On the touchie-feelie-swipie page they have a "news" program. Plain maroon square with "news" in the center. Opens up and it has the sort of stuff you find in USA Today. Longish (by web standards) articles, nice color photos. Not bad. Fairly light weight, but no perceptible political bias.
And they have improved the boot time. 8.1 only takes 15 seconds to boot up to the wanna-a-password screen, which is a good deal quicker than XP.
Friday, September 19, 2014
What does Scotland have in common with Quebec?
They both wised up and voted not to secede. In case you missed it, French Quebec had been agitating to secede from largely British Canada since Rene Leveque and Parti Quebecois came to power in Quebec in the 1960s. By the 90's they worked up to a province wide referendum on secession. It lost, by a very narrow margin. And, surprise, surprise, they never tried it again. At the time I expected the French to gather their strength and try it again in a year. Didn't happen. Far as I can tell from south of the border, the French decided that the pain in secession outweighed the emotional benefits. They had done some lobbying on Wall St to see if an independent Quebec could borrow money from American banks. Apparently the Americans poured cold water on the idea and let the Quebeckers know that there would be no bank loans, no investment, and no favors done to their new currency. I think some of this sank in, and a lot of Quebeckers who had liked the idea of secession decided that the economic pain out weighed the fun of being independent.
Despite last minute polls showing Scottish secession running neck and neck, secession got voted down in Scotland last night by a 10% margin. That's a solid win. And I wonder why the polls got it wrong.
An independent Scotland would be fun, but terribly small, only 5 million people, little industry, short cold growing season, harsh winters, and few natural resources. They would have some North Sea oil but those fields have been exploited for 40 years and the wells don't flow like they used to. I don't think you can keep a country solvent merely on export of Scotch whiskey. Tasty as it may be. And, a country of only 5 million people would be a doormat to the rest of the world, like Luxembourg or Grand Fenwick. Whereas the United Kingdom has been an international heavy weight since Queen Elizabeth the First. You are better off as a section of an international heavyweight than you are as an independent sub sized doormat.
Despite last minute polls showing Scottish secession running neck and neck, secession got voted down in Scotland last night by a 10% margin. That's a solid win. And I wonder why the polls got it wrong.
An independent Scotland would be fun, but terribly small, only 5 million people, little industry, short cold growing season, harsh winters, and few natural resources. They would have some North Sea oil but those fields have been exploited for 40 years and the wells don't flow like they used to. I don't think you can keep a country solvent merely on export of Scotch whiskey. Tasty as it may be. And, a country of only 5 million people would be a doormat to the rest of the world, like Luxembourg or Grand Fenwick. Whereas the United Kingdom has been an international heavy weight since Queen Elizabeth the First. You are better off as a section of an international heavyweight than you are as an independent sub sized doormat.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Windows 8.1.double.bleh
Windows screen had been looking shabby, menu items would turn invisible under the cursor, title bars were pure black, with no title. I had to Google to find the the color controls. A swipe, a click and I was informed the screen was in high contrast mode and nothing could be changed.
Back to Google. I found an obscure workaround, I tried it, and it worked. Dunno how the screen got into High Contrast mode, and M$'s failure to provide an button to turn it off is inexcusable. Anyhow the appearance shaped up a lot, and I was able to select the classic windows color scheme. The 8.1 color settings are feeble compared to XP's. XP let you set the color, text color, font, font size of every object on the screen, background, title bar, border, buttons, ordinary text, emphasis color (pushed button color), selected object color. For instance you could make the selected menu bar item turn bright red. 8.1 is not as good, you only get to change background and title bar, nothing else. So I have blue background and light blue title bar and border. I'm stuck with brown close buttons on a light blue title bar. Tasteful that is.
Back to Google. I found an obscure workaround, I tried it, and it worked. Dunno how the screen got into High Contrast mode, and M$'s failure to provide an button to turn it off is inexcusable. Anyhow the appearance shaped up a lot, and I was able to select the classic windows color scheme. The 8.1 color settings are feeble compared to XP's. XP let you set the color, text color, font, font size of every object on the screen, background, title bar, border, buttons, ordinary text, emphasis color (pushed button color), selected object color. For instance you could make the selected menu bar item turn bright red. 8.1 is not as good, you only get to change background and title bar, nothing else. So I have blue background and light blue title bar and border. I'm stuck with brown close buttons on a light blue title bar. Tasteful that is.
Shipping out to Ebola country
The TV news says we are sending 3000 troops to West Africa to help in the Ebola epidemic. I wonder how the troops feel about that. Me, I'd rather go to Iraq and bag me some ISIS. That Ebola stuff is very dangerous, with a mortality rate worse than 60%. You have a better chance of surviving a rifle bullet than that.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Congressman Sensenbrenner calls to abolish BATFE
Article here. A fine idea. BATFE are the people that brought us Ruby Ridge and Fast and Furious. They haven't done anything useful since Elliot Ness retired in the 1940's. They were originally set up as Federal agents to collect the federal whiskey tax (the revenooers). A tax that has caused friction since George Washington's time. Later when cigarette taxes were invented, that job was handed to the revenooers. And even later when they started passing gun control laws in the 1930's the revenooers got the job of enforcing that too.
For one reason or another, BATFE is heavy handed, corrupt, and expensive. Far as I am concerned, the laws on whiskey tax, tobacco tax, and gun control are just laws, and can be enforced the way all the other laws are enforced. Police, courts, marshals, and FBI are plenty adequate. Shutting down BATFE would eliminate a lot of corruption and wrong doing and save money to boot.
For one reason or another, BATFE is heavy handed, corrupt, and expensive. Far as I am concerned, the laws on whiskey tax, tobacco tax, and gun control are just laws, and can be enforced the way all the other laws are enforced. Police, courts, marshals, and FBI are plenty adequate. Shutting down BATFE would eliminate a lot of corruption and wrong doing and save money to boot.
Windows 8.1.bleh
They crippled up Explorer in 8.1. The extremely convenient two pane display from XP ain't there anymore. That one had folders in the left hand pane and contents of the selected folder in the right hand pane. Made it real easy to drag and drop files from one folder to another. That's gone. You gotta open a second Explorer window and set it to the destination folder, set the first Explorer window to the source folder and then you can drag and drop from window to window. PITA.
8.1 will run old XP programs. My old AZZ cardfile program in which I keep addresses,phone numbers, and passwords did come up and run. That's a goodness.
They also hid a lot of stuff. XP Explorer called a file a file, and showed every file on disk. 8.1 calls some folders strange and special, like My_Pictures, and doesn't show them in Explorer unless you find a strangely hidden menu bar item, and click down one level on it. I found it by accident and I'm not sure I could find it again. It's much more straight forward to just show all files and folders in Explorer. One big place where everything lives, is simple to use, and simple to code. Clearly the M$ software weenies have had too much time on their hands.
And, the start menu is gone. That was useful. You could group shortcuts to related programs, like anti spyware, or graphics editors, or media players, on folders on the start menu. Made it easy to find stuff, easier than fishing around in Program_Files.
8.1 will run old XP programs. My old AZZ cardfile program in which I keep addresses,phone numbers, and passwords did come up and run. That's a goodness.
They also hid a lot of stuff. XP Explorer called a file a file, and showed every file on disk. 8.1 calls some folders strange and special, like My_Pictures, and doesn't show them in Explorer unless you find a strangely hidden menu bar item, and click down one level on it. I found it by accident and I'm not sure I could find it again. It's much more straight forward to just show all files and folders in Explorer. One big place where everything lives, is simple to use, and simple to code. Clearly the M$ software weenies have had too much time on their hands.
And, the start menu is gone. That was useful. You could group shortcuts to related programs, like anti spyware, or graphics editors, or media players, on folders on the start menu. Made it easy to find stuff, easier than fishing around in Program_Files.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Windows 8,1
I had to do it. Antique Laptop died for good. Screen went dark and stayed dark. So, Ho, a new laptop. HP Pavilion cursed with Windows 8.1 Due to a 2 Ghz Intel Mode whatever CPU 64 bit, it is nearly as fast as XP. Not quite, but nearly. Managed to get onto the wireless router and download Firefox. Upon which I am posting this.
Step 2 was to establish an account for me. The XP "Settings" and "Account Manager" was hidden, along with the "run" block on the start menu, for that matter, they hid the start menu Now you just type "user" on the black screen. Shades of DOS. And now the cheese gets binding. 8.1 wants an email address to use as your account name. I don't want to do that. I do my email from Trusty Desktop, and I don't want tricky laptop downloading my email and loosing it. So, it appears to run somehow without an account.
It also has a keyboard hiccup. Every so often it stops typing and flips up the time and date. Or jumps the cursor at random. PITA. There is probably something to fix that in software, but I don't have clue. Might be the touch pad is active, and I don't know how to shut it off.
Anyhow, a giant leap backward for computerkind.
Step 2 was to establish an account for me. The XP "Settings" and "Account Manager" was hidden, along with the "run" block on the start menu, for that matter, they hid the start menu Now you just type "user" on the black screen. Shades of DOS. And now the cheese gets binding. 8.1 wants an email address to use as your account name. I don't want to do that. I do my email from Trusty Desktop, and I don't want tricky laptop downloading my email and loosing it. So, it appears to run somehow without an account.
It also has a keyboard hiccup. Every so often it stops typing and flips up the time and date. Or jumps the cursor at random. PITA. There is probably something to fix that in software, but I don't have clue. Might be the touch pad is active, and I don't know how to shut it off.
Anyhow, a giant leap backward for computerkind.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Why do adults read Young Adult (YA) novels?
Slate has a long essay deploring the practice. The New York Times declares the end of adulthood in America. Oohh. that sounds really bad. Even I surely remember riding the MBTA home from work with every one in the car reading the latest Harry Potter.
Why do adults read YA novels? Simple, the last decent main stream writer was Ernest Hemingway, and he died 50 years ago. The main stream writers of today are so boring hardly anyone can stand to read them. Main stream novels don't have heroes, they have wimpy anti heroes with neuroses, the other characters are unpleasant, nasty, and ineffectual. They are set in unpleasant locations and the characters do little other than feel bad about things or make others feel bad. Who wants to read that?
The YA books, Harry Potter, Tolkien, the Rick Riordan Olympian stores, the Hunger Games books and others have heroes that overcome difficulties and save the world. At least Harry Potter defeats Voldemort, Frodo Baggins destroys the Ring and the Dark Lord along with it, Percy Jackson destroys Kronos, and Kartniss Everdeen saves her village, if not quite the whole world yet. The characters are likeable, the kind of people you would like to have a friends. The settings are glamorous, the scenery is dramatic. They are fun to read, and come to a satisfactory conclusion.
Why do adults read YA novels? Simple, the last decent main stream writer was Ernest Hemingway, and he died 50 years ago. The main stream writers of today are so boring hardly anyone can stand to read them. Main stream novels don't have heroes, they have wimpy anti heroes with neuroses, the other characters are unpleasant, nasty, and ineffectual. They are set in unpleasant locations and the characters do little other than feel bad about things or make others feel bad. Who wants to read that?
The YA books, Harry Potter, Tolkien, the Rick Riordan Olympian stores, the Hunger Games books and others have heroes that overcome difficulties and save the world. At least Harry Potter defeats Voldemort, Frodo Baggins destroys the Ring and the Dark Lord along with it, Percy Jackson destroys Kronos, and Kartniss Everdeen saves her village, if not quite the whole world yet. The characters are likeable, the kind of people you would like to have a friends. The settings are glamorous, the scenery is dramatic. They are fun to read, and come to a satisfactory conclusion.
Assault rifle or deer rifle?
Here in the US the anti gun folks have been beating the drums to outlaw "assault rifles". The phrase "assault rifle" sounds so terrible that they have had some luck in getting laws passed against them. In actual fact, assault rifles, like are issued to soldiers, have been illegal in the US since the 1930's. Back in the heyday of Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, and all the rest of the infamous American gangsters, who got Hollywood movies made of their exploits, and made the FBI famous, Congress passed a law that made machine guns illegal. The 1930 law required registration and payment of a $200 tax (humungous in 1930) for each machine gun owned. A later law tightened that up more and now machine guns are just plain illegal to own. By machine gun, we mean any weapon that keeps firing, round after round, as long as the trigger is depressed.
In the years after WWII armies issued their soldiers machine guns, reasonably light (7-9 pound) shoulder weapons with detachable magazines holding 20-30 rounds, chambered for low power cartridges to keep the recoil down in full automatic fire. The Russian AK-47 and the US M16 (AR-15 when sold to civilians) are typical examples. The troops loved them, thinking that spraying bullets like a garden hose would make up for poor marksmanship. The Army leadership worried about ammunition supply. One good long pull on a trigger and brap,. 20 rounds expended. If the troops set off with 200 rounds, which is a lot, and they get heavy fast, then do brap ten times and you are out of ammunition. Every Army officer from corporal on up worries about this problem. In fact, the US Army modified their M16 rifle so it only does three rounds in "automatic". Each pull of the trigger gives a mere three round burst, rather than a magazine emptying brap. Conserved ammunition.
Anyhow, veterans who carried assault rifles in the service, and liked them, will buy legal versions of the Army rifle for deer hunting after discharge from the service. Legal means no automatic fire. Pull the trigger and fire a single shot. You gotta pull the trigger once for each shot. Semi automatic is the buzz word, another is self loader.
And, the legal weapon is no different from any other deer rifle. The objective things, caliber, power of cartridge, range, accuracy, weight, barrel length, are all the same as a deer rifle. In fact the "assault weapon" rounds are less powerful than the old 30-30 round for my 1950 Marlin lever action rifle.
Which left the anti assault weapons lawmakers with a problem. How to describe an assault rifle? In California the law listed illegal assault rifles by model number. The industry assigned new model numbers, and presto, chango, their product became legal again. Other states listed cosmetic features such as bayonet lugs, flash hiders, and bipods as making a gun into an illegal "assault rifle". The industry quickly removed those cosmetic features.
After all this sound and fury, one needs to remember that crimes are mostly done with handguns, not shoulder weapons.
In the years after WWII armies issued their soldiers machine guns, reasonably light (7-9 pound) shoulder weapons with detachable magazines holding 20-30 rounds, chambered for low power cartridges to keep the recoil down in full automatic fire. The Russian AK-47 and the US M16 (AR-15 when sold to civilians) are typical examples. The troops loved them, thinking that spraying bullets like a garden hose would make up for poor marksmanship. The Army leadership worried about ammunition supply. One good long pull on a trigger and brap,. 20 rounds expended. If the troops set off with 200 rounds, which is a lot, and they get heavy fast, then do brap ten times and you are out of ammunition. Every Army officer from corporal on up worries about this problem. In fact, the US Army modified their M16 rifle so it only does three rounds in "automatic". Each pull of the trigger gives a mere three round burst, rather than a magazine emptying brap. Conserved ammunition.
Anyhow, veterans who carried assault rifles in the service, and liked them, will buy legal versions of the Army rifle for deer hunting after discharge from the service. Legal means no automatic fire. Pull the trigger and fire a single shot. You gotta pull the trigger once for each shot. Semi automatic is the buzz word, another is self loader.
And, the legal weapon is no different from any other deer rifle. The objective things, caliber, power of cartridge, range, accuracy, weight, barrel length, are all the same as a deer rifle. In fact the "assault weapon" rounds are less powerful than the old 30-30 round for my 1950 Marlin lever action rifle.
Which left the anti assault weapons lawmakers with a problem. How to describe an assault rifle? In California the law listed illegal assault rifles by model number. The industry assigned new model numbers, and presto, chango, their product became legal again. Other states listed cosmetic features such as bayonet lugs, flash hiders, and bipods as making a gun into an illegal "assault rifle". The industry quickly removed those cosmetic features.
After all this sound and fury, one needs to remember that crimes are mostly done with handguns, not shoulder weapons.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Negative Political Ads are here
Now that the primary is over, and the opponents know who they have to slam, let the slamming begin. Sunday morning WMUR (good old channel 9, the voice of NH) was just wall to wall with very aggressive and very negative ads, mostly by Democrats slamming Republicans. It was solid.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Rush hour in Martian Orbit
We have two Mars orbiters arriving at Mars later this month (21 and 23 September) . NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven for short) and India's Mangalaan Orbital Mission (MOM for short. NASA spent $671 million on Maven. India's MOM is famous in technical circles for getting to Mars for about one tenth that. Both orbiters still have one heavy duty maneuver before they can be considered to have "arrived" That is the Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) a 34 minute burn of the rocket engines to slow the orbiter to Mars orbit velocity. That's a long burn, especially for an engine that has been floating in vacuum, unused, for nearly a year. To make the MOI dicier, the maneuver must be executed by the onboard microprocessor, since radio signals from Earth take 20 minutes to reach Mars. 15 years ago a gross software fault caused a Mars Orbiter to crash on Mars from a failure of the MOI maneuver.
Maven carries instruments to verify a Mars creation theory. Now that we have good evidence of free surface water in the distant Martian past, the theory suggests that the water vapor escaped into interplanetary space due to Mar's weak gravity. Maven's instruments will measure the flow of gases and ions in the upper Martian atmosphere, hoping to show that water is still escaping and measure the rate, as a way of figuring how long surface water lasted on Mars, before it escaped into space.
To add to the fun, Siding Spring, a comet, will swing by Mars on 19 October. It is believed that Siding Spring is a new comet, on it's first trip into the inner solar system. It is thought that new comets are chunks of ice and gravel that have been floating in interstellar space ("the Ort Cloud") since the beginning of the solar system, and Siding Spring represents matter from the dawn of time, or at least the birth of the solar system which is a long time ago. Scientists are eager for any information the Mars orbiters can gather from Siding Spring.
Maven carries instruments to verify a Mars creation theory. Now that we have good evidence of free surface water in the distant Martian past, the theory suggests that the water vapor escaped into interplanetary space due to Mar's weak gravity. Maven's instruments will measure the flow of gases and ions in the upper Martian atmosphere, hoping to show that water is still escaping and measure the rate, as a way of figuring how long surface water lasted on Mars, before it escaped into space.
To add to the fun, Siding Spring, a comet, will swing by Mars on 19 October. It is believed that Siding Spring is a new comet, on it's first trip into the inner solar system. It is thought that new comets are chunks of ice and gravel that have been floating in interstellar space ("the Ort Cloud") since the beginning of the solar system, and Siding Spring represents matter from the dawn of time, or at least the birth of the solar system which is a long time ago. Scientists are eager for any information the Mars orbiters can gather from Siding Spring.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Anti Terrorist Operations
John Kerry spent some TV airtime explaining that what we are doing in Iraq and Syria are "anti-terrorist operations" NOT a war on ISIS. Sounds like Kerry just wants to do some fireworks displays and go home. "Operations" are something you can just declare to be over. If he were to call it a war, then the country would expect victory, which he has no desire to produce.
Lone Ranger
Another Netflix. Didn't bother to see it in the theaters. Good thing too. It was terrible. Nobody did anything heroic or romantic or even very interesting. Nobody was very funny. Johnny Depp, who can be very funny, didn't get any decent lines. Armie Hammer, who played the Lone Ranger, did such a super nerd act that it was painful to watch rather than funny. It went on and on, for ever. Nobody ever said "Hiyo Silver", no William Tell overture. I'm not a real Lone Ranger fan, but I do remember the comic books, the TV show, and the black & white movies. This flick didn't touch any of those bases for nostalgia or for laughs.
I didn't bother to watch it to the end, I switched it off and watched Obama's great Tuesday night speech. Not sure if that was such a great idea. IMDB estimates Disney spent $215 million to make this disaster and it only grossed $89 million. I thought Disney was smarter than this. They must have got the John Carter crew to do 'em another turkey.
I didn't bother to watch it to the end, I switched it off and watched Obama's great Tuesday night speech. Not sure if that was such a great idea. IMDB estimates Disney spent $215 million to make this disaster and it only grossed $89 million. I thought Disney was smarter than this. They must have got the John Carter crew to do 'em another turkey.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
What Obama did say last night
Not much. He spoke for only 15 minutes, which is not much. He came on TV right at 9 PM as promised. Thinking this ought to be an important speech I took written notes. He did give a partial goal, to "degrade and destroy" ISIS, which is something of a question beggar. If you destroy them you don't have to degrade them. He did not say what we want to do with the land that ISIS has conquered already. He mentioned the US pullout of 140K troops from Iraq as if that was a good thing. "The US is safer, BUT we still face a threat." That's luke warm, on one hand things are safer, on the other hand the barbarians are at the gates. What's a citizen to think about that? Do we kick back and relax or do we go out and buy firearms?
"ISIL is not Islamic and not a state". That's a stretch. They worship Allah and they control more territory than the Bahgdad government or the Assad regime in Syria. He did call them terrorists, which is new for Obama.
Obama worried about ISIS fighters with US or European passports, who could fly into New York without visas. Doesn't worry me much, I'm sure pass ports can be bought somewhere if they need them. Plus with 3000 miles of seacoast and 5000 miles of land border, you don't need paperwork to get into the US. You just walk in, or come by boat. Little kids from Honduras can do it, so can anyone else.
Obama said we had flown 150 airstrikes against ISIS so far. Actually that's not too shabby, considering we have been at it for 30 days or less. That's about four airstrikes a day. Back in the Viet Nam war, my wing only managed two strikes a day, flying off a nice big air base with 10,000 foot runways, road and rail supply from Bangkok, daily Log Air flights and 90 fighter-bombers. It's harder when flying off an aircraft carrier.
Of course you want to do some checking. If, Obama said "air strike" when he actually meant "sortie" then we got trouble. 150 sorties isn't much. We used to fly 70 sorties a day out of Korat, going up to bomb "Route Pack 6" (Hanoi).
I did hear Obama say we would fly air strikes into Syria. I also heard him say another 475 troops were going to Iraq. That brings the troop total up to 1500 US troops in country. I also heard him say "no boots on the ground" which makes ISIS feel nice and secure.
Obama asked for Congressional support, type and kind unspecified. He did not ask for a declaration of war (we don't do those any more) or an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or even a supplemental defense appropriation bill. If he doesn't ask for something, he won't get it.
Then Obama gave a lengthy riff about American exceptionalism, the first I've ever heard him do. He spoke of some great things from American history, and called them good.
"ISIL is not Islamic and not a state". That's a stretch. They worship Allah and they control more territory than the Bahgdad government or the Assad regime in Syria. He did call them terrorists, which is new for Obama.
Obama worried about ISIS fighters with US or European passports, who could fly into New York without visas. Doesn't worry me much, I'm sure pass ports can be bought somewhere if they need them. Plus with 3000 miles of seacoast and 5000 miles of land border, you don't need paperwork to get into the US. You just walk in, or come by boat. Little kids from Honduras can do it, so can anyone else.
Obama said we had flown 150 airstrikes against ISIS so far. Actually that's not too shabby, considering we have been at it for 30 days or less. That's about four airstrikes a day. Back in the Viet Nam war, my wing only managed two strikes a day, flying off a nice big air base with 10,000 foot runways, road and rail supply from Bangkok, daily Log Air flights and 90 fighter-bombers. It's harder when flying off an aircraft carrier.
Of course you want to do some checking. If, Obama said "air strike" when he actually meant "sortie" then we got trouble. 150 sorties isn't much. We used to fly 70 sorties a day out of Korat, going up to bomb "Route Pack 6" (Hanoi).
I did hear Obama say we would fly air strikes into Syria. I also heard him say another 475 troops were going to Iraq. That brings the troop total up to 1500 US troops in country. I also heard him say "no boots on the ground" which makes ISIS feel nice and secure.
Obama asked for Congressional support, type and kind unspecified. He did not ask for a declaration of war (we don't do those any more) or an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, or even a supplemental defense appropriation bill. If he doesn't ask for something, he won't get it.
Then Obama gave a lengthy riff about American exceptionalism, the first I've ever heard him do. He spoke of some great things from American history, and called them good.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
We survived the New Hampshire primary
I went to the polls early yesterday. Voting had started off heavy for an off year primary. All the action was on the Republican side, the Democrats were all running unopposed, or at least with no serious opposition. When the polls closed we have Walt Havenstein handily beating Andrew Hemmingway for the governor's nomination. Walt is in his 50s, former CEO of BAE, a big Nashua aerospace contractor (started out as Saunder Associates in the 1960's, I worked there once). Andrew is a nice very young guy, really too young to be an effective governor, he simply hasn't been around long enough to develop the connections a governor has to have to be effective. Walt now has to beat the incumbent democrat, Maggie Hassan.
Scott Brown took the Senate nomination, with something like 50%, far ahead of Jim Rubin and Bob Smith. Polls predicted Scott's win. He looks to be the strongest guy going up against incumbent Jeanne Shaheen. I think Scott can take Jeanne, giving us a second Republican senator.
And, surprise, Marilinda Garcia swept the House nomination in my house district. She got 50%, with Gary Lambert trailing at 20 something %. This was unexpected. Marilinda has campaigned hard, and has enjoyed some heavy duty out of state support, TV ad buys. Certainly the strength of her primary victory makes her the strongest candidate we can put up against Anne Kuster, the democratic incumbent, who is looking kinda old and frumpy and dowdy. Marilinda is young, slim (very slim) and good looking.
In the other congressional district, Frank Guinta won the primary. Frank has some name recognition in the district. He has been mayor of Manchester (biggest city in the state). He has been US rep from that district, until Carol Shea Porter beat him two years ago. So it's a rematch, and who knows how it will come out.
The Democratic incumbents, Kuster, Shea-Porter, and Shaheen have been seriously critised in the press for NOT holding town meetings, get togethers with voters, with un rehearsed questions from the floor. Whereas the three Republicans have been out pressing the flesh with voters for months up here, they have been able to handle questions and just about all the voters have had an opportunity to meet them in person.
Scott Brown took the Senate nomination, with something like 50%, far ahead of Jim Rubin and Bob Smith. Polls predicted Scott's win. He looks to be the strongest guy going up against incumbent Jeanne Shaheen. I think Scott can take Jeanne, giving us a second Republican senator.
And, surprise, Marilinda Garcia swept the House nomination in my house district. She got 50%, with Gary Lambert trailing at 20 something %. This was unexpected. Marilinda has campaigned hard, and has enjoyed some heavy duty out of state support, TV ad buys. Certainly the strength of her primary victory makes her the strongest candidate we can put up against Anne Kuster, the democratic incumbent, who is looking kinda old and frumpy and dowdy. Marilinda is young, slim (very slim) and good looking.
In the other congressional district, Frank Guinta won the primary. Frank has some name recognition in the district. He has been mayor of Manchester (biggest city in the state). He has been US rep from that district, until Carol Shea Porter beat him two years ago. So it's a rematch, and who knows how it will come out.
The Democratic incumbents, Kuster, Shea-Porter, and Shaheen have been seriously critised in the press for NOT holding town meetings, get togethers with voters, with un rehearsed questions from the floor. Whereas the three Republicans have been out pressing the flesh with voters for months up here, they have been able to handle questions and just about all the voters have had an opportunity to meet them in person.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
What Obama ought to say tomorrow night
He ought to set forth our objectives, our goals, in the Middle East. What America wants of achieve. You gotta sort out your goals before getting into methods (bombing, blockade, ground invasion, etc. Included as a goal, is who gets control of the ISIS controlled Iraq and Syria. Without goals, it's hard to enlist allies in a crusade. Might as well use the good old word that we all understand and the Arabs all hate.
Possible goals, listed from soft to hard.
1. Stay out of it. Let ISIS grab as much territory as it likes. Obama personally likes this one, but fears the voters will turn on him and the Democrats if he voices it.
2. Contain ISIS. Prevent them from grabbing more territory but let them live and keep what they have. Lotta people like this, it seems cheap and easy. It leaves a deadly enemy in control of a lotta oil, lotta land, lotta people. They could well bide their time, build up their strength and try something like 9-11 in a couple of years.
3. Destroy ISIS. Kill their leadership, drive their supporters into the desert, lay waste to their croplands, bomb their industry, "dehouse" their workers. Seize their oil fields, refineries and pipelines. Decide what to do with ISIS controlled territory. Give it to the Shia Baghdad government? set up a new Sunni government? give a goodly slice to the Kurds? Since ISIS controls a swath of Syria as well as most of Sunni Iraq, we will have to do something about Assad after we blow ISIS away and seize the ISIS lands in Syria.
Obama may not want to express a goal. Partly 'cause he fears he will be unable to get agreement on a goal that he likes, and partly 'cause he will get blamed if he fails to achieve a goal once he announces it.
My bet. Obama will not talk about goals, and at best he will discuss/advocate for, some air strikes, big enough to look good on TV, but not enough to really hurt ISIS. That will quiet down the domestic hawks. Then he will call for allies, European and Arab to step up to the plate and commit troops, aircraft, money and jet fuel. Which they will fail to do, 'cause they have no idea what the Americans are gonna do, and don't want to risk war unless they understand what's in it for them.
Possible goals, listed from soft to hard.
1. Stay out of it. Let ISIS grab as much territory as it likes. Obama personally likes this one, but fears the voters will turn on him and the Democrats if he voices it.
2. Contain ISIS. Prevent them from grabbing more territory but let them live and keep what they have. Lotta people like this, it seems cheap and easy. It leaves a deadly enemy in control of a lotta oil, lotta land, lotta people. They could well bide their time, build up their strength and try something like 9-11 in a couple of years.
3. Destroy ISIS. Kill their leadership, drive their supporters into the desert, lay waste to their croplands, bomb their industry, "dehouse" their workers. Seize their oil fields, refineries and pipelines. Decide what to do with ISIS controlled territory. Give it to the Shia Baghdad government? set up a new Sunni government? give a goodly slice to the Kurds? Since ISIS controls a swath of Syria as well as most of Sunni Iraq, we will have to do something about Assad after we blow ISIS away and seize the ISIS lands in Syria.
Obama may not want to express a goal. Partly 'cause he fears he will be unable to get agreement on a goal that he likes, and partly 'cause he will get blamed if he fails to achieve a goal once he announces it.
My bet. Obama will not talk about goals, and at best he will discuss/advocate for, some air strikes, big enough to look good on TV, but not enough to really hurt ISIS. That will quiet down the domestic hawks. Then he will call for allies, European and Arab to step up to the plate and commit troops, aircraft, money and jet fuel. Which they will fail to do, 'cause they have no idea what the Americans are gonna do, and don't want to risk war unless they understand what's in it for them.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Getting tough in the Model Railroad business
Model railroading as a hobby get started in the Great Depression, mostly 'cause the technology to make the little trains run only became practical by then. Two magazines, Rail Model Craftsman and Model Railroader got started way back then and until last month, both were still in business. Business was good enough to get both of them onto the magazine rack at Walmart, which is about as widespread a distribution as anyone can hope for. Both of them had plenty of advertising, in fact with the demise of local hobby shops, about the only way for small manufactures of specialty stuff to reach customer was thru ads in one or both magazines.
Well, something is changing. Rail Model Craftsman suddenly announced it was out of business. Boom. No warming, no mailing to subscribers, just an announcement on their website. Dunno what happened, Bad management? Insufficient ad revenue? Rising expenses? I don't know, and the few insiders who do know aren't talking.
Anyhow, a big upheaval in a small world. Does it mean that the hobby is shrinking? The crowds at train shows are mostly older geezers, a few grand children, not many middle aged guys.
Well, something is changing. Rail Model Craftsman suddenly announced it was out of business. Boom. No warming, no mailing to subscribers, just an announcement on their website. Dunno what happened, Bad management? Insufficient ad revenue? Rising expenses? I don't know, and the few insiders who do know aren't talking.
Anyhow, a big upheaval in a small world. Does it mean that the hobby is shrinking? The crowds at train shows are mostly older geezers, a few grand children, not many middle aged guys.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Braveheart redux
Polls are showing the Scottish Nationalists may win the referendum and Scotland will secede from the United Kingdom. Save your Dixie cups, the South will rise again. Far as I know, the arguments for Scottish independence are all emotional and sentimental, reviving medieval heroes like William Wallace and peotry by Robert Burns. The arguments against are cold economic ones involving exports to the EU, converting to the Euro. Scotland is the thinly populated, poorer part of England, and cutting themselves off from exports to and subsidies from England is gonna hurt.
It will also hurt British pride, and reduce British influence somewhat, but probably not too much to withstand.
Wonder how it will work out? Up North of here, the Quebecois figured out that secession from Canada wasn't worth the pain. Took 'em 20 years to figure it out, but they did.
Film at eleven.
It will also hurt British pride, and reduce British influence somewhat, but probably not too much to withstand.
Wonder how it will work out? Up North of here, the Quebecois figured out that secession from Canada wasn't worth the pain. Took 'em 20 years to figure it out, but they did.
Film at eleven.
Beat the Press
They opened with an Obama speech (boring) and moved on to celebrate some US cities that they thought were doing well on their own, with out assistance (money) from Washington. They selected Oklahoma City, Tacoma, and Pittsburg. They had the mayors on, and a lot of happy talk ensued.
No numbers were ever mentioned. Like population, then and now, metropolitan domestic product, employment or unemployment, number of welfare recipients, municipal tax revenue, number of businesses, number of students per classroom, nothing of substance, nothing to show me that these carefully selected towns were doing any better than any other American city.
No discussion of business activity, manufacturing, what industries were important, what industries had moved into town. what new startups were in town, new industrial parks started, nothing about the town's business at all. Which is odd, it's business that makes a city tick. Business employs the citizens, pays the taxes, builds the buildings, and ultimately pays for everything in town.
Anyhow it was a nice puff piece for three favored mayors, but it wasn't real news.
No numbers were ever mentioned. Like population, then and now, metropolitan domestic product, employment or unemployment, number of welfare recipients, municipal tax revenue, number of businesses, number of students per classroom, nothing of substance, nothing to show me that these carefully selected towns were doing any better than any other American city.
No discussion of business activity, manufacturing, what industries were important, what industries had moved into town. what new startups were in town, new industrial parks started, nothing about the town's business at all. Which is odd, it's business that makes a city tick. Business employs the citizens, pays the taxes, builds the buildings, and ultimately pays for everything in town.
Anyhow it was a nice puff piece for three favored mayors, but it wasn't real news.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Motherless bear cub picked up in Littleton
It's tough being an urban (or even suburban) bear. An irate homeowner connected his dumpster to 120 VAC after repeated bear chow downs in said dumpster. A lactating bear was electrocuted. This took place somewhere on Church St, back in June. Last Monday Fish and Game finally managed to round up the orphan cub for relocation
Let us hope that homeowner doesn't have any children or pets.
Let us hope that homeowner doesn't have any children or pets.
Friday, September 5, 2014
So use a real camera already
The leak of Jennifer Lawrence and other Hollywood celebrities embarrassing photos on the the internet apparently comes from their use of smart phones to take the photos. The smart phones, unlike real camera's, immediately upload every picture they take to the cloud. And once anything is "in the cloud",or on the internet, hackers, NSA, Google, the Russians, the Chinese, and who knows who else can see it. There is no privacy in cyber space.
I haven't seen the pirated photos, but those who have tell me they are unflattering selfies rather than flattering glamor shots by real photographers.
Moral of the story. Use a real camera, not a slippery too-smart-for-your-own-good phone.
I haven't seen the pirated photos, but those who have tell me they are unflattering selfies rather than flattering glamor shots by real photographers.
Moral of the story. Use a real camera, not a slippery too-smart-for-your-own-good phone.
Wolverine
It got bad reviews so I didn't bother to see it in the theaters. I netflixed it last night. It's an Marvel X-man flick but thinned down to just Hugh Jackman. Charles Xavier, Magneto, Storm, Cyclops, and all the rest don't appear. The movie takes Wolverine to Japan, with a pair of pretty Japanese girls, one of which he manages to sleep with. Jackman is still ripped, and his shirt comes off frequently. A lot of Kung Foo and martial arts and derring do. The plot was incomprehensible to me. New bad guys keep popping up and Wolverine would slash them into hamburger. Old good guys would turn into bad guys. Dream sequences. Wolverine would go to bed with one of the Japanese chicks and the chick would morph into a round-eye chick who might have been Jean Gray from the first X-men flick but might not have been. Then she would morph back to being Marico, wealthy Japanese heiress pursued by Yakuza gangsters.
No connection with any Marvel comic book that I know of. Just the Wolverine character.
OK, but nowhere near as good as the first couple of X-men flicks.
No connection with any Marvel comic book that I know of. Just the Wolverine character.
OK, but nowhere near as good as the first couple of X-men flicks.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Civil Disobedience ? What no strikes and picket lines?
Someone, probably the union SEIU, is organizing demonstrations outside fast food restaurants, and managing to get some of the demonstrators arrested. Used to be, when labor wanted something they called a strike to shut down the business, and threw up a picket line to discourage customers, scabs, delivery men, just about anyone, from entering the premises. It was effective, management would capitulate quickly. I wonder why SEIU isn't doing that to McDonalds?
Could it be that McDonalds workers don't want to go on strike? or walk a picket line? I wonder how many of the demonstrators are real McDonald's employees? Or are they all SEIU goons?
Could it be that McDonalds workers don't want to go on strike? or walk a picket line? I wonder how many of the demonstrators are real McDonald's employees? Or are they all SEIU goons?
Let them eat plastic
Gopher tortoises that is. These are foot long, nine pound grass eating turtles. They love the long grass adjacent to the runways at Orlando FL airport. They also love to dig burrows, long and deep ones. Although they cannot dig under the runways, they can burrow into the unpaved shoulders and overrun areas. FAA fears that a plane skidding off the runway onto the shoulder might catch its landing gear in a turtle burrow and flip over. Seems kinda obscure to me, but FAA has been on the airport's case to "mitigate" the turtle problem. Making it harder, the turtles are an endangered species so the obvious measures, like picking them up and trucking them elsewhere, are illegal.
The airport's latest scheme. Replace the grass along the runways with Astroturf. $14 million worth of Astroturf.
The airport's latest scheme. Replace the grass along the runways with Astroturf. $14 million worth of Astroturf.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Obama doesn't want to whack ISIS
To whack ISIS essentially means sending the armed forces back to Iraq. Obama was so proud of pulling them out of Iraq back in 2011, that sending them back in 2014 looks like an admission of defeat. Obama would rather be defeated than admit defeat.
Obama sees America as an international bad guy. He is all the time "restraining" the country from intervening anywhere because he sees American intervention as bad. Whacking ISIS he sees as unjustified hostility to a native political organization of national liberation.
Right now, Obama fears the voters will reject him if he expresses these sentiments. So he does a little fireworks display now and then, just enough to make it look like we are really doing something, but so far it's just little fireworks displays.
Obama has a strategy, namely stay out of it, hope that ISIS will go away or die down or something. He just doesn't dare tell the voters that is his strategy.
Obama sees America as an international bad guy. He is all the time "restraining" the country from intervening anywhere because he sees American intervention as bad. Whacking ISIS he sees as unjustified hostility to a native political organization of national liberation.
Right now, Obama fears the voters will reject him if he expresses these sentiments. So he does a little fireworks display now and then, just enough to make it look like we are really doing something, but so far it's just little fireworks displays.
Obama has a strategy, namely stay out of it, hope that ISIS will go away or die down or something. He just doesn't dare tell the voters that is his strategy.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Are minimum wage laws ethical?
Minimum wage hikes always result in layoffs. A lot of low end, part time, seasonal jobs, life guarding, lawn mowing, fast food, ski patrolling, waiting tables, will just go away if the minimum wage goes up. In short, while a minimum wage helps the better paid workers, it results in layouts and job loss to at least as many. There is only so much money to go around, minimum wage forces more money to go to fewer workers and layoffs to the others. The NH ski areas, a low margin business if there ever was one, fear that Obama will force them to pay the seasonal workers $10.10 an hour. Excuse? A lot of ski trails run thru Forest Service land, and Obama thinks that gives him the right to dictate wages.
With unemployment what it is, the country needs more jobs, even entry level jobs. Kids coming out of high school need that first job. It gives them experience, and even more important, it gives them references, essential to landing that next job.
Unions love minimum wage laws. It drives the high schoolers and the part timers out of the labor market and allows them to win higher wage hikes at bargaining time.
Bureaucrats love minimum wage laws. It allows them to interfere in yet another part of American life.
I think wages ought to be a matter between employee and employer. If the wage is too low, the employee can always quit and draw welfare. Or organize a union and go on strike.
With unemployment what it is, the country needs more jobs, even entry level jobs. Kids coming out of high school need that first job. It gives them experience, and even more important, it gives them references, essential to landing that next job.
Unions love minimum wage laws. It drives the high schoolers and the part timers out of the labor market and allows them to win higher wage hikes at bargaining time.
Bureaucrats love minimum wage laws. It allows them to interfere in yet another part of American life.
I think wages ought to be a matter between employee and employer. If the wage is too low, the employee can always quit and draw welfare. Or organize a union and go on strike.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Desert Victory
Old old WWII newsreel expanded out to feature length. From Netflix of course. All about the battle of El Alamein. The British were so pleased to finally beat the Germans in a stand up fight that they did this one up brown. El Alamein was the first real British victory, and after that, the British kept on winning. The British sent an advance copy of the flick to the Roosevelt White House.
Looking at the film you see a lot of scenes of British infantry, bayonets fixed, khaki shorts, and British style helmets advancing on foot across the open desert Not a scrap of cover or concealment. Easy targets. I kept wondering, "Why don't the tanks go first?" as I watched those scenes. Lots of vintage tanks, aircraft and vehicles. Many shots of the artillery delivering fire. Shots of Churchill addressing the troops. Montgomery shows up too. Good maps.
WWII buffs, and serious history students really want to see this film to make El Alamein real, not just words on paper. It's a primary source, the newsreel footage was taken at the time and on the scene.
Looking at the film you see a lot of scenes of British infantry, bayonets fixed, khaki shorts, and British style helmets advancing on foot across the open desert Not a scrap of cover or concealment. Easy targets. I kept wondering, "Why don't the tanks go first?" as I watched those scenes. Lots of vintage tanks, aircraft and vehicles. Many shots of the artillery delivering fire. Shots of Churchill addressing the troops. Montgomery shows up too. Good maps.
WWII buffs, and serious history students really want to see this film to make El Alamein real, not just words on paper. It's a primary source, the newsreel footage was taken at the time and on the scene.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Obama complains about social media
Obama wants the good old days to come back. Where the few media outlets could suppress stories they didn't like, and in general slant the news in a democratic party direction. Now with blogs and Instapundit Drudge and twitter, and Facebook the stories get out. And that stirs up the voters and makes them harder to bamboozle.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Oil your Panther's steering.
Panther (car buff name for Ford Crown Victoria/Mercury Gran Marquis/ Lincoln) has a tricky steering column with two U-joints under the hood between the steering box and the column proper. Steering had been getting sticky on mine, sticky moving toward un drivable. Gave the U-joints a good shot of WD-40, and finished them off with 3-1 oil. Vast improvement.
WD-40 is very thin and isn't much of a lubricant, it's more a rust proofer. It softens up the crud and soaks into the joints. The 3-1 oil follows the WD-40 and gives some lubrication.
WD-40 is very thin and isn't much of a lubricant, it's more a rust proofer. It softens up the crud and soaks into the joints. The 3-1 oil follows the WD-40 and gives some lubrication.
MEK saves a paint brush
Somehow I forgot to clean the paint brush after the last trim and shutters touchup. It was an oil based primer and it hardened, rendering the brush unusable. Thinking back, to an accident where spilled MEK had dissolved the linoleum floor tile, I tried putting some MEK into an empty coffee can and soaking the brush in it. Worked like a charm. Brush came out cleaner than when I started the paint job. Note to self, this probably only works on oil based paint.
MEK, short for Methyl Ethyl Ketone. I normally keep it in the shop for use as a plastic cement. I buy it in the paint section of Home Despot.
MEK, short for Methyl Ethyl Ketone. I normally keep it in the shop for use as a plastic cement. I buy it in the paint section of Home Despot.
New York Times wants $1099
For a one year subscription no less. That's about $3 an issue. Which is totally ridiculous for any paper, let along the New York Times with it's well earned reputation for slanting the news and out right lying. I used to take the Wall St Journal when it was $250 a year. I dropped it when it wanted $430 a year. And the Wall St Journal is a real newspaper with real and dependable news, unlike the Times.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Screw top Champagne bottles
It's just a low end champagne, Andre to be specific, but it came with a screw top. Arrgh.
The candidates are all no good
So I am not gonna vote for any of them.
I hear this a lot.
And it's wrong. The candidates may not be all that great. But one is better than the other. No two pols are exactly equal. And if you want to call yourself a citizen, it is your job to figure out which one is better and vote for him/her.
Up here, you can get to see the candidates face-to-face. And it is amazing how much you can learn in just a few minutes face-to-face. This election year, the candidates are out looking to meet voters. I was at the Lancaster county fair just yesterday. Seems like you couldn't turn around without bumping into candidates or incumbents. I saw Maggie Hassan, Andrew Hemingway, Jim Reubin, and Larry Rappaport, all within an hour.
I hear this a lot.
And it's wrong. The candidates may not be all that great. But one is better than the other. No two pols are exactly equal. And if you want to call yourself a citizen, it is your job to figure out which one is better and vote for him/her.
Up here, you can get to see the candidates face-to-face. And it is amazing how much you can learn in just a few minutes face-to-face. This election year, the candidates are out looking to meet voters. I was at the Lancaster county fair just yesterday. Seems like you couldn't turn around without bumping into candidates or incumbents. I saw Maggie Hassan, Andrew Hemingway, Jim Reubin, and Larry Rappaport, all within an hour.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Objectives, Strategy, and Tactics
The TV newsies are babbling on about Obama's strategy. It seems to be in flux, I think I heard Obama confess that he was still working on his strategy.
That's perverse. Obama's job is define objectives, what we want to achieve. In regards to ISIS there are a number of objectives we could pursue. We could attempt to just stay out of it, avoid getting sucked back into a middle east war. We could attempt to prevent ISIS from grabbing any more land. We could attempt to destroy ISIS and hand control back to the new Baghdad government. We could attempt to destroy ISIS and set up three states, Sunni, Shia and Kurd. Those are all the possibilities that occur to me, although I daresay someone might think of others. But to have any effect, the US has to define it's objectives. We have to decide what we want to do. And Obama then has to sell the objectives to the Congress and the voters. Selling is not Obama's strong point. The Congress is split. The leftie greenies want to stay out completely. Some hawks want to destroy ISIS. Nobody has thought about what we want after ISIS is gone. The vast bulk of Congress (and their constituents) don't know what they want.
Only after we have settled upon an objective does it make sense to discuss "strategy". Strategy is concerned with means to obtain our objectives. Strategy picks options, such as invade the place from the sea, nuke 'em from the air, subvert their government by aiding domestic dissenters, blockade 'em, crash their infrastructure by cyber attack, cut off their access to the international banking system and credit, crash their currency, and doubtless many other things. But until you have decided upon your objectives, discussion of methods and means is worthless.
And Obama (or any administration) should not making strategy. Leave that to experts, the Joint Chiefs, with maybe CIA. Leave the State Department out of strategic discussions, they are just messengers, and they ought to carry the message, not make it up.
Way down at the bottom, is tactics. Tactics are methods of winning battles, after strategy has decided where to fight. Most of the talk I hear on the TV is really about tactics, specifically air strikes.
So far I haven't heard a peep out of the Obama administration about objectives. They don't have a clue.
That's perverse. Obama's job is define objectives, what we want to achieve. In regards to ISIS there are a number of objectives we could pursue. We could attempt to just stay out of it, avoid getting sucked back into a middle east war. We could attempt to prevent ISIS from grabbing any more land. We could attempt to destroy ISIS and hand control back to the new Baghdad government. We could attempt to destroy ISIS and set up three states, Sunni, Shia and Kurd. Those are all the possibilities that occur to me, although I daresay someone might think of others. But to have any effect, the US has to define it's objectives. We have to decide what we want to do. And Obama then has to sell the objectives to the Congress and the voters. Selling is not Obama's strong point. The Congress is split. The leftie greenies want to stay out completely. Some hawks want to destroy ISIS. Nobody has thought about what we want after ISIS is gone. The vast bulk of Congress (and their constituents) don't know what they want.
Only after we have settled upon an objective does it make sense to discuss "strategy". Strategy is concerned with means to obtain our objectives. Strategy picks options, such as invade the place from the sea, nuke 'em from the air, subvert their government by aiding domestic dissenters, blockade 'em, crash their infrastructure by cyber attack, cut off their access to the international banking system and credit, crash their currency, and doubtless many other things. But until you have decided upon your objectives, discussion of methods and means is worthless.
And Obama (or any administration) should not making strategy. Leave that to experts, the Joint Chiefs, with maybe CIA. Leave the State Department out of strategic discussions, they are just messengers, and they ought to carry the message, not make it up.
Way down at the bottom, is tactics. Tactics are methods of winning battles, after strategy has decided where to fight. Most of the talk I hear on the TV is really about tactics, specifically air strikes.
So far I haven't heard a peep out of the Obama administration about objectives. They don't have a clue.
Good thing my sons have survived college
It's getting harder. They have invented a new crime "Sexual Assault" which can be anything the girl says it is, and the college bureaucrats have the right to punish the guy, anyway they see fit. The guy doesn't even get a kangaroo court, he is guilty as soon as the girl complains about him.
Bunch of guys are gonna get zapped badly for attending college.
I'm glad my boys managed to graduate before things got this bad.
Bunch of guys are gonna get zapped badly for attending college.
I'm glad my boys managed to graduate before things got this bad.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Soldiering is easier than Policing
When soldiers encounter resistance, they get on the horn and call in the artillery or an air strike and level the place. Easy.
When police encounter resistance, they are required to negotiate, preserve evidence, and arrest the perps, alive, for trial. Citizens demand strict limits to what cops may do to them. Professional police forces prevent rioting by maintaining communications with all segments of their town/city and try to head off trouble by appealing to various community leaders to cool it for a while. This works best if someone of the force has a personal relationship with community leadership. Such as they both did high school together.
All this is hard.
When we offer the cops the opportunity to turn into soldiers, they are all in favor. Blowing the perps away is SO much easier than taking 'em alive. So handing out surplus automatic weapons, body armor, grenades, helicopters and armored vehicles to police forces encourages the cops to turn into soldiers.
When police encounter resistance, they are required to negotiate, preserve evidence, and arrest the perps, alive, for trial. Citizens demand strict limits to what cops may do to them. Professional police forces prevent rioting by maintaining communications with all segments of their town/city and try to head off trouble by appealing to various community leaders to cool it for a while. This works best if someone of the force has a personal relationship with community leadership. Such as they both did high school together.
All this is hard.
When we offer the cops the opportunity to turn into soldiers, they are all in favor. Blowing the perps away is SO much easier than taking 'em alive. So handing out surplus automatic weapons, body armor, grenades, helicopters and armored vehicles to police forces encourages the cops to turn into soldiers.
Tim Horton Burger King Tax deal
According to the TV news Burger King is doing some kind of deal with Canadian fast food operator Tim Horton which will turn Burger Kind into a Canadian company, and lower their tax rate from the American 35% to the Canadian 15%. Obama is outraged.
Tough cookies Obama. If you want to keep companies home in the US of A, you can lower the corporate tax rate to 15%. While you are at it, you can close a zillion loopholes and wind up collecting the same amount of money.
Despite Obama's efforts to the contrary, it's still a free country. Corporations are free to leave any time. So are citizens.
Are Burger King and Tim Horton's gonna change their signage? Horton Burger anyone? Timmy King? The Tim Horton name is well known and wide spread in Canada, changing it would probably loose them business, especially as Canadians always hate to see Americans taking over anything up there.
Just what kind of deal did they do? A buyout? a merger? a paperwash? And what is Warren Buffet doing in the deal? Newsies say that Buffet will be making 9% on his "investment". That's darn high. Burger King could have sold bonds or printed stock or gone to a bank, which surely would have done a loan for about 5%. And, was it a merger? Mergers don't require the kind of money that buyouts do.
Was it a paperwash? Those don't require much money either. The newsies say that the Burger King headquarters in Florida will stay put. Are they just doing something akin to incorporating in Delaware?
The TV newsies aren't saying. Probably 'cause they don't understand what's going down.
Tough cookies Obama. If you want to keep companies home in the US of A, you can lower the corporate tax rate to 15%. While you are at it, you can close a zillion loopholes and wind up collecting the same amount of money.
Despite Obama's efforts to the contrary, it's still a free country. Corporations are free to leave any time. So are citizens.
Are Burger King and Tim Horton's gonna change their signage? Horton Burger anyone? Timmy King? The Tim Horton name is well known and wide spread in Canada, changing it would probably loose them business, especially as Canadians always hate to see Americans taking over anything up there.
Just what kind of deal did they do? A buyout? a merger? a paperwash? And what is Warren Buffet doing in the deal? Newsies say that Buffet will be making 9% on his "investment". That's darn high. Burger King could have sold bonds or printed stock or gone to a bank, which surely would have done a loan for about 5%. And, was it a merger? Mergers don't require the kind of money that buyouts do.
Was it a paperwash? Those don't require much money either. The newsies say that the Burger King headquarters in Florida will stay put. Are they just doing something akin to incorporating in Delaware?
The TV newsies aren't saying. Probably 'cause they don't understand what's going down.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Airpower can turn things around
Example, Afghanistan before 9/11. The Taliban was beating the Northern Alliance at every turn. Their territory was squeezed down to a small patch on the northern border. Immediately after 9/11 the Northern Alliance received American air support. It was decisive. The Alliance won every battle now that a radio call would bring a smart bomb down on any obstacle. The Taliban was driven out of the country.
This could work against ISIS. The Kurds are tough fighters, willing to sign up with America. Give them the kind of air support we gave the Northern Alliance and great things might be accomplished.
This could work against ISIS. The Kurds are tough fighters, willing to sign up with America. Give them the kind of air support we gave the Northern Alliance and great things might be accomplished.
Monday, August 25, 2014
NH Primary is coming. Sept 9
The long awaited state primary is almost here. NH runs two primaries, the well known presidential primary, presidential years only, in January. First in the nation, and we're gonna keep it that way. January is way too early considering the election isn't until November, nearly a year in the future. Then we have the real primary to select US Senate, US house, governor, state reps, and state senators coming up second week in September. Way too late IMHO. That only gives 7 weeks to patch up relations with the defeated candidate's supporters, raise some money, run some ads. We would be better off holding the state primary in June.
Anyhow we have a real crop of candidates to choose from. For US senate we have Scott Brown, front runner, Jim Reubin, and Bob Smith, and a couple of minor candidates so obscure I can' remember who they are. Scott Brown is 15 points ahead of everyone, and the polls show him in a dead heat with the democratic incumbent, Jeanne Shaheen. Scott seems to be overcoming the "carpetbagger" tag, and his opponents, although of purer NH lineage than Scott, have demonstrated some flaky views that ought to turn off voters. It would be very nice to send a Republican senator to DC, and Scott looks like the best chance. Polls show Jeanne Shaheen beating every republican EXCEPT Scott Brown.
My house race, Annie Kuster (incumbent Dem) is less clear. Gary Lambert is the leading Republican challenger, but the polls don't show him beating Kuster, yet. The other house race is out of my territory and I know less about it.
For governor, the democratic incumbent Maggie Hassan will be hard to beat. She is a nice person, not particularly competent, but likeable, and except for a desire to raise taxes and spend money, she is OK. We have Walt Havenstein, an experienced business man, and Andrew Hemmingway, a real young guy with some entrepreneurial experience. I think Walt can beat Andrew in the primary. Maybe he can beat Maggie in the general.
Anyhow we have a real crop of candidates to choose from. For US senate we have Scott Brown, front runner, Jim Reubin, and Bob Smith, and a couple of minor candidates so obscure I can' remember who they are. Scott Brown is 15 points ahead of everyone, and the polls show him in a dead heat with the democratic incumbent, Jeanne Shaheen. Scott seems to be overcoming the "carpetbagger" tag, and his opponents, although of purer NH lineage than Scott, have demonstrated some flaky views that ought to turn off voters. It would be very nice to send a Republican senator to DC, and Scott looks like the best chance. Polls show Jeanne Shaheen beating every republican EXCEPT Scott Brown.
My house race, Annie Kuster (incumbent Dem) is less clear. Gary Lambert is the leading Republican challenger, but the polls don't show him beating Kuster, yet. The other house race is out of my territory and I know less about it.
For governor, the democratic incumbent Maggie Hassan will be hard to beat. She is a nice person, not particularly competent, but likeable, and except for a desire to raise taxes and spend money, she is OK. We have Walt Havenstein, an experienced business man, and Andrew Hemmingway, a real young guy with some entrepreneurial experience. I think Walt can beat Andrew in the primary. Maybe he can beat Maggie in the general.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Presidential leadership
Or lack thereof. The TV news is calling for "presidential leadership" on the matter of ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State. By which they mean Obama coming on TV and explaining to the voters why we need to kick some ass in ISIS.
The newsies have a point. The voters are anti war, and won't change their minds without the president expressing a need and a reason for going back to Iraq. Until he does, the electorate isn't going to go along.
And, I think it is safe to predict that Obama is never going to call for military action in Iraq. Neither is the Congress. The Republicans and Democrats in Congress are having so much fun trashing each other, they couldn't get behind a single resolution on Iraq or on anything else for that matter.
Even worse, there is some doubt in my mind that the voters would follow Obama's leadership. His standing in the polls is abysmal. He has given so many speeches full of motherhood and apple pie, but totally lacking in substance, that few people bother to listen to him anymore. His constant output of Pablum is boring.
The newsies have a point. The voters are anti war, and won't change their minds without the president expressing a need and a reason for going back to Iraq. Until he does, the electorate isn't going to go along.
And, I think it is safe to predict that Obama is never going to call for military action in Iraq. Neither is the Congress. The Republicans and Democrats in Congress are having so much fun trashing each other, they couldn't get behind a single resolution on Iraq or on anything else for that matter.
Even worse, there is some doubt in my mind that the voters would follow Obama's leadership. His standing in the polls is abysmal. He has given so many speeches full of motherhood and apple pie, but totally lacking in substance, that few people bother to listen to him anymore. His constant output of Pablum is boring.
Baby, it's cold up here
Mid August. It's so cold my furnace has been cutting in late at night. In August. Helova lotta rain. No burmuda shorts warm days. It's so cold I am wearing a fleece inside the house. Coldest August I can remember, and I can remember a long ways back. Must be global warming.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
So what should we do about ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State?
Obama is talking about "containment". He hasn't explained what he means by that, but he probably means doing as little as possible, drop a few bombs on 'em when they take the offensive, otherwise do little or nothing.
ISIS has made their plans clear. Take over the entire Middle East, turn it into an Islamic caliphate, drive out or exterminate Jews, Christians, Shia, Yazidi, anyone who doesn't buy their particular flavor of Islam.
I don't think "containment" is gonna cut it. I think we need to put an end to ISIS. This could be expensive. I did a combat tour with USAF in SouthEast Asia during the Viet Nam war. Both my younger brothers did combat tours with the Marines in South Viet Nam. My family knows how expensive and deadly a war against ISIS will be. We don't look forward to doing it.
If we don't do ISIS now, they will do us as soon as they get their act together. If we are gonna do a war with ISIS, druther do it in the Middle East than in Brooklyn. I don't know just what they will do, the airplane trick probably won't work for 'em a second time, but they will think of something. They might get nukes from the Iranians, or the Russkis, they might think of something brand new.
Right now, a couple of US divisions could wipe out ISIS. That's nothing. We raised 100 divisions to do WWII.
ISIS has made their plans clear. Take over the entire Middle East, turn it into an Islamic caliphate, drive out or exterminate Jews, Christians, Shia, Yazidi, anyone who doesn't buy their particular flavor of Islam.
I don't think "containment" is gonna cut it. I think we need to put an end to ISIS. This could be expensive. I did a combat tour with USAF in SouthEast Asia during the Viet Nam war. Both my younger brothers did combat tours with the Marines in South Viet Nam. My family knows how expensive and deadly a war against ISIS will be. We don't look forward to doing it.
If we don't do ISIS now, they will do us as soon as they get their act together. If we are gonna do a war with ISIS, druther do it in the Middle East than in Brooklyn. I don't know just what they will do, the airplane trick probably won't work for 'em a second time, but they will think of something. They might get nukes from the Iranians, or the Russkis, they might think of something brand new.
Right now, a couple of US divisions could wipe out ISIS. That's nothing. We raised 100 divisions to do WWII.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Words of the Weasel Part 36
Degrade. As is "we degraded the Taliban/ISIS/Al Quada/whoever". It means we flew some air strikes, we saw the bombs detonate, we put on a good fireworks show. But we didn't really hurt them.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Samuel Elliot Morison
A remarkable historian. He, and Henry Steele Commager wrote "Growth of the American Republic", the standard college textbook of American history. Morison knew nearly everybody, from Wilson, to Roosevelt, Ernie King, Douglas McArthur, many more. He was a reserve Navy officer. During WWII he was aboard a carrier at Midway, aboard the Torch invasion fleet, and a lot of other places too. After the war he single handedly wrote the US Navy official war history (in a dozen volumes). The Navy was so pleased with the work that they promoted him to Rear Admiral, a very high rank for a reservist. He also wrote "The Oxford History of the American People, one volume of 1100 pages. A copy turned up at a local yard sale, and I bought it.
It reads remarkably well. It goes all the way, unlike the US history taught in public school which always quit right after the civil war. Morison takes it right up to 1963 (Kennedy's assassination) which was current events at the time he was writing (1965). Morison knows and tells all the great stories, and there are a lot of 'em. He also doesn't hesitate to editorialize. You learn that he was a New Deal democrat, from his favorable treatment of the New Deal, and his fair, but somewhat disparaging treatment of the Eisenhower administration. If you like history, anything by Morison is a good read.
They don't make Harvard professors like that anymore.
It reads remarkably well. It goes all the way, unlike the US history taught in public school which always quit right after the civil war. Morison takes it right up to 1963 (Kennedy's assassination) which was current events at the time he was writing (1965). Morison knows and tells all the great stories, and there are a lot of 'em. He also doesn't hesitate to editorialize. You learn that he was a New Deal democrat, from his favorable treatment of the New Deal, and his fair, but somewhat disparaging treatment of the Eisenhower administration. If you like history, anything by Morison is a good read.
They don't make Harvard professors like that anymore.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Westinghouse automatic air brakes
NPR reported on the Quebec crude oil train wreck of last year. In that one, the single crewman running the train, pulled into a siding, left the locomotive running, and went off to catch 8 hours sleep at a motel. While he was sleeping, the train rolled down hill of the siding, into town, derailed, and the crude oil catch fire burning down every building in town.
According to NPR, the locomotive caught fire idling on the siding, the local fire department responded, shut the engine down, releasing the air brakes, which let the train get away.
That part is bogus. Every car on a train has an air cylinder to apply the car brakes, and a tank of compressed air to drive the air cylinder. Upon a signal from the locomotive, the car brakes go on, and stay on until signaled to release.
The signal is air pressure. There is a long pipe, the trainline, running the length of the train, kept pressurized by an air compressor on the locomotive. Those rubber hoses coupled between cars carry the trainline from car to car right to the very end of the train. The system is fail safe. Safe means brakes applied. Fail when talking about pipe means a leak or a blockage. So the signal to apply the brakes is to lower the pressure in the trainline. This is especially good in the case of train separation, some coupler fails and the train breaks in two. In that case, the rubber hoses break, the air rushes out of the trainline and the brakes go on all up and down the length of the train. That's safe.
So, no matter what those firemen did, shut down the locomotive, spray water on it, what ever, won't let the brakes off. NPR got that part wrong.
More likely, the locomotive engineer failed to set the air brakes before leaving the train to take some crew rest. He probably wanted to save time in the morning. It may take the locomotive half an hour to pump up a flat trainline. A 100 car trainline needs a lot of air, and any cars needing air for their tanks will take it out of the trainline, slowing the pump up process.
According to NPR, the locomotive caught fire idling on the siding, the local fire department responded, shut the engine down, releasing the air brakes, which let the train get away.
That part is bogus. Every car on a train has an air cylinder to apply the car brakes, and a tank of compressed air to drive the air cylinder. Upon a signal from the locomotive, the car brakes go on, and stay on until signaled to release.
The signal is air pressure. There is a long pipe, the trainline, running the length of the train, kept pressurized by an air compressor on the locomotive. Those rubber hoses coupled between cars carry the trainline from car to car right to the very end of the train. The system is fail safe. Safe means brakes applied. Fail when talking about pipe means a leak or a blockage. So the signal to apply the brakes is to lower the pressure in the trainline. This is especially good in the case of train separation, some coupler fails and the train breaks in two. In that case, the rubber hoses break, the air rushes out of the trainline and the brakes go on all up and down the length of the train. That's safe.
So, no matter what those firemen did, shut down the locomotive, spray water on it, what ever, won't let the brakes off. NPR got that part wrong.
More likely, the locomotive engineer failed to set the air brakes before leaving the train to take some crew rest. He probably wanted to save time in the morning. It may take the locomotive half an hour to pump up a flat trainline. A 100 car trainline needs a lot of air, and any cars needing air for their tanks will take it out of the trainline, slowing the pump up process.
Whither Ferguson?
Michael Brown is dead, shot by a town police officer. Micheal's family and friends want that police officer indicted, tried, and sent to jail. They are convinced Micheal's death was murder and they want blood. Can't say as I blame them. No way are these people gonna change their minds, now. They won't go away until the shooter is in jail. I expect the town police force and the town establishment wants "justice" i.e. let him off unless some really strong evidence of murder turns up. From what evidence I have seen on TV, the cop could plead self defense and be let off. In that case he would probably want to leave town and move far far away.
Ferguson seems to lack a mayor. At least, if they have one, I haven't seen him on the TV news. A mayor should be out front, urging calm, trying to explain the tragedy, offering comfort to the bereaved family. Apparently they don't have a mayor in Ferguson.
The shooter, Darren Something-or-other hasn't appeared on TV either. No statement, no expressions of regret, and I assume he has left town and gone into hiding. I can guess what the shooter will testify when they get him to a hearing. I would like to hear about why he fired six shots. You would think a single shot would get the message across. How many rounds did his gun hold? Six?
I expect the next town election in Ferguson (November?) to happen while the Micheal Brown case is still hot. If the population of the town is 60-70% black, as suggested by the TV news, then there might be a power shift in town government. Of course the Ferguson black community needs some candidates, and they need to get out the vote. If they have some local black leaders I haven't seen them on TV yet.
Ferguson seems to lack a mayor. At least, if they have one, I haven't seen him on the TV news. A mayor should be out front, urging calm, trying to explain the tragedy, offering comfort to the bereaved family. Apparently they don't have a mayor in Ferguson.
The shooter, Darren Something-or-other hasn't appeared on TV either. No statement, no expressions of regret, and I assume he has left town and gone into hiding. I can guess what the shooter will testify when they get him to a hearing. I would like to hear about why he fired six shots. You would think a single shot would get the message across. How many rounds did his gun hold? Six?
I expect the next town election in Ferguson (November?) to happen while the Micheal Brown case is still hot. If the population of the town is 60-70% black, as suggested by the TV news, then there might be a power shift in town government. Of course the Ferguson black community needs some candidates, and they need to get out the vote. If they have some local black leaders I haven't seen them on TV yet.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Primary Sources, or What can you Trust?
Back when I was doing a history major I learned about who to trust. For history, the best sources are those written at the time, and even better, by participants. These are called "primary sources" and are valued above "secondary sources" histories written long afterward. For instance, Winston Churchill wrote "The Second World War" (six volumes) shortly after WWII ended. This makes Churchill a primary source on WWII. Whereas Rick Atkinson's fine "Army at Dawn", copyright 2002, is a secondary source. In cases of conflict between primary and secondary sources, greater weight is accorded the primary source, on the theory that people who were there at the time are more likely to get it right.
This sort of thinking can readily be applied to internet sources. Putting stuff on the internet is so cheap anyone can do it. No one approves internet postings, and you can find internet postings that support literally anything. Some very good information is published on the net, and a whole lot of really awful stuff is too. How to tell the good stuff from the awful stuff? If you can't tell, the internet can feed you that awful stuff.
Check for an author. If there is no named author, (anonymous) that's a down check right there. It means the author feared retaliation if his name became known. If the author is some one you have heard of or know something about, that's an up check. Does the writer have his facts straight? You aren't an expert in his field, so you cannot judge everything, but there is always the little stuff, that you do know. Dates, names, places, does the writer get them right? If the small stuff is in error, it casts doubt upon everything else. Does the writer support his main thesis with concrete examples, real experiments, real historical examples, surveys, photographs, things with time and date and place and names? Or does the author engage in handwaving? Has the author written other stuff? Google ought to find it for you, even if it's obscure. Do other writers comment upon your author? If no one mentions your author, one way or another, that means they all thought he was not worth a comment.
This sort of thinking can readily be applied to internet sources. Putting stuff on the internet is so cheap anyone can do it. No one approves internet postings, and you can find internet postings that support literally anything. Some very good information is published on the net, and a whole lot of really awful stuff is too. How to tell the good stuff from the awful stuff? If you can't tell, the internet can feed you that awful stuff.
Check for an author. If there is no named author, (anonymous) that's a down check right there. It means the author feared retaliation if his name became known. If the author is some one you have heard of or know something about, that's an up check. Does the writer have his facts straight? You aren't an expert in his field, so you cannot judge everything, but there is always the little stuff, that you do know. Dates, names, places, does the writer get them right? If the small stuff is in error, it casts doubt upon everything else. Does the writer support his main thesis with concrete examples, real experiments, real historical examples, surveys, photographs, things with time and date and place and names? Or does the author engage in handwaving? Has the author written other stuff? Google ought to find it for you, even if it's obscure. Do other writers comment upon your author? If no one mentions your author, one way or another, that means they all thought he was not worth a comment.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Alternate Energy hikes your electric rates
The cost of providing electricity to your home is largely paying off the poles, wires, and generators. The cost of wages and fuel is small compared to the monthly mortgage payments on the electric company's plant and equipment. As demand increases, electric companies build more generating plants to carry the load. These facilities are expected to last 40 years, and the financing arrangements reflect this. They build a small excess capacity to carry the load after a single plant breaks down, or a surge in demand from a sudden heat wave or cold snap. Since the main cost of providing electricity is paying down the mortgage on the electric plants, the utilities are careful not to build more plants than are needed. And the only thing that saves the utilities money, is a reduction in needed generating capacity. They have to pay the mortgage on the electric plants whether the plants generate electricity or not.
And so, along come enthusiastic greenies, offering solar electric power to the utilities for inflated cost, typically twice the retail cost. Only, the solar electricity is not available while the sun is down, for obvious reasons. So, the utility has to build and pay for just as much generating capacity as before, to keep the lights on after dark. In short, buying "alternate" energy merely raises the utilities costs, it doesn't save them money, it costs them more money. Solar is never going to generate anything after sundown.
Same goes for wind. We have known this since sailing ship days. Some times the wind goes away and stays away. Which means the utility still has to pay for the generating capacity to carry the load when the wind doesn't blow. Again the wind people sell juice at about twice the retail rate. The utilities are forced to buy it by law. (They wouldn't touch it otherwise). The "alternate energy" costs the utility money that it wouldn't ordinarily spend.
In short, "alternate" energy merely raises the cost of electricity. If the greenies get their way, capacity will be reduced to the point where blackouts become common. Us ratepayers will have to purchase home generators ($1000 for enough capacity to keep the furnace running) to avoid having the pipes freeze during a winter blackout. Up here, that's maybe ten months worth of electric bills.
In a nutshell, the greenie push for "alternate energy" is hiking electric rates nationwide. One reason Great Depression 2.0 is still with us, is high electric rates drive companies to move offshore where the juice is cheaper.
And so, along come enthusiastic greenies, offering solar electric power to the utilities for inflated cost, typically twice the retail cost. Only, the solar electricity is not available while the sun is down, for obvious reasons. So, the utility has to build and pay for just as much generating capacity as before, to keep the lights on after dark. In short, buying "alternate" energy merely raises the utilities costs, it doesn't save them money, it costs them more money. Solar is never going to generate anything after sundown.
Same goes for wind. We have known this since sailing ship days. Some times the wind goes away and stays away. Which means the utility still has to pay for the generating capacity to carry the load when the wind doesn't blow. Again the wind people sell juice at about twice the retail rate. The utilities are forced to buy it by law. (They wouldn't touch it otherwise). The "alternate energy" costs the utility money that it wouldn't ordinarily spend.
In short, "alternate" energy merely raises the cost of electricity. If the greenies get their way, capacity will be reduced to the point where blackouts become common. Us ratepayers will have to purchase home generators ($1000 for enough capacity to keep the furnace running) to avoid having the pipes freeze during a winter blackout. Up here, that's maybe ten months worth of electric bills.
In a nutshell, the greenie push for "alternate energy" is hiking electric rates nationwide. One reason Great Depression 2.0 is still with us, is high electric rates drive companies to move offshore where the juice is cheaper.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Federal Judge does not believe the Lois Lerner story
The judge refused to accept the IRS baloney about how a single desktop hard drive crash destroyed Lois's incriminating emails.
Good for the judge. The "hard drive crash" excuse is totally bogus and the IRS should not be allowed to get away with it.
Good for the judge. The "hard drive crash" excuse is totally bogus and the IRS should not be allowed to get away with it.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Black Flag
Lately TV has been showing Islamist terrorists waving a black flag with Arabic inscriptions. When did the flag go black? Used to be, the flag of Islam was green with Arabic inscriptions.
Here in the west, a black flag is an ill omen. The Jolly Roger was a skull and crossbones on an all black field. Black Flag used to be a brand of insecticide. I don't think the Islamists consulted a PR expert when they adopted a black flag.
Here in the west, a black flag is an ill omen. The Jolly Roger was a skull and crossbones on an all black field. Black Flag used to be a brand of insecticide. I don't think the Islamists consulted a PR expert when they adopted a black flag.
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