Land of Oz

The Pole

Most evenings on the way home I listen to public radio, specifically a news show called the The World. One of the features of this show is a geographical quiz. Today it was pretty simple, asking about something in the north that moves about 25 miles a year. Obviously to me, it was the North Pole. That wandering point in the world that guides people roughly north.

Once the answer was told, I got to wondering that for all I've read and heard about the North Pole moving, I've never heard anything about the South Pole. It almost has to move, but it does it move in direct relation to the North Pole?

Well, of course it does. But why isn't it ever mentioned like the North Pole?

2fers: South Pole #1 and South Pole #1

9/11 and Iraq

Again? I must admit, other than a few minutes I didn't bother with the President's speach last night. I watched up until the point he tied Iraq and 9/11 together again. I mean, really, hasn't that been proved pretty much conclusively that there wasn't a tie there - or nothing more than a nebulous tie at best? At that point I turned off both my interest and the TV before he started going on about Saddam's WMDs and how the insurgents were on their last legs. At least the President could come up with some new stuff to try and convince me that the war in Iraq is worthwhile.

Kinkos

Am I the only person this stuff happens to? Today I called Kinkos from work and asked how much it would cost to print out some PDF files. I told them I had around 100 pages on multiple PDFs on a CD. They said 8 cents a page. I asked is that all? Are you sure? They assured me that was all it would cost. HA!!

I went there after making a CD with the files. I asked about a computer to print these out. They pointed them out - oh by the way, it cost 20 cents a minute to use the computer and 49 cents to print a page!!! What the hell! The clerk told me if they printed them out it would only cost 8 cents a page, but if I used the computer to print them out it would cost more. Naturally, if I do the job myself it's going to cost 10 times as much. I said OK, you guys can do it. Again, I asked specifically if it would only cost 8 cents - no extra setups or anything? And again, he says yes.

OK - so write it up I say. He writes it up, and then says, I have to check the CD. OK, I say. Then he says - Oh, you have multiple files, it will cost you $1 to open each file. So rather than the $8 to print it out, now it's looking like $22 bucks or more. I said give me my damn disk back and walked out.

So, I get back home and decide to try out Kinkos online program. Guess what -- do you need to be told? Naturally, that after downloading and installing it doesn't work? The files have ended up somewhere lost on the Internet.

Raggin' on the Military

As you may have gathered from this blog, I tend to rag on the military quite a bit. I'd like to take some time to clarify that. It's not so much that I rag the military in general, but mostly only certain portions of it -- primarily the leadership and their policies.

Actually, I have many fond memories of the military, and actually wouldn't hesitate to advise anyone to enlist for a tour. Notice I said a tour, not a career. A career in the military definitely isn't for everyone and I wouldn't try to convince anyone it is. However, I think most people could be rewarded by a tour - one hitch and see if it fits. First of all, as you may have read a while back, the chance of actually getting killed in the military isn't really that high. I'd put my chances of surviving a military tour - even Iraq - as being better than surviving a trip through certain parts of Detroit or LA.

OK - my experience was the air force. Hardly the combat arms branch. If you're going to pick a branch to serve in, I'd advise the USAF. Not only is it safer, but you'll probably get a better education out of it as well. Living conditions are without a doubt better - even now. I spent 1973-1995 in the USAF and spent exactly two nights in a tent - and the tent had a wood floor and heater. The USAF paid for my Bachelor's degree and helped a lot on my Masters after I retired. While I was in, the USAF paid for two Associate degrees. My first technical school was 36 weeks long in electronics. I also spent 9 weeks learning how to drive heavy equipment and 9 weeks in planning how to handle disasters and NBC combat. That doesn't begin to count all the months I'd spent in leadership, refresher, and other technical training.

I did get to see the world. England, Greenland, Germany, Kansas, Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, and Korea are just some of the places I've been. I've seen the northern nights over Fairbanks in -60 degree weather and watched the fog roll into the Stonehenge circle at midnight. I've roamed topless beaches in Italy, 55 gallon drum fields in the Aleutian Islands and seen rice paddies in Korea. I've also ridden a bike (quickly) through Gypsy camps in England, missed terrorist's bomb explosions by hours in London and months in Saudi Arabia. I've been one plane ride away from a bomb in Italy and watched the Italian Communist party blockade our base. Forest fires in Alaska, tornados in Kansas and hurricanes in Mississippi also rounded out my tour. Try getting some of that experience at MacDonald or Seven-Eleven.

2fers US Air Force and US Navy p.s. you're gonna have to find the army and marines on your own...

Balrogs, vampires, gods

The other day I made some comments about arguing about Balrogs and Ogres. Right now I'm reading a story about Guardians, psivamps and Japanese soul eaters. So you can see, I do tend to like fictional horror stories and the lot. What surprises me are those people who tend to get upset about this subject. First, it's fiction, which means it isn't meant to be taken as truth. However, say it wasn't written as fiction. There are a lot of stories out there that would like you to take them as truth.

Which brings me to my second point - those folks who look askance at orcs, gremlins and djinns. These tend to be the same folks who read bibles and take that at face value. Come on, is a wraith really that much harder to believe in than some god who is three-in-one, one of those three being a ghost? And why is it so hard to believe that some gal can drink you blood and live forever when there's some guy who ran around Bethlehem a couple thousand years ago who offered you his blood, then died and came back to life.

Why is one fairy tale unbelievable yet another taken as complete and absolute truth? Personally, I haven't seen any more of Jesus than I have of griffins or valkyries. Why is it any more believable that some guy can feed thousands with a couple of fish and hard rolls, than it is that a pyrokinetic can light your cigarette without a Zippo?

Oh, and about the other - nope, Balrogs don't have wings, more like a cape of darkness, and nope, an Ogre isn't going to squish its own maintenance folks (unless of course, it has to).

2fers: Ramen Noodles and Melinda's Hot Sauce

We aren't them.

This article is the kind of tactic that a government uses that really pisses me off. Euphemisms, double-talk and newspeak ala Orwell. They aren't doctors while they are administering to prisoners, they're "behavioral scientists." They say "medical personnel 'were not driving the interrogations' but were there as consultants." Also, The guidelines include prohibitions against doctors' participating in abusive treatment, but they all make an exception for "lawful" interrogations. And we all know that the White House has made just about anything "lawful" since they are dealing with people outside any regulations or treaties.

Now let me address some of the other issues here. Especially the way that certain prisoners are being treated. Sleep deprivation, threats with dogs, handcuffed to walls and spending the night bound on a cold floor are all tortures to me. I don't care what frosting you try to cover this with, it's torture. We bitched when China and North Korea did things like to our guys, but now it's OK for use to do. Yes - they did worse. They beat, bound, maimed and otherwise severely tortured our guys. But that doesn't make it right for us to do the same.

We aren't them. That to me is the whole idea of the USofA. Let me emphasize that We aren't them. Yes, they do behead people -- they rape and shoot people in the head -- they blow up innocent men, women and children -- they are indeed bloodthirsty, savage and reprehensible creatures who don't deserve the title of human. BUT, we aren't them.

We aren't always the good guys in white hats who come riding out of the sunrise to save the town from the bandits. We aren't that good. We try, but we have our faults. But that doesn't mean we have to stoop to the depraved depths they do. Yes, that handicaps us in some ways, but that's the way it is. We need to keep to the high road. If they're are terrorist and we have proof - execute them or keep them locked up until hell freezes over, but don't torture them - they do the torturing. We don't.

We need to get our international shit together and Guantánamo isn't helping. Close it down or open it up, but do something. We aren't them.

Then and Now

Washington Post Staff Writer - Friday, June 24, 2005; 12:39 PM:

With Jafari standing a few feet away, Bush said, "There are not going to be any timetables. I have told this to the prime minister. We are there to complete a mission, and it's an important mission." He said, "Why would you say to the enemy: Here's a timetable, just go ahead and wait us out? It doesn't make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you're conceding too much to the enemy." (emphasis mine)

Thursday, May 1, 2003 - About two years and 1500 dead ago...
and yes, I like this picture so much, I've used it twice.

Jeez

    2005 Escalade EXT $58,675.00
    STANDARD EQUIPMENT $54,185.00
    Road-sensing suspension with electronically controlled     shock absorbers
     Tow/Haul mode
     Vortec 6000 V8 engine with 345 HP
     Fuel Tank 26.0 gal
     EPA estimated 13 mpg city
    PACKAGES & OPTIONS $4,490.00
     Select Edition Marketing Promotion Vehicle, includes (CF5) Sunroof,
     (UM8) Sound system, ETR AM/FM stereo
     with CD player and DVD navigation,
     and (N94) 17" x 7.5" (43.2 cm x 19.1 cm) 7-spoke chrome aluminum

Can you believe this? Just what your beer guzzling, Earnhardt worshipping, second cousin marrying, bottom land farmer needs for haulin' bushels of corn to the still. A 345 HP pickup truck made by Cadillac of all places.

Really, what on earth is this good for? Hauling brie and champagne to a tailgater at Somerset Place? Seems to me you have the worst of both worlds here. The expense of a luxury vehicle wrapped up in the driveability of a truck. Something you can't afford or park. There's a nice two-bedroom house across the street from me that's cheaper than this truck. I'll bet there's a bunch of these things pulled up next to the local co-op on Saturday mornings picking up a bag or two of chicken feed.

2fers: Michigan Farm and Feed and Somerset collection

‘..And Whether Balrogs Have Wings

Do Balrogs have wings? It might seem a simple question, but (as so often with Tolkien's work) the more we examine it, the harder it is to answer. It's a question, too, that divides Tolkien's more avid readers into two distinct camps - those who believe in Balrog wings, and those who deny their existence.

Pardon me for doing quotes the last few days, but they've been catching my eye lately.

I've never understood how people can spend so much time and effort arguing about fictional things - and such esoteric things as this. Gas is near $3 a gallon, a few GIs a week are getting blown away in the Middle East, our crime ridden city just laid off 7 cops, and we spend time arguing about winged Balrogs.

Actually, I suppose, it's things like whether or not Balrogs have wings that make it possible for a lot of us to deal with random drive-by shootings and people driving 300 horsepower trucks bitching about the price of gas. If it wasn't for the fact that we can disconnect from reality and put real-word behind for awhile, we'd go nuts. But really, winged Balrogs - who cares. Now if you want to argue about whether an Ogre would kill its own mechanic or not -- that's different.

2fers: Ogres and Nuke Armed Hobbits

Think About This...

Psychic Detectives
NBC June 22 08:00pm
Series/Documentary, 60 Mins.

"Strange Obsession; End of the Road", Episode #216/211.
Psychic Carol Pate answers a mother's call for help locating her estranged daughter; psychic Noreen Renier aids police on a missing persons case.

I have no idea about this TV show, but it's obviously about detectives who are psychic.

OK - why do they come in after the crime? If they're psychic, why not stop the crime first? And why does the mother have to call? Wouldn't Carol know the mother needs help? I guess Noreen aids the cops about finding the person - but why only aid? If she's a psychic, why not just find the person? I don't get it...

Justice?

Forty-one years to the day after three civil rights workers were beaten and shot to death, an 80-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman was found guilty of manslaughter Tuesday in a trial that marked Mississippi's latest attempt to atone for its bloodstained, racist past.

OK - I'm all for justice as well as the next guy, however. Forty-one years ago this KKK asshole killed some kids. Today, he was found guilty of it. I'm curious how much money was spent over the last forty-one years to put this 80 year old guy in jail.

I live in a city that is rapidly rusting away both materially and emotionally. You can drive down the mainstreet in town and it gives reminders of newsreels I've seen in Europe after World War II. There's about 60,000 people left in the ruins of this town. There's still somewhere around a dozen or so murders that are unsolved just in the last year or two. How about spending some of the money that's been wasted on idiots like Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, OJ and an 80 year old KKK ding-a-ling on solving murders that are happening here and now.

Beans + Beer = wooooo!

I found this quote in an article about chili:

Richard L. Potts, M.D., addressed this problem in an article for Chile Pepper magazine, when I was the editor. "The combination of beans and beer tastes good to me--way too good," he wrote. "The problem is, a couple of hours later, it's rumble time, usually followed by eructation (belching), distention, and, eventually, dreaded flatulence. It's only a matter of time before the enzymes in my small intestine reject my beans and beer. They are unable to digest, chemically, all that I have consumed. A little further along, two non-absorbable carbohydrates face off against the intestinal bacteria down there in my large intestine. The resulting chemical clash produces various gasses in quantities large enough to inflate the Goodyear Blimp. Ever so slowly, the gas accumlates. It pushes outward. It meets resistance. The skin covering my belly stretches. My colon is swollen. The expansion continues as the gas seeks the path of least resistance, and with various embarrassing sounds, vents my body."

First 500, Now F1

What is it with Indianapolis and racing? Has the rust apathy of Detroit spread south? Just last month I bitched about how they managed to ruin the Indy 500. Now they do it to Formula One. Now if you're the average American, you'll probably react with a "Formula What?? - so who cares anyway?" You probably stuff Formula One (F1), in the rare event you even hear about it, with soccer, the euro and degrees centigrade.

To me, F1 is car racing at its best. The drivers have to know how to make right-hand turns as well as making left-hand turns. The road surface may change from concrete to asphalt to whatever and most turns are the same flat turns you and I have to make as we drive down to 7/11 to pick up a six pack of Heineken beer and a snack pack of foi gras and brie. There are actually racing teams that are based on automotive brands, like Ferrari, Renault and Toyota. And above all, magnificently engineered automobiles.

I can't say that I have any real idea of exactly what happened at Indy. It seems that Michelin, whose tires were being used by about eleven cars decided that the Indy track as set up was too fast for them. The remaining six cars, using Bridgestone tires, were ready to do it to it like Pruet used to do it. Michelin cried "Foul" our tires can't handle the speed - you must slow the race down. Bridgestone smiled and said, "that's not our problem, mes ami, wave that green flag." F1 took the stand that, OK Michelin, you knew the track just like Bridgestone did. We aren't going to penalize Bridgestone because you're too stuckup to admit you screwed up and your tires suck today. Race what you brung. (Mind you, I'm paraphrasing here).

So, everyone lined up to race and at green, Michelin took their tires and went home, leaving six cars to run the Indy Grand Prix! Can you imagine paying a couple of hundred bucks to watch the world's finest cars and drivers run and then have 3/4 of them quit and go home because they chose the wrong equipment to race? What is in the air at Indy? Why is that racetrack doing such an outstanding job of screwing up races. It's not like US fans have a lot of choices in F1. If you don't have cable TV (yes - I'm still one of the luddites who depends on rabbit ears and beneficial skip conditions for his television) you rarely get to see a red Ferrari do its thing on a track. This certainly isn't going to help.

P.S. It's nice to know American fans behavior was as expected: "The only two problems centred on the need for Schumacher's left rear Bridgestone to be replaced in his first pit stop, possibly as a result of a spectator throwing a beer bottle on to the track;…"

2fers Formula One and Ferrari

Prisons

Did you know the USofA has one of the highest prison population per capita in the world? And it keeps getting bigger. I was talking with the neighbors today about jobs - here in Saginaw unemployment is around 8.5% (one of the highest and state that has the highest in the nation). One of their grandkids finally found a job as a prison guard. About the only the growing employment market here. And that really sucks. For so many reasons.

Prisons suck for so many reasons. First, many of those in there shouldn't be. Mandatory drug sentences for the lost war on drugs puts many kids in there. And what do they get out of prison? Most of the time nothing that helps. Often it's just a better lesson in crime. Meanwhile, idiots that do dangerous crimes like robbery and assault seem to be getting out early. I guess they have to make room in the prison for the 25 year old kid smoking pot.

I wish I had an answer for what to do but I don't. I see there being two kinds of criminals. Those that hurt others and those that don't. Prisons need to address that. They shouldn't be mixed. There's no reason for some dope smoking shoplifter to be exposes to rapists and murderers. There needs to be some rehabilitation done. They need to be taught - back to high school subjects. How to read and do math and where in the world is Lake Victoria. Not how to boost a car or make a shiv from a toothbrush.

I'm also a great fan of the three strikes and you're out. If you can't figure out society's rules after three chances, you don't deserve any more chances. I don't care if the third strike is stealing a pizza - stealing pizzas is wrong. Hit some smartass in a bar for the third strike - you're out of here and into the clink. Hopefully to stay. We don't need people who can't play nice.

I know this rambled and verged on incoherent, but so be it. That's pretty much the way I see the prison program in the USofA these days.

The Rich Get Richer

I was reading today about a company (Co. A) that is being looked by another company (Co. B) as a purchase. The big wigs in Co. B felt the need to set themselves up with a pretty substantial "golden parachute." If Co. A decides to buy Co. B, the execs in Co. B will get severance packages of 18, 12 or 6 months pay along with a bunch of reimbursed vacation, sick time, accrued pay, up to 55% salary bonuses and other goodies. The peons of Co. B weren't mentioned. I'm gathering they'll get a pat on the ass when Co. A tosses them out the door.

Toyota

Have you heard? Toyota is thinking about raising the prices of their cars. The reason - so they say - is to help GM and other US car makers. Toyota is said to fear American backlash if GM or Ford go down the tubes because of perceived damage from Toyota.

Let's see here. GM is using around 85% of its production and Toyota is using 107% of theirs. GM is trying to think of any kind of discount they can to sell more GM cars. Toyota is going for sticker price. You may think me untrustworthy here, but could it be Toyota is raising their prices because they are selling more cars now than they can make for whatever they want to charge for them? And by raising their price, they will now only sell as many as they can and make more money on those they sell? Naw, couldn't happen.

2fers Toyota and GM

Fisher House

Here's a way to help some of those who have ended up messed up by the wars going on right now. There's an organization called "The Fisher House" that can use your help. It's set up to help out the families of folks who are in military hospitals. It's a place to stay while they visit. They also help out with travel and other things that the visitors need.

One of the problems of getting wounded in the military is you have no control over the location of your recovery. You got wounded in Afganistan and then medivaced to Germany and transferred to Walter Reed. All the while you may have been based in Kansas where your spouse still is and your parents are back in Mississippi where you were born. Fisher House gives these folks a way to visit you while you're recovering. Take a minute to check out their web site and then send them a few bucks.

sad

The number next to the date is how many US military died in Iraq on that date.


These come from Antiwar.com. Obviously not impartial, but I believe it's accurate.

Death

As much as I bitch about our folks being killed in Iraq Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) (the list) 1555. This number pales besides some other numbers:

In the first quarter of this year, there were 206,970 accidents causing casualties in China, resulting in 30,597 deaths, according to a news release by the GAWS.

Tsunami deaths soar past 212,000

California Homicides for 2002 = 2395

Yet every year more than 10 million children, mostly from low- and middle-income countries, die before the age of five.

The total number of people killed in highway crashes in 2001 was 42,116

By the way, I didn't check these figures out or try to look for inflated or deflated figures. All I did was search on deaths, statistics and a subject and copied the first result that gave me some numbers.

// posted by Jim-of-oz @ 6/10/2005 05:53:00 PM

Recruiters

Recruiters do have a rough duty in a lot of ways. They have to sell kids whose biggest decision was probably what kind of beer of to drink, into making a multiyear commitment to a completely alien life. This isn't like going to summer camp for week or even like going to college - you can drop out of college without being labeled a deserter.

My recruiter was Wayne "Robbie" Roberts - even after 30 years you don't forget - and I don't hold any grudges. Me enlisting was a good choice on my part and he made it possible. I can't say he told me the whole truth. I don't think he actually lied, but there was significant stuff left unsaid. He was actually the third recruiter I dealt with. With the second, I changed my mind just before (literally just before) I said "I do." The first, a Navy recruiter just blew me off. It took a year between tries for me to actually enlist.

What is now becoming common knowledge is that once the military has your "I do" they can pretty much do what they want with you. It wasn't always that way - common knowledge I mean. The fact that the military could arbitrarily extend your enlistment or change your job "promises" or send you places other than what you were "promised" was sort of hinted at, but not really known.

In my case, I never did really get my first choice of an assignment (northern Michigan) - or even my second or third. For me, after the first couple of years, I'd volunteer for anywhere else as soon as I go to wherever I was. I ended up with about 12 assignments in 22 years. I never got my job of choice and when it was all over and done with, couldn't even retire after 20 years like I planned. But, it paid for two Associates, Bachelor's and Master's Degree and sent me to places like Rimini Italy, Oberammergau Germany, the Midlands of England, and Colorado as highs and Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Shemya Alaska, and Merced California as lows. All in all, my life could've been a lot worse.

Army Hurting

Ouch! The US Army and to a certain extent, the US Marines are really starting to feel the pinch from Iraq. Not only in killed and maimed bodies in Iraq, but also back home in the USofA. Recruiting goals have been missed by so much that the military is lowering quotas so the percentages don't look quite so bad. They've also been lowering standards for enlisted folk. I think for the last couple of months, the Army is looking at misses of somewhere near 30-40%.

Yesterday, I also read that the Army is lowering its standards for officers. They are raising the age limits, and allowing those with certain "legal" problems to get a commission. It's good to know that in this time where the military rank and file is supposed get smarter about its mission and what is right and wrong, the Army is allowing folks in who might already have some problems with right and wrong.

By the way, I'm not attacking the recruiters. Most of them are pretty honorable given the circumstances of their job. They have to convince kids that some training and money is worth taking the chance of being shot at or blown up in some foreign country. Although, the way things are becoming in a lot of cities, patrolling Baghdad is probably safer than working in a 7-11 in Detroit or Los Angeles. At least you get to wear body armor. In fact, see the next entry about my experience with recruiters.

2fers: US Army Recruiting and US Marines Recruiting

Does He, or Doesn't He

Once you start, you can't stop. As long as I'm name dropping.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

He says he hasn't had plastic surgery - yeah... right...
Sorry, couldn't resist.

Criminals

Here I go again, name dropping; Schapelle Corby. Perhaps this name doesn't ring the same kind of bell as Oliver Stone or Macaulay Culkin - at least not unless you're Australian or Indonesian. You see, there's a big stink about Schapelle being busted for drugs. There's been riots, threats against embassies and other hoopla about Corby being busted and sentenced. Here's a quote: "Australia is beginning to assess the fall-out from the extraordinary public anger at the jailing last month of 27-year-old Schapelle Corby. The former beauty therapy student was sentenced to 20 years in jail by an Indonesian court for drug trafficking."

Yes - that's her picture at the beginning of this entry. An attractive blue-eyed blonde. How could such a person do such a thing. Do you think there'd be near the same uproar if Corby looked like this instead?

I'll have to admit, that I'd feel the same way. How could such an attractive young girl do such a thing? Make a big fast profit and buy the latest Fendi bag? Naw, that couldn't be it. But take that grizzled bearded hulk of a guy. Obviously, he has no need of some money to feed his family and 3 kids. He's just going to blow the bucks on booze and Harley gas. Sigh...

Hot!

Well, I hope all you folks who kept bitching about winter and kept crying about summer are happy. It's in the 90s during the day and only gets down into the 70s at night. That Fahrenheit degrees by the way - another thing the USofA hasn't quite grasped yet. However you measure it, it's hot. The problem with hot, is there isn't much you can do to cool off except spend money on A/C.

At least in the winter when the house is cool, you can toss on some sweats or long underwear. Even outside, you toss on a coat or another layer of two of cold weather stuff. That polypropylene will do wonders when you're looking at below zero weather.

However in the summer you're stuck. You can only take off so much. Even naked, you're not much cooler than you are with shorts and a t-shirt. And of course, it's a little hard to walk around naked outside in the high temps and humidity. Not only will the mosquitoes raise hell with all your bare skin, so will the police. And for most, especially in chubby America, naked bodies aren't much fun to look at. It'd be different if we all looked like Jessica Alba or Tom Cruise, but the fact is most of us look like Danny Devito and Kate Smith -- and who'd want to see them naked. Heaven help you if you see me naked - it'd take years off your life.

I can't wait until it snows again!!!!!!!

Shameful and Disgusting

Nope, this isn't about Iraq - after all, they used mostly bombs, but Detroit. There's an article today in the Detroit Free Press about some guy in a ski mask coming up to EMTs with a patient (Lemuel Rutledge, a 17 year old kid) on a stretcher. The guy tells the EMTs to "Watch Out" and then shoots the kid with a shotgun.

The suspect, though unidentified seems to be a guy Lemuel IDed for another murder. Lemuel said this guy is known in the neighborhood as both a drug dealer and a hit man. Detroit police have listed him as one of the city's most wanted. How can someone be known as a both a drug dealer and hit man and still be free?

What is this country coming to? How have we come to the level where known felons can walk up to EMTs and shoot the patient they are working on? Screw Iraq right now. Detroit is supposed to be losing 600 police officers this summer because of budget woes. Our city, also in Michigan is losing 10% of its police force. And we have known murderers walking around shooting people on stretchers!

We need to bring those 140,000 troops back home from Iraq and invest that money into fixing our cities. Quit worrying so much about some terrorist flying an airplane into Trump Tower and worry about the 50,000 or so murders that happen in this country.

If this shooting doesn't disgust people and make them wake up, then we are lost. Why worry about some cancer patient smoking some weed. Make it legal and take the profit away from the murdering dealers. Take the money and effort wasted busting marijuana smokers and put some of the murderers and rapist and assaultists and other victimizers into some deep dark hole and forget about them.

Searching

Did you ever wonder what people are looking for when they're on the web? My hosting service provides some tracking that returns some of the terms that people use during a search that brings them to my illustrious site. Either this bantering blog or my hobby site Over the last couple of days, people (sometimes multiple times) have searched for the following and ended up here.

sears shop vac
PAUL IKEMBA
sweet gwendoline
michigan illegal price mismarked
khobar towers
biker babes flashing
rahal racing
toothpick
calendar short-timer
cape romanzof
701 MUNSS (this has been corrected)
sears belt sander

I have no idea what biker babes flashing means, but Sweet Gwendoline is the name of my New Beetle (and of a erotic comic strip).

2fers: Rimini AFD and Khobar

Security Cameras

Why bother? I have to wonder why people even bother with security cameras these days. Most of the ones used seem to be of such crappy quality that the pictures they take are useless. Today I read two articles about crimes that were caught on security cameras - with no help. In one episode, some guy grabbed a woman in an apartment complex and hauled her off in his car. Neither the asshole or the victim could be identified. In another article some other asshole knocked down a 78 year old women and stole $11 from her purse. Again, no identification could be made.

Have you ever seen the images these things take? While I'm sure there are some that have usable images, most of those published look a lot like this one - usually with the caption, "If you can identify this person, please call CRIMESTOPPERS." Most of the time, you couldn't even tell it was a person unless the caption made note of it.

It's funny, I was going to Photoshop some image to make a satirical image of how useless most bank robbery images are. No need to. The photo here is an actual photo from a news article. At first I thought it was my Uncle Ned, but his earlobes aren't quite so long. Of course, if this was CSI or Law & Order, you could hand that image over to your trusty forensics geek, and she/or he would return you an 8x10 photo with the person's birth certificate (which just happens to be sticking out of his jacket pocket a tad) enlarged with enough detail to show his doctor's fingerprints on it.

What's actually needed is a security cam like the ones carried by Predators out in Iraq. You know, the ones that have Hellfire missiles tucked under a wing. I'd pay money to see the last image returned by the Hellfire as it flew up that purse snatcher's rectum.

2fers: Hellfire Missile and Predator UAV