Wouldn't you bloody know it. There's no NASCAR race today, so I've got nothing substantive to write about. The preacher had something interesting to say at church today, but I've lost the bloody bulletin and the notes I'd written about it. !@#$
Happy Leap Year.
When I first started this blog, I resolved never to mention a certain supposed right-of-center blogger who happens to practice a form of intimacy that I find repulsive. He doesn't need the extra talking-up, and I've never trusted the man.
Since the debut of the firestorm over an amendment to the Federal Constitution on the question of marriage, his writings had reaffirmed my decision not to trust him. That being said, I found this recently about The Purple Pundit Who Must Not Be Named:
Andrew Sullivan has always been a fundamentally shrill and emotional creature. He's got all the emotional control and intellectual consistency of a mid-pubescent eighth-grade schoolgirl. -- Ace of Spades HQ
It's a good thing that I have a heavy wooden chair with arms on it at my desk, or I would have fallen out of it laughing. It's true! It's true! It's all true, I deny none of it! I couldn't have summed up my reaction to his recent ravings more perfectly than that.
Tip of the Wisconsin hat to Jack Sparks of burn rate for this marvelous gem.
I generally don't read a lot of the e-mail that gets sent my way through the University's mass-distribution lists. It's either not targeted at me, or I simply don't care.
However, a recent message came through the servers exhorting us to "recognize the importance of diversity and cultural awareness", and it's irritated me. If you're a tolerance weenie, go elsewhere. I'm ill-rested and in a foul mood, so here goes. I have reproduced certain sections of the message, which was garbled in some part due to a MIME or HTML-mail error.
This website shows 101 ways to increase your tolerance and promote equity and diversity. [The first sixteen were reprinted in the message.]
The original suggestions are in italics; my commentary is in ordinary Roman-Arial type.
1. Attend a play, listen to music or go to a dance performance by artists whose race or ethnicity is different from your own.
Dance performance? I don't like to watch white people dancing; what makes you think that I'll enjoy anyone else doing it? Gah, no.
2. Volunteer at a local social services organization.
That sounds more like a Christian thing to do---oh wait, Christians are intolerant anti-Semitic bigots unless they kiss up to Islamics and the like. Tsk tsk...
3. Attend services at a variety of churches, synagogues, mosques and temples to learn about different faiths.
Ahem. One isn't often welcome in faiths where you're not a member. I doubt any Jews would be happy to see me in their synagogue, because I'm distinctively not one of them. The next time I set foot in a mosque---been to one in D.C.---will be when I close it down for terrorist activity. I doubt they'd want to see a Western infidel (and proud of it!) darkening their doorsteps and soiling their sacred ground.
4. Visit a local senior citizens center and collect oral histories. Donate large-print reading materials and books on tape. Offer to help with a craft project.
Visiting rest homes can be downright scary. I went to one to see my grandmother recently, and it sounded like I was in some sort of Dickensian mental ward. I don't deal well with blank stares from physical and/or mental wrecks who've been abandoned by their irresponsible families.
That being said, when I was in college, the local College Republicans went to a rest home and did nice Easter things for people, like making Easter bunnies out of household materials. I don't remember any of the campus Democrats going along, though. Once again, Democrats talk about a problem; Republicans do something about it.
Exactly how does an oral history, although inherently worthy in its own right, increase tolerance or diversity? History itself is probably above such petty political goals.
5. Shop at ethnic grocery stores and specialty markets. Get to know the owners. Ask about their family histories.
Actually, I already do this. I'm very fond of shopping at stores which serve my interests. Considering my English-American heritage, that's getting pretty 'ethnic' and 'specialty' at the same time. The owners? They're too busy making money and managing a network of stores to waste time trading family history with a customer who doesn't own a distributing company. Rubbish!
6. Participate in a diversity program.
I have already participated in diversity programs. They're referred to as undergraduate admissions. I didn't like them at all. On the other hand, if I could learn how to angle my family history and whatnot to take advantage of these programs (the ultimate sabotage!) I could probably live with them:
Me: "Yes, I'm the son of immigrants."
Admissions Officer: "Fantastic! You qualify for a full ride and nubile co-eds on the weekends. If you don't mind my asking, when did your family arrive?"
Me: "The '60s."
AO: "That was such an awful time."
Me: "Yeah, I bet my family wasn't big on the war either. But, we got our first look at a man who would be President during that war."
AO: "You're referring to Senator Kerry, of course! This is so wonderful..."
Me: "Er, in truth, I was referring to George Washington. Bloody French and Indian War."
AO: "I thought you said your family arrived here in the '60s."
Me: "They did. Oh, you were thinking of the 1960s. Sorry about that"
7. Ask a person of another cultural heritage to teach you how to perform a traditional dance or cook a traditional meal.
Charlie don't surf and the Country Pundit doesn't dance, unless it's that Celtic stuff he saw at a festival once, which seemed pretty simple. I don't do foreign food, either.
8. Learn sign language.
This teaches tolerance how? Unless I'm trying to pick up Marlee Matlin, I doubt I'd have any use for it. If I've got something to say to a deaf man, I'll write it out so as not to waste his time.
9. Take a conversation course in another language that is spoken in your community.
Luckily, I can just watch re-runs of Hee-Haw in order to understand the other languages spoken in my community. Thank God for that! (Admittedly, folks from south of the American border are starting to crop up in my hometown, so this might actually be something to do in order to have a wider business clientele.)
10. Teach an adult to read.
How this teaches respect for diversity and tolerance is beyond me. Although adult literacy is a worthy goal, I would suggest that teaching them to read as a method of 'tolerance' is counter-intuitive. Isn't it intolerant to go and say, "Look you, you can't read and I won't stand for it. Change now!" Of course, if you're like me and have no time for this tolerance crap, you'd support adult literacy as a way to help make a man (or a woman) a self-sufficient member of the society and therefore pull his or her weight.
11. Speak up when you hear slurs. Let people know that bias speech is always unacceptable.
Yeah, that's real tolerant. "I won't stand for the way you talk! It's unacceptable!" I thought the point of this message was teaching tolerance and acceptance. Oops, must've missed the definitions memo or something.
12. Imagine what your life might be like if you were a person of another race, gender or sexual orientation. How might "today" have been different?
Just to be snide, I'll throw this out there: There's only one race, the human race. Anything else is a false socio-political construct, used most recently by craven individuals to justify one ridiculous program or another. Had I been a woman today, I'd probably be just like I am now---a somewhat jaded and cynical type who doesn't have a lot of time for pop culture pretties that get by on looks and glitz. I'd also be able to file sexual harrassment charges, which would be pretty cool.
If I were of a different sexual orientation, I'd have it pretty good here in America for the time being. The news media and many cultural elites in this country would do their best to worship me and hold me up as the ultimate in humanistic development. I'd be able to scream "INTOLERANT!" at anyone who disagreed with me on anything.
Alas, I'll just have to muck through life as a normal man. Darn.
13. Take the How Tolerant are You? A Test of Hidden Bias[citation omitted]. Enlist some friends to take this "hidden bias" test with you and discuss the results.
Took it, flunked it, laughed about it. Forgot about it.
14. Take a Civil Rights history vacation. Tour key sites and museums.
I've actually done this. I've been to key points of our history in Boston, been to Fort Sumter, visited a gun show (more on this later) and I've been to see various military museums, along with Richmond and Washington, D.C. Thoroughly recommended!
15. Research your family history. Share information about your heritage in talks with others.
I'm really certain that anyone else cares about the history of my family. If they want to know, they'll ask.
16. List all the stereotypes you can — positive and negative — about a particular group. Are these stereotypes reflected in your actions?
Mine eyes glaze over...
If you're still reading this, go watch The Barbershop and feel good.
Hrrm. I don't know how old this is, but CVN 77 will be the George H.W. Bush. This comes from the January 2004 Combat Aircraft: The International Journal of Combat Aviation, a magazine published in Britain.
The keel for CVN 77 was laid at Northrop Grumman's Newport News, Virginia shipyard on 06 September 2003.
The former President may have been a naval aviator, but I wouldn't have named a carrier for him at this point. He's still alive, for pete's sake. Enh. It's not like I have influence over naming policy, but I would have preferred they name CVN 77 after one of the WWII carriers. (Admittedly, you'd have to steal from the Ticonderoga-class missile cruisers if you weren't careful, but they're supposed to be named after cities anyways...)
Sigh.
To give you folks a break from the torrent of CNN articles I'm linking to tonight, here's something that's military in nature. Greyhawk of The Mudville Gazette is doing yeoman service in keeping the fire on LT J.F. Kerry, USN (ret.) and for that I'm grateful. I'd like to see someone beat that Massachusetts Merovingian with a clue-by-four, so Greyhawk is performing a useful service.
At the same time, he brings us some news of some nitwit soldier in Germany. I have nothing to say about the case, because I know absolutely nothing about the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is the system servicemen such as this would be tried under. (At least you're honest. You don't even know anything about the Federal Rules of Evidence or of Civil Procedure, either. --Ed.)
What got my attention was a post in the comments by a fellow named Sharps Shooter:
On the other hand, I had a BIG problem with hard liquor as a 19-20 year-old in Korea, on an island.So bad that I was singled out -with maybe 5 others- for a short, blunt talk with our CO. Scared sh-tless, I stood at attention while he asked,
"Specialist, you make $265 per month, is that correct?" (Yes, Sir!)
"And club record show you've been drinking more than $220 of that every month, is that correct?"
(.....Sir, yes, Sir.)
"Do you have a problem, Specialist?" (..Yes, Sir.)
"Are you getting rid of this problem, Specialist?"
(Yes, Sir.)
Quietly, then, he asked, "Do you need any help, Son?" And I responded that I would deal with it, immediately.I never drank again. If I can do it, Glick can do it. I've been dry for 36 years now.
I'm no expert on how one manages a military, but the CO's manner earned an involuntary nod, one affirming it as "the way things ought to be". Give a stern on-the-record admonishment, and then offer support if it's desired/needed. For some reason, I like that. Congratulations to Sharps Shooter for beating the bottle for 36 years running.
While scanning the pages of CNN.com, I found this: 66,207,896 bottles of beer on the wall.
It seems that Anheuser-Busch (proud sponsor of the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series) has been doing its homework in order to increase its market share and understand its customer base.
What they're doing is pretty impressive: If I were to buy a six-pack of Budweiser, the BudNet (stop laughing) would know what I paid, when it was brewed (i.e. 'Born-on Dating'), and whether it was warm or cold. The article points out that Anheuser quickly knows when it loses shelf space (a key component of grocery marketing) and can react accordingly. They also keep track of their competitors in terms of display location, type, and overall number of displays.
This is all well and good and aren't we Mr. McNamara with our numbers; hooray for PERT and TQM and all that, but here's why I (or someone who was a stockholder) care: Anheuser has posted double-digit profit gains for 20 straight quarters since the inception of this effor back in 1997. CNN notes that Coors and Miller have not matched this, so if you're a stockholder of them, either sell and buy Anheuser or figure out a way to get the boards of the two other retailers to intervene and pick management that will do something like this.
As an amateur interested in marketing techniques and management, I'm impressed at the technical prowess demonstrated in creating the BudNet. Likewise, I'm quite impressed with the ability of Anheuser to actually collate the raw data into a useful statistical product. Ain't technology grand?
There's just one thing that bugs me: Today it's the only major brewer to rely heavily on data from Information Resources Inc. -- which tracks every bar-coded product swiped at checkout and performs Nielsen-style consumer surveys -- and to conduct its own monthly surveys to see what beer drinkers buy and why.
I am distinctly concerned about there being a firm which exists to keep track of everything that's bought at a store and scanned on bar code scanners. I don't know why I'm concerned, but I'm rather leery of databases like that being about. Enh. Perhaps I'm paranoid, or else the creepy lotion smell emanating from the next carrel over is affecting my thought process.
This is several days if not weeks behind the news cycle, but it's cool enough to warrant me posting here. The grounds for this exception are my interest in Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, and things related to his out-of-the-ordinary way of doing things.
I'd hate to work for him, but I'd like to have him working for me.
Anyways, from POE News, The Rumsfeld Fighting Technique.
Your humble correspondent is known to use the White Axe Hand and the Crouching Tiger, while learning the Quacking Duck Hand.
Something's come up in the world of Internet music access, and I figured I'd put my shallow & superficial take on it. CNN reported this story, and it's solely upon the basis of their facts that I write.
Brian Burton, an English disk jockey D/B/A DJ Danger Mouse1 , has released a remix that somehow meshes together The White Album by those lads from Liverpool (Get back on the 707! Go back!) with The Black Album by a performer named Jay-Z.
I don't know exactly how they did this and I haven't heard the album, but ostensibly there was some studio magic involved. Despite the fact that I took intellectual property a couple of semesters back , I'm not entirely sure how this gets analyzed. I've got a vague notion of the fair use defense and I'm also harboring a thought that DJ DM could argue satire or parody.
The first case I can automatically think of is Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 (1994). In this case, Acuff-Rose sued Luther Campbell and the 2 Live Crew over the latter's remake of Roy Orbison's hit "Oh, Pretty Woman". The Court held that 2 Live Crew had a fair use defense because their version was a parody of Orbison's original. That the 2 Live Crew song was also for commercial purposes, although a factor, was not in and of itself conclusory. The case was subsequently remanded, but to what end I don't know---and it's not ultimately important.
Justice Kennedy, in his concurrence, seems to have put a series of nails in DJ DM's case by saying, "As future courts apply our fair use analysis, they must take care to ensure that not just any commercial takeoff is rationalized post hoc as a parody." This fellow hasn't apparently said anything about parody or satire, so he may be up the creek when it comes to a post hoc rationalization scenario.
If I were DJ DM's counsel in an American court, I'd try to note the non-commercial nature of the item. However, DJ DM made the mistake of selling these items himself to record stores, and that's going to be hard to get around. Something else I'd at least try is to argue that the two weeks spent on the remix, taken in conjunction with what it takes to do one of those, plus DM's own special applications of his skills as displayed in meshing the two albums with his own signature style (if he's got one) would constitute significant transformative use, such that a new item had been created.
In the event that I get wind of any developments in this case, I'll probably throw them up here; I'm actually kind of interested to see how this will turn out. It is heartening to see that Jay-Z's management didn't seem to care about the fact that one of their people was used in this manner.
_____
1 You've got to love a guy who steals his nickname from Danger Mouse, a fine Cosgrove-Hall production and brought to Americans by Nickelodeon back when Nickelodeon mattered. To this day, I occasionally trot out Penfold's "Crumbs!" when something goes wrong, and I can readily hear the voice of the narrator intoning "LONDON" as we pan over a cityscape. It's said with the utter finality of a pronouncement from God, and you've just got to love it.
Uh, this isn't the blog entry you're looking for. There was collateral damage in the war on spam.
1. Are you superstitious?Yes.
2. What extremes have you heard of someone going to in the name of superstition?I...er...don't recall, Senator.
3. Believer or not, what's your favorite superstition?Standardized repetition of pre-event procedure, whether it be pre-race or pre-test, or pre-speech.
4. Do you believe in luck? If yes, do you have a lucky number/article of clothing/ritual?Yep. In high school cross-country/track and in college cross-country, I had a lucky necklace that I almost always had stashed on me somewhere. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. It was there for all the victories, be they on the course, on the track, or on the road.
5. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?No, I don't. Too easy to inject a lot of pagan hoo-ha into it. I also have this vague memory of the witch at Endor or something, and bad things happening as a result.
Over at Free Market Fairy Tales, Mr Free Market has posted the results of his answers to the Yankee or Dixie? quiz.
Your humble correspondent, being interested in his accent, took it. The answer?
81% (Dixie). Did you have any Confederate ancestors?
Yes, I did. Both sides of my family served Virginia during the war, and the ones that I know of survived. I don't know if we had anyone who fought for the Federals, though. Hee hee.
Tip of my J.E.B. Stuart plumed hat to Mr Free Market.
YOU ARE RULE 11!
You were designed to make sure that attorneys in
federal cases make reasonable inquiries into
fact or law before submitting pleadings,
motions, or other papers. You were a real
hardass in 1983, when you snuffed out all legal
creativity from federal proceedings and
embarassed well-meaning but overzealous
attorneys. You loosened up a bit in 1993, when
you began allowing plaintiffs to make
allegations in their complaints that are likely
to have evidenciary support after discovery,
and when you allowed a 21 day period for the
erring attorney to withdraw the errant motion.
Sure, you keep everything running on the up and
up, but it's clear that things would be a lot
more fun without you around.
Which Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Tip of the Wisconsin hat to Jed at Boots and Sabers.
No link, but it appears that Bill Pryor will be taking the bench after all, due to a recess appointment. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Patrick Leahy.
It's this kind of bare-knuckled sledgehammery that makes me think I might want to donate to the President's re-election effort. Keep this up, and I might overlook certain other failures to be conservative.
Three points:
1. Bugger, Matt Kenseth won. !@#$
2. Hee hee, Dale Jarrett blew his engine. That's the Roush-Yates axis for you.
3. Ward Burton did OK, garnering a top-10 finish. With that team, it's probably as good as a win. Same can't be said for Chevrolets in general or my other favorites in particular.
I want to be mayor of San Francisco! That means I can ignore the duly passed and signed laws of my State and do whatever I feel like doing. This would be cool, to quote Butt-head.
A sample proclamation from Mayor C. Pundit:
"I find that this needless assault weapons ban denies equal protection to all citizens of San Francisco. Therefore, I repeal the ban and will begin the immediate handing out of AK-47s and their derivatives to all residents of the city and whoever else drives in to get one. Ammunition will also be provided for a nominal fee. We are for equality and justice in San Francisco, and it is my job to see it done. Oath of office? What's that?"
It goes without saying that I oppose the very idea of homosexual 'partnerships' being granted the sanction of the state through a ceremony of marriage. I'm also dead set against these civil unions as well. I am not persuaded by whiny arguments about love and commitment. Just because you "love" something doesn't mean that I, or the state, have to extend approval to your emotion.
The state gets to make a choice here and it has done so. It could have chosen to endorse these sorts of things, but has not. I don't see the state (as opposed to the State, which would be California) as being required to endorse either marriage or homosexual alliance. I would further posit that simply because it has chosen to endorse one does not lend support to the proposition that it must also endorse the other.
When was the last time you...
1. ...went to the doctor?Er, some time late last year to get some antibiotics, I think.
2. ...went to the dentist?December for the regularly-scheduled six month checkup.
3. ...filled your gas tank?That would have been Sunday, for the long-range commute.
4. ...got enough sleep?Last weekend. Beds are good things. Humans are meant to sleep; that's why our eyes close.
5. ...backed up your computer?At some point in the past. I'm not entirely sure when.
So there's a bit of buzz on the 'net about some new-ish blog named "Wonkette". Having gone there and read it, I'm not impressed. Billed as "a guide to DC politics and culture", it reads as if it's some sort of gossip rag or Tina Brown-esque puff piece.
Enh. And yet it is popular.
Governor Howard Dean of Vermont has seen fit to end his quest for the Presidency after failing to win anywhere. Well, I suppose I got what I wanted at some level, but ugh. That leaves things to the real-world equivalent of the Merovingian or to the smiling son of the South to be the Democratic nominee, and I'm not entirely comfortable as a Republican knowing that.
Kerry/Edwards might just be a viable ticket to knock the President from office, and that's not what we want. Bother!
See the PBS story if you're really interested in this.
It seems that the Politburo, realizing its oversight in not naming your humble correspondent to the DEMCOM Deck of Dangerous Bloggers, has seen fit to award Kountrypundsk with the following:
-Mention in The Bloggers' Bestiary as one of the Commissar's favorite blogs.
Thank you, Comrade Commissar! The Party and people of Kountrypundsk appreciate the munificence of the Central Committee and look forward to the fraternal blogospherist revolution. Someone schedule a spontaneous mass outpouring of thanksgiving and have a parade.
A fellow named Brandon Lee has released several GM Electro-Motive Division SD60 units in Norfolk Southern livery over at train-sim.com recently. I haven't the foggiest as to what the NS uses them for, but I'll be downloading them nonetheless and investigating.
Yay.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., won the Daytona 500. Blast it, Biggs! Enh. At least it wasn't a Ford. Those blue-oval bozos had me worried there for a while, but the bowtie triumphs. Heh heh heh. I still don't like him on his own merits. If he'd grow a mustache and act like his father instead of a third-rate hip-hop type, I'd like him a lot more.
I'm pleasantly amused at the fate of the Roush-Yates engine alliance's products. Take that, Cat in the Hat.
Final shot: As far as I'm concerned, it always has and always will be Winston Cup.
Bah! Down with Valentine's Day and all this hearts-and-flowers rubbish. That is all.
OK. I've managed to get rid of most of the spam, and this entry was reserved to announce it. The posting of short pieces will commence shortly.
The blog has been hit recently by comment spammers, and I'm in the middle of deleting the bloody spam, a process which is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.
There have been a couple of successive waves which have frustrated my efforts at spam control. When the situation is rectified, I'll post the backlog of articles. Does anyone have any suggestions as for how I could prevent all this?
Greyhawk over at The Mudville Gazette has a post detailing how John Kerry's correspondence to a single voter in the early 1990s managed to have him on both sides of supporting Operation DESERT STORM. (Admittedly, that sort of political reversal isn't outside the realm of legitimate possibility, but Kerry goes from 'no war' to 'I support the troops' within the space of ten days, which I find a bit fishy.)
The best part of the amusing article is this quote:
By the way, Senator Kerry, as a Vietnam Veteran with a Blog, is eligible to join MilBlogs. I wonder if he will? Speaking of which, how come no left wing blogs link as "Friends of MilBlogs?" I thought they supported the troops?Maybe just some of the troops?
Remember, these folks only support the troops when they're shooting their officers, or otherwise behaving in the manner that Leon Trotsky would find appropriate. That, or testifying on Capitol Hill as to gross atrocities by American forces that apparently never happened. Wait, I may be on to something here; that must explain why Jane Fonda (who I'll admit was a looker at some point) was tolerant of that ugly-mugged Kerry.
Tip of the Wisconsin hat to Swanky Conservative for the link.
Stolen shameless from Jonah Goldberg:
GUADALAJARA, Mexico ? The boos nearly drowned out "The Star-Spangled Banner," and a few dozen fans chanted "Usama! Usama!" as the United States was eliminated by Mexico in Olympic men's soccer qualifying.A loud anti-American crowd yelled the first name of Usama bin Laden (search), the leader of the Al Qaeda (search) terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, as Mexico beat the United States 4-0 Tuesday night in the under-23 tournament, claiming a berth in the Athens Olympics (search).
As U.S. players left the stadium for their bus, several fans -- some clutching beers -- chanted "Usama! Usama!"
All right, all you bloody Texans who think you're all that and the proverbial bag of chips, time to get even. If "Don't Mess With Texas" is supposed to be anything other than a laugh line, I suggest you start shouting "Sam Houston!" when you see some Mexicans losing at a sports game, or perhaps "Cortez! Cortez!" The former works with the types who want to take back the Southwestern States (i.e. Mexican nationalists and La Raza types), and the latter will work with any of the sundry Indian groups comprising the Mexican underclass.
UPDATE: I heard about this sort of thing happening at RFK Stadium when the D.C. United were playing a game against someone; the local south-of-the-border contingent decided it was kosher to boo and heckle the Star-Spangled Banner. Sure it's soccer fans (strike one) and sure they were drunk (strike two) but I'm not a man who favors booing anyone's national anthem (even La Marseillaise, although one can snicker at that) so this is really something that gets me irritated.
Perhaps President Bush, when not too busy giving el Presidente Vicente everything he wants in terms of immigration policy, can mention it to him and get an apology.
The IMDB is reporting that Star Wars and its two sequels are going to be released upon 21 September 2004 in a box set. This is a good thing, right? Absolutely wrong.
It's going to be those bastardized remakes from the 1990s which incorporate annoying things like a revised sequence in Jabba the Hutt's palace and Greedo shooting first at Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina. No, I didn't like "Jedi Rocks", either. I never thought I'd agree with Nicholas Meyer (who reportedly hates directors' cuts) but it seems that Lucas should have left well enough alone.
Why am I so ticked at the Greedo shoots first thing? Well, here's why: In the original Star Wars, Greedo was a bounty hunter for the as-yet-unseen Jabba the Hutt, and I thought Han was in a pickle. Greedo jams a blaster in Han's face and maneuvers him to a booth, where the latter eventually starts arming his DL-44 blaster. This culminates with Greedo's "I've been waiting for this for a long time", which Han punctuates with "Yeah, I'll bet you have", and a shot under the table. Greedo's head then thumps down on the table, and an unruffled Solo flips the barkeep a coin in apology for "the mess".
In the revised version, Greedo shoots first. He shoots first and misses. He's got a blaster no more than a foot or two away from Solo's face, and the shot misses. I understand that Greedo's a Rodian and has funky eyes and maybe his depth perception's off, but at that kind of range, you can pick which eye you want the shot going through. Jed and Owen of Boots and Sabers or John of Argghhh!!! are the pistol mavens and would know more, but that's ridiculous to miss at that range.
The justification I heard reported was that George Lucas didn't want to encourage violence and wanted to make sure that Han acted in self-defense. Hello? A pistol in the face and a threat to kill you don't constitute grounds for some sort of deadly force response? Good grief!
I don't know if/when I'll buy these. I've been a Star Wars fan since the 1970s, but I've been left flat by the last two movies, and there's just not a lot of enthusiasm left for me in the franchise.
UPDATE: It seems that others have the general idea and had it ahead of me; once again I'm a day late and a post short. TFB! Anyways. A Small Victory has posts on this subject, here and here. Tip of the Wisconsin hat to Comrade Commissar for sending me in the direction of the other posts with his humorous and somewhat disturbing take on the thing.
Blah. If you're reading this, you're probably aware of the specific split in the candidates' vote totals. Our Democrats rejected Senator John Edwards and General Wesley K. Clark, giving an outright majority to that Northeastern nitwit John Kerry.
I'm embarrassed for my Commonwealth. On top of that, I heard an ad today on the radio for higher taxes from some bunch of nitwits. They wanted "increased funding" and told us to support either Governor M.R. Warner's or Senator John Chichester's plans for "enhanced revenue". This of course means higher or broader taxation. Broader taxation is acceptable if a) it doesn't infringe upon traditionally non-taxed areas, b) comes with reductions in the existing tax structure, and c) is part of fiscal responsibility, i.e. spending cuts. Given the identity of the people pushing this "revenue enhancement", I am not particularly optimistic that any of those three factors mentioned above would be present if they got their way.
Needless to say, this Tuesday hasn't done much for my opinion of Virginia Democrats. Whatever happened to Harry Flood Byrd and pay as you go?
Out there somewhere in the ethereal and eldritch strands of the Internet, there's a photo of a young George W. Bush around the cockpit of a Convair F-102A Delta Dagger. From what I understand, young George was training to fly these things in the Texas Air National Guard.
Much has been made over John Kerry's Vietnam service, and much has been said about George W. Bush not being in Vietnam. The bottom line there is that I don't care. If Bush did his job, then yay for him. If he didn't, I'm still stuck voting for him because I'd rather frog-march someone over broken glass than vote for Kerry.
However, not much has been said about the F-102, one of my more favorite Century Series (Whaddya mean? You like them all. --Ed.) aircraft. Anyways, here's a couple of tidbits about the "Deuce", as it was called by her crews.
1. The Delta Dagger was an all-weather interceptor, remarkably unsuited for tactical air missions (i.e. light bombing and close-air support). It was armed solely with missiles of two sorts and rockets. The missiles were usually a mix of Hughes AIM-4A/AIM-4E Falcon semi-active radar homing missiles and AIM-4C/AIM-4F infra-red homing missiles, and the rockets were 2.75 inch Folding Fin Aircraft Rockets.
2. The vast majority of the 875 Daggers built served in the USAF's Air Defense Command, which kept on the lookout for Soviet bombers. Thus, they served at bases within the United States for the most part, but several squadrons were sent to places like Keflavik in Iceland, Bitburg in West Germany (wow, haven't written that in a long time) and a couple other European countries.
3. Daggers saw service in Vietnam, with several PACAF units being deployed to Thailand and the Republic of Vietnam from 1962 until withdrawal in 1969. They were tasked to prevent the North Vietnamese air force from doing something stupid, but also rode shotgun on B-52 raids up North. In this capacity, the two-seat trainer variant, the TF-102A, was also employed.
4. The 509th FIS reportedly lost one to a MiG-21 on 3 February 1968, somewhere in Route Pack IV, the only known air-to-air engagement by the F-102A.
5. Despite being a pure interceptor, the USAF managed to get some air-to-ground use out of them, courtesy of Project STOVEPIPE. Aircraft would fly over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the RVN and use their IR-guided missiles to hunt for campfires. If they found a heat source, they fired. Not really a tremendous threat, but Charlie's evening bowl of rice and his bong would be upset by the arrival of a missile. Given that the Falcon's IR seeker had a very short operational life once started on the launch rail, I'm not entirely sure how effective a tactic this was. I'm also told that the pilots would use their radar to try and find targets; if they could lock a target up, they'd fire off a SARH Falcon.
Later efforts saw them using the 2.75-in. FFARs in daylight attacks, which had to be amusing.
6. Many F-102As were expended as drones to support USAF live fire missile drills in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.
Obligatory Bush content: If W's TANG unit was equipped with Delta Daggers, then it's extremely unlikely that he would have gone to Vietnam, and so therefore hush about him potentially ducking the call.
Much credit to Joe Baugher for his entry on the F-102.
Gah. I hate when Ford drivers win. On the other hand, at least it wasn't one of those stupid Gillette "Young Guns". I've been following NASCAR goings-on in three decades, and it's getting more and more lame all the time.
I miss the good old days of Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, the Allisons, and Dale Earnhardt.
The Country Pundit, being of civic mind and political virtue, decided to take advantage of John Edwards' presence in the Commonwealth, and drove to a rally being held for the man.
It was held in a small restaurant that wound up being crammed with people, probably 250 or more. Pretty loud, but the George Bush rally I attended in Tennessee four years ago had better volume. (Yes, and about ten thousand people. I hear that helps. --Ed.) Edwards showed up late, which is understandable. Having worked on the middle division (as opposed to the periphery or the inside) of a Commonwealth-wide campaign myself, I know that being late is something that happens all the time. The prior stop always has one last autograph or one last influential local who can't be blown off.
Anyways, Senator Edwards was introduced as the next President of the United States, et cetera et cetera. The taking of pictures was greatly complicated due to the fact that Edwards was addressing the other direction, the one where the television crews were set up. This also means klieg lights, one of which was directly in my face for most of the speech.
A couple of things broadly remembered:
1. Edwards suggests not only "buy[ing] American" but "hir[ing] American" and also "job security" to go along with "national security". These got loud cheers and so forth, especially because he mentioned the textile plant closings that have hit Southside Virginia (i.e. the WDBJ Channel 7 viewing area such as Martinsville and the surrounding environs) rather hard.
I'm pretty sure that Senator Edwards means the repudiation of NAFTA and the imposition of tariffs or something similar. Also possible might be some sort of a direct industrial subsidy, but I'm not sure. At the same time, I honestly like the idea of hiring Americans. It is difficult-if-not-impossible to defend grandiose claims of the glories of free trade when fellow Virginians are put out of work so that someone in a foreign land gets a job.
Edwards has a good line here, and it could take off if he'd been more out in the Martinsville-Danville area.
2. Turning to foreign policy, Senator Edwards talked about how respected we were prior to 11 September 2001 and how President Bush had squandered that respect, acted unilaterally, et cetera.
I understand that these things have to be said, for they are the red meat of the party that doesn't like red meat. At the same time, I always want to ask the speaker either "So what?" or "What part of England/Poland/Australia/other countries committing troops to Iraq don't you understand?"
Similarly, we had respect for us prior to 11 September 2001. Funny, the respect of the world community didn't do a lot to stop Mohammed Atta et al from playing "Make Mine Mistel" with a couple of airliners. Sure we may have risked something to go after Iraq, but then again, I doubt the Franco-German axis was particularly interested in maintaining open respect for us.
3. Literature was somewhat tightly controlled. I usually get at least two of each available thing, but the people at the literature table were rather tightly controlling those things, and I actually had to ask for a lapel sticker. Part of me considers this good cost control but another part of me complains about not being able to preserve parts of the American political history.
Overall, I'd say this was a pretty good stop. I've been to better---read the candidate's on time---but the speech was pretty tight and the energy was there. No money was raised that I'm aware of, so that's a bit of a downer. I also didn't get an autograph.
Bummer.
1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?Running under a moving tractor and trailer, or asking this certain girl to the prom. Both successful.
2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?Probably street racing, eh.
3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)A 6. Calculated risks are standard operating procedure, but I'm not stupid, either.
4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?That I got exactly what I wanted with no collateral damage to persons, property, or psyche.
5. ... and what's the worst?5. That I didn't get what I wanted and there was collateral damage.
UPDATE: Bugger, somebody named Bec beat me to first.
I was playing Robotech: Battlecry for the PlayStation 2, and one of the missions unlocks interviews with the voice actors/actresses responsible for the game. In many cases, these folks are reprising roles performed for the original 1985 television program.
So anyways, I unlock an interview, and it's of Melanie MacQueen. Most Virginians have seen her at one point in time or the other, because she serves as the Virginia Lottery's mascot, Lady Luck. I figure, "Hey, cool. When I see Lady Luck at something, I'll mention to her that I enjoyed the work she did in Robotech: Battlecry," because it's not every day that I get to talk to a voice actress in a video game that I've got.
So I'm watching this and she mentions getting the part of Lisa Hayes. I got very suspicious all of a sudden, because there wasn't any footage of Commander Hayes in the game. But, I reminded myself that it was Reba West who provided the voice of the old sourpuss.
Curiousity won out, however, and I checked the IMDB entry for Melanie MacQueen, and sure enough, there it was. She had provided the voice for Lisa Hayes and the Zentraedi ace Kiyora in Battlecry. I scrolled down the page and nearly fell out of my seat. Why? Melanie MacQueen had been the voice of Lisa Hayes twenty years ago.
I'm very rarely in a position to be knocked over with a feather. Be it cynicism or world-weariness, not too awful much gets a tremendous drop on me, but this did. I sat there in my apartment saying, "I've talked to Lisa Hayes. Holy [expletive deleted], I've talked to Lisa Hayes!" I'd met Lady Luck at some Virginia Lottery promotional function that was going on, and had decided to say something pleasant to the mascot. At the time, I had no idea that I'd been talking to the voice behind one of my three most favorite characters in the Robotech series. (For the record, the other two are Commander Roy Fokker and Max Sterling.)
Call me crazy, but the next time I see her, I'm getting another autograph, and I've got to tell her that I appreciated her work as Commander Lisa Hayes. It's grand to live in Virginia.
Massive crowds have gathered throughout Kountrypundsk in reaction to the latest production from The Politburo Diktat.
Comrade Commissar has followed in the footsteps of Brigardier General Vincent Brooks, USA, and has issued a deck of customized playing cards "to identify dangerous bloggers, regime holdouts, and hardcore Blaa-blaah-ists."
It's an amusing thing, and it is enjoyed, just like every other thing that the Commissar's produced in this vein. As with those other products, CC's put Glenn Reynolds at the top of the heap, as the Ace of Spades. Hrrm. Instahussein?
Unfortunately, the Country Pundit found that this production was not included. It's like being a gangster who finds out that the FBI just doesn't care about you. Might have to go and do something rash, in the words of C-3P0.
Oh well. There's always the hope that I'm scheduled for inclusion in the upcoming collectible card game as an ultra-rare card. If not that, the crowds will definitely march on the local offices of the Diktat, and exact the revenge of the people.
I was reading Chessie: The Railroad Kitten by Thomas W. Dixon, Jr. earlier tonight, when I found something that I thought was worth posting here, sort of a "I concur" thing.
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway ("George Washington's Railroad") had as its mascot a small female kitten known as Chessie. In 1937, Chessie was joined by Peake, billed as "Chessie's Old Man". When America entered World War II, Peake's illustrations started including a garrison cap or some other indicator that he too was off to war with the men of America.
The 1944 C&O calendar depicted Peake reading a letter from Chessie; text as follows: "Dear Peake: We eagerly await your return from war and here at home we're doing all we can to hasten that day. It's the one thought uppermost in our minds. -- Your loving Chessie."
It may sound mushy or trite, but I agree with the C&O's mascot. I want our boys (and girls, !@#%) back home and I reckon a lot of good people are doing what they can to hasten the return of our troops.
It's fair to ask, "This isn't World War II, and nobody's employed on the production lines making B-24 Liberators in 12 hours or so or Liberty ships in a day; moreover, what're we supposed to do?" The answer to that is simple, although perhaps a little less than immediately obvious. What civilians in 2004 America can do is simply support the troops.
It sounds trite, hackneyed, or perhaps overplayed. Lord knows that a lot of left-leaning types like to begin a waffle phrase with "I support the troops, but..." Never mind that; neither those words nor those who speak them are important, but they can have an effect over time. Therefore, the patriotic citizen must practice quiet resolve to defeat those things things which would lead to problems with bringing the boys home.
So, what do we do? Since Vietnam, it has been clear that the national will is tremendously important to the success of any American martial effort. We cannot be defeated in the field, but America stands vulnerable elsewhere. Allow me to present several things that may help the citizen to repel attacks on the national will.
First: Understand that our people can't come home until the job is done. This is a simple thing to comprehend, and it is necessary. The road to the return of forces from overseas first requires that victory must be achieved.
Second: Understand that the job will require total victory. James Woolsey said in a recent speech that there would be no Islamist Gorbachev, someone who sees the light and comes to make peace in the name of radical Islam. Rather, the Islamists will continue their attacks where possible, and their number will increase. The only way to prevent this is to demonstrate utterly without equivocation that to plot violence against the United States is to a) fail miserably and b) die trying in the attempt.
Third: Understand that enforcing failure and death to our enemies is a messy thing. We will, by and large, take many Islamist lives in this conflict. Our forces are heavily armed, highly trained, and the beneficiaries of trillions of dollars in research, development, and procurement. There are times when we will make mistakes, however. Accidents will happen. Innocents will die, and our people will die. That is an unfortunate reality that can only be controlled, never eliminated.
Islamist dead are not to be mourned for anything other than the fact that a human life was needlessly wasted in pursuit of a gruesome and hideous agenda. As for our people, honor their sacrifice by staying the course and resolving to make their deaths meaningful. At some level, our dead perished so that we might not bow to the Islamist or to his allies. Yielding to the demands of those who say that America deserves the rage of the Islamist or that we shouldn't fight evil does exactly what our lost soldiers fought against.
Fourth: Do not be afraid to stand up for your freedom and your way of life. When someone says that America should not be committed to a war on terrorists, remind them that these Islamists came looking for us. Remind them that they want our way of life destroyed, the very way of life that allows you and the other individual to hold and express differing views. Courteously confront those who espouse the negative view, and make them defend their assertions. You may not win over that individual, but others might see and hear, and come away with a better understanding of your viewpoint.
Fifth: Support your soldiers. What does that mean? When you see a man or woman in our country's uniform, thank them for their service. Tell them that you're proud of their successes and that they make your safety possible. It should build morale among the troops, and that's a crucial thing.
That's all I've got; it's probably simplistic, but I wanted to make it easy. I've often asked myself what I can do for the furtherance of the war effort and the nation's legitimate war aims, and that's the best I've come up with to date. And yes, I want our people home. The perfect sound bite for this comes from Apocalypse Now, where Robert Duvall's Colonel Bill Kilgore says, "I want my people out of there now!" He's talking about wounded men, but I think it applies here as well. I care for our folks, and I want them back. I'd also rather them come home after a job well done with no more major needs to revisit the question.
Funny; all this was inspired for posting by an advertising calendar's illustration of a cat from sixty years ago.
This got sent to me in the 14 January 2004 issue of The Federalist, a conservative e-mail newsletter, and bears reposting for the heck of it:
"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me because, as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know." -- The Honorable D.H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense.
It's a good quote.
Hrrm. I've arrived, being hit with God only knows how many comments from a spammer advertising prescription drugs or something. To borrow from old Eighth Air Force briefings,
"Gentlemen, the target for today is 217.218.127.73; good luck."
Death to comment spam. I had hoped that I was all of a sudden very popular. Bah!
Yay Patriots.
This marks year three (or more) of me ignoring the Super Bowl. Call me crazy, but I just don't care. (If this keeps up, we're going to have to license that Michelle Branch song. --Ed.)