Friday, December 31, 2004
Arianna Huffing-paint
Ari has put together a list of things she wants to forget about 2004.
I wonder whether her list for 2003 included the utterly pitiful showing she made in the California Gubernatorial Recall Race?
But some of these are worse, because she is deliberately choosing to close her eyes against reality. Some examples:
For the benefit of our readers
I present the full lyrics to the traditional classic song (penned by Robert Burns- 1759-96), “Auld Lang Syne”.
Have a great New Year.
“Democracy is un-Islamic”
So sayeth some extremist Islamist clerics, issuing warnings to Iraqi citizens, telling them not to vote in next month’s elections.
THIS is why we are in Iraq right now, to put the lie to that statement. But there are always those “useful idiots” here in America (and in other countries in the Coalition) that claim pretty much the same thing - almost as though they don’t trust those “third-worlders” to be able to handle their own affairs.
Only the UN? Really?
So in the matter of a few days, this country has gone from being stingy to now, reportedly, setting up a coalition (again?!) to help out with the disaster relief in Asia.
And once again, someone has their panties in a bunch.
“I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up,” she said.
“Only really the UN can do that job,” she told BBC Radio Four’s PM programme.
“It is the only body that has the moral authority. But it can only do it well if it is backed up by the authority of the great powers.”
Moral authority?! What in blue blazes gave you that idea Clare? How in the name of hell can we trust that organ of bribes and kickbacks to handle a huge situations like this, when it’s screwed up so many smaller catastrophes in the past?
Thursday, December 30, 2004
OK….a little math…
...done only to follow up on a blazingly good observation.
One horsepower is 746 watts, or 550 foot-pounds of work per second. The Indian Ocean earthquake slowed the planetary rotation by 3 milliseconds per century, right?
The Earth weighs 6.6 sextillion tons, or 13,200 sextillion pounds. A sextillion is a billion times a trillion, just so you know. Also, a year is 31,556,736,000 milliseconds long. OK...so, there are 3.16 trillion milliseconds in 100 years, right?
With me? OK...I’ll continue.
So, the earth is slowed 3/3,160,000,000,000’s, or 1/1,053,340,000,000’s. Making the math simple, the earth’s spin was slowed by one trillionth. If that is the case, the Indian Ocean Earthquake of 2004 was as powerful as a billion horsepower, all released in one second, or, 746 billion watts.
In one second.
Wow.
Sorry, folkses….
Between work and arguing with a bunch of asshats over at Lee’s site (about whether the lion’s share of Indian Ocean Tsunami relief that is given by the US was “enough”, compared to the Socialist-wonders-of-economy-that-ARE-the-EU), I have had very little spare time to blog. The major stories of the day (the ever-rising death toll from the Sumatra quake, the Battle of Iraq, Scott Peterson, et al.) were being blogged and tracked better and much more eloquently than I could do.
Top it off with the weather, the arthritic aches and pains that come with it, and the mild depression that comes from cold, drizzling rain, and I just didn’t have enough Umph! to put anything out yesterday. I am honored more than you know that, even in the absence of any updates yesterday, I still had just under 100 visitors yesterday. That means that there are a lot of you who keep coming back. Those people (and you know who you are) have my appreciation and gratitude.
Anyhow, I was also kinda hoping that we would have something from one of the other three. They are under no pressure to produce, since I am neither charging them, nor paying them, but still… 
John and Steve are probably busier than the proverbial one-armed wallpaper hanger, and Kevin has his own problems (and I hope all is well), so there is REALLY no pressure, I’m just eager to read more of John’s essays, and there has been lots going on in the world of football, I’m sure. (Something about Payton Manning, I’ve heard...)
And there’s ALWAYS those asshats in the UN and EUro-stan…
I didn’t start blogging because of politics, I got started because I had an opinion. I just need to gather that third wind. (Besides, we could always bash Michael Moore and the Hildebeest. LOL)
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Petra Nemcova
Petra, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model (SI link - reasonably SFW), was vacationing in Thailand with her British boyfriend when the quake struck and the waves hit. The waves crashed into her room, snatching them both out. Petra managed to grab onto a tree, and held on for eight hours, despite a shattered hip and internal injuries.
At last report, she was suffering from bone splinter penetration of some internal organs and that broken pelvis. We wish her all the best.
If any of you have donated to the earthquake/tsunami victims, thanks. If you haven’t, I urge you to do so, according to your conscience. I haven’t blogged on it here, because others are doing it much better, but the latest reports are that the death toll may reach higher than 40,000.
Oh, one other thing. That quake was so powerful, it actually slowed down the Earth’s rotation. The length of our sidereal day was actually increased on the order of 3 microseconds (3 millionths of a second). That works out to about a second every nine hundred years. Somebody remind me to set my watch, oh, say about 3004 AD, okay?
Thanks UN…
For showing what complete jags you are.
But U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being “stingy” with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.
Or, you could hunt down all that money you guys got from Saddam through that virtuous Oil for food program and use that, Jan.
How much more pompous can this organization be? Raise our taxes? I’m sure this isn’t some preemptive strike towards some global tax the U.N. is salivating over, now is it. Noooo.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Cruddy Sunday
When I arose on Sunday, I watching television and going through my usual routine. I flipped to Fox Pre-Game show and heard Flaptop Howie Long talking about Reggie White. Usually when you hear them talking like this, something has happened.
Unfortunately, they were talking about the death of Reggie White.
Being a Packers fan, I saw what this man did up close. I recall him tossing a runningback aside like a rag doll. I recall him getting three sacks in Super Bowl 31. I recall his voice and the way he carried himself off the field.
Along with Brett Favre, he was the reason why this state celebrated a Super Bowl win for the first time in almost 30 years.
Who’d Thunk It?
In case the Michael Moore’s had any doubt, the troops DO support the War in Iraq.
Sixty-three percent of respondents approve of the way President Bush is handling the war, and 60% remain convinced it is a war worth fighting. Support for the war is even greater among those who have served longest in the combat zone: Two-thirds of combat vets say the war is worth fighting.
Sixty-Percent? That sounds like a majority, huh?
Among the poll’s other findings:
• 75% oppose a military draft.
• 60% blame Congress for the shortage of body armor in the combat zone.
• 12% say civilian Pentagon policymakers should be held accountable for abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
I think these three “findings” are just as important as the first poll.
I love the 12% Abu Ghraib part. It was nothing but a mountain out of a mole hill and the most overblown story of the year.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Boxing Day
When I first heard of this holiday, I thought it was the day that trashmen “sanitation engineers” came to pick up all of the boxes that were left over after Christmas. *shrug*
It wasn’t until I was stationed at NAS Whidbey Island that I saw enough Canadian TV to get interested in learning about this nifty little day.
Happy Boxing Day! Go do something nice for a stranger or someone less fortunate than yourself. Hold a door, pay their toll, tip someone you wouldn’t normally tip, offer a warm blanket or coat to the homeless, just for the hell of it…
Saturday, December 25, 2004
So what’d ya get?
So it’s Christmas, all of the presents have been unwrapped, you’re wading ankle deep through discarded wrapping paper, ribbons and bow, the neighborhood kids are all standing in a group, staring enraptured at a new remote-controlled Darryl Waltrip NASCAR replica, the dog is cowering in an empty cardboard box, and you are gonna punch the next person who sings any Christmas song by “The Chipmunks” right in the mouth.
So… what did you get, and did you get what you wanted?
My wife was VERY happy with her gift.
Merry Christmas!
And have a Happy New Year everyone...except you trolls and spammers. You guys can cram it with walnuts.
Friday, December 24, 2004
To all my regulars…
And you know who you are…
I wish to express my personal appreciation, and that of the four of us collectively, to all of you who came, perused, lurked, commented, and contributed your thoughts, ideas, criticism and compliments over the past twelve months.
I thank each and every one of you, all together and one at a time.
I would like to send my best wishes for a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Joyous Solstice, and a Jestivus Festivus.
Oh, and a Happy New Year, as well.
May the New Year bring all of you every bit of the happiness you deserve. (And that includes the trolls, too. Just because they only deserve a lump of coal doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be allowed to burn it for warmth...)
Record cold snap across country
Hey, Al! When’s that Global Warming (TM) gonna show up?
I think a few of us could use some right about now…
(Or is this one of those “It got so warm I froze to death” things, like in the children’s song?
Hey, Hollywood! Is that where you’re getting your ideas nowadays? Wassamatta, run out of comic book concepts to plunder, and now you’re doing children’s verses?
Well, I’ll tell you what. I have this great idea for a hot new screenplay. There’s this girl, let’s call her “Mary”, see? She’s a gardener, except that she grows this weird kinda plants, including one called “Pretty Maids”, and they’re all lined up. In a row, you could say…
So then we come in with this gal-pal, name of “Muffet”, lots of scares with a spider (the kids love scary spiders), yadda, yadda, lots of explosions, happy ending, whaddayasay? Have your people call my people, we’ll do green tea…
Oh, and Merry Christmas, y’all…