We make war as personal as a punch in the nose. We can be selective, applying precisely the required amount of pressure at the specified point at a designated time. We’ve never been told to go down and kill or capture all left-handed redheads in a particular area, but if they tell us to, we can. – Starship Troopers
My take – Heinlein wrote these words back when war was an overwhelmingly indiscriminate killer. We can still wage war so that entire grid squares get burned to the ground, but we’ve invested decades of time and billions of dollars to create weapons and tactics that allow us to pick and choose our targets well enough that the deaths of bystanders is now considered an anomaly.
30 Days of Heinlein – Day 21
Posted by daddybear71 on December 24, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/24/30-days-of-heinlein-day-21/
News Roundup
- From the “History Rhymes” Department – The government of Cuba has announced that it will be releasing several thousand inmates from its prisons. I believe the next play in the Castro brothers’ playbook is to hold a massive boat lift of people they don’t want in their worker’s paradise, necessitating an equally massive humanitarian effort on our part. Some might consider this a creative way to save money on your prison budget. I see it as another way in which the Obama administration parallels that of President Carter.
- From the “Bad Year” Department – The Russian space agency has had a pretty bad run of luck lately. Several high profile missions, including a supply run to the ISS and a probe to Mars that didn’t quite go well. The latest is a satellite launch that didn’t make it to orbit. This will tell you how far Russia has come. 30 years ago, we would be reading of a glorious opportunity for new rocket scientists to continue the glorious path to the stars set by their late predecessors. Now, the head of the agency holds a press conference, admits fault, and predicts that a new generation of scientists will step forward. Russia isn’t exactly going gangbusters toward liberal democracy, but it’s a sight better than it was a couple of decades ago.
- From the “Bless His Heart” Department – President Obama has flown to Hawaii to join his family for the Christmas holidays. I expect he will be taking a much needed break from his hectic schedule for the next few weeks. I certainly hope he finds time to get in a couple rounds of golf, seeing as he’s almost had to take up that hobby recently. I also certainly hope that the First Lady has a chance to indulge a bit in that epitome of healthy eating that is Hawaiian cuisine. Lord knows she’s earned a break from her campaign and lifestyle of healthy eating. I’m sure that all of the assistants, security, military personnel, and other people who always accompany the President and his entourage will be thankful for having the opportunity to spend Christmas in a tropical paradise without being encumbered by their family and friends.
- From the “This Ain’t Christmas” Department – Nike has cranked up the Michael Jordan money printing machine it’s kept stashed in the basement of its corporate headquarters again. Apparently, this year’s model has the magical ability to cause otherwise peaceful and law-abiding people to start rioting in order to get their own pair. Either that, or the people who lined up two days before Christmas to buy shoes include a fair percentage of jerks. You be the judge.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 24, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/24/news-roundup-48/
Dear Local News Outlet
Putting some woman who has delusions of grandeur because her elementary school music teacher told her she had a good voice on the TV because she won a Facebook contest is not journalism. Letting her belt out a few bars of the latest ballad from pubescent romance fantasies is the opposite of journalism.
Here’s a rule of thumb: If it gives you a warm and fuzzy, it’s probably not news. If it can be classified as a “human interest story”, save your breath, I’m not interested.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 23, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/23/dear-local-news-outlet/
Space Junk
It’s the Illudium Q-38 Explosive Space Modulator!
Posted by daddybear71 on December 23, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/23/space-junk/
30 Days of Heinlein – Day 20
War is not violence and killing, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose. The purpose of war is to support your government’s decisions by force. The purpose is never to kill the enemy just to be killing him…but to make him do what you want to do. Not killing…but controlled and purposeful violence. – Starship Troopers
Posted by daddybear71 on December 23, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/23/30-days-of-heinlein-day-20/
News Roundup
- From the “Cornered Cat” – An 81 year old woman in Florida showed that the maternal instinct never ends. When the ladies 61 year old daughter was getting into her truck to take them both to a TV show taping, sumdood decided to rob and beat the daughter. The 81 year old woman, knowing that the thug had a gun and she had nothing but her attitude, started beating on the miscreant and drove him off. How many times do I have to tell these people? Don’t mess with Grandma!
- From the “Then You Do It!” Department – A federal judge has stuck down parts of South Carolina’s anti-illegal immigration statutes. I suppose now that police officers are prohibited from inquiring into the immigration status of someone they suspect, all that’s left for them to do is to ask nicely that illegal immigrants consider camping out on the front yard of the federal courthouse. Hey, if the feds aren’t going to enforce immigration laws, then maybe they ought to be inconvenienced by their refusal.
- From the “14 minutes, 55 seconds” Department – The Occupy Something movement has announced that they plan to bring their own floats to the Tournament of Roses Parade in California next weekend. They are apparently going to have floats that include ‘alternate’ wordings for the Constitution, and of course, Cindy Sheehan will be there to speak. I guess now that the Iraq war is over, she needs something new to make sure she gets her Vitamin D from the limelight. I look forward to footage of soccer moms who have been camped out on the sidewalk in Pasadena for three days laying a beating on some hippies for screwing up their morning.
- From the “My Heart Bleeds” Department – Witnesses for Bradley Manning, the young twit who is accused of leaking classified documents to Wikileaks, have asserted that their unit did not have appropriate levels of supervision. In earlier testimony, Manning’s defense team has asserted that he was under an unusual amount of stress because he was a closeted gay soldier before the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and that prompted his crimes. Here’s my take – This whining little punk obviously shouldn’t be issued non-blunted eating utensils because he can’t be trusted to eat without injuring himself without proper supervision. Same thing goes for using the men’s room and getting himself dressed. Not enough supervision? What a crock. Military Intelligence teams are loosely lead at best. A soldier, especially an analyst like Manning, has to be expected to be able to work on his own within very broad guidelines, so long as his work is supporting the goals of the team. It’s called being an adult. Thousands of soldiers do the same job with the same amount of supervision, and they don’t betray their country. And as for his assertion that being a gay soldier in the military is so stressful that he had to act like a twit, well, let’s just say I don’t buy it. I knew intelligence soldiers who were in the closet before Clinton came out with DADT, which means that they were under continual threat of being investigated, losing their access and/or clearance, and being booted out of the military. To my knowledge, none of them printed off a bunch of classified material and sent it to the Soviets. Here’s an alternate theory: This piece of crap decided the Army was mean to him, and he wanted to get in good with someone who disliked the Army as much as he did, and he paid for his way into the in-crowd with classified material. Now, he doesn’t have the ability to sack up and accept the consequences for his actions, and is instead blaming everyone for his crimes. Yes, his leadership failed, especially when they realized just what a little putz they had on their hands and didn’t take him out of the SCIF by the seat of his pants and put him on human waste removal detail. And yeah, having to be secretive and discreet about your sexuality sucks. But that’s no reason to betray your oath.
- From the “Qel Surpris” Department – Jimmy Carter has sent a letter to the new leader of North Korea, expressing his condolences for the death of Kim Jong Il and wishing him luck as he takes the reigns of the country. You know, there have been those who express the opinion that Jimmy Carter is finally being surpassed as the worst president our republic has ever had now that Obama is being used as a proof of the Peter Principle. But things like this turn the competition to be worst president ever into a horse race. I think Obama is really going to have to up his game both now and after he leaves office in order to overtake Carter.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 23, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/23/news-roundup-49/
Home Alone
A Louisville teenager had a scare today. While he was home alone today, a couple of thugs broke into his home, held him at knife point, and ransacked the house. One of the fine upstanding proactive property redistributors held a knife to his throat and asked if he wanted to die. How charming.
This one hits close to home. Girlie Bear spends about an hour or so every afternoon at the house alone when she gets home from school. Also, sometimes we can’t get a whole day off work to be home with her if she’s home for a day off of school, so she may spend half a day alone. We don’t worry about her doing anything she shouldn’t. She’s a responsible young lady, and we haven’t had any issues with her being by herself so far.
But what should she do if she’s surprised by someone in the house when she gets home or if someone breaks in when she’s home alone?
My advice to her has been to run. She has to fight as hard as she can to get away, but she has to get away. I’m under no illusions that even my hellcat of a daughter can physically subdue or drive off robbers. Because Boo is so young, all of our guns are religiously locked up, and Girlie Bear doesn’t have the combination to any of the safes. To be honest, I would consider myself a fool to think that a 13 year old, either boy or girl, would have the wherewithal to unlock a safe under stress when I have to practice it regularly myself.
So what do y’all think? Do you tell your kids to defend themselves and the home, cooperate with the thugs, or run like their ass was on fire and get help?
Posted by daddybear71 on December 23, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/23/home-alone/
30 Days of Heinlein – Day 19
There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men. – Starship Troopers
My Take –
The bomb, the gun, the rocket, the sword, the club, the rock – all are tools. They are not in and of themselves dangerous, no matter what the bed-wetting set wants to think. The weapon is between your ears.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/22/30-days-of-heinlein-day-19/
Geek Christmas Carols
Yeah, I’m finally in the mood. Not the Christmas mood, just a mood.
Jingle bells, UNIX smells
Windows laid an egg
The mainframe it just vapor locked
But the VAX is A-OK!
I’m dreaming of a white laptop
Just like Jobs used to sell
With a one button mouse
It costs as much as a house
But it goes with black turtlenecks so well!
The users called me
The network is down
They can’t surf their pr0n
The network is down
The tech is on his way
The network is down
Email jokes can’t be sent!
The network is down
Network is down
Network is down
Silent NOC
Happy NOC
No alerts
No drama
Reading a novel
And eating take-out
Hoping my shift
is quiet no doubt
Keep my board clea–ar
Ke-ep my board so clear
Just see those servers crashing
And hard drives thrashing
Oh joy!
This is a great profession
for someone with a pain obsession
Oh boy!
Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/22/geek-christmas-carols/
Quote of the Day
I carry a gun so my last thought won’t be, “If only I was armed….”
— Roberta X, “Gun Myths/Gun Realities”
Read.The.Whole.Thing.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/22/quote-of-the-day-30/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 