The Confederate Yankee has a real rant going on about the silence of the Dems

He's got a point about what the silence on the Left means.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s outrageous comparison of U.S. treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the genocidal tactics of Nazi, Soviet and Cambodian concentration camps has exposed the moral equivalence and cowardice within the Democratic Party, as much for what Democrats didn’t say about Durbin’s remarks, as for what they did.

While reaction on the Right was swift in defense of our military against Durbin’s seditious charges, all that has emanated from the Left is a deafening silence, or even agreement with Durbin’s seditious comments.

There has been no outcry from any major Democratic Party figure, from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, would-be 2008 presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton, or anyone else on the political left. Nor has there been any grassroots outrage of rank and file Democrats that increasingly bow to the capricious and shrill whims of the radical MoveOn.org fringe of the party. Durbin has refused to apologize for his comparison, and Democrats have not pressed him for one. Many, it would seem, agree with his off-kilter assessment.

This leaves us to draw the frightening conclusion that the Democratic leadership really does feel that our military is on par with the Gestapo, Stalin’s NKVD, and the Khmer Rouge.

There's alot more that I didn't steal, go look.

Just another note on SBC

I was talking about how crappy their repair sevice was on EACH of my lines for a total of 8 days. There policy is to not charge for those "no service" days.

OK, I was without phone service for one quarter of the month(between the two lines).
The monthly bill without long distance is about $35 for both lines (taxes, fees, ect. added seperately). Want to guess how much my bill went down for the QUARTER of a MONTH I couldn't use one line or the other? Seems like it would be around $10- $12 right.

How about $1.84? That's right ONE Dollar and 84 Cents!

It must really be nice to be a monopoly with union thugs working for you.

Ok, this'll p*ss off the Libs (and French) (and MALDEF, and LULAC)

The Anti-Subjigator writes a letter to Osamma:

Open Letter to Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda

Dear Sir,
I have watched with great interest the response to 9/11, and it has gone exactly as I predicted. I thought you might be interested in "what went wrong" so that you can have a sporting chance of winning.

Ok, the first thing you should know about warfare is that it is a SCIENCE. The reason we (the free world) keep on winning is because of the enormous amount of thinking that we do. There are two aspects to this. One is the science of battle, where weapons systems are employed against other weapons systems. The other is the science of geostrategy, which is building up alliances. Basically combining weapons systems. The Anglophones are the masters of both of these things, which is why Anglophones haven't been beaten, except when they fight each other, for nearly 1000 years. Let me explain to you what the UK has been up to for centuries, and the US has been up to since it took on the role after WWII.

The ultimate goal of the UK/US is to convert the rest of the world into countries like Australia (and maybe Poland). You see, Australia turns up to help with a fight ON ITS OWN. Australia uses its own resources to do this. It doesn't need to be forced or bribed by the US. I'm not sure exactly why you think Australia turns up to so many fights. Maybe you've never thought about it at all (first big mistake). Maybe you think it's because Australia is predominantly white (true, but wrong reason again). Maybe you think it's because Australia is predominantly Christian (nominally true, but less than 1% practicing, and wrong reason yet again). There are 3 things that Australians (or at least, a significant number, including the current government) fight against. One is dogma. One is non-humanist behaviour. One is subjugators. Most Australians will not use these words though, they'll probably just say "we fight for freedom". But my analysis is that it is those 3 things that Australians fight against.

-snip-

You see, terrorists don't normally have access to major weapons systems. As such, they can do limited damage, and it is mainly a job for the police. After 9/11, the US SHOULD have been able to simply ring up Interpol and have you arrested. But why wouldn't this work? Because of two problems. One is that there is territory in the world that is not under the control of the rule of law. The second problem is that in some territory, terrorism is not against the law. The SCIENTIFIC goal of the US is thus to ensure that terrorism is against the law everywhere, and that there is nowhere in the world that is outside of the law. This then feeds back into GEOSTRATEGY, which is to make foreign governments "more like Australia". So Afghanistan was one place where it wasn't against the law to have a terrorist group. The solution therefore is to CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT.

The US makes best use of RESOURCES by using the minimum amount of force required to change the government of Afghanistan. And basically completely ignore the POLICE job of CATCHING YOU. The police in Afghanistan or Pakistan should be in charge of catching you. It's not a job for the US military. It's a waste of resources. Manhunts are not what the US military is trained to do, or good at doing. What the military is good at is changing the government. Now there was no need to change the government in Pakistan. The government in Pakistan was smart enough to realise that it was too dangerous to continue supporting terrorism. So they have stopped doing so. And Pakistan is using its OWN RESOURCES to bring the law, "terrorism is illegal", across all of its territory. Again, this was a wise (scientific) move by the US. Make use of other people's resources.

Now when it came to Afghanistan, the US had another OPPORTUNITY. Instead of using its own forces, it could use the Northern Alliance. Under the Northern Alliance, terrorism was illegal. All they needed to do was assist the Northern Alliance to victory, and the terrorism problem in Afghanistan would be solved. This was a job for the military, and it was accomplished. Then there was a different geostrategic problem - ensuring that Afghanistan remained stable. For that, the Northern Alliance needed to be replaced with a more representative government. This change of government was achieved diplomatically. Fahim and Rabbani weren't very happy about it, but they relented, gradually, without needing to use US forces against them. And the most stable that the government can get is with a democracy. Because then you have the majority of people on your side, and you should have maximum stability

-snip-

So, who's next? There's only a handful of "hostile regimes" remaining. Sudan, Syria, Iran, North Korea. Iran is the one that is most likely to give the MAXIMUM BENEFIT for MINIMUM RESOURCES. The regime can likely be toppled with the amazing success of Afghanistan. The infrastructure is already in place for democracy to work. There are already security forces that can be reused - no need to do nation-building. And of course, don't forget the independent goal of spreading human rights. Iran is a horrible violator of human rights. It even rapes its own citizens. By toppling Iran, we kill 2 or more birds with 1 stone.

Now you may be wondering why the US government never says any of this in public. Well, part of GEOSTRATEGY is STRATEGIC AMBIGUITY. They can't give away their whole game-plan, because otherwise they may SCARE ALLIES such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Remember, it is SUICIDE to open a war front with an ally or neutral! They instead do their best to concentrate on an issue such as WMD that more people can agree with. Most people will not agree to toppling Iraq so that the US can save money by not patrolling the no-fly zones and not having to deal with a hostile regime. Others don't care how much money the US has to waste on things like this. It's not their money that's being wasted! And many people won't accept the "human rights" argument either, because they can see that there is inconsistency between US allies and US enemies. As a human rights campaigner, I find this attitude horrible - basically saying that because the US doesn't fix ALL human rights abuses, it shouldn't be allowed to fix ANY. This is condemning people to holocaust for no reason at all. I personally prefer to bring in human rights on the back of US geostrategy. Once again, killing 2 birds with 1 stone. Maximum benefit for minimum resources.

-snip-

Another thing you should know is that we don't fight for honour, glory or to prove how brave our soldiers are. We're only interested in WINNING. And when we fight, we don't use ANGER. We instead use CALCULATED VIOLENCE. All all levels from the soldier on the ground to the President of the US, everyone is using their BRAIN, not their emotions. Well, people have emotions too obviously, but it is part of SCIENCE to not let the emotions cloud our judgement. Acting emotionally instead of rationally is a recipe for disaster. Instead, the proper thing to do is get your emotions, then FORMULATE A PLAN. You seem to think that God is going to help you win battles. None of the western battle plans involve God coming to the rescue. All the plans we use are based on the assumption that all the weapons systems will operate according to the laws of physics and that God, if he exists at all, will not intervene. How many times do you need to lose before you realise this yourself? In actual fact, do you ever stop to think that maybe you are worshipping the WRONG GOD, and that's why you keep on losing? Just a thought!

-snip-

Oh yes. You've got an additional problem in that you think that you beat the Soviets in Afghanistan, and that you think the US is weaker than the Soviet Union. This is another misunderstanding of warfare, combined with a misunderstanding of culture. First of all the Soviets were easily able to maintain control of Afghanistan. There was simply a change of management that CHOSE not to assert that control any more. And the same applies to the US in Vietnam. The idiotic Democrats believed that the Vietnamese communists were some kind of great humanists and CHOSE to WITHDRAW SUPPORT from the South Vietnamese. I'm not surprised that you got confused - a lot of people in the west are similarly confused. But the MILITARY is NOT CONFUSED. The MILITARY knows they could have EASILY WON.

He's got alot more, but I like the chest thumping of his final paragraph:

And I'd like to make one request please if you don't mind. The US are our allies. Our mates. The attack on the WTC made me feel that we'd let down our mates, by failing to protect them. If you have any further plans for terrorism, can you hit Australia instead of the US. Our Prime Minister, John Howard, has gone to a lot of effort in an attempt to divert your attention to us. We're in this fight to the bitter end. By the way, did you know that Israel would not even exist if it weren't for the Australian Lighthorse charging Beersheba in WWI? Just thought I'd mention it in case it was of some interest to you. If you could spare Israel and Iraq, that would be nice too. They've had enough. We're just getting warmed up. Do you know where to find us? We're just south of Indonesia. West of New Zealand. Can't miss us. In actual fact, Australia was part of the effort to take some "Muslim land" (East Timor) and convert it into "infidel land". You might want to factor that into your deliberations too. I personally live in Sydney, in case the rumours of you having a suitcase nuke are true. Bless you.

And bless you Paul Edwards.

Here's something to make you sit-up and notice the EuroFighter

Yep, THAT overbudget, multinational boondoggle.

A chance encounter over the Lake District between a Eurofighter trainer and two F-15 aircraft turned into a mock dogfight, with the British plane coming off best - much to the surprise of some in the RAF. The episode was hushed up for fear of causing US blushes.

Is the intimidation factor of a Battleship sitting off the coast worth it's cost?

There is a new type of ship on the horizon (no pun intended) that can outdo the Battleship in just about anything exept armor. The DDX concept ship can outshoot the battleships 16" guns by a factor of 4. The two GPS guided 155mm guns can hit a postage stamp 100 miles away. Being that the guns are automated with prepackaged munitions, one gun can create its own salvo by sending off 10 rounds at differing altitudes to all burst simultaniously at the target. No more ranging shots, first shot is a hit every time.

The problem is that the DDX is a entirely new type of warship. It is the forerunner of the next generation. The new propulsion units, stealth technology, automation, composit armor, electronics are state of the art- and beyond. The problem is, as always- money. Alot of money. So why not just reactivate the Battleships again?

As is the case with virtually every other new development program, costs have started rising and the sticker shock has begun generating questions about alternatives. Each of the new DDX vessels is currently expected to cost $1.7 billion, but that is surely lower than the ultimate price. For a fleet of DDXs, the total cost will be substantial, even on the scale of federal budgeting.

One of the alternatives being advocated in some quarters is reactivating two of the old Iowa class battleships. These old ships from World War II are truly incredible machines, armored with steel up to 17 inches thick and armed with nine 16 inch (406mm) guns and twelve 5 inch (127mm) guns. By any measure these are impressive machines.

But there is one big problem with them, one which makes the seemingly thrifty decision to recycle them a bad choice. They’re antiques! Meaning that reactivated battleships are going to have problems and extra costs that no amount of modernization can possibly fix.


Steven W. Dugger at The American Thinker knows from experience why new ships are better than old:

Maintenance. Ever try to find parts for a 20 year clunker that happens to be your sole source of transportation? Same thing applies here. True some parts can be scavenged from museum ships, but replacements for parts that wear out quickly are gone now, and will have to made from scratch. This is intensely expensive. And then there’s the consumables, like gaskets, seals, hydraulic fluid and a hundred other piddly little items that were standard back in the forties and fifties, but are only a memory now.

-Snip-

In 1980 I was assigned to the number one main machinery room of the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. She was launched in 1958, a year before I was born. Thus, I have first hand experience at keeping old and obsolescent equipment running. We did it with long hours, sweat and occasionally blood, (6 shipmates of mine died in the engineering spaces during my tour of duty). It was not a pleasant experience. I would spare another generation of sailors that pain. The old battleships are museums pieces now, and that is the best way they can serve their country.

I'm not one to jump on all the new toys comming out; and I feel the pride of seeing that huge, imposing, majestic American steel patrolling an enemy coast. We have Aicraft Carriers now that can project Americas thoughts as well. Lets leave the Battleships where they can be enjoyed by all citzens, and help our future Navy win battles by getting behind the DDX.

I'm starting to suffer a case of TMI - or "Browser Rage" anyway


I'm trying to talk myself into going to ZiPpo's Beer, boobs, toobs and toons blogfest up at Brewbraunfels (Tx). I want to go, and being as it IS a Texas blogfest I need to get the guns ready to go.

I was looking at my old .22 Marlin rifle, and couldn't find all the rear sights for it (it used to have 3 sizes of peep sites and a V-site).- it now has the one with the biggest opening. NOT good for impressing other bloggers with your shooting ability. So I was looking for sites to order online. Either I'm not looking for the right .22 Marlin model 80 DL, or I'm not typing the right thing.
All I want is a site that I can ORDER the things. I don't want forestocks, leaver action parts, scope mounts, rear stocks, firing pins, shotgun parts, etc. I want a f*cking rear site. I guess it's off to San Antonio, and gun shops, or Academy.


(Update 2:35PM My Marlin model 80 DL is so old that I apparently need to special order a rear sight. On the other hand, I did get the phone number for the treasurer of the Alamo Muzzle Loaders Club. So should be able to get a membership for their range in LaCoste. Not all was a waste.)

Ron Paul(R.I.N.O.)Texas, a co-sponsor of an anti-patriot bill

And the A.C.L.U. is in favor of the "Ben Franklin" bill.

Not that they have much-if any verifiable facts regarding the government trampling on anyones rights. How many times in the last 4 years have you heard the ACLU- or their anti-bush banshies howling about "Patriot Act Abuse"?

I don't remember any directly related. I remember some they TRIED to tie to it, but that was just the old fasioned law enforcement.

WASHINGTON – It’s particularly apt that this bill be titled the “Ben Franklin True Patriot Act,” for it was that great leader who once said, “Passion governs, and she never governs wisely.” Passion does not usually govern, but when she does, measures like the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act result. This law – because of the panic created by the worst terrorist attack on American soil -- went too far, too fast.

You'll notice they deliberatly didn't use the saying that "Those who give up their freedom for security deserve neither"... Any guesses why the ACLU doesn't want to go there?

Civil liberties supporters seek only to roll back these overreaching segments of the bill.

Congressmen Dennis Kucinich from Ohio and Ron Paul from Texas have taken a necessary step in that direction. Congress now has a chance to repair the damage done by what conservative Republican Don Young from Alaska called “emotional voting.” This legislation would ensure that an effective “war on terrorism” is conducted within the bounds of the Constitution. Congress must take this concrete step toward ensuring both our safety and our freedom.

Ummm, yeah I'm glad congress seldom votes on emotion only- gawd knows that we need more useless laws that sound good to emotional voters.

Not only does this bill deal appropriately with these problematic sections of the PATRIOT Act , it also takes steps to roll back other equally pernicious policies and legislation passed in response to 9/11.

For instance, the proposed True Patriot Act fixes the 18-month-old law barring all non-citizens from working as baggage handlers, a measure that resulted in mass firings of experienced workers -- to the detriment of Americans’ safety. It also seeks to repeal the Attorney General’s regulation that allows the federal government to monitor attorney-client conversations in federal prisons without a court order.

The True Patriot Act also corrects some of the anti-immigrant measures taken since 9/11, including the Justice Department’s policy of closing all immigration proceedings in certain cases, a veil that includes omitting any mention of the hearing in the court docket. The ACLU and Congressman John Conyers of Michigan filed suit against this blackout order last year, prompting a federal judge to declare, “democracies die behind closed doors.” The legislation would also ensure that the FBI would not spy on protesters or in religious institutions unless it was investigating criminal activity.

Three questions. How does fireing "non-US citizens"(illegals?) lowwer Americans safety?
Which "certain cases" were immigrant cases closed on? Legal immigrants who had nothing to hide, or illegals and people who have questionable pasts?
Wasn't the FBI spying on churches thing a Clinton legacy?-Why are they having problems with it now?

Just a thought-- Iran is having an election today

I wonder if Jimmy Carter will have any comments about this election?

I've mentioned that I was tired of hearing about Terri Schiavo before

But She's DEAD now, let her lie. I just deleted permanantly a blog I got tired of seeing before with nothing BUT the T.S. BS.
He won't miss me,he's got a big blog, he's never visited so It won't hurt him.

I- however at least feel a sense of empowerment.




(update 9:45PM - The more I read, the shorter my blogroll may get)

Christopher G. Adamo has an "emporers no cloths" post up


over at The American Thinker about HowDea.

Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey (who, for the record, never claimed he spent Christmas in Cambodia) once called Bill Clinton “an unusually good liar.” Unfortunately, American culture has degenerated to such a point that this statement, coming as it did from a fellow Democrat, was hardly perceived as disparaging the former President.

Throughout the Clinton Presidency, Democratic Party hacks were thoroughly adoring of the manner in which Bill and Hillary were able to slither out of one outrageous scandal after another by means of half-truths, juvenile excuses, and often, blatant lies. Worse yet, they managed to concoct a fairly formidable political persona during this time by inventing tales of their past heroics, thus building “larger than life” images of themselves, which played well to the perennially gullible.
To the degree that they were successful, they personified Lincoln’s adage of “fooling some of the people all of the time.” And in light of the obvious successes, their methods eventually became widely adopted among Democrats.

He then goes on to describe the DNC leaders' ummm,,,,charisma

In concert with her unscrupulous husband, Hillary masterminded the counterattack in which she vilified his accusers as a “vast right wing conspiracy,” alleging that the charges against the President were entirely groundless. Amazingly, even in the aftermath of the episode, with virtually every accusation proven to have been factual, Hillary still retains an air of credibility in certain liberal circles.

So who can blame Howard Dean for believing that he can say anything on any occasion with impunity, even if doing so signifies arrogance, bigotry, and hatred, or is in complete contradiction with previous statements and incontrovertible facts? His occasional attempts to reverse course and pander on those issues are as transparent as cellophane.

Nevertheless, his assessments of race, religion, and the nature of conservatism are honest and heart-felt to a degree never achieved by the previous Democrat President.

Far from being an outcast, operating on the fringes of his Party, Dean merely personifies the Clinton political machine without its camouflage. He does what worked, and may still work, for them. As such he is acting as a warning beacon to America, clearly foretelling of what it will face if it ever again plays the fool for the Clintons.

Ok, the guy is as charisma impared as I am writing impared. I know I suck, I don't have the MSM slathering up everything I say and serving it up with out a question.

The guy is a Liberal Democrat, WHY would anyone in the news media question anything he says? It's not like he's a Republican who needs every word double checked against the record.

On this day in history

In 1215 England's King John put his seal to Magna Carta (the Great Charter) at Runnymede.

I bet it looked alot more like the four pages ofthis than the legalistic hair splitting of this multi-part tome.

Does your job suck? Not enough exitement? Head to Portland, Oregon!

Then you too could join Portlands Finest where they bond by:
"... nude hot-tubbing, pornography-viewing, strip club outings and explicit skits in which team members simulated having sex and masturbating."

AND, don't worry if anyone objects, because:
A federal jury determined that the sexually charged antics of the Portland Police Bureau's elite tactical team did not create a hostile work environment for its first female member.

Officer Liani Reyna, 36, who joined the team in 1999, accused the police bureau of allowing the team's rituals to go unchecked for years, then retaliating against her when she complained. She asked the jury to award her damages in excess of $1 million.

Now quick, run and join a Blue State S.W.A.T. team and you can get away with almost anything you can think of too.

Well, my last poting on "Jacko"

He go off, so now the kiddies can read even more into this song-


I wanna go two steppin',
With a good lookin' big black buck, (exept that Jacko hasn't been black since the 80's)
I want him to come and pick me up
In his chevrolet pick-up truck,
And when we're on the dance floor
His hat will rise high above,
It's inter-racial cowboy homo kind of love.

Tall, of course, dark and handsome, (well he's tall, anyway)
A gentlemen in every way,
A true cow poke in every sense of the word,
We really go to work in the hay.
A bronc bustin' bull ridin' tiger,
Yet peaceful as a dove,
It's inter-racial cowboy homo kind of love,

I know that us as a couple,
Will cause talk but I wouldn't mind,
Those cowboys will be pea green with envy,
When they see his cute behind.
That's why each night by the campfire,
I thank my lucky stars above,
For inter-racial cowboy homo kind of love.

~The Revrend Horton Heat
Cowboy love

Got some ideas on the "Seperation of Church and State" from them that know what they ment

I got an e-mail, and I pulled the quotes.
They don't work for the ACLU nor are they Liberal activist Judges- just:

"All [laws], however may be arranged in two different classes. 1) Divine. 2) Human... But it should always be remembered that this law, natural or revealed, made for men and for nations, flows from the same Divine source: it is the law of God... Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine."
James Wilson, Signer of the Constitution; Supreme Court Justice



"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind of self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
James Madison, 4th president of US (1751 - 1836)



"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".
Patrick Henry 1736-99, American Founding Father


"To suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles on supposition of their ill tendency is a dangerous fallacy which at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of that tendency will make his opinions the rule of judgment and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own." Thomas Jefferson, Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779.

I was checking the veracity of these quotes because they came from a "60 Minutes" piece (and you know how well they vet their stuff)
when I came on this "famouse" quote in full

"Believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."
Thomas Jefferson, to Danbury Baptists, 1802

And again in 1808:
"Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. State churches that use government power to support themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of the church tends to make the clergy unresponsive to the people and leads to corruption within religion. Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.
We have solved ... the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries"

which resulted in:
"In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect 'a wall of separation' between church and state."
Hugo Black, Everson v. Board of Education (1947)

I was fully prepared to be offended

By this link over at Deans World titled "America Sucks".

I won't ruin it for you- go read it!

Just as a spoiler, though- he's going on my blogroll.

There's a great post up at EnviroSpin Watch about global warming climate change

In it he reminds us that climate is constantly changing and that it's better to be a little warmer than cold.

During the so-called 'Medieval Warm Period', some 800 years ago, Britain was a rural island and the population revelled in summer temperatures probably between 0.7 to 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than even the average today. From 1100 to 1300, frosts in May were a rarity; there were bountiful harvests and enough to eat for all. From exquisitely illustrated medieval manuscripts, we can see that hunting with dogs and fishing flourished. Moreover, crops could be grown even on the marginal lands of Dartmoor and the Pennines, while vineyards graced the mellow slopes of the rolling hills around Hereford and in the Welsh Borders. As the climate archaeologist, Brian Fagan, has written, "...the Medieval Warm Period was an unqualified blessing for the rural poor and small farmers." Yet, the period was as warm as, if not warmer than, today, even with our much-hyped ecochondria about current 'global warming'.

But then it all changed. By 1309/10, Europe had entered what is known as the 'Little Ice Age'. The harvest of 1315 was a disaster. Dogs slithered after skinny hares on the icy Thames, bread froze indoors, even when wrapped with straw, shipping from the Baltic was disrupted, and the wines soured, the English vineyards becoming abandoned and derelict by the C15th. Seeing their once blessed land so afflicted, local chroniclers were wont to lament along with Isaiah 5.25: "Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them." The renowned Flemish artist, Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c.1524/30 – 69), 'Peasant Brueghel', as he is known, caught the icy reality in his highly atmospheric genre and biblical panoramas, like 'Hunters in the Snow’' of 1565 and 'The Cencus (sic) at Bethlehem' of 1566. Intermittently, therefore, for some seven centuries, bitter cold, wild surging westerly storms and dire famines would engender death and disease well into the 1800s, ending with one of the most dreadful of all occurrences, the 'An Ghorta Mór', the Irish potato blight and famine of the 1840s.

Why then do we all now fear a little 'global warming'? Since around 1800, thank goodness, we have been warming by some 0.7 degrees Celsius, thus taking us out of the 'Little Ice Age' and away from the apocalypse of cold, disease, famine and death. Yet, our temperatures probably remain lower today than those that brought about such ripeness in the countryside of the 'Medieval Warm Period', the rich produce of which was able to support the master craftsmen who created the triumphant vaulting of Lincoln Cathedral and who constructed the mighty choir of Canterbury.

The permalink doesn't seem to be working in either of our Blogger blogs, so you'll have to scroll down to:
Thursday, June 09, 2005-'Global warming' and the curse of presentism.....

An M.I.T. design team has come up with a tsunami resistant house

Great, I'm not as smart as a janitor from M.I.T., but I think I see a flaw or two in the design description. I'm from the gulf coast of Texas, so I take into consideration what happens before, during and after a tidale surge.

Lets start with the design description:

The "Tsunami Safe(r) Houses," which will be built for about $1,200 each using materials available locally in Sri Lanka, will have four core columns made of concrete and rebar, each about 3 meters wide. Between these columns, homeowners can build walls of wood or bamboo to individualize the homes. Engineering simulations indicate that the design will help the core and foundation of the homes to withstand water or wind force over five times greater than a traditional concrete-block Sri Lankan home.
Ok, to me a "column" is a solid shape (square, rectangle, etc). Does that mean that my house will be built with 24 (9'x9'x8'/27)cubic yards of concrete on each corner?
That's ALOT of concrete. It would also take up alot of room. Or the writer could NOT know what he's talking about, and ment poured 'crete walls.

Also, isn't that alot of weight to put on:
The homes will be built atop concrete blocks or wood 1 or 2 feet above ground so that high waters can flow underneath, making them more storm resistant.
We put our houses on pilings about 10' into the ground, and attached to the house- you know to keep it from floating, or blowing away AND we raised them anywhere from 2' to 8' so we could use it for parking, storage or work areas.

Next problem I have is my basic concept of a house. The house is supposed to protect you and your belongings. Here is what this house is designed to do:

The team recently produced an architectural model for a Sri Lankan house that essentially would allow a powerful ocean wave to go through the house, instead of knocking it flat.
See anything at odds between my idea of a house and M.I.Ts?

We're not as smart (living in hurricane threatened areas, and all) - historically as those designers, our houses are built with a "hurricane room" if it was necessary, and we'd rebuild what was left. We'd restock the house from what was blown into our yard, and the downwind neighbors would restock with our stuff- recycling.

More jobblogging

We thought we had the airport licked, but we had one new booster pump motor, I looked at the nomenclature plate. 240/480V- we got 480 CHECK; use the high side wiring diagram.

Start connecting wires, , , OOPS- there are 3 black wires and one red, which one is ground? since none are marked. Grab one of my crew and ohm it out- its a black one. Yeh, why do the logical thing like use the ODD wire for the ground?

I hooked the motor up, had both my electricians look at it, my boss checked it out- cool, turn it on!
Bump it to check the rotation, it's running backwards, so we swap a wire.

WTF??!??!! It just blew two fuses.
Ohm it out, no shorts. Swap the wires back and try again.
ALL THREE 20 amp fuses blew this time!

Got the guy who sold the water foreman this motor out to look. He said it's wired right, we swapped wires to the working motor- the problem isn't in the control panel.

We had another problem and our motor control expert was out near us, so he had a look- we had the motor wired WRONG. The 480v incoming gets dropped to 240v. (and YES we did look at the voltage across the motor contacts, exept I know I stopped checking when the volts got above 140; because HEY we've got the energy-- don't know about the others)

Ok, change wiring, and WALA! it works!!!!!

And the other water wells' over pressure problem was simply a bad sensor.

Great- The Outage problem seems to be fixed, both wells are working- the weather seems to be ok- Gawd I hope I can stay home this week-end.

Did my 4 hours O.T. and boy does that beer tase good

We had a water well pump go bad the other day- just froze up. We changed fuses, looked for shorts, and couldn't find anything. We even checked for continuity across windings, we found- using our electronic ohm meter, that it registered NO resistance across windings. OK, it's a $10,000 motor, lets call our expert!

Our expert came out and listened to our stories, and ohmed the motor out, checked the motor control pannel- bad motor. Ok, pull the motor and send it in for a bench test/rebuild.

UMmmm,

It tested good on both the main windings and the squirrel cage starter windings.
We got it back and reinstalled it exactly the way we took it out; same wires connected together, and the same amount of thread showing at the shafthead.

OK, fire it up- One of C.P.S.s 75KVA transformers sounded like a freight train, and before we could shut it down, it(the motor) sheared the shaft bushing - the one just above the wellhead.

CRAP! it's 3:30, now we'll have to pull the entire f*cking well shaft- get done sometime around 3AM.

The well guys got out there, and I called C.P.S. to have a look at their transformers. after the well guys got the old sheared coupling off and a new one on, C.P.S. got there to look at their equipment. Everyone's doing their thing and I'm trying to stay out of the way untill they're ready to go.

We reinstalled the well motor, and the well guys showed the water forman what probably happened- the well shaft didn't drop when the motor was off, and he pulled the impellers too tight to the ball couplings. The well guy hit the shaft and it dropped about 1 1/4" inch, then he reset the shaft heigth to the original; he then took up another quarter inch to make up for the stretching of about 500'worth of shaft.

we reconnected the wires, well guys were satisfied, C.P.S. was ready- throw the switch! THUD went the cutoff switch, WHANG went the motor (that's what it's supposed to do), and BUZZZZZZZZ went the transformer untill the starter motor shut off, then everything worked like it was supposed to.

C.P.S. is going to moniter their transformer.

Cool,I'd rather get off at 8PM than 3AM any day. We chalked it up to a little of everything, and no one cause.

It would seem that Ex (and future) Prez candidate Kerry has signed his 180 form

I'm just seeing things in blogs, not in "real" papers, or most of the MSM. I have heard of his military record from that Boston paper, you know the Liberal version of Tass.

Several questions, if I may- not being a highly trained member of the MSM:

• If Kerry really did let his ENTIRE record out, why is it only being selectivly being relesed by one paper?
• Some of this record supposedly puts to rest the "Swift Boat Vets" accusations. Why wasn't that brought forward in the campagn?
• What's with the two discharges? I only got one for each time I (re)enlisted.
• did it take this long to get the Navy to clean up Kerrys record?
• Is this really his entire military record? or just what he chooses to spoonfeed a friendly paper?

Ok, I saw the guys picture and couldn't help posting

I was surfing and clicked on the Crazy Canadian Chainsaw Carrier over at the Puppy Blender.

This news item has a picture you just have to see, then tell me if you may have seen the guys sister lately.

Oh, he was trying to cross from Canada into the U.S. with:

a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres. Then they let him into the United States.
Nothing unusual going on, just another day protecting America.

Today in history

The prophet Mohammed died in 632 A.D.

Which goes with what I've said before. Islam is a religion of Johnny-come-latelys who's followers are filled with jealosy for the Judeo-Christian maturity, well being and forbearance.

---But, it IS a religion of peace- if you believe in the "right" sect of islam.

Light posting ahead

It's not so much that I'm so busy, just tired. I don't have that much keyboard time, and when I do,I'm trying to catch up. I know I'm a pretty crappy writer anyway, but with so little time to post, I don't even feel like cleaning up what I bash out.

I'll try for several a week, but that can change, too.



On an unrelated note; I posted a link from missJenny about AlGores internet. When I was a "UrineBomber" driving the Interstate over in Tenn. I noticed that they had Al Gore Sr.s' name right under D.D. Eisinhower (the Prez) on Interstate signs. Does that mean that Als dad was the "inventer" of the Interstate?

If it's on AlGores internet, it's gotta be true!

Right? I mean nobody (exept the MSM) would go thru the trouble to mislead you for no good reason(well ok, they DO have a reason).

Well I came across a link from MsJenni and had to pass this news on.

ATTENTION, ATTENTION, , , do I have your attention?

It appears that James Douglas Morrison is alive and well, and living in the Northwest.

Please buy his video- I'm sure he misses his fans.

And I'll keep an eye on MsJenni, and will probably be putting her on my blogroll.

More on the Fake solicitation mail- from my server

I guess alot of gullible people are biting on the dangling Phish-mail.
This is what I got in my mail today:



From: "EV1 Customer Service" Save Address
Subject: Unsolicited Emails....
To: *ME*@ev1.net
Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2005 12:43:01 -0500
Greetings to our VALUED EV1.net customers!

We have recently received reports that a portion of our subscribers have been receiving unsolicited emails that are not coming from us. In an effort to protect our subscribers we have gathered the information below that will be helpful to you.

More than likely you're probably already familiar with this information. Even so, reviewing this information can improve the way you protect your personal information online.

1. Always choose a long and memorable password. Should you suspect that someone has your password change it as soon as you can. You should come up with something that's easy for you to remember but impossible for someone to figure out.
2. We will never ask for your password in an unsolicited email or phone call. If you receive such a request, assume it's fraud and don't reply. We may ask you for verification purposes if you call in to our call center to verify your password, for security reasons.
3. Be suspicious. Anyone that has a ISP can create a message that appears to be from any other person. Don't assume an email from "Dad" or "Aunt Mae" was actually sent from someone you know. Don't assume that an unsolicited message from user@ev1.net was really sent by that account. We will never send you a attachment unless you have requested us to send it to you.
4. Scams. Scams are currently the most popular way of getting your personal information nowadays. The most common scams are fake login pages and forged emails that ask for your password, credit card number, or other sensitive information. Ignore or report anything you see that strikes you as questionable or suspicious to our abuse@ev1.net team.
5. Get to know your software. Malicious software (e.g., viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware) most times will masquerades as legitimate and useful software. Search online carefully before installing or running new software, especially anything unsolicited to ensure it's legitimacy.
6. Always use and maintain anti-virus software. This potentially could detect many, maybe not all, types of malicious software before they have a chance to affect your computer. Anti-virus software does not likely detect spyware.
7. Always keep your software up to date. Many problems can be prevented by regularly checking for and installing updates for your operating system, browser, and other programs. Usually most software programs allow you to have this automatically done each time you logon to the internet your software will have a section where you can enable this feature
8. Be careful when using shared computers. (eg. Library, Anyone's computer other than your own, etc.,) If you share a computer always make sure to sign out when not using your account. You should also become familiar on how to "clear the cache," if you use the computer to browse the Internet. Remember that using a shared computer is always riskier than using a computer to which you are the only person with access. Never save your password on a computer other than your own.
9. Contact our friendly Customer Service Team. If you suspect that your account has been compromised or someone else has your account verification information, contact customerservice@ev1.net team for assistance as soon as possible.
10. Working Together works. Working together and knowing how to protect ourselves, we can all enjoy our experience online more and be less prone to run into trouble.
    

Thank you,
Mario R
Customer Service Team Manager

Did I ever mention that I hate playing politics?

Have I mentioned that my new boss just LOVES playing politics?
In the Natural gas business you don't want alot of "exitement"- my boss loves to get things going.
My boss doesn't care how many of his people he ruins a Sunday inconveniences to make a political point- on a Sunday morning- and I'll get my @ss jumped on because I had this "project" scheduled for tomorrow- not yesterday.

Did I mention that I took a paycut to work here?
The only positive things about this job is fully paid health insurance and I'm closer to work.
I have more overtime- exept when it falls on a holiday week- then it's straight time.
I get jumped on alot more for nothing I did.
We get called in in the middle of the night, anytime the wind is wrong- for something not our problem- and we can't fix it.
I get bypassed between my boss and his favorite worker- who nominally works for me.

I'm sure my old boss would hire me back.

Barcepundit is posting about an anti-terror march in Spain

Which would be a positive step, exept the terrorists they're demonstrating against belong to their ETA homegrown terrorists.

Spain's prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero faces the first major demonstration against him today when tens of thousands are to march through Madrid demanding he does not negotiate with the Basque terrorist group Eta.

Organisers said at least 200 coaches were due for the march, which has the backing of the main conservative opposition, the People's party.

The march comes more than a year after Mr Zapatero's Socialist party formed a government and a month after the Spanish parliament gave him the go ahead to open talks with Eta if it shows a "clear will" to renounce violence.

"Do not negotiate in my name," is the slogan of a march that was also expected to attract dissident sectors of Mr Zapatero's own party.

The marchers, to be led by relatives of some of the 800 people killed by Eta over the past three decades, will go from the site of one Eta bomb attack in Madrid to another.

Snip, , , ,
"We want to demonstrate against a policy that we believe is humiliating for the victims of terrorism," explained José Alcaraz, president of the Association of Terrorism Victims.

"I could not live in a place where those who represent me are striking deals with those who nearly killed me," said Irene Villa, who lost both legs in an Eta bomb blast a dozen years ago when she was 12. Via the UK Guardian

Ok, so it's Ok to cut and run and deal with Moslem terrorists, and not to deal with your own?
Barcepundit has this to add:

UPDATE II. According to Telemadrid again, local police has released a figure: 850,000. Organizers have an even higher figure: 1 million (the real one is probably in between). That's more or less the same number on the big rallies against the Iraq war, touted by the intelligentzia as an evidence of a vibrant democracy in which people were speaking the truth to self-centered politicians. The same inteligentzia has been criticizing the plans for today's demonstration because they now say that street demonstrations are not really democratic since it's up to politicians to make decisions

Someone's been phishing in my e-mail

I'm sure all 3 of my returning my returning guests know this thing; but as a public service(and a posting topic)I thought I'd let you know the basics of "phishing".

The mail I gotlast week was that my Paypal had unusual activity on it, and check in to validate the activity. I sent a question back, and never got an answer. So today I got another one saying my account was going to be "secured" untill I could "validate" my account in the presonal action section. - - - Just be sure to click on the link.

I opened a new window and looked into my Paypal account- no problem.

I did, however find a section on e-mail spoofing or phishing as I learned it.

The basic thing to remember is to NEVER click on a link in e-mail if you have to give personal information. The legitimate businesses I don't think even offer a link.

Chirac gets his nose slapped by voters, selects Cruella De Villepen as new Prime Minister

Villepin then proposes a NEW and IMPROVED

EU Constitution which include:

• To give a greater sense belonging in the transnational government, the new name of the European Union shall be EuroNation (pronounced 'Your Own Nation')

• *The flag of EuroNation, instead of a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background, shall consist of a more traditional hammer, sickle and star in gold, against a red background.

• Instead of basing the anthem on Beethoven's ‘Ode to Joy’, the EuroNation anthem shall be based on the more familiar, less religious, Beatles' classic 'Back in the USSR'.

• The motto of the Union shall no longer be ‘United in diversity’ but rather the more poetic: 'Liberté, Égalité, Diversité'

Here's a local posting that will give you another view of Independence Day

I can't begin to count the number of people in the larger cities that have commented that they really wish there were a small town in which to celebrate the Fourth and not have to contend with the monster crowds of the big city. You can call me nostalgic, but in my mind I keep seeing a scene from the movie "Doc Hollywood," where Michael J. Fox is walking in the park during the small town's Squash Festival contemplating why he is in such a hurry to leave. There are strings of lights hanging between the trees and
children running like imps with sparklers dancing in their hands and laughter soaking the ground in their wake. There is the soft melody from a local band in the distance as fireflies add their own special ambiance to the scene as the mayor of the town hauntingly echoes, "Turn off the Interstate, Ben Stone."
This is our little piece of Americana. It is our chance to come together as a community and celebrate the freedoms that we take for granted that have cost our nation the lives of those so dedicated in the vision of our forefathers.

This is from out local paper The Hondo Anvil.

The writer just got his pyrotechnics license and is putting the show on for cost only. His feelings even makes my cynical self want to donate to the cause.