Land of Oz

Think Again

Another reason why I think religious people aren't quite all here. Around the world people are starving to death, dying of disease, and killing each other in wars so old, they don't even remember why they started anymore. On a purely materialistic level, people can't afford their doctor or house payment and ignore one and lose the other. Children are killing and raping other children in the cities and you have teenagers feeding their babies crack.

And with all that, people are going to waste their time and efforts praying so they can pay less for gas! If anything demonstrates just how completely fucked up we are getting, it has to be the fact that a church group is going to gather at a gas station to pray for cheap gas! How many SUVs do you think will be in worship?

They have a Web site (and a toll free number of course) and not only can you worship on it, but you can also place your order for a NutriSystem diet plan, get a free cell phone and get $5 in free calls to the Philippines. And the most annoying part of it, is that I'm only guessing mind you, but they are also probably tax free.

Labels: gripes, religion

Apple vrs. PC

I finally gave up on my Apple Mighty Mouse mouse. I've tried, but I miss right-clicking too much. Yep, I know there's keyboard shortcuts to do that stuff, but I really prefer the ease of right-clicking. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Radio Shack had optical Logitech mouses for half-price, so my new mouse only cost me $10. I unplugged the old and plugged in the new, and the iMac kept on trucking with nary a hiccup, except that I can now right-click with my dropdown of options just like the evil Microsoft OS.

Oh, and the other day, I tried out the Apple Express wireless modem. I wanted to listen to Internet radio down in my workshop which is in the basement. I have an old stereo down there, but being underground with the only station I care for on the ragged edge of receptability (?), I couldn't get it too well. There's Internet radio gadgets out there, but they're surprisingly hard to find in brick and mortar stores (at least here in the rust belt) and they're pretty expensive. I ran across the Express by accident in some article and it seemed it would do just what I wanted. I'm running the Apple Extreme wireless in WPA mode in the house right now.

I decided to take the chance and order one and in a few days it was there. I think it took about 20 minutes and a couple trips up and down the stairs before everything was working OK. The instructions (at least to me) weren't the clearest, but I got the job done. It's cool - I can tune in a station, log out to let others use the computer and listen to the music downstairs. Not even the power tools and fluorescent lights have seemed to bother it too much. Good product.

Labels: apple, computers

Surveys

Here's another subject that really bothers me. How can people make conclusions based on survey answers? One today read, "One in six drivers drink sometimes: report." This was reporting about how many people drive drunk. This reminds me of the police scam where they send letters to people with warrants and let them know they've won a free TV or car or some such stuff. When the bad guys shows up, the cops toss them in the slammer.

The cops should try a survey scam. Ask people on the street if they've indulged in some kind of illegal action like using illegal drugs, shoplifting or even, say, driving while impaired. Then when the moron says, "Yes, yes I did drive drunk," they can toss him in the can.

I've taken surveys about stuff. Do I like Coke or Pepsi (Coke) or how often do I shop at Lowes (too often). Stuff like this I don't mind talking about. Even politics is OK. You know the kind, "If the election were held today, who would you vote for? Candidate A, B or C."

I don't do the stupid ones however. You know the kind, the kind with two or three questions that are written with one answer in mind, like, "I oppose letting vicious murders out early so they can terrorize my neighborhood and stomp on my pets? Do you strongly agree, agree or disagree?" I've noticed that those types of surveys usually also ask for a donation of some kind.

So, the next time a survey asks you "Do you cheat on your taxes? Yes or No," will you disagree, strongly disagree or follow your questioner to court?

Labels: government, gripes, scams

Weekend shootings kill 6, wound 23

Nope, not Baghdad or Tibet, or even Detroit. This weekend it's the idiots in Chicago who have nothing better to do that shoot each other. I read that last summer, the My Kind of Town city had 23 shootings every weekend. Not my kind, I'll tell you. And the headline just below it? More felons allowed to enlist in Army, Marines. I guess they figure they need more people from Chicago and Detroit to serve. I can remember when having a misdemeanor meant having problems getting in - although that was the Air Force, which coincidently perhaps, was just blamed for not doing its fair share in Iraq - as if they can decide when and where to protect the USofA on their own??

And on a related issue, it seems like Michigan finally has an industry where, unlike the automotive industry, has more customers than they know what to do with. It's nice to know that once again Michigan is in the top ten rate for violent crimes and incarceration rates. And considering that half the state is woods, that's saying something.

Labels: crime, michigan

Elitism

I love the presidential candidates arguing about who is the least elite. As if any of them have any idea of the average joe american. When's the last time you figure Hillary wore clothes from Sears or Walmart or grabbed a quick lunch at Macdonalds - without it being a set up photo op anyway. Come on, she made $100 million dollars in the last few years! How many common Americans have done that? Not to mention attending Wellesley College and Yale.

Obama isn't any better. His house, according to the Chicago Tribune, "a 96-year-old Georgian revival home that has four fireplaces, glass-door bookcases fashioned from Honduran mahogany, and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar...", cost him $1.65 million ($300,000 under asking price). BTW, that whole real estate deal is interesting - does anyone else notice that Obama has a lot of old acquaintances who have suddenly become bad choices? And his alma mater, Columbia University isn't exactly a community college either.

Now both of them are trying to be like what they think the average American is. Bowling, beer drinking and eating hot dogs. Let's face it, what chance does the average American really have to become president? Even if you came from average roots, by the time you've become a viable candidate, you've traveled so far from those roots, you'll be lucky to remember them.

Labels: celebs, government, gripes

Draka

Have you ever heard of the series of books written by S.M. Stirling concerning the alternate world of the Draka. The Draka are a people consisting mostly of loyalists and slave owners who settle in South Africa after the USofA Revolution. They manage to conquer the rest of Africa, followed by Asia, Europe and eventually the Americas. I think the stories are great and have re-read them several times. The first, Marching Through Georgia, is the best and the rest seem to lose a little as the series winds on. (BTW, I think the Georgia in the title can be thought of the Georgia in both Europe and the Americas).

The stories bring up some interesting thoughts about slavery and cruelty and power. Is slavery all that bad compared to other free life styles? Does being a mom living free in Darfur watching your kid starve to death beat being a slave who is housed and fed? And how does what degree of slavery matter? How do you balance a domestic slave cleaning a house twelve hours a day with a slave in a mine being worked to death in ten years?

How about power? Is a Draka who conquers for the sake of conquering and kills to conquer better than a Nazi who kills for the sake of racial purity? Is there a difference? Depending on the roll of the dice being a slave to a Draka might not be all that bad. You work 12 hours a day, get fed, watered and have visits to the vet as needed. As a free American, many people work 12 hours a day, eat and try to afford a doctor. OK, some would argue you're free, but to what end?

I have a pretty good life now. A couple miles away people are living in dumps with bullets coming through their raggedy walls, and will be lucky to graduate high school and have a one-in-ten chance of ending up in jail before they're 30, and whose idea of fun is watching the drug dealer on the corner making change.

Sometimes you have to wonder just how much freedom is too much?

Labels: crime, government, reading

701

By the way, that last post was number 700!

Labels: rave

Sports Fans

Let me be the first to admit, that I'm not much of a sports fan. I like to watch pro football and soccer and know enough about most sports to at least follow a conversation between others about it. I know what an eagle and bogie are, what a screen pass is, that you have to hit a red ball before a numbered ball, the significance of "180!" and "full pull" and why you do a burnout prior to a quarter-mile run.

On the other hand, I don't quite know what the infield fly or dropped third strike rules are, why a drop kick is or isn't used, why hockey players are allowed to fight, or when is touching a foul in basketball and when isn't it.

Given that, I find the extremes of many sport fans had to believe. We have a few die-hard baseball fans in our office. The state team, the Detroit Tigers, is 2 and 10 as of today. From what I've read, they've spent obscene amounts of cash on super baseball players (the second highest payroll in the overinflated salary world of MLB) and were selected by Sports Illustrated (the magazine with the annual babes in bikinis issue) as winning it all. So far, even to my unexpert eye, they've sucked. But there's always fans who never say die, like the one blogger who said about the Tigers, "The good news is they are 2 of their last 5." And this line is what inspired this entry in the first place.

I guess that's why the only difference between fans and fanatics is what's in their attic.

Labels: misc

President

This year's election is the pits. My original plan was to vote Democratic. However, I live in Michigan and the Democrats decided that Michigan voters don't really count. That got me to thinking why should I vote for a party that has already decided to abandon us Michigan voters? That leaves the Republicans (let's face it, we don't have a multi-party system). That party's leader has gotten so Big Brother thinking, that they downright scare me. Can McCain be better - or will he continue the police state we're working up to. After all, he has said he sees the war going on for another hundred years.

Even if the Democrats hadn't abandoned us, these two candidates are scary. One compares herself to a war-story telling combat vet - that not only pisses me off, it disgusts me. Sniper fire indeed. Before that, there's just something about her, that bothers me. I can't really put my finger on it, but there's no way I'd vote for her. It's not that she's a woman, I did vote for Ferraro in '84. And being Clinton doesn't bother me, I did vote for her sometimes husband.

The other Democrat bothers me as well. As much as I hate to say it, I'm sure race has something to do with that. Ever since leaving the USAF and moving into Saginaw, my racial outlook has been deteriorating amidst shootings, drug deals and arsons. But that's not all it is. The fact that Obama can follow a hate-preaching, anti-American preacher for twenty years and then dump him once the preacher becomes a vote hindrance really bothers me. Do I believe Obama's past twenty years of belief, or his past twenty weeks. I'm not too pleased with Obama's choice of realtors either.

On a practical side, I don't think he has much in the way of political or life experience. Granted, the current President shows you don't need much knowledge to be president, but I'm hoping for a change to something better.

There you have it. The three current candidates; none of whom I'm really forward to as the leader of our country. Maybe I'll just move to Taiwan with my wife under President Ma.

Labels: government, michigan

Cars I've Owned

I just saw an Andy Rooney video about his visit to the International Car Show and was struck by the fact that he said he owned about 13 cars. That caused me to think about just how many cars I've owned. Some memorable and some not so memorable.

• 1963? VW Convertible - I should note that this wasn't really owned by me. I paid for it, but never got the title and sold it back for the same price. Also, there was no body except for the front seats and windshield. But it did run.
• 1971 Chevy Nova - My first real car bought new. It was Silver with an added black stripe had a 3 speed floor shifter, black vinyl interior and a 307 V-8. Later had air shocks, glass packs, fire extinguisher on the hump, chrome reverse wheels and wide tires in the back.
• 1969 Opel GT - Silver and looked like a baby 'vette. Handled like a dream. Added a switch to turn off the brake lights. Brakes needed replacement often.
• 1972? VW Fastback (lemon) - had leaky fuel injection. Was bought during the fuel crisis in the 1974. Coasted it into the VW lot to trade in on the Thing.
• 1970? Chevy Nova - emergency replacement. Pieces (mirrors, windows, etc.) literally would fall off while driving down the road. Didn't own too long.
• 1975 VW Thing. Great car. Owned it for 10 years with one engine replacement in England. Originally cream, later painted olive drab. Top replaced. Stupidly traded it in on my Cavalier.
• 1985 Chevy Cavalier. Second great car. Bright yellow with manual and no A/C. Owned it for 10 years and never-ever had a problem. At the time I sold it, it still had everything original except for muffler and tires, hoses and belts. Same brakes, spark plugs, no accidents, etc. Power steering was just starting to act up. Two months after I sold it, the new owner wrecked it.
• 1995 Chevy S10 Pickup (lemon). Nothing but trouble from the day I bought it. Cruise control, speakers, radio, and lights, were some of the problems the dealer had to fix. Totalled it after about six months in Fresno, California.
• 1996 Saturn SW-2 Wagon. Dark blue-green. Not a bad car, but nothing great. Basic transportation that slowly started to fall apart after four years.
• 2001 VW New Beetle. Another bright yellow car. Turbocharged engine and manual transmission (as have they all been). Lots of minor troubles and a dealer that is the pits have made this a less that fantastic experience. But, overall, not a bad ride. Good mileage and fun to drive.

So, there you have it. Ten cars in thirty-eight years. Two of those cars covered twenty years and two other cars have covered over ten. There's been four Volkswagens, four Chevies, an Opel and a Saturn.

Labels: driving, oldies

Crime is Crime

I've been following a blog entry about a fellow citizen who using a web cam, caught some lowlife stealing Netflix DVDs from his mailbox. I just love this story. What also interests me are the comments. I'm guessing (hoping) a couple of the comments are from trolls, but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't. I've seen the same basic comments, although perhaps a bit more literate, appearing in other topics where a rather minor crime has occurred and the dirtbag who did it was caught and convicted. For some reason people seem to be upset that someone can actually get serious punishment for a crime.

Probably the best examples are from the various three strikes and you're out stories. The most well known is probably the guy who stole a slice of pizza and was convicted to 25 to life. [Note: he had six prior felony charges, is 6-foot-4 and took the pizza from some kids, and two, he was let out after six years]. Another crime that raised a stink lately was some guy who got time for stealing a donut from some lady. The one I started with was some kid who was convicted of a federal crime of stealing Netflix DVDs and fined $750 which some people seemed to think harsh.

OK - here's my take on this. All these people were convicted of crimes. Whether it was a slice of pizza, a donut or a DVD, they were convicted of stealing stuff that didn't belong to them from another person of whom the stuff did belong to. Would you rather the dirtbag beat a kid over the head with a lead pipe before stealing the pizza? The criminal obviously doesn't feel he has follow society's laws about not taking stuff that doesn't belong to . Granted, I'd like to see the punishment for stealing a car harder than for stealing a donut, but I still want to see punishment. Crime is a crime and people seem to be forgetting that. Snitch! - Improve your neighborhood!

BTW, the other night on my walk, the police stopped me and asked if I'd seen a loose dog they'd had a complaint on. I can't tell you how nice it is to have police who have the time to look for loose dogs instead of wasting all their time chasing hoods with guns.

Labels: crime, gripes