We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
BD's in the delightful midwestern hamlet of Ohio this weekend, so I'll be doing today's morning links. He didn't tell me where he was going, but I'm guessing it's that big Two-Seed-In-The-Spirit Predestinarian Baptist revival they're having when they ordain the new ministers. Given all the pomp and circumstance, I think you'll admit, a two-day visit would be hard to turn down.
Interesting News
In the old days, an article on how to avoid an IRS audit would be titled, "How To Avoid An IRS Audit".
Much like drone technology and printed guns, Glass will be used in both directions, good and bad. A number of casinos and bars have already banned them — and they're not even on the market yet. At some point, sure enough some Congressman is going to have his career ruined because someone innocently wearing Glass accidentally caught him using a hideous, derogatory word like macaca. It was on YouTube a minute later and that was that.
On the other hand, picture a fireman fighting inside a massive blaze and having his Glass direct him to the room the children are cowering in. So it'll be interesting to see what springs forth.
I mentioned in my little diatribe on marijuana that, while D.C. Congress has been dragging its feet, individual states have been taking the initiative.
Individual states like the one D.C. Congress is actually in:
The movement to legalize marijuana has arrived at Congress' back door.
Later this month the first medical cannabis dispensaries are expected to open in the nation's capital, including one just eight blocks from the Capitol dome.
Which isn't to say that D.C. is the only one joining in the fun:
For two decades, progressives have castigated those questioning global warming as "deniers."
But the Economist, once firmly in the alarmist camp, recently acknowledged that global temperatures have remained stagnant for 15 years even as greenhouse-gas emissions have soared.
This may be because existing models have overestimated the planet's sensitivity. Or because the heat generated is sinking to the ocean bottom. Or because of something else completely.
How should a scientifically inclined liberal react to this trend? By inhaling deeply and backing off on economy-busting mitigation measures till science offers clearer answers.
And how have liberals reacted? By sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting la-la-la.
Uh-yup. We've shown this over and over again on this site. Even when these same great scientific minds claim that global colding is the real menace here, they turn a blind eye and continue their hearty endeavors.
Under the heading of "Damn!", I was hoping the new Star Trek 'prequel' would be as good as the first. But it ain't worth dogshit according to this reviewer:
On the other end of the spectrum, I thought 'Django Unchained' was the best movie I'd seen in a year. I'll do a review on it sometime. There's an interesting connection to make between it and 'Blazing Saddles'. Any guesses?
On the 'NCIS' front, I watched the last five episodes of the season the other day. I sat there petrified the entire time, worrying that they'd dig up (not literally this time) good ol' Pedro Hernandez — Gibbs' nemesis from his NIS past. They did, but thankfully moved on, and I was left just as bewildered at the end as anyone.
One thing I didn't think through were the other three team members. I would have half-figured they'd picked their badges back up when Gibbs went rogue (?), but the article indicates that they held true and resigned en masse, so we should get some interesting background stories about their 4-month escapades this fall. There's a recent interview with Mark Harmon here.
I have a number of articles about this great show here.
Political News
Politically, I thought the most touchingly poignant moment of the week was when renown historian James Douglas Muir Leno recalled the Obama early years and our fondness for Joe Biden at the time, and how sad it is how V.P. Biden's glory has faded over the years.
We all remember how presidential candidate Barack Obama promised that his government would be the 'most transparent' in history.
Well, while there have been a few instances in recent years where it could be argued that total transparency was not forthcoming, here we are on the edge of three major political scandals where transparency must be forthcoming: the IRS targeting the Tea Party and specific Republican donors, the Justice Department illegally wiretapping AP reporters, and the shame of Benghazi and claiming the violence was merely a YouTube video review gone bad, a story they perpetrated for three weeks.
But there's good news on the horizon.
Because, with the incredible public scrutiny these stories are garnering — at least, after the press, itself, was targeted — it seems fairly obvious that key players like Department of Justice head Eric Holder and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney will open up to the American public and finally tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them God.
Here's Mr. Holder finally putting to rest some of the key questions that arose at the recent congressional hearing:
Mr. Carney also elaborated on a number of details in a stalwart effort to clean the slate:
What's that? You think they seemed a bit "evasive"?
You're obviously missing the point.
Compared to the past five years, this is being transparent!
As you've no doubt heard, despite mankind's best efforts to fight off the peril of Natural Global Colding, at this point the relentless advance of ice continues:
BISMARCK, ND (AP) Mrs. Emma Dodson of Flatbush simply doesn't understand. "I gave to them Greenpeace folks over and over agin' and they said they'd take care of ever'thin'!," she exclaimed.
Despite such claims, the impending menace of global colding is right now happening in our own back yard as the relentless wall of ice advances. Below is a video as the Schwartz family of Flatbush gives their beloved home a final farewell. "I just can't believe it," said Mr. Schwartz. "I gave a buncha money to them Sierra Club folks and they promised me they'd fix the dang thing!"
Despite such claims, the video evidence simply cannot be refuted. Viewer discretion is advised.
Here, now, is the peril that you, too, will one day face.
And, given that this allows anyone with access to a 3-D printer the ability to produce a lethal, non-detectable weapon, it's no surprise that people are wondering Should Congress Impose a Ban on 3D Printed Guns?
Well! You can bet the conservative blog sites didn't take too kindly to that. After all, the word "gun" is involved, which means it's a good thing — whatever the actual specific subject is.
Speaking for all of right-wing blogdom, here's Mary Katharine Ham from Hot Air:
...are the ways liberals are already dreaming up to thwart the 3-D gun.
Because, as everyone knows, anyone who opposes any aspect of guns is a dirty, rotten, scumdog liberal.
The battle over these plans touches on the Second Amendment, of course
Because, as everyone knows, what the Second Amendment is really saying is that every American has an equal right to kill any other American.
but the distribution of 3-D printing plans is a First Amendment issue
In other words, if I want to post plans on how to produce a dirty nuclear bomb in the comfort of your own kitchen, that's a First Amendment issue??
John in the comments enhanced the point:
It should also be noted that this isn't what is commonly referred to as a "gun control" issue, because those guns are detectable. A lethal, non-detectable weapon more properly comes under the heading of 'public safety', like your dirty bomb scenario.
Which is how the bloggers are viewing it, as just another gun control issue. But it's clearly not.
As long-time readers of this site know, I'm famous notorious for reducing complex issues down to a single question or two, and this subject is no different.
1. Would you trust your family's health to a printed plastic gun?
2. Okay, then who would use these things?
I can tell you who wouldn't:
— You, because, come that desperate moment, you're going to want a good, solid metal gun that you know will work.
— Me, because as much as the average geek would love to play with the technology, the exorbitant price of the printer puts it far out of reach.
— Common criminals, because the store owner they're trying to rob would just laugh in their face.
And who does that leave?
Really bad guys.
Bad guys who will somehow get hold of a 3-D printer because they desperately need a gun that evades metal detectors.
You know. Those types of bad guys.
As of last Friday, the CAD (Computer-Assisted Drawing) file had been downloaded over 100,000 times. In typical Internet fashion, it was on such notorious pirate sites as Pirate Bay by the time the boys from State pulled on their pants that morning, so removing it from the home site obviously didn't do much good at that point.
Nor can you blame the guy, as he's been publicly working on it for over a year, so the Feds certainly had plenty of advance notice. And he certainly wasn't the only one tinkering with the idea. His was just the first to successfully fire a bullet without also blowing off the hand of the shooter.
So, it's kind of a sticky wicket, isn't it? It appears to boil down to that old confrontation, principle versus practicality. If we assume this is, by far, a bigger boon to airline hijackers than common homeowners, then the right-wing bloggers are standing by the principle that all guns, no matter what the situation, are good.
My question is, is that really what conservatism is all about?
There's a style of AGW propaganda that I call the 'Little Lie, Big Truth' format. This is when some tiny lie of the AGW campaign is soundly debunked, making the author look 'clinical, scientific and impartial', then, almost as a 'P.S.', it's noted that, by the way, man-made global warming is here, real, and must be dealt with now. One little lie debunked, but one grand truth revealed.
Allahpundit (aka 'God's Critic') over on Hot Air has linked to a number of these articles over the years in their 'Headlines'. Whether he's just skimming over the article and failing to spot the Big Truth paragraph at the end, or actually believes in AGW and is posting these links to appear clinical, scientific and impartial, is anybody's guess.
He's in good company, though. Matt Drudge does the same thing:
This is an annual repost on Kentucky Derby Day. Race info is here, here and here.
"Well, howdy there, nei-ei-ei-ei-gh-bor!"
Thus spake famed equine actor Mr. Ed from the hit 60's TV show "Mr. Ed", in what many historians cite as the apex of American television.
I credit Mr. Ed (played by the incomparable Bamboo Harvester) for initiating a lifelong love of horses within me, although why they would train a horse to harvest bamboo is anybody's guess. Remember how he used to move his lips to the words? Trick photography? CGI? Someone glued some puppet strings to his lips and pulled on them? By way of Wikipedia, here's the lovable Wilbur, himself, played by Alan Young:
Ed actually learned to move his lips on cue when the trainer touched his hoof. In fact, he soon learned to do it when I stopped talking during a scene! Ed was very smart.
Indeed.
For you equinistic aficionados out there, below the fold I'll review a number of horse-related movies and documentaries and provide over ten video clips of some choice moments. I'll also drag the concept of Intelligent Design into the mix, then we'll examine four ways a single person can manually bring down a horse to lying flat on its side, then touch upon the mysterious 'fifth gait' and its role in ancient history.
Bird Dog should be arriving back from his trip down to Georgia today. If'n he a'starts tawkin' lak dis and usin' de word y'all ever'where an' a'callin' hisself Bird Dawg, we'll ask him to shorten his vacation next time.
Interesting News
Well, I suppose we should start off with the serious stuff, like how soon we're all going to die from global colding. If you read my article here, you're aware that science has now established that all of the warming over the past century is a direct result of global colding, and estimates of our continued existence range anywhere from 35 years to 35 minutes.
In regards to our slow deployment from Afghanistan over the next year, from the movie 'Rambo III':
Mousa: This is Afghanistan. Alexander the Great try to conquer this country, then Genghis Khan, then the British. Now Russia. But Afghan people fight hard, they never be defeated.
The recording, a wax-and-cardboard disc, contains the voice of Bell counting aloud, rattling off different percentages and dollar figures, and stating his name, date and address.
And to think; we're still using discs 128 years later. Alex, old boy, you were way ahead of the curve.
On the gender front, it's nice to see Washington state finally doing something about the horrific bias built into the language that relegates poor, defenseless females to the role of second-class citizens:
The war on the English language from gender-neutrality advocates has reached new lows in Washington state, where the governor signed a new piece of legislation dictating that the terms "fisherman," "freshman," and "penmanship" all be replaced because of alleged sexism. "Fisherman" will now be "fisher"; "freshman" will now be "first-year student"; "penmanship" will now be "handwriting."
First comment:
Well, ain't that a bitch!
Speaking of oppressed minorities, my buddy Shutterbug is a Mac aficionado and incorporates all things Mac into her life (iPhone, iPad, iCar, iHubby), so I sent her the following iArticle which she iAppreciated so much I thought I should iPost it here.
On the other hand, why a phone that can connect to the greatest collection of lies, half-truths and outright spin in the history of mankind is called 'smart' is anybody's guess.
Excuse me, I meant peoplekind.
On a non-news note, I made a pretty nifty discovery the other day. As it turns out, Google Translator isn't just for words or sentences. Entire, complete web pages are converted just by pasting in the URL. I wanted to send this page to a Cuban buddy of mine; ran it through Google Translator and here's what I sent him. That's pretty slick.
On the blogger scene, I think it'll be interesting watching to see if any right-wing bloggers pick up on a certain parallel.
Prior to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, it had been estimated that Saddam Hussein had murdered somewhere between 200,000 and 350,000 Iraqi Kurds with various weapons of mass destruction, Sarin gas (a cousin of the Mustard Gas used in WW I) being at the top of the list. There were also clues that Hussein was starting to think about putting together an atomic bomb, but the real factor was stopping a mass murderer the likes of which hadn't been seen since Cambodian Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge purge in the early 70's.
After the invasion, the liberal, anti-Bush MSM conveniently forgot that the term 'weapons of mass destruction' includes three categories; nuclear, chemical and biological and, when literally tons of Sarin gas was found but no nukes, Bush lied, thousands died! I covered this here.
So, here we are with a Democrat in the White House when suddenly...
The U.S. intelligence community has uncovered strong evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria. Several blood samples, taken from multiple people, have tested positive for the nerve agent Sarin, an American intelligence source tells Danger Room. President Obama has long said that the use of such a weapon by the Assad regime would cross a "red line."
In other words, if some half-baked Mid-Eastern potentate is using weapons of mass destruction on the citizenry, then we need to step in and stop him!
I haven't seen any of the right-wing bloggers pick up on this massive hypocrisy yet, but I assume they will as the story progresses.
In case you haven't heard the exciting news, Gwyneth Paltrow has been named People Magazine'sWorld's Most Beautiful Woman.
In honor of this lofty occasion, it's only fitting that we hear directly from this raving beauty, herself:
"I love the English way, which is not as capitalistic as it is in America. People don't talk about work and money; they talk about interesting things at dinner parties. I like living here because I don't tap into the bad side of American psychology, which is 'I'm not achieving enough, I'm not making enough, I'm not at the top of the pile.'"
"Brits are far more intelligent and civilised than Americans. I love the fact that you can hail a taxi and just pick up your pram and put it in the back of the cab without having to collapse it. I love the parks and places I go for dinner and my friends."
"I just had a baby and thought, 'I don't want to live there.'" International press reports had her deriding "Bush's anti-environment, pro-war policies" as either a "disgrace" or a "disaster."
If we presume the gang at People Mag are just as liberal as the rest of industry — which wouldn't be much of a stretch — it's no wonder they fell in love with this woman. In their minds, speakingtruth to power like the above earns her the honorific of Heroine.
For pics of the runners-up and the ravishing Ms. Paltrow, take your trembling hand and...
That's right. He's a Connecticut Yankee in King Southern's Court.
So, lucky you, I'll be doing the morning links today and Monday. Although I appear to be the only blogger in the Western Universe who believes it, I don't think Sundays should be filled with the same bad news that the rest of the week is, so I'll skip it.
Interesting News
Well, I suppose we should start with what many are calling 'The Scandal of the Decade'.
Korean media is abuzz over the question after the Microsoft founder was photographed Monday holding his hand in his pocket as he exchanged greetings with Park Geun-hye.
I just love this picture:
I can easily see myself doing the same thing. "Well, howdy, Prez, howzit goin'?" Real geeks really are on a different plane than most people, and royalty, prestige and position simply don't carry the same weight that tight code, a quicker boot-up time and a well-designed web site do.
I hope the Koreans understand.
Under the heading of James Taranto's "Two Papers In One!", we have:
Like to buy stuff on the Internet? If the House approves a first-ever online sales tax, you might soon be paying a premium—and that’s a very good thing, writes Daniel Gross.
...because after I wrote the first post, it became clear to me that most people who are writing about it do not understand why this is onerous for small business.
She's lying, of course, but this is The Daily Beast, so one would expect that sort of thing. In this case, it's a lie by omission, because what she's not telling you in the above sentence is that she's only referring to small-time online retailers, like those guys who try to make a buck reselling stuff on eBay and Amazon. And just what percentage of the industry, Ms. McArdle, is that?
1%? 2%? 0.00031%?
People who are saying this is no big deal aren’t thinking things through.
For further information on why this is no big deal, please read my post here.
The Federal Reserve has mixed in new features to make the bill more difficult to replicate, like a blue security ribbon running down the front. When the bill is tilted, columns filled with the number "100" and tiny bells rotate. Tilt left to right and the columns move up and down; tilt up and down, the columns move left to right. The ribbon is woven onto the paper, not printed, making it tougher to duplicate. It's composed of thousands of lenses that magnify the marks and make them appear to move in different directions--not easy for a counterfeiter to remake in a basement.
This whole things smacks of a 'freedom of speech' violations and I'm sure the ACLU will immediately spring into action.
And, in a recent horrific event, the nation held its breath while we awaited the outcome of the...
Hours before the federal spending sequester began on March 1, when President Barack Obama predicted that "People are going to be hurt," he did not add, Trust me, I'll make sure of it. But he might as well have, as this week's furloughs of air traffic controllers make obvious.
The furloughs reflect panic: Having exaggerated their early predictions that the sequester's small reduction in spending growth would seriously affect Americans, many Democrats are hell-bent to pre-empt those Americans from drawing two logical conclusions: If one level of cuts is this painless, then maybe we should make ... more cuts to expenditures. And while we're at it, maybe we should ignore the politicians who told us that if Washington lowered the spending growth curve ... the Earth will fly into the sun.
If you've been paying any attention to this fraud, you'll have noticed that the MSM jumped right on board, boldly touting the serious repercussions when government spending is actually lowered. If I'm reading this right, the evil Republicans caused little children to cry because their White House tours were cancelled and the odds of your being eaten by a bear at Yellowstone Nat'l Park have increased dramatically.
On the subject of 'Lying To The People', in case you didn't catch the two AGW links in my post the other day, both of them are excellent.
The Associated Press has assured us, though, that this cold spell is not only consistent with a warming globe, it is actually caused by global warming. The proffered explanation is that cold weather in Europe is a result of melting sea ice in the Arctic. If this special pleading strikes you as unusually tendentious, it is all in the best tradition of explaining away ex post facto any weather event that appears to contradict the ruling paradigm.
After two decades of steady and substantial global temperature increase from 1980 to 1998, the pause in warming is causing a crisis for the climate crusade. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. The recent temperature record is falling distinctly to the very low end of the range predicted by the climate models and may soon fall out of it, which means the models are wrong, or, at the very least, something is going on that supposedly “settled” science hasn’t been able to settle. Equally problematic for the theory, one place where the warmth might be hiding—the oceans—is not cooperating with the story line. Recent data show that ocean warming has noticeably slowed, too.
That damn ocean. You just can't trust anyonething these days!
French news agency AFP reports that Ernesto Mauri, the chief executive of Mondadori France, the publisher of French gossip magazine Closer, Valerie Suau, a photographer at the regional daily La Provence, and La Provence’s general director, Marc Auburtin, are all under formal investigation for “breach of privacy” for allowing the photos of Duchess Kate sunbathing while on vacation to be taken and published.
If the Paparazzi Convention of 2012 gets nuked by some activist, I won't shed a tear. These have to be the scummiest people on earth. Their excuse is "But I gotta make a living!", failing to note that, at last count, there were approximately 7,304,346 different ways to make a living. All they're really saying is, "I gotta make a living... being scum." This strikes me as a serious mental disorder.
Speaking of which, I'm glad Rand Paul finally cleared the air on that drone business.
Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky), commended by many for his dramatic thirteen hour filibuster against the use of domestic drones, told Fox Business Network on Tuesday he's OK with drone strikes on American citizens who, for instance, rob a liquor store.
"If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and fifty dollars in cash. I don't care if a drone kills him or a policeman kills him. But it’s different if they want to fly over your hot tub..."
So, to review, it's perfectly okay if a drone murders someone over a crummy fifty bucks — as long as it doesn't fly over your hot tub.
This guy's coming across just like his dad; brilliant 75% of the time, a total moron the other 25%.
In the video, the Portuguese Water Dog takes to the hunt with ease, tracking down the colorful eggs wherever they are hidden and then dutifully sitting next to his prizes.
So there is good news coming out of Washington these days.
When it comes to running programs, it really doesn't matter how many other programs you have on your computer. Normal programs are 'static', just sitting there awaiting the call, and when you fire up a program, those are the only files being read.
It can, however, make a big difference on a few other levels, like running a virus scan, a fix-it program, or making an image file backup of the whole C Drive. More files means more time to scan, fix or copy. And since we're talking about files that might be multiple gigs in size, this is the real deal.
I've covered a couple of these in the past, but only in regards to a related subject. This time we'll look specifically at reducing the size of the C Drive.
There are five main areas of concern:
1. Getting rid of the 2 gigs of unnecessary backup files Windows 7 left after doing its big 'Service Pack' update
2. Getting rid of the 2-gig 'Hibernation' file
3. Getting rid of the 4-gig 'pagefile'
4. Cleaning out the 'Temp' folder
5. Scanning the drive for any large 'temp' files a program might have left
We shall pull out our #10 scalpel below the fold. Or blowtorch, if necessary.
Update: I'm up in Homestead at the moment taking care of a computer meltdown at a business ($$), then, as long as I'm this far north, I'm planning on heading up to Miami Beach for a few days to visit a friend, so I'll postpone those two big pieces I've mentioned until next week.
In the meantime...
First, when I'm wrong about something, I admit it. That's how we grow.
As it turns out, I was wrong about the new Internet Exploder version 10. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
They did make an improvement.
Now, in my defense, I should note that they haven't made an actual, visible improvement in over a decade, so I admit I wasn't specifically looking for one, slacker that I am.
It now has a spell-checker. A real, live spell-checker, utilizing the latest modern software innovations, direct from the late 80's when the first spell-checker hit the scene. The fact that IE now utilizes this valuable late-80's technology speaks highly of the programming team.
Quickly going the other direction is Firefox. They've changed how the download box works and it's now a minor pain. Normally, it's an independent box, so you can do whatever you want with the browser, including closing it, and the downloads keep to themselves. This is also how IE does it.
It's now part of the actual browser, and if you click elsewhere, it disappears. And it's even more confusing with multiple windows and downloads going, so the whole thing comes across as kinda dumb.
The trick is to hit Ctrl-J, which will open the old independent downloads box. ('J' for 'Just the box') You can also open it from the Tools menu or the 'Download' button, 'Show all downloads'. They've eliminated the 'Pause' button for no known reason, but you can still pause the download by right-clicking on it. And, best, it means we don't have to worry about keeping browser windows open or not.
Dear Firefox:
It only took four of us, but we finally figured out how to use your new update correctly. Yippee for us!
For the time being, I've decided to split the difference and keep the Internet line but dump some other things (I was actually getting a little tired of Netflix anyway), enabling me to further corrode your mind with inane movie reviews, subliminally imply you should dump your job to concentrate full-time on engaging computer games, warp and usurp your very being by tempting you to leave the warm bosom of alcohol and join the ranks of the pothead, ravage and destroy your last vestige of reason with a heartwarming post on the swastika — and that's not to mention filling your sleep with nightmares of gigantic, human-gobbing insects.
So I plan to be busy.
Also, under the heading of "Duh!", my thanks to BobZ for mentioning starting up a wi-fi from scratch. I had tried a unit out, just to see if there was anything around, but I hadn't thought of getting one of the line-of-sight neighbors around me to let me hook into their (duh!) Comcast cable line (!), then beam me a signal. I'll have to shell out for the hook-up, but it looks like the service, itself (as an add-on to the cable line), is only $20/mo, so I'll start asking around. It'll be wi-fi slow, but what price, freedom?
I'll be on the road today, but have a couple of promised goodies ready for tomorrow and Friday. My post tomorrow on 'Meaningless Words' is a hoot.
Again, my deepest thanks to those who donated a little something to help me out of this bind, and if I can get a wi-fi going and dump the expensive Internet company, I should definitely be in the clear. This morning I'm going up to Homestead to talk to another prospective web site client, so things are lookin' good. I also made an appointment for next Friday at the hospital to do some extensive blood tests.
In the meantime, here are two of the best AGW articles I've read in a while:
With the gun control measure failing miserably in the Senate, it's thought that the next thing Congress will turn its attention to is an online sales tax.
As the bloggers fall all over themselves decrying this outrage to humanity, bear in mind that the entire sales tax issue is inconsequential compared to what's really going on.
I thought the following deserved a repost at this point in time.
Congress has only been talking about taxing online goods for, oh, about as long as the online has existed. But without any kind of precedent or track record to go from, they could never pull it off.
A wave of states, including Virginia, have passed laws that will require consumers to pay sales tax on all Internet purchases as soon as next year.
For states struggling in the troubled economy, this could mean $23 billion in new revenue each year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Had online retailers collected sales tax this year, Virginia would have added nearly $423 million to its coffers, while Maryland would have seen $376 million and the District $72 million, the group said.
Now they have a track record (at least on paper) to point to and, sure enough:
The movement in state capitals is driving newfound support for a proposed bill in Congress that could make collection of sales tax a standard practice on the Web, no matter where a consumer logs in to shop.
Like you, my hackles bristle reading such words, because the Web is supposed to be free, Free,FREE! Always has been, always should be.
Well, I just can't decide if I should go offline for a few months or not. As I mentioned the other day, I need some expensive medical tests and dropping my $120/mo online fee and some other things (associated online services, Netflix, food) would save me about $300/mo, which is enough to keep the hospital happy as I rack up the costs from the tests.
Between a small handful of very appreciated donations, an unexpected check from the stock broker (one of the stocks I sold last summer had been held up in a court case) and getting a small retainer to construct a web site for a soon-to-be local businessman, I could stay online for now, but I'm worried that I'll be right back to square one in a couple of months, albeit this time with a large outstanding debt to the hospital that I'll have trouble paying.
Put another way, right now I feel great mentally but poor physically. Assuming they find out what's wrong, I'll then feel great physically but poor mentally!
Pic: Artist's concept of Doc's life right now
If I'm going to suspend the Internet service, I have to call them before 6 pm today, so I'll think about it. Any thoughts on your part are welcome.
On the subject (your thoughts), am I wrong in thinking there's absolutely no way to make money online outside of direct involvement, like webmastering? I spent half a day investigating all of the "5 Ways To Make Money Online!" articles out there a while back and not one of them is actually viable. I was thinking there might be a few things around, like the incredibly boring job of 'data input' (transferring data from paper or electronic forms into a database program), but I couldn't even find that. If anyone has any thoughts on the subject, I'd be interested.
I'll bet you can guess which classic movie I'm thinking of:
— The same day repeats itself, over and over again. He wakes up, and it's the exact same day. He, alone, is stuck inside of some kind of crazy time loop.
— At first he's in despair, then he realizes he can use it to his advantage to land the fair damsel.
— This he does, then everything goes back to normal and they live happily ever after.
Yep, the movie 12:01 sure is fun.
Ah, but I know what you're thinking. Just another pale imitation of the immortal Groundhog Day, right?
Except it came out a year before 'Groundhog Day'.
Oh, and there might have been a few other small differences. What was his ultimate goal in Groundhog Day?
To get into her pants.
What was his ultimate goal in 12:01?
To save her life and the world.
Did he actually care for the girl in Groundhog Day?
Not in the slightest.
And 12:01?
He truly cared for her deeply and sincerely, if only from afar.
Of course, convincing someone you're actually stuck in a time loop — without them calling for Security or the medical staff — might not be quite as easy as it looks. Here are his first two attempts.
All in all, a warm, sensitive movie about a caring guy on a noble mission.
In other words, nothing at all like Groundhog Day.
So, how 'bout a movie review? First, 'The Avengers'. Language warning is in effect for both of these clips.
Like a lot of people, I draw a fairly distinct line between Science Fiction and Science Fantasy when it comes to books and movies. As long as it's somewhat scientifically possible, it's good in my book. Or movie, as the case may be. Throw in a magical cube that can harness the power of the universe (this movie, the two 'Transformer' movies, etc, etc) and you've pretty much lost me. Put another way, some guys are Batman guys, other guys are Superman or Green Lantern guys.
That's just how it is.
As a Batman guy, I've been fairly luke-cool to the rash of superhero movies that have hit the big screen in recent years (read: Hollywood is so out of fresh ideas that it's now making movies of comic books), with the one big exception being 'Thor', which earned its own review.
Each of the superheroes in 'The Avengers' has already had a movie or two, and this is the gang getting together to fight the deadliest foe of all. You know, the guy with the magical universe-harnessing cube.
Meh. See above. It was okay, but when you've got vicious armed aliens pouring through an interdimensional hole in the sky, I think it loses a bit of its charm.
Discount all that, however, and it's a pretty good flick. I wouldn't put it on my Recommended List (see above), but it certainly gets a nod for some excellent special effects and some very witty banter at times, especially when the irrepressible Robert Downey Jr. is around.
The reason I'm doing a review on it is because of two scenes that I thought were really well done and I thought I'd share them with you. Both involve the very pressable Scarlett Johansson.
In the first one, they're speaking a bunch of Russian that's accompanied by on-screen subtitles in the movie. They're talking about a couple of key players and their status in the Russian mob. The head bad guy is so sure of himself that's he blabbing away.
Then the phone rings, spoiling everything.
In the second scene, the Avengers know Loki is going to use one of them as part of his evil plan, but the trick is to find out which one.
Obviously, the answer is to send in the master interrogator.
Very pressable.
Again, while being a bit too fantasy-y for my tastes, it has some great bits and the special effects are outstanding. Certainly worth the rental.
We'll continue with 'The Big Bang' below the fold.
A 'simulation', or sim, is a computer game that mimics every aspect of real life. Silent Hunter 4 places you inside a U.S. attack submarine smack-dab in the middle of World War II. Everything about the sub (and its enemies) is true to reality; the time it takes to dive, to surface, to get up to speed, to stop, the turning radius, torpedo speeds, reloading time; everything.
Luckily, there's a speed-up option so you don't actually have to sit there staring at the computer screen for eight days while you cross the Pacific Ocean. You'll see the speed-up used in a few places in the following video. It's to note that this video is mostly comprised of scenes taken directly from the game, most using the 'external camera' view. Click on the little symbol on the player's tool bar and watch it in full-screen mode.
But first, John Milton's 'On Time'.
Fly, envious Time, till thou run out thy race, Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours, Whose speed is but the heavy plummet's pace; And glut thyself with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more then what is false and vain, And merely mortal dross; So little is our loss, So little is thy gain.
For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd, And, last of all, thy greedy self consum'd, Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss, With an individual kiss.
And Joy shall overtake us as a flood, When everything that is sincerely good And perfectly divine, With Truth, and Peace, and Love Shall ever shine About the supreme throne.
Of Him, t'whose happy-making sight alone When once our heavenly-guided soul shall climb, Then all this earthy grossness quit, Attired with stars, we shall forever sit, Triumphing over Death, and Chance, And thee, O Time.
And now the intro.
Admittedly, that's not your average game intro.
But, then, it's not actually a 'game', is it? It's a sim.
If you know what that means, you've just seriously dated yourself.
Marijuana.
Sure, it'll cure your lumbago and get rid of athlete's foot and do wonders for gout, but can it do anything useful? That's really the question of the day.
Mounting evidence shows ‘cannabinoids’ in marijuana slow cancer growth, inhibit formation of new blood cells that feed a tumor, and help manage pain, fatigue, nausea, and other side effects.
The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.
And, with two states legalizing it and more sure to follow, the whole question of marijuana etiquette arises.
Here in D.C., it is far from a partisan debate, something that both Republicans and Democrats struggle with. "It’s a cross-party issue," said a 27-year-old aide to a GOP congressman who, like many interviewed for this story, preferred not to give her name, further highlighting people’s discomfort with this subject. She says she smokes often at home, but does so without telling her ultraconservative, 50-something boss, her co-workers, or even many of her friends. "It’s really hard to know how people stand on it."
Unless, of course, you're Miss Iowa:
I do not think it should be used for anything but recreational use and health care.
(audience applauds, nary a boo to be heard)
As these things go, and given that the Miss America pageant is a uniquely American event, that's quite the little moment in television history.
This is taken from the 'Swastika Buildings' tour on my Google Earth Project, a collection of high-quality video tours of some of the most interesting spots on earth — as seen from above. This will include Google Earth links to the sites from the tour, so you'll need it installed to view them. A GoogleMaps link is supplied if not.
But the ultimate "grandmothered out" is the Swastika. In fact, it’s been so successfully erased from Western culture that most people today would be shocked at how widespread its use was just 100 years ago. The symbol is known down through history from all corners of the world…the earliest found in paintings and carvings of the Neolithic Period around 1000 BC. It is still used today as a prominent symbol in both the Hindu and Buddhist religions. In fact, the word itself is from svastika, meaning "lucky charm" in Sanskrit.
And that was its meaning when it became popular in the US and Britain around 1900. A typical "Good Luck" postcard might feature a 4-leaf clover, a rabbit’s foot, a horse shoe, and a swastika.
Seen below, a women’s hockey team, a young Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy in squaw garb, a Coca Cola watch fob, and the insignia patch of the 45th Infantry Division of the US Army. It was founded in the 1920s as part of the Oklahoma National Guard and the symbol represented the region’s American Indian heritage. It was changed to a Thunderbird in 1939.
I'd note the 'still in use today' line, which at least explains the current buildings in Asia. As for the others, they probably figured no one would ever notice, they didn't wish to bow to convention, or they simply couldn't afford to raze and rebuild the whole goddamn building just because the local Jewish Aviators Club got its knickers in a knot.
This concerns (yet another case in an endless string of) Firefox & Flash not playing nicely together. Personally, I have no preference between Firefox and Internet Explorer when it comes to normal browsing, but if one does much online editing, Firefox is the way to go on a handful of levels.
The problems (videos not playing, freezing up the system, strange error messages, etc) started almost a year ago when Flash introduced some new security protocol. As a bit of background: Java, which was the Flash of its day before Shockwave/Flash came along, is so riddled with exploitable holes that the most recent advice from the experts has been to disable it completely. With Java fading and Flash coming into its own, the malware hackers have pulled out their 3000X electronic microscopes in an effort to find any weaknesses. So Flash can't be blamed for battening down the hatches.
Another pesky problem that's cropped up is Firefox opening new windows under the present window, not on top of, when clicking on certain links (in the WordPress editor, e.g.) or using the right mouse button on a link to open it in a new window. This is pretty common on sites like Hot Air, Instapundit, PJ Media, Drudge, etc, that don't automatically open external links in a new window, as they should. The reason they don't is because they want you to hit that 'Back' button to get back to their site, which adds another 'click' to their total which means they can charge more for their banner advertisements.
But I stray.
To fix this pesky problem:
— On a standard 32-bit Windows system, open 'Computer', then the C Drive, then Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash
— On a 64-bit Windows system, open C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash
— Edit the "mss.cfg" file with Notepad. Add this line to the bottom:
ProtectedMode=0
Save the file, reboot.
Speaking of Firefox, it went through a major security update of its own recently, so unless you're sure yours is updating automatically, go to the Help menu, 'About Firefox', click the 'Update' button.
Any questions or additions, give a holler in the comments like usual.
Ugh. I think I'm going to have to give up my Internet connection for a while until I get well. At $120/mo, it's my biggest expense after rent. The reason it's so high is because I moved about a year ago and ended up behind the local cellphone tower, which, as it turns out, is very directional. My faithful Verizon Wireless wouldn't work, nor would a Sprint unit I tried. I hunted around and finally found a company that specializes in rural areas and I ended up with an actual box with a 3' antenna sitting on top of it. While slow and expensive, at least it works.
As I noted a month ago, I've kind of peaked-out at around 75% recovery after my tumor operation last summer and the doctors want to run a whole slew of expensive tests. You know how doctors and dentists are. Money's no object in their little worlds.
Between ditching the Internet and some other things, I can save about $250/mo, which should enable me to keep up with the hospital payments so the tests can continue until they figure out what's wrong. Thankfully, there's a nearby library that has a bunch of computers I can use for my webmastering maintenance job. I might also make the occasional post here, but I'd hate the idea of not being able to read and respond to the comments. That interaction is often the best part of blogging.
The cut-off date is Wednesday next week, so I don't have to make the decision immediately. If anyone would like to help out this poor wretched soul, my tumor operation link is here. Anything would be appreciated. Cutting off my Internet is going to be like cutting off an arm, but I've got to do something. Health is more important than anything else at this point.
I will, however, be (temporarily) leaving the online community with a flourish. I have a handful of pieces I've been working on for a while, including a review and manual for the greatest 'war sim' ever developed, an existential treatise on the meaninglessness of certain words ("smarter" and "truth" top the list), and the revelation of an amazing secret being kept from 38 million Americans. The right-wing bloggers have been pounding and pounding a certain false truth into you for a decade and, to their shame and disgrace, 38 million people have been kept from this great revelation. This article will help balance the scales. Look for it Friday as the week's 'capper'.
Also, another installment of History's Mysteries, this time dealing with that horrific Nazi swastika. Fun for the whole family. And, like the way I refer to my AGW opus as "the last article on global warming you'll ever need to read", similarly, I've written the last article on marijuana you'll ever need to read. Remember, legalized pot is considered a lefty issue by the right-wing bloggers, because pot was popularized by all of those smelly radical left-wing hippies back in the day, so it's perfectly understandable if they spin the argument against it. Hot Air (and Theo) ran an anti-pot video a while back that was so filled with outright lies, disingenuous lies, and lies by omission that it rivaled the worst of the AGW spewage.
And that's saying a lot.
So, there's your update. I'll just be posting a Computin' Tip later on today. The good stuff starts tomorrow and will run through next Tuesday. After that, I cannot say.
It's really amazing what computer software can pull off these days. Yesterday, I posted a video that had some superb manipulation, indistinguishable from the real thing.
Today's program lets you enhance a photograph in a number of ways. You might have seen software on shows like 'NCIS' that can age a person, but this stuff takes it to the next level. Apart from making them younger or older, you can also enhance the image to show the effects of a different lifestyle, like "Weathered Sea Captain" or "Grizzled Veteran Soldier".
Wishing to give it a spin, I jumped on the web and grabbed the first facial pic I saw, one of President Barack Obama. I checked both the "Mad Max From Thunderdome" and "Aging Battle-Hardened Warrior" boxes, and this is what it produced:
You have to admit, Obama looks friggin' awesome. If I'm going to pit someone against the likes of bin Laden, that's the guy I want.
Yes, these new computer programs are just amazing, and I-
Oops, hold on a sec.
Sorry, wrong photograph. The above is Satan in the new History Channel series, 'The Bible'. Sorry for any confusion.
The left, of course, is up in arms because of the resemblance. It seems to me that they're asking the wrong question, though. They're asking why Satan looks like President Obama.
My question is, why does President Obama look like Satan?
I was rummaging through the digital attic yesterday and came across this little gem.
If you weren't hanging around Maggie's during the 2008 presidential election, you really missed something.
The media attention we received was simply fierce.
Ah, they just don't make presidential races like that anymore.
And, unfortunately, that's true. They didn't do a 2012 update, but the above is still active. To make your own, click here. If you want to embed the player on your own site, like above, open the source code of the displayed page and copy the block from <OBJECT> to </OBJECT> to the source code of your own page. It may not be topical, with that glaring '2008', but at least you can file it in your 'Favorite Memories' section.
I present this not only for fun, but as a casual reminder of how easy it's become to overlay video on top of video and have it look 100% perfect. The only scene where they flubbed up was the bus going by, but the rest was excellent.
On the subject, I hereby move we strike the word incontrovertible from the language.
At this very moment, someone out there is doctoring a video to make an innocent man look guilty of murder. This video, the prosecuting attorney will tell the jury, is incontrovertible proof of the defendant's guilt. You will watch the accused murder the innocent victim with (slamming fist on jury box railing) your own two eyes!
It's a word whose time has come and gone.
Looking For Links Dept.
On the subject of video doctoring, I once saw a terrific video on YouTube of a UFO flying along, right there in front of you, big as day. As I recall, it was shot from inside a moving vehicle driving through the brush. Despite years of skepticism on your part, you had to admit that the final proof was right there before your very eyes.
Then they re-played it, this time with a split screen, with the original video on one side and the identical-but-doctored video on the other. When it comes to 'home gimmickry' and the average slob fooling around with modern video editing programs, it was a masterpiece, and I'd like to include it in a future post on the subject.
Also, I have a page of web vids in my Art Gallery where the music really makes the video. I have the half-feeling I've asked this before, but I'll give it another shot.
I once saw a commercial on TV (which I presume has since been videoized to YouTube) that took place in the downtown part of a city, presumably New York. I can't remember if it was a smile or a nice gesture, like helping out a stranger with something small, but it traveled from person to person through the streets, finally making some kind of loop at the end. I honestly don't remember if the music was anything special, but there's a pretty good chance it was, and, if so, I'd like to include it on the page.
I don't know who Palin's speechwriter is — and, for all I know, she writes them herself — but whoever it is, he or she is just terrific. Practically every third line in her CPAC speech was like something out of a book of Great Conservative Quotes.
Here Ted Cruz, like a good Texan; he comes to town, he chews barbed wire and spits our rust.
No, it's not about the bad guys, it's all about the lead, like solely that chunk of metal did the crime. That's like saying, solely that fork made me fat.
And background checks? Yeah, I guess, to learn more about a person's thinking and associations and intentions? More background checks? Dandy idea, Mr. President. Shoulda started with yours.
Remember 'No Drama Obama'? If only. Now it's All-Drama Obama. We don't have leadership coming out of Washington. We have reality television.
Whether it's green energy or free Obama phones — or prophylactics — if you don't have a team of lobbyists in D.C. or a cancelled campaign contribution check, well, you're not at the table. You're on the menu.
It was about then that she took a sip from a Big Gulp and brought down the house.
I suppose a lot of politicians use the phrase "we, the people" in their speeches, but the only two politicos who I ever believed actually meant it were Teddy Roosevelt and Sarah Palin.
Unlike today, if tech companies were generally run by conservatives, the liberal MSM would treat this like the Scandal Of The Decade.
As it stands, I can almost guarantee you this will be the only time you'll hear of it.
Enjoy the moment.
So to speak.
The other day, a commenter in one of my global warming articles (I wouldn't want to mention any names, but his initials are Z.A.C.H.R.I.E.L.) and I were discussing the issue and I asked him if some of the stuff coming out of the AGW debate wasn't just a little bit embarrassing for his side.
Me: How about the EPA declaring your breath is a toxic gas?
Z.A.C.H.R.I.E.L.: Animal respiration is carbon neutral.
Now, I will admit that he's half-right:
The intake part of your breath is carbon neutral.
But the exhalation? As every good-thinking, earth-hugging person knows, your exhalation is a deadly planet-killing toxic gas, verified by the greatest and most impartial collection of scientists on the planet, the respected (some might even say revered) Environmental Protection Agency.
So, wishing to fortify my point with a link, I cruised over to Google and did a search for "your breath is a toxic gas epa".
I came up with zip.
In the first 20 hits, I didn't come up with one article mocking how the EPA had just turned breath into a toxic gas. It was nothing but how bad, bad, bad that evil CO2 is for all living creatures and how the EPA is the only thing standing between you and being boiled alive by an angry rising sea.
Thinking this a tad strange, I went over to Bing and tried the exact same search. In the first 10 hits:
The next 10 hits yielded another three articles along the same lines, which is about what I had originally expected. Given the formidable opposition, getting 3 out of 10 links is probably doing pretty good.
Okay, so what about Google? Would you like to guess how many articles Google displayed before linking to an article that even remotely criticized the EPA's ruling?
BD's in the delightful midwestern hamlet of Ohio this weekend, so I'll be doing today's morning links. He didn't tell me where he was going, but I'm guessing it's that big Two-Seed-In-The-Spirit Predestinarian Baptist revival they're having when they ordain the new ministers. Given all the pomp and circumstance, I think you'll admit, a two-day visit would be hard to turn down.
Well, you might have been wondering about 
There's a style of AGW propaganda that I call the 'Little Lie, Big Truth' format. This is when some tiny lie of the AGW campaign is soundly debunked, making the author look 'clinical, scientific and impartial', then, almost as a 'P.S.', it's noted that, by the way, man-made global warming is here, real, and must be dealt with now. One little lie debunked, but one grand truth revealed.
Bird Dog should be arriving back from his trip down to Georgia today. If'n he a'starts tawkin' lak dis and usin' de word y'all ever'where an' a'callin' hisself Bird Dawg, we'll ask him to shorten his vacation next time.
When it comes to running programs, it really doesn't matter how many other programs you have on your computer. Normal programs are 'static', just sitting there awaiting the call, and when you fire up a program, those are the only files being read.
Put another way, right now I feel great mentally but poor physically. Assuming they find out what's wrong, I'll then feel great physically but poor mentally!
A 'simulation', or sim, is a computer game that mimics every aspect of real life. Silent Hunter 4 places you inside a U.S. attack submarine smack-dab in the middle of World War II. Everything about the sub (and its enemies) is true to reality; the time it takes to dive, to surface, to get up to speed, to stop, the turning radius, torpedo speeds, reloading time; everything.
This concerns (yet another case in an endless string of) Firefox & Flash not playing nicely together. Personally, I have no preference between Firefox and Internet Explorer when it comes to normal browsing, but if one does much online editing, Firefox is the way to go on a handful of levels.
Ugh. I think I'm going to have to give up my Internet connection for a while until I get well. At $120/mo, it's my biggest expense after rent. The reason it's so high is because I moved about a year ago and ended up behind the local cellphone tower, which, as it turns out, is very directional. My faithful Verizon Wireless wouldn't work, nor would a Sprint unit I tried. I hunted around and finally found a company that specializes in rural areas and I ended up with an actual box with a 3' antenna sitting on top of it. While slow and expensive, at least it works.
Unlike today, if tech companies were generally run by conservatives, the liberal MSM would treat this like the Scandal Of The Decade.