Quantum Spin

Well, due to some spammer having found this obscure blog, I have been forced to refuse Anonymous posts. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause for legitimate posters, but since I am unable to send feedback to the offending servers causing them to explode and burst into flames - well, I do what I can. Thank you to all my sincere commentators and may the spammers rot in digital agony.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Democrat Facade

They say they're gonna get bin Laden with this wonderful plan.

Yup, they's a-gonna git more spies.

I wonder if they have some secret tree that produces Arabic-speakers on demand?

They obviously do not have a clue that we have been trying to get these spies for years, even before 9/11, but they are virtually impossible to come by. Further, they can thank their buddy, Clinton, for decimating humint while he was president.

Had Clinton not gone all googly over hi-tech gadgetry to do our intel gathering, we might've had a pool of potential spies with which to find bin Laden.

Just having a warm body that speaks the language is not enough. The speaker must also know the culture like a native and look the part. People like this are not wandering the streets, waiting to be recruited.

So, once again, the democrats prove they have no clue.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Here Come Da Borg!

Whoa! We may become the Borg. These neuro-chips are pretty cool, but what, in the future, will define a human?

Did All I Could Do

I have contacted my Senator's offices to tell them of my support for the Sensenbrenner Bill, the bill to strengthen border security and make illegal entry into the US a felony. Hopefully, they'll do the right thing and vote to approve this bill.

I was a bit bummed out to learn that Dallas had its own pro-illegal protest. Here I live less than 30 miles away and I missed it. I'd've loved to have gone and joined any counter-protest going on. Or, start my own.

So, I'll watch how this whole thing progresses and see if my elected officials need any more prodding from their constituents.

Unfortunately, Bush is being quite the fool on this issue, but I expected no more from him. As far as illegal aliens are concerned, I think Bush is napping quite happily in Vicente Fox's hip pocket. If only he'd be as adamant on fighting illegals as he is in fighting terrorists. After all, if it's easy for some Mexican to get into the country to pick tomatoes, then how hard can it be for Abdul al bin Dim?

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

The Plight Of Poverty-stricken Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) seems to have a problem with the incomes of WalMart executives. As people who are responsible for the acts of the entire company, I don't see why she has this problem, but there you are.

Anyway, she laments that "an entry level person at Wal-Mart, who works his or her entire career at Wal-Mart, would make as much as the CEO makes in two weeks."

Shall we take a look at how her income squares against this lamentation?

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, aside from her congressional salary of ~$105,000/year, in 2003 she had holdings worth about $92 million. Now, at the noble minimum wage that she supports so well, just her congressional salary is equal to 10 years' work at WalMart. But, toss in her worth and it comes to 8,932 YEARS worth of minimum wage earnings. Is this lamentable to her, or only if the rich are CEOs?

As an aside, shall we look at simply her residences in 2003? Her basic necessities of living?

According to the same SF Chronicle article, she lives in a conservative Pacific Heights home on Broadway, valued at up to $5 million. But, as a model of austerity, she also has a Sierra townhouse in Norden, worth up to $5 million, another condo in Alpine Meadows, valued at up to $1 million, and the Auberage du Soleil resort in Rutherford, a stake worth up to $5 million.

Her meager living arrangements come to a paltry $16,000,000. Certainly pauper status. I hope she never has to wait too long in line at the soup kitchen.

At least the WalMart CEO brings a profit to his shareholders. If he didn't, those holders would soon put him out on his ear and bring in someone who will give them a return on their investments. What does Pelosi produce? What profit does she bring to shareholders? What does she do that generates wealth for others?

Note: Generating wealth does not include moving monies from Box A to Box B, especially when one owns neither box in the first place.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Water Beyond Earth

The Cassini probe has has detected water in geysers shooting up from Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Earlier, some sites were reporting that life had been found, but NASA denies that claim.

Enceladus is interesting since it is the shiniest object in the solar system. It is thought that it is tectonically active with an unusually warm south pole and a significant atmosphere. But, "unusually warm" is relative -- the warmth is still -297°F.

Cassini is a joint NASA/ESA mission launched in 1997. It made orbit around Saturn in 2004. It will make a near pass to Enceladus again in 2008.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Things I Never Thought I'd Read In The News

Two things;

First, the headline of this story out of Charleston, South Carolina...

Toilet Paper Dispute Overflows Into Fight

Is this a prison riot? Did prisoners rip into each other to get to valuable toilet paper?

Nope.

Seems a couple of maids got into a row over one or the other of them stealing toilet paper from the other's cart. And, this made the headlines in today's news. Slow news day, I guess.

Then comes the second thing I never thought I'd read. In the scuffle, one of the maids received minor injured to her arms. The maid who bopped her with a mop said she was defending herself from the other maid's plunger...

This would've made a great SNL skit.

Bear In Mind, We've Used Them Before

According to an AP story, Iran is threatening the US with "harm and pain," for our role in bringing them to the UN Security Council over their foolish nuclear ambitions.

It might be wise for Tehran to recall that the United States is the ONLY nation with a history of using nuclear weapons in wartime...

From That Religion Of Peace

According to a report out of Israel, a Hamas-run website is glorifying shahada, martyrdom and suicide bombings.

This is not much of a surprise, but their target demographic demonstrates the depravity of these fools - children.

Not only children, but young girls, to go by the lead character on the website. She's not a dinosaur, but is dressed in purple.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

What Else Blows Up In India?

Maybe I'm picking nits, but it strikes me that this is plain silly...

======================
At Least 12 Dead in Bombings in India

Mar 7, 10:26 AM EST

VARANASI, India (AP) -- ... Authorities were scrambling to determine what caused the blasts, but political leaders suggested it was a bombing with the prime minister condemning the explosions and a top state official promising stern action against those responsible.
======================

I figure what caused the blasts were explosives - maybe that's just me. But, since political leaders are only able to "suggest" these were bombs, makes one wonder just what the heck else in India explodes.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Blackberry Gets A Reprieve

Well, it looks like everyone hooked on "black" will be able to continue their addiction for a while longer. NTP has settled with RIM with a $612.5 million dollar settlement. Even if the US PTO overturns NTP's patents, RIM will not have to pay it back.

The earlier agreement between the two companies in March of 2005, was a settlement for $450 million. I guess NTP wanted more green and RIM wanted to gamble on future earnings.

Cargo Container Scrutiny

Bill Clinton gave a speech at Pace University in New York on Sunday. In this speech, he said, "I still really can't believe we only check five percent of our containers at all the ports in America, when we've had now for four years a study saying that unless we do 10 to 20 percent, there's no deterrent effect at all."

According to a GAO report of 3/27/96 (GAO/NSIAD/RCED-96-76BR);

"Cargo inspection technologies are particularly important because of the millions of containers that enter the United States through hundreds of land and sea ports of entry. Customs currently inspects less than 5 percent of these containers."

Clinton's administration inspected LESS than 5% of incoming cargo containers, yet he complains about current levels? Why didn't he address these inspection levels during his own administration? After all, in light of the '93 bombing of the World Trade Center, the Khobar Towers bombing, the Cole attack, etc., it seems to me that Clinton should've been a bit more aware of the terrorist threat to the US.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Gaming Musings

A thought struck me as I was reading over some posts in a forum on gaming. Actually, two thoughts. Hmm. Make that three.
  1. What in the world is the deal with these simplistic games that decide everything on the roll of a single 6-sided die? How can a d6 be even close to representing an accurate statistical outcome? Sheesh!
  2. What happened to wargames? Reading over the posts in this gaming forum shows not a single wargame. I mean, games on civilization - which may include some battles, but hardly a wargame - railroads, Formula 1 racing, etc. Man, where is SPI, GDW or Avalon Hill when you need'em? Well, besides out of business.
  3. And, for my final thought, I really miss the Brigadier. That was a wargame shop in Arlington, Texas that not only sold games, miniatures and supplies, but also provided a place to play. Heck, I remember weekends of hitting the store on a Saturday afternoon, getting in a game or two of Boot Hill, maybe Tractics, then an evening of Dungeon or WGR Ancients or maybe Seapower. We'd play until 2am. Now, the only local stores close off before 10pm. And, they play these simplistic games that seem to involve robots, dwarves and elves, or Napoleonic forces with undead instead of Russians. Oy...

I think, when I win the Lottery (hear that Lottery Commission? I wanna win!), I'll have to open a shop like the ol' Brigadier and show the new generation what gaming really means.

Greetings

Welcome to my blog!


This seems to be the cool, new dealywhopper on the internet and I thought I'd jump in and get my feet wet.

My focus is going to be hobbies, science, current events, politics, the Constitution - well, a hodge-podge. Heck, I may even toss in a movie or restaurant review or two.

There's not much here, yet, but that just means there's more room to grow! So, let's see where this takes us...