COMensarations
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Marvin the Confused [Addendum II]
Another clue for the clueless.
Thanks to our friends at AP, we’ve got this additional clue for Marvin....
About 5,000 children chanting “Hang those who insulted the prophet” rallied in Pakistan’s largest city on Tuesday in the latest protest in the Islamic nation against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The children, ages 8 to 12, burned a coffin draped in U.S., Israeli and Danish flags at a traffic intersection in the port city of Karachi as police in riot gear looked on.
Now, if Marvin could only imagine the sort of political power necessary to get EVERY elementary school child in Pueblo to get out there and shout, “Hang those who insult Christ.”
He might get a clue as to just how deep this matter of the Cartoon Jihad goes.
VodkaAngst
Sometimes, angst is not a good mixer.
Stephen ”VodkaPundit” Green is having a serious bout of angst. I think he needs some ‘help’.
Therefore, I’m going to administer some ‘tough love’ help to get him over this particular hurdle in his geo-political life.
Monday, February 27, 2006
It Looks Good Now…
...but wait until they start putting up ugly, suburban ranch houses and “modular” homes.
We got a flyer in the mail a couple of days ago for something called “Cedarwood Station” with a return address of 7600 Hatchet Ranch Road. I’m not sure where that is, but judging from the full color photos, it’s in the southwest part of the Pueblo County. The brochure advertises “large ranch acreage tracts ranging in size from 35 to 60 acres,...”
Uh, who imagines that 60 acres is a “large” ranch? Turns out it is someone called Redstone Properties and they are (are you ready?) located in MASSACHUSETTS! That accounts for the “large” adjective.
Another line in the flyer assures the potential buyer, “each property comes with a warranty deed.” Whoo-hoo! Suitable for framing, no doubt.
The flyer also promises that “All properties have easy access to county roads, power, and telephone.” Please note, those of you from Back East somewhere, that there is no mention of WATER. Back East (I lived there for almost a year) the problem with water is a lack of processing plants. Out here, it’s a lack of water itself. Plan on digging a well, and it won’t be cheap, and there is no guarantee that there will be water to drill to, or that it will be water you’ll want to consume, once the well is dug.
And, let’s also note, that in this day and age, “access to telephone” does not necessarily mean a land-line. Telephone service will vary depending on how well your cellular service covers the area.
And “power?” The brochure makes a big deal about how there’s 300 days of sunshine at Cedarwood Station, so maybe you’d better plan a house with lots of solar panels and big storage batteries for the cloudy days.
Speaking of houses, the brochure promises “spectacular mountain views.” Out in Massachusetts, which is fairly heavily wooded, and has quite a few hills, it’s easy to shield yourself from your neighbors on 35 acres. However, out here on the Great Plains, which is where you have to be in order to see the spectacular view of the mountains, you’ll be able to see every ranch home, modular home (trailer), storage shed and lean-to that your neighbors put up for about, oh, 30 or 40 miles, at least. That view you’re buying with its sense of solitude won’t stay the same. And if you think all your neighbors will put up beautiful McMansions, well, they don’t look so good, either, sticking up like warts on Paris Hilton’s cheek.
And if you’re a potential buyer imagining a working ranch, one where you can earn a living, plan on buying about 50 of the properties. Just pay attention that it is apparently zoned, and taxed, as residential property.
If the owners want to develop their property this way, that’s fine. But don’t try to fool people into thinking they’ll have a “ranch” or that the view will stay the same.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Marvin the Confused [Addendum]
It’s not just about freedom of expression.
Yesterday I wrote how I thought that Marvin Read, columnist at the Pueblo Chieftain, seemed ‘confused’ about the Cartoon Jihad.
Today, Mark Steyn has an interesting report that I think sheds a bit more light on just how extensive this matter of the ‘brouhaha’—the Cartoon Jihad—actually is.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Is Drudge Losing It?
Two days and two incidents.
Over the last couple of days Drudge Report seems to be slipping in terms of being the first to report a significant news-worthy event.
Thursday night, last, it was the abortive military coup d’etat in the Phillipines. I saw it first reported at Little Green Footballs. Followed shortly by the blogfather at InstaPundit. It wasn’t on Drudge Report until Friday morning.
Then today, the blogfather scored another coup on Drudge Report with the report of ricin toxin discovered at the University of Texas.
That’s two such instances of Drudge Report being asleep at the terminal in as many days. Is he getting tired? Is he on vacation? I don’t know.
But ya gotta hand it to the blogosphere for taking up the proverbial slack....as I don’t think we’d hear much of anything about significant news like this from the so-called major media until it was all over except for the shouting.
Marvin the Confused
A look at the latest misunderstandings on the part of a Pueblo Chieftain columnist.
Marvin Read has another ‘interesting’ column in the Pueblo Chieftain today.
In it Marvin marvels at the whys and wherefores of the Cartoon Jihad. He seems confused and disillusioned as to why we can’t all just ‘get along’.
There ARE reasons for the problem. And I’ve got some observations that might help him out.....
Batman Does Pot….
...hydroponically.
This guy is impressive.
When he gets out of prison, I’d like him to come and teach a course in hydroponics to the Master Gardeners’ program.
If he’d done tomatoes instead of weeds, he’d still make tons of money. Especially in the Winter. I don’t think the local hydroponics people are doing that good a job of growing tomatoes worth eating, as far as I can tell from what’s available at Safeway. As the saying goes, “If it doesn’t smell like a tomato, it’s not going to taste like one either.”
Years ago, when hydroponic tomatoes first came out they were great. However, quality control has slipped and now they are nothing more than so much red stuff. No flavor. No perkiness. Nada....worth buying. I’m going to start working on setting up my OWN hydroponics, so I can grow my own tomatoes all year round.
Friday, February 24, 2006
New Comment Policy
New [for me] technology affords new opportunities.
I’ve discovered and implemented a new means of preventing bot spammers from attaching repugnant ads in the comments section.
The new technique is to require non-registered users of the blog to enter a special, randomly-generated password in order for comment on an entry on the blog.
If you are a logged-in registered user, that requirement is waived.
Enjoy....
Thursday, February 23, 2006
A Train Wreck In the Making
Most politicans don’t think beyond their term limitations. And most people all to often rely on them to do the long-term thinking.
As an old adage about politicans goes...
They only hope that their world should last just beyond their departure from it.
That seems to me to be an accurate report, from what I’ve seen of history. And it seems to be the sort of mentality behind HB 1124, Water Judge Approve Fallowing Contracts [HODGE--OWEN]. This bill will, as I understand it, allow people who own water rights to lease those rights to another individual or entity for an agreed period of time.
I’m not exactly sure WHAT the current state of affairs is with respect to water rights and non-useage of such is. I’m not a water lawyer. However, based on what this bill proposes, I get the distinct impression that the current state of affairs is that the holders of water-rights can either use them or sell them. No leasing is allowed. With that understanding, allow me to go into why I think this bill is a VERY BAD IDEA....
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Could Hanson Be Right?
Are the French ‘turning’?
A couple of days ago, noted colunist Victor Davis Hanson made some comments on what he thought Europe would do with respect to the threat of Islam; specifically Iran’s nuclear weapons program. In it he suggests that Old Europe may be coming around to New World ideas, vis-a-vis, being prepared to protect yourself at a distance by attacking those who you seriously believe would attack you.
Today [060216], James ’Best of the Web Today‘ Taranto reports that the French have recalled their decommissioned aircraft carrier, Clemenceau. It was enroute to be scrapped in an Indian shipyard. He links to this report from the Financial Times.
Now, the FT reports that this is all because Greenpeace won a court case saying it was against French law to foist off on the Indians such a toxic surprise.
However, in my honest opinion, I suspect the wiley French have used this law-suit to get the return of one of their VERY FEW means of projecting power at a time when they are developing a serious need to project military power. The proverbial proof of the pudding will be whether or not the mighty Clemenceau is actually scrapped in the near future. Or, will it be re-commissioned to act as part of France’s deterrent to armed aggression by a foreign [nuclear] power?
Why do I suspect this? Well....just recently we had Jacque Chirac threatening Iran with France’s Force d’Frappe, their nukes. However, it’s hard to get nukes from France to Iran without SOME means of ‘projecting’ military power. And an aircraft carrier, even as old and venerated as the Clemenceau, can do a LOT better than a mere Mirage from Bordeaux.
Besides, the pilot on such a flight, would probably be drunk on champagne by the time he got to the target; it being an obviously one-way flight. Not very good for targeting.....
One View on the Media Reaction to the Cheney Hunting Accident
Why some people won’t leave it alone.
Vice President Cheney accidentally shot a friend while hunting and there is a media feeding frenzy. I feel sorry for Mr. Cheney. He had the same sort of momentary lapse that causes automobile accidents and home accidents every day and which is intensely embarrassing, especially since he is a public figure. This cartoon pretty sums up how I feel.
However, many people in the media are trying to make more out of it than there is. If Mr. Cheney had been driving a car that rear-ended someone and put them in the hospital for a day or two, would there be this level of speculation and mountain-building? It’s hard to say, but I doubt it.
Meanwhile, such observant and learned pundits as Thomas Sowell and Jane Chastain attribute the media’s frenzy to the fact that Mr. Cheney is a Republican leader. I think there is a darker reason as well: the incident involved a gun.
The evidence for this is that the media promptly went running to the Bradys for quotes. Not the NRA, but the antigun crowd.
The antigun crowd is no doubt thrilled. If the stolid senior citizen Dick Cheney had such an accident then what hope is there for the average Joe Citizen to use a gun safely? (I would have referred to Dick Cheney as respectable, but of course, they don’t think he is respectable.)
However, they are also, no doubt, disappointed. Here a 78-year-old man was shot from only 30 yards away and he DIDN’T DIE! Aren’t guns supposed to be deadly? Isn’t everyone who gets shot supposed to die, promptly and in acute agony, so that they can make a case for guns being the most evil things ever created?
If you think my attitude in the foregoing paragraph is extreme, look at the way the media demanded to know if Cheney would be charged with a crime as soon as Mr. Whittington had a heart problem and they thought maybe he would die after all (whoo-hoo! or alternatively, insert Peter Lorre laugh).
It almost makes me want to go out and see if I can get in front of a car with a Kerry-Edwards sticker on it.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
What Little Brothers Could Teach Muslim Extremists
If someone’s making smart remarks about you, it’s extremely important not to prove their point with your response.
I was blessed with a little brother. Little brothers are put into our lives to teach us how to react to name calling, teasing, and smart-alecky remarks. And if we don’t figure it out, some of us are blessed with moms who teach us how to react very bluntly: “Ignore him. He’s just trying to get a rise out of you. Don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you react.”
Learning this lesson stood me in good stead when coworkers, even one or two of my college professors, would try to distract me with some smart remark as I was doing a presentation. On the other hand I had friends, usually feminists, who stepped in the trap every time, shrilling like wounded harpies every time someone made a sexist crack, which usually just illustrated their tormenter’s point. Occasionally one of my hecklers would say, “Didn’t you understand what I said?” To which I would reply, “Yes, I understood what you said. But that doesn’t mean I find it worthy of response.” At that point most of the other people in the room would mentally give me a brownie point and smile, and the heckler would realize he was just making himself look bad.
Apparently Muslims do not have little brothers or moms who teach them how to handle the brats.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
A Continued Discussion….
....of thoughts from another blog.
A while back, Stephen ’VodkaPundit‘ Green, pointed to the new look of Venomous Kate’s blog known as Electric Venom. Kate’s an attorney-at-law who has set aside her shingle to raise a family, with the assistance of some Army guy.
At any rate, I tooled over to see what impressed Stephen so much. And stumbled upon an interesting soliloquy of the esquiress. So I jumped in and contributed my two-bits.
During the course of the discussion, someone joined in and engaged me on some of my thoughts on the matter. However, now, the thread at that location has been ‘disabled’. I’d like to continue the discussion with the individual to see what else I might learn. Therefore, I’ve decided to open this thread in the hope that he’ll oblige me to further our mutual better understanding of each other and this matter.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
What! No Back-Up Systems?
What happens when the infra-structure fails you.
Glenn ’InstaPundit‘ Reynolds is linking to good advice on how to operate a gasoline-powered electrical generator in your own home.
The link is full of good advice from Popular Mechanics. They’re fairly reliable. But what strikes me is the question Why is this instruction necessary?
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Bad Manners on Display
It seems there is no depth to which some liberals will not sink.
I don’t care who you are, sniping at the living when you are supposed to be memorializing the dead at a funeral is just plain bad manners. It detracts from where the focus should be. Those remarks cheapened a solemn religious ceremony. I do NOT think Mrs. King would have approved, even if she agreed with the sentiments.