Dude, Where's My Jar?

I. Want. Some. Of. This. Scotch.


Srsly.

Shackleton may have been a failure at that particular venture, and a few others, but aging whiskey he was not. Well Done, Shackleton, Well Done!

Quip:

Polar explorers of that era relied on their alcohol of choice to help them and their crews through the long Antarctic nights and insomnia-inducing days. And Shackleton knew a thing or two about being well prepared for an adventure. On a later trip to the continent he kept all 28 members of his crew alive during 15 harrowing months after their ship got marooned in and then slowly devoured by ice. So it's no surprise that he brought 25 crates of Scotch with him when he set off on an expedition to the South Pole in 1907.

The earlier trip didn't go well, either. Shackleton turned around 97 miles short of his destination, telling his wife, "I thought you’d rather have a live donkey than a dead lion." When the ship arrived in 1909 to pick the men up, they left their supplies behind in their hut, including reindeer sleeping bags, tins of boiled mutton and bottled gooseberries. And, as we now know, they also abandoned two cases of Charles Mackinlay & Co. whisky.

That man had a li'l Captain in Him.

And there was a comment on this article that said:

Oh Boy, I hate to throw water all over the place here - but I just HAVE to ask... what sort of person/people find themselves in Antartica these days without an ice axe - or a dozen? They couldn't dig out the crates? Surely they have a better excuse.

FOOL! And ruin 2 crates of 100-year-old Scotch?! Are you mad?!

Two more comments made me chortle:

Haven't they heard of global warming? Just wait a bit and there will be plenty Arizona State sorority girls tanning and oiling on the sunny shore of Antarctica during spring break to share the booze with.

Retort:

RonnieB, we've all heard about global warming...ad nauseum. It's been downgraded officially now to "climate change". Hadn't you heard ? and as climate change it is likely to mean cooler temperatures. Too cool for sorority girls.

Interw3bz. Huzzah!

Hitler Was a Leftist

Quip/Quote:

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let's not have any native militia or native police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories, and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country." --Adolf Hitler, dinner talk on April 11, 1942, quoted in Hitler's Table Talk 1941-44: His Private Conversations, Second Edition (1973), Pg. 425-426. Translated by Norman Cameron and R. H. Stevens. Introduced and with a new preface by H. R. Trevor-Roper. The original German papers were known as Bormann-Vermerke.

Another:

Nazi Weapons Act of 1938 (Translated to English)

• Classified guns for "sporting purposes".
• All citizens who wished to purchase firearms had to register with the Nazi officials and have a background check.
• Presumed German citizens were hostile and thereby exempted Nazis from the gun control law.
• Gave Nazis unrestricted power to decide what kinds of firearms could, or could not be owned by private persons.
• The types of ammunition that were legal were subject to control by bureaucrats.
• Juveniles under 18 years could not buy firearms and ammunition.

Go read the rest here. Very Interesting.

The Long Dark Path: Death, Death, and his other brother Death

Let's explore my past. It is restless, and demons need to be chased from time to time, instead of doing the chasing.


You'll find my past to be quite interesting, seeming it has not been written yet, only lived.

I, for one, find it very interesting, since I lived it.

This might be a little... eclectic, but bear with me.
-------------------------------------------------

The Long, Dark Path

by Tangalor


Death, Death, and his other brother Death


-------------------------------------------------


First Chapter Here


-------------------------------------------------



So the kid died because of the Oldsmobile. Suck. About 2 months later, some other weirdness..



There was a lady who was my fathers' roomates' Girlfriend.

It was take your son to work day, so he did. Construction, that month. On Anna Maria Island (Florida). We had (well, I had) a blast. I saw all kinds of stuff I never saw before. We came home.

Upon opening the door, a wierd and VERY pungeant smell wafted out of the apartment. It reminded me of Iron... rotten, wet iron. And shampoo.

My father told me to stay outside, and he went in. I went in not 10 seconds later.

The smell was... Vivid. I smell it every time I smell raw steak or taste myself after a firm cutting from some accident.

He walked to the kitchen. Nothing. Livingroom. Nothing. Bedrooms. Nothing. Bathroom. Bingo. She was... very dead.

Slit wrists. In the Tub. Full of water. Well.... Bloodbath comes to mind, and that's exactly what I think about when someone says, "Bloodbath".

She was 24.

I smelled it again when my father died and I had to tell them he was my father. I was 12 by that time. A looooong way away.

*scramble*


My father was a 'biker' *wannabee*

He had nice friends. *chortle*

They were very swift, to be sure. *sarcasm*

One, the name escapes me, happened to be drinking and cutting logs. He was ever known as 'lefty' after he hacked his own right foot off with an axe. At night. When he was drunk.

*scramble*

I'm 6 or 7. My father has me and my stepmother holed up in a backroom. He's shot a 9mm twice in the ceiling. He got angry at the people who were giving us room and board, because they thought he was too irrational when he drank.

Cops are called.

Standoff time!

2 hours later, I run out in my underwear, along with my stepmother, behind a police car.

He comes out and does 2 weeks in jail.

We leave for Georgia.

Happy days.


---------------

Again, the demons are chased... for now. Maybe I'll have good sleep tonight... or maybe I'll dream about the time.... oh, I'll just write it down here next time.

Digital Ants take on Digital Worms

Quip:

Scientists from Wake Forest University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created an army of digital ants and their superior officers, digital sergeants and sentinels, to search out viruses, worms and other malware.

Well, that leaves my SimAnt software in the dust! Dude.. I always loved SimAnt.

Quip:

Like their biological counterparts, each individual ant is not very bright. A connection rate, CPU utilization or one of about 60 other technical details is all they can sense. When an ant detects something unusual, it leaves a digital pheromone, a tiny digital sense that says something unusual is going on here, and that other ants should check it out.

The digital ants report any suspicious activity to a digital sentinel, a program designed to watch over a set of computers in a network. The sentinel sorts through all the information the ants gather, and if its suspicious, passes the information on to a digital sergeant. The sergeant then alerts the human supervisor, who can the deal with the problem.

Ahah! Human Supervisor? We're all friggin' doomed, as the Mogambu Guru would tout (he's right!). As soon as the Human Supervisor get's his cheesy-poof-laden hands on the situation, I might as well kiss my software goodbye.

Quip:

If a particular kind of ant finds lots of problems then more of them are created to monitor the problem. The entire system is modeled off of a normal ant colony and uses "swarm intelligence" to find and diagnose problems.

Sweet, swarms! I love swarms, except swarms of Zombies, of course.

Final Quip:

The researchers created four digital ants of the 64 types then eventually want. To test their effectiveness, they set up a bank of computers and released three worms into the ant-infested Linux-based computers. The four digital ants in the computers had never seen the viruses before, yet identified the virus by only monitoring four very specific aspects of the computers.

Apparently, The Ants don't do typos. Too bad... we could all use that.

Linux FTW! BorePatch will be pleased!


SimAnt!

Helmet-Mounted Radar, son!

No, Srsly!

Quip:

a miniature, low power, near 360-degree field of view Moving Target Indicator (MTI) radar sensor that will alert the soldier to the whereabouts of a target out to at least 25 meters. The sensor is to be mounted, embedded, and integrated within the Advanced Combat Helmet and associated sensor suites.

 And... LOL! Quip:

The HMRS description also encouragingly specifies that “the effective radiated power of the system has to be low enough not to affect the health of the soldier” -– and presumably not the other members of the squad either, who are likely to be lit up by each other’s radar from all directions. Anyone worried by cellphone radiation emissions need not apply, tinfoil helmet liners optional.

Hilariousness about tinfoil liners, being as there might be OathKeepers about (suck on it Chris Mathews!).


Wonder what that near-miss from 360 degrees is? what, 1-5 degrees? and at what angle? They better get it right, though... a blind spot is a blind spot, and technology will get you killed once you've become accustomed to it. All of this nonsense is okay, but the first EMP, and they'll be swingin' swords again.

I always say I'm torn between being a techie and a luddite, but, dude, a radar on your head? That's way too cool. Just don't forget to use that thing your helmet is attached to... you know, that head thingy. Yeah, it's got more goin' for ya than a piece of tech.

I'm Boba Fett, and I approve this message.

Slingbow

No... not slingblade, slingbow. 


A concept I found amusing, and very versatile for many things, and much cheaper than a compound bow, if'n I do say so. Watch this video, then, if you're interested, go to youtube and look up wildernessoutfitters (or click there if you're too lazy.. they have several modification videos, like a fishing lure attachment as well as other cool stuff... and no, I do not work for them.. just thought it was awesome)

And, yes, I made one, but I'm waiting on the whisker biscuit, Wally World had none, so reports of the outcome will follow. I had everything except for the biscuit, in fact, which was upsetting....

The Long, Dark Path: Birth and the Carnival

Let's explore my past. It is restless, and demons need to be chased from time to time, instead of doing the chasing.


You'll find my past to be quite interesting, seeming it has not been written yet, only lived.

I, for one, find it very interesting, since I lived it.

This might be a little... eclectic, but bear with me.
-------------------------------------------------

The Long, Dark Path

by Tangalor


Birth and the Carnival


-------------------------------------------------

So I was born. I know, shocking.

My first memory was snow in Arkansas, my mother was pregnant with my brother. We had a Great Dane named Rommel and a Wolf/Husky named Pahoo Katewah (if the spelling for that is correct, I never saw it written down). I rode Rommel like a horse, which was vastly entertaining.

*scramble*

I was always a serious lad, with a stern look on my face at least 75% of the time. My manners shocked people because I always said yes sir and yes ma'am. Always.

I was quiet and reserved (Still am) and I kept to myself. My mother always told me I was an old soul and was born in the wrong era. I believe that. To this day.

*scramble*

I saw a kid get hit by an Oldsmobile doing 55 miles an hour once. He said he was superman. He flew over the first lane, no problem. The second lane... not so much. That was the day I asked my father if I could go to his (that kids') grandmothers' house, and he actually said yes. He said no on countless occasions prior to that.

That kid died. In front of my eyes. Doing at least 45mph across the asphalt... after being hit side-on, that is. I was 7 years old.

*scramble*

I was helping the Ride Jock (carnie who sets up rides) put in R keys into the correct positions in the ride (Carnivals are.... unsafe. I was 6 at the time) he was putting together. Ride Jock says to me, "Kid, you gotta get outta this place... if it's the last thing you ever do..."

I was 16 before I realized the analogy. I was well past 'out of that place' by that time.

*scramble*

I'm 5 years old, and my father has a gun to my head, and he's screaming at my mother. "Shut the F***k up, I'm taking him, not his brother."

*scramble*

I see tomatoes, and lots of them. I'm speaking spanish before I'm speaking good english. Nice babysitter, but she's killing my prep-school endeavors. Not that I ever had any.

*Fin*
--------------------
More next time. Hope you enjoyed the trip... and yes, this all happened, but not in the order it appeared, and certainly I'll explain it all... somehow... sometime.

NATO: "Obama, you're an idiot."

Well, maybe not in so many words, but...

Quip:

“What we did today was to discuss General McChrystal’s overall assessment, his overall approach, and I have noted a broad support from all ministers of this overall counterinsurgency approach,” said NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Ha! So, Obama says to McC, "Meh..." And McC says to him, he says to him,. he says, "Blow it out yer ass, I'm goin' to Slovakia to pitch it to NATO"

But a fair assessment? This will not end well.. Obama has other plans for troops (Iran, maybe?).. if not, why hasn't he deployed them? After all, it's not like McC is playing the role of Philip from Braveheart, where he gets tossed out of the window for being an idiot. McC is far from it, but I got a feeling he's gonna end up on the receiving end of the King's wrath, so to speak. Maybe not out of an actual window, but out of a proverbial one, instead.

Yeah. That guy.

Blogroll Addition - Armed and Safe

Armed and Safe is a Blog I stumbled upon today. I've seen it before, but never read it because I'm always scatterbrained in my searches for things. Very Pro Gun with a good mission statement. check 'em out!

Glueball Wormening!!1!!1

Ok.. so I'm bored enough to paruse motifake today, and find this gem

Bruce Wayne was a Communist!

Ha!

Copenhagen Posted

So, I was driving last week, and heard this caller on Glenn Beck (I've been listening to him since he was a local guy here in the Tampa area, way back in '00, and not nearly as psychotic) start talking about BreakItApart.

The premise is, say, a 1000 page bill is broken down to 1 page. Your last 3 or 4 digits of your social security number will determine the page (or you can just pick one if you're uncomfortable) that you break down and put into regular words (not lawyerese) in a sentence or two what that page means; after every page has been done, you slap it together and read.

Anyhowl, they posted the Copenhagen treaty this morning, so head on over and get yerself a copy. I got it, and it is the real deal. 181 pages, so not that bad, but I can't read it until Friday, which puts me in a bind.

Rhodes, Potok and Mathews - Video!

Video!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Smack from the Future

I LOVE this stuff! Especially when an actual scientist comes out and says it, not some Trekkie.

Quip:

Large Hadron Collider 'Being Sabotaged from the Future'

Monday, October 19, 2009

Scientists claim the giant atom-smashing Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is being jinxed from the future to save the world.

In a bizarre sci-fi theory, Danish physicist Dr Holger Bech Nielsen and Dr Masao Ninomiya from Japan claim nature is trying to prevent the LHC from finding the elusive Higgs boson. Called the "God particle," the theoretical boson could explain the origins of mass in the universe — if physicists can find the darn thing.

The scientists say their math proves nature will "ripple backward through time" to stop the LHC before it can create the God particle, like a time traveller who goes back in time to kill his grandfather.

“One could even almost say that we have a model for God,” Dr Nielsen says in an unpublished essay. “He rather hates Higgs particles, and attempts to avoid them.”

"While it is a paradox to go back in time and kill your grandfather, physicists agree there is no paradox if you go back in time and save him from being hit by a bus," Dannis Overbye wrote in the New York Times.

"In the case of the Higgs and the collider, it is as if something is going back in time to keep the universe from being hit by a bus."

“It must be our prediction that all Higgs producing machines shall have bad luck,” Dr Nielsen told the New York Times.

Ha! Take THAT, death machine!

Anyhowl, I've been reading a lot of science this morning, and just happened to come across this, which struck me as amusing.

Lord Monckton is his name...

...and Thatcher was his game... back in the day, anyway.

That's the guy from the video. I've heard him speak several times, but have never seen his face, and all you brits sound alike (I'm just kidding, of course, as I can imitate quite a few British accents, as well as Scottish, Irish, Australian, and, my favorite, Slack-Jawed Yokel).

A little background:

Wiki Quip:

Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (born 14 February 1952) is a British politician, business consultant, policy adviser, writer, columnist, inventor and hereditary peer. He served as an advisor to Margaret Thatcher's policy unit in the 1980s and invented the Eternity puzzle at the end of the 1990s. More recently, he has attracted controversy for his public opposition to the mainstream scientific consensus on global warming. He also announced a sequel to his original puzzle called Eternity II in 2007, and it is still unsolved.

And, in April of this year, we had this:

Washington, DC -- UK's Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, claimed House Democrats have refused to allow him to appear alongside former Vice President Al Gore at a high profile global warming hearing on Friday April 24, 2009 at 10am in Washington. Monckton told Climate Depot that the Democrats rescinded his scheduled joint appearance at the House Energy and Commerce hearing on Friday. Monckton said he was informed that he would not be allowed to testify alongside Gore when his plane landed from England Thursday afternoon.

“The House Democrats don't want Gore humiliated, so they slammed the door of the Capitol in my face,” Monckton told Climate Depot in an exclusive interview. “They are cowards.”

So far, I like the guy. When I heard him denounce Global Warming as a total farce on the Glenn Beck show some 2 years ago, I was really interested, since the 'science' was not settled for me.

I'm still looking for the actual document (not the draft I posted yesterday) that states global governance. It may be in there, I haven't read the whole thing. But: The actual treaty is 200 some pages long, and the draft posted yesterday was only 78 or summat, so it's watered down nonsense unless I see the actual doc.

Kyoto Redux - Copenhagen Shenanegans

The Copenhagen Treaty is a Kyoto redux, to be sure. Here are some quips from the draft of the treaty:

The US and other Annex I non-ratifying parties should take on reduction targets
of a comparable nature and scale to Annex I parties that have ratified the Protocol as
well as be able to participate in the Kyoto Flexible Mechanisms, emissions trading
and be bound by the Kyoto compliance regime.

-----------------

All developed and newly industrialized countries should reduce their emissions,
as a group, by 23 % below 1990 levels in the 2013-2017 commitment period. This target
is consistent with an emissions reduction trajectory that yields a 40 % reduction
in emissions by 2020 and represents the annual average reduction for the commitment
period ( i.e. what the target in 2015 would be ).

-----------------

a ) T o assist in the development and implementation of a visionary long-term
plan for a low GHG emissions trajectory for each Party included in Annex B based
on the global carbon budget in 2050 and the interim targets for Parties
included in Annex B, as a group, in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 ;

b ) T o assist Parties in the identification and achievement of the timely
investments required for the economy-wide transformation needed to achieve
low carbon sustainable development in accordance with the provisions
of Article 2 ; and

c ) T o assist Parties in undertaking the necessary policies, measures and
actions to fulfill their support obligations in accordance with the provisions
of this Protocol.

----------

There. I'd advise at least a skim through the 78 page document before you set yourself on fire and dance through the streets screaming 'the world is ending!'

Again, you can get a copy here.

What's this guy babbling about?

To me, it doesn't sound that ludicrous, but I'm not hearing what the name of this 'treaty' is, nor do I know who this guy is. Something about Greenpeace was mentioned, but again, I got nuthin', so credibility is denied as far as I'm concerned. Until someone can enlighten me to who he is, what the name of the so-called treaty is, and why people feel inexplicably drawn to believe and trust a guy with a british accent.

Worth lookin' into, as is anything else, but I'm not losin' any sleep over it.






Remember, Given an infinite universe and infinite time, all things will happen. That means that every event is inevitable, including those that are impossible.

Do I believe this guy? Meh, as far as I'm concerned we lost our sovereignty a long time ago, so if this were true, we're just making it official.

When this turns out to be a bunch of nonsense? Quick, look surprised!

UPDATE:

I found the treaty, 'Copenhagen Treaty' and here're some facts, as per greenpeace website, no less.

The full legal text of the NGO Copenhagen Treaty - written by a team of 47 experts from environment and development groups across the world, including Greenpeace. Very serious legal text

And, if yer curious, cuz remember, Glueball Wormening and all, here's the link to get it via .pdf

I'll copy and paste some of the script as time allows. Should be an interesting read, I see it's getting a lot of buzz. I really should wake up more before posting, that way I can actually research something before looking like a tool. :P

Quote

"Here is the Golden Rule of sound citizenship, the first and greatest lesson in the study of politics: you get the same order of criminality from any State to which you give power to exercise it; and whatever power you give the State to do things for you carries with it the equivalent power to do things to you." ~ Albert Jay Nock

Project: Chicken! - Redux!

So after the attack we planned on minimalizing the coop, and fortifying its integrity to the nth degree. Success has been achieved, with no trial and error, and no new materials. A rework was necessary, to ensure maximum strength without jeapordizing the lightweight portability of the structure.

Here is what we have done thus far:

I broke some pallets down to use on the perimeter of the garden, when the attack happened, so we used the wood for the stand of the coop instead.

 

We took 2/3rds off of the original coop, which was a minor task. We cannibalized parts to make a swing down door for the entire front side, so they can come and go during the day, whilst being secure at night once we strap it at the top, as seen in the above picture. Also, we use the bottom as a hay keeper, also shown.

As seen in this picture, milk crates serve as nesting areas, while the swing door serves as an entrance. The step-ladder is in the way of the door going all the way to the ground. When it goes to the ground, they use it as a ladder to their new coop, which works out well.

The wooden rod was lashed for a nice perch to the middle of the structure, and the tarp is for warmth and protection on 4 of the 6 sides.

 The entire thing stands 6 feet tall, well off of the ground, and anything that may have attacked it, or thought about it, has no chance. All sides are triple-reinforced wire, instead of the single layer we had prior to the incident.

If anything gets in there now, it must have opposable thumbs, because that's the ONLY way in.

This. Is. SPART.. .. ... SAN FRANCISCO!

Hilariousness. I love Gerard Butler (hey, I'm Scottish, so sue me..) and his sense of humor. here's a clip from SNL (which I rarely find funny anymore, even at the best of times). And, excuse the 30 second ad.. I'd take it off if I could. :)

The Plans! The Plans!

SurvivalBlog yesterday had a great link to this site.

Plans and layouts galore, all with .pdf downloadable formats. Granted, most of the plans are from the 30's, they worked then, they'll work now, so go get some!

I have a lot of downloading to do :P

Vegetarian Spider. No, Srsly.

I kid you not. Way cool.

Quip:

A tropical jumping spider that eats mostly plant buds has been identified, a new study says—making it the only known vegetarian out of some 40,000 spider species.

photo and story from National Geographic.

Vegetarians will be happy to quip this phenomena I have no doubt.

Quip:

  "It is utterly surreal," he said, "to see a spider use such effective hunting strategies to hunt a plant."

I can hear the lettuce screaming from my garden as I type this.

Enemy at the Gates

Quotes from a pretty good movie.

Well, there wasn't a sickle, but there was a hammer and bang...knocked out all my teeth. That's right, boy, have no illusions. That's the land of socialism and universal bliss for ya.

Nobody gives a shit about the telephone guys

I've been such a fool, Vassili. Man will always be a man. There is no new man. We tried so hard to create a society that was equal, where there'd be nothing to envy your neighbour. But there's always something to envy. A smile, a friendship, something you don't have and want to appropriate. In this world, even a Soviet one, there will always be rich and poor. Rich in gifts, poor in gifts. Rich in love, poor in love.

 He doesn't know you exist, but at that moment you're closer to him than anyone else on earth. You see his face through the sign. You see whether he shaved or not. You can see whether he's married if he's got a wedding ring. It's not like firing at a distant shape. It's not just a uniform. It's a man's face. Those faces don't go away. They come back and they get replaced by more faces.

Project: Garden. Growth!

Growing nicely, actually. The ammendment of Black Kow has kickstarted all of the plants quite nicely. We have a few plants that have some holes chewed in the leaves, so I'm tryign to figure out what, exactly, is trying to eat them. Other than that, great progress.

We have another rain barrel we need to install next to thr first one, connect, and we get 110 gallons of watering power.

Some then and now pics:

Then (10/3)

Now (10/15)

Good growth for about 2 weeks. I plan on light fertilization in another week or so.

Recent photos of my new IIIper Merch.

Minus, of course, the Gadsden, which has been on my car for more than a year.

Sticker sources: Zazzle.com

And my flag that came in, which is facing the street via carport, for lack of a flagpole with which to fly it:

iPhone, ha!

BorePatch had a funny this morning, and it reminded me of my favorite Friday show (that I no longer watch because we cut the cable), the Soup.

Hilariousness.




And, of course, the original:

FBI Building new system

FBI building system that blows away fingerprinting

 

Quip:

 

TAMPA – The Federal Bureau of Investigation is expanding beyond its traditional fingerprint-focused collection practices to develop a new biometrics system that will include DNA records, 3-D facial imaging, palm prints and voice scans, blended to create what's known as "multi-modal biometrics."

Erm, ok, but then there's this:

The FBI, under the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005, is now allowed to collect reference-sample DNA material for biometrics analysis purposes at the time of booking, Grever said. "DNA has become a powerful and timely tool," said Grever, adding there are no "privacy or civil liberties issues beyond those associated with fingerprints."

I call shenanegans.
A fingerprint is a print of your finger.
Your DNA is a part of you, or, in a broader sense, all of you.
No privacy issues? You kiddin' me? And, what if you're booked, and found not guilty? Should your DNA be saved for 'reference', or tossed?

I'm not saying we shouldn't file criminals and such, but where do the lines between taking DNA from newborns, and taking them from criminals, intersect? It has to intersect at some point, and what bucket will it all ultimately be dumped in? Will I be getting a call in 10 years from a Pharma company because my DNA shows my family is prone to Heart Disease, so I need to be on X medication, ask my doctor?

Scary, sometimes, how you think the world might turn out. Sometimes I feel like such a Luddite.

Record October Cold.. Ha!

 

From the Billings Gazette:

Record October cold has folks scrambling to winterize 

 

please. It's been over 90+ degrees here for a week!

 

I'm 'Scrambling' to shower twice a day so I don't chafe from the stuffing mark down to my legs, for the love of Pete!

 

A record-breaking cold snap that has made this the most frigid start in memory for October has people scrambling to winterize home, car and self.

So says you.

Pfah!

Come to Florida, we could use your money to increase our tax revenue.. wait... Never mind, it doesn't snow here, and I don't need your idiocy on our 'safe' roads. We already have enough of it during the Summer months.

New Job

Huzzah! I worked yesterday at my new job. 10 hour days, 5 days a week, time-and-a-half for OT (5-10 hours a week) Friggin' sweet, since I couldn't get more than 30 hours from my current job. My 2 week notice was given Sunday, although I doubt I'll be staying the whole 2 weeks. I normally do, but tensions between co-workers are making things tough for me to want to stick around any longer than I have to. We'll see after today.

Reporting back at 5pm...
...or before.

Federal Police?

...I stumbled upon this picture

Homeland Security

Federal Protective Services

Police

....ok, 'the hell does that mean? I was not aware of a Federal Police Force (well, you know what I mean). Not the FBI, CIA, or other alpha units.

If anyone can enlighten me on this, I would be much obliged. :)

PWNED! Transvestites Fight Back! FAIL at 11!

Mountain Dew spewed from my nose when I read this tale of, well... Total Awesomeness.

Thugs attack two transvestites... who turn out to be cage fighters wearing fancy dress

 

Gardener and Fender were left dazed and seen staggering to their feet after their failed attack.

Go to the link and watch the video report... apparently these guys attack super heroes too, because after this FAIL they went after Spider Man.

I guess the two would-be muggers couldn't see the Adams Apples on their selected targets, nor could they see the biceps that were bigger than their fool heads.

And, you know what? Eddie Izzard is somewhere laughing his british arse off.

Project: Chicken! - Attack!

They were attacked last night (which is why I have not posted recently), and Kindle (NH Red) was pretty beat up. Leg may be broken. The lady at the feed store has an injured one at her house, and she volunteered to take care of ours so it can have some company. Our Americana, CawCaw, had some leg damage, but is otherwise well off. I grabbed another chick (NH Red, again) to keep her company, and it's a total Spaz, so, thusly named as such.

I believe the attack was a feral cat that haunts these parts... The Wrist rocket and ball bearings are at the ready as we attend to the hardening of the coop from any further probes or attacks. My wife suggested the Mosin, and I calmly told her that this is a cat, not a Nazi, and no loud 'booms' should be necessary.

(Tangalor rolls 2 six-sided die: 11! Tangalor wields Scimitar of Sarcasm!) More to follow on this interesting phenomenon.

Misdirection and Control of Forums

This is a tad long, but if you've ever been a member of any forum, you'll recognize some of these tactics. Ask yourself if they were coincidence, or actually employed.

Full Link Via DailyPaul.com can be found here.

COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..

There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a 'uncontrolled forum.'

Technique #1 - 'FORUM SLIDING'


If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by 'forum sliding.' In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to 'age.' Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a 'forum slide.' The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a 'forum slide' and 'flush' the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then 'replying' to prepositined postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting 'slides' down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.

Technique #2 - 'CONSENSUS CRACKING'

A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at www.abovetopsecret.com) is 'consensus cracking.' To develop a consensus crack, the following technique is used. Under the guise of a fake account a posting is made which looks legitimate and is towards the truth is made - but the critical point is that it has a VERY WEAK PREMISE without substantive proof to back the posting. Once this is done then under alternative fake accounts a very strong position in your favour is slowly introduced over the life of the posting. It is IMPERATIVE that both sides are initially presented, so the uninformed reader cannot determine which side is the truth. As postings and replies are made the stronger 'evidence' or disinformation in your favour is slowly 'seeded in.' Thus the uninformed reader will most like develop the same position as you, and if their position is against you their opposition to your posting will be most likely dropped. However in some cases where the forum members are highly educated and can counter your disinformation with real facts and linked postings, you can then 'abort' the consensus cracking by initiating a 'forum slide.'

Technique #3 - 'TOPIC DILUTION'

Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a 'RESOURCE BURN.' By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a 'gossip mode.' In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to 'drive in the wedge.' By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.

Technique #4 - 'INFORMATION COLLECTION'

Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a 'show you mine so me yours' posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your 'favourite weapon' and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favourite 'technique of operation.' From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.

Technique #5 - 'ANGER TROLLING'

Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to 'stage' a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to 'lead' the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you 'do not care what the authorities think!!' inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.

Technique #6 - 'GAINING FULL CONTROL'

It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavourable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the 'ultimate victory' as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a 'honey pot' gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.

CONCLUSION

Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precidence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.

I thought it interesting, and now I recall a few things in the past that raise red flags now.

What'd I say about Czars yesterday?

Something to the ring of 'Kings, by historic definition, do not play nice...'

Now the headline

'Czar' wars pits White House against lawmakers

Remember, Kings have to conquer other kings before they control fiefdoms. The serfs sit on the sidelines waiting for the next king to take over.

Quip:

WASHINGTON - -- In a city where power is carefully hoarded and monitored, President Barack Obama has drawn complaints from Congress about his use of so-called czars, or officials he has appointed to coordinate environmental, health and other policy areas among various departments.

Lawmakers in both parties have sent letters to the White House challenging Obama's appointment of the czars, saying their appointment circumvents Congress's authority to confirm top executive branch officials and subject those officials to oversight hearings.

But when senators called a hearing on the legality of the czars, the panel of experts they convened did not support their cause.

Called together by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., who had written to Obama asking for more information about the czars, the panel of five constitutional experts concluded that as long as the officials in question do not overstep their authority, there are no legal issues.

Who were these 'constitutional experts' and who's money are they taking? Follow the money, and Cui Bono?

There are more issues at stake, for example:

"The president's personal staff are independently responsible only to the president -- and in the end he is the only 'czar' that is," said Bradley Patterson, a presidential scholar. "And he is accountable to the American electorate."

Sure. I'll believe it when I see some actual accountability.

"Neither the purpose nor the effect of these new positions is to supplant or replace existing federal agencies or departments," Craig wrote.

I call shenanigans.  Things are about to heat up. You watch.

Chess... gotta love it. But, so many kings on the table you'd think it was checkers.

Czars by definition

1. also tsar or tzar   (zär, tsär) KEY   A male monarch or emperor, especially one of the emperors who ruled Russia until the revolution of 1917.
2. A person having great power; an autocrat: "the square-jawed, ruddy complacency of Jack Farrell, the czar of the Fifteenth Street police station" (Ernest Hemingway).
3. Informal An appointed official having special powers to regulate or supervise an activity: a racetrack czar; an energy czar. 

ETYMOLOGY:
Russian tsar', from Old Russian tssar, emperor, king, from Old Church Slavonic tssar, from Gothic kaisar, from Greek, from Latin Caesar, emperor ; see caesar

OTHER FORMS:
czardom (Noun)
Usage Note:
The word czar can also be spelled tsar. Czar is the most common form in American usage and the one nearly always employed in the extended senses "any tyrant" or informally, "one in authority." But tsar is preferred by most scholars of Slavic studies as a more accurate transliteration of the Russian and is often found in scholarly writing with reference to one of the Russian emperors.

 --------------------
Ok. I think the third one has been added kinda recently methinks, but you get the picture. I'm sure you've gone over it, but lets get down to Brass Tacks here.

First, reread the above definition, and then look at this list.

1. Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke
2. AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley
3. Auto recovery Czar: Ed Montgomery
4. Border Czar: Alan Bersin
5. California Water Czar: David J. Hayes
6. Car Czar: Ron Bloom
7. Central Region Czar: Dennis Ross
8. Domestic Violence Czar: Lynn Rosenthal
9. Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske
10. Economic Czar: Paul Volcker
11. Energy and Environment Czar: Carol Brower
12. Faith-Based Czar: Joshua DuBois
13. Great Lakes Czar: Cameron Davis
14. Green Jobs Czar: Van Jones – Resigned
15. Guantanamo Closure Czar: Daniel Fried
16. Health Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle
17. Information Czar: Vivek Kundra
18. International Climate Czar: Todd Stern
19. Intelligence Czar: Dennis Blair
20. Mideast Peace Czar: George Mitchell
21. Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg
22. Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein
23. Science Czar: John Holdren
24. Stimulus Accountability Czar: Earl Devaney
25. Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration
26. TARP Czar: Herb Allison
27. Terrorism Czar: John Brennan
28. Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra
29. Urban Affairs Czar: Adolfo Carrion Jr.
30. Weapons Czar: Ashton Carter
31. WMD Policy Czar: Gary Samore

Minus Jones, we now have 30 Kings. That's right, Kings, here in America. Answerable to the POTUS only. Now, it's my understanding that kings, by historic definition, do not play nice with their subjects. We're inferior, you see, since we are the unwashed masses.

Now, switch words with me.. instead of, say, Great Lakes Czar, say King of Great Lakes. Manipulate the language (hey, why not, they've been manipulating it for years). King of Domestic Violence. King of Terrorism. King of Health. King of Information.

The euphemism is not lost on me, nor the irony.

Funny things, words and language. We've been manipulating them for eons, yet when stuff slips through the cracks, it slips in a big way. I'm surprised no one has noticed it quite the way I have. Maybe they have, who knows, but no one is talking about it.

You use a word enough, and it looses its meaning, its substance. Sure, the meaning isn't really lost, but it becomes a shadow, a hologram of what it actually is. We take for granted the words that we use, and are used against us, as nothing more than that: words. But words are more powerful than most people realize, because memes and manipulations reach out to our sub-selves and touch lightly upon the things we think about. Do it over and over again, it becomes not a meme, but propaganda, skillfully and stealthily  implemented into your noggin to create thoughts you've never thought, and take actions you've never taken.

Wind-up mobile phone

 I'm always torn between analog and digital. The techie in me loves digital, the realist in me knows this stuff won't last. But this is cool, and quasi-analog.


Friggin' Sweet. Telegraph UK:

The phone, which has the working title Ventus, is in the prototype stage at the moment, but the first model is scheduled for launch in the first half of next year. Its creators expect it to sell well in developing countries.

Tony Davies, the director of TCL, the company behind the phone, says that India and Africa in particular would be good markets, as they have very good mobile coverage but very poor power infrastructure.

TCL, which also produces wind-up radios and torches under the Trevor Baylis Brand, created by the British inventor of the wind-up radio Trevor Baylis, says one minute of cranking will allow for four minutes' talk time. A specially developed ultra-thin dynamo creates the power.
Better still, it can be left on standby forever if its rear-mounted solar panels are in sunlight, before being wound up if a call needs to be made.

Hand-cranked mobile phone chargers are already on the market, but TCL says that because the new device charges the battery directly, rather than having to go through a phone’s mains plug, it is much more efficient.

Mr Davies TCL told the BBC: “With our system the generator accesses the battery directly, and that really increases the efficiency of the system."

What does he think of me, a sperm bank?!

Hil-Arious! And sad... but still damn funny. (I know, my humor is dark and twisted, but.. meh, forgive my shortcomings)

MANILA, Philippines - Even veteran policemen were shocked over the brazenness of a young man to surrender a decapitated human head which he admitted chopping off from his employer.
At around 7 p.m. Tuesday, a 23-year-old canteen helper, who gave his name as Srejan Sia, came to the Plaza Miranda police community precinct carrying a plastic bag. At the table of PCP commander Senior Inspector Rodolfo Samoranos, the visitor unwrapped the bag revealing a decapitated head of a male person.
Without signs of remorse, Sia verbally admitted killing his employer and cutting off his head, Samoranos said. Then Sia led policemen to Bernadette Eatery along San Rafael street in Quiapo where he hid the body of his headless employer Jimmy Preston, 59, in the bathroom. The body was in near state of decomposition.

Asking for sperm

In front of police and reporters, Sia verbally owned up to the crime. Sia who speaks English fluently said he served as a helper in the eatery. He claimed he was not being paid for his services and was cruelly treated by Preston. When asked why he killed his employer, Sia said he got mad when Preston asked for his sperm. “He asked for my sperm. What does he think of me, a sperm bank?” Sia said.

Well, I guess that guy needs some help. and I'm sure he'll get it in a Philippine jail cell.

Whacko. Hilarious, but still a whacko. 

Blogroll update

I recently added a few more blogs to my list.

Top of the Chain is one I just discovered the other day. Great insight over there!

Bore Patch is another site I stumbled upon a few weeks ago. He's got some great things to say about Linux, and I think I'm swaying in that direction.

Men Are Not Potatoes is another one I came across a few weeks ago. I think I mentioned them, but I'm mentioning it again, because they're hilarious. :P

The War on Guns is something every citizen should be reading. David Codrea is top knotch.

Seriously? 44 tons?

Really? 44 tons? Holy shishkabab!

BRIDGEWATER, S.D. - Behind the freezer doors at a meat plant mysteriously abandoned by its owner, the 44 tons of bison meat managed to hold its own for months, masked by the brutal chill of two South Dakota winters.

Once the power was cut and spring thaw arrived, nature took over. And enough rotting meat to fill a high school gym did exactly what you'd expect: It stank.

It stank at the bank. It smelled at the law office. It reeked at the cafe. Even the jewelry store wasn't immune. Everyone in this tiny town could smell it, everywhere they went. A putrid odor so downright nasty the cleaners sent to mop up the gooey mess of liquefied meat — topped by a blanket of swarming white maggots and buzzed by a legion of flies — gave up after two days.

"You've also got the city offices, the grocery store and the post office. And then you spread out to the local residences," said Mayor Marty Barattini, pointing to each place. "This is a small town. We have just over 600 people, so that stench was enough to overwhelm the entire town. Not just this street."

Fed up with the smell, a brave crew of 18 city and county workers took matters into their own hands this summer and stormed the plant to haul away the putrid meat and take back their town. What came next was the biggest indignity: Three months after the cleanup, the owner still hasn't paid the $11,151 cleanup bill, and owes about $14,085 in unpaid property taxes on top of it.

"We tried to work with that guy," said a dismayed Barattini.

‘This is worse than rotten bodies’
The saga of the smell began in January 2008, when owner Ilan Parente closed Bridgewater Quality Meats and moved the business to Dawson, Minn., as Noah's Ark Processors LLC. He left the boxed kosher bison meat behind, apparently to be sold to a pet food company. It stayed frozen until the electricity was cut off in December for lack of payment.

When the town about 40 miles away from Sioux Falls began to warm in the spring, the smell began to creep out. Some said the scent was like road kill. The mayor said he spent two tours of duty in Vietnam and could not recall smelling anything as bad.

"This is worse than rotten bodies," Barattini said.

The city sent a notice to Parente to remove the caustic cause, and he dispatched two workers who toiled without protective masks, clothing, equipment or access to water or electricity. Defeated by the mess, they quit after two days.

So city and county officials got permission from the South Dakota Animal Industry Board to go inside and finish. It then became clear that the source of the smell was the meat: 88,420 pounds, according to the scale at the Sioux Falls landfill, where the mess was hauled in five dump trucks and three extra-large trash bins.

The crews and a skid loader spent two days removing the meat, which had swollen so much that the shrink-wrapped bags had burst, which caused the stacked boxes to topple. Most crew members wore an oxygen mask and hazardous materials suit because of the strong ammonia odor. Crews cleaned the building with fire hoses and doused it with bleach.

City employee and volunteer firefighter Todd Letcher wore his fire gear. "I don't think anybody should ever do something like that," he said of the job. "That was bad."

Owner: Meat wasn’t ever a health hazard
Parente's phone number is disconnected and the attorney representing him, Mike Unke, declined to comment. A woman who answered the phone at the Minnesota business said Parente is no longer affiliated with it. Requests for someone to comment went unanswered.

Parente has said before that he checked the meat in May and found it iced over due to a broken water pipe. He's claimed the meat might have stunk but says he never put anyone in danger.

"I feel bad for the people of Bridgewater who had to live with the smell. But that's really where the extent of my feeling bad goes. It wasn't ever a health hazard to anyone," he told The Daily Republic of Mitchell in July.

...more.

---------------------

Dude, that's just foul.

Project: Chicken!

..I told you the chickens were coming.

Sure, it looks crooked, but it's been moved and based more permanently (much to my chagrin) along the side of the house.

The chickens are 'bout .7 months old. That's right. POINT 7 months old. They're just flailing limbs and squawking fluffballs for now, but I have it on good authority that they'll start laying eggs in about 4.3 months. Huzzah!

For cereal, though, the chickens are a hoot  to raise, and the Children think they're a blast to chase around the yard at all hours of the day.

So, on to the mobile (not so much anymore ... .. ...) coop and how much I paid for it.

Nuthin'.

That's right, I paid nuthin'. I had a Gift Certificate at Home Despot. But, if'n ye must know, it was 55 bucks.

8 10ft sections of 3/4 PVC, 10 peices each of Elbows and Tee's. 2 50ft sections of 2X50ft rolls of chicken wire (can get by with 1 and 1/2 rolls, but we went all out) and a roll of 16 guage steel wire I already had for making chainmail (previous endeavor... yes, she still loves me... and no, I do not have said chain mail shirt .. ... ...yet....)

I know it looks a little awkward because of the way it was built, but it is a strong structure, especially after it is next to a wall.

It looks a little weak, but it's very sturdy, but I'm willing to take serious suggestions about what we do next. This design is not pretty, but is lightweight, and we like that cheap lightweight nonsense around here.

BTW:  nests are made of milk crates and straw and cinder blocks. The Chicks love them.