after reading this over at Fox.

Ick, ick, ick.

I’m not much of a germophobe, but I do wash my hands and cook my pork. I’ve heard of worms from pork before, but never in the brain.

Now I’m going to go take a shower and dowse myself in GermX.

OK, this is beginning to get on my nerves.

Apparently, the pirates that are using the Horn of Africa as a stomping ground and sanctuary are starting go for some stretch goals. They’ve now taken over a huge oil tanker and and a grain hauler. Must have eaten their Wheaties or something.

I have couple of questions:

Why aren’t we exacting a little blood tribute from these guys? I mean, come on! What are they armed with, machine guns and RPG’s? Like we’ve never had to face those before.

Put a couple of destroyers and cruisers alongside the ships, demand surrender, and if they don’t, send in a company of Marines with assurances that there’s no need to be careful about taking captives. If we can’t take the ships, I suggest we sink them and let the pirates try to swim to shore under fire.

And then the Marines can add another line to their Hymn.

Piracy for ransom is only profitable if the pirates in question believe that someone will pay for their captive ship or crew, and that someone with more men and bigger guns won’t come in and turn you into shark chum.

Lloyds of London needs to start telling the people who insure their ships with them that they need to prove that adequate armed security is onboard if the ship is going to be going into these waters. I’m sure that Blackwater would be happy to put a squad or two of mercenaries out for hire. Once the pirates learn that the targets are going to start shooting at people who try to board them, they’ll either back down or escalate to the point where national powers intervene in a meaningful way.

I’m not convinced that shippers will do this, but a convoy system from the Suez canal to Yemen might be in order. At least that way there’ll be a couple of destroyers available to knock the snot out of anyone who tries to get frisky.

NASA has sent two orb spiders into orbit for an educational experiment. Apparently, the spiders haven’t figured out how to spin a proper web in micro-gravity, but that’s not the real story.

You see, the space agency reports that they can’t find one of the two spiders they sent. In their defense, they’re sure that the “missing” spider is somewhere in the enclosure, and isn’t running loose on the ISS.

OK, but that’s what they always say, just before some mutant arachnoid alien space monster starts picking the crew off one by one.

I just hope the ISS crew has access to an escape vehicle and flame throwers.

Senator Ted Stevens, who was recently convicted of lying to Congress, looks like he’s going to lose his nice position in the Senate.

Good. Best news I’ve heard all day.

Ted Stevens has been an embarrassment to the Republican Party for years. He set out to make himself rich, and he did. He’s the Robert Byrd of the GOP, bringing in a ton of federal dollars to Alaska that could have been used better elsewhere, or better yet not spent at all. He’s also infamous in tech circles for his description of the Internet as a “series of tubes“.

I’m glad to see that the good people of Alaska finally threw this creep out on his ear, and I hope he spends some long days in a nice Federal prison. Even though this means one more step towards a Democratic filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the GOP needs to clean up its act and bring in new blood. We’re not going to improve our standing by having a corrupt, uneducated geezer on the payroll.

I think this is a good start. Now we need to take a look at the rest of the senior Republican leadership.

was broken by a dumbass who “accidentally” shot a child, and gave yet another example that will be used against those who want to safely and ethically hunt.

Rule # 4 reads:

BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

Know what it is, what is in line with it, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything you have not positively identified. Be aware of your surroundings, whether on the range or in a fight. Do not assume anything. Know what you are doing.

Yes, you can safely hunt in an area that has houses in it, but you have to be careful. You have to know exactly where they are located, and set up your hunting so that you are not in danger of either shooting through your target and coming near them, or having an errant shot cause a tragedy.

If the area you hunt is that crowded, consider hunting with a bow. Heck, that gives you more chances to get out and hunt.

But because this guy didn’t make sure that there wasn’t a house behind his deer, a child is dead. Two families are destroyed because he either didn’t take the time to learn about the environment he was hunting in, or he didn’t care. And other hunters will pay for his actions. Land owners in the area will hesitate to allow safe hunters to hunt on their because they fear that something similar will happen. Anti-hunting and anti-gun groups will use this incident to push for even more restrictions on an activity that can be done safely if it’s done properly.

I hope they throw the book at this guy, if for no other reason that it will drive home a personal price for being a dumbass with a gun. Remember, we as hunters and gun owners will be judged not based on the actions of our geniuses, but on the actions of our stupidest.

even if I think it’s a bad idea.

Iceland is inviting Russia to use an airbase, which would give Russia a rather good strategic position in the north Atlantic.

Of course, this spits in the face of Iceland’s NATO allies, but those same allies didn’t aid Iceland when their banking system almost collapsed in the past few weeks, and Russia did.

If you want someone to continue to help you, you have to be willing to help them.

Phil over at Random Nuclear Strikes has suggestions on how the American automobile can be effectively bailed out, and the cure would be pretty hard for the patient to withstand, but it would certainly put it on the road to health.

I agree with Phil. If we are going to give money to any company or industry to keep them from failing, we must demand that the things that caused the problem in the first place must be fixed.

I have family and friends that work for Ford and GM or their suppliers, mostly UAW, but not all. I’ve seen them go from feast to famine, and I’ve avoided the entire auto industry because I don’t want to follow their example. Going from massive amounts of overtime to unemployment insurance several times a year is not how I want to go through my career.

American automakers need to trim all the fat they can, and unfortunately, a lot of good people will suffer while that particular ship rights itself. Ford, GM, and Chrysler should have started the process several years ago, but they kept wishing that manufacturing big trucks and SUV’s would continue to be profitable in the face of facts that said it couldn’t. Now, things are at a crisis, and all of the restructuring that should take years to happen will have to happen in a few months. Lots of people are going to lose their jobs, and it’s going to kick our economy while it’s down.

Guys, start making cars that last more than a couple of years without major problems, don’t cost a mortgage payment to fuel, and are comfortable to ride in, and you’ll gain market share. Continue to crank out gas guzzlers that need major work within a year after the end of their warranty, and you’ll be studied in history courses.

Saw this at Danger Room:

While the public and media are occupied with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the potential conflict with Iran, the downward spiral in Pakistan, and a global economic meltdown, a new, rapidly-evolving danger — narco-cartels and gangs — has been developing in Mexico and Latin America. And it has the potential to trump global terrorism as a threat to the United States.

Mexico is gripped by a set of inter-locking, networked criminal insurgencies. Daily violence, kidnappings, assassinations of police and government officials, beheadings and shoot-outs are the result of violent combat between drug cartels, gangs, and the police. The cartels vying for domination of the lucrative drug trade are seeking both market dominance and freedom from government interference. Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, and other border towns are racked with violence. Mexico City itself is not immune. An infusion of police and military remains stymied as corrupt officials chose to side with the cartels.

I commented on this earlier, but these people actually know what they’re talking about.

I hope we’re both overestimating the problem, but I’m not that hopeful.

I’ve always been a James Bond fan, and I really the direction that Casino Royale took the franchise.

I’m stoked to go see Quantum of Solace, and so is Junior Bear. We may go next weekend.

Speaking of which, Tam over at View from the Porch has the best review quote I’ve heard in a while:

He was using that licence to kill like it was earning him frequent flier miles.

I can’t wait to see it!

Well, no venison in the freezer, but it’s been a great weekend anyway. Any day in the woods is better than the best day at the desk.

We got out to the woods at 0 dark 30 on Saturday, and it was already raining. The temperature continued to drop, and the wind got worse and worse all morning. By 10 o’clock, I was soaked to the bone and shivering so bad I don’t think I could have shot a deer if it walked up and said hi.

My buddy and I met up back at the truck and checked the weather radar on our phones. The rain wasn’t going to stop any time soon, so we decided to take the afternoon off. Our guide later told us that everyone in our group was gone by noon, so I don’t feel like too much of a weenie.

Got back out this morning, and it was a gorgeous day. Some clouds and cold wind this morning, but this afternoon the sun came out and it got up into the 40’s. We decided to try the same spot we were at yesterday because my friend had seen a few deer there, and we hoped they had stuck around. It was a dry hole, but we marked it on our map because it’s a great location. Lots of good food for the deer, lots of cedars for them to bed down in.

After lunch, we went to an open field in the southern part of our hunting area and we each took a section of woodline to watch. I sat under a pine tree for a few hours, and noticed that a lot of the small pines around it had been beaten up by bucks rubbing their antlers and heads on them. When it was almost time to go, I walked the perimeter of the field, and saw lots of tracks and other sign, so I’m hopeful that that area will be worth another look if we get drawn again next year.

As I was leaving my hide site, I came across two young bucks, each with 4 little points, who were coming out of the woods. I froze, and they stopped and looked at me. Rules at Fort Knox say that a bucks antlers have to extend beyond his ears, and these two most certainly didn’t fit that description. I watched them for a moment, and they must have known I couldn’t harm them, because after a minute or so they continued their walk back into the wood line. Not running, not even in a hurry, just walking.

I also saw a large doe up on the road, but the road is verboten for hunting, so she was also safe.

Did I put meat in the freezer? No. Did I see more wildlife than I ever have while hunting in Kentucky? You betcha.

I’ll definitely be putting in for Fort Knox next year, and I may also put in for their bow hunting season so I can at least scout out some areas.