A marine biologist in Taiwan was transporting a beached whale cacass to National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City when it exploded.
According to Wang Chien-ping, a professor of marine biology at the university, this was the largest beached whale on record in Taiwan.
Yet another metaphor for the Dean campaign... Heh.
Y'know what's really good?
Beer and chocolate! Especially dark chocolate. Yummy!
What's your favorite?
For those who haven't been following the Mars probes, Spirit has pretty much stopped working.
But -as always- NASA is on the job troubleshooting the problem, and may have found it.
I wear contacts. And sometimes, when I take them out at night, and I'm tired, I don't pay close enough attention to the lids: "L" & "R".
So the next morning -today for example- I put them back in, walk into the hall, and say "whoa, THAT'S not right!!"
Instant vertigo. Not a good thing.
I've been busy all day (and I mean busy, from 5:30am on), so I totally zoned out about the New Hampshire primary.
I just checked out CNN, and -big surprise- Kerry came out on top with 39% of the vote. Dean was #2 at 26%, with Clark and Edwards at a misirable 12% each.
Now, here's the wierd thing; according to CNN, Dean is in the lead on the number of delegates.
Apparently the good doctor has been picking up the odd unpledged delegate here and there, so he's still on top of Kerry* 113 to 94 right now.
This is almost as much fun as Fantasy Football!
*Yes, that is a scary mental picture for me, too.
It's traditional, I suppose, to start one of these puppies with a long, rambling monolog all about the genius behind the weblog, but Dean has his own site already. Heh.
Ok, about me: who am I to flout tradition? With no more ado, What About Casey?
I'm single, male, and have finally (December, 2003) gotten my Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University at the grand old age of 44.
Politically, I'm a mongrel. I'm for strong personal rights like private property, the right to carry and bear arms, and the Feds to keep their damn noses to themselves. I'm for vigorous R&D in science, including genetic research; the possibilities are nearly limitless. I think that we -people, not just government astronauts- should move into space as quickly as possible, and that private initiative is one of the major forces behind America's prosperity. If I had to pick a prime virtue, it would be liberty; that -as Jerry Pournelle says- we were born free.
On the other hand I also agree with Benjamin Franklin that liberty should not descend into license, and that private citizens have obligations to society as well as personal rights. Too many people these days constantly harp on self-defined rights that are more properly defined as privileges. Our rights are simple, and include the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Please not the word "pursuit" in the previous sentance.
It follows, then, that I prefer smaller, local, government. Government is a utility: it exists to maintain the roads, shoot criminals, and protect the property rights of everyone, great and small.
Liberals don't like me because I don't like forced political correctness and I do like guns. I also think they should leave the Christians alone, and quit wetting the bed every time a local town puts up a Nativity scene at Christmas (not the "Winter Holiday," dammit!). Conservatives don't like me because I think we should quit obsessing over what people do to and with each other in private.
We should lose 90% of the gun laws because they don't stop criminals from obtaining guns, but do stop law-abiding citizens from the same.
We should also lose 90% of the PATRIOT Act. The American Revolution came about exactly because our forefathers didn't wait until abuses of government were prevalent: they acted to prevent just that. How many Wacos have to happen before people realize that you can't trust any government that much. Or as P.J. O'Rourke says: "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenagers."
While we're at it, let's decriminalize, or legalize drugs. Face it: we spend billions of dollars every year to stop -maybe- 1% of the drug traffic in this country. Every law passed to help the "War on Drugs" is another nail in the coffin of our personal liberties. These days a police officer can stop you for well, damn near anything. If nothing else, in many states, they can stop you for not wearing a safety belt, and go from there. Even if they don't find a damn thing, and waste the entire night doing so... well hey, they acted in good faith and we all have to respect authority, right?
But we were born free. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. Nor am I a Libertarian.
Call me a Federalist. Call me an American.
Well, now that we finally got the blog functioning, the fun part begins: tweaking the little bugger!
This is gonna be fun... (rubbing hands together)
By the way, a huge hat-tip, and THANKS to the inestimable Dean Esmay for helping me trouble-shoot the setup. The moral is, click on the right buttons! Heh.
Yes, Dean has dragged another lost soul into the MT collective.
UPDATE: I'm not happy with the current stylesheet. Definitely on the "to do" list.