Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Texas and the Death Penalty.

I love living in Texas for many reasons. I'll grant you I could do without the heat in the summer but...*shrug* I can live with it, and hey..I get a nice tan out of the summer weather. So that's all good!
Now on to the Death Penalty. Texas USES it. Here's a blog entry from over at urbangrounds: http://urbangrounds.com/2010/04/samuel-bustamante/
About one douche bag about to get his just rewards this very night. I'm quite cheerful over the prospect of one less 2 legged cockroach eating up taxpayer money to feed, clothe and house him.

My only problem with the Death Penalty? Is we need to use it more and need to make it more cost effective. It costs anywhere from $40 to $55 and change for a 50vial case of Sodium thiopental, depending on where you buy it from. Potassium Chloride, I'm still trying to use google fu to find out.
Manila Rope is the traditional rope used for hangings. It was waxed or greased to make the noose slide better. I've looked you can get 600ft of 3/4" rope for about $225. This will last a lonnnng time. And the rope is reusable. Where as once the drugs are gone..they're gone until you buy more. So, to me at least, in the long run it's cheaper to hang someone. More humane? no. Cheaper..yeah I think so.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Violence in Video Games and Kids

Okay the supreme court is gonna hear a case on violence and video games and the first amendment.
"The justices agreed Monday to consider reinstating California's ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, a law the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco threw out last year on grounds that it violated minors' constitutional rights."

I'm of two minds:
Here's my problem with a law that was already struck down. Video games, like movies ALREADY come with a rating system, a rating system that IIRC, works like the movie rating system. if you're not of a certain age..you don't get to buy it. IOW the retailers aren't supposed to sell it. It also lets parents decide whether they want to buy it for their kids. If you want to see footage from the games....use google to find footage you retards. If you do not want you're kids PLAYING it. DON'T buy it! Don't look to the local, state or federal government to do YOUR goddamn jobs as parents. If you wanted children and then gave birth to them, then by god, BE a parent!

OTOH since the law that was struck down was a state law..it makes it a states rights issue as well doesn't it? IDK. I sure as hell don't want the government raising our kids.

http://home.peoplepc.com/psp/newsstory.asp?category=TopStories&id=20100426/0b3a5a04-c597-4e49-9889-3503d605e926

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Childhood Obesity and National Security:One and the Same?

Well according to a group of retired military officers it is a BIG threat to national security.

"Too fat to fight? Many American children are so overweight from being fed french fries, pizza and other unhealthy foods at school lunchrooms that they cannot handle the physical rigors of being in the military, a group of retired officers say in a new report."

Interesting so what do they propose?

"Today, the group is urging Congress to eliminate junk food and high-calorie beverages from schools, put more money into the school lunch program and develop new strategies that help children develop healthier habits.

The school lunch bill, currently awaiting a Senate vote, would establish healthier options for all foods in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would spend $4.5 billion more over 10 years for nutrition programs."

Oh look their solution is yet MORE government interference. So long as a kid isn't THAT overweight, say more than 20lbs I don't see a problem. It's the military's JOB to whip it's recruits into the shape they want them in, and to train them to become efficient at the job the recruits sign on to do..break shit and kill people. Is obesity a problem? Yeah it's a problem all over the board..I'm about 60lbs past my own ideal weight..which is between 170-175..maybe 180max. OTOH I'm not planning on joining the military and know I need to get myself together and get the weight back off.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36659202/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

But is yet more federal government intrusion into the school system really the answer? Intrusion into a system that is so Fucked Up Beyond All Repair as to defy description AND sanity?
Seems to me federal interference[and the application of a liberal/progressive/ bureaucratic policies and nitwittery] in the school system is part of the problem. Is there too much garbage on the menu? Available in the vending machines? Yeah probably. However what kids eat at school has NO bearing on how they eat at home now does it? If they're not eating healthy at home, what the hell makes these retirees think that a healthier lunch program is going to make the kids eat healthier when they're NOT at school? Seriously. 3squares a day times 7 days is 21 meals a week. Now what EARTHLY bit of difference does force feeding kids a healthier menu 5 meals a week out of 21, make? When there is still 16 other meals plus whatever snacking is going on, going on when they're NOT in school. Now I suppose force feeding them healthier choices at skewl might prompt some kids to eat healthier on their own, when home. Might not. Part of the problem is, as I've said before, too many kids spend too much time sitting on their collective asses, surfing the web, playing the wii, playstation or xbox when they're at home, and not getting any physical activity. A lot of schools have taken P.E. out of the equation, which kept kids up and running for 45mins of their 8hr school day. Kept them interested in being outside and running around doing different things. My own thing was I loved to ride my bike. If kids aren't going out and getting that daily run around exercise, aren't being monitored by their parents as to what they eat and do etc, and are eating nothing BUT junk; everyday all day..it doesn't matter if you get them "5" "healthy" meals a week. If they aren't exercising and eating healthy to begin with...the kids will still pack on the weight.

Just my own .02c

Sunday, April 18, 2010

America and it's supposed Middle East Oil Dependence

Lads and Lasses, gentle readers, and all you folks that are new to my blog; I'm now going to embark on a fact presentation mission. A mission that will prove once and for all that our "Dependence" on Middle Eastern oil from countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is...to use my own colorful language..A huge pile of worm infested shit!

Then of course there are those that call our buying oil from Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez deplorable. My response to this? Then by all means, lets STOP buying Venezuelan oil. We don't really need it all that badly anyway.
Let me present to you a few little facts about our supposed dependence on Middle Eastern Oil.
FACT: We import more oil from CANADA ALONE than we do from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait COMBINED
FACT: We import more oil from MEXICO than we do from Saudi Arabia.

As for our Central and South American Neighbors....
FACT: We only import about 100 barrels a year more from Venezuela than we do from Mexico.
FACT: Again our Canadian Imports ALONE; are greater than our imports from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador.... COMBINED.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

I looked at 2 or 3 other sites and they all confirm what I just told you.


So lets by all means..Stop buying and importing oil from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Shut off those spigots. We don't need them THAT badly.



Now, onto the world is running out of oil and we need to wean ourselves off it for the sake of the planet and ourselves before the planet runs dry. Again I call, BULLSHIT!

Now if we keep the spigot turned on to Saudi..I read a report somewhere in 2009 that there was 55yrs, or a quarter TRILLION barrels of crude left, under the sands of the Kingdom of Saud. Here's another little link for you to peruse:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/reserves.html


And of course no one EVER mentions the the estimated U.S. Shale Oil reserves, which clocks in at an estimated 1.5 TRILLION barrels, or 250 YEARS worth of oil. Just in shale oil deposits in Colorado and..Wyoming. So please, DON'T tell me the world is running out of oil and we have to wean ourselves off it this instant! Will getting it out of shale be cheap? Not by any means. The tech for shale extraction is still in it's infancy so even assuming the stuff the companies try works..it'll be expensive because it's new tech. It will also by all accounts of what I can find and read, be a tad messy and nasty. Which means we spend a decade or so suckling the teat of the other people we import from til we're ready to turn off ALL the import spigots, because we've perfected shale extraction. Yes I said turn off ALL the import spigots..and estimated 250YEARS of oil locked up in shale remember? If we perfect shale extraction tech, what the hell do we need foreign imports for? Seriously? If that takes another 20yrs[that is my own outside maximum guess as to time line if pursued vigorously] to perfect the tech and we suckle at the rest of the worlds oil producing teat for that long..so be it. Small price to pay to be COMPLETELY independent of the rest of the world, no? I think so.


http://dailyreckoning.com/oil-shale-reserves/

Who knows maybe by the end of the 250yrs some smart soul will have discovered the energy motherload as described in science fiction stories. An undiscovered, unknown to our planet, metal they call 'Unobtanium'. The proverbial FREE LUNCH, where energy is concerned. A metal that produces power in astronomical amounts. More power than is applied to it, to produce an energy bonanza. It is in energy and scientific communities, The Unicorn. The fabled mythical creature. Who's to say it doesn't exist...somewhere out in the vast reaches of space? And, as long as we're going exploring anyway... :)


Carry on.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Hot time in Iceland

Well..one of their Volcanoes went 'POP' again.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0416/Researchers-puzzle-over-how-long-Iceland-volcano-will-erupt
It's spewing ash into the sky delaying flights etc. Now..some idiot said there can't possibly be enough magma underground to sustain an eruption of more than ohhhh..2 days. Newsflash for the idiot. Iceland sits on a HOTSPOT. A pipe directly into the earths core[for lack of a better description] that NEVER shuts off. It's always up and running. It's why Iceland is famous for springs. It's why Hawaii is famous for its almost always flowing volcanoes. Hawaii also sits on a hotspot. The hotspot is what created the islands in the first place. Now of more interesting worry to some is if enough heat is put out and spread out far enough to melt the ice cap over Eyjafjallajokull's[the current erupting beastie] neighbor Katla 16miles away......it will go pop as well. And if I'm right [and I am] about iceland sitting on a hotspot..if BOTH of those Volcanoes go boom and continue to boom....Global Cooling hear we come. which as someone elsenet pointed out..will affect weather and[more importantly to my mind] crop yields.
Interestin side note..the last time that Eyjafjallajokull went pop was in December 1822. It erupted for a period of 13months. So you can't tell me there's not enough magma down there.

The Democratic Congress and Obama 'Takeover Express' rolls on.

For those who cannot or WILL not see the truth. Or for those who might have missed these little signposts in the road....

1st, after being elected Pres. Obama, signs an executive order to close the prison for terrorist detainees at Gitmo. "Yeah there's a good idea..lets set free or put in prisons on AMERICAN SOIL people who want us dead. Oh and while we're at it we'll grant them them same rights our citizens enjoy. Yep that's a REAL good idea" *yes that was sarcasm..keep up*
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_090123.htm

2. We get yet another stimulus pacakage. Which hasn't worked.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1870575,00.html

3. We get the bailout of the banks.

4. Then we get the auto industrytakeover/ bailout.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/191817

5. Now we have...The Healthcare bill..passed despite the fact nobody in their right minds wanted it.
http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2010/03/affordable-health-care-for-ame.shtml

The Pres and Congress are currently working on...

6. Cap and Trade
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/greenhouse_gas_emissions/cap_and_trade/index.html

7. Immigration Reform aka Amnesty for the estimated 12-20million illegals in the country
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/us/politics/22immig.html

In the last few months we've also had:
8. a friend of mine, over in the sandbox[that's the middle east for those of you who don't get the joke] in Afghanistan, training Afghan troops on everything..was told to shut down his blog on which he kept those of us among his friends in the loop on how he was and how his troops were doing.

9. Troops going hungry
http://www.resistnet.com/forum/topics/troops-going-hungry-ill. seems like the administration and more importantly the Pentagon Peanut Gallery, forgot that in this case the tail[logistics] is supposed to wag the goddamn dog! IOW if the logistics isn't in place, or is in place but not set up for the surge of troops you're sending out, Don't. Send. The. Troops. Until. The. Logistics. Are. There! If the boys and girls can't eat and run out of ammo they will be royally fucked. I for one don't want this to happen..since I'm friends with a couple of our lads and lasses over there.

10. One of the final insults to our military boys and girls...
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/16/navy-access-fox-news-web-site-blocked/
The navy said it wasn't a policy decision but..I beg to differ when they lads and lasses in uniform get this message after trying to access Fox "Access to this site has been denied in accordance with Navy policy to safeguard the security posture and/or to maintain the operational integrity of the NMCI."
Access has since been restored.


Sigh.....
Frankly when I add all this up, it equals one big clusterfuck of a takeover attempt/transfer of power, from the people to the pols to me.

Tell me again how great the Obama Presidency and the Current Congress are for America and it's people? I seem to be having trouble grasping the greatness but maybe if it's explained to me [AGAIN] I might succeed in finally understand. You know what? Never mind..I understand just fine. It's the rest of the people..those who support Obama and Pelosi etc..who don't have a firm grasp of the obvious, or a grounding in anything resembling reality.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Poor Poland

The nation of Poland just got fucked over, and fucked over good. A plane carrying Poland' Pro-US and Pro-defense shield President, his wife and 90 some odd other members of his government encompassing civilian and military leadership went down on..Friday. The new polish government and others are calling it a tragic accident. I call it a mass assassination of government officials in aid of a coupe de tat.

Poor Poland, hell poor World. I think that civilization on this planet as a whole is circling the drain and about to be flushed. Dark thoughts for an absolutely gorgeous sunday afternoon.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Coal mining, and mine disasters.

As one has sat here listening to the frenzy going on in West Virgina coal country after the current explosion, one has had a thought. It is said that since 1995 Massey Coal, the company that owns the mine in question, has had 3000violations. This causes one to wonder..what other coal mining companies might be out there and how many THEY have had in the same time frame. The last 2 violations of which I can currently recall one of..failure to have updated evac route maps in the mine. We know the chinese mines are about as a safe as bathing in a tub full of gasoline with lit candles on the lip of tub. So that would probably be comparing apples and bananas. I'm talking US companies. Now I confess ignorance in the matter because hey..I live in Texas, what do I know from coal mining. I don't even know how many mines Massey might own. But if they only own 1-3mines like that and even spread out over 15yrs, 3000 safety violations seems like 3000 too much.
That being said the last update I heard was that in a desperate attempt to get down there, they were planning on flooding the mine with nitrogen, because they discovered earlier that the methane levels were still to great. I hope the 4 they can't account for survived, and I hope they get them out, it would be nice to salvage some life out of this disaster.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Free Speech and the Intarwebs...

Okay..once again I've been slapped down on a board by an admin for referring to our current crop of Politicians as retarded or some such word. In other words I used an insulting term or name called. Lets discuss this boys and girls. An insult is a form of Verbal Expression, generally an expression of either, anger, disgust and a feeling of revulsion. So how is referring to our current batch of nitwits as 'socialist retards' name calling? They are working on fundamentally changing the direction of this country against it's peoples wishes? What's worse is I'm told not to call them this because it MIGHT offend someone? *snort*
Got news for that admin..one of my best friends on the web, a man I've never met but consider like a brother has a daughter that literally IS mentally retarded. Somehow I suspect that my use of the word RETARD doesn't offend HIM. He probably considers it a waste and watering down from over use, of a perfectly good insult. But offended by it? Naaah. Hell, one of my own family members has challenges of her own in a slightly different way. Manic Depressive, wouldn't be at all surprised of a diagnosis of bi polar, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tourettes, Hair Pulling, Numerology[IOW certain numbers are BAD] and...nope don't think I've left anything out. Now in her case she's actually quite intelligent..or she can be when she wants to do anything other than sulk, or isn't in one of her fits. So from a personal standpoint I don't consider RETARD highly offensive against those who truly ARE mentally handicapped when I'm using it to refer to politicians!
Using Insults to refer to politicians is logical and sane, since there are VERY few if any that are actually worthy of our respect. Most, if not all of them, are money grubbing, power hungry, socialist dicatator wannabes. When there are numerous politicians actually WORTHY of my respect, THEN I'll probably stop being so insulting in regards to them. However since that day is probably a long time coming, and I'll likely get slapped down for being insulting again.
Let me leave you with this little thought,
WHAT is the point in HAVING THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH, if you're going to slapped down and told to 'stop it' any time you exercise that right, because they disagree with something you say or the way you say it? It's a highly pertinent question folks. I don't mind being civilized and not cussing on a forum, or in polite..but I Will NOT refrain from throwing around insults and scathing words about people who are richly deserving about it, just because YOU don't like the way I phrased it!
As far as I'm concerned telling me not to use insulting language in reference to politicians or anyone else I consider worthy of insulting, is abrogating my right of Free Speech.
I am at this moment right on the edge of posting a message telling the admin,and anyone that catches the message before it's deleted, all this; and to tell him "fuck you, fine here's what you do..delete my goddamn account you sanctimonious toad, because I will not be told how to exercise my right of free speech and I will NOT be back to this board!"

Friday, April 2, 2010

Peace and a good brew

This is what I wish for all my friends this Easter Weekend.
Happy Easter.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Ahh Disaster Movies

To tell you the truth I'm getting more than a little bored and annoyed with Hollyweirds whole 'oh my god! oh my god! we're gonna be hit by that astroid/comet!, Volcanoes are gonna erupt, earthquakes are gonna happen and cause tsunami's, etc, etc ad nausem, We're all gonna diiieee!' schtick. It's gotten really old. Don't get me wrong..It's not that I hate disaster movies.some of them I thoroughly enjoy but we're getting a resurgence of that type of crap. One of my all time fave's is Meteor starring Sean Connery, among others. They did a made for tv miniseries remake of it on NBC. After seeing some of the previews I said..uh uh..not on the coldest day am I gonna watch this piece of dung. Well..I did catch a little bit of it. The little 50second bit of film I caught? Oh you know how in all those astroid/comet movies the big one is preceded by splinters and fragments? Well the little bit I caught showed a national guardsman heroically taking out a splinter traveling at god knows what speed,[but I guarantee it's faster than anything we've yet built can fly] by firing a Stinger shoulder launched, heat seeking, anti aircraft missle at it. A stinger? Really? Are you serious? the scriptwriter should be dragged across a field of broken glass naked for that one.

Another recent example is the end of the world mania, due to the Mayan Calender ending in the year 2012. And here we go again..there's gonna be a cataclysm that destroys the earth and everything on it; or at the very least wipes out humanity.
Seriously? Stop popping acid and shooting heroin people. After chiseling out a calender, into stone, 2000 YEARS in advance mind you. Don't you think that instead of it being a prophecy the world is ending, that it's a sign that someone got tired of hitting stone tablet with a stone mallet and chisel for a likely 12hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? Personally I think one of the mayans finally said "fuck it, our ancestors can take this shit up again in the future..lets go get high and get laid!" at which point; all the other stone hammer and chisel wielding Mayans said "Fuck YEah!", "Right on Bro!", "Weed and lovin'!" dropped their hammers and chisels and walked away?

Seriously? Get a freaking grip. Hollywood..stop making this crap into movies..it's annoying. Try growing an imagination, and make some good movies would you?