“Will I be better off with these freaks in charge than the bastard who’s there now?”
Michael Z. Williamson, in reference to the “Occupy Something” demonstrations.
Quote of the Day
Posted by daddybear71 on October 19, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/19/quote-of-the-day-43/
News Roundup
- From the “Again?” Department – A man has been arrested in Texas for disrupting a Southwest Airlines flight. Initial reports were that he tried to break into the cockpit, but the airline and law enforcement assert he only became beligerent, caused a ruckus in a lavatory, and confronted flight crew when they tried to calm him down. Again, my question is why is this guy not in a full body cast? Guys, starting a fight on an airplane should be an ugly way to commit suicide, not a way to get on the 11 o’clock news as you’re escorted off the jetway.
- From the “So What Else is New?” Department – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has accused the Republican minority in the Senate of paralyzing the political process. He says he can’t work with the Republicans because they have a stated goal of removing President Obama in the next election. I can’t remember how the process worked in 2003, but I find it hard to believe that Mr. Reid had a problem with the way things worked when his party had a stated goal of unseating President Bush. Of course, I’m pretty sure these tactics have been taught in political science classes since the Gracchi brothers learned the hard way that rich slobs can make politics very personal.
- From the “Oh My!” Department – A rural Ohio community is on lock down after a local exotic animal preserve owner was found dead with the cages and gates to the facility open. Lions, tigers, bears, and other dangerous predators are feared to be roaming the area. Local law enforcement and representatives of the Columbus Zoo are trying to either capture or kill the animals before someone gets hurt. The Tin Man and Scarecrow could not be reached for comment. Allan Quatermain has been asked to advise on proper ways to bring the lions to heel..
- From the “Nothing to See Here” Department – Five men, reported to be of French-Moroccan descent, have been arrested in Texas after breaking into a courthouse. Fox News reports that they had travel documents and other things with them that suggests they had visited several other sites in the United States. I’m sure this is just a silly misunderstanding. All French-Moroccan tourists want a guided tour of the courthouse in San Antonio. At 2 AM. On a Wednesday. After scoping out other sensitive sites in several other states. Move along citizen. Your favorite reality show or variety show is on in a few minutes.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 19, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/19/news-roundup-77/
Thoughts on the Day
- When the semi in front of you on the highway is being pushed around by the wind and is sporting HAZMAT placards for both radiological and corrosive cargo, then maybe you should get around them as soon as it’s safe.
- If it ain’t rainin’, it ain’t trainin’!
- If you don’t want to be shot at by OpFor, then make sure they know how to tell you from the good guys when you walk around in a firefight so you can observe your troops.
- “Safety Kill” my ass. If you’re still pulling the trigger, so am I.
- Getting shot repeatedly at close range by multiple paintball guns in the dangly bits puts a whole new spin on the evening. Next time, wear a cup.
- My magical talent appears to be always being able to find the mud puddle that’s full of sharp things to fall into when I’m shot.
- Here’s a hint: Don’t piss off the guy planning your training scenarios. He has the power to choose the big fat Norwegian over the skinny little Hispanic guy to be the wounded prisoner you have to carry/drag to cover in order to treat and interrogate.
- Kicking said big wounded prisoner and demanding he get up is only going to disincline him from helping you drag/carry him to cover.
- I’ve known people who spoke seven languages. I’ve known Airborne Rangers and SEAL’s. But I’ve never met anyone talented enough to get a HMMWV stuck in a mud puddle on a gravel road before tonight. Bravo!
- You know you love your wife when you come home on a cold, dark night, soaked to the bone and covered in paintball marker and mud, and you change clothes out on the porch before you come into the house. But at least she knows you weren’t out all night drinking beer.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 19, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/19/thoughts-on-the-day-16/
Thought for the Day
It’s funny how having a couple boxes of bullets in a caliber none of your guns shoot can get you thinking about buying another gun.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 18, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/18/thought-for-the-day-56/
Today’s Earworm
Yeah, I’m in a Browncoat state of mind.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 18, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/18/todays-earworm-100/
Stump Speech
Today, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to talk to you about the promises of America.
Over the past few weeks, the attention of our country has turned to the protests of the “Occupy” movement. We’ve seen people, young and old, from all races and creeds, from across the country, come together to say, with one voice:
Give us your stuff! We were promised more stuff! We want more stuff!
You see, they are mistaking the promise of America with a promise to get everything they wish for. They believe that showing up entitles them to support from the rest of us. They believe that an ethos that dictates hard work, dedication, and self-reliance above all else is evil. Some of them are merely mouthing the words of their rhetoric for the cameras. Others are actively plotting and agitating for violence aimed at what they mistakenly call ‘justice’.
Folks, we know they’re misguided. America doesn’t promise you any outcome. The freedom to choose your own path is also the freedom to starve. Nowhere is it written that America will protect you from the consequences of bad choices. No-one will stand in your way if you choose to study a subject that has a low chance of helping you find gainful employment. But no-one should be forced to make sure you don’t end up sleeping on a sewer grate after you get your degree in navel gazing.
What America promises is an equal opportunity, not an equal outcome. America promises that the government won’t impede you as you try to be the best you possible. It promises that if you want to be a teacher, or an investor, or a programmer, or whatever, your government won’t try to stop you as long as you don’t hurt anyone doing it and play by the rules.
But no-one is going to catch you if you fall due to your own stupidity or just sheer bad luck. Feel free to study whatever you want, but don’t ask for anyone else to be forced to feed you when you can’t use it to feed yourself. Act as irresponsibly with your body as you want, but be prepared to pay for the repairs yourself. Blow your entire life’s earnings on fun and gadgets, but don’t look to us to make sure you’re OK when you start looking old age in the face.
What America promises us is that we will be left alone to live our own lives, stand on our own two feet, and be responsible for ourselves, to ourselves. Yes I am my brother’s keeper, but it’s because I choose to be, not because the faceless mob forces me to be.
So to you, my fellow Americans, I promise this: When Candidate X and I take our oaths of office, we will do our best to make sure that America fulfills those promises. We will make sure that everything we do is within the boundaries of the Constitution, and that we do nothing to impede your ability to live your life as you see fit. We will also make sure that we will do nothing that will perpetuate the myth that America promises a free lunch to anyone. Because, friends and neighbors, a wise man once wrote that there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, and we all need to remember that.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 18, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/18/stump-speech-3/
New Rules for the Carriage of Weapons When Attending Market Day
Today, the 17th day of October, in the year of our Lord 1270, leaders of the village have announced that subjects of the Crown will be restricted from carrying daggers and other weapons, either openly or secreted upon their persons, while attending the monthly Market Day in the village square.
“These people who wish to bring these dangerous instruments with them when going to market must learn that we will not stand for such things.” said Sheriff Brown, head of local law enforcement.
“Those who wish to own and carry bows, daggers, hammers, and other weapons should join the local band of bowmen and then only be armed when mustered to keep the peace, defend the realm, or practice. Only the ones who have been trained by His Majesty’s government to keep the peace and handle weapons should have them at the market. The carriage of weapons in a public place by the general populace of the village endangers not only the people who have the weapons, but also all of the other good people of the community, many of which are children. Will these knaves not think upon the children?”
Those subjects who feel that the new law is nonsensical point to the fact that many of them live upon their freeholds, some as far as a days walk away from the village and its defenders. This requires them to travel through the King’s forest to reach the market. They assert that the forest is populated with many dangerous animals, for whom an unarmed man or woman is an easy supper. They also point out that highwaymen and other ne’er-do-wells have become a problem not only in the forest, but also in the darker corners of the village.
“I may be the strongest man in the county,” said DaddyBear, a local farmer and craftsman, “but even I cannot carry one of the Sheriff’s bowmen with me all day. How will I defend my family if it will take two hours for my fastest son to reach the village and raise the alarm? When seconds count, the Sheriff is only a few hours away.”.
The dispute may come to a head later this fall, when the Lord Mayor has ordered the Sheriff to start enforcing the rules against weapons with random searches of those attending the market. He plans to place those who carry weapons without permission of His Majesty’s government in the stocks, with repeat offenders being put to hard labor.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 17, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/17/new-rules-for-the-carriage-of-weapons-when-attending-market-day/
1000 Days
Today is the 1000th day of the Obama administration. So far, here’s what I think he’s accomplished:
- $4 trillion in additional government debt
- 9+% unemployment, for a given definition of ‘unemployed’
- 22+% unemployment, for other definitions of ‘unemployed’
- 3.8% inflation, for a given definition of ‘inflation’
- 12+% inflation, for other definitions of ‘inflation’
- Continued involvement in two wars he promised to end
- Involvement in other wars in which we don’t have a pressing national interest
- The government has run up against spending deadlines because the President and his compatriots in the Congress can’t be bothered to come up with a budget that can pass both Houses and get signed.
- They did, however, pass a probably unconstitutional health-care ‘reform’ bill that will probably drive the health care industry into the ground.
- He and his Attorney General probably broke the law so that they could flood northern Mexico with guns, giving the administration an excuse to get gun control back on the agenda.
- On the bright side, he’s improved his golf game through frequent, diligent practice
- Also on the bright side, he and his family have been able to see the world. Of course, you and I paid for their trips to Hawaii for the holidays, shopping sprees in Europe, and African safaris.
Here’s hoping there isn’t another 1000 days.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 17, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/17/1000-days/
Thought for the Day
No, you don’t need to patch your systems, fix the known security bugs in your app, or turn on your firewall.
No problem.
Just leave me alone with your network cards, a pair of snips, and a soldering iron for a few minutes, OK?
Posted by daddybear71 on October 17, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/17/thought-for-the-day-57/
Repost: On this day in history
This one was originally posted in 2009. I noticed the date this morning, and had an almost identical post written when a little voice told me I’d already told this story. So instead of a reboot you get a rerun.
In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck San Fransisco. Damage was heavy, and there were a few casualties.
At the time, I was in the final days of basic training. That means no contact with the outside world that my leadership didn’t provide. No newspapers, no CNN.
So we were unaware of what had happened.
At morning formation the day after the earthquake the senior drill sergeant stepped out and shouted:
“Are any of you brain dead individuals from the San Francisco Bay Area?”
I and about 10 others raised our hands. I’m not from the Bay Area, but my family moved there a couple of years previously and I’d finished out high school.
“There was a massive earthquake last night. San Francisco is in flames. Your families are all dead!”
Of course, that caused quite a stir. We were reminded not to talk in formation when 3 or 4 guys got dropped for pushups after they said some variation on “Oh,crap”.
“All of you guys from San Francisco have 15 minutes to call home. Move!”
Of course, all the phone lines into the Bay Area were down or busy, so none of us had any luck. This did nothing to ease our worries.
Luckily, the chaplain took pity on us when he found out what had happened, and he contacted the Red Cross to contact our families and make sure they were OK.
Noone lost anyone, so it ended up being no harm no foul.
However, if I ever have to break bad news to someone, I’ll use that as an example of what not to do.
Posted by daddybear71 on October 17, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/10/17/repost-on-this-day-in-history/
DaddyBear
