Today is the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I pretty much summed up my thoughts last year, and I can’t improve on it.
To all the men and women who answered the call after December 7, thank you.
Thought for the Day
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/thought-for-the-day-33/
Oopsie!
News media are reporting that a cannonball fired by the crew of the TV show MythBusters took a series of unfortunate bounces and slammed into a home in Dublin, California.
Now, if I were the homeowner, I’d be pissed. Earthquakes, fire, floods, tornadoes, and even locusts are to be expected and insured against. But no-one in the continental United States has had insurance against cannonball damage since 1865 or so. No way would I just going to write this one off as a “these things happen” and call my insurance agent and drywall guy.
Although, if the MythBusters crew was so to send over Kari to fix the damage, well, then maybe I could see my way clear to not call the lawyers. What can I say? I have a weakness for redheads.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/oopsie/
This Could Be Candidate X
H/T to Chris Muir over at Day by Day!
Posted by daddybear71 on December 6, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/06/this-could-be-candidate-x/
News Roundup
- From the “WTF” Department – A policeman in Florida who was accused of having sex in his squad car and using drugs to pay for it, along with pointing his gun at his squadmates when he found out he was being investigated, will probably be given a $27,000 per year pension when he turns 46. Apparently, because he quit before he was fired and the local prosecutor declined to indict him, he can’t be denied his retirement. That’s right campers, if you hire prostitutes, dabble in drugs, and threaten to shoot your fellow police officers, you’re good to go so long as you quit early and don’t get prosecuted.
- From the “Purina Bear Chow” Department – ‘Environmentalists’ are protesting a black bear hunt in New Jersey. State wildlife officials hope to harvest 600 bears during the hunt, which will go a long way towards cutting down on the number of bears in the state and the frequency in which humans and bears bump into each other. Protesters refute that assertion, maintaining that “A bear hunt doesn’t solve nuisance complaints, a bear hunt doesn’t protect property, a bear hunt doesn’t protect public safety and the bear hunt will not reduce the population”. Since 200 bears have already been taken, I think the speaker is wrong on at least the last part of that little bit. Another opponent to the hunt maintains that a mother bear once left her cubs with her, which to me means the mother bear was hunting over bait. Hopefully these activists head out to the woods to try to train the bears to be afraid of being around people, or to teach them that humans don’t taste that good.
- From the “Victim Selection Fail” Department – A would-be robber in Chicago is feeling his lumps today. You see, he tried to carjack a mixed martial arts fighter, and ended up bruised and shot with his own gun. But this can’t be possible. Everyone knows that criminals in Chicago don’t have access to firearms. As for the can of whoop-ass opened upon him, I’m hoping someone got video of it. I’d love to see how he tapped out after he shot himself in the ankle.
- From the “Qel Surpris” Department – A movement that tries to get people to “Take Back the Capitol” has organized groups of people to go to members of Congress demanding answers to their issues. Now, that’s all well and good. The right of peaceful assembly and demanding answers from elected officials is cherished. But apparently the website for the movement links back to the SIEU, which seems to be supporting the protests. So what could have been seen as a group of citizens seeking redress for grievances is at least partially as astro-turfed as Giants Stadium.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 6, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/06/news-roundup-58/
Christmas Geekery
For those of you who speak in geek, here are a couple Christmas time goodies for you:
Just trying to warm the souls of the greasy mechanics of the information age. Nothing says “Merry Christmas!” like a little perl spiced with a bit of OS tinkering.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 6, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/06/christmas-geekery/
How do you say Merry Christmas in Chinese?
Iran is asserting that it has shot down a stealthy U.S. intelligence drone. Tehran has made similar announcements in the past, but this time U.S. officials are confirming the incident off the record.
What seems to have happened, at least according to those who will speak to reporters, is that an RQ-170 Sentinel Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) lost connection to its controllers, ‘strayed’ into Iranian airspace, then landed in accordance with its programming.
blink
………..
blink
Hold on, let me read that again:
According to a senior U.S. military source with intimate knowledge of the Sentinel drone, the aircraft likely “wandered” into Iranian air space after losing contact with its handlers and is presumed to be intact since it is programmed to fly level and find a place to land, rather than crashing.
Are you freaking kidding me? You have an aircraft that you haven’t officially released even a picture of, which apparently is built to be less visible to radar, and you program it to find somewhere nice and flat to land rather than crash in unfriendly territory when it can’t phone home?
I’m not going to divulge anything about my past, but I think it’s probably public knowledge that it’s old technology to have a set of coordinates programmed into the control software of a UAV that is its failsafe point to return to when it loses its control link. Heck, anyone who flies expensive model planes can tell you the same thing. Why in the name of all this holy would you program a surveillance platform to fly a steady track and find somewhere to land rather than give it a return coordinate or have it assume a vertical flight pattern and gun the engines so that all that is available for collection and exploitation is scraps.
Iran hates our guts, and they know who in the international community is shielding them, Russia and China. Anyone want to bet on the possibility that this little lost airplane, along with all of its surveillance, communications, and cryptologic equipment, is in a shipping crate on its way to either Beijing or Moscow?
I hope that whoever made the decision that it’s better for a drone to find a place to land than it is for it to return to some arbitrary place for recovery or destroy itself is pilloried. Since in the event of any conflict between China and the U.S. UAV’s will be the first wave of aircraft to go in for air defense suppression and intelligence gathering, this is a kick to the gut for our abilities. We just put a bow on one of our most advanced technologies and shipped it to the Chinese.
Sometimes, you just have to shake your head.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 6, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/06/how-do-you-say-merry-christmas-in-chinese/
The pun is strong with this one
Robb Allen has a bit of time on his hands. His commenters are just as bad.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 6, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/06/the-pun-is-strong-with-this-one/
30 Days of Heinlein – Day 3
When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything — you can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. — If This Goes On (1940)
Posted by daddybear71 on December 6, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/06/30-days-of-heinlein-day-3/
Who Makes History?
Recently, I wrote about a small church in eastern Kentucky in which a new rule excluding inter-racial couples from joining the church had been instituted. This weekend, the pastor of that church, along with the liturgical organization it belongs to, overturned that vote, expressing a view that the church welcomes “believers into our fellowship regardless of race, creed or color.”
Bravo for them. As I said in my initial post, salvation is for everyone, no matter where they or their ancestors come from, so long as they reach out for it.
But something stuck with me in the initial news article:
The vote by members last Sunday was 9-6, Harville said. It was taken after the service, which about 35 to 40 people attended. Harville said many people left or declined to vote.
By those numbers, there were 35 to 40 members of the congregation who could have taken part in the initial vote. 20 to 25 of them declined to participate, instead letting those who felt strongly enough one way or another to make the decision for them. Even using the lower number of 35 congregants, less than 1/3 of the congregation voted to put this rule into place, bringing unwanted publicity to the church and necessitating the attention of the pastor when he should have been concentrating on actually teaching his flock.
Think about that. 9 people decided to put that rule in place. 1/3 of that population of adults changed the manner in which that church would welcome people into their community.
The answer to the question I asked in the title is this: The people who show up and participate make history. It’s just that simple. You can have the hearts and minds of 90% of the people on a given issue, but unless you can convince them to put some skin in the game, you will lose if the other side can get that other 10% to show up and vote. We can have Tea Party rallies with people in their hundreds of thousands, but if we don’t get them to the polls, it’s all just talk in the park.
Every time we have an election, there is always a talking head on TV telling us about how less than half of registered voters bother to vote. That’s not half of the adult population that’s qualified to vote. That’s half of the minority of those people who fill out a card and get registered. Even in elections where a politician or a ballot proposal passes with an overwhelming majority of votes, they’re only getting a small fraction of the total adult population to support them.
So how do we make history? First, we show up. Get out and support the causes and candidates you believe in. And for heaven’s sake, register to vote and get out of the house on election day and vote.
Next, we get as many people who have similar ideas and values as us to do the same. There’s history in numbers.
Next, get your kids, when they’re old enough to know what’s going on, involved. Maybe they just go to the polls with you. Maybe they go along with you to a rally, or to deliver yard signs for a cause. But you set the example for them so that when they gain voting age, they already know how important it is that their voice be heard.
Someone once said that for evil to triumph, all it needs is for good people to do nothing. If we want to keep our republic safe, we need to be more than passive observers. We have to be involved, and we have to willing to put a little skin in the game.
The primaries are coming up, and then comes the general election. Please get involved and vote. The country you save could be your own.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 5, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/05/who-makes-history/
An Apology
To the people who were shopping in the same store as my family this weekend:
I would like to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology for all of the evil and hateful things I thought while shopping yesterday. I am sure that very few of you are truly inbred, bucktoothed, anencephalic sons of syphilitic swineherds, and for those of you who are, I hope things turn around for you.
I would also like to apologize for the mean things I thought about you, your ancestors, your descendants, people who are related to you either by blood or marriage, and the doctors who helped to bring you into this world.
Sincerely,
DaddyBear
Posted by daddybear71 on December 5, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/05/an-apology/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 