Here's an interesting article on Eleanor Roosevelt's pistol packing ways.
January 2002 Archives
You know, when I read this article, I instantly think of Nixon. And I wasn't even old enough to remember anything about him.
Now, just compare these two statements:
- Democracy is based on governmental policy developed by rational discourse among a well informed public.
- The net result of that [the request for information regarding how the Bush administration formed its energy policy] is to weaken the presidency and the vice presidency...
Now, is it just me, or do those two statements seem irreconcilable? And how do you weaken the vice presidency anyway? It doesn't even have any powers. It just seems completely arrogant and, well, stupid to take a position like this. Yes, it would mean that the content of those meetings would be disclosed. And normally I would respect the fact that people don't need to just pry out information for the hell of it. But you're talking about a massive economic cluster fuck that has cast a pall over the formulation of official government policy. Maybe the minutes and notes don't need to go public, but if the Congress wants to review them, I don't see a reasonable means to deny the request. And if Enron (or anyone else, for that matter), had an undue influence in our policy, the public needs to know.
Yahoo! News - ID Theft Is Big Consumer Complaint. Maybe I'll go buy myself a shredder...
I know I haven't posted much about Argentina recently, so here's an update. They're still totally screwed on the economic front with no concrete plans to fix anything.
The USS Clueless has some interesting thoughts on the Israel v. Palestine situation. Not sure what I make of it.
Talk about something begging for off-color humor, Polish ambulance crews have been killing patients in return for kick-backs from funeral homes.
I mentioned Ralph Peters before in the context of America's long term foreign policy strategy and our relationship to Saudi Arabia. He also writes for Parameters, the periodical published by the US Army War College. His recent article there is much more in depth, but well worth the read.
Yes, life must be good as an American. I can only assume that there's some sort of perverse jealousy at work in the world when people protest our treatment of presumed-terrorists at Camp X-Ray, while totally ignoring the truly heinous injustices in the world. If you can read "the woman would be buried with only her head and chest above ground, so she could not move, and then be stoned to death." without being appalled, maybe you too could work for someone like Amnesty International trying to help the prisoners at Camp X-Ray. Lord knows I couldn't.
As a side note: I don't have hard confirmation on this, but I believe the sharia Islamic rule mentioned in the article is sponsored (politically & monetarily) by our "allies", the Saudi Arabians. As someone once said, politics is the art of being friends with people you would never invite into your home as an individual.
Military tribunals have not sat well with my concience during the whole post-9/11 affair. I think this essay by Robert Levy sums things up nicely. The meat of the conclusion:
Here's the argument in a nutshell. If the Bill of Rights applies to unlawful combatants in the United States, the Bush military order is unconstitutional. If the law of war is in force, then military tribunals in the United States must be, first, subject to civil judicial review; second, authorized by Congress; and third, limited to prosecuting unlawful combatants. In any event, the order as it now stands is illegitimate, and those of us who say so are not, in the attorney general's unfortunate and offensive words, "giving ammunition to America's enemies," "aiding terrorists," or "eroding our national unity." Instead, we are upholding the Constitution; securing the values that sustain a free society; and, at the same time, preserving for the president the option of using military tribunals outside of the United States -- where they belong.
If I need a comment to point out how stupid James Fulford is in this quote, just e-mail me for some private tutorage.
With all the flack Aaron Brown gets, maybe I should actually watch some TV news sometime. I feel bad joining in without suffering at his journalistic hands first...
ENRON EXPLAINED: I'm not sure I entirely understand this explanation in "layman's terms", so to speak, but it's funny.
The U.S. withdrew from the ABM treaty and CIA reported that China began plans to increase it's nuclear arsenal to compensate for our possible ABM systems. Now we get an op-ed by G. Michael Green, a senior planner for NASA, about how China is ramping up it's space program and will likely have achieved manned space fight by the end of 2002 or 2003. Of course, the technologies used to guide a rocket through orbit and back to earth are many of the same ones used in guiding an ICBM to its target. So I think we can expect not only more ICBMs aimed at America over the next decade or two, but probably more accurate ones as well. Isn't that just a cheery thought?
Hey, why bother to counterfeit something when the Thai government already produces something that will work?
Of the major terrorist events in the last two decades it seems that almost all of them were executed by Middle Eastern Islamic fundamentalists, the Oklahoma City bombing being a notable exception. It makes you wonder why exactly these people like to blow things up so much. A Washington Post article would seem to shed some light on how all that pent up rage develops.
Chuck bought a llama for his farm. This is West Virginia, not the Andes! Hehe...
Zainab al-Suwaij, a Muslim woman living in America, has published an editorial well worth the time to read. I would love to see the Saudi papers publish this, but I'm sure that won't happen.
Read through some history books and get a feel for how bad King Herod the Great was, and it's hard to have any sympathy for the guy. I mean, this is the guy who had all Jewish male children under the age of 2 killed when he heard Jesus had been born. Not to mention his chronic paranoia and things like killing off family members at a prodigious rate. But then you hear about how he probably died.
I spent $10 on pyRads, and got 10 click-throughs. This does not seem to be a cost-effective advertisement medium for me. Since the micro-ad idea seems sound, I have to chaulk the abismal performance up to my complete lack of marketing ability. sigh Guess it's time I actually started learning something about marketing, eh?
So, um, anyone have any hints for some intro marketing type material? Let me know, contact info on the left there....
Well, reading Instapundit has gotten me back in the mood for posting. So far (and I've got a lot of catch-up reading still to do), I've found these articles of interest...
An amusing photo of President Bush "mooning" the press, at least in an intellectual sort of way.
John Lott, a researcher known for his economics based research into crime deterrence through gun ownership and use, has published an op-ed piece revealing the little-reported fact that the school shootings at Appalachian Law School were stopped by students who had guns.
Followers of the info-warfare school of thought have long preached that meat-world infrastructures could be at risk from attacks through cyber-space. Now a recent review of intrusion reports reveals that not only is the energy industry under heavier cyber attack than other sectors, many of the attacks appear to be launched or coordinated by Middle Eastern countries.
Well, I'm back from my trip. Updates later, I'm too tired to write now. Here's a link to an interesting article about violence in cybercafes, thanks to Obike.
Well, I'm back in Winchester, VA today. I've got a week off to go to my friend's wedding, down near Richmond. I may be pretty light on updates over the next week or so (I haven't even seen any news today, for example). When I do get around to checking back in, I'll try to post any good photos of the wedding. Of course, I'm best man, so I don't know how many photos I'll be able to take.
NEWS ROUND-UP: India liked what it heard from Pakistan yesterday, but they're waiting to see some action before stepping down their military posture. An Iraqi poll has named bin Laden as man of the year, although I have to question the reliability after reading the following line: "Thirty percent of those polled were men, and 40 percent were women." I would really like to know what the other 30% were. Does Iraq have a huge transexual population or something? Argentina is still trying to figure out how to bail itself out of its economic black hole. And finally, for those who think I'm just Islam-bashing when I talk about Saudi Arabia, check out this article about the Turkish Muslims who are protesting the House of Saud's latest architectural improvments in Mecca.
Well, I've never really read much of Tim Blair before, but he certainly cuts to the chase in this little rant about sweatshop labor.
We always knew they were tough, but did you think it would stand up to an airplane crash followed by incredibly hot fires and collapsing rubble? I admit, my faith faltered at the thought of such a hellish scenario, fortunately for all of us, it survived.
PHOTO OF THE DAY: You probably don't want this guy to be your neighbor.
TALK ABOUT NOT PAYING ATTENTION: Hmm, I didn't realize us Virginians had a new governor starting today.
RICE-BOYS BEWARE: New research shows that riding with your seat back down increases the likelihood of you getting "seriously fucked up [ed: translated to rice-boy lingo from the original]" in an accident.
Hmm, it's a slow news day on the international scene, but here's an article that caught my eye. The Pope is actually taking action against priests who have a little problem with alter boys. While I'm glad to see that God's messenger to humanity is finally acknowledging that there's a problem, I'm still a little disappointed too. The Pontiff’s new regulations require bishops and Vatican courts to investigate and handle any suspected abuses. But this leaves some interesting questions up in the air.
Are priests to be considered immune from prosecution under state and federal laws for these crimes? If the Vatican wishes to deal with this as a matter internal to the church, do they not feel a responsibility to notify secular authorities? How are these cases handled for repeat offenders? And how can this be satisfactory to the millions of people (in the US, at least) who aren't convinced of the Vatican's infallibility? While I respect the Vatican's right as a sovereign country to do as it pleases inside its own borders, being an ordained priest cannot excuse you from the laws of the United States. If the Vatican thinks otherwise, I'm deeply disappointed.
I got some salad from the folks down the hall. Go me!
Hmm, Dave left at 3, and I don't have any way to get dinner. Guess I get to eat out of the vending machines until 10....
A history of the U.S. presence at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
I just finished going through my credit report and making a list of the errors. It's a good idea to do that every once in a while, and it only costs you ~$8 to get your report from each of the major credit report agencies (i.e. ~$24 total). You can do it over the web, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. Just visit TransUnion, EquiFax, and Experian. Oh, if you've been denied a request by a bank because of your credit history, you can get a free copy of your report, instead of paying the $8.
If you're interested in language, and how words evolve, here's an interesting article about the word "nigger". It's actually a review of a book, but has plenty of content as a stand alone piece.
Once again, Glenn Reynolds has about as good a lead in as you can get:
CHANGE COMES TO KANDAHAR now that the Taliban are gone. And I mean change.
Of course, we can't have too much good news in one day...
Israel and Palestine are still going at it, with the latest round being Israel blowing up a bunch of Palestinian stuff, including their naval facilities and Palestinian homes.
OFFICE HUMOR THAT GOES TOO FAR: A Capitol Police officer has been charged with an anthrax hoax, apparently meant as a joke. Yes, I understand that cops (and other high-stress professions) deal with the stress using off-color humor. But really!? How could you possibly think this was a good idea?
Pakistan's president, Gen. Musharraf, has made a televised speech denouncing all forms of extremism and terrorism. Hopefully this will be the cusp of the current conflict between India and Pakistan, and tensions can begin to ease. Among the comments, which should please India and the international community, were ones calling for a international effort to resolve the situation in Kashmir, as well as a strong condemnation of domestic institutions (schools and mosques) which support extremist Islamic beliefs. Musharraf also issued orders to have over 250 people arrested. All those arrested were held on the basis that they were expected to lead protests and riots against the new proclamation of Islamic moderation.
As an American, I generally disagree with prior restraint of speech. However, I view that as a small blemish on an otherwise rosy development in the India/Pakistan arena. This speech did not meet every demand made by India, most notably Pakistan says it will try all extremist locally instead of extradite them to India, and they maintain their stand on the disputed region of Kashmir. However, India's chief complaints lately have been that Pakistan talks the talk but hasn't walked the walk. In conjunction with the announcement, Musharraf banned not only the two Kashmir-based groups demanded by India, but also two domestic groups as well. Such a move, in the face of considerable domestic dissent, will hopefully be seen by India as a starting point for reconciliation.
I've probably spent the majority of the time since the inception of the Office of Homeland Security wondering just what it is Tom Ridge actually does. I finally found a site that shows some of the impressive programs undertaken by our OHS.
Yummmmm......french onion soup.
Wow, I can't wait to get out of here and head home. I think I'll get some dessert at Applebee's on the way back to the townhouse.
SAUDIS AT IT AGAIN: Well, I think Glenn Reynolds says it best:
MUSLIM SCHOLARS MEET TO DEFINE TERRORISM AND AGREE: ISRAEL TO BLAME -- No, this isn't a headline from The Onion. It's real. And they wonder why we don't take them seriously?
Sure, they're grateful for the US making their lives a little bit better now that the Taliban is gone... but they still wouldn't turn over bin Laden or Mullah Omar.
DOCTOR DOGMEAT SAYS: South Korea will have a special treat for foreign visitors during the upcoming World Cup -- dog meat! That's right, during the upcoming world soccer (football for you .uk readers) championships, Doctor Dogmeat, aka Professor Ahn Yong-keun of Chungchong University, will be dazzling us with a PR campaign on the joys of eating dogs.
Personally, I think I'd stick to the seafood.
The last non-state owned national TV network in Russia has been ordered to shut its doors. I can still remember the talk of Putin cracking down on the media when he first took office. If that's on his to-do list, its almost ready to be crossed off.
As Argentina puts its devaluation into effect, there were riots and general mayhem in the capital, Buenos Aires. Foreign banks stand to lose $6.2 billion in capital due to the new economic regulations, and many foreign companies, particularly from Spain, are getting a kick in the balls.
Plus, Argentinan police win the "Most Gruesome Photo of the Day" award.
Stephen Hawking celebrated his 60th birthday today. Pretty damn impressive for someone who thought he would die of his illness in his 20s. And after all that time, he still has a sense of humor. I can only hope I age as gracefully.
Our friends at Microsoft have been shot down again. A court ruled that they couldn't settle a lawsuit by giving away free computers. The judge is 100% right when he says "The agreement raises legitimate questions since it appears to provide a means for flooding a part of the kindergarten through high school market in which Microsoft has not traditionally been the strongest player (particularly in relation to Apple) with Microsoft software and refurbished PCs". I can't believe Microsoft really thought people would accept that as a good idea.
If a used car salesmen told me I could exchange my current lemon for two others, I'd be a little grumpy, know what I mean? Not to mention the fact that no one seems to agree on the value of the lawsuit, with estimates of liability ranging from $200 million (Microsoft's figure) to $18.9 billion (estimates from the plaintiffs). Microsoft truly never ceases to amaze me.
The Saudis have some very interesting ideas about American education curricula. I'm amazed that I missed these classes during school. Maybe they're only taught at liberal arts colleges?
Keep in mind that we still have domestic nut-cases too, as proven by the Oregon man who killed his family and is about to be added to the FBI's most wanted list.
India continues to prepare for a war with Pakistan. In a news conference, India's Army Chief, General S. Padmanabhan, told the press "I have not gone to do an exercise, I have gone to be ready for war, to defend my country" and went on to warn Pakistan that any nuclear attacks would be met by like retaliation by India. India has been placing landmines along its border with Pakistan, a move that only increases the seriousness of the tensions in the region.
Our own Ari Fletcher, White House spokesman, commented that "India and Pakistan have a mutual enemy in terrorists, not in each other". Personally, I find that rather disingenious, considering that the current tensions between the south-asian nuclear powers was caused by a terrorist attack which India believes was sponsored by Pakistan. I'm sure Ari could have said "The United States and the Taliban have a mutual enemy in terrorists, not in each other" as far as the Indians are concerend; either way would be equally non-sensical from their view-point.
Jin Wicked has kindly provided an enhanced version of my brother's Night Lake photo. After you've checked it out, be sure to look at some of her more serious work.
Note to self: Make backups of templates next time I customize them.
Ok, I've got my templates rebuilt after I screwed it all up. That was a fun way to waste an hour or so. Almost time for bed now, *sigh*.
WE CAN ALL TRUST MICROSOFT, RIGHT? I mean, it's not like they constantly use unethical practices to further their business. You'd think they would stuff ballot boxes with their reputation. But I'm sure they're really nice guys in person.
Here's those afore-mentioned pictures from my brother. They're awesome, in my opinion. All of these were long-period exposures on color 35mm.
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Hmm, another guy in the company will be coming out to share the townhouse this weekend. He'll be working on the same project I am. Always good to have some company around the place. I've got to clean up some though, and try to make time to watch Band of Brothers, which I borrowed from my dad, and install Earth Empire, or whatever it was, that I borrowed from a guy at work. So I'll probably get none of that done and instead sit around and mess with my site, like usual, heh.
At least I've got most of the pressing, time-sensitive, arrangements for my friends wedding taken care of at this point. Now if I could just get First USA to pull its head out of its ass, I'd be a happy camper.
Oh, hell, I'm a happy camper anyway. What do I have to complain about, really? I mean, just read some of the other entries here and think about what people around the world are going through.
According to the Washington Post, the ship seized by Israel (the one with all the guns in it, remember?) was only one of three. And the other two made their deliveries.
Israeli v. Arabs: Round....hell, who can keep track.
Israel dropped its contact with the Palestinian Authority earlier today. Mr. Zinni has definitely got his work cut out for him. Especially when you take into consideration that the Saudi state run newspaper, Al-Riyadh, ran a piece in late November (as far as I can figure out) which included this gem: "For this reason, Arab infants – before they reach the age of self-humiliation and submission – suckled hatred of the Zionist enemy with their mothers' milk, and this hatred cannot be uprooted despite all the talk about false peace agreements.". Yeah, convincing people who have "suckled hatred" of the Israelis since their birth to come to the bargining table might be quite a challenge...
Oh, to make things even better, Hamas & Islamic Jihad have both decided to disregard the cease-fire announced by the Palestinian Authority a few weeks back.
CONCEALED WEAPONS: A RIGHT? An Ohio judge has ruled that Ohio's law prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons violates the state constitution. It's not entirely clear from the news report how much this is a right-to-bear-arms case and how much it's a due-process/right-to-self-defense case. But it's interesting -- and, I think, indicative of a change in public opinion. A decision like this would have been far less likely a few years ago.Thanks to Glenn Reynolds of InstaPundit.com.
What a day for the world. Argentina's economy is still making slow death spirals, the CIA says China is going to build more nukes to compensate for our missle defense system, Israel has convinced the US that Arafat was behind the ship smuggling arms from Iran, and India plans on holding "war games" near its border with Pakistan.
Oh yes, what a joyful world we live in....
You know, if you spam someone known for being an anti-spam activist, you deserve what you get.
Hah! I can publish, how do you like that?
Downloading anti-virus updates (the computer kind, not the Ebola kind). Posting to Blogger even though I can't publish right now.
Dad made it through surgery today. He seemed in pretty high spirits, all things considered. We'll just have to see how he feels once the nerve block wears off.
Pat sent me some majorly cool pictures he took. I'll post them some other time, because I don't feel like doing it now.
I'd like to update my template with some new ideas, but that's not going to happen until I can publish it and make sure it looks ok. So I guess it's time to go to bed.
CNN.com - Doctors leave Ebola-stricken Gabon town
I can't even come up with something funny to say about this. I just hope this outbreak is contained before it causes more suffering than necessary.
I spent three hours last night trying to get Mom's computer (which runs XP) to auto-update. Despite the fact that it's been setup to auto-download the updates since the day she got it, there were six critical update packages waiting for download. One was from October of 2001. Now, I know FreeBSD, for example, isn't the easiest thing on the planet to update, but at least their procedure works. While using windowsupdate.microsft.com, I ended up downloading the updates twice (a non-trivial complaint, since my parents have a 26.4kbps connection). Plus they didn't install correctly the first time, and I couldn't get them to retry the installation. Eventually, the auto-update service started downloading the updates. Why it hadn't before is still a mystery to me, so I threw up my hands and went to bed, letting it run overnight.
Fortunately, the updates installed without a hitch this morning, so I can once again reassure my mom that her computer is safe.
And that's a key warning sign that computers are going mainstream: when my mom (a computer illiterate) knows about the UPnP bug and wants me to look at her computer now.
I think I'm starting to like James Lileks. His review of 2002 (you read that right) is great.
SPEAKING OF LEGAL SYSTEMS: I mentioned earlier that I admit our legal system is better than a lot of other countries. I, for one, am glad that my right to self-defense isn't given to me by the government.
JUST A LITTLE SEXY: Paula Zahn was apparently outraged at a recent CNN promo ad that lists her as "just a little sexy". At first I thought she was mad because she considers herself a lot sexy, but then I read the article and found that wasn't it at all.
There's no doubt in my mind that the victims of 9/11 should be taken care of, including some government help. However, I'm all for a careful review of the planned compensation. I'd be wary of creating more "culture of victimhood" minions who expect everything handed to them because of something that happened long in the past. And before you flame me as a right-wing lunatic, check out a recent U.N. report on the after-effects of Chernobyl:
'There is an incentive to get classified as a victim. People getting benefits think they should get more and more. They think everything should be done for them by someone else - it creates a huge sense of fatalism and pessimism, which means they don't get on with their life,' [Oksana] Garnets [head of the UN Chernobyl program] said.
It's a rare day that I agree with the U.N., but there you have it.
Now, I'm not a huge fan of the legal system in America, but even I admit it's a helluva lot better than some (most?) other places. For example, I think it's only fair that if someone wants to block SuSE Linux from being distributed, they should at least be willing to go public with it. None of this "[my] client wishes to get a settlement with "the opponent" [SuSE] and doesn't want to be named." I can only hope that if SuSE wins, they get to reclaim legal fees and rake their anonymous "opponent" over the public coals. Keep an eye on SuSE's Press page, as they promised to have a statement out in response within the next few days.
Looks like the weather has cleared up over western Maryland. It's time to initiate Project Get My Ass In Gear and head for Winchester.
The first photo on the Fainting Goats page (thanks to Cruel.com) just makes me laugh like crazy. Look at that poor little guy, all laid out like he got hit by a Mack truck. Hehehe.....
Yes, I know I'm a sick, sick man. Thank you.
I think I need to write a second article as a follow-up to my first one. The first one covers the problems, but there really needs to be a discussion of the steps to take for a solution. Oh well, something to add to the to-do list.
LOOK OUT, THEY'VE GOT LASERS! The Bridgeport Police Department that is. My radar detector suddenly started going nuts, saying it was getting hit by laser on the way back from dinner. I wasn't too worried, since I was going about 20mph in a 35 zone (thanks to all the snow & ice). Once I saw where the officer was sitting, I did what any other crazy person would do, I turned around and went back to talk to him. ;-)
He was nice enough, and we chatted for a while. Seems he was just back from four months of training down in Charleston. Just spending the evening getting used to the laser gun again. I, of course, wanted to take a picture of the laser gun, but he declined because he didn't think he "could let you [me] take photos of department equipment." Which is a load of bull, but it's not like he was being an ass about it. I mean, I'd say the same thing if I were in his position. Who wants the Chief to call you into his office to have a "chat" about some random bozo posting photos of laser guns on the web, right?
[From Smudge's post.]
Longhaired Radical Socialist Jew
(The Gospel Song)
Well, Jesus was a homeless lad
With an unwed mother and an absent dad.
And I really don't think he would have gotten that far
If Newt, Pat and Jesse had followed that star.
So let's all sing our praises to
that long-haired radical socialist Jew.
When Jesus taught the people he
Would never charge a tuition fee,
He just look some fishes and some bread
And served up free school lunches instead.
So let's all sing out praises to
That longhaired radical socialist Jew.
He healed the blind and made them see
He brought the lame to their feet
Rich and poor, any time, anywhere
Just pioneering that free health care.
So let`s all sing our praises to
That longhaired radical socialist Jew.
Jesus hung wth a low-life crowd
But those working stiffs sure did him proud.
Some were murderers, thieves and whores
But at least they didn't do it as legislators.
So let's all sing out praises to
That longhaired radical socialist Jew.
Jesus lived in troubled times
the religious right was on the rise,
Oh what could have saved him from his terrible fate?
Separation of church and state.
So let's all sing out praises to
That longhaired radical socialist Jew.
Sometimes I fall into deep despair,
When I hear those hypocrites on the air...
But every Sunday gives me hope
When pastor, deacon, priest, and pope
Are all singing out their praises to
Some longhaired radical socialist Jew.
They're all singing out their praises to
Some longhaired radical socialist Jew.
Hmm, well, I'm not going anywhere today. Hopefully tomorrow will look good enough to get me out of town.
Hrm, that got me thinking about the times I've "dealt" with cops before.
- When I was still in high school, I was driving through Berkley Springs, WV with my Grandma & Pop (Grandad). I had the cruise control set to 55 mph, and the line of cars behind me to prove it. A state trooper going the other way pulled a gravel-spitting u-turn and pulled me over for "76 in a 55". I told him that I had the cruise control set to 55, and didn't understand how I could have been going 76. (Not to mention that the taurus station-wagon I was driving would have exploded had I tried to drive it that fast. lol) He went back to his car to run my license, etc., and then gave me a written warning for 76 in a 55. To me, that was basically an admission that he'd fucked up, but I wasn't gonna press the issue.
- In early 1996 I was pulled over by a VA State Trooper in Mount Jackson district on I-81. His first words to me were "Didn't you just get pulled over going north-bound?" (I was headed south-bound, back to college. "Umm...... no." But, he gave me a ticket anyway. Now, I was speeding, probably about 72 in a 65, but he wrote me up for 78 in a 65. Of course, I'd have to sacrifice three days of school to drive back up to Mt. Jackson to defend against it, so I just paid it.
- I got pulled over in Blacksburg, VA for doing 43 in a 25. Thing is, no one in town drove that road like it was 25 mph. I told the cop that I thought it was a 35 zone (I lived across town at the time) and that I would slow down. Let me go with a verbal warning.
- Several times (four that I can think of), Blacksburg PD have responded to a distressed motorist or accident while I was there helping. I just want to say that Blacksburg PD are the most professional and courteous officers I've ever dealt with.
- I actually did a ride along (or Civilian Observation Patrol [COP, get it?] as I think it was actually called) with the Blacksburg PD. It was a lot of fun, and let me just say that those Chevy Caprice police models will haul ass when you push them. We dealt with a number of minor things (domestic complaints, noise, speeding), but the highlight of the evening was responding to a call out in the county. The Sheriff's Department was all on the other side of the county dealing with a suicide case when a local guy called to report that someone had followed him home from Roanoke. The Sheriff's Department asked Blacksburg PD to respond, and that's when I got to see what a Caprice will do.
- I ran into the median on I-81 while avoiding a collision one rainy night. A VA State Trooper stopped and called a wrecker for us. Since I didn't hit any signs or anything, there was no ticket. Polite enough, although I wouldn't call him friendly.
- Another state trooper responded to an accident in Christiansburg, VA. I left when he arrived, so I didn't really deal with him much. I was carrying at the time, and had no interest in hanging out with a State Trooper, lol. I was legal, mind you, just didn't want to deal with it if he noticed.
- I never had to deal with Virginia Tech Police any as a student, but I did have to get them to file a report once while I worked there. The officer who responded (I think it was the watch commander, but I don't remember anymore), was very professional as well.
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Those of you who have my PGP key should update it from the keyservers. My encryption subkey expires on 3/16/2002, and the update will get you the new encryption subkey.
While chatting earlier tonight, my friend Nicky mentioned that she and her dad were looking at naval wiring diagrams on the web. A quick Google search turned up this interesting site. These Univ. of Akron students built a submarine and then got to ride on the USS Nebraska at the invitation of the US Navy. Really well done site with some interesting information.
Dave Barry and my parents could probably sit down and share a few drinks while relating their computer woes to each other.
So, I mentioned that it was snowing when I got up to go to work. Photographs of the devastation...
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Look, Pat has a web cam now, and it works w/ AIM!
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| Pat's First Web Cam Pic (to me) |
I really like Raven Black's idea for replacing the 'A's in acronyms w/ ass. PETA: People for the Ethical Treatment of Ass. Just sounds so....misogynistic.
Oh no! Proof of the evil secret Bush agenda!
Wow, I was reading back issues of Moral Apathy when I came across a link to God's Ark of Safety. I drive by this place on my way to and from work each week. It never occurred to me that they would have a website, but now that I know, it doesn't suprise me.
Personally, I have to question the return on investment that God's getting out of this, but that's just my personal opinion. I mean, can you imagine the amount of food and assistance that you could provide to the needy for the cost of 3,000 tons of cement alone? But, hey, who am I to argue w/ God's Vision?
Want to get inside Alison's pants? (And really, who wouldn't?) Then check out the PantsCam! No more wasted hours of flirting only to be shot down! No more huge bar tabs hoping to get her drunk! Check out her underwear anytime you want!
Ok, this might be even more bizarre than yesterday's entry. Although that PC/104 based Single Board Computer is kinda neat.
IT'S SNOWING. They're calling for 3-5 inches overnight. Now, I'm as much in favor of snow as the next person, but this is really cramping my plans for travel on monday. My little car doesn't handle snow all that well. As a matter of fact, I skidded turning into the parking lot at work, while going a whopping 15 mph. Driving over 200 miles back to VA may be quite an interesting trip on Monday. So don't be suprised if I don't show up until Tuesday instead.
What the hell is up with my little hit counter thing? It was reading 410 earlier today, but now it says 390.