Space Shuttle Endeavour and the Golden Gate Bridge #flickrmeetup #spottheshuttle #ov105 flic.kr/p/dcNBxJ
— Flickr (@Flickr) September 21, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Space Shuttle on Tour
This is a pretty cool photo.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The "Who Me" Fart Bomb
I LOVE this:
Who Me was a top secret sulfurous stench weapon developed by the American Office of Strategic Services during World War II to be used by the French Resistance against German officers. Who Me smelled strongly of fecal matter, and was issued in pocket atomizers intended to be unobtrusively sprayed on a German officer, humiliating him and, by extension, demoralizing the occupying German forces.Interestingly, French Resistance was already getting stunning results from a "whoever smelt it, dealt it" whisper campaign.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Talk Like a Yooper Day 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
2012 Milwaukee Brewers Review, a Touch Early
Let's review. Your Brewers lost an elite power hitter in the off season. Their other one was mired in controversy. The one they hired didn't hit for the first two months. Their all star 2nd baseman didn't hit until mid-July. They were decimated by injury at catcher, short, first, and pitcher. The bullpen was so bad that if it had just been average, they'd have 10 extra wins. This all led them to trade away a Cy Young Award winning pitcher. Yet this team is still in contention. Even if it ends with the regular season, what they are doing right now is pretty damn special. Appreciate it, fans, and have hope for '13. But hold onto that hope of a late September baseball fan - this might not end badly.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
"The People Who Did This Will Hear All of Us Soon"
In light of events, this is required viewing today.
Welcome to 1979
Our diplomatic interests were attacked in the Middle East yesterday as we impotently watch. The economy is stagnant. President Obama, killer bunny rabbit is on line one. He says, "get your paddle ready."
Update
And it gets even worse as Libyans drag the corpse of Ambassador Christopher Stevens through the streets.
Update
And it gets even worse as Libyans drag the corpse of Ambassador Christopher Stevens through the streets.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Caution: Hard Hat Area
If I'm going to start dabbling here again, I think this joint needs a renovation. Please bear with the current ugly theme. It won't last long.
Pre-9/11 Intel
This article, which actually covers another piece that is actually more of a political cudgel, indicates that there was intel in the months leading up to 9/11 that an attack was imminent. I'm not really interested in the political game being played with this, but the raw history of it. And from the raw history, I have no doubt that there were warnings.
Now, why do I say this? First, when there are historic attacks like this, there are almost always subtle and not so subtle warnings. Now, when we look back on them, we say, how could people have missed that? But the fact is that these events destroy old realities and create all new realities. When we view them from our new reality, yeah, they seem obvious. But if you let yourself revert to old mindsets and perceptions of the world as they were in that old reality, you find that the pieces don't fit so nicely. It is often the attack or the disaster that changes the focal length of what is going on and everything becomes clear.
Secondly, and this dogs me to this day, early that summer, I read an article that discussed the growing terror threat. It said that intelligence agencies were worried that terrorists were going to be changing their tactics, and I believe it had used some examples from the then recent years as examples of how that was happening. And it discussed some of the tactics terrorists might use, and I found it frightening and mind blowing. And one of those tactics was using airplanes as weapons. So this was, at least at some level below the public consciousness, out there well in advance of 9/11. I was so taken aback by the article that it was something I would have blogged about, but this was the pre-blog days when only a few people like Sean Hackbarth and Glenn Reynolds were doing what would later be known as blogging.
The article had already receded in my mind a bit by September 10th, 2001, but it shot to the forefront of my mind that next day. Unfortunately, I was never able to find it back, and I used all of my web research skills. But it had been out there. It was as though it vaguely predicted the attack, in a way. But here's the catch - the most important information needed to stop an attack - who was going to do it, when they would, what would they attack, and what with - that was all still a mystery until the morning of 9-11-01. And even then, we wouldn't really who did it for a while.
So while it is fun, and rather easy, to play political gotcha games in stories of intel, it is a disservice to the history. Hindsight is indeed 20-20, but the present is all too often some damn murky water.
Now, why do I say this? First, when there are historic attacks like this, there are almost always subtle and not so subtle warnings. Now, when we look back on them, we say, how could people have missed that? But the fact is that these events destroy old realities and create all new realities. When we view them from our new reality, yeah, they seem obvious. But if you let yourself revert to old mindsets and perceptions of the world as they were in that old reality, you find that the pieces don't fit so nicely. It is often the attack or the disaster that changes the focal length of what is going on and everything becomes clear.
Secondly, and this dogs me to this day, early that summer, I read an article that discussed the growing terror threat. It said that intelligence agencies were worried that terrorists were going to be changing their tactics, and I believe it had used some examples from the then recent years as examples of how that was happening. And it discussed some of the tactics terrorists might use, and I found it frightening and mind blowing. And one of those tactics was using airplanes as weapons. So this was, at least at some level below the public consciousness, out there well in advance of 9/11. I was so taken aback by the article that it was something I would have blogged about, but this was the pre-blog days when only a few people like Sean Hackbarth and Glenn Reynolds were doing what would later be known as blogging.
The article had already receded in my mind a bit by September 10th, 2001, but it shot to the forefront of my mind that next day. Unfortunately, I was never able to find it back, and I used all of my web research skills. But it had been out there. It was as though it vaguely predicted the attack, in a way. But here's the catch - the most important information needed to stop an attack - who was going to do it, when they would, what would they attack, and what with - that was all still a mystery until the morning of 9-11-01. And even then, we wouldn't really who did it for a while.
So while it is fun, and rather easy, to play political gotcha games in stories of intel, it is a disservice to the history. Hindsight is indeed 20-20, but the present is all too often some damn murky water.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
I Hate Words on Pictures
With the advent of Pinterest and Tumblr has come an odious new trend: People making statements by slapping words on pictures. And I loathe them. It is terribly easy to manipulate a message or take it out of its original context, they are difficult to debate because they cross into a visual medium, and it is easy for the person who re-posts them to deny them when called out on the dumb ones.
Because of this, I feel that I have no choice but to fight fire with fire. I did not want to do this, internet, but you give me no choice. Today, I begin to take over the brains of all of the citizens of the internet with words on pictures. Remember, you made me do this:
Because of this, I feel that I have no choice but to fight fire with fire. I did not want to do this, internet, but you give me no choice. Today, I begin to take over the brains of all of the citizens of the internet with words on pictures. Remember, you made me do this:
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Heroism
I typed this into "notes" on my phone in the early morning hours of 9/12/11, and then I forgot about it. Now that I found it back, I think I'll post it here, too.
There comes a moment in the lives of very few men and women when they accept, without emotional bias, that events have become larger than any one man, or even one thousand. In those moments comes a grim determination to do what they can to help save others for as long as luck, fate, and their maker allows. This acceptance of reality doth create heroism and bravery.
There comes a moment in the lives of very few men and women when they accept, without emotional bias, that events have become larger than any one man, or even one thousand. In those moments comes a grim determination to do what they can to help save others for as long as luck, fate, and their maker allows. This acceptance of reality doth create heroism and bravery.
Seemingly randomly, as events subside, some come to meet their maker, while others are allowed to persist and return to life. Invariably, those who have faced their end will tell all that they are not the hero, rather the heroes are those who faced hopelessness and lost. Yet the living remain heroes, for it takes much heroism to face death and still push forward, but it takes even more to survive and accept the gift of life again.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
Livestock Farmers: Halt Ethanol
This was bound to happen:
Livestock farmers and ranchers seeing their feed costs rise because of the worst drought in a quarter-century are demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency waive production requirements for corn-based ethanol.It is never a good idea rely on food producing acreage to instead fuel your economy. If supply is plentiful, let farmers decide, but don't mandate demand for, essentially, burning food.
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Friday, May 04, 2012
The Fist
The fist that Wisconsin Public Union members have adopted as their logo is really unfortunate imagery. The right should be doing so much more to minimize them via that idiotic fist.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Random Musing
Tea party and Occupation might have a common enemy but they don't even realize it: corruption of political power. Because they come at it from radically different angles, they just might be irreconcilable because of their own obtuseness, but that might not be all bad. Woe be the power of the man who can deceive both to follow.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Phrase of the Day: Facebook Telephone
Facebook telephone: The process of a story getting messed up not because of word of mouth, but because others might not know the background to the story and thus misinterpret it completely.
Monday, September 12, 2011
A Eulogy to the Heroic
There comes a moment in the lives of very few men and women when they accept, without emotional bias, that events have become larger than any one man, or even one thousand. In those moments comes a grim determination to do what they can to help save others for as long as luck, fate, and their maker allows. This acceptance of reality doth create heroism and bravery.
Seemingly randomly, as events subside, some come to meet their maker, while others are allowed to persist and return to life. Invariably, those who have faced their end will tell all that they are not the hero, rather the heroes are those who faced hopelessness and lost. Yet the living remain heroes, for it takes much heroism to face death and still push forward, but it takes even more to survive and accept the gift of life again.
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