So this morning Natasha and I went to our Electoral Precinct to do our civic duty.
The line was absolutely packed, with some recognizable neighbors.
We were told by the lady at the door that the wait to vote was approximately 20 minutes.
That was very approximate as it took over an hour.
it was complicated by the fact that two precincts shared the same entrance and a ton of people had no clue which precinct they were in -- the precinct maps were of course farther inside past the line splits. This should not be that complicated - your voter registration card has your precinct on it and the Michigan Secretary of State Web page will let you look yourself up, check your precinct and even get a nifty example ballot listing all the candidates as they appear on the ballot. Proper preparation prevents poor performance you know.
First there was the line where you fill out the voter identification slip - we did this while in line.
Then you got in line by groups of last names for you to show id and get your slip checked.
Then you got in line to get your ballot and then you waited for a spot to vote.
Natasha commented that in the Soviet Union, with compulsory voting (if you didn't vote you were in deep trouble) it went a lot faster. I pointed out that back in the USSR you only had to vote and didn't need to choose as there was nothing to choose. She noted that was a good point.
At least the lines remind us of the great efficiencies of government and if you love the efficiency of long waits in line to vote, just wait for the efficiency and long lines for government health care.
Should be quite a race. Onethe interesting comments I heard two voters say -- these were a couple youngsters who were in voting for Obama -- they then asked "Do I have to fill out the back? (of the ballot). They were politely told its their choice to do as much or as little as they want and the ballot will still be ok if the back choices are made or not. I think most of us in line waiting wereof the opinion they should quit wasting time as if you're that clueless just vote and leave please and get out of the way of those who actually looked at the issues beforehand.
Well the voting has been done, now to watch the counting and asociated punditry.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Election 2008 - Decision time
It seems that every election becomes more and more crucial - and the polarization between the two sides becomes greater as the moderate middle is forced to give way as we face even starker swings to our lives at each electoral challenge.
Part of the polarization is due to the fear of both sides losing their cherished rights and entitlements, and because the power of the federal government and its effect upon us all becomes more and more pronounced, so do our rights become in jeopardy as soon as the opposing ideology takes power.
An unchecked Democrat dominance of the executive and legislative branches combined with the multiple judicial vacancies that such dominance would fill would be disastrous for the right and the middle as the left reshapes America to fit its image. Think the 70's only with more government spending, higher taxes and even lower thermostats in winter as our nations energy supplies are reduced by greenish extremism against coal and excessive taxes on oil with no viable alternative - certainly not the lefts bugbear of nbuclear power- provided to replace these energy sources. Think of Michigan's one-state recession under Democrat rule spread nationwide.
Part of the greatest thing about America is you generally have the right to be left alone as long as you're not harming others. Given Michelle Obama's statement that
Given Barack Obama's continuing lowering of his definition of the "wealthy" doomed to be subject to his taxation grab keeps dropping from 250,000, to 200,000 to 150,000 to 120,000 to 70,000 you're looking at paying even more of your income -- before you ever receive it -- to the government to pay for his massive expansionist plans. On top of that he will without a doubt let the Bush tax cuts expire -- that IS a tax increase - you'll know it when you go to pay your taxes.
Given that Barack Obama is terrible on the 2nd amendment your right to own firearms is in jeopardy. He is for an assault weapons ban, for a national ban on concealed carry and multiple other restrictions and even confiscation. With a Democrat Congress there will be no brakes on these bans. Given we're still dealing with restrictions from the Clinton and Bush I eras, don't expect them to go away under Obama, or for them to put in a sunset clause this time. Expect leftist to push their agenda including gun control hard in the first 100 days of an Obama presidency.
On the first amendment Obama is similarly bad in terms of those who are critical of him, including having supporters form truth squads to prosecute those who might speak out against him with "false criticisms". Do you expect this will really go away if he gains office? Given how the media is so in the tank for him that they're withholding negative video footage, audio, and stories about him do you really think they will fill their role as watchdog of the government or instead behave as loving lapdogs adoring their chosen one?
On foreign policy Obama will be a nightmare - bringing back the 70s pattern of American appeasement and failure, complete with policy advisors (Brzezinski ) from that era as well. He seems set on betraying our allies abroad all to appease "world opinion". Much like someone in search of someone to say they're proud of him, indeed Obaam having grown up without a father will likely try gain his father's praise by pursuing his father's left wing goals, and the opinions and accolades of the international left wing will be a nice surrogate source of a father's pride for one seeming so in need of dreams from his father.
Yes McCain has run a lackluster campaign, yes he is wishy-washy as all hell, reveling in being a "maverick" which generally meant going with the press and against other Republicans- but I think the press treatment of him has hopefully opened his eyes. Sarah Palin, a Jacksonian choice indeed for Vice President has at least given hope that McCain will not fall captive to the Democrats calls for bipartisanship (meaning do what they the Democrats want -- otherwise you're a bitter partisan meanie). In any event there is no repeat NO viable alternative to an obamanable four year period ahead other than voting for McCain Palin.
McCain has the experience, wisdom and capability to govern reasonably and moderately and to face down the oncoming Democrat majority. Indeed, the left likely faces little risk to loss of their freedoms in a McCain presidency given his very moderate stance on just about everything. America under McCain will hold the line.
My vote is for McCain, and I certainly hope yours is too. America will be far too out of balance with the Democrats so ascendant. I am not going to stand by and let these freedoms dissappear in the face of this leftist resurgence, instead I will vote for McCain, for America and for the preservation of the freedoms I cherish.
Regardless of the polls or predictions or Obama's gandiose attempt to act as if this election is a mere formality -- it will not be so -- if you do not give up hope, you do not sit on your hands, you get up and get to the polls and vote. its not over until its over, and maybe not even then.
McCain / Palin 2008!
Part of the polarization is due to the fear of both sides losing their cherished rights and entitlements, and because the power of the federal government and its effect upon us all becomes more and more pronounced, so do our rights become in jeopardy as soon as the opposing ideology takes power.
An unchecked Democrat dominance of the executive and legislative branches combined with the multiple judicial vacancies that such dominance would fill would be disastrous for the right and the middle as the left reshapes America to fit its image. Think the 70's only with more government spending, higher taxes and even lower thermostats in winter as our nations energy supplies are reduced by greenish extremism against coal and excessive taxes on oil with no viable alternative - certainly not the lefts bugbear of nbuclear power- provided to replace these energy sources. Think of Michigan's one-state recession under Democrat rule spread nationwide.
Part of the greatest thing about America is you generally have the right to be left alone as long as you're not harming others. Given Michelle Obama's statement that
Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zone . . . Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual - uninvolved, uninformedthis cherished and time-honored right to be left alone is in jeopardy and that my friends is un-American.
Given Barack Obama's continuing lowering of his definition of the "wealthy" doomed to be subject to his taxation grab keeps dropping from 250,000, to 200,000 to 150,000 to 120,000 to 70,000 you're looking at paying even more of your income -- before you ever receive it -- to the government to pay for his massive expansionist plans. On top of that he will without a doubt let the Bush tax cuts expire -- that IS a tax increase - you'll know it when you go to pay your taxes.
Given that Barack Obama is terrible on the 2nd amendment your right to own firearms is in jeopardy. He is for an assault weapons ban, for a national ban on concealed carry and multiple other restrictions and even confiscation. With a Democrat Congress there will be no brakes on these bans. Given we're still dealing with restrictions from the Clinton and Bush I eras, don't expect them to go away under Obama, or for them to put in a sunset clause this time. Expect leftist to push their agenda including gun control hard in the first 100 days of an Obama presidency.
On the first amendment Obama is similarly bad in terms of those who are critical of him, including having supporters form truth squads to prosecute those who might speak out against him with "false criticisms". Do you expect this will really go away if he gains office? Given how the media is so in the tank for him that they're withholding negative video footage, audio, and stories about him do you really think they will fill their role as watchdog of the government or instead behave as loving lapdogs adoring their chosen one?
On foreign policy Obama will be a nightmare - bringing back the 70s pattern of American appeasement and failure, complete with policy advisors (Brzezinski ) from that era as well. He seems set on betraying our allies abroad all to appease "world opinion". Much like someone in search of someone to say they're proud of him, indeed Obaam having grown up without a father will likely try gain his father's praise by pursuing his father's left wing goals, and the opinions and accolades of the international left wing will be a nice surrogate source of a father's pride for one seeming so in need of dreams from his father.
Yes McCain has run a lackluster campaign, yes he is wishy-washy as all hell, reveling in being a "maverick" which generally meant going with the press and against other Republicans- but I think the press treatment of him has hopefully opened his eyes. Sarah Palin, a Jacksonian choice indeed for Vice President has at least given hope that McCain will not fall captive to the Democrats calls for bipartisanship (meaning do what they the Democrats want -- otherwise you're a bitter partisan meanie). In any event there is no repeat NO viable alternative to an obamanable four year period ahead other than voting for McCain Palin.
McCain has the experience, wisdom and capability to govern reasonably and moderately and to face down the oncoming Democrat majority. Indeed, the left likely faces little risk to loss of their freedoms in a McCain presidency given his very moderate stance on just about everything. America under McCain will hold the line.
My vote is for McCain, and I certainly hope yours is too. America will be far too out of balance with the Democrats so ascendant. I am not going to stand by and let these freedoms dissappear in the face of this leftist resurgence, instead I will vote for McCain, for America and for the preservation of the freedoms I cherish.
Regardless of the polls or predictions or Obama's gandiose attempt to act as if this election is a mere formality -- it will not be so -- if you do not give up hope, you do not sit on your hands, you get up and get to the polls and vote. its not over until its over, and maybe not even then.
McCain / Palin 2008!
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Essential Ancient Coin Books
I've added a new list to this blog, a list of books on ancient coins that I deem are essential for a serious collector of ancient coins.
So far I've added:
Seaby Roman Silver Coins and their values Volume I.
If you plan to collect Roman Silver coins, the set started by Seaby that covers all Roman Silver coinage from the republic to the fall of the empire is absolutely vital. Excellent descriptions, pictures, values and cataloging information.
Roman Coins & Their Values Volume I
Roman Coins and Their Values, Vol II, The Accession of Nerva to the Overthrow of the Severan Dynasty AD 96 - AD 235
Roman Coins and Their Values III: The Accession of Maximinus I to the Death of Carinus AD 235 - 285: v. 3
Now expanded to three Volumes, Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values is the bible for the Roman Coin Collector. If you can find get the previous single volume 4th edition from 1988, it is nice and portable for taking with you to coins shows and auctions, even as the prices are long out of date, the relative values remain pretty much the same and you can adjust accordingly.
If you plan to venture into more than just silver Roman coinage and include the bronzes or gold coins in your collection then you really need David R. Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values to get the most out of your collecting experience -- not only to avoid expensive mispurchases but to also learn about the history of the coins you purchase and to catalog them in a meaningful way.
So far I've added:
Seaby Roman Silver Coins and their values Volume I.
If you plan to collect Roman Silver coins, the set started by Seaby that covers all Roman Silver coinage from the republic to the fall of the empire is absolutely vital. Excellent descriptions, pictures, values and cataloging information.
Roman Coins & Their Values Volume I
Roman Coins and Their Values, Vol II, The Accession of Nerva to the Overthrow of the Severan Dynasty AD 96 - AD 235
Roman Coins and Their Values III: The Accession of Maximinus I to the Death of Carinus AD 235 - 285: v. 3
Now expanded to three Volumes, Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values is the bible for the Roman Coin Collector. If you can find get the previous single volume 4th edition from 1988, it is nice and portable for taking with you to coins shows and auctions, even as the prices are long out of date, the relative values remain pretty much the same and you can adjust accordingly.
If you plan to venture into more than just silver Roman coinage and include the bronzes or gold coins in your collection then you really need David R. Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values to get the most out of your collecting experience -- not only to avoid expensive mispurchases but to also learn about the history of the coins you purchase and to catalog them in a meaningful way.
The voting denarius of L. Cassius Longinus
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Image copyright Andreas Pangerl, www.romancoins.info used with permission.
A silver denarius of the Roman Republic dating to approximately 63 B.C.E.
Obverse (not shown): veiled bust of Vesta facing left, kylix behind.
Reverse: Male voter dropping a tablet inscribed with a v into an urn
Reference: Seaby Roman Silver Coins
Cassia 10, Sear 295This coin commemorates the passing of the lex Cassia tabellaria, a law related to the method of voting in Roman elections that was passed in 137 BCE by and ancestor of L. Cassius Longinus, L Cassius Ravilla.
L. Cassius Longinus was an ancestor of C. Cassius Longinus, he, the Shakespearean Cassius of "the lean and hungry look" who was one of the assassins of Julius Caesar.
A very timely coin post, given how important elections were in the Roman Republic and now that this coming Tuesday we face a momentousness election in troubling times, times of troubled money markets and financial and political crises.
Take your time to learn and understand the issues and candidates, and vote your conscience, calculations or political beliefs accordingly.
HP and Vista is a neverending adventure in reboot and reformat
Of course the destructive recovery done last week didn't last for long and didn't fix the problem.
After backing up all my data and doing a destructive restore things started off rather auspiciously.
Programs installed without issue. I restarted after each program was installed to see if a certain program was at fault. No problems. Everything went on great, it looked like I had all my data back and programs rinning fine.
The HP update ran. I foolishly accepted installing the updates it recommended for the computer.
You can guess what happened next.
Yep, after the restart, straight to the black screen of death.
Every program installed since, every Microsoft update installed since causes the same thing.
So I called HP support again.
Of course, they have no record of the online chat assistance or the service call I made last week.
After discussion with the tech, they've decided since I already did a destructive software recovery from the partition they will ship me the recovery by disc.
So I get to do a whole new reformat.
Anybody want to place a bet on whether this fixes the problem?
Given that I had XP running on a system for about 7 years without having to reformat without this kind of trouble I certainly can't recommend Vista 64 for anyone at this point as in less than 2 months its been causing all sorts of issues. On the upside, I'm getting really good at backing up and restoring my data grrr.
After backing up all my data and doing a destructive restore things started off rather auspiciously.
Programs installed without issue. I restarted after each program was installed to see if a certain program was at fault. No problems. Everything went on great, it looked like I had all my data back and programs rinning fine.
The HP update ran. I foolishly accepted installing the updates it recommended for the computer.
You can guess what happened next.
Yep, after the restart, straight to the black screen of death.
Every program installed since, every Microsoft update installed since causes the same thing.
So I called HP support again.
Of course, they have no record of the online chat assistance or the service call I made last week.
After discussion with the tech, they've decided since I already did a destructive software recovery from the partition they will ship me the recovery by disc.
So I get to do a whole new reformat.
Anybody want to place a bet on whether this fixes the problem?
Given that I had XP running on a system for about 7 years without having to reformat without this kind of trouble I certainly can't recommend Vista 64 for anyone at this point as in less than 2 months its been causing all sorts of issues. On the upside, I'm getting really good at backing up and restoring my data grrr.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A very sweet litigation victory
Often when dealing with Pro Se litigants one has to tread carefully so as to not take advantage of them.
When the Pro Se litigant is an attorney and quite possibly deranged it gets real interesting.
I get brought in on the tail end of a case. The plaintiff, the attorney in question, has sued the client institution for some very weird allegations that get thrown out at the Circuit level. She appeals, gets some issues reversed, it gets sent back to the Circuit Court, she loses again, she appeals and loses the appeal. Case evaluation sanctions of over $24,000 are imposed and I'm assigned to enter the judgment against her.
I do a motion to convert the sanctions order to a judgment which is granted, after she does a response with just about every other word in bold or underlined or both, and appears to argue and makes some real oddball arguments.
We win and I set a creditors exam. We then fight in court about the exam - I win and the judge has the exam conducted immediately in court.
She gets annoyed and sends me and my client a threatening letter complete with "people have been killed for less, and its easy to find where someone lives these days -- but this is not a threat" Cute.
Not to be dissuaded, and a little offended that an officer of the court would stoop to veiled physical threats against opposing counsel, I then start garnishing her bank account and her employer and she gets really annoyed, which is really too bad.
She then files a motion to set aside the judgment on some very specious grounds that have no bearing to reality, facts or law, including a weird claim that the court lacks jurisdiction to enter the judgment against her, and the judge sees right through it and denies the motion.
After losing to me again in Circuit Court she then appeals.
The appeal is rejected by the Court of Appeals as it is filed untimely to be as of right - she missed the deadline, thus raising the question as to whether an attorney representing themselves can sue themselves for malpractice.
Not to be dissuaded however, she refiles, a 40 page plus exhibits magnum opus complete yet again with every other word either bold or underlined, rehashing the case from the very start, including the previous appeals and her losses to me on the post-judgment proceedings. Again she makes the same really oddball arguments regarding the judgment.
We file a response that the Courts should deny her leave to appeal as she has no basis in fact or law and dissect her arguments to show that.
We received a notice from the Court of Appeals:The delayed application for leave to appeal is DENIED for lack of merit in the grounds presented.
When the Pro Se litigant is an attorney and quite possibly deranged it gets real interesting.
I get brought in on the tail end of a case. The plaintiff, the attorney in question, has sued the client institution for some very weird allegations that get thrown out at the Circuit level. She appeals, gets some issues reversed, it gets sent back to the Circuit Court, she loses again, she appeals and loses the appeal. Case evaluation sanctions of over $24,000 are imposed and I'm assigned to enter the judgment against her.
I do a motion to convert the sanctions order to a judgment which is granted, after she does a response with just about every other word in bold or underlined or both, and appears to argue and makes some real oddball arguments.
We win and I set a creditors exam. We then fight in court about the exam - I win and the judge has the exam conducted immediately in court.
She gets annoyed and sends me and my client a threatening letter complete with "people have been killed for less, and its easy to find where someone lives these days -- but this is not a threat" Cute.
Not to be dissuaded, and a little offended that an officer of the court would stoop to veiled physical threats against opposing counsel, I then start garnishing her bank account and her employer and she gets really annoyed, which is really too bad.
She then files a motion to set aside the judgment on some very specious grounds that have no bearing to reality, facts or law, including a weird claim that the court lacks jurisdiction to enter the judgment against her, and the judge sees right through it and denies the motion.
After losing to me again in Circuit Court she then appeals.
The appeal is rejected by the Court of Appeals as it is filed untimely to be as of right - she missed the deadline, thus raising the question as to whether an attorney representing themselves can sue themselves for malpractice.
Not to be dissuaded however, she refiles, a 40 page plus exhibits magnum opus complete yet again with every other word either bold or underlined, rehashing the case from the very start, including the previous appeals and her losses to me on the post-judgment proceedings. Again she makes the same really oddball arguments regarding the judgment.
We file a response that the Courts should deny her leave to appeal as she has no basis in fact or law and dissect her arguments to show that.
We received a notice from the Court of Appeals:
Given her conduct and threats in the case, it has been decided that we are going to continue these garnishments until the client gets their judgment paid in full.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Dive #102 I can haz back kick and findz boat
Sorry for the LOL Catz title but yesterday night I had a great dive.
A boat had sunk (deliberately it seems) in Union Lake last Tuesday and we were determined to find it. We had a general idea as to where it was so off the 4 of us (Chad, Jerry, Rob and myself) went.
After a bit of a search, diving well spread out with our lights probing the cool 53 degree darkness -- the dive took place at 9pm at night and visibility was about 10 feet or so -- we found it, looming out of the dark, a nice speedboat without a zebra mussel on it and looking like it had freshly sunk, which it had.
We each finned into the cockpit of the speedboat and back kicked out - including me. Yes! So I had a good effective back kick, and am finally getting more pin-point buoyancy control.
We then after admiring the boat from all angles swam off to the far line and went past an old lawn chair sitting by its lonesome on the bottom. We then returned to the boat dock after passing by some older sunken boats and after a careful safety stop.
We saw plenty of fish including some really huge carp and pike and some decent size crayfish.
This was an excellent dive with a bottom time of 55 minutes, max depth about 40 feet.
A boat had sunk (deliberately it seems) in Union Lake last Tuesday and we were determined to find it. We had a general idea as to where it was so off the 4 of us (Chad, Jerry, Rob and myself) went.
After a bit of a search, diving well spread out with our lights probing the cool 53 degree darkness -- the dive took place at 9pm at night and visibility was about 10 feet or so -- we found it, looming out of the dark, a nice speedboat without a zebra mussel on it and looking like it had freshly sunk, which it had.
We each finned into the cockpit of the speedboat and back kicked out - including me. Yes! So I had a good effective back kick, and am finally getting more pin-point buoyancy control.
We then after admiring the boat from all angles swam off to the far line and went past an old lawn chair sitting by its lonesome on the bottom. We then returned to the boat dock after passing by some older sunken boats and after a careful safety stop.
We saw plenty of fish including some really huge carp and pike and some decent size crayfish.
This was an excellent dive with a bottom time of 55 minutes, max depth about 40 feet.
Corned Beef, Cabbage and Computer rebuilds
Yesterday after being inspired by Alton Browm's show on Corned Beef decided to follow his recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage. It involves careful preparation and hours of nice slow cooking.
This was a good thing as I used the time to completely rebuild my computer.
As I related before, ever since purchasing it my HP Pavillion with Vista 64 has been everything but stable. HP technical support suggested a destructive rebuild was in order, so after spending hours backing up my system I began the rebuild process.
After work today I have the restore just about done and it does seem more stable (it hasn't crashed yet after multiple restarts).
On the upside the Corned Beef and Cabbage was out of this world fantastic, so it made up for the fustration of having to rebuild the system from the bottom up.
This was a good thing as I used the time to completely rebuild my computer.
As I related before, ever since purchasing it my HP Pavillion with Vista 64 has been everything but stable. HP technical support suggested a destructive rebuild was in order, so after spending hours backing up my system I began the rebuild process.
After work today I have the restore just about done and it does seem more stable (it hasn't crashed yet after multiple restarts).
On the upside the Corned Beef and Cabbage was out of this world fantastic, so it made up for the fustration of having to rebuild the system from the bottom up.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
CPR and AED training today
In a nice break from the billable hour (break hell -- I had to go work late to catch up) the firm I work for offered CPR and AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) training this afternoon.
I signed up, one of only two lawyers in the session, the rest being IT, secretarial or administrative personnel. I guess the other attorneys wanted to keep their billing up. One of the people in the firm is a certified Red Cross trainer and she led the sessions -- very ably I might add.
Very useful stuff to know - helping a conscious or unconscious choking victim, performing CPR and rescue breathing and using the AED properly (it was more a familiarization - learning how it worked and some procedures and combining it with CPR. Really its pretty simple stuff to learn, and they've made it easier to remember - chest compressions on an unconscious choking victim or heat stopped victim is the same pattern only with an occasional check sweep to try and clear the airway on a choking victim is different. Simple, effective and it leaves you prepared to render assistance in an emergency.
The class made sense for both the firm and the participants - training in how to be a first responder is never a bad thing, and incidents can happen even at placid law firms, so having trained and able employees is a good thing.
Just another bit of preparedness to have and hope to never have to use for real -- but again certainly better than if something happens to known what to do rather than just stand around uselessly.
I strongly recommend everyone at least take the basic CPR / First Aid course - not very time consuming, very informative and the life you save may be your own or your friends, family or colleagues, hopefully until the professionals can arrive.
Tomorrow the firm is offering CPR for infants and kids -- having kids I am confirmed to attend -- I'll just make up the billable hours another time.
I signed up, one of only two lawyers in the session, the rest being IT, secretarial or administrative personnel. I guess the other attorneys wanted to keep their billing up. One of the people in the firm is a certified Red Cross trainer and she led the sessions -- very ably I might add.
Very useful stuff to know - helping a conscious or unconscious choking victim, performing CPR and rescue breathing and using the AED properly (it was more a familiarization - learning how it worked and some procedures and combining it with CPR. Really its pretty simple stuff to learn, and they've made it easier to remember - chest compressions on an unconscious choking victim or heat stopped victim is the same pattern only with an occasional check sweep to try and clear the airway on a choking victim is different. Simple, effective and it leaves you prepared to render assistance in an emergency.
The class made sense for both the firm and the participants - training in how to be a first responder is never a bad thing, and incidents can happen even at placid law firms, so having trained and able employees is a good thing.
Just another bit of preparedness to have and hope to never have to use for real -- but again certainly better than if something happens to known what to do rather than just stand around uselessly.
I strongly recommend everyone at least take the basic CPR / First Aid course - not very time consuming, very informative and the life you save may be your own or your friends, family or colleagues, hopefully until the professionals can arrive.
Tomorrow the firm is offering CPR for infants and kids -- having kids I am confirmed to attend -- I'll just make up the billable hours another time.
Democrats wanting to get their hands on your 401k
In the continuing battle between savers and spenders, taxpayers and tax-takers, independents and dependents the Democrats look to be making a move to push more of us into the later of each.
House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks
Brilliant really - confiscate the accumulated wealth of Americans who have conscientiously saved their money, and redistribute it to all whether they saved or spent their way through life, thus securing your position as distributor of largesse.
Then give only a 3% annual return so that no one can really get ahead or be self-sufficient and guarantee even more people will be dependent on, and thus in support of, government programs in their old age -- and of course heavy taxation on those still working.
You knew the Democrats couldn't stand the thought of billions of dollars growing untaxed and out of their control now could you?
Yet another reason to vote to stop a one-party Democrat rule in Washington - if you thought you had it bad now, just wait until there is no holding them back.
House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks
Brilliant really - confiscate the accumulated wealth of Americans who have conscientiously saved their money, and redistribute it to all whether they saved or spent their way through life, thus securing your position as distributor of largesse.
Then give only a 3% annual return so that no one can really get ahead or be self-sufficient and guarantee even more people will be dependent on, and thus in support of, government programs in their old age -- and of course heavy taxation on those still working.
You knew the Democrats couldn't stand the thought of billions of dollars growing untaxed and out of their control now could you?
Yet another reason to vote to stop a one-party Democrat rule in Washington - if you thought you had it bad now, just wait until there is no holding them back.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Free speech for the One but not for Thee
Thoughts on The coming Obama thugocracy
Given that McCain seems to be running his campaign as if he is Bob Dole II, and given the Media are servicing on bended knees the Obama tank, this election sadly seems like it is Obama's to win.
Given that we've seen Obama's supporters follow his exhortation to get in his opponents faces and block their speech, as noted by Michale Barone's article an Obama presidency, combined with Democrat control of the house and Senate seems like a sure recipe for disaster.
Between the Obamajugend and the cult of personality of Obama along with the unfettered left belief in "free speech for me but not for thee" this is very likely going to be a rocky next four years.
This timely image is courtesy of Future News Blog.
It certainly seems like its time for an anti-drinking advocacy group such as Mothers Against Dangerous Democrats to stomp on this kool-aid drinking, but no such luck so far.
The Obama Kool-Aid can be dangerous to your First Amendment and other rights.
Given that McCain seems to be running his campaign as if he is Bob Dole II, and given the Media are servicing on bended knees the Obama tank, this election sadly seems like it is Obama's to win.
Given that we've seen Obama's supporters follow his exhortation to get in his opponents faces and block their speech, as noted by Michale Barone's article an Obama presidency, combined with Democrat control of the house and Senate seems like a sure recipe for disaster.
Between the Obamajugend and the cult of personality of Obama along with the unfettered left belief in "free speech for me but not for thee" this is very likely going to be a rocky next four years.
This timely image is courtesy of Future News Blog.
It certainly seems like its time for an anti-drinking advocacy group such as Mothers Against Dangerous Democrats to stomp on this kool-aid drinking, but no such luck so far.
The Obama Kool-Aid can be dangerous to your First Amendment and other rights.
Blog Renovations In Progress
As you can see, I just made some renovations to the blog and cleaned it up some. I will likely continue tweaking it for a bit, but it now looks a bit cleaner at least than the old version.
Comments are welcome, so do let me know how you like the new look - good, bad or ugly.
Comments are welcome, so do let me know how you like the new look - good, bad or ugly.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Economic advice for today's troubled times
Given the daily feed of bad news we've been getting about the financial crisis, stocks losing value, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria, I thought this clip was most appropriate:
The clip is from Gremlins 2 - the famous shotguns and canned goods line.
The clip is from Gremlins 2 - the famous shotguns and canned goods line.
Friday, October 03, 2008
McCain pulling out of Michigan?
Yes, this state has been going down the tubes since it started going seriously Democrat - between a Democrat governor and its major city mismanaged to death by Democrats its easy to say that Michigan is again a lock for the Dems this election year.
So McCain is pulling out resources from our state to try and fight in areas where he might win.
Mind you I believe McCain did have a shot here - if he had kept the pressure up and noted that if the State goes Democrat again, we're doing more of the same and the state can expect the same result - economic doldrums mixed with goofy social policy.
Michigan and Detroit in particular is an example of Democrat dominance in microcosm.
He should have stated that voting for "change or hope" got Michigan into its current mess and its time for Michigan to vote for someone who actually knows what he's doing and can offer more than empty promises of change and hope.
Michigan, especially with the rest of the state outside the urban areas and along with the rational Macomb County Democrats this state could be a place the Republicans could fight for and even win.
Hopefully this is just a strategic redeployment and McCain hasn't written the state off yet.
So McCain is pulling out resources from our state to try and fight in areas where he might win.
Mind you I believe McCain did have a shot here - if he had kept the pressure up and noted that if the State goes Democrat again, we're doing more of the same and the state can expect the same result - economic doldrums mixed with goofy social policy.
Michigan and Detroit in particular is an example of Democrat dominance in microcosm.
He should have stated that voting for "change or hope" got Michigan into its current mess and its time for Michigan to vote for someone who actually knows what he's doing and can offer more than empty promises of change and hope.
Michigan, especially with the rest of the state outside the urban areas and along with the rational Macomb County Democrats this state could be a place the Republicans could fight for and even win.
Hopefully this is just a strategic redeployment and McCain hasn't written the state off yet.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Dive #101 - Got the back kick!
After a long diving season trying, I finally got my back kick and actually could move backwards underwater in this dive.
Diving with my friend Rob, we got entered Union Lake and just worked on kicks and buoyancy control.
This time I decided to try something different. I swapped fins with Rob and instead of using my ScubaPro JetFins, I used Rob's Power Fins.
It made all the difference - they don't look very different but there is a very real performance characteristic variance between the two fins. The Power fins are shorter and not as flexible or "snappy" as the Scuba Pros, and are much more forgiving when learning the back kick and have much better control from the foot. The Jet Fins apparently have the advantage with the frog kick, and the back kick once you have it mastered -- which I do not.
I'll tell you though it was a great feeling to actually move backward nice and easily after struggling with the skill for so long.
Now that I know I can do it, it is time to refine it and get the rest of the skills in good shape. Rob has graciously swapped fins with me for awhile so I can get this skill down and not be stuck learning it in the jets, for which I'm quite thankful.
It's about time.
Diving with my friend Rob, we got entered Union Lake and just worked on kicks and buoyancy control.
This time I decided to try something different. I swapped fins with Rob and instead of using my ScubaPro JetFins, I used Rob's Power Fins.
It made all the difference - they don't look very different but there is a very real performance characteristic variance between the two fins. The Power fins are shorter and not as flexible or "snappy" as the Scuba Pros, and are much more forgiving when learning the back kick and have much better control from the foot. The Jet Fins apparently have the advantage with the frog kick, and the back kick once you have it mastered -- which I do not.
I'll tell you though it was a great feeling to actually move backward nice and easily after struggling with the skill for so long.
Now that I know I can do it, it is time to refine it and get the rest of the skills in good shape. Rob has graciously swapped fins with me for awhile so I can get this skill down and not be stuck learning it in the jets, for which I'm quite thankful.
It's about time.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Bailout deal apparently reached
You know how the Democrats are the evil party and the Republicans are the stupid party? How when they come together and do something both evil and stupid its called bipartisanship?
Here goes: Deal reached on financial markets bailout From the Detroit News:
Here goes: Deal reached on financial markets bailout From the Detroit News:
Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative deal early Sunday on a landmark bailout of imperiled financial markets whose collapse could plunge the nation into a deep recession.The report is very short on details and hopefully we'll find more about what we've just had done to us shortly (likely too late to do anything about it), but for now hang on its going to be an interesting ride.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the $700 billion accord just after midnight but said it still has to be put on paper.
"We've still got more to do to finalize it, but I think we're there," said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who also participated in the negotiations in the Capitol.
Housing crunch causes and bailout follies
Speaking of crashing like the housing market, here's a decent video as to one of the causes of the current mess.
The cause outlined in the video -- the Democrats revamping of the CRA and pushing banks to lend to those who could not really afford home loans in the first place is not the only reason, but it does seem to be the spark that began the fire. Once the CRA and government led housing boom started, then coupled with the irrational belief that houses would always go up dramatically in value encouraging both quick flips and people buying homes they couldn't afford hoping the increase in value would let them refinance and have massive equity growth, we got to where we are today.
Once this irrational belief was fixed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encouraged ARMs and 100% loans to get more people owning houses causing values to rise as demand went up. Investment bankers went along, coupling this with quick sales of loans and then repackaging them into securities that were sold to others and it got worse from there as they then leveraged these securities beyond any rational limit.
In short, the government and high-finance wizards played with our money, got rich on bonuses (or campaign contributions and sweetheart loans in the case of the politicians), and we're left to clean up the mess. Sorry but the bailout is ridiculous in its current form, and even more ridiculous that Frank and Senator Dodd (both recipients of Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac largess and proponents of the policies that caused this mess)are inserting into the bill that 20% of the returns from the bailout does not go back to the taxpayers (or even the government) but to housing advocates such as ACORN - you know the people who helped start this mess in the first place. Nice.
The cause outlined in the video -- the Democrats revamping of the CRA and pushing banks to lend to those who could not really afford home loans in the first place is not the only reason, but it does seem to be the spark that began the fire. Once the CRA and government led housing boom started, then coupled with the irrational belief that houses would always go up dramatically in value encouraging both quick flips and people buying homes they couldn't afford hoping the increase in value would let them refinance and have massive equity growth, we got to where we are today.
Once this irrational belief was fixed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac encouraged ARMs and 100% loans to get more people owning houses causing values to rise as demand went up. Investment bankers went along, coupling this with quick sales of loans and then repackaging them into securities that were sold to others and it got worse from there as they then leveraged these securities beyond any rational limit.
In short, the government and high-finance wizards played with our money, got rich on bonuses (or campaign contributions and sweetheart loans in the case of the politicians), and we're left to clean up the mess. Sorry but the bailout is ridiculous in its current form, and even more ridiculous that Frank and Senator Dodd (both recipients of Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac largess and proponents of the policies that caused this mess)are inserting into the bill that 20% of the returns from the bailout does not go back to the taxpayers (or even the government) but to housing advocates such as ACORN - you know the people who helped start this mess in the first place. Nice.
More fun with Vista
This computer is crashing like the housing market -- with no bailout in sight. Everytime Windows does an automatic update, on the next shutdown and startup it fails to boot, requiring a hard turnoff then it starts windows repair and then works.
In search of a remedy I contacted HP technical support. After describing the issue here was their "brilliant" solution -- turn off windows automatic updates.
Anyone see the problem with this "solution"? While it will stop the system from crashing on a weekly basis, now if I manually update I expect it to crash again.. its not a solution but a problem avoidance technique.
I beginning to think the problem is Windows Defender update as that seems to be what was updated yesterday before the system crashed again. Anyone know if Defender updates are known for this problem?
In search of a remedy I contacted HP technical support. After describing the issue here was their "brilliant" solution -- turn off windows automatic updates.
Anyone see the problem with this "solution"? While it will stop the system from crashing on a weekly basis, now if I manually update I expect it to crash again.. its not a solution but a problem avoidance technique.
I beginning to think the problem is Windows Defender update as that seems to be what was updated yesterday before the system crashed again. Anyone know if Defender updates are known for this problem?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Fun looking back on finances
Its always interesting to look at the financial prognostications of yesteryear in light of the present.
Take Start Late Finish Rich
for example. Itsa a good book and I'm reading it now. Written in 2004 it was a darn good book for the time, full of good advice in lots of ways some of which still hold true, such as not being wasteful in your spending, money management, general targets in terms of how much to save, the importance of tax sheltered retirement accounts, but wow, some of the info:
Such as: the investment return projections are based on 10% annual returns from the stock market - good luck with that. We haven't seen that kind of return in a long time. He also fails to point out that when you have a 50% loss in the market for example, you need a 100% growth to just get back to where you started from.
The real estate advice was great pre-crash but he sure didn't anticipate this mess. His book is full of 0 down mortgages, buying houses for flippage etc. Ie buy it and watch the ridiculous amount of appreciation make you wealthy. The problem is that kind appreciation was anomalous - great if you were doing it then and got out, but otherwise once the music stops you're in trouble. Combine this with banks and mortgagees all doing the same approach on this belief of unsustainable returns as normal, couple it with a little regulatory capture from Freddie Mac and Fannie May and you get the mess we're in now.
Its a good read but the current state of the market and real estate fracas just made large chunks of the book historical curiosities.
Take Start Late Finish Rich
for example. Itsa a good book and I'm reading it now. Written in 2004 it was a darn good book for the time, full of good advice in lots of ways some of which still hold true, such as not being wasteful in your spending, money management, general targets in terms of how much to save, the importance of tax sheltered retirement accounts, but wow, some of the info:Such as: the investment return projections are based on 10% annual returns from the stock market - good luck with that. We haven't seen that kind of return in a long time. He also fails to point out that when you have a 50% loss in the market for example, you need a 100% growth to just get back to where you started from.
The real estate advice was great pre-crash but he sure didn't anticipate this mess. His book is full of 0 down mortgages, buying houses for flippage etc. Ie buy it and watch the ridiculous amount of appreciation make you wealthy. The problem is that kind appreciation was anomalous - great if you were doing it then and got out, but otherwise once the music stops you're in trouble. Combine this with banks and mortgagees all doing the same approach on this belief of unsustainable returns as normal, couple it with a little regulatory capture from Freddie Mac and Fannie May and you get the mess we're in now.
Its a good read but the current state of the market and real estate fracas just made large chunks of the book historical curiosities.
The wild vistas of Vista
So after 8 years of my home computer I decide its time to upgrade. The olde computer was built by Scott Reschke of Frag Center (If you're ever in East Lansing and like to play computer games his place is the place to go). It gave great service but lately is developing an atittude and it is getting slow.
Unfortunately he's not building custom machines anymore and he gave me a few suggestions as to what to get.
I end up purchasing an HP Pavilion, AMD Athlon dual core with 4gb ram, 500 GB hard drive and a monitor that came with the package that is ridiculously big in size. Looks nice. It also comes with Vista 64 Home Premium on board. So far so good.
Plug it in and go, and we start having problems:
1. Adobe flash player if installed as a plugin to Firefox 3.0.1, or even downloaded direct from Adobe's website and then installed crashes Vista completely - we're talking the black screen of death, Vista repair runs and removes it and the computer restarts. This was not a fluke as I tried it multiple times and same result each time - install flash player and the computer gets it. Interestingly, and weirdly enough, flash player exists and works just fine in IE with no ill effects and it is not removed in the repair. Since I really like Firefox, this is a major annoyance.
2. Thunderbird - Vista seems to pluck Thunderbird's feathers, I install it, copy over the mail, and it looks like its working, after some tweaking. I then upgrade Thunderbird from 0.7.2 to the latest version and it stops working cold. Still have not resolved this one and my mail archive is stuck in it, which is not good.
3. Vista 64 is not backward compatible with a lot of my programs - my old, paid off, lovingly functional Photoshop 7 and Premiere 6.5 will not work so I'm going to eventually have to buy replacements for what was some darn nice and comfy software, and I hesitate to try and install my old reliable Microsoft Office 2000.
Thankfully Canon is on the ball and their camera software has an upgrade you can download as the software that comes with the SD1000 flips out on Vista 64, so that critical bit works for the pictures at least.
4. Every so often Vista does an automatic update of some Microsoft Vista or related product in the background and without notice, the machine restarts and bamn - back to the black screen of death with a required manual shutdown, windows repair and it sometimes repairs it and sometimes it takes everything short of lethal force to get it back to rights. I can find no log entries of these errors so it is a pain to track down what is causing it. In short this operating system is way less stable that XP and that is simply unacceptable and aggravating.
On the upside:
A. It is much, much faster than my old machine. I can actually multitask without slowing everything to a crawl. Working with video I've shot is a lot quicker. There is a real speed difference and it seems to handle memory leacks much better.
B. Installation of hardware is real nice, great ability to pull drivers, my Suunto Vyper Dive computer USB cable was recognized no problem, which is a huge improvement over the install process for it in XP. Wireless setup is a snap, adding peripherals like the camera, USB Hard drive is similarly easy etc, they've clearly improved the driver architecture.
C. Most of my applications and data transferred over with no issues.
So its a toss up. The lack of stability is the real killer though and certainly adds to the discomfort level as you never know for sure that when you turn it off you can get it back on again. If it was stable with a few issues is one thing, the instability however is not giving me warm feelings toward Vista 64.
Unfortunately he's not building custom machines anymore and he gave me a few suggestions as to what to get.
I end up purchasing an HP Pavilion, AMD Athlon dual core with 4gb ram, 500 GB hard drive and a monitor that came with the package that is ridiculously big in size. Looks nice. It also comes with Vista 64 Home Premium on board. So far so good.
Plug it in and go, and we start having problems:
1. Adobe flash player if installed as a plugin to Firefox 3.0.1, or even downloaded direct from Adobe's website and then installed crashes Vista completely - we're talking the black screen of death, Vista repair runs and removes it and the computer restarts. This was not a fluke as I tried it multiple times and same result each time - install flash player and the computer gets it. Interestingly, and weirdly enough, flash player exists and works just fine in IE with no ill effects and it is not removed in the repair. Since I really like Firefox, this is a major annoyance.
2. Thunderbird - Vista seems to pluck Thunderbird's feathers, I install it, copy over the mail, and it looks like its working, after some tweaking. I then upgrade Thunderbird from 0.7.2 to the latest version and it stops working cold. Still have not resolved this one and my mail archive is stuck in it, which is not good.
3. Vista 64 is not backward compatible with a lot of my programs - my old, paid off, lovingly functional Photoshop 7 and Premiere 6.5 will not work so I'm going to eventually have to buy replacements for what was some darn nice and comfy software, and I hesitate to try and install my old reliable Microsoft Office 2000.
Thankfully Canon is on the ball and their camera software has an upgrade you can download as the software that comes with the SD1000 flips out on Vista 64, so that critical bit works for the pictures at least.
4. Every so often Vista does an automatic update of some Microsoft Vista or related product in the background and without notice, the machine restarts and bamn - back to the black screen of death with a required manual shutdown, windows repair and it sometimes repairs it and sometimes it takes everything short of lethal force to get it back to rights. I can find no log entries of these errors so it is a pain to track down what is causing it. In short this operating system is way less stable that XP and that is simply unacceptable and aggravating.
On the upside:
A. It is much, much faster than my old machine. I can actually multitask without slowing everything to a crawl. Working with video I've shot is a lot quicker. There is a real speed difference and it seems to handle memory leacks much better.
B. Installation of hardware is real nice, great ability to pull drivers, my Suunto Vyper Dive computer USB cable was recognized no problem, which is a huge improvement over the install process for it in XP. Wireless setup is a snap, adding peripherals like the camera, USB Hard drive is similarly easy etc, they've clearly improved the driver architecture.
C. Most of my applications and data transferred over with no issues.
So its a toss up. The lack of stability is the real killer though and certainly adds to the discomfort level as you never know for sure that when you turn it off you can get it back on again. If it was stable with a few issues is one thing, the instability however is not giving me warm feelings toward Vista 64.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Democrats Panicking over Palin
McCain made an inspired choice when he selected Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential candidate.
In one fell swoop he energized Republicans and made them excited about the campaign, after being unenthusiastic having McCain the ultra-moderate in charge. He not only succeeded in exciting Republicans and naming a very capable first woman as the first vice presidential candidate of the two major parties, but he also was able to have the Democrats collectively and figuratively wet their pants in panic.
An erudite, capable, conservative and Republican woman? suddenly Barack's "safe" and uninspired choice of business-as-democrat-usual Joe Biden lost its appeal and any gains Biden brought to the ticket were well and truly blasted away. Democrats see the race, which is by any reasoned analysis theirs to lose, beginnning to well, lose.
This of course brought out a series of quite nasty attacks on Palin.
One of the stranger attacks was brought by Michigan Governor Granholm's husband Dan Mulhern after stating "This girl is going to go through a lot and does she know what she's putting her family through". -- The old women with kids should stay at home canard -- brought to you by a Democrat no less. And not just any Democrat -- as noted by Michigan Republican chair Saul Anuzis "One wonders if Dan Mulhern forgot the fact that he's only got a job because he's married to the governor, who also happens to be a working mom," Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis said. Oops. Its funny that it is the Republicans that are "breaking the glass ceiling" so to speak and the Dems, the self-proclaimed party of feminism that is coming forth with all the old chauvinist remarks.
For a darn good analysis of the reasons why the Dems are losing it over Palin. See this article by Victor Davis Hanson (who not only is a great commentator but is a fantastic classical historian -- if you like ancient history his books are must-read material) -- Works and Days: Target Palin.
This election just got interesting.
In one fell swoop he energized Republicans and made them excited about the campaign, after being unenthusiastic having McCain the ultra-moderate in charge. He not only succeeded in exciting Republicans and naming a very capable first woman as the first vice presidential candidate of the two major parties, but he also was able to have the Democrats collectively and figuratively wet their pants in panic.
An erudite, capable, conservative and Republican woman? suddenly Barack's "safe" and uninspired choice of business-as-democrat-usual Joe Biden lost its appeal and any gains Biden brought to the ticket were well and truly blasted away. Democrats see the race, which is by any reasoned analysis theirs to lose, beginnning to well, lose.
This of course brought out a series of quite nasty attacks on Palin.
One of the stranger attacks was brought by Michigan Governor Granholm's husband Dan Mulhern after stating "This girl is going to go through a lot and does she know what she's putting her family through". -- The old women with kids should stay at home canard -- brought to you by a Democrat no less. And not just any Democrat -- as noted by Michigan Republican chair Saul Anuzis "One wonders if Dan Mulhern forgot the fact that he's only got a job because he's married to the governor, who also happens to be a working mom," Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis said. Oops. Its funny that it is the Republicans that are "breaking the glass ceiling" so to speak and the Dems, the self-proclaimed party of feminism that is coming forth with all the old chauvinist remarks.
For a darn good analysis of the reasons why the Dems are losing it over Palin. See this article by Victor Davis Hanson (who not only is a great commentator but is a fantastic classical historian -- if you like ancient history his books are must-read material) -- Works and Days: Target Palin.
This election just got interesting.
Friday, September 05, 2008
How em-Bear-rasing!
It must suck to be a pot-grower, especially in this situation. You put all that time into developing a major pot growing operation and a Black bear chases you away. Dude . . . . . (Must have been a Boulder U student pot growing operation):
Black bear busts secret Utah pot farm
Apparently that Bear now has a serious case of the munchies....
Black bear busts secret Utah pot farm
Investigators say a large black bear raided a clandestine marijuana growing operation so often that it chased the grower away.
...
Deputies found food containers ripped apart and strewn everywhere, cans with bear teeth marks, claw marks and bear prints across the Garfield County camp on Tuesday.
...the operation on Boulder Mountain included 4,000 "starter" sacks of pot and 888 young plants.
"This particular bear apparently was not going to give up and basically chased these marijuana farmers away," (Sheriff) Perkins said. "Our county is so tough on drugs that even the wildlife are getting in on the action."
Apparently that Bear now has a serious case of the munchies....
Monday, September 01, 2008
Labor Day Weekend Saturday - Wreck Dives
On Saturday we awoke at 4:30 and piled in the car and were on the road by 5.
After stopping at an open diner in a small town on the way for a filling breakfast we drove into port Sanilac and the marina nice an early .
Once again we went with Rec and Tec Dive Charters - simply the best.
We first dove the North Star. A steel steamship that was 300' long. It was built in 1888 in Cleveland, OH. The ship is in two pieces but lies in an upright position. The pilot house is intact. The wreck is located about 5.5 miles SE of Port Sanilac and 10 miles NE of Lexington. The ship sank in 1908, after a collision with its sister ship the Northern Queen.
Visibility was bad, about 10 feet or so for this dive and my camera does not yet have external strobes so the pictures did not come out well at all.
Lagniappe's Keeper had a little issue and we had to break the dive off early and get back to the boat. A nice wreck and I hope to return again when there is better visibility to truly appreciate its enormity.
After a surface interval we went to the Regina. I had first dove the Regina earlier in the year.
This time we had company on the wreck -
Quite a few other dive boats came by to dive the wreck and after our surface interval we headed on down.
The visibility was considerably worse than it was back in May, again about 10-20 feet or so. There was also a nice current flowing from the stern towards the bow so getting back to the boat anchored on the stern (by the rudder for you non-nautical types out there) after the dive took a bit of work.
The dive however was worth it.
Here's Lagniappe's Keeper by the wondefully huge propellor and rudder of the ship.
Here he is right above the rudder -
A porthole by the stern -
We also checked out the huge smokestack lying beside the ship and peeered into the great crack in the ship's hull.
Here I am hanging out -
After making our way kicking back to the stern thought the very visible current (particles in the water were really flying by, sadly opposite to the direction we wanted to go) we did our nice slow ascent and returned on board without incident. A great way to end the day.
Simply an excellent couple of wreck dives,Rec and Tec has never disappointed yet. On the charter we met some very nice divers from the Ford Sea Lancers Dive Club that had the other 8 of ten spots on this trip. A good bunch of divers to be in the water alongside with.
Then the long trip back to my house for a festive BBQ with the family and folks.
After stopping at an open diner in a small town on the way for a filling breakfast we drove into port Sanilac and the marina nice an early .
Once again we went with Rec and Tec Dive Charters - simply the best.
We first dove the North Star. A steel steamship that was 300' long. It was built in 1888 in Cleveland, OH. The ship is in two pieces but lies in an upright position. The pilot house is intact. The wreck is located about 5.5 miles SE of Port Sanilac and 10 miles NE of Lexington. The ship sank in 1908, after a collision with its sister ship the Northern Queen.
Visibility was bad, about 10 feet or so for this dive and my camera does not yet have external strobes so the pictures did not come out well at all.
Lagniappe's Keeper had a little issue and we had to break the dive off early and get back to the boat. A nice wreck and I hope to return again when there is better visibility to truly appreciate its enormity.
After a surface interval we went to the Regina. I had first dove the Regina earlier in the year.
This time we had company on the wreck -
Quite a few other dive boats came by to dive the wreck and after our surface interval we headed on down.
The visibility was considerably worse than it was back in May, again about 10-20 feet or so. There was also a nice current flowing from the stern towards the bow so getting back to the boat anchored on the stern (by the rudder for you non-nautical types out there) after the dive took a bit of work.
The dive however was worth it.
Here's Lagniappe's Keeper by the wondefully huge propellor and rudder of the ship.
Here he is right above the rudder -
A porthole by the stern -
We also checked out the huge smokestack lying beside the ship and peeered into the great crack in the ship's hull.
Here I am hanging out -
After making our way kicking back to the stern thought the very visible current (particles in the water were really flying by, sadly opposite to the direction we wanted to go) we did our nice slow ascent and returned on board without incident. A great way to end the day.
Simply an excellent couple of wreck dives,Rec and Tec has never disappointed yet. On the charter we met some very nice divers from the Ford Sea Lancers Dive Club that had the other 8 of ten spots on this trip. A good bunch of divers to be in the water alongside with.
Then the long trip back to my house for a festive BBQ with the family and folks.
Labor Day Weekend Friday
Took off work early as Lagniappe's Keeper came into town from far off West Virginia.
This meant it would be a weekend of shooting, diving, drinking and general catching up.
Lagniappe's Keeper brought his toys with him:
Yes we got to shoot the 1919, and there was much rejoicing, as well as bullets whizzing downrange and copious gunsmoke. His malfunctioning dehumidifier suffered the wrath of 30-06. At the range someone had thoughtfully left some kevlar armor panels, and they impressively actually did hold up against machinegun fire quite nicely from about a hundred yards away --- for awhile -- which was quite impressive. Eventually however it succumbed and will plague him no more, indeed the dehumidifier ended up well air conditioned.
I had my Uzi and took my new CMMG AR15 with my new Meprolight reflex sight out for the first time. The Meprolight reflex is simply amazing. It is Israeli designed, and it shows. All you do is put the dot on the target and it is hit. Quick target acquisition, excellent accuracy and my first serious optic -- Highly recommended.
Lagniappe's keeper also brough this new #5 MK1 Jungle Carbine, which was lots of fun to shoot and proved to be a nice handy accurate rifle firing the powerful 303 British cartridge.
Of course all that shooting meant a lot of cleaning so once home we cleaned the rifles well, while sipping upon adult beverages and watching Season 1 of Burn Notice - a real good show.
Lots of fun and then we prepped for the wreck dives set for Saturday.
This meant it would be a weekend of shooting, diving, drinking and general catching up.
Lagniappe's Keeper brought his toys with him:
Yes we got to shoot the 1919, and there was much rejoicing, as well as bullets whizzing downrange and copious gunsmoke. His malfunctioning dehumidifier suffered the wrath of 30-06. At the range someone had thoughtfully left some kevlar armor panels, and they impressively actually did hold up against machinegun fire quite nicely from about a hundred yards away --- for awhile -- which was quite impressive. Eventually however it succumbed and will plague him no more, indeed the dehumidifier ended up well air conditioned.
I had my Uzi and took my new CMMG AR15 with my new Meprolight reflex sight out for the first time. The Meprolight reflex is simply amazing. It is Israeli designed, and it shows. All you do is put the dot on the target and it is hit. Quick target acquisition, excellent accuracy and my first serious optic -- Highly recommended.
Lagniappe's keeper also brough this new #5 MK1 Jungle Carbine, which was lots of fun to shoot and proved to be a nice handy accurate rifle firing the powerful 303 British cartridge.
Of course all that shooting meant a lot of cleaning so once home we cleaned the rifles well, while sipping upon adult beverages and watching Season 1 of Burn Notice - a real good show.
Lots of fun and then we prepped for the wreck dives set for Saturday.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Unthinkable - A vital book worth thinking about
Amanda Ripley's book The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why is a very readable, and very important book indeed.
The book discusses human reactions to disaster scenarios, and the effect these reactions have to survival in a disaster situation.
The book goes through multiple historical disasters - fires. floods, plane crashes, terorrist attacks and analyze ordinary people's response to the events.
An interesting analysis is her writing on why it takes so long for people to evacuate from dangerous ocations such as a fire or plane crash. Human activity, combined with a lack of training and education of the general public for what to do in such an event explains it.
General human response when untrained to a sudden disaster is to mill around and get confirmation from others that it is happening and generally slowly react to the situation. Of course this is the wrong thing to do, but that's how it works.
I can confirm that reaction is darn slow, and I reacted exactly as she describes in her book - the wrong way.
At work earlier this year the fire alarm went off.
Did all of us immediately move towards the exits and get out of the building? (the right thing to do if there is a fire).
Nope, we milled around, exactly as Ms. Ripley describes others reacting in her book, conferring with each other to see if it was real or not.
Then most of us went to our offices and gathered some belongings - again exactly as she describes how most people would react.
Given that I actually smelled smoke I got out of there faster than most (but still relatively glacially slow), meeting the firemen going in as I was going out.
Many others came out long after the very small fire in a downstairs office was put out. Thankfully it was not a real disaster and was very contained, but it certainly could have been lots worse.
The firm had not conducted a full-scale fire drill before and we still do not practice one.
After reading the book I'm now a bit better educated and prepared and the next time the fire alarm rings -- I'm outta here quick and will tell co-workers its time to go as well.
Ms. Ripley properly castigates the lack of real education the public is given regarding disaster preparedness. Apparently the government and others (for example the airlines in regards to airplane evacuations) do not want us really informed as they think we'll panic. The problem is that panic occurs when you do not know what to do. Informing the public about disaster preparedness and effective reactions to disasters will most likely save a lot of lives. In dealing with a fire for example you don't want to waste time searching for the stairs if you're on an upper floor - you should know where they are and where the alternate exits are.
As an aside, there's an interesting disaster quiz that can be taken at the NY Times, and much of the info it contains seems drawn from Ripley's book.
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Whyis well written and very well worth reading, after all the life saved as a result may be your own or your loved ones.
is a very readable, and very important book indeed.The book discusses human reactions to disaster scenarios, and the effect these reactions have to survival in a disaster situation.
The book goes through multiple historical disasters - fires. floods, plane crashes, terorrist attacks and analyze ordinary people's response to the events.
An interesting analysis is her writing on why it takes so long for people to evacuate from dangerous ocations such as a fire or plane crash. Human activity, combined with a lack of training and education of the general public for what to do in such an event explains it.
General human response when untrained to a sudden disaster is to mill around and get confirmation from others that it is happening and generally slowly react to the situation. Of course this is the wrong thing to do, but that's how it works.
I can confirm that reaction is darn slow, and I reacted exactly as she describes in her book - the wrong way.
At work earlier this year the fire alarm went off.
Did all of us immediately move towards the exits and get out of the building? (the right thing to do if there is a fire).
Nope, we milled around, exactly as Ms. Ripley describes others reacting in her book, conferring with each other to see if it was real or not.
Then most of us went to our offices and gathered some belongings - again exactly as she describes how most people would react.
Given that I actually smelled smoke I got out of there faster than most (but still relatively glacially slow), meeting the firemen going in as I was going out.
Many others came out long after the very small fire in a downstairs office was put out. Thankfully it was not a real disaster and was very contained, but it certainly could have been lots worse.
The firm had not conducted a full-scale fire drill before and we still do not practice one.
After reading the book I'm now a bit better educated and prepared and the next time the fire alarm rings -- I'm outta here quick and will tell co-workers its time to go as well.
Ms. Ripley properly castigates the lack of real education the public is given regarding disaster preparedness. Apparently the government and others (for example the airlines in regards to airplane evacuations) do not want us really informed as they think we'll panic. The problem is that panic occurs when you do not know what to do. Informing the public about disaster preparedness and effective reactions to disasters will most likely save a lot of lives. In dealing with a fire for example you don't want to waste time searching for the stairs if you're on an upper floor - you should know where they are and where the alternate exits are.
As an aside, there's an interesting disaster quiz that can be taken at the NY Times, and much of the info it contains seems drawn from Ripley's book.
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why
is well written and very well worth reading, after all the life saved as a result may be your own or your loved ones.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Portage Quarry Dive Report and Video
Last Sunday, Jerry and I went to Portage Quarry in Ohio where we met up with his friends Gary and his daughter Erika, two new scuba divers, we did a total of four practice dives, just working on skills and trying to get the kinks out.
In short I generally looked pretty terrible the whole time but got some on video and at least know what is wrong, how to fix it is a whole other question but I will keep working on it.
Thankfully Jerry got a little bit of video of me looking at least slightly acceptable:
Jerry of course has a much better control in the water than I:
All in all, not a bad bit of practice, and a fun way to spend a Sunday.
In short I generally looked pretty terrible the whole time but got some on video and at least know what is wrong, how to fix it is a whole other question but I will keep working on it.
Thankfully Jerry got a little bit of video of me looking at least slightly acceptable:
Jerry of course has a much better control in the water than I:
All in all, not a bad bit of practice, and a fun way to spend a Sunday.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Mexican Troops cross into US and temporarily hold Border Patrol Agent
Apparently they failed to stop and ask for directions.
Mexican Soldiers Enter Arizona, Briefly Detain Border Agent
You would think Mexican troops would be a little bit more careful about their location, not to mention pointing weapons at US Agents. On the other hand, given our lack of a no-nonsense response to these continuing indignities they must fiugure they can get away with it.
Mexican Soldiers Enter Arizona, Briefly Detain Border Agent
TUCSON, Ariz. — Four Mexican soldiers crossed into Arizona and held a U.S. Border Patrol agent at gunpoint before realizing where they were and returning to Mexico, federal authorities said Wednesday.
The confrontation occurred early Sunday on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, about 85 miles southwest of Tucson, in an area fenced only with barbed wire, said Dove Crawford, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol.
The soldiers, outfitted in desert camouflage, pointed their rifles at the agent and shouted at him not to move, Crawford said. They lowered their weapons after about four minutes when the agent convinced them of who he was and where they were, she said. The soldiers then retreated into Mexico.
. . .
State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos in Washington said the encounter "stemmed from a momentary misunderstanding as to the exact location of the U.S.-Mexican border."
You would think Mexican troops would be a little bit more careful about their location, not to mention pointing weapons at US Agents. On the other hand, given our lack of a no-nonsense response to these continuing indignities they must fiugure they can get away with it.
Islamists trying to prod a sleeping Dragon
Never a smart idea, that.
Chinese Islamic Group Threatens Attack at Beijing Olympics
That would be rather a short-sighted and likely life-shortening move. Given that China and its rulers would suffer a severe loss of face if such an attack took place, and given that China is not so constrained by human rights concerns as in the west, such an attack could lead to the Dragon awakening and putting a severe smack-down on Muslims in its territory.
Indeed such an attack may even cause China to reconsider its close relationships with Sudan, Iran and other Muslim countries that it is currently using to develop a counter-balance to the USA as China starts playing the great power game.
Chinese Islamic Group Threatens Attack at Beijing Olympics
That would be rather a short-sighted and likely life-shortening move. Given that China and its rulers would suffer a severe loss of face if such an attack took place, and given that China is not so constrained by human rights concerns as in the west, such an attack could lead to the Dragon awakening and putting a severe smack-down on Muslims in its territory.
Indeed such an attack may even cause China to reconsider its close relationships with Sudan, Iran and other Muslim countries that it is currently using to develop a counter-balance to the USA as China starts playing the great power game.
Detroit Mayor off to the slammer for violating his bond
Kwame Kilpatrick gets to spend some time with some of his constituents - up close and personal.
FoxNews:Detroit mayor ordered jailed after bond violation
This was his second bond violation and it led to the Judge, quite properly, ordering some jail time.
The problem with people in powerful positions is that they think they do not have to abide by the rules laid out for everyone. That belief leads them to do rather stupid things - in Kwame's case violating the terms of his bond order.
Now hizzoner the Mayor will get some privileges due to his exalted public status - a separate cell and not being introduced into the general population of the jail. Given the charges pending against him, he may want to get used to it.
FoxNews:Detroit mayor ordered jailed after bond violation
This was his second bond violation and it led to the Judge, quite properly, ordering some jail time.
The problem with people in powerful positions is that they think they do not have to abide by the rules laid out for everyone. That belief leads them to do rather stupid things - in Kwame's case violating the terms of his bond order.
Now hizzoner the Mayor will get some privileges due to his exalted public status - a separate cell and not being introduced into the general population of the jail. Given the charges pending against him, he may want to get used to it.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Now that's arrogance
Apparently it really runs in the Kilpatrick family.
In the primaries, it seems that Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick won her primary race, not by the majority of votes, but by having the good fortune (or good planning) to have two opponents splitting the vote against her.
The Detroit News: Kilpatrick declares victory in 13th District race; rival Waters doesn't concede
With 39% of the Democrat vote in the Primary in her favor statement is rather breathtaking:
Now we know where Kwame gets it from....
In the primaries, it seems that Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick won her primary race, not by the majority of votes, but by having the good fortune (or good planning) to have two opponents splitting the vote against her.
The Detroit News: Kilpatrick declares victory in 13th District race; rival Waters doesn't concede
With 39% of the Democrat vote in the Primary in her favor statement is rather breathtaking:
"I will be your congresswoman ... until I decide to retire," Kilpatrick told supporters just before 1 a.m.Not "For as long as you want me", Not "as long as i can serve you" but She said "until I decide to retire". Given that its a lock-box Democrat district, she's probably right that she is a "Congresswoman-for life". But the arrogance is quite revealing.
Now we know where Kwame gets it from....
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Voted in the Primary Today
Yes, today was Michigan's State Primary.
So I went off to vote.
As a Democrat.
What happened I hear you asking? The reason being in the Township where I live is currently run by Democrats, and two of them are pushing an unconstitutional ordinance that would severely curtail riparian rights and access to the lakes by non-shoreline owners that have easement access or jointly owned boat launches.
This is of course a retroactive taking that is quite unconstitutional, and they are doing it at the behest of a developer that happens to have some nice waterfront property and doesn't want others to access the lakes, especially not the people who have an easement that is beside his property.
Of course the ordinance as proposed doesn't just affect the few people who have an access easement beside his property - it would affect the entire township, including my subdivisions jointly-owned boat basin and launch and basically legislate it out of existence.
Thus are the politics of pull played with the little tinpot Democrat officials working at the behest of the few wealthy squeaky wheels (or in this case the one) and by result trampling over everyone's property rights. So much for being the party of the common man against the rich (Did anyone really believe that?)
As such I needed to vote against these two proponents and the best way was to vote for their competitors in the primary. With luck they've annoyed enough other people that this might work, and we'll end up with better (or at least more careful) township government.
After voting I left the booth and was feeling a little strange.
I immediately felt an urge to vote to raise taxes on everyone else.....
I got better though.
UPDATE: Apparently they both annoyed a lot of people. Both were handily beaten by their opponents -- One by 63% and the other by 64%. Hopefully their successors got the message.
So I went off to vote.
As a Democrat.
What happened I hear you asking? The reason being in the Township where I live is currently run by Democrats, and two of them are pushing an unconstitutional ordinance that would severely curtail riparian rights and access to the lakes by non-shoreline owners that have easement access or jointly owned boat launches.
This is of course a retroactive taking that is quite unconstitutional, and they are doing it at the behest of a developer that happens to have some nice waterfront property and doesn't want others to access the lakes, especially not the people who have an easement that is beside his property.
Of course the ordinance as proposed doesn't just affect the few people who have an access easement beside his property - it would affect the entire township, including my subdivisions jointly-owned boat basin and launch and basically legislate it out of existence.
Thus are the politics of pull played with the little tinpot Democrat officials working at the behest of the few wealthy squeaky wheels (or in this case the one) and by result trampling over everyone's property rights. So much for being the party of the common man against the rich (Did anyone really believe that?)
As such I needed to vote against these two proponents and the best way was to vote for their competitors in the primary. With luck they've annoyed enough other people that this might work, and we'll end up with better (or at least more careful) township government.
After voting I left the booth and was feeling a little strange.
I immediately felt an urge to vote to raise taxes on everyone else.....
I got better though.
UPDATE: Apparently they both annoyed a lot of people. Both were handily beaten by their opponents -- One by 63% and the other by 64%. Hopefully their successors got the message.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Firefly for $17.99
If you haven't heard, or checked the left side of the screen on this blog, Amazon.com is having a nice sale for the Firefly complete 4 disc series. That's a good 64% off the regular price.
Since everyone should own a copy of this fine show, if only to enjoy it in all its greatness while lamenting how Fox messed up and mis-showed it and then canceled it before its time, go ahead and buy it if you don't have it already.
You won't be disappointed, except for the knowledge that there is no Second Season.....
Since everyone should own a copy of this fine show, if only to enjoy it in all its greatness while lamenting how Fox messed up and mis-showed it and then canceled it before its time, go ahead and buy it if you don't have it already.
You won't be disappointed, except for the knowledge that there is no Second Season.....
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Now Obama wants Michigan to be counted
When it doesn't mean anything of course....
Detroit News: Obama: Give Michigan delegates full vote
Let's see if he fools the rubes with this maneuver or not.
Detroit News: Obama: Give Michigan delegates full vote
arack Obama followed through Sunday on a pledge to give Michigan a full voice at the Democratic National Convention, asking the party to restore full voting rights to delegations from Michigan and Florida.When Michigan and Florida were going for Hilary in the primary he fought to shut the states out at all costs. Now when he needs them in the general election he's hoping he can bring the states back in and act ll magnanimous and the Democrat voters will forget how he shunned them when their votes mattered.
"I ask that the Credentials Committee ... pass a resolution that would entitle each delegate from Florida and Michigan to cast a full vote," Obama wrote in a letter released Sunday.
Obama wrote that he was making the request, to the three co-chairs of the convention's Credentials Committee, in the interest of unifying Democrats for the fall election.
Let's see if he fools the rubes with this maneuver or not.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
In the UK - Diving for Tanks
An impressive find of D-Day tanks in the waters off of England:
Divers look to solve sunken tanks mystery
A very neat find indeed, and it goes to show how much of historical value yet lies beneath the waves waiting for a diver to find it.
The Centaur Tank was designed by the Royal Marines for close marine infantry support and mounted a 95mm howitzer.
Here's a pic of a Centaur:
An interesting and very rare find.
Hat Tip: The Drawn Cutlass.
Divers look to solve sunken tanks mystery
A diving club is set to find out whether Second World War tanks found on
the seabed are two of only four left in the world.
On Saturday Southsea Sub-Aqua Club will send divers down to take
pictures and video footage of what they think are Centaur CS IV tanks.
And during the dive they will also try to work out the mystery of how
they were lost, given there is no shipwreck nearby.
The tanks, assigned to the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group, lie
eight miles off East Wittering, West Sussex.
They were part of an 80-strong contingent bound for France on D-Day but
sank in mysterious circumstances.
. .. .
Alison Mayor, who is leading the diving team, said: 'It's a real puzzle
how the tanks and bulldozers came to rest so far off shore when there is
no shipwreck nearby.
'These war machines are of significant interest, and we hope to find
clues to solve the mystery of how and when they sank.'
. . .
The rusting tanks lie with two bulldozers and a field gun, but no ship.
The bulldozers are believed to be armoured Caterpillar bulldozers, used
by the 79th Armoured Division of the British Army - there are no known
surviving bulldozers of this type.
A very neat find indeed, and it goes to show how much of historical value yet lies beneath the waves waiting for a diver to find it.
The Centaur Tank was designed by the Royal Marines for close marine infantry support and mounted a 95mm howitzer.
Here's a pic of a Centaur:
An interesting and very rare find.
Hat Tip: The Drawn Cutlass.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
As the US comes to the table the Iranians stall
And the US State Department looks like a bunch of pikers yet again.
Iran nuclear talks stall -- even with U.S. at table
No wonder US diplomacy is the laughingstock of the world.
Iran nuclear talks stall -- even with U.S. at table
GENEVA -- A U.S. decision to bend policy and sit down with Iran at nuclear talks fizzled Saturday, with Iran stonewalling Washington and five other world powers on their call to freeze uranium enrichment.After backing away from a pledge not to negotiate directly with Iran, the Department of Islam Appeasement (oops sorry I meant the State Department), they get shown that Iran wasn't really serious about negotiating and now the US is shown to have given in to a demand and received nothing in retunrn.
In response, the six gave Iran two weeks to respond to their demand, setting the stage for a new round of U.N. sanctions.
Iran's refusal to consider suspending enrichment was an indirect slap at the United States, which had sent Undersecretary of State William Burns to the talks in hopes the first-time American presence would encourage Tehran into making concessions.
Officials and diplomats refused to characterize the timeframe as an ultimatum, but it appeared clear that Iran now has a de-facto deadline to show flexibility.
No wonder US diplomacy is the laughingstock of the world.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Terrorist scum released by Israel get heroes welcome from Lebanese
Israel certainly does not live in a nice neighborhood.
Just look at the heroes welcome cop-killer and child murderer Samir Kuntar received in Lebanon today. Greeted by a crowd of thousands cheering this scum on.
Thousands cheer 5 released Lebanese militants
Not only by Hezballah, but also by the "moderate" Lebanese Government.
This is who and what they are cheering for:(From Wikipedia by way of the Volokh Conspiracy)
Animals. My sympathy for the non-Hezballah people of Lebanon just dropped a lot. For all their talk of being pro-western, when it comes to killing Jews thye have no problem uniting with Hezballah. The next time Hezballah kidnaps Israelis and sparks off another way, these people will have to live with the consequences.
Just look at the heroes welcome cop-killer and child murderer Samir Kuntar received in Lebanon today. Greeted by a crowd of thousands cheering this scum on.
Thousands cheer 5 released Lebanese militants
Not only by Hezballah, but also by the "moderate" Lebanese Government.
"Your return is a new victory," President Michel Suleiman told the freed men as he stood in combat fatigues supplied by Hezbollah in what was meant to display its unending fight against Israel. Suleiman, who was supported by all factions for election to his post, congratulated Hezbollah "for this new achievement."
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, a leader of pro-American factions that had to accept Hezbollah and its allies in a new unity government after the street fighting, did not attend the rally. But he was seen kissing the five freed men in greeting at Beirut airport.
This is who and what they are cheering for:(From Wikipedia by way of the Volokh Conspiracy)
After drowning Danny [the father] in the sea in front of Einat (as Ahmed Al-Brass, Mhanna Salim Al-Muayed, and Abdel Majeed Asslan served as look outs and backup cover for Kuntar), Kuntar turned his attention towards the 4 year-old. He took his rifle and then swung it across the toddler's head, knocking her to the ground. Kuntar then dragged the toddler a couple of feet to the closest rock he could find and laid her head down on a rock, with the intention of crushing it with the butt of his rifle. Einat, instinctively covered her head with her arms, Kuntar struggled with the toddler until he finally managed to clear her arms out of the way. Once her arms were out of the way, Kuntar repeatedly beat her on the head with the butt of his rifle and stomping on her body, until blood rushed out of her ears and mouth. Then, to ensure she was dead, Kuntar continued beating her over the head until her skull was crushed and she was dead.
Animals. My sympathy for the non-Hezballah people of Lebanon just dropped a lot. For all their talk of being pro-western, when it comes to killing Jews thye have no problem uniting with Hezballah. The next time Hezballah kidnaps Israelis and sparks off another way, these people will have to live with the consequences.
Israel makes huge mistake and further weakens its deterrence
Israel in a decision that creates incentives for terrorists to take more hostages, not less made a lousy move in the war on terrorism -- trading live terrorist scum for the bodies of dead soldiers.
Israel originally negotiated with Hizballah to return 5 live terrorists and 199 dead terrorists for what it believed was its two live soldiers kidnapped in 2006 - Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.
Instead it received the dead bodies of both. Israel then stupidly after finding out the soldiers were dead, continued the trade on the original terms.
This creates lousy incentives for Hizballah to continue to kidnap Israelis and kill them -- after all it has no need to keep them alive in order to get back its people alive.
Israel should have returned the five live terrorists in the same condition as they received Regev and Goldwasser - dead -- If only to preserve the lives of Israelis to be held in the future. Right now, Hezballah, and Hamas, the current kidnapper of Cpl Gilad Shalit have no incentive to keep captured Israelis alive - after all, they get back live terrorists regardless of whether they keep up their bargain and keep Israelis alive or if they kill their hostages and send them back dead.
This is a bad deal, and creates all the wrong incentives for terrorists.
Israel originally negotiated with Hizballah to return 5 live terrorists and 199 dead terrorists for what it believed was its two live soldiers kidnapped in 2006 - Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser.
Instead it received the dead bodies of both. Israel then stupidly after finding out the soldiers were dead, continued the trade on the original terms.
This creates lousy incentives for Hizballah to continue to kidnap Israelis and kill them -- after all it has no need to keep them alive in order to get back its people alive.
Israel should have returned the five live terrorists in the same condition as they received Regev and Goldwasser - dead -- If only to preserve the lives of Israelis to be held in the future. Right now, Hezballah, and Hamas, the current kidnapper of Cpl Gilad Shalit have no incentive to keep captured Israelis alive - after all, they get back live terrorists regardless of whether they keep up their bargain and keep Israelis alive or if they kill their hostages and send them back dead.
This is a bad deal, and creates all the wrong incentives for terrorists.
New Survey Puts Detroit First
A survey by a leading bath soap manufacturer has found that Detroit has the highest number of people who have sex in the shower.
86% of Detroiters, the highest response in the nation indicated they had done so.
The other 14% responded they hadn't been to prison yet.
86% of Detroiters, the highest response in the nation indicated they had done so.
The other 14% responded they hadn't been to prison yet.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
North Carolina Vacation 3 - The Battleship North Carolina
On July 5th we visited the BB-55 Battleship North Carolina Memorial.
The 16 inch 3 gun turrets never fail to impress.
The Battleship with a commissioned time in service of only 6 years served with great honor during World War 2, playing a role in almost every one of the Pacific campaigns and earning 15 battle stars.
The ship sank one Japanese troopship and downed at least 24 Japanese planes, as well as participated in 9 pre-invasion bombardments and even bombarded the Japanese mainland, as proudly displayed on her kill board:
10 crewmen were lost in action during the war and 67 wounded. The ship survived a torpedo hit by the Japanese submarine I-19, after which the inadequate antiaircraft armanment was upgraded with more 20mm Oerlikon guns and 40 mm Bofors cannon.
Here's one of the Oerlikons:
And a Bofors quadruple mount:
The memorial also has one Vought Kingfisher aircraft on the stern, one of only 7 of these aircraft in existence worldwide.
The Kingfisher detachment on North Carolina performed quite heroically, picking up downed pilots, including picking up downed airmen under fire in Tokyo Bay.
The after decommissioning, the citizens of North Carolina preserved her, payign the navy $300,000 to keep her as a memorial and she has been proudly at rest, located across the bay from Wilmington ever since, serving not only as a memorial but an educational site for all her visitors to learn about her role in the war and the lives of the crew who sailed her and made her so effective. With so many of the ships from World War Two sent to the scrapyard, her existence is a great display of America's proud history of seapower, well worthy of preservation.
The 16 inch 3 gun turrets never fail to impress.
The Battleship with a commissioned time in service of only 6 years served with great honor during World War 2, playing a role in almost every one of the Pacific campaigns and earning 15 battle stars.
The ship sank one Japanese troopship and downed at least 24 Japanese planes, as well as participated in 9 pre-invasion bombardments and even bombarded the Japanese mainland, as proudly displayed on her kill board:
10 crewmen were lost in action during the war and 67 wounded. The ship survived a torpedo hit by the Japanese submarine I-19, after which the inadequate antiaircraft armanment was upgraded with more 20mm Oerlikon guns and 40 mm Bofors cannon.
Here's one of the Oerlikons:
And a Bofors quadruple mount:
The memorial also has one Vought Kingfisher aircraft on the stern, one of only 7 of these aircraft in existence worldwide.
The Kingfisher detachment on North Carolina performed quite heroically, picking up downed pilots, including picking up downed airmen under fire in Tokyo Bay.
The after decommissioning, the citizens of North Carolina preserved her, payign the navy $300,000 to keep her as a memorial and she has been proudly at rest, located across the bay from Wilmington ever since, serving not only as a memorial but an educational site for all her visitors to learn about her role in the war and the lives of the crew who sailed her and made her so effective. With so many of the ships from World War Two sent to the scrapyard, her existence is a great display of America's proud history of seapower, well worthy of preservation.
North Carolina vacation 2 - Onward to Wilmington
So after the joys of Raleigh we drove to Wilmington on the North Carolina Coast.
Very nice place, historic and charming, with very nice people (there is something to the ideal of the Southern Gentleman - and many in Raleigh and Wilmington more than lived up to the ideal.
Of course this being the 4th of July weekend as soon as we arrived and checked into the hotel (a nice one, with the very last non-smoking room available), we first hit the beach.
The Leah had never seen the Ocean, and Abby didn't really remember the time she saw it as a 2 year old, and they were intimidated by the crashing of the waves.
We came back on the morning of the 4th and the beach was packed.
After the beach we went into town and toured around, seein the many original historic homes there, as Wilmington was lucky in that it was unscathered during the Civil War and the local residents have preserved the exterior looks of the hisotric houses:
We took a horse-drawn carriage tour of Wilmington's historic downtown, and having a horse drawn tour was a real treat for the kids. The horses are rescue horses and treated very well and they seem to enjoy their current occupation.
We walked around the historic downtown, including walking buy the home of James Whistler of Whistler's Mother fame, and then took a boat ride around the harbor.
The great ship on the other side of the harbor caught my eye:
But its the subject of the next day and our next post.
Very nice place, historic and charming, with very nice people (there is something to the ideal of the Southern Gentleman - and many in Raleigh and Wilmington more than lived up to the ideal.
Of course this being the 4th of July weekend as soon as we arrived and checked into the hotel (a nice one, with the very last non-smoking room available), we first hit the beach.
The Leah had never seen the Ocean, and Abby didn't really remember the time she saw it as a 2 year old, and they were intimidated by the crashing of the waves.
We came back on the morning of the 4th and the beach was packed.
After the beach we went into town and toured around, seein the many original historic homes there, as Wilmington was lucky in that it was unscathered during the Civil War and the local residents have preserved the exterior looks of the hisotric houses:
We took a horse-drawn carriage tour of Wilmington's historic downtown, and having a horse drawn tour was a real treat for the kids. The horses are rescue horses and treated very well and they seem to enjoy their current occupation.
We walked around the historic downtown, including walking buy the home of James Whistler of Whistler's Mother fame, and then took a boat ride around the harbor.
The great ship on the other side of the harbor caught my eye:
But its the subject of the next day and our next post.
Thanks Microsoft for knocking me off the Internet
For two days until I figured out why.
The latest Microsoft Update KB951748 conflicts with ZoneAlarm Firewall and prevents access to the internet. -- ping worked, showing there was connectivity, but no email or web browser could establish a connection.
Of course without a connection to the Internet I couldn't figure this out and Comcast didn't realize this until this afternoon as well, when a message on its helpline clued me in.
The update also seems to mess with registry settings, such as turning back on the autorun setting on your CD/DVD drive, reopening up a nice security hole that I had closed.
Thanks so much Microsoft.
For those still suffering from thsi but accessing from another computer to find a solution, the fix is to reduce Zonealarm security to medium, go to zonealarm.com and download the latest update and then after installation put your security setting back up.
I should add that Check Point, maker of ZoneAlarm moved real quickly with a fix to this problem and certainly has endeared me to their great customer support. Nicely done Check Point.
The latest Microsoft Update KB951748 conflicts with ZoneAlarm Firewall and prevents access to the internet. -- ping worked, showing there was connectivity, but no email or web browser could establish a connection.
Of course without a connection to the Internet I couldn't figure this out and Comcast didn't realize this until this afternoon as well, when a message on its helpline clued me in.
The update also seems to mess with registry settings, such as turning back on the autorun setting on your CD/DVD drive, reopening up a nice security hole that I had closed.
Thanks so much Microsoft.
For those still suffering from thsi but accessing from another computer to find a solution, the fix is to reduce Zonealarm security to medium, go to zonealarm.com and download the latest update and then after installation put your security setting back up.
I should add that Check Point, maker of ZoneAlarm moved real quickly with a fix to this problem and certainly has endeared me to their great customer support. Nicely done Check Point.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Nothin' could be finer than North Carolina in the Summer
So for our 4th of July trek we decided to go and explore North Carolina for a week. Time for an all-American road trip, and the first time going as a family to somewhere other than Toronto, and North Carolina was it.
We had never been there and had heard lots of good things about the state, and it lived up to its reputation.
So we piled the kids in the van and headed south eastwards,as we pulled out of the driveway, Abby asked "are we there yet?", but at least she wasn't bored -- yet.
Through, Ohio, and through Ohio and through Ohio - that's a long state when you're driving through it -- Abby became super double bored. This was bad.
Then into West Virginia.
West Virginia is miles more scenic than Ohio, but we got hit that night around Parkersburg with a rainstorm that would not quit, and we pulled off the highway into a hotel that gave meaning to the term any port in a storm. (Its a bad thing when the hotel rating is in roaches not stars but beggars cannot be choosers).
On the road again that morning we crossed into Virginia and then North Carolina. The kids were pretty good with the ride, but even without the rain we would have had to stop for the night as you can't keep them in a car for 12 hours.
North Carolina was nice and warm and everyone was quite friendly. We began by looking around the Raleigh/Durham area and enjoying exquisitely excellent barbecue at a restaurant called Danny's - truly a fantastic place to dine.
The hotel at our first stop in NC, the Comfort Suites Inn in Cary was tons better than our Parkersburg stop, having hot breakfast every day as part of the stay and a pool. Leah at 22 months can now pronounce pool with excitement, emphasis and lots of insistence.
We also went to Pullen Park in South Raleigh where we took the kids on the carousel, mini-boat ride, a train ride and pedal boat rides.
We had never been there and had heard lots of good things about the state, and it lived up to its reputation.
So we piled the kids in the van and headed south eastwards,as we pulled out of the driveway, Abby asked "are we there yet?", but at least she wasn't bored -- yet.
Through, Ohio, and through Ohio and through Ohio - that's a long state when you're driving through it -- Abby became super double bored. This was bad.
Then into West Virginia.
West Virginia is miles more scenic than Ohio, but we got hit that night around Parkersburg with a rainstorm that would not quit, and we pulled off the highway into a hotel that gave meaning to the term any port in a storm. (Its a bad thing when the hotel rating is in roaches not stars but beggars cannot be choosers).
On the road again that morning we crossed into Virginia and then North Carolina. The kids were pretty good with the ride, but even without the rain we would have had to stop for the night as you can't keep them in a car for 12 hours.
North Carolina was nice and warm and everyone was quite friendly. We began by looking around the Raleigh/Durham area and enjoying exquisitely excellent barbecue at a restaurant called Danny's - truly a fantastic place to dine.
The hotel at our first stop in NC, the Comfort Suites Inn in Cary was tons better than our Parkersburg stop, having hot breakfast every day as part of the stay and a pool. Leah at 22 months can now pronounce pool with excitement, emphasis and lots of insistence.
We also went to Pullen Park in South Raleigh where we took the kids on the carousel, mini-boat ride, a train ride and pedal boat rides.
Here's the train:
I then got a chance to go Scuba diving with some excellent DIR divers from North Carolina, who graciously showed me around the Fantasy Lake Quarry which was delighfully warm -- 77 degrees under the thermocline and in the 80s above.
After a few glorious days looking around the RDU/Chapel Hill/Cary area we went on to Wilmington for the 4th.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Marathon's Detroit refinery gets go-ahead to expand
And about time too.
From the Detroit Free Press: Marathon refinery gets OK to expand, but concerns expressed
Part of the concerns were of course making sure there were jobs for Detroiters - which was given:
There are some concerns about increased emissions, but its in an industrial area, the refinery capacity in the US is badly in need of expansion and Michigan and Detroit in particular is in drastic need of more jobs, which this expansion will provide.
Certainly well past time this was approved, and good luck to Marathon on the expansion.
From the Detroit Free Press: Marathon refinery gets OK to expand, but concerns expressed
Part of the concerns were of course making sure there were jobs for Detroiters - which was given:
Marathon made concessions to improve pollution controls and help the nearby community, including promises of preferential treatment for Detroit residents.
There are some concerns about increased emissions, but its in an industrial area, the refinery capacity in the US is badly in need of expansion and Michigan and Detroit in particular is in drastic need of more jobs, which this expansion will provide.
Certainly well past time this was approved, and good luck to Marathon on the expansion.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
At long last, Power is restored.
While I was at work, the power was restored to our street sometime after 11:00.
Certainly it has been the longest blackout we've experienced -- from last Sunday afternoon to today.
We're now catching up on cleaning, laundry and hot running water showers.
Of course, they're predicting more storms tomorrow so this may very well be the proverbial calm before the storm.
Maybe I'll go take another shower, just in case.
Certainly it has been the longest blackout we've experienced -- from last Sunday afternoon to today.
We're now catching up on cleaning, laundry and hot running water showers.
Of course, they're predicting more storms tomorrow so this may very well be the proverbial calm before the storm.
Maybe I'll go take another shower, just in case.
Day 7 Without Power
Just in case someone took me seriously when I said last one out of Michigan please turn out the lights - you're a wee bit premature, some of us are still here.
We're here, still with no power.
One of our subdivision's resident wags has put up a sign at the entrance to the subdivision.
On one side it reads: We need power.
On the other: Hey DTE you missed us!
On heading out to work this morning, I saw two DTE trucks drive right on past our subdivision. This of course signifies absolutely nothing, but hope springs eternal, especially as laundry piles up.
We're here, still with no power.
One of our subdivision's resident wags has put up a sign at the entrance to the subdivision.
On one side it reads: We need power.
On the other: Hey DTE you missed us!
On heading out to work this morning, I saw two DTE trucks drive right on past our subdivision. This of course signifies absolutely nothing, but hope springs eternal, especially as laundry piles up.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Day 6 Without Power and more rain to mess it up.
It had to happen.
Apparently due to the minor rain storm we have had this morning, we have a new estimate for power restoration instead of Friday at midnight -- it is now:
Sat Jun 14 23:45:00 EDT 2008
Yet another day. This doth suck.
Apparently due to the minor rain storm we have had this morning, we have a new estimate for power restoration instead of Friday at midnight -- it is now:
Yet another day. This doth suck.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Day 5 Without Power - The fun wore off long ago
Actually, I got a shower yesterday at a friend's house with power, which beat bathing in the lake. Of course, I now owe said friend a nice bottle of wine, and it is worth it.
Still no power and its a bit of a pain indeed. We've carried a bucket over to a friends house who is on city water and it is functioning so we go back and forth to get enough to flush toilets, do basic cleaning etc.
I can see the commercial now "for just $10 a day you can provide an Oakland County family with running water....."
No computer, no internet of course, which I can live without at home, and lots of difficulties due to no running water supply, which makes you appreciate what you've got and gets some creativity going for shaving, washing and keeping kids and house clean.
On the upside, with no power, you also get more focus on your family, so thats a plus. Abby at 4 is having a little trouble understanding how the generator makes the lights work, and hates the noise, but is dealing with the loss of power well except for at night when she is a bit afraid of the dark.
DTE's Estimate as to restoration is still Friday at 11:45 pm. My mother-in-law arrives on Friday at 5 pm. This will not be pretty.
Another thing I've found that works real well: Compact Fluorescent Bulbs. The CFLs draw much less power and gives basically the equivalent light of a comparable incandescent so the load on the generator is much lower.
For example, the bathroom used to have two 100 watt bulbs, I had changed them out last week after one burnt out with GE CFLs that each take 26 watts and give off essentially the same amount of light, so I save 148 watts that can be used for other things, like powering the fridge and sump pump.
I've installed similar bulbs around the house already and they make a real difference in power loading with a minor difference in lumination. The only issue is they don't work with dimmer switches and we have quite a few of those, like in the kids rooms, so we just set the light low. Very recommended if you have a generator and want to run your lights while saving watts.
Scott of Providentia recommends I check outThe Lehmans non-electric catalog and nitro-pak.com.
Thanks for the tips, Scott, I'll be checking them both out shortly.
Still no power and its a bit of a pain indeed. We've carried a bucket over to a friends house who is on city water and it is functioning so we go back and forth to get enough to flush toilets, do basic cleaning etc.
I can see the commercial now "for just $10 a day you can provide an Oakland County family with running water....."
No computer, no internet of course, which I can live without at home, and lots of difficulties due to no running water supply, which makes you appreciate what you've got and gets some creativity going for shaving, washing and keeping kids and house clean.
On the upside, with no power, you also get more focus on your family, so thats a plus. Abby at 4 is having a little trouble understanding how the generator makes the lights work, and hates the noise, but is dealing with the loss of power well except for at night when she is a bit afraid of the dark.
DTE's Estimate as to restoration is still Friday at 11:45 pm. My mother-in-law arrives on Friday at 5 pm. This will not be pretty.
Another thing I've found that works real well: Compact Fluorescent Bulbs. The CFLs draw much less power and gives basically the equivalent light of a comparable incandescent so the load on the generator is much lower.
For example, the bathroom used to have two 100 watt bulbs, I had changed them out last week after one burnt out with GE CFLs that each take 26 watts and give off essentially the same amount of light, so I save 148 watts that can be used for other things, like powering the fridge and sump pump.
I've installed similar bulbs around the house already and they make a real difference in power loading with a minor difference in lumination. The only issue is they don't work with dimmer switches and we have quite a few of those, like in the kids rooms, so we just set the light low. Very recommended if you have a generator and want to run your lights while saving watts.
Scott of Providentia recommends I check outThe Lehmans non-electric catalog and nitro-pak.com.
Thanks for the tips, Scott, I'll be checking them both out shortly.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Without power for 4 days and the Saga continues
Last Sunday afternoon, a storm came thorough the area.
Not a bad storm, as far as storms go, with winds up to 80 miles per hour accompanied by some wicked rainfall and some thunder and lightning. This was not a real disaster by any stretch of the imagination.
Unfortunately the storm knocked out power to over 273,000 people in the area and as of today at least 160,000 are still without power.
The current estimate from DTE is that my area will get power back on Friday at 11:45 pm. - over 6 days after the storm struck. I'm not too confident of the estimate, given they underestimated those who were out of power by over 100,000 people.
It is certainly not a strong energy transport infrastructure that can be taken out for almost a week by one relatively minor storm. I had hoped the energy infrastructure people had learned from the 2003 blackout (when we were out of power for 5 days) to make infrastructure more resilient, but that doesn't seem to have trickled down to Oakland County.
On the upside: We had a portable generator that we bought after the 2003 outage.
Downside: It is not working 100% and not putting out enough amps to start the well pump for water. One part is putting out the full and proper 12, the other only 6 instead of 12. So we have some light, the fridge and sump pump work but thats about it. This will be fixed.
Upside: overall the food supplies on hand are adequate and no problem getting to stores for additional supplies. Hand sanitizer rocks and baby wipes, of which we have many on hand, have tons of uses especially when there is no water.
The BBQ with its side burner works like a champ for cooking and reheating food.
Downside:
1. Clear deficiencies in flashlights, our electric lantern (provided as a gift by Lagniappe's Keeper after the 2003 outage) just died when Abby hit the top of it for some 4-year old exuberant reason as yet undetermined -- but certainly without malice aforethought. It was a good lantern but not very resilient we now need another one.
Plus, some flashlights had been hidden by tiny hands so we only had my surefire for awhile to get things going again and to find the other flashlights.
2. Need more hand sanitizer on hand in the emergency box.
3. More stored emergency water, flashlights, and water filter would be good.
4. Need a hand crank radio or such.
5. Need more gasoline on hand. The 7 gallons or so that we had would not be adequate, we semi-occasionally use it to keep it fresh and got caught at a low point below our normally stored 12 gallons.
6. Need more 5 gallon buckets and a funnel.
7. Probably should have a second propane tank on hand for the BBQ.
On the upside this was an opportunity to test and see if we learned anything from the 2003 outage, and it appears we have. Now if we just had water.....
Not a bad storm, as far as storms go, with winds up to 80 miles per hour accompanied by some wicked rainfall and some thunder and lightning. This was not a real disaster by any stretch of the imagination.
Unfortunately the storm knocked out power to over 273,000 people in the area and as of today at least 160,000 are still without power.
The current estimate from DTE is that my area will get power back on Friday at 11:45 pm. - over 6 days after the storm struck. I'm not too confident of the estimate, given they underestimated those who were out of power by over 100,000 people.
It is certainly not a strong energy transport infrastructure that can be taken out for almost a week by one relatively minor storm. I had hoped the energy infrastructure people had learned from the 2003 blackout (when we were out of power for 5 days) to make infrastructure more resilient, but that doesn't seem to have trickled down to Oakland County.
On the upside: We had a portable generator that we bought after the 2003 outage.
Downside: It is not working 100% and not putting out enough amps to start the well pump for water. One part is putting out the full and proper 12, the other only 6 instead of 12. So we have some light, the fridge and sump pump work but thats about it. This will be fixed.
Upside: overall the food supplies on hand are adequate and no problem getting to stores for additional supplies. Hand sanitizer rocks and baby wipes, of which we have many on hand, have tons of uses especially when there is no water.
The BBQ with its side burner works like a champ for cooking and reheating food.
Downside:
1. Clear deficiencies in flashlights, our electric lantern (provided as a gift by Lagniappe's Keeper after the 2003 outage) just died when Abby hit the top of it for some 4-year old exuberant reason as yet undetermined -- but certainly without malice aforethought. It was a good lantern but not very resilient we now need another one.
Plus, some flashlights had been hidden by tiny hands so we only had my surefire for awhile to get things going again and to find the other flashlights.
2. Need more hand sanitizer on hand in the emergency box.
3. More stored emergency water, flashlights, and water filter would be good.
4. Need a hand crank radio or such.
5. Need more gasoline on hand. The 7 gallons or so that we had would not be adequate, we semi-occasionally use it to keep it fresh and got caught at a low point below our normally stored 12 gallons.
6. Need more 5 gallon buckets and a funnel.
7. Probably should have a second propane tank on hand for the BBQ.
On the upside this was an opportunity to test and see if we learned anything from the 2003 outage, and it appears we have. Now if we just had water.....
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