This will be my last post on CEREBRAL MISFIRE, at least for awhile. As many of you know, I am in the process of moving. This means my DSL is about to be shut off, and thus my blogging will be at a standstill.
I hope to come back. I have enjoyed the experience immensely. For one, it has helped me hone my writing chops. Nothing helps a writer more than to practice.
For another, it has allowed me to spout off about stuff I believe and care about. And people actually READ what I had to say. How cool is that? I hope that I provoked some thought out there, one way or the other. I also hope that those of you who stopped by enjoyed yourselves. I sure had a great time writing it. It gave me something to do late at night while the sugar gliders scampered about the room.
Yet another interesting aspect of the blogging was to find some kindred spirits out there. Benjamin and Kirk, though we’ve never met, are what I’d actually go so far as to call friends. Again, how cool is that?
I’ve also found that I’m not alone in the world. There are people who hold the same ideals, morals, values, etc. that I have. They also have the same concerns and problems. This is a great thing to me.
I’ve discovered perhaps the greatest tool for a truly free press in blogging. We’ve seen the bloggers take down at least two mainstream media big-shots, and it appears more are surely doomed to follow. This is truly good. It’s high time somebody knocked the legs out from under these idiots.
At any rate, I’d like to leave anyone stopping by a list of my frequently-read blogs. Stop by and check them out. In no particular order:
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/
A good Second Amendment website
http://imao.us/More fun with the Second Amendment, as well as a truly warped sense of humor. I like that in a person.
http://www.kimdutoit.com
The granddaddy of all gun bloggers. I’ve learned much form the Master.
http://www.limpidity.org/blog/
Kirk’s website, deep in the heart of Maryland. His wife Liz’s blog is also accessible from here. It’s always a fun read, and they seem like great people. I’ve got to give props to Kirk for bothering to teach me some blogger etiquette, when I was getting rolling on this thing. I never DID get a blogroll up and running. Maybe when I return to blogging, I’ll be better prepared. At any rate, my thanks goes out to Kirk.
http://reasonablenut.blogspot.com/Benjamin’s website. Again, this guy took a new blogger under his wing, and helped teach me the do’s and don’ts of the blogging world. It was much appreciated, as were all the comments and suggestions. This is another person that I really feel like I’ve gotten to know through this blogging stuff.
http://cowboyblob.blogspot.com/
More fun with the Second Amendment.
http://www.michellemalkin.com/Great news and opinion, on subjects that the MSM won’t cover until they have to. Most notably in the areas of homeland security and immigration. I hit it several times a day.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Probably the best of the political blogs during the election. They are still great about taking the MSM to task. God bless ‘em.
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
Great site for homeland security, and why pro-Israel is the only way to go. Well-worth your time to read several times per day.
http://www.homestead.com/prosites-prs/index.html
The greatness of Michael Savage. Again, he covers things that don’t get much mainstream media time.
http://www.newsmax.com/
Great for what’s happening in the world that the liberals don’t want you to know about.
http://washingtontimes.com/
Ditto. I don’t care who owns them, it’s a great newspaper with a conservative slant.
http://www.hughhewitt.com/index.htm
The Graddaddy of all blogs. Also a great talk show, if you're fortunate enough to live in an area where you can get it. He was kind enough to link one of my postings during the election. He must not have actually READ my stuff....
http://www.lonewolfdist.com/
Buy some interesting stuff for your Glock, your plastic pal that’s fun to be with....
http://flametoad.com/
Paul's site, if he would only POST on it every once in awhile.....
At any rate, it’s been a pleasure. The email address is going kaput within a day or so as well.
I hope to come back to blogging in the future. I can safely say that I’ll be out of commission for a few months, at least. Check back for updates from time to time.
I’ll leave you now with words of wisdom, which will serve you well in the years to come:
“Never pet a burning dog.”
—Kyle the Infinitely Opinionated
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Thursday, February 10, 2005
"The World Is Collapsing Around Our Ears..."
But these brave souls are trying to do something about it. Specifically, they are setting up their own patrols on our Southern border, as a protest to Crap Monster Bush about his idiotic guest worker program.
The article notes that Border Patrol agents are being shot at more and more frequently, which I posted on a few days ago. One law enforcement official noted that it was possible the posse might come under attack.
They probably will be carrying better guns than the Border Patrol.
More power to them. I don’t think the evil government has any right to tell them they cannot patrol the border. I hope this goes well, and they manage to round up about ten million of the lawbreakers.
Another Reason To Tighten Border Security
This article, if true, seems to suggest even the moderates among the Muslims are out to kill the infidels. It makes sense. The article does rightfully point out specific passages in the Qu’ran about killing us infidels, no exceptions.
I hope that’s not the case. I hope there are moderate voices who say wiping out people of other religions is a bad thing. I have to wonder, however. How can one ignore the plain meaning of their holiest of books? How can they? It doesn't sound very peaceful, from what I can tell.
In light of these two articles, what can we the people do about it? I suggest the first article shows some folks on the right track: protect ourselves. The government sure isn’t going to do it. That leaves us average Joes to it.
I have stressed on this site the fact that we cannot rely on anybody but ourselves when it comes to self-defense. Hence the term "self-defense." The police won’t get there until it is too late, as will the FBI, DEA, ATF, or any other random combination of letters one might contrive.
So we’ll keep a sharp eye out. Even if the government won’t allow its police force to racially profile, we’ll do it for them. Even if they don’t want to police the border, we’ll cover it. Ultimately, it’s on our shoulders, as it should be.
Criminals Want You Unarmed
As do the terrorists, insurgents, or not-nice people, whatever the hell the mainstream media has labeled them this week.
This little article points out an armed household is a lot safer. Criminals don’t want to break into places where they know they might be shot. Makes sense to me.
The article notes that Border Patrol agents are being shot at more and more frequently, which I posted on a few days ago. One law enforcement official noted that it was possible the posse might come under attack.
They probably will be carrying better guns than the Border Patrol.
More power to them. I don’t think the evil government has any right to tell them they cannot patrol the border. I hope this goes well, and they manage to round up about ten million of the lawbreakers.
Another Reason To Tighten Border Security
This article, if true, seems to suggest even the moderates among the Muslims are out to kill the infidels. It makes sense. The article does rightfully point out specific passages in the Qu’ran about killing us infidels, no exceptions.
I hope that’s not the case. I hope there are moderate voices who say wiping out people of other religions is a bad thing. I have to wonder, however. How can one ignore the plain meaning of their holiest of books? How can they? It doesn't sound very peaceful, from what I can tell.
In light of these two articles, what can we the people do about it? I suggest the first article shows some folks on the right track: protect ourselves. The government sure isn’t going to do it. That leaves us average Joes to it.
I have stressed on this site the fact that we cannot rely on anybody but ourselves when it comes to self-defense. Hence the term "self-defense." The police won’t get there until it is too late, as will the FBI, DEA, ATF, or any other random combination of letters one might contrive.
So we’ll keep a sharp eye out. Even if the government won’t allow its police force to racially profile, we’ll do it for them. Even if they don’t want to police the border, we’ll cover it. Ultimately, it’s on our shoulders, as it should be.
Criminals Want You Unarmed
As do the terrorists, insurgents, or not-nice people, whatever the hell the mainstream media has labeled them this week.
This little article points out an armed household is a lot safer. Criminals don’t want to break into places where they know they might be shot. Makes sense to me.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Civil Discourse---NOT!!
The great Kim Du Toit has a link on his site to an article worth reading, from the Belmont Club.
The upshot: there can be no civil discourse between the Left and the Right, and it’s only going to get worse. I posted on this same subject a couple of months ago, and I tend to agree. There’s just no common ground.
I add a caveat: I think some lefty moonbats are actually motivated by the best of intentions. They aren’t deliberately communists, they just happen to land in that camp with their social concerns. Those people I can get into a civil discourse with, usually.
Then there’s the rest of them. With this lot, I find the following preventing us from having any sort of meaningful conversations:
1. Elitism of the worst sort: They are smarter than the rest of the country, and they must save us from ourselves. They look down their noses at the so-called Red States, or anyone who espouses a conservative point of view. This ties in to #2.
Basically, the liberal view is that we are not smart enough to understand how wonderful communism really is, and they have to force it down our throats.
Since they view us as little better than talking amoebas, liberals have no respect for our points of view. It’s hard to respect anything an inferior creature has to say, isn’t it?
The elites think that allowing all of us to vote is like allowing the animals at the feedlot to cast a vote.
2. Educated idiots: I have learned from painful experience that an education doesn’t do squat about teaching people the way the real world works. My law school experience highlighted this. We were drilled in theory more than practicality. Some of this isn’t a bad thing: knowing why our laws are set up the way they are is pretty important. Understanding why the Framers set up the Constitution the way they did is pretty important. However, there was not as much emphasis on actually teaching me how to practice law. I didn’t learn anything about that until I worked for other lawyers. I came out somewhat unprepared for the actual job I was supposed to be doing. I didn’t really know how the legal world worked.
Most of the liberal elite have no idea what day-to-day living is like in America. A trust fund baby has no business telling a rancher in South Texas how to do his job. Liberals seem to have little experience with how the real world works. They instead want to impose a socialistic utopia on the rest of us, with no idea why it will never work. The theory just looks good in a book.
This is also why we need to hire electricians, cowboys, and small business owners to represent us in Washington. They actually know how bad professional politicians screw things up for the rest of us. Enough of the Kennedys and other political families. Unless you work for a living, you have no business telling the rest of us how to run our lives. Even worse, you have no business passing laws that tell us how to run our lives.
3. Intolerance and Bigotry: Sorry, but you liberals are the most intolerant buttholes I’ve ever come across. I mean that in the nicest way one could possibly mean “butthole.” For example, look at how conservative groups take fire on universities. If they don’t march lockstep with the pinko-commie agenda, they are silenced by the moonbats who run the universities. So much for the free exchange of ideas. Free speech for everybody but conservatives.
I think the universities do this sort of thing for a reason: they know their idiotic ideas can’t survive in the real world. Unless they ruthlessly suppress conservative thought, their ideas will die in the cold light of logic and common sense.
At any rate, liberals are quick to call conservatives racist, elitist, uncaring, or anything else that sounds in the pejorative. I call to your attention the shameful conduct of Robert Byrd against Condoleeza Rice. If the Democrats really were the progressive party they’d like you to think, why wouldn’t they celebrate the first black woman to hold the office of Secretary of State? Answer: because she’s not a liberal.
This ties into point #1, but basically: they hate us.
That’s why they will never acknowledge when conservatives pull things off like free elections in Iraq or Afghanistan. Their hatred blinds them to the good things conservative thought brings about.
4. Cognitive dissonance: Every time the Right proves itself right, it creates a headache for the lefties. They can’t believe the ignorant barbarians of the Right actually have ideas that work. It kills them. They are seeing their whole commie utopia collapse around their ears. It’s like a kid finding out the truth about Santa. Instead of facing the truth, they stick their heads in the sand and deny it vehemently.
Even the presentation of cold hard facts will not deter them. Some moonbat posts in my comments section on occasion. Look at those discussions. Even documented facts don’t deter these people from their beliefs. That’s because they can’t stand the thought of conservatives actually being right.
5. No respect for the Higher Power: It sort of puts a cramp on the style of liberalism if there is a God. Consequently, it’s much easier to justify sex and drugs if they just pretend God doesn’t exist. If there’s not an afterlife, and if your deeds here on Earth go unanswered for, why not do whatever feels good? One of the worst aspects of our society is the marginalization of God.
Sorry, atheists. But we got where we are in this country by the principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition. We don’t expect you to believe in or worship what we do. But we do expect, and rightly so, some respect for it. You wouldn’t be free to protest the Ten Commandments if the Founding Fathers hadn’t been God-fearing men.
Anyway, it’s going to come down to out and out war between the commies and the conservatives. There’s really no middle ground where both sides can find commonality. This country ain’t big enough for the both of us. This is also why space exploration is so important. Everybody needs their own planet, if we’re to keep from killing each other.
The upshot: there can be no civil discourse between the Left and the Right, and it’s only going to get worse. I posted on this same subject a couple of months ago, and I tend to agree. There’s just no common ground.
I add a caveat: I think some lefty moonbats are actually motivated by the best of intentions. They aren’t deliberately communists, they just happen to land in that camp with their social concerns. Those people I can get into a civil discourse with, usually.
Then there’s the rest of them. With this lot, I find the following preventing us from having any sort of meaningful conversations:
1. Elitism of the worst sort: They are smarter than the rest of the country, and they must save us from ourselves. They look down their noses at the so-called Red States, or anyone who espouses a conservative point of view. This ties in to #2.
Basically, the liberal view is that we are not smart enough to understand how wonderful communism really is, and they have to force it down our throats.
Since they view us as little better than talking amoebas, liberals have no respect for our points of view. It’s hard to respect anything an inferior creature has to say, isn’t it?
The elites think that allowing all of us to vote is like allowing the animals at the feedlot to cast a vote.
2. Educated idiots: I have learned from painful experience that an education doesn’t do squat about teaching people the way the real world works. My law school experience highlighted this. We were drilled in theory more than practicality. Some of this isn’t a bad thing: knowing why our laws are set up the way they are is pretty important. Understanding why the Framers set up the Constitution the way they did is pretty important. However, there was not as much emphasis on actually teaching me how to practice law. I didn’t learn anything about that until I worked for other lawyers. I came out somewhat unprepared for the actual job I was supposed to be doing. I didn’t really know how the legal world worked.
Most of the liberal elite have no idea what day-to-day living is like in America. A trust fund baby has no business telling a rancher in South Texas how to do his job. Liberals seem to have little experience with how the real world works. They instead want to impose a socialistic utopia on the rest of us, with no idea why it will never work. The theory just looks good in a book.
This is also why we need to hire electricians, cowboys, and small business owners to represent us in Washington. They actually know how bad professional politicians screw things up for the rest of us. Enough of the Kennedys and other political families. Unless you work for a living, you have no business telling the rest of us how to run our lives. Even worse, you have no business passing laws that tell us how to run our lives.
3. Intolerance and Bigotry: Sorry, but you liberals are the most intolerant buttholes I’ve ever come across. I mean that in the nicest way one could possibly mean “butthole.” For example, look at how conservative groups take fire on universities. If they don’t march lockstep with the pinko-commie agenda, they are silenced by the moonbats who run the universities. So much for the free exchange of ideas. Free speech for everybody but conservatives.
I think the universities do this sort of thing for a reason: they know their idiotic ideas can’t survive in the real world. Unless they ruthlessly suppress conservative thought, their ideas will die in the cold light of logic and common sense.
At any rate, liberals are quick to call conservatives racist, elitist, uncaring, or anything else that sounds in the pejorative. I call to your attention the shameful conduct of Robert Byrd against Condoleeza Rice. If the Democrats really were the progressive party they’d like you to think, why wouldn’t they celebrate the first black woman to hold the office of Secretary of State? Answer: because she’s not a liberal.
This ties into point #1, but basically: they hate us.
That’s why they will never acknowledge when conservatives pull things off like free elections in Iraq or Afghanistan. Their hatred blinds them to the good things conservative thought brings about.
4. Cognitive dissonance: Every time the Right proves itself right, it creates a headache for the lefties. They can’t believe the ignorant barbarians of the Right actually have ideas that work. It kills them. They are seeing their whole commie utopia collapse around their ears. It’s like a kid finding out the truth about Santa. Instead of facing the truth, they stick their heads in the sand and deny it vehemently.
Even the presentation of cold hard facts will not deter them. Some moonbat posts in my comments section on occasion. Look at those discussions. Even documented facts don’t deter these people from their beliefs. That’s because they can’t stand the thought of conservatives actually being right.
5. No respect for the Higher Power: It sort of puts a cramp on the style of liberalism if there is a God. Consequently, it’s much easier to justify sex and drugs if they just pretend God doesn’t exist. If there’s not an afterlife, and if your deeds here on Earth go unanswered for, why not do whatever feels good? One of the worst aspects of our society is the marginalization of God.
Sorry, atheists. But we got where we are in this country by the principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition. We don’t expect you to believe in or worship what we do. But we do expect, and rightly so, some respect for it. You wouldn’t be free to protest the Ten Commandments if the Founding Fathers hadn’t been God-fearing men.
Anyway, it’s going to come down to out and out war between the commies and the conservatives. There’s really no middle ground where both sides can find commonality. This country ain’t big enough for the both of us. This is also why space exploration is so important. Everybody needs their own planet, if we’re to keep from killing each other.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
"Good Evening, Mr. Bond"
Everyone give Benjamin over at reasonablenut a nice round of applause. He picked up a nice Walther PPK. I notice he didn’t post anything tonight. He’s probably out hunting Blofeld and martinis (shaken, not stirred) even as you read this. Most will recognize the Walther PPK as the sidearm of James Bond, 007. Those who didn’t missed out on how hilarious the sentence before last really was. Uncultured heathens.
If I haven’t mentioned this before, the PPK and PPK/S are really great little guns. The PPK is a bit smaller, and holds one less in the magazine than the PPK/S.
They are pretty accurate for such tiny guns. The fixed barrel design seems to be more accurate than other automatic designs. They are made in the .380 caliber, as well as the .32. The .380 seems to be the most popular of the two. I sort of prefer it myself. For the uninitiated out there, a .380 is essentially a shortened 9mm Luger. Hence its euro-designation of 9mm short. (Or 9mm Kurz, if you are of Germanic extraction.)
On paper, the .380 seems to have roughly the stopping power of a .38 special. What you trade off in mass you make up for in muzzle velocity. Theoretically, of course. I’d not care to be hit with either.
The Walther in question has a manual safety and decocker. It also has a hammer, which allows the shooter to have the option of shooting single-action. I really do prefer this sort of action on a gun. It allows the shooter to carry with a manual safety engaged. If the safety fails, there is a relatively heavy trigger pull before going boom. I think this probably helps reduce accidental discharges. The 1911 fans are already howling, probably saying something along the lines of, “keep your finger off the trigger and you don’t need the safety.”
Very true. However, guns are much like ice cream: there’s a variety that fits everyone’s palate. I gravitate towards DA/SA autos with manual safeties. They make me happy. Sue me.
Back to the Walther. The new ones are stainless steel. This makes them somewhat heavier than I would like. However, it makes them pretty easy to clean. I hate cleaning guns, so anything that helps along those lines is very much appreciated. The gun’s weight does make concealability somewhat of a problem. It tends to drag down whatever the bearer is wearing. On the other hand, its size makes it pretty easy to hide it in a small pocket.
At any rate, I’m happy for the guy. Anybody who gets a new gun deserves congratulations from all of us. Along with extreme jealousy, of course.
You know you’re getting older when....
You sneeze and separate a rib. Holy crap, that hurt. Still does. This never would have happened if I had still been in my 20's.
I dread 40 like you would not believe. 30 was terrible enough.
If I haven’t mentioned this before, the PPK and PPK/S are really great little guns. The PPK is a bit smaller, and holds one less in the magazine than the PPK/S.
They are pretty accurate for such tiny guns. The fixed barrel design seems to be more accurate than other automatic designs. They are made in the .380 caliber, as well as the .32. The .380 seems to be the most popular of the two. I sort of prefer it myself. For the uninitiated out there, a .380 is essentially a shortened 9mm Luger. Hence its euro-designation of 9mm short. (Or 9mm Kurz, if you are of Germanic extraction.)
On paper, the .380 seems to have roughly the stopping power of a .38 special. What you trade off in mass you make up for in muzzle velocity. Theoretically, of course. I’d not care to be hit with either.
The Walther in question has a manual safety and decocker. It also has a hammer, which allows the shooter to have the option of shooting single-action. I really do prefer this sort of action on a gun. It allows the shooter to carry with a manual safety engaged. If the safety fails, there is a relatively heavy trigger pull before going boom. I think this probably helps reduce accidental discharges. The 1911 fans are already howling, probably saying something along the lines of, “keep your finger off the trigger and you don’t need the safety.”
Very true. However, guns are much like ice cream: there’s a variety that fits everyone’s palate. I gravitate towards DA/SA autos with manual safeties. They make me happy. Sue me.
Back to the Walther. The new ones are stainless steel. This makes them somewhat heavier than I would like. However, it makes them pretty easy to clean. I hate cleaning guns, so anything that helps along those lines is very much appreciated. The gun’s weight does make concealability somewhat of a problem. It tends to drag down whatever the bearer is wearing. On the other hand, its size makes it pretty easy to hide it in a small pocket.
At any rate, I’m happy for the guy. Anybody who gets a new gun deserves congratulations from all of us. Along with extreme jealousy, of course.
You know you’re getting older when....
You sneeze and separate a rib. Holy crap, that hurt. Still does. This never would have happened if I had still been in my 20's.
I dread 40 like you would not believe. 30 was terrible enough.
Friday, February 04, 2005
But They're Just Breaking The Law To Make Better Lives For Their Families...
Yeah. Sure they are. That’s why they are arming themselves and shooting at our Border Patrol agents. This sounds suspiciously like an armed invasion to me.
The Border Patrol is reporting an increase of shots fired at our BP agents. The shots are coming from across the border, and are the work of drug or alien smugglers.
Bush the Crap Monster spoke last night about his vaunted guest worker program. It’s just amnesty in a sugar-coated package. Anyone really think the guest workers will leave after they get here? Our Immigration department is pretty horrible when it comes to rounding up people who have stayed on past their visas. What makes Bush think that adding more people to keep track of is going to work out any better? Some of the more famous ones Immigration lost track of crashed an airplane into some big buildings in New York. Perhaps you heard about it.
Counter-snipers would put a quick stop to all of this foolishness of our agents coming under fire. That is, if our government actually cared about the well-being of its people, and didn’t mind shooting dead those who would cause us and its own agents harm. I maintain that a government that will not act to preserve its people’s best interests is not a legitimate government at all. Right now, the U.S. government is about as legitimate as a crack baby.
I say again: build a wall across the border. Put troops on it. Arm them to the teeth. Turn loose ravenous animals in the no-man’s land. The border can be defended. We just have to accept that we are going to royally hack off La Raza, LULAC, MALDF, and their ilk.
Tough. They are our enemies as well, and should probably be treated as such. If they are supporting and advocating illegal acts, that’s not exactly protected First Amendment speech. It’s definitely against the best interest of our country.
Write and call your congressmen today. Tell them Bush is an idiot on border security, and tell them in no way will they receive your vote if they go along with this madness any more.
Also, demand counter-snipers for our Border Patrol agents, along with better guns, tanks and flamethrowers. Assault helicopters aren’t a bad idea, either. A genetically engineered, 400 ft. tall, radioactive, fire-spewing dinosaur would also make a nice guard dog on the border. Maybe even a pair of them.
It never hurts to ask.....
(Hat Tip: Michael Savage's website and radio program)
The Border Patrol is reporting an increase of shots fired at our BP agents. The shots are coming from across the border, and are the work of drug or alien smugglers.
Bush the Crap Monster spoke last night about his vaunted guest worker program. It’s just amnesty in a sugar-coated package. Anyone really think the guest workers will leave after they get here? Our Immigration department is pretty horrible when it comes to rounding up people who have stayed on past their visas. What makes Bush think that adding more people to keep track of is going to work out any better? Some of the more famous ones Immigration lost track of crashed an airplane into some big buildings in New York. Perhaps you heard about it.
Counter-snipers would put a quick stop to all of this foolishness of our agents coming under fire. That is, if our government actually cared about the well-being of its people, and didn’t mind shooting dead those who would cause us and its own agents harm. I maintain that a government that will not act to preserve its people’s best interests is not a legitimate government at all. Right now, the U.S. government is about as legitimate as a crack baby.
I say again: build a wall across the border. Put troops on it. Arm them to the teeth. Turn loose ravenous animals in the no-man’s land. The border can be defended. We just have to accept that we are going to royally hack off La Raza, LULAC, MALDF, and their ilk.
Tough. They are our enemies as well, and should probably be treated as such. If they are supporting and advocating illegal acts, that’s not exactly protected First Amendment speech. It’s definitely against the best interest of our country.
Write and call your congressmen today. Tell them Bush is an idiot on border security, and tell them in no way will they receive your vote if they go along with this madness any more.
Also, demand counter-snipers for our Border Patrol agents, along with better guns, tanks and flamethrowers. Assault helicopters aren’t a bad idea, either. A genetically engineered, 400 ft. tall, radioactive, fire-spewing dinosaur would also make a nice guard dog on the border. Maybe even a pair of them.
It never hurts to ask.....
(Hat Tip: Michael Savage's website and radio program)
Thursday, February 03, 2005
"Respect My Authority!"
One of the biggest dangers I have found in our free society is abuse or misuse of authority. We see this just about every day. I think one universal aspect of all conservatives is that we want less governmental involvement in our lives. We think this way for good reason: the more power the government has, the more likely they are to abuse it. Our Constitution was drafted to strengthen individual rights; those that the government could not take away under any circumstances. This is not as cut and dried as it sounds.
I would focus this rant specifically on a local branch of the government; one that everyone has probably had some dealings with in the past. This will not be praiseworthy, and will probably draw some ire. I will also lament the lack of positive attention on another segment of our population; one that most laymen despise.
It is not my intention to denigrate police officers as a whole. They perform a difficult job, in which their very lives are in danger on a daily basis. They have in their ranks some of the finest people in the world, who would never do any of the things I will mention here. As a whole, however, they are probably prone to abuse their authority more than any other public servant. The sad thing is, most Americans turn a blind eye to it, unless they are directly affected.
One of the problems with police officers is that they are not paid enough. The low pay scale means that the best and brightest can be discouraged from the service. This is not to say that there are not dedicated, talented individuals who do the job. There certainly are. Unfortunately, the number of those who serve because they feel a higher calling is limited.
I do not mean to stereotype; I speak from only my own experience. However, most of the law enforcement personnel in my hometown were ignorant bullies in school. They grew up to be ignorant bullies with badges and guns. All that was required was a high school education and completion of a police academy.
Their true colors ran deep. One classmate of mine should have never been given authority over a chamber pot, much less made a police officer. His career as a city policeman was marred by scandal. Somehow, he made it into the Texas Department of Public Safety, and became a highway patrolman. His career there was short-lived as well, for sexual scandal. Ironically, he was drummed out of the DPS for the same reasons he was fired as a city policeman. How in the world did he make the cut for a supposedly more elite unit?
I firmly believe lack of education is a critical factor in the abuses of power committed by police officers. Again, I draw this conclusion based only on personal observations. I have noticed that in bigger cities, where policemen are required to have college degrees, the abuses of power are much lower.
An additional problem arises with law enforcement. The presumption of innocence is sometimes lost. As a result, police often take drastic measures to make sure they nail the “bad guys,” even if it means they do something illegal. What is the harm if they put a bad person away, right? Why not plant some evidence? Why not break in without a warrant and search the place? Why not lie a little, if it means putting the bad guy away?
What if it is not a “bad guy” they have in their sights?
Take for instance a recent case, ripped straight out of the headlines. An elderly couple had accumulated several dogs over the course of their long lives. The woman bred show dogs. After years of raising dogs, the city police came out and instructed the couple to get rid of all but four of their animals within the city limits.
Initially, this was not a problem. The couple owned some land in the country, and they decided to relocate the dogs. However, these were not dogs that could be left in a pen outside. These small animals were used to being indoors, and would die outside quickly. The couple obtained an old semi-trailer, and converted it to house the dogs inside, within small cages. They went to the shelter several times a day to water and feed the animals, and to let them out for exercise. Since it was winter, they had to heat the shelter. They called the gas company to hook up a propane heater.
The gas worker reported to the county sheriff’s department that the couple were cruelly treating their animals, despite the fact that he did not observe the animals himself. The sheriff’s department tried to obtain a warrant to seize the animals.
Search and seizure warrants must be supported by probable cause. The sheriff’s department had none. They only had the gas worker’s supposition that animals were being abused. One judge refused a warrant based on this testimony. So an intrepid deputy took it upon himself to enter the couple’s property without their knowledge, consent, or a search warrant. The property was about 7 miles in the country. The deputy then walked 300+ yards from the front gate into a grove of trees to where the shelter was, unlatched the secured doors and entered the shelter. The shelter was not observable from the road. He then went back to town, and filled out another affidavit alleging animal abuse. He took the warrant to another judge, one that was only in office for less than two full months. The new judge happily signed the warrant.
Anybody care to take a guess whether or not the sheriff’s action was legal?
During this time, the couple went about their lives, with no knowledge of the hell they were about to go through.
The old couple then were surprised by a veritable circus. The sheriff’s department showed up en masse to seize their animals. All were taken away to the animal shelter. To add insult to injury, the sheriff’s department brought along a friendly reporter from the local newspaper, who snapped pictures, and wrote a very pro-law enforcement story. Much of which was factually incorrect.
Various motions to suppress the search warrant were filed. The problem was, the warrant was not on file anywhere. No copies of the supporting affidavit were conveniently located until the day of the trial on this matter. The officer who executed the warrant was conveniently sent out of town until the hearing. In the meanwhile, the county shelter “accidentally” executed the couple’s cat, who had also been seized in the raid.
A compromise was reached, and the couple were able to reclaim half of the animals seized, without the necessity of trial. Case law was somewhat ambiguous on the matter. There was a split of authority as to whether the county could retain custody of the animals, despite the fact they had been seized unlawfully. So they faced a real problem. Roll the dice and have a hearing, and possibly lose all the dogs? Or work a compromise, and get some of the animals back?
Bear in mind the dogs were elderly, some were over 20 years. These dogs were like members of the family. The deal brokered made sure that none of the animals were killed. All were to be adopted. The old couple had to spend time and money building cages the county deemed “humane.”
The couple also faced threats of whether or not the city would cite them for no proof of rabies vaccinations. These were dogs who only went outside to use the restroom.
This is abuse of authority, to put it mildly. The sheriff’s department seized the animals illegally. However, the couple still faced other legal consequences, even though they were the innocent party. They were forced to make a deal, or face the possibility of losing all their animals.
Had the sheriff’s deputy been schooled in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, there is a good possibility that he would have known his methods were illegal, to say the least. It didn’t really matter, in the end. Once the state had the couple in its clutches, they could bring all sorts of nasty pressure to bear on them.
This is why an educated police force isn’t a bad thing. This is also why criminal defense attorneys are the ultimate line of defense in keeping the government from becoming too powerful. If no one had forced the state’s hand, the couple would have been completely railroaded. They still got a raw deal, but it could have been much, much worse.
Criminal attorneys are universally despised. Everyone wonders why they can defend scumbags. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of defending not the person, but the rights that person has.
I believe that criminal defense attorneys are necessary to make the state jump through all of the proper hoops. If the rights of one criminal are taken away, it sets a precedent. Before too long, even innocent people are railroaded by law enforcement.
I hear the arguments and the justifications for this sort of action. The standard line is, “Well, I don’t do anything. I have no problem with the police searching my property. I have nothing to hide.”
Well, what if they do not just search the property. Suppose they are so convinced they have themselves a bad guy that they plant evidence? Suppose they knock in your door in the middle of the night with a trumped-up warrant?
If it could happen to them, it could happen to any one of the rest of us.
I would focus this rant specifically on a local branch of the government; one that everyone has probably had some dealings with in the past. This will not be praiseworthy, and will probably draw some ire. I will also lament the lack of positive attention on another segment of our population; one that most laymen despise.
It is not my intention to denigrate police officers as a whole. They perform a difficult job, in which their very lives are in danger on a daily basis. They have in their ranks some of the finest people in the world, who would never do any of the things I will mention here. As a whole, however, they are probably prone to abuse their authority more than any other public servant. The sad thing is, most Americans turn a blind eye to it, unless they are directly affected.
One of the problems with police officers is that they are not paid enough. The low pay scale means that the best and brightest can be discouraged from the service. This is not to say that there are not dedicated, talented individuals who do the job. There certainly are. Unfortunately, the number of those who serve because they feel a higher calling is limited.
I do not mean to stereotype; I speak from only my own experience. However, most of the law enforcement personnel in my hometown were ignorant bullies in school. They grew up to be ignorant bullies with badges and guns. All that was required was a high school education and completion of a police academy.
Their true colors ran deep. One classmate of mine should have never been given authority over a chamber pot, much less made a police officer. His career as a city policeman was marred by scandal. Somehow, he made it into the Texas Department of Public Safety, and became a highway patrolman. His career there was short-lived as well, for sexual scandal. Ironically, he was drummed out of the DPS for the same reasons he was fired as a city policeman. How in the world did he make the cut for a supposedly more elite unit?
I firmly believe lack of education is a critical factor in the abuses of power committed by police officers. Again, I draw this conclusion based only on personal observations. I have noticed that in bigger cities, where policemen are required to have college degrees, the abuses of power are much lower.
An additional problem arises with law enforcement. The presumption of innocence is sometimes lost. As a result, police often take drastic measures to make sure they nail the “bad guys,” even if it means they do something illegal. What is the harm if they put a bad person away, right? Why not plant some evidence? Why not break in without a warrant and search the place? Why not lie a little, if it means putting the bad guy away?
What if it is not a “bad guy” they have in their sights?
Take for instance a recent case, ripped straight out of the headlines. An elderly couple had accumulated several dogs over the course of their long lives. The woman bred show dogs. After years of raising dogs, the city police came out and instructed the couple to get rid of all but four of their animals within the city limits.
Initially, this was not a problem. The couple owned some land in the country, and they decided to relocate the dogs. However, these were not dogs that could be left in a pen outside. These small animals were used to being indoors, and would die outside quickly. The couple obtained an old semi-trailer, and converted it to house the dogs inside, within small cages. They went to the shelter several times a day to water and feed the animals, and to let them out for exercise. Since it was winter, they had to heat the shelter. They called the gas company to hook up a propane heater.
The gas worker reported to the county sheriff’s department that the couple were cruelly treating their animals, despite the fact that he did not observe the animals himself. The sheriff’s department tried to obtain a warrant to seize the animals.
Search and seizure warrants must be supported by probable cause. The sheriff’s department had none. They only had the gas worker’s supposition that animals were being abused. One judge refused a warrant based on this testimony. So an intrepid deputy took it upon himself to enter the couple’s property without their knowledge, consent, or a search warrant. The property was about 7 miles in the country. The deputy then walked 300+ yards from the front gate into a grove of trees to where the shelter was, unlatched the secured doors and entered the shelter. The shelter was not observable from the road. He then went back to town, and filled out another affidavit alleging animal abuse. He took the warrant to another judge, one that was only in office for less than two full months. The new judge happily signed the warrant.
Anybody care to take a guess whether or not the sheriff’s action was legal?
During this time, the couple went about their lives, with no knowledge of the hell they were about to go through.
The old couple then were surprised by a veritable circus. The sheriff’s department showed up en masse to seize their animals. All were taken away to the animal shelter. To add insult to injury, the sheriff’s department brought along a friendly reporter from the local newspaper, who snapped pictures, and wrote a very pro-law enforcement story. Much of which was factually incorrect.
Various motions to suppress the search warrant were filed. The problem was, the warrant was not on file anywhere. No copies of the supporting affidavit were conveniently located until the day of the trial on this matter. The officer who executed the warrant was conveniently sent out of town until the hearing. In the meanwhile, the county shelter “accidentally” executed the couple’s cat, who had also been seized in the raid.
A compromise was reached, and the couple were able to reclaim half of the animals seized, without the necessity of trial. Case law was somewhat ambiguous on the matter. There was a split of authority as to whether the county could retain custody of the animals, despite the fact they had been seized unlawfully. So they faced a real problem. Roll the dice and have a hearing, and possibly lose all the dogs? Or work a compromise, and get some of the animals back?
Bear in mind the dogs were elderly, some were over 20 years. These dogs were like members of the family. The deal brokered made sure that none of the animals were killed. All were to be adopted. The old couple had to spend time and money building cages the county deemed “humane.”
The couple also faced threats of whether or not the city would cite them for no proof of rabies vaccinations. These were dogs who only went outside to use the restroom.
This is abuse of authority, to put it mildly. The sheriff’s department seized the animals illegally. However, the couple still faced other legal consequences, even though they were the innocent party. They were forced to make a deal, or face the possibility of losing all their animals.
Had the sheriff’s deputy been schooled in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, there is a good possibility that he would have known his methods were illegal, to say the least. It didn’t really matter, in the end. Once the state had the couple in its clutches, they could bring all sorts of nasty pressure to bear on them.
This is why an educated police force isn’t a bad thing. This is also why criminal defense attorneys are the ultimate line of defense in keeping the government from becoming too powerful. If no one had forced the state’s hand, the couple would have been completely railroaded. They still got a raw deal, but it could have been much, much worse.
Criminal attorneys are universally despised. Everyone wonders why they can defend scumbags. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of defending not the person, but the rights that person has.
I believe that criminal defense attorneys are necessary to make the state jump through all of the proper hoops. If the rights of one criminal are taken away, it sets a precedent. Before too long, even innocent people are railroaded by law enforcement.
I hear the arguments and the justifications for this sort of action. The standard line is, “Well, I don’t do anything. I have no problem with the police searching my property. I have nothing to hide.”
Well, what if they do not just search the property. Suppose they are so convinced they have themselves a bad guy that they plant evidence? Suppose they knock in your door in the middle of the night with a trumped-up warrant?
If it could happen to them, it could happen to any one of the rest of us.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
"Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers...."
More useless trivia. Where did that phrase come from? Don't resort to Google, either. A giant, hearty pat on the back for all that get it.
I just think it's a great random phrase to throw out on occasion.
“Of Course You Know; This Means War”
Bugs Bunny nailed it. Mexico has decided that Prop. 200 in Arizona (a measure denying voting rights to illegal aliens, among other things) is illegal. They will seek to fight it in US courts.
If that doesn’t work, they intend to go to the world courts. That lets you know what kind of trouble we’re in from the rest of the world. Our rights and freedom mean nothing to the rest of the world. Mexico seems intent with flooding us with every lawbreaker they can fling over the border. They want us to pay for their health care, their education, and anything else they can stick us with. They want us to have an “open society”, whatever the heck that is.
This one world, uni-government thing is a crock of crap. Mexico can eat hot death.
This is an invasion. It should mean war.
Enough. Stop the madness, and get our borders protected. Guards, walls, dogs, and whatever else we can stick down there.
It seems the great Rush Limbaugh has come over to the dark side, and has begun calling for more secure borders. Glad to have the most powerful voice in talk radio on the side of the angels. It makes me think even more highly of him. He’s flying in the face of the party, at this point.
NEW ITEM FOR SANTA’S WISH LIST
A car flamethrower. They say it’s nonlethal. That’s ok. Hopefully, it will illuminate the carjacker enough that he can be shot.
The above items were found off Michael Savage’s website. It’s a great resource.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
Everyone likes to cuss lawyers. That is, until they actually need one. It occurs to me that lawyers are a lot like handguns. They are handy to have around, because if you need one, you need one badly. When you do need one, you want the best you can get.
Anyone else think the Iraqi elections are a pretty good sign? It’s not over yet, but this is a great thing. The first free elections over there in 50+ years. How can anybody not be happy with that outcome??
I heard on the radio that John Kerry missed over 100 days in the Senate due to his campaigning and whatnot. It is the law that his pay should be docked accordingly, and that he should refund what he had already been paid. He refused. Courtesy of the Jerry Doyle show.
Hillary Clinton has begun moving herself to the middle, slowly but surely. She’s definitely positioning herself for the Presidential candidacy in 2008. She’s bashed Bush on illegal immigration (this is the first time I’ve agreed with her on ANYTHING), mentioned God and prayer constantly, and bought herself an assault weapon. Just kidding. The first two she actually has done.
I think there is no more resounding affirmation for conservatism than by observing Hillary move right. She’s trying to get voters by coming over to our side a bit. Talk about a dark day for the world if that demon ever makes if into office.....
I just think it's a great random phrase to throw out on occasion.
“Of Course You Know; This Means War”
Bugs Bunny nailed it. Mexico has decided that Prop. 200 in Arizona (a measure denying voting rights to illegal aliens, among other things) is illegal. They will seek to fight it in US courts.
If that doesn’t work, they intend to go to the world courts. That lets you know what kind of trouble we’re in from the rest of the world. Our rights and freedom mean nothing to the rest of the world. Mexico seems intent with flooding us with every lawbreaker they can fling over the border. They want us to pay for their health care, their education, and anything else they can stick us with. They want us to have an “open society”, whatever the heck that is.
This one world, uni-government thing is a crock of crap. Mexico can eat hot death.
This is an invasion. It should mean war.
Enough. Stop the madness, and get our borders protected. Guards, walls, dogs, and whatever else we can stick down there.
It seems the great Rush Limbaugh has come over to the dark side, and has begun calling for more secure borders. Glad to have the most powerful voice in talk radio on the side of the angels. It makes me think even more highly of him. He’s flying in the face of the party, at this point.
NEW ITEM FOR SANTA’S WISH LIST
A car flamethrower. They say it’s nonlethal. That’s ok. Hopefully, it will illuminate the carjacker enough that he can be shot.
The above items were found off Michael Savage’s website. It’s a great resource.
A FEW RANDOM THOUGHTS
Everyone likes to cuss lawyers. That is, until they actually need one. It occurs to me that lawyers are a lot like handguns. They are handy to have around, because if you need one, you need one badly. When you do need one, you want the best you can get.
Anyone else think the Iraqi elections are a pretty good sign? It’s not over yet, but this is a great thing. The first free elections over there in 50+ years. How can anybody not be happy with that outcome??
I heard on the radio that John Kerry missed over 100 days in the Senate due to his campaigning and whatnot. It is the law that his pay should be docked accordingly, and that he should refund what he had already been paid. He refused. Courtesy of the Jerry Doyle show.
Hillary Clinton has begun moving herself to the middle, slowly but surely. She’s definitely positioning herself for the Presidential candidacy in 2008. She’s bashed Bush on illegal immigration (this is the first time I’ve agreed with her on ANYTHING), mentioned God and prayer constantly, and bought herself an assault weapon. Just kidding. The first two she actually has done.
I think there is no more resounding affirmation for conservatism than by observing Hillary move right. She’s trying to get voters by coming over to our side a bit. Talk about a dark day for the world if that demon ever makes if into office.....
Friday, January 28, 2005
Your Nightly Mental Run With Scissors
I have just discovered the genius of P.J. O’ Rourke. The man is terribly funny, and very sharp. I am in the middle of PARLIAMENT OF WHORES, and it pretty much accurately describes the U.S. government.
His book quotes General Robert C. Schenck, who gives us the following pearl of wisdom:
“Put not your trust in kings and princes. Three of a kind will take them both.”
LIBERAL LUNACY IN MERRY OLDE ENGLAND
The following information comes from AMERICA’S FIRST FREEDOM, February 2005, and an article titled, “Will Britain Rise Up?”
The reader might be aware that private ownership of firearms has been pretty much abrogated across the pond. That’s bad enough as far as I’m concerned, but it gets much, much worse.
The article notes that a farmer named Tony Martin shot and killed one of three burglars who entered his home in the dead of night, wounding another. He did it with an unregistered shotgun. He was convicted of murder. The surviving wounded burglar sued him, with government-donated funds. Martin eventually had his sentence reduced to manslaughter. However, the state argued that “...burglars are members of the public who must be protected from violent householders.” (P.39)
England is facing an escalating violent crime rate. Criminals are boldly entering homes, and doing what they will to the occupants. They are armed with knives, clubs, chemical weapons, and even guns. This is despite the fact that gun ownership for private, law-abiding citizens is only a historical note now. This once again proves the point that gun control defangs the law-abiding citizen only.
A proposal to pass a bill guaranteeing homeowners the right to use any means necessary to defend their property was blocked in May of 2003. (P.40)
There is hope for the Limeys. There seems to be a groundswell of public support for some sort of guarantee that homeowners can defend themselves in their own abodes. (P.39-40)
This, dear reader, is exactly what will happen over here, if liberals hold sway in our government.
In my humble opinion, when a government says that a person no longer has the right to defend his own life; the government is illegitimate. Obviously, that government no longer has the best interest of its people in mind. And if the government doesn’t protect its citizenry, what good is having one at all?
England has effectively given its criminal class free rein to break into whatever home they desire. They know there are no guns in there. They know they can terrorize, beat, rape, and torture whoever they find in the home. They aren’t afraid of prison. The only thing that might deter them is the thought they might get blown to hell if they break in.
Does an empowered citizenry work? It sure helps. The U.S. has a far lower rate of domestic burglary that the UK. (P.41)
Does the reader think it can’t happen here? Keep in mind that many people who act to defend themselves here in America face (at the very least) civil lawsuits for injuring their attackers. Many face criminal charges.
This is another good reason for lawsuit reform in this country. A criminal should be estopped from filing suit against his victim, under any and all circumstances. The right to shoot the bastards shall not be abridged.
SOUTH PARK
I was warned in advance that one of last night’s episodes was hilarious. It was. The kids buy ninja weapons, and proceed to transform into Japanese Anime characters. Cartman became a ninja whose sworn mission was to rid the world of “hippies.”
A noble goal indeed.
I don’t mean exterminate them, unlike Cartman. Just make them get jobs, quit smoking dope, pay taxes, and bathe occasionally.
OFF TO GOD’S COUNTRY
I go in search of an abode for the various pets. No blogging this weekend. Not that anyone’s heartbroken over that proposition or anything.....
His book quotes General Robert C. Schenck, who gives us the following pearl of wisdom:
“Put not your trust in kings and princes. Three of a kind will take them both.”
LIBERAL LUNACY IN MERRY OLDE ENGLAND
The following information comes from AMERICA’S FIRST FREEDOM, February 2005, and an article titled, “Will Britain Rise Up?”
The reader might be aware that private ownership of firearms has been pretty much abrogated across the pond. That’s bad enough as far as I’m concerned, but it gets much, much worse.
The article notes that a farmer named Tony Martin shot and killed one of three burglars who entered his home in the dead of night, wounding another. He did it with an unregistered shotgun. He was convicted of murder. The surviving wounded burglar sued him, with government-donated funds. Martin eventually had his sentence reduced to manslaughter. However, the state argued that “...burglars are members of the public who must be protected from violent householders.” (P.39)
England is facing an escalating violent crime rate. Criminals are boldly entering homes, and doing what they will to the occupants. They are armed with knives, clubs, chemical weapons, and even guns. This is despite the fact that gun ownership for private, law-abiding citizens is only a historical note now. This once again proves the point that gun control defangs the law-abiding citizen only.
A proposal to pass a bill guaranteeing homeowners the right to use any means necessary to defend their property was blocked in May of 2003. (P.40)
There is hope for the Limeys. There seems to be a groundswell of public support for some sort of guarantee that homeowners can defend themselves in their own abodes. (P.39-40)
This, dear reader, is exactly what will happen over here, if liberals hold sway in our government.
In my humble opinion, when a government says that a person no longer has the right to defend his own life; the government is illegitimate. Obviously, that government no longer has the best interest of its people in mind. And if the government doesn’t protect its citizenry, what good is having one at all?
England has effectively given its criminal class free rein to break into whatever home they desire. They know there are no guns in there. They know they can terrorize, beat, rape, and torture whoever they find in the home. They aren’t afraid of prison. The only thing that might deter them is the thought they might get blown to hell if they break in.
Does an empowered citizenry work? It sure helps. The U.S. has a far lower rate of domestic burglary that the UK. (P.41)
Does the reader think it can’t happen here? Keep in mind that many people who act to defend themselves here in America face (at the very least) civil lawsuits for injuring their attackers. Many face criminal charges.
This is another good reason for lawsuit reform in this country. A criminal should be estopped from filing suit against his victim, under any and all circumstances. The right to shoot the bastards shall not be abridged.
SOUTH PARK
I was warned in advance that one of last night’s episodes was hilarious. It was. The kids buy ninja weapons, and proceed to transform into Japanese Anime characters. Cartman became a ninja whose sworn mission was to rid the world of “hippies.”
A noble goal indeed.
I don’t mean exterminate them, unlike Cartman. Just make them get jobs, quit smoking dope, pay taxes, and bathe occasionally.
OFF TO GOD’S COUNTRY
I go in search of an abode for the various pets. No blogging this weekend. Not that anyone’s heartbroken over that proposition or anything.....
Thursday, January 27, 2005
More Fun Than A GIRLS GONE WILD Video
Well, not really. But I bet the headline caught some attention. What I have for you today is:
NEWS OF THE DAY, SHAMELESSLY RIPPED FROM MICHAEL SAVAGE’S WEBSITE
The Only Thing in the Middle of the Road Is Roadkill
So Hillary’s now a moderate. How lovely. People have a tendency to get run over in the middle of the road.
Crap Monster Sighting, Beware of Smell
W. let me down yet again. He’s not going to fund 2,000 new border patrol agents? Dare I hope he won’t need them because of the giant freaking wall he’s going to build on our southern border?
I doubt it. I guess I should be happy he’s not disbanding the Border Patrol altogether.
This crap has got to stop.
ZEN AND THE ART OF BLOGGING
Well, this really has nothing to do with Zen. I have just enjoyed the whole blogging experience to no end. What’s made it really worthwhile has been the comments I’m getting. It’s nice to know somebody is taking the time to read this stuff I’m spewing over the Internet. I even appreciate the ones that disagree with me. Sort of.
Hugh Hewitt mentioned on his blogsite (as well as in BLOG, his new book) that the strength of blogging is in the instant feedback available. The mainstream journalists seem to whine and moan that there is no accountability in blogsites. Hewitt correctly points out that the accountability is far greater for the bloggers than in any other medium. It’s true. Basically, there is a whole world out there able to jump online and check facts.
As a trained journalist, I can tell you there is no mythical professional tribune waiting to swoop down and pounce on journalists who sometimes go astray with their stories. If that were the case, Dan Rather would have been torn apart like a gazelle at a lion buffet. Nobody has held reporters accountable until recently.
That idiot at the New York Times went for a few years, just making stories up. Nobody caught him. Dan Rather goes on the air with forged documents, trying to ruin the President. He should have been arrested for election racketeering. Instead, he gets to retire somewhat gracefully. If Powerline puts something on their site that’s wrong, I guarantee you one hundred people will let them know within five minutes of posting. Nobody’s ever held Dan Rather that accountable, until now. If it weren’t for them, Dan would still be spewing his distorted news stories until he croaked.
It would seem to me that bloggers have the same sort of legal liability that the press does. One can print just about anything, as long as its not defamatory. And even if it is defamatory, a plaintiff (at least a public figure) would have to prove actual malice in order to recover in a lawsuit. I don’t see any reason for the rules to be different for bloggers on that score.
It wasn’t until the bloggers broke the forgery story that we the people started to catch on to this powerful tool. The internet is a great source of information, but I don’t think anybody caught onto exactly how powerful it was until now.
Blogging is powerful for a number of reasons, but I think the most important reason is that it now actually allows a private citizen to get his or her message out in the open. This is truly a free press, unconstrained by corporate greed, pressure from employers, or anything which might serve as a prior restraint.
All one has to do to publish is to have a web host. It can be done for no cost, other than getting on the internet. Even if a person wanted to publish a printed leaflet, they would have more cost in ink, paper, and printing time than a blogger has. Want to rail about how your city sucks? OK. Want to talk about how your neighbor’s dog keeps using your yard as a restroom? Whatever. Nothing’s off limits. Everyone can read it.
It’s also great because we can completely shut out what we don’t want to read. Wonkette won’t get any traffic from me anymore. Neither will Kos. I don’t care what they have to say, so why bother reading them? They’ve got the freedom to publish, I’ve got the freedom to ignore them. It works great.
Blogging is putting power back into the hands of the people, which is where it belongs in the first place. This is truly a free press.
NEWS OF THE DAY, SHAMELESSLY RIPPED FROM MICHAEL SAVAGE’S WEBSITE
The Only Thing in the Middle of the Road Is Roadkill
So Hillary’s now a moderate. How lovely. People have a tendency to get run over in the middle of the road.
Crap Monster Sighting, Beware of Smell
W. let me down yet again. He’s not going to fund 2,000 new border patrol agents? Dare I hope he won’t need them because of the giant freaking wall he’s going to build on our southern border?
I doubt it. I guess I should be happy he’s not disbanding the Border Patrol altogether.
This crap has got to stop.
ZEN AND THE ART OF BLOGGING
Well, this really has nothing to do with Zen. I have just enjoyed the whole blogging experience to no end. What’s made it really worthwhile has been the comments I’m getting. It’s nice to know somebody is taking the time to read this stuff I’m spewing over the Internet. I even appreciate the ones that disagree with me. Sort of.
Hugh Hewitt mentioned on his blogsite (as well as in BLOG, his new book) that the strength of blogging is in the instant feedback available. The mainstream journalists seem to whine and moan that there is no accountability in blogsites. Hewitt correctly points out that the accountability is far greater for the bloggers than in any other medium. It’s true. Basically, there is a whole world out there able to jump online and check facts.
As a trained journalist, I can tell you there is no mythical professional tribune waiting to swoop down and pounce on journalists who sometimes go astray with their stories. If that were the case, Dan Rather would have been torn apart like a gazelle at a lion buffet. Nobody has held reporters accountable until recently.
That idiot at the New York Times went for a few years, just making stories up. Nobody caught him. Dan Rather goes on the air with forged documents, trying to ruin the President. He should have been arrested for election racketeering. Instead, he gets to retire somewhat gracefully. If Powerline puts something on their site that’s wrong, I guarantee you one hundred people will let them know within five minutes of posting. Nobody’s ever held Dan Rather that accountable, until now. If it weren’t for them, Dan would still be spewing his distorted news stories until he croaked.
It would seem to me that bloggers have the same sort of legal liability that the press does. One can print just about anything, as long as its not defamatory. And even if it is defamatory, a plaintiff (at least a public figure) would have to prove actual malice in order to recover in a lawsuit. I don’t see any reason for the rules to be different for bloggers on that score.
It wasn’t until the bloggers broke the forgery story that we the people started to catch on to this powerful tool. The internet is a great source of information, but I don’t think anybody caught onto exactly how powerful it was until now.
Blogging is powerful for a number of reasons, but I think the most important reason is that it now actually allows a private citizen to get his or her message out in the open. This is truly a free press, unconstrained by corporate greed, pressure from employers, or anything which might serve as a prior restraint.
All one has to do to publish is to have a web host. It can be done for no cost, other than getting on the internet. Even if a person wanted to publish a printed leaflet, they would have more cost in ink, paper, and printing time than a blogger has. Want to rail about how your city sucks? OK. Want to talk about how your neighbor’s dog keeps using your yard as a restroom? Whatever. Nothing’s off limits. Everyone can read it.
It’s also great because we can completely shut out what we don’t want to read. Wonkette won’t get any traffic from me anymore. Neither will Kos. I don’t care what they have to say, so why bother reading them? They’ve got the freedom to publish, I’ve got the freedom to ignore them. It works great.
Blogging is putting power back into the hands of the people, which is where it belongs in the first place. This is truly a free press.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
The Pursuit of Happiness IV...All In The Family
Despite the out-and-out attack on the institution of the family in America, I think it is one of the most important factors for true happiness. At least, it can be.
I’m not sure when the tag “dysfunctional” started to get applied to families in America, but it’s stuck there now. I bet every family in America has gotten that label applied to it at one point or another. Probably, the label got stuck on it by one of its own members at some point.
What is a “functional” family, anyway? The last I knew, we all had problems of some sort or another. We’ve all got personality quirks, nervous habits, bad habits, or general weirdness. If the functional perfect family is comprised of members without some sort of flaw, then it doesn’t exist.
Maybe your family was broken up by divorce. Maybe you suffered the death of a parent at a young age. Perhaps you lived with an alcoholic parent, or a drug addict. Maybe your sister ran away and joined the circus. Maybe you have a parent in prison. Perhaps one of your siblings is in an insane asylum. You could have step-parents and step-siblings. You could be a Kennedy. Whatever. We’ve all got something like that in our family, somewhere.
If you’re lucky; you’ve at least got a group of people who are related to you, that will be there when you need them. They will give you money when you’re broke. They’ll listen to your problems. They’ll help you move. They’ll donate kidneys when yours crap out, even if it’s because you drank Sterno for 14 years while living under a bridge. They’ll help you bury bodies.
They know you. They don’t pass judgment on you, at least not to your face. They accept you with all your weird flaws, purple hair, nose rings, etc. They may not like it, but they treat you like....well, family.
They do this for no other reason than they are related to you. That’s pretty mind-numbing. Nobody else on this planet has to put up with you, but your family is always there. Think about it. Ted Bundy still had people out there who loved him.
I realize that some people don’t have this kind of family. That’s a sad thing. However, even these people have someone who will take them in and love them. It can be a spouse or grandparents. It can even be friends. I say this because I have three friends who are as close to me as brothers. They qualify as family, as far as I’m concerned. They accept me unconditionally, and I them. They meet the criteria for family in my book.
I count myself very lucky indeed. I have a pretty big extended family. Both my parents are still alive, and still married to each other. We get together often, despite the distance between us. Truth be known, it’s one of the biggest reasons for my big move.
I wished everyone had a support group like that behind them. It gives one the courage to go out and do great things. So what if you go broke trying to open a new business? Your family is there for you. They’ll at least give you a roof over your head if the bank forecloses on your home. When you have a stable base to venture out of, it helps give you the courage to risk it all.
The family is at the core of this country’s strength, and I think the core seems to be under attack. The family as an institution is threatened by divorce, substance abuse, and activists who want to destroy the very definition of what a nuclear family is.
The basic unit is one man and one woman, married to each other. They have children. That’s it. It’s worked for thousands of years, and it got us to the level of society that we enjoy today. An erosion into that basic unit will cause a corresponding erosion in all aspects of society. I think we’re seeing proof of that everywhere we look. Nationwide, the divorce rate is better than 50%. More children are being born out of wedlock than ever before. And boy, does the country have more problems than it has ever seen before!
I don’t think it’s coincidence.
At any rate, I think I owe most of my modest success to the fact that I had people behind me to catch me if I fell. The unconditional love of people that you are related to is a pretty happy thing.
So we’ve got a meaningful career, hobbies to enjoy, a comfortable place to live, and family as key ingredients to happiness. I think there’s a final element that links all of these things together. I’ll get to that one at another time.
I’m not sure when the tag “dysfunctional” started to get applied to families in America, but it’s stuck there now. I bet every family in America has gotten that label applied to it at one point or another. Probably, the label got stuck on it by one of its own members at some point.
What is a “functional” family, anyway? The last I knew, we all had problems of some sort or another. We’ve all got personality quirks, nervous habits, bad habits, or general weirdness. If the functional perfect family is comprised of members without some sort of flaw, then it doesn’t exist.
Maybe your family was broken up by divorce. Maybe you suffered the death of a parent at a young age. Perhaps you lived with an alcoholic parent, or a drug addict. Maybe your sister ran away and joined the circus. Maybe you have a parent in prison. Perhaps one of your siblings is in an insane asylum. You could have step-parents and step-siblings. You could be a Kennedy. Whatever. We’ve all got something like that in our family, somewhere.
If you’re lucky; you’ve at least got a group of people who are related to you, that will be there when you need them. They will give you money when you’re broke. They’ll listen to your problems. They’ll help you move. They’ll donate kidneys when yours crap out, even if it’s because you drank Sterno for 14 years while living under a bridge. They’ll help you bury bodies.
They know you. They don’t pass judgment on you, at least not to your face. They accept you with all your weird flaws, purple hair, nose rings, etc. They may not like it, but they treat you like....well, family.
They do this for no other reason than they are related to you. That’s pretty mind-numbing. Nobody else on this planet has to put up with you, but your family is always there. Think about it. Ted Bundy still had people out there who loved him.
I realize that some people don’t have this kind of family. That’s a sad thing. However, even these people have someone who will take them in and love them. It can be a spouse or grandparents. It can even be friends. I say this because I have three friends who are as close to me as brothers. They qualify as family, as far as I’m concerned. They accept me unconditionally, and I them. They meet the criteria for family in my book.
I count myself very lucky indeed. I have a pretty big extended family. Both my parents are still alive, and still married to each other. We get together often, despite the distance between us. Truth be known, it’s one of the biggest reasons for my big move.
I wished everyone had a support group like that behind them. It gives one the courage to go out and do great things. So what if you go broke trying to open a new business? Your family is there for you. They’ll at least give you a roof over your head if the bank forecloses on your home. When you have a stable base to venture out of, it helps give you the courage to risk it all.
The family is at the core of this country’s strength, and I think the core seems to be under attack. The family as an institution is threatened by divorce, substance abuse, and activists who want to destroy the very definition of what a nuclear family is.
The basic unit is one man and one woman, married to each other. They have children. That’s it. It’s worked for thousands of years, and it got us to the level of society that we enjoy today. An erosion into that basic unit will cause a corresponding erosion in all aspects of society. I think we’re seeing proof of that everywhere we look. Nationwide, the divorce rate is better than 50%. More children are being born out of wedlock than ever before. And boy, does the country have more problems than it has ever seen before!
I don’t think it’s coincidence.
At any rate, I think I owe most of my modest success to the fact that I had people behind me to catch me if I fell. The unconditional love of people that you are related to is a pretty happy thing.
So we’ve got a meaningful career, hobbies to enjoy, a comfortable place to live, and family as key ingredients to happiness. I think there’s a final element that links all of these things together. I’ll get to that one at another time.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
The Pursuit of Happiness III...Location, Location, Location
I’ve talked a bit about things that seem to make people happy. I’ve covered the job, as well as the fun little hobbies that make the job seem worthwhile. I have yet to talk about the best place to pursue all this happiness.
No matter where you go, there you are. It would seem that one could be happy just about anywhere, given that logic. Not true. A devotee of the winter sports would find Del Rio, Texas to be something pretty close to hell on earth. On the other hand, they would probably love Nome, Alaska. So the place one calls home probably has as much to do with relative happiness as the job and the hobbies. Indeed, it might well be the most important factor of them all.
Since high school graduation, I have found myself living in cities. Understand that I grew up in a town of (at that time) around 5,000 people. Anything with a movie theater in it seemed like New York City, as far as I was concerned. So I’m not exactly what one would call a big-city sort of person.
Cities aren’t inherently evil, I suppose. On average, I think people probably have more economic opportunities in cities. There’s simply more people, who need more things. They need food, cars, shelter, tax write-offs, and lawyers. This generates all sorts of business, and that is a good thing.
There’s a ton of things to do in the city. Art and entertainment abound. There’s always a big show in town, or a game to go see. It doesn’t lack for activity 24 hours a day. This is also a good thing.
On the other hand, there are all these people to deal with. They jam the roads at the same time every morning, they bleat their horns like demented little sheep, and they jam themselves into small houses and apartments like sardines. They crash their cars, they shoot one another, they rob each other, and they generally act worse than animals.
Not that people don’t do this in small towns, mind you. It’s just a higher concentration of humanity all in one place in the city. The bad elements are a little higher per capita than they are in the small towns.
The cost of living is much higher in the city. Basically, cities are running out of room. Because of that, land in their borders is much more valuable. Compare the cost of a three bedroom house in Manhattan, as opposed to Seguin, Texas. Where is the consumer getting more for their money?
There’s a trade-off here, of course. As noted, one can probably make more money living in the city. Therefore, one can probably afford a better house, etc. However, there is a point of diminishing returns. Eventually, the cost of the items in the city surpasses the potential for income. Everybody tops out salary-wise somewhere. Even Bill Gates.
So where is the highest potential for happiness? Again, it depends on what the particular person wants out of life. I can only speak for myself, and I have found out a few things in the last couple of years.
First, I hate the city. There are too many other people here. I don’t like a lot of them. I can’t see stars at night. It is never silent here. There’s always traffic noise, airplane noise, neighbor noise, etc.
Traffic frustrates me, to no end. Lines in the grocery store hack me off. Movie theaters jammed with teenagers with no manners or consideration for fellow movie-goers bring out some pretty uncharitable thoughts. Everything is rushed, and everyone is in a hurry.
Second, I can do my job just about anywhere. If there are people, they are going to be in legal trouble of some sort. They’ll be divorcing, getting thrown in jail, buying property, or needing a will.
Third, maybe the money won’t be as good. Who knows, it could be better. However, I noted in my earlier posts on this subject that money is a poor substitute for happiness. Can it perhaps buy happiness? Nope. Money isn’t the primary motivator. I’ve seen where that can lead, at least for me.
I’ve turned down a job which would have probably earned me six figures. Granted, four of them followed a decimal point, but that’s not the issue here. The job would have required me to work about 60 hours per week, mandatory Saturdays, in the heart of the biggest city in the area, and doing nothing which even faintly resembles fun. It would have got me a nice BMW, which I could use to get back and forth to this job. It would have bought some nice clothes, which would have been used to dress up in to go to work. It would have bought a nicer house, which I probably would never see in the daylight. I would have represented some lovely banks and corporations, and done nothing remotely important.
I’ve been this route already. No more.
In light of this fact, I’m moving back to God’s Country. No more city life. One of the readers over the last couple of days remarked on how nice it would be to be a country lawyer. Well, we shall see how nice it is. I think it’s going to be all right. I’m heading for a small town, and going into business with a 60+ year old lawyer, who wants to groom somebody to take over his practice. We’re talking small town, here. No traffic jams. No lines in the store. Just a small general practice and the chance to do the rewarding stuff I mentioned in my post a couple of nights ago.
There’s a golf course where less than $200 per year buys all the golf one can stand. There’s land for $500 an acre or less. There’s family. There’s hunting. It’s the area where I grew up.
Don’t get me wrong; the city has plenty of attractions for some people. It just depends on what one wants out of life. This is all subjective, and we are talking about what seems to float my particular boat. I don’t need to be constantly surrounded by the stuff in a city anymore. I’ll be close enough that I can drive there if I need to, or want to. Which of course, I will. However, I can go months on end without going there at all, if necessary. I don’t even plan to live inside the town limits. If I can see a neighbor’s house, I’ll think the place is too crowded.
So happiness so far appears to be a rewarding job, fun things to do when I’m not working, and living in a place that’s not a huge city. There are three ingredients so far. I think there are a couple more worth mentioning, but those will have to wait for another time.
No matter where you go, there you are. It would seem that one could be happy just about anywhere, given that logic. Not true. A devotee of the winter sports would find Del Rio, Texas to be something pretty close to hell on earth. On the other hand, they would probably love Nome, Alaska. So the place one calls home probably has as much to do with relative happiness as the job and the hobbies. Indeed, it might well be the most important factor of them all.
Since high school graduation, I have found myself living in cities. Understand that I grew up in a town of (at that time) around 5,000 people. Anything with a movie theater in it seemed like New York City, as far as I was concerned. So I’m not exactly what one would call a big-city sort of person.
Cities aren’t inherently evil, I suppose. On average, I think people probably have more economic opportunities in cities. There’s simply more people, who need more things. They need food, cars, shelter, tax write-offs, and lawyers. This generates all sorts of business, and that is a good thing.
There’s a ton of things to do in the city. Art and entertainment abound. There’s always a big show in town, or a game to go see. It doesn’t lack for activity 24 hours a day. This is also a good thing.
On the other hand, there are all these people to deal with. They jam the roads at the same time every morning, they bleat their horns like demented little sheep, and they jam themselves into small houses and apartments like sardines. They crash their cars, they shoot one another, they rob each other, and they generally act worse than animals.
Not that people don’t do this in small towns, mind you. It’s just a higher concentration of humanity all in one place in the city. The bad elements are a little higher per capita than they are in the small towns.
The cost of living is much higher in the city. Basically, cities are running out of room. Because of that, land in their borders is much more valuable. Compare the cost of a three bedroom house in Manhattan, as opposed to Seguin, Texas. Where is the consumer getting more for their money?
There’s a trade-off here, of course. As noted, one can probably make more money living in the city. Therefore, one can probably afford a better house, etc. However, there is a point of diminishing returns. Eventually, the cost of the items in the city surpasses the potential for income. Everybody tops out salary-wise somewhere. Even Bill Gates.
So where is the highest potential for happiness? Again, it depends on what the particular person wants out of life. I can only speak for myself, and I have found out a few things in the last couple of years.
First, I hate the city. There are too many other people here. I don’t like a lot of them. I can’t see stars at night. It is never silent here. There’s always traffic noise, airplane noise, neighbor noise, etc.
Traffic frustrates me, to no end. Lines in the grocery store hack me off. Movie theaters jammed with teenagers with no manners or consideration for fellow movie-goers bring out some pretty uncharitable thoughts. Everything is rushed, and everyone is in a hurry.
Second, I can do my job just about anywhere. If there are people, they are going to be in legal trouble of some sort. They’ll be divorcing, getting thrown in jail, buying property, or needing a will.
Third, maybe the money won’t be as good. Who knows, it could be better. However, I noted in my earlier posts on this subject that money is a poor substitute for happiness. Can it perhaps buy happiness? Nope. Money isn’t the primary motivator. I’ve seen where that can lead, at least for me.
I’ve turned down a job which would have probably earned me six figures. Granted, four of them followed a decimal point, but that’s not the issue here. The job would have required me to work about 60 hours per week, mandatory Saturdays, in the heart of the biggest city in the area, and doing nothing which even faintly resembles fun. It would have got me a nice BMW, which I could use to get back and forth to this job. It would have bought some nice clothes, which would have been used to dress up in to go to work. It would have bought a nicer house, which I probably would never see in the daylight. I would have represented some lovely banks and corporations, and done nothing remotely important.
I’ve been this route already. No more.
In light of this fact, I’m moving back to God’s Country. No more city life. One of the readers over the last couple of days remarked on how nice it would be to be a country lawyer. Well, we shall see how nice it is. I think it’s going to be all right. I’m heading for a small town, and going into business with a 60+ year old lawyer, who wants to groom somebody to take over his practice. We’re talking small town, here. No traffic jams. No lines in the store. Just a small general practice and the chance to do the rewarding stuff I mentioned in my post a couple of nights ago.
There’s a golf course where less than $200 per year buys all the golf one can stand. There’s land for $500 an acre or less. There’s family. There’s hunting. It’s the area where I grew up.
Don’t get me wrong; the city has plenty of attractions for some people. It just depends on what one wants out of life. This is all subjective, and we are talking about what seems to float my particular boat. I don’t need to be constantly surrounded by the stuff in a city anymore. I’ll be close enough that I can drive there if I need to, or want to. Which of course, I will. However, I can go months on end without going there at all, if necessary. I don’t even plan to live inside the town limits. If I can see a neighbor’s house, I’ll think the place is too crowded.
So happiness so far appears to be a rewarding job, fun things to do when I’m not working, and living in a place that’s not a huge city. There are three ingredients so far. I think there are a couple more worth mentioning, but those will have to wait for another time.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
The Pursuit of Happiness II...The Smell of Cordite
It occurred to me that I had a very enjoyable day yesterday. It was one of those days that you probably would have if you made it to heaven. Everything was ok. My myriad problems were not dwelled on once. Everything seemed to go my way. Rarely have I felt so content.
What constitutes a great day for me, you might ask? Keep in mind this is all subjective, but here was my little slice of heaven.
For starters, I got a good night’s sleep. Since I’m an insomniac, a good night’s sleep is worth more to me than gold. I still didn’t go to bed before 2:00a.m., but since I didn’t stir until 11:00a.m., I consider that a good night’s sleep. Those of you who don’t have a hard time sleeping cannot understand this. Trust me, this was a good thing for me.
The next thing that happened was a couple of hours spent playing my Xbox. This is pure entertainment for me, escapism at its best. This HALO thing is like mental crack.
This was followed by a great movie which I happened to catch. It was called THE LAST HARD MEN, and featured Charlton Heston and Lee Marvin. I’ve never seen it before, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story followed an old retired sheriff whose daughter was kidnapped by an escaped convict in turn of the century Arizona (20th century, I feel compelled to add). A great movie. Nothing beats a good western, in my opinion. This was a pseudo-western, kind of like THE WILD BUNCH, but better. Finding an old movie that I’ve never seen before is a great feeling. It’s like finding money in your pocket that you didn’t know you had.
The day progressed, and I managed to find my way to the shooting range. There is a lot of happiness that comes from doing manly things like blowing holes in targets. There’s a certain satisfaction in knowing that one has a skill with weapons. Why is this important? For several different reasons, that vary from person to person. I can only tell you why I enjoy it. First, I have the satisfaction of knowing I can utilize a weapon in order to protect myself, and those I love. This is important to me.
Second, it’s fun. It’s an exercise in eye-hand coordination, and some people can’t do it very well. It’s like throwing darts, archery, or hitting a great golf shot. It’s just something fun to do, which is challenging. It’s also fun to talk with other shooters about what loads they’re using, what hardware they have, and other fun gun stuff. I had the opportunity to try out a new toy, the Glock 34. This is a long-slide 9mm, designed to be a target model. It’s probably the best-shooting Glock I’ve ever messed with, and I tend to be a big Glock fan. Try one. I digress.
Third, I know that just by shooting a gun; I am making some liberal puke cringe out there. I just like making them as uncomfortable as I can, in a passive-aggressive sort of way. The more I shoot, the more uncomfortable they are. My shooting keeps the range in business, the firearms manufacturer in business, and the ammo manufacturer. As long as they’re out there turning a profit, liberals are wailing and gnashing their teeth. This is a good thing.
Fourth, I like testing my skill with weapons against others at the range. Competition is fun. It makes us better.
By the way, the H&K USP Compact in .45 did quite well at the range. I shot 100 rounds at seven yards. Nothing was outside the 9 ring, and there was a huge hole torn from the x through the 9 ring. It looked like one big bullet hole. I seem to pull to the left a bit (I have to work on that, any clues as to why I’m doing that out there? I shoot from a modified Weaver stance, and I’m right-handed. You IPSC guys ought to be able to diagnose the problem), but otherwise this was about as perfect as I could ask for. Shooters out there are rejoicing about that grouping, the rest of you have no idea what I’m talking about.
There are other reasons why the range is a cool place to be, but I’m sure I have stated enough for the time being. I loved it, I’ll put it to you that way.
The next adventure for the day was to Fry’s Electronics. Electronic goodies as far as the eye could see. Needless to say, a happy hour was spent there.
The final step in the day was a movie, enjoying the company of my significant other, and eating pizza. I then played with the various pets, and got another decent night’s sleep.
The only thing that was lacking was a round of golf, but it was too darn cold to even think about that sort of thing. Heck, no day is perfect, is it?
The bottom line was that this was a very enjoyable day, of a sort that does not come around often enough for me. Life’s problems were put on hold for awhile. No politics to worry about, no job thoughts were weighing me down. I lost myself in things that I like to do.
Everybody needs a few hobbies, if you can call them that. People need something in which they can lose themselves. As Americans, we tend to get caught up in the rat race. We worry about work, we worry about doing a good job, we worry about making ends meet, etc. This is what makes us such a great nation: we actually care about what we do, and we mostly strive to do the best job we can. It’s a good thing, but we need to forget about all of that for two days of the week, if we can. There are reasons for which we work, and one is to support all these fun things that we like to do.
So now we have two ingredients for happiness: a fulfilling job, and pleasant distractions which make us forget life’s problems for a bit.
Next time, I’ll ruminate on the best location for doing all of this stuff. This is a biggie.
What constitutes a great day for me, you might ask? Keep in mind this is all subjective, but here was my little slice of heaven.
For starters, I got a good night’s sleep. Since I’m an insomniac, a good night’s sleep is worth more to me than gold. I still didn’t go to bed before 2:00a.m., but since I didn’t stir until 11:00a.m., I consider that a good night’s sleep. Those of you who don’t have a hard time sleeping cannot understand this. Trust me, this was a good thing for me.
The next thing that happened was a couple of hours spent playing my Xbox. This is pure entertainment for me, escapism at its best. This HALO thing is like mental crack.
This was followed by a great movie which I happened to catch. It was called THE LAST HARD MEN, and featured Charlton Heston and Lee Marvin. I’ve never seen it before, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story followed an old retired sheriff whose daughter was kidnapped by an escaped convict in turn of the century Arizona (20th century, I feel compelled to add). A great movie. Nothing beats a good western, in my opinion. This was a pseudo-western, kind of like THE WILD BUNCH, but better. Finding an old movie that I’ve never seen before is a great feeling. It’s like finding money in your pocket that you didn’t know you had.
The day progressed, and I managed to find my way to the shooting range. There is a lot of happiness that comes from doing manly things like blowing holes in targets. There’s a certain satisfaction in knowing that one has a skill with weapons. Why is this important? For several different reasons, that vary from person to person. I can only tell you why I enjoy it. First, I have the satisfaction of knowing I can utilize a weapon in order to protect myself, and those I love. This is important to me.
Second, it’s fun. It’s an exercise in eye-hand coordination, and some people can’t do it very well. It’s like throwing darts, archery, or hitting a great golf shot. It’s just something fun to do, which is challenging. It’s also fun to talk with other shooters about what loads they’re using, what hardware they have, and other fun gun stuff. I had the opportunity to try out a new toy, the Glock 34. This is a long-slide 9mm, designed to be a target model. It’s probably the best-shooting Glock I’ve ever messed with, and I tend to be a big Glock fan. Try one. I digress.
Third, I know that just by shooting a gun; I am making some liberal puke cringe out there. I just like making them as uncomfortable as I can, in a passive-aggressive sort of way. The more I shoot, the more uncomfortable they are. My shooting keeps the range in business, the firearms manufacturer in business, and the ammo manufacturer. As long as they’re out there turning a profit, liberals are wailing and gnashing their teeth. This is a good thing.
Fourth, I like testing my skill with weapons against others at the range. Competition is fun. It makes us better.
By the way, the H&K USP Compact in .45 did quite well at the range. I shot 100 rounds at seven yards. Nothing was outside the 9 ring, and there was a huge hole torn from the x through the 9 ring. It looked like one big bullet hole. I seem to pull to the left a bit (I have to work on that, any clues as to why I’m doing that out there? I shoot from a modified Weaver stance, and I’m right-handed. You IPSC guys ought to be able to diagnose the problem), but otherwise this was about as perfect as I could ask for. Shooters out there are rejoicing about that grouping, the rest of you have no idea what I’m talking about.
There are other reasons why the range is a cool place to be, but I’m sure I have stated enough for the time being. I loved it, I’ll put it to you that way.
The next adventure for the day was to Fry’s Electronics. Electronic goodies as far as the eye could see. Needless to say, a happy hour was spent there.
The final step in the day was a movie, enjoying the company of my significant other, and eating pizza. I then played with the various pets, and got another decent night’s sleep.
The only thing that was lacking was a round of golf, but it was too darn cold to even think about that sort of thing. Heck, no day is perfect, is it?
The bottom line was that this was a very enjoyable day, of a sort that does not come around often enough for me. Life’s problems were put on hold for awhile. No politics to worry about, no job thoughts were weighing me down. I lost myself in things that I like to do.
Everybody needs a few hobbies, if you can call them that. People need something in which they can lose themselves. As Americans, we tend to get caught up in the rat race. We worry about work, we worry about doing a good job, we worry about making ends meet, etc. This is what makes us such a great nation: we actually care about what we do, and we mostly strive to do the best job we can. It’s a good thing, but we need to forget about all of that for two days of the week, if we can. There are reasons for which we work, and one is to support all these fun things that we like to do.
So now we have two ingredients for happiness: a fulfilling job, and pleasant distractions which make us forget life’s problems for a bit.
Next time, I’ll ruminate on the best location for doing all of this stuff. This is a biggie.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
The Pursuit of Happiness
Happiness is a subject that has been of much interest as of late. The last six months or so has seen me doing all sorts of strange things in pursuit of what I thought might make me happy. I think there are many parts to being a happy person, and I’m going to ruminate on them for a couple of posts.
The first part of this musing will focus on job happiness. I figured out that I have to have a job to support my bad habits like buying guns and playing golf. If I have to, I might as well do something I enjoy. But what might that be? Though various misadventures, I ended up a lawyer.
What about being a lawyer could make me happy? I think a lot of us lawyers get into it wanting to be the knights in shining armor. Along the way, most of us get seduced by the money aspect. I’m just as guilty as all the rest.
I found out that money wasn’t making me happy. The pursuit of a decent wage was killing me. I figured that less money with less stress and headache was well-worth the cost.
I thought my unhappiness was due to the practice of law. If I got out of it, maybe that would help things. So what to do?
To begin with, I quit my job with an insurance company, as in -house counsel. I realized they were going to burn me out, should I stay with them. For more information, see my second-ever post about the personal injury racket here.
There wasn’t much job satisfaction, basically.
I had enough of the practice of law, or so I thought. So I went to work for a real estate company. Those of you out there who denigrate lawyers for being scummy really need to hang out with salesmen for awhile. No offense, but they make the worst trial lawyer look like a saint in comparison. While there are honorable salespeople, there are plenty of bad ones. I was fortunate enough to work with some pretty decent people, but I also had to deal with some of less than sterling ethics from other offices than mine. .
Plus, the job was not exactly making me happy. I went into it thinking I would be able to spend more time with my family, and hopefully make more money. I was wrong on the first count, at least. The bottom line was that I didn’t think I was doing the world any good selling dirt.
The opportunity came up to get back into the practice of law. I jumped at it. In doing so, I found out a couple of things.
First, the practice of law is a lot more rewarding if you’re actually doing some good for the average person. Helping a big insurance company is not a great way to feel altruistic. Maybe I’m delusional, but I went into this lawyer gig thinking that I could have a positive effect on the world. I would be able to help my fellow man. Not doing that was creating a lot of dissonance in my existence.
Second, the practice of law is much better when you are your own boss. You can call your own shots. I was very happy to tell a potential client to kiss off the other day. Not that I didn’t need his money. It’s just that I realized hew as a scumbag, and I didn’t want to represent him. I told him to find another lawyer. That was a great feeling. I never had that sort of freedom before. I was stuck with whatever igmo the insurance company sent me. When I worked for other lawyers, I had to take their clients over because I had no other choice. I had to bill hours to justify my existence, and deal with the hand I was dealt. It’s a bit different nowadays.
Third, it’s tough being your own boss. There’s a lot of things you have to deal with that were not there before. Payroll, accounting, collectibles and receivables, etc. This is a pain. Fortunately, computers have made it to where a person really can run a one-person shop.
Being a lawyer is the cross I bear. Because of training and licensing and whatnot, I am in a unique position to be a force for good in the world. It strikes me that I have an obligation to do just that: use my skills as a lawyer and try to do some good. It also occurs to me that this is what God intended for me to do. Why else would I have ended up in this position, with these skills and training? So how can I turn my back on it?
The short answer is that I can’t. I have been adrift without much of a purpose for a long time now. On the job aspect, I think I have finally found a niche that I fit in. I’m here to try and do some good for the average person out there. There is a measure of happiness in knowing that.
Bottom line: use what talents God gave you to make your living. I think He’s got a purpose in mind for all of us.
Next time, I’ll talk about other things which I think are necessary to making one happy.
The first part of this musing will focus on job happiness. I figured out that I have to have a job to support my bad habits like buying guns and playing golf. If I have to, I might as well do something I enjoy. But what might that be? Though various misadventures, I ended up a lawyer.
What about being a lawyer could make me happy? I think a lot of us lawyers get into it wanting to be the knights in shining armor. Along the way, most of us get seduced by the money aspect. I’m just as guilty as all the rest.
I found out that money wasn’t making me happy. The pursuit of a decent wage was killing me. I figured that less money with less stress and headache was well-worth the cost.
I thought my unhappiness was due to the practice of law. If I got out of it, maybe that would help things. So what to do?
To begin with, I quit my job with an insurance company, as in -house counsel. I realized they were going to burn me out, should I stay with them. For more information, see my second-ever post about the personal injury racket here.
There wasn’t much job satisfaction, basically.
I had enough of the practice of law, or so I thought. So I went to work for a real estate company. Those of you out there who denigrate lawyers for being scummy really need to hang out with salesmen for awhile. No offense, but they make the worst trial lawyer look like a saint in comparison. While there are honorable salespeople, there are plenty of bad ones. I was fortunate enough to work with some pretty decent people, but I also had to deal with some of less than sterling ethics from other offices than mine. .
Plus, the job was not exactly making me happy. I went into it thinking I would be able to spend more time with my family, and hopefully make more money. I was wrong on the first count, at least. The bottom line was that I didn’t think I was doing the world any good selling dirt.
The opportunity came up to get back into the practice of law. I jumped at it. In doing so, I found out a couple of things.
First, the practice of law is a lot more rewarding if you’re actually doing some good for the average person. Helping a big insurance company is not a great way to feel altruistic. Maybe I’m delusional, but I went into this lawyer gig thinking that I could have a positive effect on the world. I would be able to help my fellow man. Not doing that was creating a lot of dissonance in my existence.
Second, the practice of law is much better when you are your own boss. You can call your own shots. I was very happy to tell a potential client to kiss off the other day. Not that I didn’t need his money. It’s just that I realized hew as a scumbag, and I didn’t want to represent him. I told him to find another lawyer. That was a great feeling. I never had that sort of freedom before. I was stuck with whatever igmo the insurance company sent me. When I worked for other lawyers, I had to take their clients over because I had no other choice. I had to bill hours to justify my existence, and deal with the hand I was dealt. It’s a bit different nowadays.
Third, it’s tough being your own boss. There’s a lot of things you have to deal with that were not there before. Payroll, accounting, collectibles and receivables, etc. This is a pain. Fortunately, computers have made it to where a person really can run a one-person shop.
Being a lawyer is the cross I bear. Because of training and licensing and whatnot, I am in a unique position to be a force for good in the world. It strikes me that I have an obligation to do just that: use my skills as a lawyer and try to do some good. It also occurs to me that this is what God intended for me to do. Why else would I have ended up in this position, with these skills and training? So how can I turn my back on it?
The short answer is that I can’t. I have been adrift without much of a purpose for a long time now. On the job aspect, I think I have finally found a niche that I fit in. I’m here to try and do some good for the average person out there. There is a measure of happiness in knowing that.
Bottom line: use what talents God gave you to make your living. I think He’s got a purpose in mind for all of us.
Next time, I’ll talk about other things which I think are necessary to making one happy.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Further Proof the Democrats Are Racist Scumsuckers
Robert Byrd, everyone's favorite ex-Klansman, is holding up Condoleeza Rice's confirmation as Secretary Of State.
So much for the party of diversity, peace, and tolerance. The Democrats also showed their true colors during the confirmation hearings. Barbara Boxer showed she is basically a partisan hack, and is too stupid to be allowed to go out in public.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think we should declare war on the Democrats. They are a danger to individual liberty, our nation's security, and common sense. Now it seems they are wanting to backslide down 141 years of civil rights progress. Recognize them for what they are, and don't let them go unchallenged. Sure, I'm hacked at Republicans for not being conservative enough. But Jiminy Christmas, why can't people see the Democrats for what they are??? That part is a danger to the entire American way of life.
Heard any outrage over this in the mainstream media?? Thought not.
If the Democrats can embrace an ex-Klansman (one who doesn't really seem repentant, from these comments) and then have the audacity to call Republicans racist, that should be a pretty good indicator of what they are all about.
Condi for President 2008.
So much for the party of diversity, peace, and tolerance. The Democrats also showed their true colors during the confirmation hearings. Barbara Boxer showed she is basically a partisan hack, and is too stupid to be allowed to go out in public.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think we should declare war on the Democrats. They are a danger to individual liberty, our nation's security, and common sense. Now it seems they are wanting to backslide down 141 years of civil rights progress. Recognize them for what they are, and don't let them go unchallenged. Sure, I'm hacked at Republicans for not being conservative enough. But Jiminy Christmas, why can't people see the Democrats for what they are??? That part is a danger to the entire American way of life.
Heard any outrage over this in the mainstream media?? Thought not.
If the Democrats can embrace an ex-Klansman (one who doesn't really seem repentant, from these comments) and then have the audacity to call Republicans racist, that should be a pretty good indicator of what they are all about.
Condi for President 2008.
Still Think That Border Security Isn't Important??
Michelle Malkin gives us this very scary post about terrorist activity in the U.S., and the great job the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and other U.S. agencies have done in rounding up these villians before they kill more of us.
If you need more justification to build the Great Wall Of the United States, and have it patrolled by terrorist-eating mutant hyenas, crocigators, and big guns, well.....you're an idiot.
By the way, Michelle Malkin is an every day, must-read blogsite. She is quite savvy about border and homeland security issues, and well-worth your time. I learn something from her every day. Usually it scares me, but I do learn something.
If you need more justification to build the Great Wall Of the United States, and have it patrolled by terrorist-eating mutant hyenas, crocigators, and big guns, well.....you're an idiot.
By the way, Michelle Malkin is an every day, must-read blogsite. She is quite savvy about border and homeland security issues, and well-worth your time. I learn something from her every day. Usually it scares me, but I do learn something.
Worth A Look
The incomparable Kim Du Toit gives us this post for our reading enjoyment. It's a good overview of why the public needs guns. It overlooks the need to keep political power in the hands of citizenry, but oh well. When it comes down to it, there are several good reasons to own guns. Here's three good points for consideration.
I disagree on one point: should it the SHTF (as Kim so adroitly puts it) womenfolk will probably be needing rifle skills as well. Actually, he acknowleges this in his post, so I guess it isn't really a disagreement.
I disagree on one point: should it the SHTF (as Kim so adroitly puts it) womenfolk will probably be needing rifle skills as well. Actually, he acknowleges this in his post, so I guess it isn't really a disagreement.
Comes The Hunter
Benjamin over at Reasonablenut had an interesting post, regarding the introduction of shooting to the untrained. He points out that new shooters might have a tendency to put the .22 in the same category as the Daisy Red Ryder bb gun. It sparked quite a bit of thought.
I think he has a good point. Someone who is told that they are using a starter gun (small caliber, low recoil) might very well think the .22 is a less dangerous round. As a result, they might not follow safe and proper gun handling techniques, thus endangering themselves and everyone around them.
Though the .22 may very well be small, have low recoil, and a poor reputation as a stopping round; it is capable of killing almost as easily as a large caliber. I have read an account of two Englishmen in Africa who brain-shot two elephants with .22's, from about 10 yards. Both elephants dropped dead, without charging.
Further, I would hazard a guess and say that .22's probably kill more people in the U.S. than any other caliber, if one were to look a shooting statistics nationwide. It is an easily available round, and there exists no shortage of guns to shoot it from. Its small size makes it easy to build a small gun to shoot it out of, and many so-called pocket pistols are .22 caliber.
I do lament the fact that most newcomers to the shooting sports are coming in as target shooters, as opposed to hunters. Do not misunderstand me; I welcome all new shooters into the fold. However, we are seeing more and more people learning to shoot without ever having a concrete example of what a bullet can do to a living target. A .22 rimfire is more than adequate to kill something.
I think most people in my generation learned to shoot on a .22 of some sort. In addition, we learned to shoot in the context of hunting, in some form or fashion. For a kid in rural Texas, it is not uncommon to use a .22 to dispatch nuisance varmints, poisonous snakes, or small game animals.
Forgive the morbidity of the next paragraph or so, but when a bullet strikes an animal and kills it, it is a terrible thing. Indeed, watching anything die under any circumstances is a horrible experience. All the life flees the creature at once, leaving it an empty shell of meat and gristle. Whatever exists inside a creature that makes it alive is now gone. There is a terrible finality to the transition, and one that can be seen and felt. One can literally see the light go out in the animal’s eyes.
Regardless of how one may feel religiously about the soul, I think it is undeniable that SOMETHING exists which makes our flesh and blood alive. It is something that cannot be explained by the simple interaction of living organs and tissues. The divine spark (if you will) that animates the husks of clay we call bodies can be snuffed out. Whether one believes that animals have a soul, SOMETHING leaves when an animal dies.
Every hunter knows this.
For that reason, I think every hunter at some level appreciates the delicate nature of life. The hunter knows that it doesn’t take much to end life. They understand the firearm is a most deadly tool, one that can cause damage that is absolutely irreparable. Even the lowly .22.
Hunters also understand the balance of life. Death is something that is part of the whole cycle. Some creatures exist because they are prey. Theirs is a practical knowledge of how the world works. Animals live, and are killed by other animals to survive. This is how nature works. Lions are not going to be vegans, no matter how much we hate to see them eat gazelles. The gazelles exist to feed the lions. Cattle exist for people to have meat and milk. It’s much easier to eat them when they are dead.
This is simply the way it is. Do no think this is a criticism of hunting. Far from it. I think hunters probably have a better understanding of natural conservation than any New York liberal, sitting in a swank apartment in Manhattan. The hunter knows how the real world actually works, especially guns.
This is probably an overstatement as well. I have hunted with some clods who should not be allowed to possess firearms. They handle their guns in an unsafe manner, pointing it without regard to who they might kill if the thing went off. I don’t hunt with these people anymore. It’s not worth the risk. However, these were people who had come into shooting relatively late in life, not having hunted as children.
By and large though, hunters are taught the basics of gun handling. More so, they have seen the effects of a bullet on a live target. This serves only to emphasize the importance of why a gun is never pointed at someone, even accidentally. I do not think someone who has only punched holes in targets really understands. Until they see what destructive power a .22 is capable of unleashing, they do not fully understand that even this pea shooter is a deadly weapon. Sure, they’ve heard it a thousand times, and they’ve seen in on tv a million more. I don’t think it sinks in, until they actually see it for themselves.
Gun owners have an awesome responsibility, to themselves, and everyone around them. Learning the basics of safe gun handling is essential to owning a firearm. Every time an accidental discharge happens, it is going to get more worse press than any other type of accident. Each time, it gives the anti-gun faction more ammunition to work with. We really don’t need that. An awareness of what a tiny .22 bullet can do is a good way to illustrate why gun safety is so very important.
I think he has a good point. Someone who is told that they are using a starter gun (small caliber, low recoil) might very well think the .22 is a less dangerous round. As a result, they might not follow safe and proper gun handling techniques, thus endangering themselves and everyone around them.
Though the .22 may very well be small, have low recoil, and a poor reputation as a stopping round; it is capable of killing almost as easily as a large caliber. I have read an account of two Englishmen in Africa who brain-shot two elephants with .22's, from about 10 yards. Both elephants dropped dead, without charging.
Further, I would hazard a guess and say that .22's probably kill more people in the U.S. than any other caliber, if one were to look a shooting statistics nationwide. It is an easily available round, and there exists no shortage of guns to shoot it from. Its small size makes it easy to build a small gun to shoot it out of, and many so-called pocket pistols are .22 caliber.
I do lament the fact that most newcomers to the shooting sports are coming in as target shooters, as opposed to hunters. Do not misunderstand me; I welcome all new shooters into the fold. However, we are seeing more and more people learning to shoot without ever having a concrete example of what a bullet can do to a living target. A .22 rimfire is more than adequate to kill something.
I think most people in my generation learned to shoot on a .22 of some sort. In addition, we learned to shoot in the context of hunting, in some form or fashion. For a kid in rural Texas, it is not uncommon to use a .22 to dispatch nuisance varmints, poisonous snakes, or small game animals.
Forgive the morbidity of the next paragraph or so, but when a bullet strikes an animal and kills it, it is a terrible thing. Indeed, watching anything die under any circumstances is a horrible experience. All the life flees the creature at once, leaving it an empty shell of meat and gristle. Whatever exists inside a creature that makes it alive is now gone. There is a terrible finality to the transition, and one that can be seen and felt. One can literally see the light go out in the animal’s eyes.
Regardless of how one may feel religiously about the soul, I think it is undeniable that SOMETHING exists which makes our flesh and blood alive. It is something that cannot be explained by the simple interaction of living organs and tissues. The divine spark (if you will) that animates the husks of clay we call bodies can be snuffed out. Whether one believes that animals have a soul, SOMETHING leaves when an animal dies.
Every hunter knows this.
For that reason, I think every hunter at some level appreciates the delicate nature of life. The hunter knows that it doesn’t take much to end life. They understand the firearm is a most deadly tool, one that can cause damage that is absolutely irreparable. Even the lowly .22.
Hunters also understand the balance of life. Death is something that is part of the whole cycle. Some creatures exist because they are prey. Theirs is a practical knowledge of how the world works. Animals live, and are killed by other animals to survive. This is how nature works. Lions are not going to be vegans, no matter how much we hate to see them eat gazelles. The gazelles exist to feed the lions. Cattle exist for people to have meat and milk. It’s much easier to eat them when they are dead.
This is simply the way it is. Do no think this is a criticism of hunting. Far from it. I think hunters probably have a better understanding of natural conservation than any New York liberal, sitting in a swank apartment in Manhattan. The hunter knows how the real world actually works, especially guns.
This is probably an overstatement as well. I have hunted with some clods who should not be allowed to possess firearms. They handle their guns in an unsafe manner, pointing it without regard to who they might kill if the thing went off. I don’t hunt with these people anymore. It’s not worth the risk. However, these were people who had come into shooting relatively late in life, not having hunted as children.
By and large though, hunters are taught the basics of gun handling. More so, they have seen the effects of a bullet on a live target. This serves only to emphasize the importance of why a gun is never pointed at someone, even accidentally. I do not think someone who has only punched holes in targets really understands. Until they see what destructive power a .22 is capable of unleashing, they do not fully understand that even this pea shooter is a deadly weapon. Sure, they’ve heard it a thousand times, and they’ve seen in on tv a million more. I don’t think it sinks in, until they actually see it for themselves.
Gun owners have an awesome responsibility, to themselves, and everyone around them. Learning the basics of safe gun handling is essential to owning a firearm. Every time an accidental discharge happens, it is going to get more worse press than any other type of accident. Each time, it gives the anti-gun faction more ammunition to work with. We really don’t need that. An awareness of what a tiny .22 bullet can do is a good way to illustrate why gun safety is so very important.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Off To See The Lizard
Regular readers of this site (both of you) have noticed my unabashed love for all things Godzilla. The Mean Green holds a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s happy memories from my childhood. Maybe it’s the sci-fi. Maybe it’s because I like seeing cities stomped flat by a fire-breathing mutated iguana. Regardless, Godzilla’s cool.
So thanks to an unlimited Blockbuster pass, I found myself renting the last American version of GODZILLA. This is the circa 1996 version that came out, starring Matthew Broderick, Hank Azaria, and probably nobody else important.
Broderick should have retired after FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF. That was a role of cinematic genius that he has never topped. After seeing THE STEPFORD WIVES, I am thoroughly convinced of this. Hank Azaria is a pretty decent character actor. Jean Reno is Jean Reno. Everybody else was lizard chow.
This movie was pretty awful, even by my standards. What’s funny is that the things that made this movie awful were things that normally would be considered hallmarks of success in Hollywood.
To begin with, there were pretty high production values. You probably could have made ALL the previous GODZILLA movies for what this sucker cost. The sets were good, the film quality good, they paid decent actors (though not great ones), and it had cool trailers.
The movie was made by the movie team of Devlin and Emmerich, who brought us such cinematic triumphs as STARGATE and INDEPENDENCE DAY. Note the sarcasm. I must admit I actually liked STARGATE, and the tv series isn’t all that bad. Nevertheless, they have a reputation for big flash and little substance. A perfect recipe for Hollywood success, right?
Godzilla himself was mostly computer-generated. Allow me a moment to rail against CGI. CGI has become Hollywood’s stopgap measure. If there’s any doubt, CGI the scene. Granted, special effects have become much cheaper to make now, but I think the coldness of CGI has drained movies of some of their hearts and souls.
Take STAR WARS, for instance. No purist can watch Episodes I-II without wanting to kill George Lucas. Most fans think one of the great things about the original STAR WARS was that everything in it looked, well....real. The Mos Eisley cantina looked gritty, dirty, and scary. You could almost smell the carious alien lifeforms in there. The vehicles moving through the streets actually looked real. That’s because they were, they were actual solid objects on a screen. They were not digital pixels dancing on a computer screen. There’s just something about using physical props, as opposed to digital dots.
I won’t even digress into the travesty that Lucas allowed his masterpiece to become. He ruined, and I mean RUINED the remade special editions of the first three STAR WARS movies. He’s got one shot at getting all this right, and we’ll find out if he nailed it in May. At any rate....
Hollywood needs to learn that we need less CGI and more old-fashioned special effects. I would direct the reader’s attention to AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. That transformation was one of the scariest in movie history, and none of it was computer-generated. It looked awfully real. By comparison, look at the transformations in AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS. Too fake for words.
The creature in GODZILLA looked too friendly. It was a big scary lizard, but there was a certain cuteness to it. Godzilla ain’t cute. I don’t care how you try to spin it, but a giant lizard tearing up a city is not cute. Ever. It’s like having an elephant in one’s living room. I don’t care how much one might love elephants, when the damn thing squashes your big-screen, flattens the dog, and messes on your new carpet, all you want is for it to die. Trust me on this one. Don’t ask why, but just trust me. A cute Godzilla just doesn’t work.
One of the things that made Toho Studios’ Godzilla was the way the thing looked. Godzilla just looked like he was created to smash buildings and spew radioactive fire. His face looked plain mean. It added something to the whole proposition. The newer version just doesn’t have the fear factor going on. Godzilla in the old movies just looked so...alien. There was nothing on the planet that looked anything like him. The new Godzilla looked like a big lizard. I think that if you can find something real to relate it to, then the thing becomes less scary. Let’s face it: we go to monster movies to get scared, at least a bit.
The CGI Godzilla moved like the dinosaurs in JURASSIC PARK. This is all well and good, but it just didn’t move like a guy in a big rubber suit. I know that sounds weird, but there is just a certain organic element to the Japanese movies that is completely lost with CGI.
At least they kept the great Godzilla roar. I have to give them props for that. It was one of the great movie-trailer moments in history. When the audience heard that roar back on the screen for the first time in the previews, I can guarantee there were some excited movie freaks out there.
The film-makers throw a rather dysfunctional love story in the mix. The love interest in this movie is one of the most evil women in movie history, and one of the most annoying. Broderick’s character, had he been real, would have probably done everything possible to feed her to Godzilla. I remember seeing this in the theater, and everyone there was in agreement on this issue.
There was also little or no homage to the greatness of Toho Studios’ classic monsters. How hard would it have been to throw in some Japanese tourists getting eaten or something? A little respect should have been shown here. Maybe a Raymond Burr cameo?
At any rate, a serious student of Godzilla must watch this movie, just to appreciate the finer points of the Japanese movies.
So thanks to an unlimited Blockbuster pass, I found myself renting the last American version of GODZILLA. This is the circa 1996 version that came out, starring Matthew Broderick, Hank Azaria, and probably nobody else important.
Broderick should have retired after FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF. That was a role of cinematic genius that he has never topped. After seeing THE STEPFORD WIVES, I am thoroughly convinced of this. Hank Azaria is a pretty decent character actor. Jean Reno is Jean Reno. Everybody else was lizard chow.
This movie was pretty awful, even by my standards. What’s funny is that the things that made this movie awful were things that normally would be considered hallmarks of success in Hollywood.
To begin with, there were pretty high production values. You probably could have made ALL the previous GODZILLA movies for what this sucker cost. The sets were good, the film quality good, they paid decent actors (though not great ones), and it had cool trailers.
The movie was made by the movie team of Devlin and Emmerich, who brought us such cinematic triumphs as STARGATE and INDEPENDENCE DAY. Note the sarcasm. I must admit I actually liked STARGATE, and the tv series isn’t all that bad. Nevertheless, they have a reputation for big flash and little substance. A perfect recipe for Hollywood success, right?
Godzilla himself was mostly computer-generated. Allow me a moment to rail against CGI. CGI has become Hollywood’s stopgap measure. If there’s any doubt, CGI the scene. Granted, special effects have become much cheaper to make now, but I think the coldness of CGI has drained movies of some of their hearts and souls.
Take STAR WARS, for instance. No purist can watch Episodes I-II without wanting to kill George Lucas. Most fans think one of the great things about the original STAR WARS was that everything in it looked, well....real. The Mos Eisley cantina looked gritty, dirty, and scary. You could almost smell the carious alien lifeforms in there. The vehicles moving through the streets actually looked real. That’s because they were, they were actual solid objects on a screen. They were not digital pixels dancing on a computer screen. There’s just something about using physical props, as opposed to digital dots.
I won’t even digress into the travesty that Lucas allowed his masterpiece to become. He ruined, and I mean RUINED the remade special editions of the first three STAR WARS movies. He’s got one shot at getting all this right, and we’ll find out if he nailed it in May. At any rate....
Hollywood needs to learn that we need less CGI and more old-fashioned special effects. I would direct the reader’s attention to AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. That transformation was one of the scariest in movie history, and none of it was computer-generated. It looked awfully real. By comparison, look at the transformations in AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS. Too fake for words.
The creature in GODZILLA looked too friendly. It was a big scary lizard, but there was a certain cuteness to it. Godzilla ain’t cute. I don’t care how you try to spin it, but a giant lizard tearing up a city is not cute. Ever. It’s like having an elephant in one’s living room. I don’t care how much one might love elephants, when the damn thing squashes your big-screen, flattens the dog, and messes on your new carpet, all you want is for it to die. Trust me on this one. Don’t ask why, but just trust me. A cute Godzilla just doesn’t work.
One of the things that made Toho Studios’ Godzilla was the way the thing looked. Godzilla just looked like he was created to smash buildings and spew radioactive fire. His face looked plain mean. It added something to the whole proposition. The newer version just doesn’t have the fear factor going on. Godzilla in the old movies just looked so...alien. There was nothing on the planet that looked anything like him. The new Godzilla looked like a big lizard. I think that if you can find something real to relate it to, then the thing becomes less scary. Let’s face it: we go to monster movies to get scared, at least a bit.
The CGI Godzilla moved like the dinosaurs in JURASSIC PARK. This is all well and good, but it just didn’t move like a guy in a big rubber suit. I know that sounds weird, but there is just a certain organic element to the Japanese movies that is completely lost with CGI.
At least they kept the great Godzilla roar. I have to give them props for that. It was one of the great movie-trailer moments in history. When the audience heard that roar back on the screen for the first time in the previews, I can guarantee there were some excited movie freaks out there.
The film-makers throw a rather dysfunctional love story in the mix. The love interest in this movie is one of the most evil women in movie history, and one of the most annoying. Broderick’s character, had he been real, would have probably done everything possible to feed her to Godzilla. I remember seeing this in the theater, and everyone there was in agreement on this issue.
There was also little or no homage to the greatness of Toho Studios’ classic monsters. How hard would it have been to throw in some Japanese tourists getting eaten or something? A little respect should have been shown here. Maybe a Raymond Burr cameo?
At any rate, a serious student of Godzilla must watch this movie, just to appreciate the finer points of the Japanese movies.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Now I'm Really On Big Brother's List...
...As if I wasn't already.
Here's a letter I sent to my two senators. I'm sure they'll use it to line their birdcages or something:
"I am writing to you to voice my displeasure at President Bush's immigration and border policies. I see from your website that you also support a guest worker program. I urge you to oppose this proposition.
"The guest worker program that President Bush is attempting to foist off on this country is incredibly dangerous and naive. What makes anyone think these workers will simply pack up and go back at the end of a season? We've already figured out that once they are here, they will stay. There will be no provision to make them pay for their own health care while they are here, I am sure. Requiring their employers to pay it would be grossly unfair.
"You must be aware of the incredible drain illegals are causing on our health care system. They get treated for nothing, while the rest of us have to bear the cost.
"As an insurance defense lawyer in this state, I cannot tell you how many times I dealt with plaintiffs who were in the country illegally. Every one of their cases was a fraud, to say the least. The increased cost of litigation due to illegal immigration is a further drain on the system.
"Let us not forget the criminals who slip through our porous borders. A former golf buddy was murdered by an illegal alien, who has apparently fled back across the Mexican border. My friend's family will never know justice, and his daughters will now face their teen years fatherless. His blood is on the hands of the United States government, in no small part.
"If our government provides any useful function, it should be to protect our citizens from threats crossing our borders, whether they are economic, criminal, or terroristic in nature. It appears the government is unwilling to do that.
"I implore you, do not support Bush's guest worker program. I further implore you to introduce legislation which will seal the border with a wall, and guard it with United States military forces. Our security and our very lives depend on it.
"I have decided that I will oppose vehemently any candidate who moves even the slightest bit to the left. I am bitterly disappointed in President Bush so far into his second term. I have been a supporter of both him and you in past campaigns. However, I find the so-called conservative party is willing to move left in order to save votes. I am not willing to compromise on conservative ideals, and I will not support candidates who are.
"I have a feeling this letter will go unheeded, as most citizens feel about anything they try to get across to their representatives in government. Nevertheless, you should realize that you have at least one vote at stake.
"I thank you for your service to Texans, and hope that you become an even stronger conservative advocate.
"Sincerely,
"Kyle"
Kim Du Toit made me do this. It's his fault.
I am starting to feel Republicans aren't quite conservative enough for me. Theodore Roosevelt started the Bull Moose party, when he felt Republicans were letting him down. If we could start another party, and have a good idea that we'd have enough votes to win before we ran, I'd be all for it. I wouldn't do it if it would Perot away an election.
One way or the other, we conservatives need to make ourselves heard. I'm going to pester the hell out of my elected representatives from here on out. I'm sure they're giddy with anticipation.
Here's a letter I sent to my two senators. I'm sure they'll use it to line their birdcages or something:
"I am writing to you to voice my displeasure at President Bush's immigration and border policies. I see from your website that you also support a guest worker program. I urge you to oppose this proposition.
"The guest worker program that President Bush is attempting to foist off on this country is incredibly dangerous and naive. What makes anyone think these workers will simply pack up and go back at the end of a season? We've already figured out that once they are here, they will stay. There will be no provision to make them pay for their own health care while they are here, I am sure. Requiring their employers to pay it would be grossly unfair.
"You must be aware of the incredible drain illegals are causing on our health care system. They get treated for nothing, while the rest of us have to bear the cost.
"As an insurance defense lawyer in this state, I cannot tell you how many times I dealt with plaintiffs who were in the country illegally. Every one of their cases was a fraud, to say the least. The increased cost of litigation due to illegal immigration is a further drain on the system.
"Let us not forget the criminals who slip through our porous borders. A former golf buddy was murdered by an illegal alien, who has apparently fled back across the Mexican border. My friend's family will never know justice, and his daughters will now face their teen years fatherless. His blood is on the hands of the United States government, in no small part.
"If our government provides any useful function, it should be to protect our citizens from threats crossing our borders, whether they are economic, criminal, or terroristic in nature. It appears the government is unwilling to do that.
"I implore you, do not support Bush's guest worker program. I further implore you to introduce legislation which will seal the border with a wall, and guard it with United States military forces. Our security and our very lives depend on it.
"I have decided that I will oppose vehemently any candidate who moves even the slightest bit to the left. I am bitterly disappointed in President Bush so far into his second term. I have been a supporter of both him and you in past campaigns. However, I find the so-called conservative party is willing to move left in order to save votes. I am not willing to compromise on conservative ideals, and I will not support candidates who are.
"I have a feeling this letter will go unheeded, as most citizens feel about anything they try to get across to their representatives in government. Nevertheless, you should realize that you have at least one vote at stake.
"I thank you for your service to Texans, and hope that you become an even stronger conservative advocate.
"Sincerely,
"Kyle"
Kim Du Toit made me do this. It's his fault.
I am starting to feel Republicans aren't quite conservative enough for me. Theodore Roosevelt started the Bull Moose party, when he felt Republicans were letting him down. If we could start another party, and have a good idea that we'd have enough votes to win before we ran, I'd be all for it. I wouldn't do it if it would Perot away an election.
One way or the other, we conservatives need to make ourselves heard. I'm going to pester the hell out of my elected representatives from here on out. I'm sure they're giddy with anticipation.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
The Terrorists Busted By A Waitress In The Sky
At least one reader will know what band produced the song which I pay homage to in the title of this piece.
This little tidbit of information comes from Michelle Malkin's webiste. The lowdown: rumor has it that a bunch of razor blades were found on a commerical airliner by a flight attendant. The razors were hidden in blankets in the overhead compartments.
One of the most striking things about this article came from a commentary by one of Michelle’s readers towards the end of the article. He highlights that it was a flight attendant who supposedly finds the razor blades in the blanket. His point is that it is common folks who have to carry the weight of our nation's self-defense. I agree with this reader’s comments wholeheartedly.
Should this rumor turn out to be true, it is indeed a perfect example of what I am coming to believe more and more: one cannot rely on the government for one’s own protection. It is up to us to ensure our own safety, whether it is using power tools, walking in a bad neighborhood, or stopping terrorists in our country.
The police can’t be everywhere. They’re usually going to good only for investigating a crime, after it is all said and done. The same goes with the federal government. The only thing they can do is usually pass some sort of knee-jerk reactionary law, after all the damage has been done.
Keep this in mind. As individuals in a free society, we are responsible for our own safety.
With that in mind; I'm going to dig a moat around the house, and fill it with mutant hybrid crocigators.
Random Question:
If a homeowner kills a would-be burglar in the act, shouldn't he be allowed to keep the body and display it outside as a warning to all others foolish enough to illegally enter? That might make a much more effective deterrent than those stupid alarm company signs. It worked for Vlad Tepes, after all.
I guess the crocigators won't leave much to display.
This little tidbit of information comes from Michelle Malkin's webiste. The lowdown: rumor has it that a bunch of razor blades were found on a commerical airliner by a flight attendant. The razors were hidden in blankets in the overhead compartments.
One of the most striking things about this article came from a commentary by one of Michelle’s readers towards the end of the article. He highlights that it was a flight attendant who supposedly finds the razor blades in the blanket. His point is that it is common folks who have to carry the weight of our nation's self-defense. I agree with this reader’s comments wholeheartedly.
Should this rumor turn out to be true, it is indeed a perfect example of what I am coming to believe more and more: one cannot rely on the government for one’s own protection. It is up to us to ensure our own safety, whether it is using power tools, walking in a bad neighborhood, or stopping terrorists in our country.
The police can’t be everywhere. They’re usually going to good only for investigating a crime, after it is all said and done. The same goes with the federal government. The only thing they can do is usually pass some sort of knee-jerk reactionary law, after all the damage has been done.
Keep this in mind. As individuals in a free society, we are responsible for our own safety.
With that in mind; I'm going to dig a moat around the house, and fill it with mutant hybrid crocigators.
Random Question:
If a homeowner kills a would-be burglar in the act, shouldn't he be allowed to keep the body and display it outside as a warning to all others foolish enough to illegally enter? That might make a much more effective deterrent than those stupid alarm company signs. It worked for Vlad Tepes, after all.
I guess the crocigators won't leave much to display.
Friday, January 14, 2005
In Defense of the Second Amendment, Part 1000
Here's a great piece on why liberals hate guns so much. It's much more eloquent than I have managed to be in defense of the Second Amendment so far.
It boils down to the simple fact that you can't control a person who has a gun very easily.
I've argued before that the Second Amendment is the basic right which guarantees all the others. I believe in this proposition more and more every day. Unless your basic, average citizen has an empowering tool with which to resist tyranny, any government can become totalitarian in the blink of an eye.
Those of you out there who don't own a gun: go buy one. Learn to use it safely. There are numerous reasons for doing this. First, it really pisses liberals off. This is a good thing. It makes them think even less clearly than they normally do. Second, you are empowering yourself, in more ways than one. You can protect yourself and your family from crime, and you now have something with which to back up your political vote. Think of it as the gold standard your legal tender (vote) is based on. Fourth, more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens means less overall crime, so you're actually doing your neighbors as well as yourself some good. Third, it's really fun to shoot. Once you try it, you'll see what I mean.
Don't worry about finding someone to help you learn to use it. Any gun range will have people falling all over themselves to welcome you into the gun owner family, help you learn firearms safety, and the basics of shooting. If that's too much for the shy among you, ask around. Odds are, you know a gun owner or two. You'll probably be shocked at first to realize they are not separated at birth from the Unabomber. They're normal people just like you, and would be overjoyed to help you with firearms advice and training.
Also, check the NRA's website, or give them a call. They can provide you with all sorts of goodies, as well as training materials. It probably won't cost you a dime.
Now go forth, and make a liberal REALLY mad.
It boils down to the simple fact that you can't control a person who has a gun very easily.
I've argued before that the Second Amendment is the basic right which guarantees all the others. I believe in this proposition more and more every day. Unless your basic, average citizen has an empowering tool with which to resist tyranny, any government can become totalitarian in the blink of an eye.
Those of you out there who don't own a gun: go buy one. Learn to use it safely. There are numerous reasons for doing this. First, it really pisses liberals off. This is a good thing. It makes them think even less clearly than they normally do. Second, you are empowering yourself, in more ways than one. You can protect yourself and your family from crime, and you now have something with which to back up your political vote. Think of it as the gold standard your legal tender (vote) is based on. Fourth, more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens means less overall crime, so you're actually doing your neighbors as well as yourself some good. Third, it's really fun to shoot. Once you try it, you'll see what I mean.
Don't worry about finding someone to help you learn to use it. Any gun range will have people falling all over themselves to welcome you into the gun owner family, help you learn firearms safety, and the basics of shooting. If that's too much for the shy among you, ask around. Odds are, you know a gun owner or two. You'll probably be shocked at first to realize they are not separated at birth from the Unabomber. They're normal people just like you, and would be overjoyed to help you with firearms advice and training.
Also, check the NRA's website, or give them a call. They can provide you with all sorts of goodies, as well as training materials. It probably won't cost you a dime.
Now go forth, and make a liberal REALLY mad.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Daily Dose of Random News
I’m Glad They Didn’t Tell the One About the Piano Player in the Cathouse, They Might Be Executed.....
Now this is sad. These guys were arrested for telling lawyer jokes.
I’m not so thin-skinned about my profession that I can’t take a little teasing about it.
Stereotypes exist because they are generally true. You have to laugh, to keep from crying.
That’s Gratitude For You
Indonesia wants our troops out.
Screw them. If they don’t want our troops to help rebuild, I guess they really don’t need our money, either. Yeah, right.
I’m a bit tired of the US getting treated by the rest of the world like a parent giving money to an ungrateful, spoiled child. Fine. No more aid money. Suffer. We’ve got plenty of our own problems to fix.
Help Oppose This Insanity
Bush is pushing his idiotic amnesty program. Stop this cold. Call your senators and tell then no way in hell do they support this and expect to get re-elected. And while you’re at it, tell them to get busy on the Great Wall of the United States. And the mutant hyenas.
This ain’t tax relief, as Mr. Bush tries to equate it to. Check out Kim Du Toit’s post on this matter.
Really Great News–The Supreme Court Gets One Right
The Supreme Court has basically voided federal sentencing guidelines. This is really great news.
Our judicial system should allow for varying ranges of punishment, depending on criminal history, circumstances, etc. I don’t think a person who steals food when they are starving should be punished the same as a three-time loser who mugs somebody in a park for crack money. Call me crazy.
The federal sentencing guidelines basically took out any and all discretion in punishment ranges. If you did x crime, you got x time, no matter what the circumstances. Sounds great, but again, justice requires looking at the totality of the circumstances. The federal sentencing guidelines failed to do just that. No discretion at all was allowed for mitigating circumstances, first-time offenders, etc.
Now, there will be a bit more fairness in the system. That’s a good thing, I think. Power is back in the hands of the juries. I don’t ever mind when the law gives decision-making into the hands of private citizens. This is how it should be.
Now this is sad. These guys were arrested for telling lawyer jokes.
I’m not so thin-skinned about my profession that I can’t take a little teasing about it.
Stereotypes exist because they are generally true. You have to laugh, to keep from crying.
That’s Gratitude For You
Indonesia wants our troops out.
Screw them. If they don’t want our troops to help rebuild, I guess they really don’t need our money, either. Yeah, right.
I’m a bit tired of the US getting treated by the rest of the world like a parent giving money to an ungrateful, spoiled child. Fine. No more aid money. Suffer. We’ve got plenty of our own problems to fix.
Help Oppose This Insanity
Bush is pushing his idiotic amnesty program. Stop this cold. Call your senators and tell then no way in hell do they support this and expect to get re-elected. And while you’re at it, tell them to get busy on the Great Wall of the United States. And the mutant hyenas.
This ain’t tax relief, as Mr. Bush tries to equate it to. Check out Kim Du Toit’s post on this matter.
Really Great News–The Supreme Court Gets One Right
The Supreme Court has basically voided federal sentencing guidelines. This is really great news.
Our judicial system should allow for varying ranges of punishment, depending on criminal history, circumstances, etc. I don’t think a person who steals food when they are starving should be punished the same as a three-time loser who mugs somebody in a park for crack money. Call me crazy.
The federal sentencing guidelines basically took out any and all discretion in punishment ranges. If you did x crime, you got x time, no matter what the circumstances. Sounds great, but again, justice requires looking at the totality of the circumstances. The federal sentencing guidelines failed to do just that. No discretion at all was allowed for mitigating circumstances, first-time offenders, etc.
Now, there will be a bit more fairness in the system. That’s a good thing, I think. Power is back in the hands of the juries. I don’t ever mind when the law gives decision-making into the hands of private citizens. This is how it should be.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Idiocy On Both Sides of the Fence
And We Wonder Why We Have A Deficit??
I hear the cost of the inauguration is going to top 50 million. And now they expect Washington to take money from Homeland Security to pay for it? All this for an oath of office that takes about 30 seconds or so.
I don't see the point of this at all. Further, I don't see how spending this kind of money on a self-congratulatory celebration is anything resembling conservative. He's supposed to be about fiscal responsibility, and not wasting our taxpayer money.
What a Crap Monster. There. He's earned the coveted title.
If Bush was a good leader, he'd just get sworn in by the Chief Justice in the Oval office, have it televised, and get to work figuring out how to keep this country safe. This is grandstanding of the worst sort. Michael Savage pointed out this money should be diverted to body armor for the troops. I don't think a good leader spends 50 million on a party while his troops are in a foreign country dying for him. With a lack of equipment to keep them safe, no less.
As a conservative, I am very disappointed in the man. I think this behavior is pretty shameful. We don't need pomp and circumstance. We need to figure out how to effectively kill terrorists, and those who harbor them.
Hippy Freaks Teaching In Our University
Professor Robert Jensen shows his true colors in this opinion piece, which I am ashamed to admit the Ft. Worth-Star Telegram actually printed.
The reader can pretty much figure out what this guy is all about from this small quote from the aforementioned manifesto:
"...So, as a U.S. citizen, I welcome the U.S. defeat for a simple reason: It isn't the defeat of the United States -- its people or their ideals -- but of that empire. And it's essential that the American empire be defeated and dismantled."
I can't believe a person has that much negativity about our country. Notice he says that we are only doing the Iraq war because of some sort of bizarre Yankee imperialism. Not by acquiring territory, but by allowing the big companies to control oil profits out of Iraq.
Notice there’s nothing he says in the piece to back this up. It's just leftist hatred of the worst sort, with no facts to back it up. I think the left really DOES hate this country. This piece seems to reinforce this proposition. I also note he lives in the greatest state in the Union, and has not moved to Cuba or China to live in a worker's paradise.
Looking at Professor Jensen's website will give the reader even further evidence about the left-wing loon. He hates conservatism, hates America, hates white people, and hates war for any reason. This is odd, since he's whiter than Wonder Bread, lives in the greatest country on God's Green Earth, and lives in the greatest state in the Union. Keep in mind tax dollars are paying for Jensen's website, not to mention tuition fees at U.T. That hacks me off.
In short, Jensen's a lefty moonbat, with no firm grasp of reality.
I was listening to Sean Hannity rip him a new one on my drive home this afternoon, during a telephone interview. I don't particularly care for Hannity's interview style. I think he should have allowed the guy to speak a bit more than what he did. That way the entire country could have heard how moronic this guy really is. As it was, Jensen was unable to come up with any facts to back up this garbage he spouts. I missed the part where we were defeated in Iraq. It was fun to hear Sean latch onto Jensen, though. I was reminded of a pit bull latching onto a coyote.
Why am I spending so much time on this rather insignificant left-wing puke? Perhaps this is to illustrate the caliber of people who are teaching in universities today. Jensen teaches journalism, if one can believe that. This is what parents are paying for when they send their kids to college these days.
Perhaps it is to illustrate that hope is not yet lost. Even though we are bombarded by this socialistic garbage while at school, some of us actually turn out sane. Well, conservative, anyway.
I was one of Jensen's students at the University of Texas at Austin, and he didn’t manage to corrupt my values. It's not to say he didn't try. I can't remember specifics ( I try to blot U.T out of my memory, except during football season) about what liberal garbage he spouted in class. I do remember a general impression of left wing lunacy from the man. This was the general impression I got from most of the professors at the U.T., now that I think about it. I hated the place with a passion, in hindsight. While I had a few good professors in the history and English departments, I can only think of two good professors in the journalism department. Jensen wasn't one of them. I can't remember anything he taught in his class that was a valuable writing or reporting skill. Odd, since his class was a prerequisite to any other journalism course.
I definitely remember Jensen himself. He was tall, gangly, appeared to be about the same age as his students. He wore t-shirts to class, along with the obligatory Birkenstock hippy shoes. He wore little round John Lennon (Lenin?) glasses as well. If one were to cross Dave Barry with John Lennon, with a bit of Chairman Mao thrown it, wrap it up in a tie-dyed package, and slap some of those retarded sandals on it, one would have something that could be mistaken for Robert Jensen. I get the impression he got the crap kicked out of him a lot on the playground when he was a kid. He just had that look.
I remember another student in class taking him to task on several occasions. That student was the president of the College Republicans there at U.T. Yes, they actually DID exist at that school. This student also ended up at the Texas Tech School of Law with me, three years later. This guy actually made ME look like a liberal....scary, huh? I used to enjoy those verbal fisticuffs as well.
I hear the cost of the inauguration is going to top 50 million. And now they expect Washington to take money from Homeland Security to pay for it? All this for an oath of office that takes about 30 seconds or so.
I don't see the point of this at all. Further, I don't see how spending this kind of money on a self-congratulatory celebration is anything resembling conservative. He's supposed to be about fiscal responsibility, and not wasting our taxpayer money.
What a Crap Monster. There. He's earned the coveted title.
If Bush was a good leader, he'd just get sworn in by the Chief Justice in the Oval office, have it televised, and get to work figuring out how to keep this country safe. This is grandstanding of the worst sort. Michael Savage pointed out this money should be diverted to body armor for the troops. I don't think a good leader spends 50 million on a party while his troops are in a foreign country dying for him. With a lack of equipment to keep them safe, no less.
As a conservative, I am very disappointed in the man. I think this behavior is pretty shameful. We don't need pomp and circumstance. We need to figure out how to effectively kill terrorists, and those who harbor them.
Hippy Freaks Teaching In Our University
Professor Robert Jensen shows his true colors in this opinion piece, which I am ashamed to admit the Ft. Worth-Star Telegram actually printed.
The reader can pretty much figure out what this guy is all about from this small quote from the aforementioned manifesto:
"...So, as a U.S. citizen, I welcome the U.S. defeat for a simple reason: It isn't the defeat of the United States -- its people or their ideals -- but of that empire. And it's essential that the American empire be defeated and dismantled."
I can't believe a person has that much negativity about our country. Notice he says that we are only doing the Iraq war because of some sort of bizarre Yankee imperialism. Not by acquiring territory, but by allowing the big companies to control oil profits out of Iraq.
Notice there’s nothing he says in the piece to back this up. It's just leftist hatred of the worst sort, with no facts to back it up. I think the left really DOES hate this country. This piece seems to reinforce this proposition. I also note he lives in the greatest state in the Union, and has not moved to Cuba or China to live in a worker's paradise.
Looking at Professor Jensen's website will give the reader even further evidence about the left-wing loon. He hates conservatism, hates America, hates white people, and hates war for any reason. This is odd, since he's whiter than Wonder Bread, lives in the greatest country on God's Green Earth, and lives in the greatest state in the Union. Keep in mind tax dollars are paying for Jensen's website, not to mention tuition fees at U.T. That hacks me off.
In short, Jensen's a lefty moonbat, with no firm grasp of reality.
I was listening to Sean Hannity rip him a new one on my drive home this afternoon, during a telephone interview. I don't particularly care for Hannity's interview style. I think he should have allowed the guy to speak a bit more than what he did. That way the entire country could have heard how moronic this guy really is. As it was, Jensen was unable to come up with any facts to back up this garbage he spouts. I missed the part where we were defeated in Iraq. It was fun to hear Sean latch onto Jensen, though. I was reminded of a pit bull latching onto a coyote.
Why am I spending so much time on this rather insignificant left-wing puke? Perhaps this is to illustrate the caliber of people who are teaching in universities today. Jensen teaches journalism, if one can believe that. This is what parents are paying for when they send their kids to college these days.
Perhaps it is to illustrate that hope is not yet lost. Even though we are bombarded by this socialistic garbage while at school, some of us actually turn out sane. Well, conservative, anyway.
I was one of Jensen's students at the University of Texas at Austin, and he didn’t manage to corrupt my values. It's not to say he didn't try. I can't remember specifics ( I try to blot U.T out of my memory, except during football season) about what liberal garbage he spouted in class. I do remember a general impression of left wing lunacy from the man. This was the general impression I got from most of the professors at the U.T., now that I think about it. I hated the place with a passion, in hindsight. While I had a few good professors in the history and English departments, I can only think of two good professors in the journalism department. Jensen wasn't one of them. I can't remember anything he taught in his class that was a valuable writing or reporting skill. Odd, since his class was a prerequisite to any other journalism course.
I definitely remember Jensen himself. He was tall, gangly, appeared to be about the same age as his students. He wore t-shirts to class, along with the obligatory Birkenstock hippy shoes. He wore little round John Lennon (Lenin?) glasses as well. If one were to cross Dave Barry with John Lennon, with a bit of Chairman Mao thrown it, wrap it up in a tie-dyed package, and slap some of those retarded sandals on it, one would have something that could be mistaken for Robert Jensen. I get the impression he got the crap kicked out of him a lot on the playground when he was a kid. He just had that look.
I remember another student in class taking him to task on several occasions. That student was the president of the College Republicans there at U.T. Yes, they actually DID exist at that school. This student also ended up at the Texas Tech School of Law with me, three years later. This guy actually made ME look like a liberal....scary, huh? I used to enjoy those verbal fisticuffs as well.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
A Good Dissection of the Armstorng Williams SNAFU
This is via Michelle Malkin's website, linking to Lashawn Barber's commentary on this issue.
She's dead-on.
See my post from last night. This sort of crap hurts us all.
She's dead-on.
See my post from last night. This sort of crap hurts us all.
All The News That's Fit to Retch Over
But What About the 10 million or so that Actually Made It??
This from Michael Savage’s website. The Border Patrol stopped over a million illegals from getting in here, and over a billion worth of drugs.
Not a bad start. Imagine how many we could keep out with mutant hyenas roaming through the no man’s land between the Great Wall of America and Mexican territory? Oh well. Nobody listens to me, anyway.
Not a bad job out there, Border Patrol.
What a Crock of @**!!
Dan Rather gets away with it. Well, he’s at least been forced to retire. Though why he gets to ride off into the sunset without at least a libel suit is beyond me. I think this rises to the “actual malice” standard required to show proof of defamation. CBS did do some face-saving firings of lesser henchwomen and one henchman. The real tragedy here is the report found no evidence the fraudulent news report was motivated by political leanings.
Oh, right. We believe that one. Why does nobody take these people to task, other than the bloggers and conservative radio? Not that it would matter, but I’d like to hear somebody in the MSM rip into these clowns. If this whole story wasn’t politically motivated, I’m the Pope.
Look at the timing of the story. Look at the leanings of the people involved. Look at the connections between Mapes and the Kerry campaign. I’d hate to see what they could do if they WERE politically motivated.
Nobody was flogged. That’s a shame.
Speaking of Flogging....
Armstrong Williams sure needs one. This casts a disparaging pall on the whole conservative media, from bloggers to talk radio. You can bet the liberals will be poking into the dark closets of every conservative media figure, looking for any paid connection between the Republicans and these media figures.
One reason why I’m a conservative is that I believe conservatives try to do the right thing, at least most of the time. I believe the majority of the talk radio shows and commentators out there are motivated by ideology, rather than money. We are fighting the good fight as conservatives, and that makes us morally superior to the Democrats and liberals. We don’t resort to their tactics. We don’t pay people to doctor up false reports from the 1970's. We don’t engage in race-baiting. We don’t try and frighten old people into believing we are trying to steal away social security.
In short, we try and wear the white hat. We fight under the Marquis of Queensbury rules. We don’t “dry-gulch” our opponents. We play by the rules, and we expect everyone else to do the same. We occupy the moral high ground. That’s why it’s so great when the Dems get caught in dirty politics, making up false stories, and trying to scare the bejesus out of people. It makes them look like the mean-spirited fools they are. It makes them look crooked. It makes them look ...evil. And it lets the rest of us know that we are on the right side, both figuratively and literally.
Conservative media figures are our standard-bearers. They are the ones who the public sees, and makes their impressions about the rest of us from. Williams has cast doubt on all of us with this stunt. If it is proven that conservative media is bought and paid for by politicians, then what sort of light does that cast on the rest of us? Not a very flattering one.
I guarantee every conservative media figure is being bombarded with accusations as we speak about them being on the take. The Good Lord help us all if some of these accusations prove true.
Williams needs a good public flogging. His antics have cast doubt on conservatives as a whole, not to mention undermining the President politically, at a time when he really couldn’t afford to have that sort of problem come up.
Furthermore, the administration itself ought to be ashamed. They ought to know better than to engage in something like this. They should know that if they are doing the right thing, every conservative media figure will back them up to the hilt. Without pay, I might add. When they step over the line, we will be there to call them on the carpet. That’s the essential function of the media. When its favors are bought by the government, that puts us all in a bad light.
If the government wants to sell a particular project, do what every other big business does: get a public relations person and advertise it. Put it out there for debate. As noted, if the proposition is the right thing, conservative media will back it up.
I expect this kind of garbage from the Demoncrats. I don’t expect it from the people who supposedly hold the ethical and moral higher ground.
This from Michael Savage’s website. The Border Patrol stopped over a million illegals from getting in here, and over a billion worth of drugs.
Not a bad start. Imagine how many we could keep out with mutant hyenas roaming through the no man’s land between the Great Wall of America and Mexican territory? Oh well. Nobody listens to me, anyway.
Not a bad job out there, Border Patrol.
What a Crock of @**!!
Dan Rather gets away with it. Well, he’s at least been forced to retire. Though why he gets to ride off into the sunset without at least a libel suit is beyond me. I think this rises to the “actual malice” standard required to show proof of defamation. CBS did do some face-saving firings of lesser henchwomen and one henchman. The real tragedy here is the report found no evidence the fraudulent news report was motivated by political leanings.
Oh, right. We believe that one. Why does nobody take these people to task, other than the bloggers and conservative radio? Not that it would matter, but I’d like to hear somebody in the MSM rip into these clowns. If this whole story wasn’t politically motivated, I’m the Pope.
Look at the timing of the story. Look at the leanings of the people involved. Look at the connections between Mapes and the Kerry campaign. I’d hate to see what they could do if they WERE politically motivated.
Nobody was flogged. That’s a shame.
Speaking of Flogging....
Armstrong Williams sure needs one. This casts a disparaging pall on the whole conservative media, from bloggers to talk radio. You can bet the liberals will be poking into the dark closets of every conservative media figure, looking for any paid connection between the Republicans and these media figures.
One reason why I’m a conservative is that I believe conservatives try to do the right thing, at least most of the time. I believe the majority of the talk radio shows and commentators out there are motivated by ideology, rather than money. We are fighting the good fight as conservatives, and that makes us morally superior to the Democrats and liberals. We don’t resort to their tactics. We don’t pay people to doctor up false reports from the 1970's. We don’t engage in race-baiting. We don’t try and frighten old people into believing we are trying to steal away social security.
In short, we try and wear the white hat. We fight under the Marquis of Queensbury rules. We don’t “dry-gulch” our opponents. We play by the rules, and we expect everyone else to do the same. We occupy the moral high ground. That’s why it’s so great when the Dems get caught in dirty politics, making up false stories, and trying to scare the bejesus out of people. It makes them look like the mean-spirited fools they are. It makes them look crooked. It makes them look ...evil. And it lets the rest of us know that we are on the right side, both figuratively and literally.
Conservative media figures are our standard-bearers. They are the ones who the public sees, and makes their impressions about the rest of us from. Williams has cast doubt on all of us with this stunt. If it is proven that conservative media is bought and paid for by politicians, then what sort of light does that cast on the rest of us? Not a very flattering one.
I guarantee every conservative media figure is being bombarded with accusations as we speak about them being on the take. The Good Lord help us all if some of these accusations prove true.
Williams needs a good public flogging. His antics have cast doubt on conservatives as a whole, not to mention undermining the President politically, at a time when he really couldn’t afford to have that sort of problem come up.
Furthermore, the administration itself ought to be ashamed. They ought to know better than to engage in something like this. They should know that if they are doing the right thing, every conservative media figure will back them up to the hilt. Without pay, I might add. When they step over the line, we will be there to call them on the carpet. That’s the essential function of the media. When its favors are bought by the government, that puts us all in a bad light.
If the government wants to sell a particular project, do what every other big business does: get a public relations person and advertise it. Put it out there for debate. As noted, if the proposition is the right thing, conservative media will back it up.
I expect this kind of garbage from the Demoncrats. I don’t expect it from the people who supposedly hold the ethical and moral higher ground.
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