Obama Plans to Unilaterally Disarm America

I don't know why I am surprised, but this is still absolutely shocking to me. Despite what the BDS left rants about President Bush, one does not reach this level in the political arena by being a dumb guy. So how has this scarily naive man who thinks there are 57 states in the USA managed to get this far?

If this guy gets elected President, we are absolutely doomed.



Some folks have laughed at me when I referred to him as the manchurian candidate, but is it really so far fetched?

Just say no to the Obama Nation.

Neil & Bob

Now begins the time when I see just how many plays I can make off the word Bob for post titles. Today's is just a gimme, since it was immediately obvious. Expect more and more strained humor as I run out of ideas as we get closer to the election.

End of an Era

Ft. Bliss has finally raised the drinking age on post to 21. As the article notes, Ft. Bliss was the last CONUS installation where the drinking age was 18. Another piece of my misspent youth goes into the dustbin of history.

The Latest Absurd Obama Gaffe

Quote from his yesterday’s Memorial Day Speech:

“On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong.”

WHAT?

I'm thinking there are 3 options at play here:

1. Obama doesn’t know what the words “fallen heroes” means.
Surely not...I mean can't imagine. Isn't this guy Ivy League educated? I also wonder what he's trying to say by "unbroken line of fallen heroes"? That we have some continuous string of guys dropping dead, or maybe they're holding hands? I don't know, maybe it is just more meaningless, well sounding fluff from an empty, vapid man.

2. Obama doesn’t know why we celebrate Memorial Day.
This may be possible. He and his wife have pretty much made it clear how much they hate this country as well as our military and those who honor us with their service. That said, why would they have any need to bother themselves with such trivialities as why our crap-ass awful country would honor such jingoistic nonsense?

3. Obama rallies attract hoards of dead ex-military guys.
Umbrella corp? "I see dead people"? I don't know, I'm grasping at straws.

...and to think this guy could very realistically be the next President of the United States. I didn't think the Donks could do any worse than Gore or Kerry. Wow, was I wrong.

Denver Drama

So, the Libertarian Party held their nominating convention in Denver over the weekend. Did you know? Did you care? Did you watch any of the coverage on C-SPAN? I’m guessing for most of you the answers are no, no, and no. Being in the 0.5% of the voting public who regularly votes for the LP, my answers are different. I not only knew and cared, I watched the coverage on C-SPAN until I had to leave and get some stuff done on Sunday. Then we used my Blackjack II to keep track of the voting until it was over.

Let me first get this out of the way:

Okay, now I’ve dispensed with at least one obligatory joke.

The voting went almost how I expected. I didn’t expect the voting to be tied for two rounds between Ruwart and Barr. Generally speaking, this convention was a battle between principle and pragmatism. The long-term hardline radical LP members voted Ruwart. The people who thought it might be nice to get more than 300,000 votes nationally voted for Barr. I have no idea which answer is best for the long-term health of the party. Only time can answer that question, so get back to me in a few years and we’ll talk then.

Barr has a track record to deal with in his attempt to convince libertarians he’s worth a vote. A lot of his track record, especially his support for the War on Drugs, makes many of us twitch uncontrollably and start to foam at the mouth and swear. Since he left office, he has been lobbying for the Marijuana Policy Project. He also joined the LP in 2006, so he’s not a naked opportunist trying to jump on the bandwagon at the last minute because his major party presidential bid tanked. He is still less libertarian than many would like.

The only response I can offer is that it is, for some in the party and elsewhere, apparently impossible for a politician to admit he was wrong and try to do better. Some would argue his actions were so reprehensible that no future actions will suffice to make him acceptable. Any one who would argue that is frankly a cultist who is more worried about sin and redemption and the purity of the religion of Libertarianism. The party is not a church, it’s a political organization and exists to achieve libertarian ends through the electoral process. Bob Barr has a chance to influence the debate in a way no other candidate available would.

Other people would argue that it’s some kind of nefarious plot to either jumpstart his political career or engage in skullduggery for one of the big 2. I can dismiss the first with no thought whatsoever, but for anybody who’s slow in the audience: nobody in their right mind leaves the GOP for the Libertarian Party in an attempt to attain greater personal relevance. That’s like trading in your NFL career to go coach Pop Warner in the hopes of becoming rich. As far as skullduggery and nefarious conspiracies go, what could possibly be the upside for efenants? McCain loses? If Barr is a bad actor, he must be on the donk side. He could possibly pull enough votes from McCain to hand the election to Obama. There’s no scenario I can imagine where an Obama win benefits the GOP. Unless, of course, Barr is just bitter and wants to tank the GOP for hanging him out to dry after the impeachment. Hmm. I may have something there. Of course, he’s awfully prescient if he planned this out back before 2006. I may want to ask the campaign for some stock picks.

The upside for the LP? They finally have a candidate the mainstream media will take seriously and who isn’t obviously insane. Surely that’s worth something. If he will go out and make the case for libertarian ideals, he might get more traction than Cato and Reason and the rest of us combined. If the LP is ever going to succeed at changing anything, the first step is to get people paying attention. Barr has a better chance than anybody had in past elections, especially given the current political climate.

In any event, he’s the candidate. The libertarian faithful have three choices. Vote for lesser evil of the two majors and continue getting what we’ve always gotten: bigger government and more erosion of your rights. You could always stay home, because that’s guaranteed to make a change, right? At least you can feel good about your ideological purity then. Or you could suck it up and vote for Barr despite any differences you might have with the guy. Any attempt to get people in this country thinking seriously about government overreach and the rest of the hot-button issues ought to be worth a try.

Me, I know what I’m doing in November when it comes time to vote. My post-election plans remain unchanged.

Memorial Day 2008

As I sit here getting ready to fire up the grill and drink beer, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment is on it's third deployment to Iraq.

This time, as in both previous deployments, not all of them will come home.

Remember the fallen.

Evidence, Please

I have avoided commenting about the FLDS raid and the aftermath. Lots of allegations being tossed around but surprisingly little hard evidence was coming out. As things turned out, that's because CPS and the rest of the minions of the state of Texas didn't have much in the way of actual, supportable evidence. Of course, if you don't believe me, you might believe the Third Court of Appeals. The ruling is here, and a fairly lengthy breakdown of the decision can be found over at Lone Star Times.

I'll give you the thirty second summary. In order to justify removing children, CPS alleged a whole host of things for which they have no supporting evidence. All this was done because somebody thinks the FLDS is creepy and strange.

This ruling is a victory for all of us who care about civil liberties and any of us who might be considered creepy and strange. The bar for the state coming in and taking your kids ought to be set pretty goddamned high, and should be based on something more than just the personal prejudices of state workers. As personally repellent as I may find the FLDS belief system, the members have a right to hold those beliefs and to teach their beliefs to their children. The state doesn't get to come in and take hundreds of kids because mommy and daddy don't believe what the state thinks they should. That way lies a particularly vile form of tyranny that we've seen before elsewhere, and we sure as hell shouldn't acquiesce to someone trying it in the US.

Grits for Breakfast has been all over the case from the get go. He's also got a good post up on the burning question of who's going to pay for this giant clusterfuck. With cost estimates running up to $21 million dollars, somebody is going to take a huge budgetary hit. Maybe the cost, if nothing else, will cause the idiots who triggered the investigation to look a bit more closely next time.

A Nimbus for Nimbus

As a follow-up to my post about the lovely people at Inter-Global, I received the ballast in the mail. It has been installed and the repaired light is casting a lovely glow over the turtle tank. We are all pleased now. Many thanks to the nice folks at Inter-Global for the ballast. The turticle* is much happier for it, I am sure.

*Nimbus V. Turticle by name. Not that it matters since a turtle won't respond to it's name no matter how loud you yell it.

Untrustworthy Bastards

And by "Bastards" I mean the Secret Service. Heartless Libertarian has the details.

One Thousand?

I just noticed the last post was number 1000. Wow. We've had a thousand opportunities to write something timeless that could change peoples lives. Instead, well, you got this. Enjoy the next thousand. I probably will.

One A Day

I ran across a strangely moving post earlier. I seem to recall some one else was doing the photo per day and just taking headshots, more as a documentary on how he was changing. I find it bizarre that one's life can be compressed? summarized? (I'm not sure of the right word here.) into a series of pictures. Obviously, a project of this nature leaves out more of the life than it includes, but if a picture is worth a thousand words Jamie Livingston left the equivalent of almost 7 million words. I think that's more of his life documented for posterity than most people manage. Obsessive, weird, and yet oddly touching.

I Sentence The Corpse To Death!

Any large organization that exists over a long period of time eventually has some bizarre things happen. So without further ado, I present today's fun moment in history: the Cadaver Synod.

Apparently Pope Stephen VI felt the almighty was slacking in his duty to dispense justice to the souls of the deceased. So, he had Pope Formosus dug up and tried. Seems a wee bit presumptuous to me, but I was never a very good Catholic. Maybe the lord delegated this one back to down to the pontiff to handle? I'm a bit confused, but the history of the papacy has lots of odd moments in it that confuse me.

Cheap and Obvious

Going for the easy joke, I note scientists have discovered Ry'leh. Artists and sensitive wussy boys the world over are having horrible dreams as we speak.

Slap up a few posters and maybe you'll be eaten last.

The Blub Is Fine

Since I am quite fast to complain about companies who are not up on the need for customer service in this day and age, I figure I should be at least as fast to give credit when it's due.

The aquarium light for the turtle tank cratered on me. After buying a new bulb, I determined the problem wasn't the bulb. It was the ballast for the fluorescent bulb. After contacting my usual supply houses for a matching ballast, I was unable to find one of a similar size. So, in a burst of inspired thinking, I pulled the nameplate off and searched for the manufacturer, Inter-Global.

I called the friendly people at Inter-Global up, and told them I wished to purchase a single ballast to replace my broken one. The nice lady, whose name I don't recall, took my name and address along with the product information. I was informed she would have to check with someone who was at lunch, but that she would get back to me. About 15 minutes later, she called and told me Inter-Global would be shipping me a ballast at no charge.

I'd like to thank the nice people at Inter-Global for taking care of me. It's not like I bought the ballast from them or will ever be in a position to buy from them, since they are an OEM supplier. Still, I had one of their products in hand which was broken, and they sent me a replacement based on nothing more than a phone call. If you ever need a few hundred ballasts for some application, you could probably do worse than to call them.

Bashing Peanut Farmers for Fun and Profit

Well, only one peanut farmer, really. Steve keeps saying he's no longer blogging about politics, but apparently can't help himself. That's good, because we get gems like:

I can't figure Carter out. Imagine you're an old guy who gets fired from his job for incompetence. So instead of redeeming yourself by getting a new job and doing it well, you keep hanging around your old office, criticizing all the new guys who get your job, all of whom do it way better than you did. That's Jimmy Carter's gig. If people like him worked at Wendy's, every time you went to the drive-through, you'd see some nut standing by the window, yelling things like, "Oh, NO, Lakeisha, you did NOT touch the toppings without a plastic glove!"

Seriously, is there a better critique of Carter's post-presidency ever? If there is, I haven't read it.

No Good Deed

A trifecta of news from or about Myanmar.

Given the amount possible, it appears a trickle of aid is flowing into Myanmar.

This is apparently deliberate on the part of the current government of Myanmar.

No matter what happens, the rest of the world will probably blame the US for it.

This concludes our disaster blogging for the remainder of the week. Other news will have to come from people that have a greater investment in the issue, as I have almost none.

Alien Creatures

I frequently attempt to understand the thought processes of people not like me. It’s an exercise which usually ends with me wandering off thinking to myself about just how nuts people are. Usually, I just wander down the hall and talk to the sales department. Today, I read an article by someone who claims he’s not a dickhead vegetarian. I have my doubts, having never encountered such a specimen in the wild. I usually encounter the types that feel compelled to look at whatever piece of flesh I’m eating and tell me “That’s bad for you.” Yeah, so’s fucking hassling me about my lunch. Keep it up and find out why. I tend to get a tad hostile towards people who try to extol the virtues of vegetarianism to me. I chalk it up as a remnant of having to deal with my semi-psychotic, wanna-be hippie mother on the subject as a child. Either that or the fact that I’m just generally hostile, take your pick.

Anyhow, he makes the valid point that most restaurants spend no time and effort on their vegetarian dishes. And why would they, especially around here? The economic return doesn’t justify it. Trying to make this point, he framed the question thusly:

With no flesh available, picture what you'd make

My immediate thought was “a trip to the store for some meat”. I’m probably not the target audience he’s trying to reach.

Government is Elemental?

Recently discovered research has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (GV), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from four days to four years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2-6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Epiphany For The Dim

Well, either my nagging paid off or Tony finally pulled his head out of his ass. I was browsing my spam folder, where all of Netflix's messages to me intended for Tony go. The important part of the message is reproduced below, minus the graphics and unimportant stuff:

Dear Tony,

We are sending this email to let you know that your account email address has been changed. Please note it may take up to 1 business day for this change to take effect. If you did not change your email address, please visit Your Account to review or change your information.

-Your friends at Netflix

So, Tony, after almost two years, woke up and realized he signed up to Netflix with the wrong email address. I guess we can upgrade Tony's status from "complete waste of protoplasm" to "empty headed mouth breather". Yeah, he's slow, but he did catch on finally. Surely that's worth something, right? I officially rescind any comments I may have made about the suitability of Tony's continued existence on the planet.

Of course, I'm still somewhat saddened by the fact that Tony has managed to reproduce. Or else he just really enjoys children's programming. Either way, it's a sad thing.

Bucket Full o' Fail

Yeah. As everyone over at Uncle's points out, that don't work real good.

For all of you reading who are not of the tribe, the magazine in the cop's weapon is upside down and backwards. The rifle will not work in that configuration. Ever. Keep this in mind when some clown tries to tell you the cops are the only ones who should have weapons because they have more training than us lowly peons.

McCain, According to the Onion

I might actually vote for this guy...


McCain Declines Secret Service, Dares Assassins To Try Something

Light A Fire

It's Beltane. Fire something up. Drive the cattle through the need fire to purify them for the coming season or some such pastoral ritual. What do I know from ancient Celtic rituals? Me, I'm gonna do what I always do on festive and non-festive occasions alike: drink beer.

It's also International Workers' Day. I don't recommend blowing up cops or shooting striking workers in celebration, though. While historically accurate, it's frowned upon in most jurisdictions. I'm not sure what one does to celebrate given those limitations. March outside with a gaggle of deluded communists seems to be the default answer for much of the world. However, I live in Texas. March with communists is never the right answer here, even if it were a good idea in the first place. So I think I'll be skipping any celebration of worker solidarity or WTFever in favor of ancient rituals involving fire. Fire, unlike communists, is at least entertaining and useful.