This blog posts about aviation, automobiles, electronics, programming, politics and such other subjects as catch my interest. The blog is based in northern New Hampshire, USA
Friday, January 11, 2013
Cannon Mountain Ski weather
The mountain is in good shape. We have been getting an inch or so a night sifting down, but haven't had a real snow this week. Right now the temperature is hovering right around freezing. It's overcast and no wind is blowing.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Power Grows out of the Barrel of a Gun
Mao Tse-Tung said that. In the United States today the citizens have power (guns). This power is used to support and defend the Constitution and to suppress crime. Obama wants to take that power away. He doesn't want to waste the crisis of the horrible massacre in Connecticut, so he is pushing for "gun control". A phrase that means what ever you want it to mean. Taking guns away from citizens takes power away from citizens, leaving them defenseless against government force and criminals.
Obama is talking about an "assault weapons" ban. Trouble is, there are no objective differences between "assault weapons" and pretty much any kind of gun. So banning "assault weapons" really means banning nearly everything that shoots. And that's what Obama wants to do.
It is not true that some guns are more deadly than other guns. All guns are deadly. The Connecticut shooter would have killed as many no matter what kind of gun he used. We cannot improve public safety by banning the more deadly kind of guns, because all guns are deadly.
I am not prepared to give up the power that arms represent merely because the "gun control" people are dancing in the blood shed in Connecticut.
Obama is talking about an "assault weapons" ban. Trouble is, there are no objective differences between "assault weapons" and pretty much any kind of gun. So banning "assault weapons" really means banning nearly everything that shoots. And that's what Obama wants to do.
It is not true that some guns are more deadly than other guns. All guns are deadly. The Connecticut shooter would have killed as many no matter what kind of gun he used. We cannot improve public safety by banning the more deadly kind of guns, because all guns are deadly.
I am not prepared to give up the power that arms represent merely because the "gun control" people are dancing in the blood shed in Connecticut.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
NYC Ferry Crash
First amusing comment by a TV newsie. "The ferry is parked." Right. Anyone knows that vessels are docked, not parked.
The ferry crashed into its dock, hard enough to bash a big hole in the bow and injure a lot of passengers who were standing up to disembark. The ferry probably isn't as well equipped with grab irons as a subway car is.
A likely cause of such an accident is failure of the engines to provide reverse power. The vessel approaches the dock at a fair rate of speed and the skipper depends upon reverse thrust from the engines to slow her down. If the engines stall, fail, or refuse to go into reverse, the vessel will crash into the dock. Our ever clue-full (or is is low information) newsies have not asked anyone if the engines were working and providing reverse power.
The ferry crashed into its dock, hard enough to bash a big hole in the bow and injure a lot of passengers who were standing up to disembark. The ferry probably isn't as well equipped with grab irons as a subway car is.
A likely cause of such an accident is failure of the engines to provide reverse power. The vessel approaches the dock at a fair rate of speed and the skipper depends upon reverse thrust from the engines to slow her down. If the engines stall, fail, or refuse to go into reverse, the vessel will crash into the dock. Our ever clue-full (or is is low information) newsies have not asked anyone if the engines were working and providing reverse power.
Voting for Warming
NPR has been going overboard on hot-button topics. In one morning they advocated "organic" food, the nomination of Chuck Hagel for defense secretary, and Global Warming. A Trifecta of liberal hot-buttons.
One young lady said "Of course Global Warming is happening, 90% of scientists say it's happening."
She must be a liberal arts major. Competent people know that scientific controversies are settled by measurements, observations, reproducible experiments, not by counting people's opinions.
Nor is she aware that a good deal of evidence put forth by the Global Warmers is fake. I went thru the great Hadley CRU document leak. I saw with my own eyes where the programs were jacking up temperature in modern times.
One young lady said "Of course Global Warming is happening, 90% of scientists say it's happening."
She must be a liberal arts major. Competent people know that scientific controversies are settled by measurements, observations, reproducible experiments, not by counting people's opinions.
Nor is she aware that a good deal of evidence put forth by the Global Warmers is fake. I went thru the great Hadley CRU document leak. I saw with my own eyes where the programs were jacking up temperature in modern times.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Hardworking defense attorney
They brought James Holmes, the Aurora Colorado theater shooter, into court today. He was wearing bright orange hair, either a wig or a dye job. Sitting next to him is a lady attorney, presumably his public defender.
And did she council her client about that orange hair? Showing up in court like that is a good way to convince everyone in the room that you are a nut case.
Perhaps that's the plan, an insanity defense.
And did she council her client about that orange hair? Showing up in court like that is a good way to convince everyone in the room that you are a nut case.
Perhaps that's the plan, an insanity defense.
Obama's new Security appointments
First we have Chuck Hagel for defense. He is at least a Viet Nam veteran with combat experience. That's a good thing. The Wall St Journal is unimpressed, citing a number of opportunistic votes Hagel cast back in the day.
Then we have John Kerry for defense. Kerry went to Viet Nam as a junior Navy officer about the same time I was over there. I served the regular one year tour. Kerry managed to get home after only 8 months in country. He must have been some kind of jerk. Years later when he ran for president, men who had served with him were still mad enough to form the Swift Boat Veterans lobby and torpedo Mr Kerry.
And finally we have this guy John Brennan for CIA. That's a new name to me. He spent twenty years at CIA doing this and that, did some outside consulting, and finally joined Obama's campaign in 2008. I know little about him, but I'm suspicious of old CIA hands. CIA is a snake pit of intelligence agents who want to make policy, they made major mistakes, and spend much of their time attempting the destabilize Republican administrations. Not a good background. Certainly not a man to clean house at CIA.
Then we have John Kerry for defense. Kerry went to Viet Nam as a junior Navy officer about the same time I was over there. I served the regular one year tour. Kerry managed to get home after only 8 months in country. He must have been some kind of jerk. Years later when he ran for president, men who had served with him were still mad enough to form the Swift Boat Veterans lobby and torpedo Mr Kerry.
And finally we have this guy John Brennan for CIA. That's a new name to me. He spent twenty years at CIA doing this and that, did some outside consulting, and finally joined Obama's campaign in 2008. I know little about him, but I'm suspicious of old CIA hands. CIA is a snake pit of intelligence agents who want to make policy, they made major mistakes, and spend much of their time attempting the destabilize Republican administrations. Not a good background. Certainly not a man to clean house at CIA.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Winter Weasel
I saw one today, right in my front yard. All white, really slender, moving fast. Dunno what it lives on up here, I haven't seen a tasty chipmunk running around in months. I didn't know there were any weasels, white or otherwise, left around here. Apparently there are.
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