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Telecommunications Technician, Writer,
Editor, Jack of All Trades
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Carl Bussjaeger Telecommunications Technician, Writer, Editor, Jack of All Trades |
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Blog, June, 2010
June 30, 2010 7:30PM Kudos to Anthony Watts, of Watts Up With That. Naturally, I just had to toss in the bit from last month that killing the mammoths caused global COOLING. And – no pun intended... OK, so it was – Cool! I got a front page mention on WUWT. I'm famous. I may even make the denialist black list (keeping my fingers crossed).
Added 7/1: Great quote in the comments:
June 28, 2010 11:05AM Added 12:50PM: I finished Alito's decision, and I'm working on Scalia's concurrence (which is largely a debunking of Stevens' dissent – which itself seems to amount to "but this would let people have nasty, dangerous guns). On the bright side, Alito makes very clear the murderously racist basis of much "gun control" (properly read as "victim disarmament") legislation. On the dark side, Alito, as in Heller, allows for plenty of infringements of the 2A, including restricting it to within one's home, and banning many types of firearms.
June 27, 2010 6:15PM Just today, I was thinking that I need something in .30-06...
June 24, 2010 8:55PM "Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections" Riiight. After the SCOTUS – acting properly for once – overturned the previous "campaign finance reform" act as an unconstitutional infringement on free speech rights (a decision which enemies of free speech tried to paint as a blank check for corporations... completely ignoring all the affected grassroots groups), Congress immediately set about trying to overturn the SCOTUS decision. The creepily named DISCLOSE was their answer: Don't ban speech, just make it so onerous, inconvenient, and expensive to comply with the Kafkaesque requirements that free speech is de facto banned, without admitting it outright. To any real American (of which damned few are to be found in either house of Congress), this would have been disgusting enough. But the Dems just had to find a way to make it worse: Ta da! Making everyone unequal before the law. It works like this: If you have a small, underfunded grassroots group, or if you aren't really part of a formally organized group, the insanely restrictive law applies to you. No free speech for you! But if you happen to have a large, well-funded outfit (which could afford to comply), like a strong union, or the pro-gun control group NRA (look at the NRA's habit of sponsoring gun control legislation, compromising where compromise is not needed and hurting people, and sabotaging pro-gun court cases), then the law doesn't apply to you. Got that? If you have plenty of political influence, you get to officially ignore the law under "DISCLOSE". New Hampshire voters take note: Both Pelosi-poodles Hodes and Shea-Porter voted to muzzle you. Remember that come November. I will. On the subject of the NRA, a group I refuse to support because they've done more damage to RKBA than the Bradys: The NRA claims they didn't support this abomination. They claim they merely didn't oppose it, because they are a single-issue organization, and freedom of speech isn't it. That's rankest BS, of course. The NRA negotiated with Dems for this exemption as a condition of ignoring it; that is, they opposed it until they got an exemption. Bear in mind that being a "single-issue" organization didn't stop them from opposing the old McCain-Feingold that did affect them. And the whole point of RKBA and the Second Amendment is to defend all our freedoms... like free speech. But the NRA is a single-issue organization. That issue is the NRA. And they'll screw over anyone they need to, to ensure the money continues to pour in. Pretending to be pro-gun is merely a tool the NRA uses to trick fudds into coughing up bucks. Hat tip to David Codrea.
June 24, 2010 10:30AM Pardon me for this offense, but if I must suffer, all must suffer. And the mental image this prompted... hurts Yeah, we know Weird Al is crazed, but the "sex poodle" part is really TMI. No wonder even Tipper couldn't stomach him any longer
June 23, 2010 8:40AM Let's see now... The feds waivered inspections of the drilling rig. They failed to obtain the boom ships they were authorized and instructed to have ready (not just for this case, but for any leak situation). The feds stalled one Florida county on a plan to use barges to protect an island; in fact, they seem to have stalled all Florida spill plans. The feds sent the Coast Guard to shut down barges that were successfully vacuuming oil (because they wanted to "inspect" to be sure they had life preservers – now they want to inspect something, and it requires suspending operations completely??). They stalled Louisiana plans to dredge and build protective "islands". And now that Louisiana went and did it anyway, the feds shut that operation down. The feds have declined to waiver rules that prevent foreign-flagged clean-up vessels operating in American waters. I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but I can't help noticing that these (mostly in-)actions conveniently make a bad situation worse at a time when the administration is pushing economy-crippling anti-oil "energy" legislation. On the other hand, this administration has demonstrated extreme incompetence at pretty much anything but demogoguery (Which is sort of a good thing, as I'd hate to see what these socialists could manage if they were competent).
June 22, 2010 2:20PM I like to eat; anyone who knows me can verify that. I like burgers. I like grilled cheese sandwiches. But this is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong. If this is your thing, go for it; I won't object. But the equivalent of two grilled cheese sandwiches and what appears to be a fairly large burger is more than I can, or even want, to eat all at once. And grilled cheese and burgers are great separately, but the combination doesn't really strike me as particularly appetizing. If anyone tries this, let me know what you thought of it.
June 21, 2010 4:05PM
RIAA after song pirates? Nope. It's the National Pork Board (no, not the US Congress; the guys marketing pig meat) objecting to the use of a variant of their soon-to-be-phased-out slogan, "The other white meat". Apparently they're afraid of the competition from... Canned unicorn meat. Really. These geniuses, who evidently believe in unicorns, missed the whole parody thing. Life forbid the Star Drek concession notices the Tribbles 'n' Bits beakfast cereal. Hat tip to In the Pipeline.
June 17, 2010 12:15PM You may have seen these bizarre reports. I wanted to ignore them, but I've seen this crap on so many web sites that I'm afraid someone might actually fall for the scaremongering scam. So... annihilation is coming, it will disrupt communications, it will "cause major problems for the world", and "[l]arge areas will be without electricity power". Red level BS alert: If the boy had left it at something along the lines of, "We're beginning to come out of the solar minimum, and solar activity should be increasing of the next few years. It would be prudent for electrical and electronic industries to plan for the possibilty of a strong solar flare, because you never really know", I wouldn't have a problem. But this prediction of certain solar induced doom is crap. Apparently Fisher is unaware of various bits of data found here and there. You might find NOAA's ISES Solar Cycle Sunspot Number Progression chart interesting.
That's a plot of the "sunspot number", which is a indicator of number and intensity of sunspots. Sunspots, while not all-inclusive, are generally taken as indicative of solar activity. More sunspots, and more active sunspots = more solar activity. Since sunspots are the usual source of the flares that worry Fisher, this is plausible. Specifically, what that chart shows – updated monthly – is that we are slowly coming out of a solar minimum that was around half again longer than average, following an unusually high solar max (AGW proponents should note that max coincided with rising average world temps; and as the max declined, so did temps). Even though the Sun has entered the next solar cycle, number 24, note that the low sunspot numbers show that effectively we are still in a solar minimum (technically, numbers are rising again, but are still within the range of the minimum). Now take a look at the red curve on the right-hand portion of the chart. That's the smoothed (averaged, more or less) prediction of sunspot numbers (i.e. - solar activity) for the cycle we're entering. Please note that the prediction is for a solar max of much less activity than the previous max, roughly half the activity, in fact. Also note that the recent sunspot numbers are even lower than predicted. That does not support Fisher's definite claims of imminent world-wide catastrophe. Quite the opposite. Caveat: Even in a low average activity solar max, the possibility of a "rogue" superflare exists. It could even happen now, in the solar minimum; there's just too much we don't know about the Sun. But the ISES prediction and actual measurements suggest that the coming years will largely be calm and conducive to space operations, and that Dr. Fisher is full of partially processed bovine digestive ejecta.
June 16, 2010 9:20AM That he thinks there's any question tells me all I need to know about their "Christianity". An incompetent minor was raped – and impregnated – by a congregation member three times her age. She asked for help. The pastor blamed her for the rape, and forced her to make a public "confession" and apology to the church. The rapist merely said he'd acted inappropriately in an undefined act that no one knew was connected to the girl. They forgave him, and sheltered him for another seven years. The victim was packed off in shame to Colorado, pregnant as a result of the rape, where the New Hampshire police were unable to locate her to continue the rape investigation. You tell me. Is there really any question whether or not these accomplices to child rape lived up to their "Christian mission"? If that's Christian, I want none of it. Minus the polygamy, how does that really differ from the common Muslim practice of marrying little girls against their will and raping them? Their response wasn't regrettable. It was disgusting. And probably criminal.
June 16, 2010 2:20AM But the aforementioned good news: Near Space Press has released the trade paperback edition of my novel, Net Assets. It will be available through Amazon.com as soon as they get the listing up, probably Friday.
June 15, 2010 9:05PM
June 15, 2010 5:00PM Smart move. I mean, do you really want the feds in charge; the government that after two centuries still can't figure out how to run a census, something the Romans managed two millenia ago?
June 15, 2010 1:30PM Nitwits, eh? Gee, where have I heard that before, months ago? Or the idea that we need to go about this a little differently?
June 14, 2010 5:35PM Here are the candidates I still can't nail down:
US Rep. NH-2
Governor
St. Rep. Hill-4 For people who want name recognition and support, these politicians sure can be tough to locate. If anyone out there has contact info, please please email it to me. Thanks.
June 14, 2010 12:30PM I know that half the country is already posting this YouTube vid, but I just had to weigh in too. What an arrogant prick. With anger management and judgement issues, no less. Okay, North Carolina 2nd District voters: Remember good ol' Rep. Bob Etheridge come November. If you people actually re-elect him, we'll know NC is hopeless. Look, creep. You can refuse to comment. You can refuse to speak with someone you feel hasn't adequately identified himself. You can walk away. But you don't get to grab, shove, and strike at someone addressing you politely and asking a reasonable question.
June 12, 2010 12:45PM Since these two ladies are refusing to answer the Gun Rights Questionnaire (it was sent to both of them twice; no replies) while running for public office in a state that heavily favors RKBA, one could suspect their RKBA stance might be so repugnant to NH voters that they're afraid to answer lest they lose votes. Well, by refusing to answer they ensured not getting my vote. Ladies, you really should consider answering.
June 9, 2010 10:50AM
jennifer horn endorses charlie bass And my personal favorite: jim bender senate insane Never met the guy myself, but someone clearly has suspicions. So... 8 out of the top 20 searches were regarding elections and victim disarmament in New Hampshire. Yet, out of 23 candidates for the US House, Senate, and Governor, only 7 have bothered to respond to the Gun Rights Questionnaire. And of the responses, one was a flat out refusal to answer (Robertson for Gov), another was a noninformative evasion without answering (Hodes for Senate), and one was a Libertarian copying another candidate's answers (way to go, Wilson). Giuda and Sonner, running for the House, gave decent answers; Sonner even followed up and discussed his answers. In the Senate race, Alciere and Blevens responded well. The campaign manager for Horn claimed to have not received the Questionnaire despite my sending it twice; he's read the questionnaire page, but I still haven't received any answers. No one else has responded at all. Think about that, NH voters; do you want an officeholder who not only won't tell you where he or she stands, but won't even respond to you? And that's when they're still trying to get your vote; how responsive will they be if they get elected and no longer need your support?
June 8, 2010 9:30AM Just another sign of the recovering economy, right? Greece is collapsing, with several other countries clearly emulating it. The EU is setting up a trillion (yes, trillion with a T) euro bail-out fund. Connecticut had its rating slashed. US unemployment is nearly 10% according to fed figures (closer to 25%, when you add in the unemployed who don't count). The only significant job increases this year have been fed hires for the Census (and even their numbers may be bogus according to whistleblowers). Go ahead, tell me things are getting better. When an economist recommends barbed wire and guns, you'd best pay attention. Hat tip to Mike Vanderboegh's Sipsey Street Irregulars.
June 7, 2010 4:25PM Those patrol rifles should come in handy next time these brave "warriors" face an evil, wicked, assault puppy terrorist during an unwarranted arrest for an imaginary robbery. Oh, yeah. Those "patrol rifles" are what they call evil, wicked "assault weapons" when you have one. Hat tip to David Codrea's War on Guns.
June 7, 2010 12:30PM Granted, up until the territory was ceded to the Jews post-WW2, Palestine had been a possession of a series of empires, not a stand-alone nation. You have to go back more than 2,000 years to find something resembling a country, and that might not really fit the modern notion of a nation. But what got me was the idea that a capital is the defining characteristic of a country. I wonder if the folks on that show realize that by their definition, America wasn't a country until 1790. I guess the first 14 years didn't count.
June 4, 2010 5:45PM Right. Private companies always try to hire more people than they need, to save money. Not. "Hi, I'm from the government, and I'm here to bankrupt you." These idiots have been running the Census for a couple of centuries, and they still can't figure out how to do it. Doesn't that give you a warm fuzzy feeling about Obamacare?
June 3, 2010 4:50PM They also get used by government whistleblowers, informants for reporters, people who want to call in anonymous tips to cops without getting targeted by a criminal, battered spouses hiding from abusers, and people who simply want privacy. Kind makes you wonder if these oathbreakers ever heard of coin-operated pay telephones that aren't registered to individuals. Amusingly, the example Schumer gives as justification for this bit of stupdity, the Times Square Talibani, is actually a case in which the use of a prepaid phone did not prevent the authorities from tracking him down. Hat tip to David Codrea's War on Guns.
June 3, 2010 10:20AM Pandemic, eh? For a flu strain that's supposedly been running rampant in the US alone for over a year, "swine flu" is kind of a no-show. I've never had it. I don't even personally know anyone who has had it. I do recall reading some interesting articles during the last flu season: The CDC told states they could could stop testing for swine flu, that they would assume a certain percentage of all flu cases were swine flu. But states that continued testing for specific strains uniformly reported much lower rates of swine flu than did the CDC. Funny, that.
June 2, 2010 3:05PM If homeopathy works – water retains the active principle of no longer present molecules – how come my survival water filter works? Seems like any water would just endlessly accumulate more and more ghostly characteristics of anything to which it was ever exposed.
Added 6/3/10: Love this comment from "JC": Sorry; it's a quantum physics thing.
June 2, 2010 8:45AM So very true.
I did.
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