- OldNFO has an excellent rundown on how he takes care of his EDC equipment. That reminds me, I need to give the pistols a good wipe down.
- Something tells me that a businessman in Texas is about to have a very bad day.
- Borepatch discusses the latest wave of Internet banditry. The discussion of how hard it is to get this particular piece of malware off an infected computer reminds me of something an old SysAd told me once: Take off and nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. If you get infected, zorch your partitions, re-install your system, and restore your files from the most recent uninfected backup. You are backing up your system, aren’t you?
- Via BlackFive, we hear the story of how soldiers at Fort Bliss were forced to sit and provide a backdrop for Fearless Leader when they should have been either finishing up business early or already off for their long weekend. Reminds me of when some guys I knew from Wiesbaden had to give up their last bit of family time before deploying to Bosnia so that they could be there to smile and clap for President Clinton doing a victory lap.
- The Big Guy has one of the creepiest photos I’ve ever seen. I sincerely hope that’s PhotoShop.
- I’m not sure what breed of dog Wirecutter posted a picture of, but I know I want one! Nothing says “Get off my lawn!” like a dog that requires a ground guide to back into his bed at night.
All posts by daddybear71
Blogs Roundup
Posted by daddybear71 on September 5, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/05/blogs-roundup-17/
News Roundup
- From the “Your Tax Dollars at Work” Department – A Massachusetts judge has ruled that a prison violates the civil rights of a prisoner when it refuses to pay for sex reassignment surgery for said miscreant. The prisoner in question is in prison for murdering his wife in 1990, and has sued before to get hormone therapy. Call me insensitive, but I find it hard to find sympathy for a murderer who has decided that he needs to be a murderess. What’s next? Will the prisoner demand cosmetic surgery and breast implants because not being pretty causes cruel and inhuman suffering?
- From the “Oops” Department – A building in the Netherlands recently failed to fall when over 200 pounds of explosives were used in an attempt to collapse it. Meanwhile, neighbors are being kept from their homes as a safety precaution. In related news, a Dutch demolition company is advertising for interns who are unmarried, have no children, and don’t know much about what the inside of a partially demolished building looks like.
- From the “Fragrant Hipsters” Department – An ‘artist’ in Sweden is planning to use the sweat of glass blowers as a perfume. This is yet another gambit in the “Try to plumb the depths of what they’ll buy” game. The man hopes to use the product to separate tourists who come to buy blown glass from a little more of their filthy lucre. I’d say he’s doomed to failure, but I said the same thing about bottled water.
- From the “Simpler Solution” Department – An 11 foot python was captured recently in Florida. Animal control officials are quoted as saying that this particular serpent was ‘nasty’, meaning it fought hard against them when they tried to wrangle it. Scientists plan to kill the snake and cut it open to see what it has been eating, which leads me to ask why they went to the trouble of capturing it alive in the first place. I’m sure the nice folks at Browning, Remington, and Mossberg have perfectly good instruments that could be used to make the capture phase a lot simpler.
- From the “Sushi and Slots” Department – A casino in Florida has closed its gambling floors after a 13,000 gallon aquarium broke and flooded them. The good news is that staff was able to save the fish, so at least the guy who caused the situation will have someone to sleep with once they find him.
- From the “Get It In Writing” Department – Senator John McCain had a rather contentious evening at a town-hall meeting in Arizona recently, where attendees lobbed HEAT rounds at him over border security and benefits for retired veterans. McCain blamed gridlock and money woes for the lack of security along the southern border. He probably didn’t gain too many fans when his reason for the cost of veteran’s health benefits going up pretty much boiled down to “Hey, it wasn’t written in your enlistment contract, was it?”. Things like that temper my occasional regret at not staying in the military until retirement. Of course, the good senator is well taken care of for as long as he shares our biosphere, due to his long service in Congress. See my earlier remarks about how government employees in the capital should have to go to clinics identical to the ones at the infantry school that service basic trainees.
- From the “Bring It, Mahmoud” Department – An Iranian naval official claims that Iran plans to station some of its navy off the coast of the United States in the next few years. Personally, I welcome the opportunity this will bring to our land. First, they give our shore defenses and Navy something to practice against. Second, in the event that things get ugly in the Straits of Hormuz, they will give our search and rescue folks something to do while stationed in the United States. And third, they will provide valuable artificial reef space for our marine wildlife.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 4, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/04/news-roundup-151/
30 Days of Tolkien – Day 2
‘The counsel of Gandalf was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or for others,’ said Aragorn. ‘There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.’ — The Two Towers
My Take – There are no promises in life. Life does not care if you live or die, feast or starve, wither or thrive. Those who succeed are those who choose to act, even knowing how badly the odds are stacked against them. Successful businesses aren’t started by the cautious. Successful free people aren’t sustained by playing it safe.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 4, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/04/30-days-of-tolkien-day-2/
Dinner Tonight – Spanish Rice
Ingredients
2 cups white or brown rice
4 cups water
Salt
Olive Oil
1 large white or yellow onion, chopped fine
2 jalapeno peppers, cleaned and deseeded, then chopped fine
2 bell peppers, cleaned and deseeded, then chopped fine
Chili seasoning to taste (Choose your favorite or make your own)
1/2 pound ground beef (optional)
1 dozen roma tomatoes
1 dozen canning tomatoes (Big Boy or Better Boys were used tonight)
In a saucepan, combine rice, water, and a couple pinches of salt. Cover and bring to a rolling boil. Shut off heat and leave covered until rice has absorbed all of the moisture. Note – Nothing smells worse than scorched rice, so as soon as it comes to a rolling boil, shut off the heat.
In a large frying pan, heat olive oil, then add onions, peppers, and chili seasoning. If desired, add meat as well, but this dish is great without meat. Cook until onions are soft.
While that is cooking, clean the tomatoes. Cut off the stems and butts, then chop.
Add tomatoes and all resulting juice to the onion/pepper mix in the frying pan. Cook at high heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the tomatoes have broken down. There will be a lot of juice. Shut off heat and add cooked rice and mix thoroughly. Rice will soak up most of the juice in the pan.
Goes well as a side dish or as a main dish with sliced fruits and vegetables. Makes enough to feed a small army, so either have a lot of hungry people or be prepared to freeze leftovers.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/dinner-tonight-spanish-rice/
Thoughts on the Day
- The weather refused to cooperate today too. Oh well, it was decided that I needed to swap out some 2×8 for 2×12 anyway. I’ll work on the porch next weekend.
- We celebrated Labor Day by laboring.
- Nothing like a dreary day to do all of the inside work you’ve been neglecting.
- I love the smell of pine cleaners and oil soap on hardwood floors.
- Irish Woman cleaned out all of the old toys in Boo’s room cleaned it from floor to ceiling.
- I give it a day before it looks like a bomb went off.
- The trash man is going to curse our name. Irish Woman was on a tear.
- Boo convinced me to buy two large bones for the dogs. He is now their favorite human being.
- How long do you think a pig femur will last when chewed on by a large dog?
- If you said one hour, you get a cookie. I was surprised too.
- How long do you think a pig femur will last when chewed on by a large dog?
- Girlie Bear and I started watching “Star Trek: Enterprise” this weekend. Three episodes in and we’re interested.
- Captain Archer needs a heavier boom to lower on his subordinates. Doesn’t that ship have an airlock?
- The security on their sidearms sucks. It appears that just about anyone can get a pistol from the armory and their holsters have absolutely no retention.
- Apparently the future never learned about night vision or weapon lights either.
- I haven’t watched any Star Trek regularly since about the third season of TNG. Watched maybe one or two episodes apiece of DS9 and Voyager. I’m just getting caught up.
- Apparently Godzilla has arisen and is tearing the Gulf of Mexico oil platforms apart. Gas went up 30 cents from last weekend.
- Girlie Bear has learned how to do laundry without turning her blue jeans white or her whites blue. I have waited years for this day of freedom.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/thoughts-on-the-day-48/
Thought for the Day
I think I may be in trouble. Irish Woman just figured out how expensive ammunition can be, and she moved the ammunition boxes last night, so she knows how much ammunition I have.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/thought-for-the-day-165/
30 Days of Tolkien – Day 1
“And why not? Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies just because you helped them come about. You don’t really suppose do you that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck? Just for your sole benefit? You’re a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I’m quite fond of you. But you are really just a little fellow, in a wide world after all.” — The Hobbit
My Take – We all make history every day. Maybe it’s something that will be sung about by bards centuries from now. Maybe it’ll just be a “And then they ….. ” kind of history. Either way, we are all part of the story of humanity. Our present was dreamed of by our ancestors, and we will be remembered by our descendents. Our choices are whether or not to surpass the dreams of the past and how we wish to be memorialized in the future.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/30-days-of-tolkien-day-1/
News Roundup
- From the “Blame the Victim” Department – A priest in New York has apologized for saying that children who have been abused by clergy are “seducers”. While his superiors are passing it off as his mind fading after a traumatic accident years ago, my take on it is that it is just evidence that some people just can’t get over the fact that there are truly evil people in the world, and that sometimes they wear a clerical collar. The small percentage of priests, who abuse their position and power to hurt others, splash their colleagues, who live by their vows, with excrement, and it’s a damn shame. But to have one of their number say something like this, and to have it get through the editorial process at an official publication, is shocking. Hopefully the good father is removed from any ministry that is aimed at those who have violated children, because it’s probably hard to do penance for a pretty ugly sin when your confessor looks at you and says “Hey, it wasn’t your fault. That 3rd grader threw himself at you.”.
- From the “Hand in the Cookie Jar” Department – 125 students at Harvard University are facing suspension from the prestigious school after being accused of working together on a take home final exam. I hear from good sources that one of them is going to be the head of Harvard Law Review if found guilty, and then will go into a political career in Chicago.
- From the “We Are Doomed” Department – The latest “must have” for the urban hipster on the go appears to be a brown paper lunch sack. A company in New York is selling a bag made from treated brown paper for $290. The leather version of the sack goes for $360. That’s right, friends and neighbors, for the price of a car payment, you can get yourself a genuine brown paper bag, ready for you to take leftovers to work or hide a 40 ounce bottle of your favorite carbonated beverage in true hobo chic. Heck, if I take just what I have in my pantry downstairs, apply a couple of coats of shellac, and put a couple of grommets on them, I might be able to retire next year.
- From the “Who Domesticated Whom?” Department – An 800 pound pig named John Henry has been kept fat and happy for a year on the leavings from a small restaurant in New Jersey. Is the restaurant fattening him up for their pulled pork special? Is the kitchen staff preparing to serve custom-made bacon to its customers? Nope, they’re donating the food to the pig’s owners so that they can afford to feed him. That’s right, they’re feeding food to potential food with no plans to make it into actual food. I’m all about being kind to animals, but when an animal is made of delicious meat, it will eventually reach a size and age where its tastiness overarches its cuteness. Hopefully the owners and the restaurateurs come to their senses and roast John Henry slowly for about 16 hours, followed by a quick bath in a tangy sauce.
- From the “Justice?” Department – A young girl in Louisville was raped at a party several months ago. The miscreants who violated her also took pictures of the act, presumably so they could either brag about it online or relive it in private. They recently reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, but apparently the victim thinks it’s too lenient a deal. She’s in hot water because she took her frustration to the Internet and posted the names of her attackers on-line. While a judge has recently decided that she won’t be held in contempt of court for doing this, it brings up the question of confidentiality for underage criminals. Does the public have a right to know that rapists live among them, even if the crimes occurred before the rapist’s 18th birthday? While the idea of keeping juvenile records closed is to give them a chance to start anew once they reach adulthood, I’m not such a believer in reform and redemption that I think it’s likely that someone who rapes a girl at 16 will be completely OK to have around my daughter at 18. Not getting into the ethics of the sex offender registry here, but if someone, say a young woman about to go on a date with a young man, does a web search on a name, shouldn’t the fact that the person in question has been convicted of a violent crime such as rape be available?
- From the “Good Idea” Department – The school system in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has decided that cowering under desks and locking hollow core doors isn’t enough in the unlikely event that an armed assailant decides to invade a school. The school has begun teaching faculty at two of its schools to fight back in the event of an active shooter situation. The strategy being taught appears to be to try to evade the shooter, throw things at them to gain time to either run or fight, and if fighting is necessary, to attack as a group. It all sounds good, but it might be more effective if the teachers were allowed to throw copper jacketed lead instead of desks. But far be it from me to criticize this kind of revolutionary thinking. Imagine, a school teaching its students and faculty that their lives are worth fighting over. Let me take this moment to applaud the leadership of the schools in Tuscaloosa for deciding to teach their children that cowering and hoping that the shooter either runs out of bullets or gets bored before he gets to them is not a viable survival technique.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/news-roundup-150/
Our Long National Nightmare is Over
The White House has released the recipes for the two beers that are made at the executive mansion, a brown ale and a porter that are made with honey. This piece of information completes my picture of the Obama White House, so now I can stop paying attention and leave well enough alone. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating that one, but from the press coverage of this non-story, you’d think the cure for whatever ails you was in that ale.
Here are a few other beers that Mr. Obama should consider trying his hands at:
- Progressive Porter
- Liberal Lager
- Barack’s Bock
- Blame Bush Barley Wine
- Michelle’s Bitter
- White House Witbier
- Whining Wheat
- Hope and Change Hoppy Ale
- Narcissist Nectar
- Preening Pilsner
- Socialist Stout
Posted by daddybear71 on September 2, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/02/our-long-national-nightmare-is-over-2/
30 Days of Abraham Lincoln – Day 30
The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. — 1859
My Take – We hold a revolution in this country almost every year. Through local, state, and federal elections, we regularly have the opportunity to replace our servants and representatives. It is our way of making our voices heard and of reminding those who work for us that their wishes and desires are subordinate to their duty to us.
This may be why it disturbs me when so few people are actually interested in politics. Not everyone has the inclination or the time to be a political geek, but the amount of effort it takes to be informed and motivated to take the time to vote is minimal. This apathy is the real enemy to our freedom. When such a large part of our nation decides that doing the one thing that can cause change in government isn’t worth their time, then the power is held by those who vote and those who influence them.
It’s getting very close to the deadline to be registered to vote for November. If you’re not registered, please do. I don’t care if you vote for Obama, or Romney, or Johnson, or the High Exalted Poobah of the Royal Order of Water Buffalo, just vote.
Posted by daddybear71 on September 2, 2012
https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/02/30-days-of-abraham-lincoln-day-30/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 