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They’re Back

The Atomic Nerds took a hit earlier this week, or rather, their hosting company did.  Stingray describes it in the way that only he can:

Then, one fine Saturday morning, Jihadi Joe killed those magic elves, so they couldn’t sort things to make sure the right info got to the right people, and all that particular machine’s elves knew how to offer up is Peace & Love & Stonings & Hijacking and yi-yi-yi music. People wanted their obscure WWI pistol information, and other people wanted their over-long scientific analysis of pop phenomenon and pointless profanity but there were no elves that knew where that douchecocking information lived anymore!

 Glad to see they’re back, and I’m looking forward to reading my periodic reminders that I’m rarely the smartest guy in the room.  

Pretty Neat

Scientists in Washington have announced that the use of an online video game has advanced the science behind anti-AIDS drugs.  The game, Foldit, encouraged game players to find the best way to fold proteins in a virus, and scientists have been able to use the solutions to the puzzles to increase their understanding of the structure and work of viruses.

Crowd-sourcing research is nothing new.  The BOINC focuses on bio-medical and mathematical research.  Basically, a problem is broken down into small bits, and PC’s around the world spend their idle time going through the data and sort the wheat from the chaff to allow for more efficient use of dedicated computing resources.

But this is the first time I’ve heard of actual human interaction being used to do something like this.  Imagine the uses.  It could be used to find solutions to problems that are now done primarily by experts in their field.  Need a new human-usable traffic plan for your city?  Create a driving game that gives points for getting from point A to point B quickest without driving on the sidewalk.  Need to find and bomb the living crap out of some countries nuclear weapons program?  Create a video game that gets hundreds of thousands of people to go through every possible way to do it until you find the best way.  Bonus points if you give the players realistic simulations of military and intelligence units to fight with.

Hopefully, this method is used again.  I might give up my personal moratorium on playing video games to contribute.

Brain Dropping

I half heard this playing this morning while I was getting dressed, and these have been going through my head all day.  I thought I’d share the madness:

Malfunction Junction, what’s your function?
Failures in feeding, and firing, and ejecting

Malfunction Junction, what’s your function?
Clearing up stovepipes and misfires and double feeds

Malfunction Junction, what’s your function?
SPORTS and racking and dropping the magazine

Malfunction Junction, what’s your function?
Cleaning and oiling and greasing and function checking

Malfunction Junction, what’s your function?
Swapping out springs and followers and guide rods

Quote of the Day

Both sides agree that the body politic is unhealthy. The Tea Party solution is the replace the defective parts and put the body on a diet. The OWS solution is to transplant its brain with a cabbage. Then set it on fire.

Larry Correia, discussing his views on similarities between the Tea Pary movement and Occupy Wall Street.

I’m Such a Romantic

The other day, I asked for advice on how to spend the gift card I got for my anniversary.  Nancy and Peter suggested books by Jeff Cooper, so I thought I’d go that way.

First, I followed Peter’s advice and got The Art of the Rifle. Seems to be a good place to start. 

 

Next I got Principles of Self Defense.  Also sounds like a good addition.

Continuing our mini-hobby of self-sufficiency and prepping, I got Square Foot Gardening.  We already do a lot of the stuff in that particular niche, with our flowerpot tomatoes, raised garden beds, and using strawberries and fruit trees as landscaping, but having a reference around will be a help.

So far so good.  All of these are for me and my interests.

The last two, on the other hand, got me a strange look from Irish Woman when I told her about them.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, I spent my anniversary gift buying Dr. Seuss books, specifically The Sneetches and and the ABC book.  My excuse is that I’ll read them to Boo and then put them back for the grandkids, which are hopefully at least a decade away.  Irish Woman laughed, and told me that my un-romantic practical side was showing.

Being Fair to Someone I Disagree With

A constitutional law professor at Suffolk University Law School in Massachusetts has drawn fire for expressing his views that it is “shameful” for the university to promote sending CARE packages to deployed soldiers.

“I think it is shameful that it is perceived as legitimate to solicit in an academic institution for support for men and women who have gone overseas to kill other human beings,”

Fair enough.  A citizen has the right to hold any opinion or conviction he or she wants to, no matter how misguided or despicable.  Honestly, if the good professor truly believes that young American men and women join the military so that they can go over seas and kill people, well, I guess he can believe what he wants to believe.  And if he doesn’t want to contribute to the CARE package drive, or even wants to discourage others from participating, that’s also his right.  Far be it from me to force anyone to do anything against their convictions.


Just out of curiosity, I looked up Professor Avery’s profile at the university website.  When someone has such a low opinion about me and those like me, I try to understand how they came to that opinion.  Who knows, maybe he’s a combat vet who has seen too much horror and has swung way to the other side of the spectrum, or maybe he’s been the victim of brutality at the hands of some third world dictator, either of which would explain his opinion that military servicemembers are nothing but cold-blooded killers looking for a world tour of mayhem.


No, nothing here about military service, or working with the military.   Don’t see anything in his bio about being roughed up by Third World thugs either. 


Wow, he’s had quite a few jobs, but I suppose that would make him a well-rounded attorney and constitutional law professor.  You know, I think President Obama was a professor in constitutional law.  Wow, small world.  Lots of work for the ACLU, but I’ve held jobs I’m not proud of too, so who am I to cast aspersions on how this man earns his living?  A man’s got to eat, you know.


Has a few books listed here, and quite a few articles of his got published too.  Well, I’ve heard the term publish or perish, so maybe that’s it.  Seems to fall a bit left of center in his titles, but then again, it takes all kinds.


Hmmm, educated at Yale.  Not too shabby.  Lots of good people come out of the Ivy League.  You know, like President Kennedy and both Presidents Bush.  You remember those guys, don’t you professor?  Those were Ivy Leaguers who volunteered to join the military because they felt it was a good thing to do for their country.  


Did undergrad work at Moscow State University in 1968 and 1969.  Wow, this guys old enough to be my father.  You know, I’ve always thought that part of Idaho was beautiful.  Can’t begrudge him going to college there.


What?  Not Idaho?  What’s that?  U.S.S.R?


You’re kidding, right?  No?


So let me get this straight:  This jack-n-ape did his undergrad education at Moscow State University in the U.S.S.R. at the height of the Vietnam War, then came back and attended one of the finest and most sought after law schools in the world.  He’s held a succession of jobs through the years, including working as a counsel for an organization that believes in protecting civil liberties, just not all of the civil liberties.  He was strolling down the Arbat making googly eyes at all the pretty Comsomol Ladies Auxiliary candidates while my father was manning a 105mm howitzer at a firebase in Vietnam and he wants people to not send our troops overseas baby wipes and paperback novels because he thinks they’re nothing more than hired killers?


I’ve got some news for you professor.  While you were enjoying cheap vodka and all the Communist literature you could carry, your hosts were slaughtering innocent Czech civilians for no other reason than the fact that they were 23 years ahead of the Soviet Union in figuring out that Communism was a load of crap.  I’m not going to attack your stance on CARE packages too much.  Honestly, if I was deployed, I wouldn’t ask you to piss in my mouth if my teeth were on fire.  


But someone who fits the textbook definition of “useful idiot” ought to spend a little less time spouting the pseudo-pacifist dreck that was fed to the American left during the Vietnam era and more time doing a little introspection on whether or not everything he believes about people’s motivation to serve their country was absolute bullcrap thought up during an alcoholic haze in a dorm room a couple of miles from Red Square.

News Roundup

  • From the “Chowdah” Department – A truck hauling 33,000 pounds of seafood has been reported stolen in Pennsylvania.  Police are on the lookout for the truck, possibly in a convoy with trucks hauling potatoes and malt vinegar.
  • From the “Genius” Department – A man in Utah was arrested for bank robbery after police followed his footprints in the snow, which led from the bank he allegedly robbed to his apartment.  Someone needs to tell Professor Einstein that it’s no fun for the police if they don’t even have to bring out the dogs to find his ignorant butt.  Come on man, at least try!
  • From the “Win Stupid Prizes” Department – A hippo named Humphrey in South Africa recently bit and killed the man who was caring for him as a pet.  Apparently the “wouldn’t hurt a fly” water horse has been raised by humans since he was a calf, and the owner was repeatedly warned about keeping such a dangerous animal. You know, sometimes the only purpose in someone’s life is to be a negative example for others, and I think this guy achieved that life goal just before he was dragged into the water by his lap-hippo.
  • From the “Good Boy” Department – A St. Bernard in Ohio cemented the relationship with his new family just seven hours after being adopted by chasing off a would-be burglar and biting him on the ankle.  Talk about a quick return on investment!  The dog was unable to comment on the situation because his mouth was full of steak.
  • From the “Defense in Depth” Department – The British government is reportedly planning on deploying missiles to aid in defending the 2012 Olympic Games in London from terrorists.  Which missiles will they use to defend the Olympics you ask?  Why Javelins, of course.

Thought for the Day

Apparently, teaching the 3 year old to sing the following song is FROWNED UPON in this establishment:

I love to go swimmin’
With bow legged women
And swim between their legs!

That’s me, a good influence on impressionable youth.

Thought for the Day

  • I served as a pilot in the waning years of a war for survival against machines that gained sentience and then tried to destroy their creators.
  • I worked my way through the ranks to a mid-level leadership role.
  • My last assignment before retirement was to turn my beloved ship into an orbiting museum
  • My species was attacked without provocation, leading to the death of all but a few thousand humans
  • I had to take crap from a school teacher who happened to be in the chain of command when everyone above her was wiped out. This included when she started having visions
  • My sons tried to follow in my foot steps. One died in training and the other one turned into a whining politician
  • My crew included covert members of the enemy, sleeper agents who didn’t even understand that they were committing sabotage and assassinations, a fighter pilot who may or not have been dead, and millenniums old members of a race of artificial life forms who gave my enemy the power to regenerate bodies when we killed them.
  • I led my motley little band of spaceships in search of a mythical ancient home, only to end up living alone in a cabin way out in the boonies when we finally found it.
  • I am Admiral Adama, and I am part of the 1% that survived
Occupy Caprica!

Dinner tonight

It’s a chilly, windy day here in Louisville, so I made something that will warm you up and stick to your ribs.  It’s that time of year that screams “home cooking”.  This isn’t fancy, but it’s good.

4 or 5 pieces of your favorite chicken, pork, or turkey cut (I used chicken drumsticks)
1 medium white onion, quartered and then sliced as thinly as you can get it
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms or 1/2 cup dried
Bacon grease, butter, or olive oil (whichever you prefer)
Spice mix, such as Emeril’s Essence or your favorite chili powder
Black pepper, ground to taste
Herbs (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, you get the picture)
1 cup beef broth
Worcestershire sauce
Balsamic vinegar
1 pound fresh or frozen vegetables (broccoli, peas, sliced carrots, or whatever you prefer)
One pot of your favorite pasta or rice (this goes great with couscous)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Put vegetables in a steamer and cook until they are almost done.

Cook your pasta or rice and have ready to go with the rest of the dish.

Wash hands.  Place meat on a plate and sprinkle with your spice mix. Wash hands again.

Heat up bacon grease, oil, or butter in a flat bottomed pan over medium heat.  You will need enough to liberally coat the bottom but not so much that you have a puddle of fat in the pan.  Add mushrooms, garlic, and onions.  Saute until onions start to soften and become transparent.  Add meat. Sprinkle with pepper and herbs to taste.  Cook meat until it is browned on all sides.  Push meat and onions to the side of the pan and add broth.  Scrape any crunchy bits off the bottom of the pan while bringing broth to boil.  Add Worcestershire sauce and vinegar to taste.  Cover dish and simmer for 10 minutes.  Uncover and add vegetables.  Stir together and simmer an addition 3 to 4 minutes until sauce reduces to about half its volume and the vegetables and meat are done.

Serve meat and vegetables over pasta or rice and sprinkle with cheese.  Goes really well with fresh bread and a good beer.