlled by telephone relays.

Some even stranger instruments.

Go read...

One of the memes bouncing around Democratic circles these days is that Blue States are now paying taxes to a federal government under the complete control of the Red States. Now they know how the Red States felt from about 1952-1994...

All kinds of Good News from Afganistan

Open Letter to Europe

Rightwingsparkle is in a mood...

I Was a Teenage TV Addict!

The addiction started much before my teenage years though...

I was a TV addict. Sure, there were worse cases out there, but I was definitely hooked. For as long as I remember, I preferred to have the TV on, even if only for background noise.

Pink Panther and Bugs Bunny/Road Runner cartoons. Price is Right. Match Game 7x. Diff'rent Strokes. MASH. WKRP in Cincinnati. National Geographic specials. Charlie Brown & Grinch & Willy Wonka & Wizard of Oz specials. Odd Couple. A-Team. Dukes of Hazzard. Miami Vice. MTV (back when they actually played music videos). Twin Peaks. Star Trek NG. The Simpsons. ER. And many many others...

(After watching waaay too many ER reruns, I had a funny dream about it once).

About 6 or 7 years ago, it became clear to me how much time I was wasting in front of the tube. One major symptom was a loss of interest in my creative pursuits. I used to draw and paint, make models from kits and from scratch, record music and build experimental instruments. But increasingly, my time outside of work and sleep was spent 'vegetating in cathode radiation'.

That should have been enough to make me quit, but it wasn't.

A couple of years later, the suggestive content (which had been there for quite a while) began to bother me. It was spreading everywhere, but my main example was the Drew Carey show. The first season was funny - with the 'Moon Over Parma' theme song - but after that, most of the jokes really became genitalia-centric. That 70's Show was similar. Ads for Viagra, condoms, and 'feminine products' became commonplace, too.

That should have been enough to make me quit too. It wasn't, but I did cut back a little.

That overlapped with my 2 times of unemployment, when I was sort of O.D.ing on TV. My conscience (or Someone else) started saying "This is filth. Why are you polluting your mind with it?"

(Actually, the first time I heard those words clearly was after watching the movie "Fight Club". Although an interesting movie, it made me want to shower twice after seeing it.)

The nails in the coffin of my addiction came during the year prior to this election, with the media loudly proclaiming its utter contempt for American values - except for freedom of speech (which they grant only to themselves).

"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?... You have seen fit to bring it out, and if there is a God in heaven, it will do neither you nor your cause any good."

They have cured this addict. I hope they have cured many many more.

---

update 4/05: here are two different reactions to tv.

Bizarro World

The red-county-blue-county phenomenon has inspired some surreal writing...

MSM again

Cassandra at I Love Jet Noise wrote:

In the wake of RatherGate, NYTroGate, and the exit poll brouhaha, there have been a slew of articles and online editorials in the mainstream media opining that bloggers are irresponsible, unprofessional, and not to be trusted.

Coming from a group of ostensible "professionals" who openly stumped for one candidate in this election to the extent of suppressing entire news stories and manufacturing others out of whole cloth, this attitude is stunning in its arrogance...

RTWT

heeheehee...

Flying Space Monkey said: "ABC is a Disney subsidiary and a fully licensed Mickey Mouse outfit."

Tesla Towers

If you happen to know who Nikola Tesla is, or even just what a Tesla Coil is, you might be impressed/intrigued by these:

Wardenclyffe Tower
Teleforce

I found these links a couple of weeks ago. Have any of you heard about these before?

They're not sorry...

I'm not sorry either.

Hall of Shame

Take a closer look at this mosaic...

Headline

This Yahoo News item is titled "7 Said Killed in Ivory Coast Violence". Who would have thought there could be so much hostility between two brands of soap?

;)

Purple America

Here is a more fair and accurate map of voting patterns by county. Even when I posted this, I knew the old red-vs-blue map was an oversimplification, and wondered if there was a more accurate, 'nuanced' (lurch groan), version.

I found the link to the purple map at LaShawn Barber's blog, which also includes this good quote:

My advice to liberals: Stand tall and be men and women of conviction, if you believe you’re right. I think you’re wrong, but you have the freedom to express your viewpoint. You do not have the freedom to impose your will on me, though.

While you’re refining, repackaging and analyzing your message, consider this: truth is truth and decency is decency. If your “product” doesn’t contain both of these elements, your next advertising campaign won’t appeal to us, either.

UPDATE: Here are some more versions. They look odd at first - read the explanations.

Bush's environmental record

Despite the hype, here's the proof.

Go read...

Ballou's News has some funny stuff - like "Kerry Campaign Sued by Descendents of Ghengis Khan".

Go read...

"American Exceptionalism" by Victor Davis Hanson. Key quotes:

Despite losing the majority of state legislatures and governorships, the U.S. Congress, the presidency, and soon the Supreme Court, our anointed elite still doesn't quite get it...

The Internet, right-wing radio, and cable news do not so much move Middle America as reflect its preexisting deep skepticism of our aristocracy and its engineered morality imposed from on high...

George Bush — through the beheadings, the kidnappings, Abu Ghraib, the hysteria of a Richard Clark, Joe Wilson, Anonymous, Rathergate, the 9/11 Commission, CIA rogue analysts, cheap European slurs, insane remarks from Walter Cronkite to Bill Moyers, and last-minute media fabricated "scandals" — has never faltered, so confident was he in the exceptionalism of America and the unshakeable resolve and competence of the U.S. military.

Most of the American people, of course, agreed all along.

Red State Blue State

Many of you have seen the red county vs. blue county voting map. Patterns have emerged, but there has not yet been any explanation of *why* those particular small areas of the country typically "vote blue" - until now. Amazingly, it seems that voting patterns may be influenced by particular geographic properties! Here are some examples:

• The blue areas along the Mississippi river, and other rivers and coastlines are "all wet".
  
  
• The blue areas located in the mountains are "high as a kite".
  
  
• The blue metropolitan regions are "particularly dense".

Any other isolated blue areas are simply inexplicable.

While an investigation into this phenomenon continues, the search for a cure needs your support.

another slowdown

my blograte had increased because i thought my computer was ok, but it's acting up again so i probably won't be posting as much for a little while.

spyware stinks.

Thanksgiving starts early this year

Everybody who was praying for President Bush to win, or for Kerry to lose, or even for an non-legal-wrangling-prolonged election process, should take some time today to thank God for his mercy and grace. Pray that those who opposed Bush's reelection respect the electoral process. Pray continued protection and wisdom for the President in his second term. And continue to pray for victory in the war against terror.

last blog-dream bit

In addition to the three blog-related dreams already posted, there is one other blog-related fragment that has occured a couple of times...

Many of my dreams include lots of driving. Although it feels like there is a reason for the travel, the resulting path usually meanders aimlessly across a city (or even several states).

Anyway, 3 or 4 times now, those dream travels have brought me to Minneapolis. Having never actually seen the place, the scenery never looks the same twice - once it even resembled the adobe style of Santa Fe NM. Each time, I find out that James Lileks is signing copies of his books at a bookstore in a mall somewhere downtown. Each time, I hear about this just as I arrive in town, and for various reasons can never get there in time - either I can't find the mall, or it closes just before I arrive, or the car has trouble.

---

Okay, that's all the blogdreams for now. I'll post if there are others, but I don't think I could top this one by A Little Aardvark. Has anybody else had any blog-related dreams?

Go See...

Some conservative punk posted this cartoon about F9/11.

Cold Fury has this article about the war on terror, including these words against the hateful left:

THERE ARE NO LEGITIMATE GRIEVANCES that justify flying planes into a building, strapping bombs to women and children and sending them into pizza parlors and nightclubs, throwing a wheelchair-bound senior citizen over the side of a cruise ship, and the like. NONE...
Align yourself with the way of thinking that says that this horridly medieval and anti-humanist philosophy is one to be understood and ultimately tolerated if you like. Put yourself on the same side as those who behead truck drivers and aid workers helping to rebuild Iraq, burn their bodies, and drag them through the streets. Myself, I’ll stand on the side of liberty, civilization, and progress rather than religious oppression and fascist murder.

Excellent News From Iran

Iranian government officials admit Christianity ‘out of control.’

The article deals with the case of Hamid Pourmand, 47, a lay pastor in the Assemblies of God Church, who was arrested along with 85 other evangelical church leaders. Then the last section gives us this broader picture:

Over the past year, prominent government leaders have publicly denounced Christianity, Sufism and Zoroastrianism as threats to Iran’s national security.

Under Iran’s Islamist regime, several ex-Muslims who converted to Christianity have been either assassinated or executed by court order, under the guise of accusations of spying for foreign countries.

Apostasy is listed along with murder, armed robbery, rape and serious drug trafficking as a capital offense in Iran.

...Shiite cleric Hasan Mohammadi from the Ministry of Education declared, “Unfortunately, on average every day, 50 Iranian girls and boys convert secretly to Christian denominations in our country.”

After the speech... the father of one student in the audience told IPS that Mohammadi had “unknowingly admitted the defeat of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a theocratic regime in promoting its Islam.”

According to one Iranian Christian who spoke with Compass last week, “Neither the government nor the established churches can control what is happening spiritually across Iran right now.”

“We are hearing estimates that 60 percent of the Iranian people have now heard the message of Christ, even out in the villages,” the source said. Although many of the new Christians are young people, reports indicate entire families have come to faith in Christ and started worshipping in the privacy of their own homes.

“So really, the government can’t do anything to stop the growth of Christianity in Iran,” he said. “It’s out of control.”

Romans 12:17-21 "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Go see...

Hollywood women vs. Afghan women.

Kerry's Legacy

The subtitle to this editorial in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, written by a former POW, reads "No One Who Has Aided the Enemy Deserves to Become President". It concludes with this:

Kerry's legacy isn't that he has the same initials as John Fitzgerald Kennedy or that he motored around the rivers of South Vietnam in a small boat for four months before asking to leave the war early. His legacy is more along the lines of Benedict Arnold's. The only difference is that Benedict Arnold was a successful soldier before he committed treason. I doubt Benedict Arnold would have much success running for President today. Are we to believe that someone who aided the enemy in time of war is worthy of becoming President? I don't think so, and neither do many people I know. We have a war to fight. It's going to take a long time. Kerry is not the one to take us through it.

Kerry summary

Captains Quarters summarizes this year's DNC candidate, concluding with this:

Kerry has been one of the most incompetent major-party candidates in decades, perhaps ever. People point to George McGovern, Walter Mondale, and Kerry's former boss Michael Dukakis as similar or potentially worse candidates, but all three of those men stood for their beliefs and values. Kerry stands for himself and nothing else. The only thing keeping Kerry afloat is the high tide of Bush hatred among the Left and an increasingly desperate mainstream media that will do almost anything, including sacrificing their credibility, to keep Bush from being re-elected.

Weird convergence

The 'referring webpage' feature on the right produces odd results sometimes. Today there was a link to Some Dude's Only Refuge. That link appeared directly under a link to Rightwing Duck (who had just had a contest where I got an honorable mention).

So I check out the Refuge - it's just a personal blog of somebody in Sioux City, who happens to like a few movies that I don't. No telling why it linked to my page. But the top article on that page was titled "Ducks and Gutbusters".

Also, the next post on the Refuge showed a graphic of "Grand Thef Auto: San Andreas". I processed that logo this morning at work, but had never seen it before then.

Earlier today, I had also had two other dejavus, and that's been rare for me lately.


(Okay, maybe convergence isn't the right term, but it was weird. Maybe I'm just sleepy - stupid graveyard shift sleep deprivation...)


From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "Probability factor approaching one to one. We will be restoring normality as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway."

Political Expression

I assume by now you've heard the story about Barry M. Seltzer. "Charged with assault for allegedly aiming his car at Rep. Katherine Harris and supporters", he claimed that it was not a crime since he was "exercising political expression". By that logic, some other crimes might also have to be reclassified as "political expression", like:

• Boothe's "political expression" against Lincoln
  
  
• Harris and Klebold's "political expressions" at Columbine
  
  
• Three thugs' "political expression" against James Byrd Jr
  
  
• Terrorists' 9/11 "political expression"
  
  
• The "political expression" against the Jews during Kristallnacht

Seltzer better not get away with it...

Fw: different terminology

today's forwarded humor

---

People in New England and Texas have different words for certain things. Here are some examples:

New England 'February' = Texas 'winter'
New England 'cooling trend' = Texas 'blizzard'

New England 'summer' = Texas 'August'
New England 'heat wave' = Texas 'slightly below average'

New England 'route' = Texas 'highway'
New England 'journey' = Texas 'commute'

New England 'township' = Texas 'subdivision'
New England 'state' = Texas 'county'

---

:)

double standards

Orson Scott Card has written a good analysis of the left's double standards. RTWT

IRS tramples free speech

This is outrageous.

In a letter of clarification requested by a traveling minister, the Internal Revenue Service has declared people gathered in tax-exempt churches can't pray for President Bush to win the election on Tuesday.

Acts 5:28-29 (the high priest said) "Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name?"... Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men."

These two links (mentioned in the first story) point to other groups that seems to be behind these antics. If they are soooo interested in keeping the government out, why would they use the government to censor churches?

p.s. This is yet another reason to eliminate the hyper-complicated tax bureaucracy.

UPDATE: ...or maybe not. (just kidding)

Hanoi John

If this story is true, it should (at a bare minimum) immediately disqualify Kerry for public office in America.

-------------
(I copied the main story here so it doesn't "get disappeared")
-------------

The first documentary evidence that Vietnamese communists were directly steering John Kerry's antiwar group Vietnam Veterans Against the War has been discovered in a U.S. archive, according to a researcher who spoke with WorldNetDaily.

One freshly unearthed document, captured by the U.S. from Vietnamese communists in 1971 and later translated, indicates the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese delegations to the Paris peace talks that year were used as the communications link to direct the activities of Kerry and other antiwar activists who attended.

Kerry insists he attended the talks only because he happened to be in France on his honeymoon and maintains he met with both sides. But previously revealed records indicate the future senator made two, and possibly three, trips to Paris to meet with Viet Cong leader Madame Nguyen Thi Binh then promote her plan's demand for U.S. surrender.

Jerome Corsi, a specialist on the Vietnam era, told WND the new discoveries are the "most remarkable documents I've seen in the entire history of the antiwar movement."

"We're not going to say he's an agent for Vietnamese communists, but it's the next thing to it," he said. "Whether he was consciously carrying out their direction or naively doing what they wanted, it amounted to the same thing; he advanced their cause."

Corsi, co-author of the Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth best-seller "Unfit for Command," and Scott Swett, who maintains the group's website, have posted a summary of the discovery on the website of Wintersoldier.com.

Corsi says the documents show how the North Vietnamese, the Viet Cong, the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice, the Communist Party of the USA and Kerry's VVAW worked closely together to achieve the Vietnamese communists' primary objective; the defeat of the U.S. in Vietnam.

"I think what we've discovered is a smoking gun," Corsi said. "We knew when we wrote 'Unfit for Command' that Kerry had met with Madame Binh and then promoted her peace plan.

"This document enables us to connect the dots," he emphasized. "We now have evidence Madame Binh was directing the antiwar movement ... and the person who implemented her strategy was John Kerry."

July 22, 1971, Kerry called on President Nixon to accept the plan at a press conference in which he surrounded himself with the families of POWs, a strategy outlined in the first document.

The two documents also connect the dots between the Vietnamese communists and the radical U.S. group People's Coalition for Peace and Justice through the person of Al Hubbard, a coordinating member of PCPJ and the executive director of VVAW while Kerry was its national spokesman.

"Al Hubbard and John Kerry were carrying out the predetermined agenda of the enemy in a coordinated fashion," Corsi said. "It's a level of collaboration that exceeded anything we had imagined."

The second document, captured by U.S. military forces in South Vietnam May 12, 1972, urges Vietnamese officials to promote the antiwar activities in the United States.

Significantly, the fifth paragraph makes it clear the Vietnamese communists were using, for propaganda purposes, a protest described as taking place April 19-22, 1971.

This coincides with the well-known "Dewey Canyon III" protest in Washington, D.C., highlighted by Kerry's Senate Foreign Relations testimony charging American soldiers with war crimes.

The document's description of the protest includes the "return the medals" event in which Kerry and other VVAW members threw their war decorations toward the steps of the Capitol.

Corsi told WND the documents have been authenticated with "100 percent certainty."

But why were they unearthed now, just one week before the Nov. 2 election?

Corsi insisted the timing was unintentional.

"It's truly one of those accidents of how things develop in research," he said. "We did not spring any surprise, we just found these documents, and even the archivist didn't know they were there."

Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth dispatched two researchers to Texas Tech University's Vietnam-era archive in Lubbock, which has more than 2 million documents, to "see if there was anything there," Corsi said.

Many of the documents are in Vietnamese and have not been translated yet.

The two documents were found in boxes containing papers from antiwar activities during 1971-72, but they also turned out to be posted in an Internet database, which enabled further verification, Corsi said.

First document

The first document is a "circular" outlining the Vietnamese regime's strategies to coordinate its propaganda effort with its orchestration of U.S. antiwar group activities.

The spontaneous antiwar movements in the US have received assistance and guidance from the friendly ((VC/NVN)) delegations at the Paris Peace Talks.

The phrases in double parentheses were added by U.S. translators for clarification. "VC" refers to the Viet Cong, while "NVN" is the North Vietnamese government.

Corsi and Swett point out that FBI files show Kerry returned to Paris to meet with the North Vietnamese delegation in August 1971 and planned a third trip in November.

Corsi emphasizes that before the discovery of this document, he and other researchers had no direct evidence that Hanoi actually was directing the antiwar movement to implement the regime's goals, although they assumed it to be the case based on other indications.

In her meeting with Kerry in Paris, Madame Binh instructed him on how he and the VVAW could "serve as Hanoi's surrogates in the United States," Corsi and Swett say. This included advancement of her seven-point peace plan forcing President Nixon to set a date to end the war and withdraw troops.

Hanoi cleverly constructed the plan so that the only barrier to release of American POWs was Nixon's unwillingness to set a withdrawal date.

But as Corsi and Swett emphasize, the plan amounted to a virtual surrender that included payment of reparations and an admission the U.S. was the aggressor in an immoral war against the communists.

The circular underscores the impact of the peace plan on U.S. activists, stating:

"The seven-point peace proposal ((of the SVN Provisional Revolutionary Government)) not only solved problems concerning the release of US prisoners but also motivated the people of all walks of life and even relatives of US pilots detained in NVN to participate in the antiwar movement.

Another section of the circular, again highlighting the interconnectedness of the Vietnamese communists, the U.S. antiwar movement and politics in the U.S. and South Vietnam, says Nixon and South Vietnamese leader Thieu are "very embarrassed because the seven-point peace proposal is supported by the [South Vietnamese] people's ((political struggle)) movement and the antiwar movements in the US. "

Therefore, the circular says, "all local areas, units, and branches must widely disseminate the seven-point peace proposal, step up the people's ((political struggle)) movements both in cities and rural areas, taking advantage of disturbances and dissensions in the enemy's forthcoming (RVN) Congressional and Presidential elections. They must coordinate more successfully with the antiwar movements in the US so as to isolate the Nixon-Thieu clique."

Second document

In addition to tying activities surrounding Kerry's 1971 protest to the direction of Vietnamese communists, the second document reveals the degree to which Hanoi worked with and through the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice.

Of the U.S. antiwar movements, the two most important ones are: The PCPJ ((the People's Committee for Peace and Justice)) and the NPAC ((National Peace Action Committee)). These two movements have gathered much strength and staged many demonstrations. The PCPJ is the most important. It maintains relations with us.

Corsi and Swett note the House Internal Securities Committee in its 1971 Annual Report described the PCPJ as an organization strongly controlled by U.S. communists.

"There is no question but what members of the Communist Party have provided a very strong degree of influence, even a guiding influence, in the evolution and formation of policies of the People's Coalition for Peace and Justice."

Corsi cites recently released FBI surveillance reports that establish a strong link between Kerry, Hubbard, the VVAW, the PCPJ and their trips to Paris to meet with Madame Binh.

Kerry shared the stage with Hubbard - who recruited Kerry into the group - during the Dewey Canyon III protest, and they appeared together on NBC's Meet the Press April 18, 1971. Hubbard's claimed to have been a transport pilot wounded in combat, but the Department of Defense released documents showing he was neither a pilot nor an officer and had never served in Vietnam.

An FBI field surveillance report stamped Nov. 11, 1971, showed Kerry and Hubbard were planning to travel to Paris later that month to engage in talks with Vietnamese communist delegations. Other FBI reports clearly show the Communist Party of the USA was paying for Hubbard's trips to Paris, Corsi notes.

Another FBI report, dated Nov. 24, 1971, gives details of Hubbard's presentation to a VVAW meeting of the Executive and Steering committees in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 12-15, 1971.

At that meeting, the VVAW considered and then rejected a plan to assassinate several pro-war U.S. Senators. Kerry is listed as present.

The FBI document shows communist coordination in Hubbard's trip to Paris.

[BLACK OUT] advised that Hubbard gave the following information regarding his Paris trip:

Two foreign groups, which are Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and Peoples Republic Government (PRG) (phonetic), invited representatives of the VVAW, Communist Party USA (CP USA), and a Left Wing group in Paris, to attend meeting of the above inviting groups in Paris. Hubbard advised he was elected to represent the VVAW. An unknown male was invited to represent the CP USA and an unknown individual was elected to represent the Left Wing group from Paris. He advised at the meeting that his trip was financed by CP USA.

Corsi and Swett cite an appeal letter written by Hubbard April 20, 1971, demonstrating the strong coordination between Vietnam Veterans Against the War and People's Coalition for Peace and Justice.

Addressed from the offices of the VVAW in Washington, D.C., the letter asks VVAW members to provide assistance to the PCPJ. It discusses several ways in which the two organizations have worked closely together:

This is an appeal for help for the Peoples Coalition for Peace and Justice. Over the past months the Peoples Coalition has supported the Vietnam Vets Against the War in many ways. The Coalition has made office space available at no charge, and permitted the use of all necessary office equipment such as mimeograph machines, stencil-making machines, folders and typewriters. They have loaned us cars, bullhorns, and public address equipment. Their staff has taken messages for us and joined fraternally in building our progress. Now we can return this support.

Saturday, April 24, the Coalition needs help collecting money and selling buttons at the great march and rally. Collectors and sellers must be energetic and determined. There will be security problems in taking large amounts of money to banks. The Coalition needs people power, hundreds of workers.

I earnestly hope that you will come forward to support our friends in this emergency.

Two days after Hubbard's letter was written, Kerry told Sen. William Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee that American military in Vietnam were committing war crimes in the manner of Genghis Khan.

The event mentioned in the letter was PCPJ's massive April 24 demonstration in Washington that followed the VVAW's Dewey Canyon III protest.

Yet another MSM-DNC lie

How many of these lying scams will they try to pull before Americans say "I'M NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO YOU ANY MORE!!!"

Reagan had it right

Of course he got a lot of things right, but this particular speech he gave 40 years ago still rings true.

This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capitol can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I'd like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down - [up is man's oldest] dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, - or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.

Wacky World Series Prediction...

Random thought:

The Boston Red Sox will trade in their old curse for a new one this year. They have won the first games and are looking forward to winning their first series in 86 years, but the lunar eclipse will become the sign of their new curse when they choke and lose the next four.

What are the odds?

UPDATE: Well, that prediction didn't happen, but here's another. The Red Sox win will usher in an era of their fans ceasing to continuously whine about the curse, and becoming more considerate of the fans of other teams when visiting other stadiums.

Odds are even lower...

(I'm sure there are plenty of Red Sox fans who are not loud and obnoxious about it - but all of them I have personally encountered were.)

Clinton Endorses Bush!

At a recent Kerry rally, former President Clinton is quoted as saying "One candidate is playing to your hopes, and one is playing to your fears. One is inspiring you to think, and one endorses intimidation. If there's one candidate that makes you hope and think, you should vote for him."

In light of the recent wave of democratic party violence against republicans, the medicare and draft hoaxes, the threats against all who speak against democratic demagoguery, and the continuous barrage of uncivil behavior against the United States by Kerry and his supporters, Mr. Clinton, in his own inimitable way, is obviously endorsing President Bush.

Random Fun Stuff

This one just quacked me up...

Orbital mechanics can be fun!

Blog-related Dream 3

This one is kind of like that "slacker" movie, pointless and taking random turns along the way. The only background information you need is the various blog names used (which are linked). Edited for clarity, but not content.


In the dream, a female friend (nobody I know in real life, I'll call her Jenny) and I were leaving from another friend's house in a northwest suburb of Houston. She was planning to drop me off at my house a couple of hours north, then go home, somewhere near Dallas. Unfortunately, just a couple of miles down the road, her Saturn sedan started having problems.

We coasted in to a (national chain) repair shop, which was getting ready to close for the Saturday evening. The salesman was professional and didn't make an issue of it, but it was clear that the shop workers did not want to delay their weekend plans for one last repair. However, they went ahead and pulled the car into a repair bay and plugged it into their diagnostic computers. About five minutes later, the computer printed its report, and a mechanic brought it up to the sales counter. The salesman pressed a few buttons at the register, then told Jenny what the problem was and how much it would cost.

A brake job, with replacement front rotors. FORTY-EIGHT HUNDRED dollars, using generic parts. Over SEVENTY-TWO HUNDRED dollars, using factory original parts.

Jenny wasn't fazed by that number, and pulled out her checkbook. I stopped her, and whispered to her that the price was "just a little bit steep". Then I made some excuses to the salesman, and got her out of the shop.

As I was explaining to her just how much brake jobs should cost, and trying to figure out how we could get her car to another less expensive shop, we started walking towards a Chinese restaurant in a small, less than half occupied, shopping center across the street. It smelled really good, and we were getting hungry, but as soon as I opened the door for her, I saw a shop next door with several people I thought I recognized, but couldn't quite place the faces. Jenny was too hungry, so she went on in to get us a table. I went in to the other shop which had no signs, except for some small white vinyl letters on the door showing a phone number under the name "I Love Jet Noise".

There were five people in the front room, sitting around a glass dining room table, having a friendly discussion over several small piles of official-looking papers. I also heard a couple of other voices in a back room. They were all twenty-something guys, all with short dark hair, and dressed very casually. Without introducing myself, I asked what they were doing. They began talking about the band they had formed while in college, and were excited about the prospect of a big tour they were going to start, opening for Flying Space Monkey.

I asked what style of music they played, and they all looked at each other for a second, started laughing, and said "well, it's difficult to describe". Two of them began listing the bands that influenced them, including Scrappleface, Blue Goldfish, and A Little Aardvark.

As I noticed that many of the other (non-blog named) bands were the same ones that influenced me, it occured to me that they might have heard my music, so I finally introduced myself by saying "Hi, I'm Hatless". They all looked at each other in surprise, and stood up to shake my hand. One of them had my first CD, and asked if I had any others. I told them I had a couple in my car, and got up to get them, but once I saw the parking lot I remembered that my car was not there. The guys also got up to leave, turned off the lights and locked the doors to their place. Standing in the parking lot, we discussed the possibility of recording together, and exchanged email addresses. Looking at the address, it slowly dawned on me that they had just stolen their names from other blogs, and I made a mental note to mention it to the respective blog owners that someone else was using their blog names.


Remember, I did say it was pointless...

Campaign Merchandise

There's a lot of campaign merchandise available online and elsewhere. T-shirts, bumper stickers, buttons, etc., (even ketchup), either for or against both candidates seem to be more popular than ever this year.

I had a thought... how likely is it that a group would produce and sell merchandise supporting the opposite candidate, just to make a profit from the opposition to send to their favored candidiate? If so, what percent of merchandise would be produced that way?

Please comment...

Every Little Bit Helps

Rock the Truth!

Remember back in the olden days, when MTV actually played music videos?

Whining Guardian Idiots

Warning: Strong language. Actually, not strong enough.

Fraters gets one wrong?!?

At least it's not about anything serious...

YANKEES LOSE!!!
YANKEES LOSE!!!
YANKEES LOSE!!!
YANKEES LOSE!!!
YANKEES LOSE!!!

Go read...

Go read "Hypocrisy and Cynicism in America". Now.

Parrot Sketch Redo

To paraphrase Monty Python's "parrot sketch" to fit the premise of this article about UBL's demise:

Bin Ladin's not pinin'! He's passed on! This terrorist is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet the devil! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he burns in eternal torment! If he hadn't been turned into a red mist at the bottom of a cave he'd be poisoning the worms right now! His diabolic processes are now history! He's off the goat! He's kicked the bucket, unwrapped his filthy turban, shaved his mangy beard and joined the screaming cacophony of Hades!! THIS IS AN EX-TERRORIST!!

UPDATE: or maybe not...

Blog-related Dream 2

This one isn't nearly as long as the others. The only background info you need to know is about IMAO (Frank J) and the T-shirt babe (Sarah K).


In the dream, Frank J invited me to have supper one night with him and Sarah K at her apartment in Amarillo. It was a nice place, tastefully decorated, cozy but not frilly. Typical apartment layout - large living room turning into a dining area in the back, with a small kitchen next to it.

For some unknown reason, I showed up rather late, and the meal was almost ready when I arrived. Frank greeted me at the door, followed shortly by Sarah's greeting from the kitchen. After brief pleasantries (with no mention of monkeys, ninjas, or space lasers), he shows me to the table. As soon as we are seated, Sarah comes out of the kitchen with a large silver platter with a pile of crispy, fresh, home-cooked...


Chicken-fried alligator strips.


I kid you not. Somehow none of us was surprised by this, and we all thought they were quite good, as were the green beans and mashed potatoes.

Halfway through the supper, I began to notice the two of them exchanging glances and trying not to laugh, like they knew something but weren't supposed to tell me. Somehow I already knew what their secret was - they had invited me to supper to let some people do an 'extreme makeover' on my house.

I didn't have the heart to tell them that I already knew about the plan.

I also didn't have the heart to tell them that my house was rented...

And now for something completely different...

One of my interests has always been airplanes. I've been drawing them since before grade school, read lots of books about them, and built lots of plastic models of them.

At a relatively young age, I was introduced to the textbook explanation for how a wing develops lift, which is called the 'Bernoulli principle', named after the scientist who discovered it. A simplistic summary of it is that air must flow faster over the curved top surface of a wing than under the flat bottom surface of a wing, and the faster air on top creates lower pressure, which creates lift.

As I read more about airplanes, there were pictures of many airfoils (wing cross sections) that, according to the 'Bernoulli principle', should not create lift. Flattened and/or symmetrical airfoils do not have those characteristics, but there are many examples of actual aircraft that use them. Dad, who worked in an aircraft factory for several years, explained to me that the 'angle of attack' of the wing is much more important than the 'Bernoulli principle' in the creation of lift on a wing. More advanced books explain this, and how it ties in to Newton's laws of action and reaction, but the primary explanation continues to be Bernoulli's in most books.

Just a couple of years ago, I saw a display in an aviation museum of a very small wind tunnel. Less than a foot square, and maybe four feet long, it had a small fan which pulled air over a small balsa model wing section allowed to move up and down on metal posts. There were two inlets for the air - one on the opposite end from the fan, and a smaller one on the bottom of the box just in front of the wing. The intended use of the diplay was to just press the button to turn on the fan and watch the demonstration of the 'Bernoulli principle' in action. However, it was easy to demonstrate that that force does not provide enough lift to raise the wing. Simply covering the bottom air inlet reduced the wing's effective 'angle of attack' with the oncoming air, causing the wing to drop.

This is probably the most innocuous bit of disinformation I've seen in a museum, but what possible purpose could be served by perpetuating this myth?

Nasa has a page about this issue, and here is another page, or you can just google bernoulli lift fraud and get quite a few others.

It's How You Play the Game

Vodkapundit (do you have to be over 21 to view his site?) reminds everyone involved in this election that "It's How You Play the Game".

See also this, this, and this one I've linked to before.

A Must Read

Whether or not you have ever followed any links from here before, please follow this one.

Love this list

Hugh Hewitt is compiling a list of the choices for this election. Read it, and check back for updates.

Blog-related Dream 1

This dream might actually be the most interesting of the three blog-related dreams I plan to post, but they will be posted in chronological order. I dreamed this one over a year ago. It's edited for clarity, but I am not making up any additions after the fact.

First, two bits of background info:

1) On I-40 between Amarillo and Albuquerque is the town of Tucumcari, New Mexico. My family used to travel through there fairly often, never stopping for much more than a quick meal or a tank of gas. Historic Route 66 branches off of the Interstate, so there is a little bit of that particular sort of retro-tourist-y stuff in town.

2) James Lileks has many photos of retro 50's, 60's & 70's buildings, like motels and restaurants. If you haven't seen those photos, or don't remember the style, go take a quick look at the links.

So...

In the dream, my family had decided to meet and have supper at this (in reality, nonexistent) tourist-trap-restaurant on the west side of Tucumcari. Several aunts, uncles, cousins, plus my immediate family and grandmother were all going to converge on this place from various directions in various vehicles (not an uncommon occurence for our family). I arrived shortly after my parents, and we all wandered around the place while waiting for everyone to arrive so we could all eat together. I wasn't too sure about eating there, but apparently "this was where everyone decided to meet..." before I was invited.

This place epitomized the retro look shown in the aforementioned Lileks' photos, in the tackiest possible way. In the restaurant, orange laminate tables and shag carpet under an angled ceiling with fake exposed beams holding up acoustical tile. Cheap paneled wainscoting below velvet paintings of tigers, bullfighters, and sailing ships. Geometric wood and brass light fixtures. A skinny woven basket full of two-packs of Captain's Wafers, next to textured red plastic water glasses with faded white logos.

The bar looked something like this, only darker.

Other rooms were divided with fake paneled half-walls with lathed posts on top. All the woodwork had the darkest wood stain available, possibly applied with a mop. Some places had indirect lighting with cheap buzzing flourescent bulbs, including the restrooms which had burgundy velvet wallpaper with a floral pattern only visible by its glossiness. The gift shop had the typical tourist trap variety of toys and souvenirs for sale, like state emblazoned ashtrays and $1.69 rubber tomahawks with fluorescent feathers. The bric-a-brac was displayed on racks in several stages of disrepair, which stood on gold-flecked linoleum tiles underneath giant gray concentric-circular air conditioning vents. Near the entry was a gold spray-painted concrete fountain with water-spouting cherubs and fish.

Past the gift shop, there was another room, which was relatively empty. It had some sort of fake reddish stone flooring, with a matching circular fireplace in the middle, with a black conical hood suspended from the ceiling above it. A small cash register (mechanical, but not antique) stood in the corner near an alcove for the pay phone and restrooms, next to a set of large windows to the west. The windows looked out over the huge but almost empty gravel parking lot, with its one-skinny-letter-per-pastel-colored-rhombus sign, across a scrub prairie with a couple of old trailers, up to Tucumcari Mesa. The windows probably hadn't been cleaned that year, and there were dead flies in the windowsill.

Get the picture?

My thought was exactly that - I wanted to get some pictures, thinking of how much Lileks would get a kick out of seeing this place. Then I realize I didn't bring my camera. The gift shop (oddly) didn't sell any kind of cheap or disposable camera . So I start asking family members if they have brought theirs. Mom had hers, but it was without film, and she had already found that the gift shop didn't sell that kind of film either. My aunt was carrying my grandmother's polaroid camera, but we discovered it was broken, as was my cousin's small digital camera. Finally, everyone arrived, and we took our seats in the restaurant, but I woke up before we even got to order.

When I awoke, my first thought was one of disappointment that I didn't get any photos of the place for Lileks...

Zell again

I've seen a couple of "reports" like this. Here's Zell Miller's version of Modern day Iwo Jima coverage.

Next on the Hatless Channel:

I will be posting a couple of my blog-related dreams in the near future. (Trust me, they're all clean.) Guest stars include Lileks, Sarahk and Frankj. Stay tuned.

Steyn Online

Mark Steyn is on a roll! Read all three.

Pajama Brigade

You go read now!

Memo about Memos

Regular Folks Know a Lot

Two Blue

Here's two articles worth reading, even though they countain some foul language:

Muledriver's Interview with Hitler

P.J.O'Rourke's Points for the Debate

"Management" Question

Has anyone out there ever worked under a manager who actually knew what was going on? Or is the whole world run by clones of Dilbert's boss?

Brownshirts, anyone?

True Blue Gal is keeping a list of election-related terrorist attacks. As much as I hope there are no additions forthcoming, I'm afraid there will be...

UPDATE: It looks like the link changed...?

Here's a thought...

A lot of people have been making an issue of legalizing same-sex marriages, so why don't we go ahead and legalize same-person marriages? Why should anyone have to actually go find someone else to marry? Single people should have rights to the same benefits as any married people! Also, divorce is much less common among single people, except in the case of multiple personality disorder.

End the discrimination now!

;)

Electronic Voting Machine Problems

I don't care which side would benefit from this unsound technology, I am against anything that could so easily be used to defraud the electorate.

Here are just a few of the approx. 371,000 Google hits for voting machine problems:

http://www.techcentralstation.com/092904K.html
http://www.techcentralstation.com/110502A.html
http://www.blackboxvoting.com/
http://www.notablesoftware.com/evote.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1009_3-5054088.html
http://www.rense.com/general31/machines.htm

Hmm...

Mark Steyn thinks Rathergate may not be over yet...

As the network put it last week, ''In accordance with longstanding journalistic ethics, CBS News is not prepared to reveal its confidential sources or the method by which '60 Minutes' Wednesday received the documents.'' But, once they admit the documents are fake, they can no longer claim ''journalistic ethics'' as an excuse to protect their source. There's no legal or First Amendment protection afforded to a man who peddles a fraud. You'd think CBS would be mad as h*** to find whoever it was who stitched them up and made them look idiots.

So why aren't they? The only reasonable conclusion is that the source -- or trail of sources -- is even more incriminating than the fake documents. Why else would Heyward and Rather allow the CBS news division to commit slow, public suicide?

Florida Watch 2004

This just in: Senator Kerry just arrived in Florida, and has been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Another bad day...

...but it's getting better.

Previously, I wrote a post titled "I gotta stop hating". I have recently been presented with several opportunities to go back on that.

---

1) I have been working overnights for over a year, and it has really taken its toll. It is not a difficult job, but the hours are causing sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and loss of any semblance of a social life. My supervisor has reprimanded me for some of the side effects (tardiness, general zombieism, etc.), and told me that this is the only space available for me because they are fully staffed. Within two months they hired two people for the afternoon shifts.

2) As alluded to in previous posts, with Bill Gate$ and Micro$oft's assistance, my computer has been hijacked. My programmer friends (via long distance) and I haven't been able to fix it yet.

3) On a wider scale, murders by terrorists and abortionists, and the media-political-complex's treasons and perjuries that aid and abet them.

4) and today's episode of The Commute, starring the Four Ignorant Drivers.

Driver 1 - Nissan - Tailgate, Pass, And Slow Down
Driver 2 - Van - Ignore Stop Signs And Oncoming Traffic
Driver 3 - Pickup - 70 Through A Very Red Light
Driver 4 - Sebring - Squeal Your Tires And Pass Everyone On A Two Lane Residential Street Because You Didn't Realize You Were In The Left-Turn Lane Until The Other Lane Started Moving

---

It's not easy, but I should not judge them. God will deal with them in His own perfect justice and mercy, administered with perfect wisdom.

"Judge not, or you will be judged."
"First get the plank out of your own eye, then you can see to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."

Linkfest

Interesting analysis of long-term goals in Iraq.

A few bits about flip flopping.

Signs that the Waffle supports terrorists.

MSM & Rathergate roundup.

DIY!

Skynet's birthday.

light posting...

i won't be posting much until i can get my home computer un-hijacked (alluded to in a previous post).

a pox upon hijackers!

Better late than never...

...I find out about Johnny Ramone's political leanings.

...also describes how I found their music.

good analysis

I haven't commented much about Rathergate, partly because there's tons of better commentary out there, and partly because I don't know how to superscript "th"... :)

I did find that No Oil For Pacifists does put the pieces together nicely - check it out.

bad day yesterday...

Yesterday I was walking down the street, and passed by this one really shady-looking store that I have no interest in ever visiting. Most of the time I can walk by without any problem, but that day there was a person out front handing out flyers. Being the polite type I accepted the flyer, planning to toss it in a trash can around the corner.

For some unknown reason, the flyer-hander-outer was exceptionally motivated that day, and initiated a conversation to get me interested in the store. I made it clear to him that I was not interested and had no use for their products (without mentioning that I had heard they were under investigation for fraud and racketeering), and turned sharply and walked away.

Apparently this set him off, because he chased after me and began forcefully stuffing flyers into my pockets, my wallet, and into my open collar. I got up and tried to run away, but that did not deter this fiend. The aggressive flyer-hander-outer chased me into the parking lot, and began filling the car with hundreds more flyers, since I had left my windows open.

I punched him in the face several times, then revved the car to drive away as quickly as possible. He grabbed onto the grille, but I slammed him into a wall, then ran over him a few more times just to be sure. Amazingly this did not work either! He had copied down my license number and found out where I live. A little later he showed up and spray-painted my garage door with his flyer's message, and burned it into both my front and back lawns with gasoline. Then he barricaded all of the roads except the one leading directly from my driveway to his store, and reprogrammed my doorbell to play an audio clip of the store's commercial every time it rings.



Would you do business with a store like that?



Apparently the websites that use hijacking-popup-adware-spyware-that-reinstalls-itself think you would.