...for Luddites.
I saw a review in the local fishwrap for this book, breathlessly explaining in loving detail how our lives will become so much better when the cost of moving around becomes prohibitive; how, at $8 per gallon, airlines will disappear; at $14 a gallon, Walmart will cease to exist and so on until we reach the liberal utopia of, I suppose, a horse-and-cart economy, locally grown foodstuffs and so on...
So, if you live in an area where you can't actually grow food, or grow cotton, or live near the bio tech companies that produce modern medicines, then I guess you're fucked. Because if the cost of movement is prohibitive, you're not going to be able to leave - and what do we have then? A mass die-off, aka an environmentalist's wet dream. And it looks like the author is cool with that.
Look, it's quite simple really: the lower the cost of energy, the cheaper the goods you need are. The cheaper the necessities, the more time and money you have to devote to pursuing happiness and thus the higher the standard of living. As energy costs increase, so does EVERYTHING, since energy is required to grow, manufacture and transport everything we use, wear and eat. People will not be happier or better off when the majority of their time and sweat goes to just staying alive, even if the environmentalists insist "it's for their own good".
Tell me again why capitalism's so evil?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Good times
We invited a couple of good friends over last night for an improptu barbecue, so I had to stock up on some necessities - namely, a case of Stella Artois (my favorite beer in the whole wide world) and several pounds of carne asada (plus some insanely hot salsa) from a local carniceria...
This morning when I checked the cooler, there were only two beers left! Did we get robbed during the night? My memory is a little fuzzy...
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Well...
...looking around the web lately, it seems like the Democratics have gone and fired up middle America, and we have the usual intellectual heavyweights trying to douse the flames with gasoline...
They can barely conceal their contempt for the people anymore...
Fine. The more obvious they make it that they're completely uninterested in discourse, the more people will see them for what they truly are.
They can barely conceal their contempt for the people anymore...
Fine. The more obvious they make it that they're completely uninterested in discourse, the more people will see them for what they truly are.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Sigh
One of my buddies at work gets to pick up his Lancaster Arms AK-47 tomorrow and invited me to go shooting on Saturday. No can do - flag football tahes up the lion's share of the day. Sunday's out too, worst luck.
You know, it's been way too long since I've actually hit the range - in light of the current ammo shortage, I've been doing a lot more hoarding than shooting, out of fears that the stuff I shoot might not be easily replaced. I've had a particularly tough time trying to get a hold of .30 carbine ammo at anything approaching a decent price.
I'm definitely going to have to make time - and soon. No point in having tools you don't use, eh what?
You know, it's been way too long since I've actually hit the range - in light of the current ammo shortage, I've been doing a lot more hoarding than shooting, out of fears that the stuff I shoot might not be easily replaced. I've had a particularly tough time trying to get a hold of .30 carbine ammo at anything approaching a decent price.
I'm definitely going to have to make time - and soon. No point in having tools you don't use, eh what?
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Lunacy
Markadelphia, a fairly well-known liberal commenter over at The Smallest Minority, wrote up a fairly long-winded post on his blog singing the praises of Obama's health care propsals. It's a sum-up of the same leftist/class envy twaddle I've been hearing my whole life and I'm getting sick of it. I left a comment that I thought I'd share:
No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for:
Have you seen the economy lately? We're ALREADY deficit spending.
half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient by eliminating waste
I have NEVER IN MY LIFE seen a government program eliminate waste. Every program I'm aware of GROWS in costs, most way beyond their original estimates. Why should this one be any different?
and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals aka the top one percent
Ah yes, those rich bastards need to pay their fair share! Because they don't pay enough right now. It saddens me that you don't even see the immorality in this at all, Mark. It horrifies me that half the country agrees with you. "From each according to his ability to each according to his need". Honestly, you'd think we'd fucking LEARNED from the last century of history, but the left in this country thinks they've got it all figured out. This shining city on a hill has gotten noticeably dimmer over the last few months. God help humanity when you people finally extinguish it.
I'm sorry, but I love this country dearly and I hate to see it go the way of Europe.
The definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over, expecting a different result. The left REFUSES to accept the realities of the last hundred years of human history, and they're going to make the whole damn country pay for their ignorance.
Once socialism gets a strong foothold here, it's all over. Everywhere. What sort of future are my children going to inherit?
No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for:
Have you seen the economy lately? We're ALREADY deficit spending.
half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient by eliminating waste
I have NEVER IN MY LIFE seen a government program eliminate waste. Every program I'm aware of GROWS in costs, most way beyond their original estimates. Why should this one be any different?
and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals aka the top one percent
Ah yes, those rich bastards need to pay their fair share! Because they don't pay enough right now. It saddens me that you don't even see the immorality in this at all, Mark. It horrifies me that half the country agrees with you. "From each according to his ability to each according to his need". Honestly, you'd think we'd fucking LEARNED from the last century of history, but the left in this country thinks they've got it all figured out. This shining city on a hill has gotten noticeably dimmer over the last few months. God help humanity when you people finally extinguish it.
I'm sorry, but I love this country dearly and I hate to see it go the way of Europe.
The definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over, expecting a different result. The left REFUSES to accept the realities of the last hundred years of human history, and they're going to make the whole damn country pay for their ignorance.
Once socialism gets a strong foothold here, it's all over. Everywhere. What sort of future are my children going to inherit?
Setting her straight
A young soldier schools Senator McCaskill on her duties and responsibilities to the Constitution. Check out the crowd - a standing ovation with every point the guy makes. Must be a bunch of those bought-and-paid-for, bussed in members of the astroturf VRWC that the DNC keeps whining about...
Found over at the gun counter...
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
A Thought on Liberty
I was thinking up a rant about healthcare but it's late and I'm tired, so I'll save that for another day. I just got to thinking, what does liberty really mean?
To a liberal, the scope of liberty is limited to just a few things: freedom to ingest/smoke/inject whatever they want, freedom to wear whatever they want (including nothing if the boobs not bombs crowd is any indicator), and the freedom to bed whoever they want. That's about it. They'll happily trade away every other liberty for free shit.
Don't believe me? Look at Europe. They have that trivial stuff and they think they're free. The big stuff, the ability to make serious life decisions, about healthcare, about free speech, about protection - from both criminals and an overreaching government; well, they've lost just about all of that.
Next time you're at a zoo, look at the enclosures. The better zoos have nice, open enclosures, with vegetation and landscape to imitate the natural habitats - to an extent. No matter how nice the enclosure, however, there are still walls. There is still no escape, and the animals know it - they'll pace the perimeter again and again. Liberals still haven't figured that out yet.
To a liberal, the scope of liberty is limited to just a few things: freedom to ingest/smoke/inject whatever they want, freedom to wear whatever they want (including nothing if the boobs not bombs crowd is any indicator), and the freedom to bed whoever they want. That's about it. They'll happily trade away every other liberty for free shit.
Don't believe me? Look at Europe. They have that trivial stuff and they think they're free. The big stuff, the ability to make serious life decisions, about healthcare, about free speech, about protection - from both criminals and an overreaching government; well, they've lost just about all of that.
Next time you're at a zoo, look at the enclosures. The better zoos have nice, open enclosures, with vegetation and landscape to imitate the natural habitats - to an extent. No matter how nice the enclosure, however, there are still walls. There is still no escape, and the animals know it - they'll pace the perimeter again and again. Liberals still haven't figured that out yet.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Cash for Clunkers
Seems to be going just swimmingly. A little too swimmingly, in fact. Our lords and masters expected the program as funded to last through October... it lasted a few days. They didn't anticipate the demand, so they had to give it another $2billion.
As far as government programs go, this is tiny. After hearing about the issues they've had with this, the paperwork the buyers have to fill out, the reimbursement problems the dealers have been facing, I'm so very confident they'll be able to handle healthcare just fine... Don't worry, they'll accurately forecast the demand for that, I'm sure...
I feel like Tea Leoni's character in Deep Impact, standing on a beach, helplessly watching a huge tsunami gathering force and heading my way.
As far as government programs go, this is tiny. After hearing about the issues they've had with this, the paperwork the buyers have to fill out, the reimbursement problems the dealers have been facing, I'm so very confident they'll be able to handle healthcare just fine... Don't worry, they'll accurately forecast the demand for that, I'm sure...
I feel like Tea Leoni's character in Deep Impact, standing on a beach, helplessly watching a huge tsunami gathering force and heading my way.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
My sister introduced me to it at the beginning of the year and showed me how I could get in touch with a bunch of my cousins back in England and Ireland that I hadn't talked to in years. (I mean, I'd heard of facebook before, but wrote it off as some kid's thing).
I have to say, I'm glad I got into it. I've hooked up with a bunch of folks from my high school days, as well as finding one of my very good friends (who happened to be my best man) that I had lost touch with. I'm very thankful to have restored these connections.
There is, however, a downside for me - the sheer volume of information that I'm faced with every time I log in is overwhelming - I have a bazillion "requests" that I haven't been able to keep up with, my infrequent posts seem to get lost in the "noise" of the feed... and I have less than 50 friends on there! It is completely beyond me how someone with hundreds of friends on facebook keeps up.
Hell, I have a hard enough time keeping up this blog.
I have to say, I'm glad I got into it. I've hooked up with a bunch of folks from my high school days, as well as finding one of my very good friends (who happened to be my best man) that I had lost touch with. I'm very thankful to have restored these connections.
There is, however, a downside for me - the sheer volume of information that I'm faced with every time I log in is overwhelming - I have a bazillion "requests" that I haven't been able to keep up with, my infrequent posts seem to get lost in the "noise" of the feed... and I have less than 50 friends on there! It is completely beyond me how someone with hundreds of friends on facebook keeps up.
Hell, I have a hard enough time keeping up this blog.
Housekeeping
Made a few additions to my blogroll today - these are folks I've been reading pretty regularly but never got around to linking. Google's great and all, but links are better...
Nordyke to be reheard
Reading this today was a bit of a downer. Looks like one of the judges, rather than plaintiff or defendant, intiated the en banc hearing, set for September 21st.
By the time I had read it and headed over to Calguns, there was already a 10 page thread on the subject. One of the resident legal guys had a more positive take on the whole thing, which was a little cheering. I have a lot of respect for his opinion, especially since he's been right more often than not in the past. I guess the bottom line is, we don't strictly need a split between the circuits for SCOTUS to look at incorporation for the 2A.
By the time I had read it and headed over to Calguns, there was already a 10 page thread on the subject. One of the resident legal guys had a more positive take on the whole thing, which was a little cheering. I have a lot of respect for his opinion, especially since he's been right more often than not in the past. I guess the bottom line is, we don't strictly need a split between the circuits for SCOTUS to look at incorporation for the 2A.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Paypal...
...shows their ass.
Soldiers' Angels is an absolute good. I had heard that Paypal was anti-gun, but this is too much. They hate guns so much that they're going to crap on a charity just for holding a gun raffle?
Stay classy.
I'm done with Paypal; and Ebay for that matter, since they are for all intents and purposes the same entity. I won't support a business that holds my rights in contempt.
Soldiers' Angels is an absolute good. I had heard that Paypal was anti-gun, but this is too much. They hate guns so much that they're going to crap on a charity just for holding a gun raffle?
Stay classy.
I'm done with Paypal; and Ebay for that matter, since they are for all intents and purposes the same entity. I won't support a business that holds my rights in contempt.
This is what it looked like...
At my Naturalization Ceremony...
This photo was one of several taken by my friend Isaac who came to watch it all go down. Thanks, Isaac!
The whole court area was newly-minted citizens, as was the first level (up to the dark red/brown stripe). A ton of folks. I was in that lower tier, at about center court, just by the number 16 in yellow. Can you see me?:)
This photo was one of several taken by my friend Isaac who came to watch it all go down. Thanks, Isaac!
The whole court area was newly-minted citizens, as was the first level (up to the dark red/brown stripe). A ton of folks. I was in that lower tier, at about center court, just by the number 16 in yellow. Can you see me?:)
I love technology!
New gun rights app for the iPhone! Courtesy of some fine folks at Calguns.net...
www.gunrightsapp.com. Up to the minute news feed, events and videos concerning gun rights around the country. Yup, I already downloaded it. If you haven't checked out Calguns yet, I strongly recommend you do, because unlike those fat old guys hanging around at the gun store whining about losing their rights, the Calguns Foundation is actually DOING something about it.
www.gunrightsapp.com. Up to the minute news feed, events and videos concerning gun rights around the country. Yup, I already downloaded it. If you haven't checked out Calguns yet, I strongly recommend you do, because unlike those fat old guys hanging around at the gun store whining about losing their rights, the Calguns Foundation is actually DOING something about it.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Not very smart...
Some dumb kid impersonating a marine in Reno airport. Didn't expect to run into the real deal, I guess. Like one of the posters said, he's lucky he got to walk away with all his teeth intact. I know I wouldn't have known about the discrepancies in his uniform and would probably thanked him for his service, which I assume was the sort of attention he was seeking. Not cool. You want the accolades, sign up and earn them.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Flag
It's that time again! Actually, we've been playing for a few weeks, and this season I'm coaching two teams... shortage of coaches, which is a bit of a surprise since plenty of people show up to watch the games.
Anyways, meet the "big" Seahawks:
Number One Son is second from the left. These guys are in the 8-11 division and my other team - also the Seahawks - are in the 4-7 division, which is a hoot to watch.
My little guys had to forfeit today, since only 3 showed up and we need 5 to field a team. The older kids had to play a double header today which was pretty tough in this heat - it was in the high 90's in the valley today, if not higher.
Number One Son had a great day - two touchdowns and two interceptions in the first game, and a pretty spectacular touchdown in the second - a long bomb pass to him after he beat out the defense - he had all the parents on their feet cheering. We went 1-1 today. They destroyed the Chargers in their first game, going 42-0, which isn't too much fun, because I've been on the bottom end of games like that and I know how it feels - I'm not into humiliating kids. Game 2 was closer, and if they hadn't played the first one they might have pulled a win. That score was 18-12. A fun day, but pretty tiring - even for me, since I had to referee a 12-16 game afterwards and believe me, it's not easy chasing teenagers around a field in this weather...
Anyways, meet the "big" Seahawks:
Number One Son is second from the left. These guys are in the 8-11 division and my other team - also the Seahawks - are in the 4-7 division, which is a hoot to watch.
My little guys had to forfeit today, since only 3 showed up and we need 5 to field a team. The older kids had to play a double header today which was pretty tough in this heat - it was in the high 90's in the valley today, if not higher.
Number One Son had a great day - two touchdowns and two interceptions in the first game, and a pretty spectacular touchdown in the second - a long bomb pass to him after he beat out the defense - he had all the parents on their feet cheering. We went 1-1 today. They destroyed the Chargers in their first game, going 42-0, which isn't too much fun, because I've been on the bottom end of games like that and I know how it feels - I'm not into humiliating kids. Game 2 was closer, and if they hadn't played the first one they might have pulled a win. That score was 18-12. A fun day, but pretty tiring - even for me, since I had to referee a 12-16 game afterwards and believe me, it's not easy chasing teenagers around a field in this weather...
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