The Gantry Launchpad

MT 4.x is the devil

After having witnessed MT 4.x consume my blog during an upgrade, and spending the next three FRACKING HOURS trying to restore the original mess, I have succeeded.

I am not, at this point, very happy with Six Apart and Movable Type.

We now return you to your original programming...

Slapping Al Gore

Stephen Green is kvetching about the lovely Colorado spring weather, so I thought I would rub it in with a shot from today, here in southwest Ohio.

It's a balmy 73.6 F (according to Weather Underground) as I type this, with a light haze overhead.

I'm having trouble dealing with the Global Warmening up here, but I think I can tough it out...

Well, here I am

I've been telling myself "Self, you have to get up off of your butt and start writing again!"

Well, I finally listened to me, and here we are. ;) I even have something to blog about. Mozilla v1.71 has been really bugging me for a while; the first time after I turn on the computer and enter a URL, Mozilla just goes librarian-poo and eats up most of the CPU cycles while resolving the DNS. After that it's fine.

Then there's the multimedia files it won't play (but Firefox will quite nicely), the time it takes to save even a single image, the occasional random "Mozilla starts hitting 98% CPU usage" hijinks. Feh. Not to mention the fact that it Just Won't check email until I've sent something to someone else, or specifically told Mozilla to check by clicking on the "Mail and Newsgroups" button. I didn't get email for nearly a week at one point until I realized what was happening.

The Mozilla Foundation has (for me) created in Firefox 2.x an entirely acceptable browser. And, yes, I'm picky. Opera is nice, but they changed too many "default" keystroke commands such as Alt-D for the address bar.

Anyhoo, I used to resist Firefox, as I felt the look & feel was toy-like, and customization seemed limited. This is no longer true. About the only thing missing are the mail/newsgroup settings which have been moved over to the Thunderbird email client. It's true there's a small learning curve. For example, I had to figure out my passwords were no longer in Tools/Password manager as in Mozilla, but are now in Tools/Options/Security instead. But it seems all the important tweaks are there.

Migrating from Mozilla to Firefox and Thunderbird was quite painless as both include import tools. Shortcuts, history, and passwords for Firefox; and not only email/server settings for Thunderbird but the learning rules for the spam heuristics so I don't have to "train" my client all over again. Very nice.

One little detail: I have a question for the more experienced Firefox/Thunderbird users out there. I would like to have some sort of resident system-tray-like utility which regularly checks for mail just like Mozilla used to do. Or will I be forced to click on an icon every time I want to check for mail? My personal preference is for a local daemon to alert me when new mail is available.

UPDATE: for some idiot reason, MT isn't showing anything in the comment pop-up window when you click on "Comments." If you go to the permalink you can enter a comment there. Don't bloody ask me why, but if there's an MT 3.33 guru out there, I'd appreciate knowing. The bloody .cgi script is where it's supposed to be, it has the right bloody permissions now (had to fix that - don't know why as it used to work, but the frame pops up with a blank window. Feh.

It's like some rite of spring...

Not only has Rachel Lucas returned to the fold, the ever lovely and talented Ambra Nykol has rebooted her own blog.

First up: Presidential Action Figures, and Celebrity Hubris. How can you stay away?

I just can't wait for when the latest fashion faux pas attracts her Simon-like crtical eye...

And Rachel is turning into a real cut-up! {rimshot}

Sometimes I kill myself...

New kid on the block

Ok, technically, he's only new to my bloglist. :) But I ran into Publius Rex over at Dean's
World, and decided any local boy who can give me good advice on good beer has well earned a spot on my bloglist!

All new, yet still the same...

Just finished upgrading from Movable Type 2.66 to 3.33 tonight. The first attempt a couple nights ago was pretty hairy, and severely unpleasant.

Let's just say the MT upgrade "documents" leave a lot to be desired... ;)

He's back, he's bad

Stephen Green, the Vodkapundit, has been off the radar for a while now. Me, I think he's been hanging out with Jeff Goldstein's l'il armadillo amigo, down in Tiajuana.

But I was wrong; the V-man is back, and better than ever. Metaphorically, anyway.

So drop on by over there and buy the guy a ... healthy non-hunger-strike-threatening Jamba Juice, or something.

Witch calling the cauldron black

Scott Kirwin manages to generate some light and heat over Ann Coulter's latest faux pas, when she disrespected the so-called "Witches of East Brunswick."

First, let me address the bottom-feeders who think it's funny to disrespect Ms. Coulter for her appearance: you are vile, superficial slugs. Cracking on someone's appearance has nothing to do with their argument, and that's the way I've always fought my (rhetorical) battles. Except for Micheal Moore. So, I'm not perfect...

The people who talk about Ann's height, "skinny ass," or imply that she's "really a man" (or in drag) are just as crass, superficial, and cruel as the people who crack on Condi Rice's color, teeth, "big nose," or other features just because they don't like her politics.

Those creatures -whether left or right- who have nothing better to criticize are some of the worst kind of bottom-feeders around. Why? Because their very arguments demonstrate their complete intellectual and moral bankruptcy. If the best you can come up with is cracking on how someone looks, how they talk or who they fuck; you ain't got nothin' to say to me.

Remedial rhetoric, people: attack the idea,, not the person.

Which mistake Ms. Coulser has, in fact, committed herself in this case. She has gone way past attacking these ladies' ideas, to attacking their very souls.

There are few worse crimes than betraying the one you solemnly swore to "love, honor, and cherish," which is exactly the crime with which Ms. Coulter has charged them. She seems to think that the four widows of East Brunswick have cheerfully traded in their husbands, their soulmates, the father(s) of their children, for the cheap coin of paltry political advantage.

Shame, shame upon you, Ann Coulter! What right do you have to accuse those former wives (now widows) of crass calculation? Is is, perhaps, the only political coin you understand?

Lest the hasty accuse me of moonbattery, I state here that I consider the public, political statements of those four women the worst sort of foolish tripe. Their political positions are emblematic of a silly and banal opposition.

That said, neither I, nor anyone else in this country has the "moral authority" to condemn them as human beings, or (in some ways worse yet) as wives and mothers.

Think about it; is it a good thing, to accuse these women of ENJOYING the loss of their lifemates, just to they might gain their "15 minutes of fame?" How does this compare to those on the virulently-unthinking Left who claim the military families are ignorant, unthinking dupes of the ChimpyMcHitlerBusHalliburton regime?

How would you, the generic supporter of the "War on Terror" react if the moonbats gleefully accused one (or more) of the Gold Star mothers of enjoying their celebrity? No, really?

No, Ms. Coulter has not only crossed the line, in this case she has obliterated it. All of us, left or right, Republican or Democrat, have an obligation to console, care for, and respect those who have suffered loss for the greater good. We have, in fact, a greater obligation: to confront the ideas with which we disagree, and not the people.

There have been far too many instances where both sides have "jumped the shark" since 9/11. Don't believe me? Ask Cynthia "Bush knew" McKinney. Or perhaps you should talk to Fred "God hates Fags (as well as American soldiers)" Phelps. Or perhaps you should talk to Ann "All liberals are traitors" Coulter...

This episode has provided our citizens with the opportunity to say "Enough is enough! No more 'hippies are traitors,' no more 'Bush is the AntiChrist;' come, now, let us reason together. (Isaiah 1:18)"

check, check...

Jeff over at Protein Wisdom is testing new blogware out, so here's a test trackback.

Blog software on my end: MT v2.65

This is a test. If this were an actual blog-post you would have been directed to the nearest real blog for serious punditry.

This is only a test...

UPDATE: I guess I needed to hand cut'n'paste trackback URL. MT 2.65 (apparently) does not recognize the full URL by itself.

I wanna be a keyboard ranger!

I knew there was something I had forgotten! About a month ago, Captain Ed formed the 101st Fighting Keyboardists as a way to spoof the intellectually bankrupt "chickenhawk" argument put forth by the mentally lightweight.

Spoof? Sarcasm? Ridicule!? Naturally, I joined immediately. :)

And -equally naturally- I forgot to include the 101st blogroll script for a month. Feh.

The deranged Frank J. was -as always- ready to provide one of his infamous FAQs.

Finally, a big tip o' the hat and a hugh THANK YOU to Derek Brigham for designing the logo!

Let's be nice...

I seem to have accidentally touched a nerve, wherein Baldilocks thinks I am defending that lackwit Jesse MacBeth. This is not the case. I am defending the concept of accuracy; hence the title of this post.

You see, one of the archaic meanings of the word nice is "precise, accurate." We have seen far too many instances of bloggers on both sides of the aisle going off half-cocked, such as the recent excitement about the Karl Rove non-indictment and the Howard Dean non-story.

While the specific statement that MacBeth was never in the Rangers/SF has been established as true, the statement that he "never served in the Army" has not yet been equally established. And, yes, I am being picky. Or nice. But that's exactly how I argue against typical idiotarian ideas: specify that which has been factually established, determine that which has not, and beat them over the head with the difference. Since many of these ideas are assertations or conclusions cloaked as fact, the process can be entertaining. But I digress...

My main points on this are two, one of which I've already mentioned. We are all obliged to as accurate as possible when disseminating information, as the above examples illustrate. Every single instance of a blog saying "MacBeth never served!!" either links to (and misquotes) the original JustCitizens post, or links to someone else (such as Michelle Malkin) who misquoted/misinterpreted the original post.

Accuracy is an ethical obligation of the highest order. Disrespecting the facts also disrespects both the reader and the debate, which brings me to my second point.

Playing fast'n'loose with the facts allows one's opponent to dismiss the writer as biased or inaccurate: "Well, Jesse might not be in the Rangers, but he's still telling the truth about they're doing in Iraq!" While MacB has been devastatingly debunked on his SF/Ranger claim, we need to nail down the question of his service equally well. A dissenter may well claim "fake, but accurate" regarding a soldier lying about his MOS, but it's nearly impossible to spin if you can state -as fact- that the stupid bugger never even enlisted.

That said, I have to apologize to Jules for the snarky tone of my original post on her blog. She was quite correct in her description of my "most-polite" correction. After having read the exact same (inaccurate) statement on literally the past five blogs I had read that evening, I snapped.

I'm sorry.

Now, that said {g}, I'd like to disabuse Baldilocks of any notion that I am in any way defending MacB. At least, that's my reading of her extended post. I also never said, or attempted to imply that he ever did serve, which seems to be the gist of her last graf.

So. No, I don't think Jesse MacBeth ever served. Yes, I think he's a despicable, lying little turd. No, I don't believe that any of his claims hold the slightest drop of water. Clear? Good!

These are, alas, conclusions, not facts, as are all the comments about his BDUs, tabs, "official" photo, and so on. While these mistakes are as painfully obvious as a large carbuncle on the nose of one's face to a service-man/woman, please recall that the vast majority of Americans have never served. That -to them- all of these obvious blunders are mean-spirited nit-picking which allow the critics to snipe at MacB without addressing his claims of atrocities.

And that, my friend, is exactly the point, despite Baldi's dismissive "as if it matters." You see, it does matter to the people have never served, nor have close friends or relatives who have served and are able to explain why those details matter. Those who are serving (or who have served) have an obligation to explain to the rest of the (civilian) world just how and why MacB lied. Something, that is, more substantial than snarking about his uniform or police record to show everyone what a scumbag he is.

We are now (finally) seeing constructive and specific comments taking apart his claims in detail. That is to say, countering his claims with valid data.

Thanks to Word Around The Net for mentioning the exchange.

Bloglist addition

Just found a nifty new blog called "Out on a limb at Mike Lief.com"

He's an ex-squid, a current DA, and an author. He also writes well.

Check him out.

Hoist the banner...

AFsis mentioned a fun little personality test: the Cowboy-Ninja-Pirate-Knight Test!

My result:

a Knight Captain You scored 8 Honor, 7 Justice, 4 Adventure, and 4 Individuality!

Some knights follow the orders given them. Some know when to improvise. The second sort are the ones that grow to power, to become leadeers and Knight Captains. Your sense of duty, honor and justice speaks that your name should be amongst their ranks. Get your squire, your banner, your armor and your sword. You're gonna do just fine

Crew Quiz

It seems to have beome a habit of mine to riff off of the Vodkapundit lately. Well, he's a good read... :)

Anyway, he tipped me off to an interesting quiz. I was kinda bummed I didn't score higher for the Falcon, but at least I didn't get stuck in the "happy, happy; joy, joy" world of Star Trek! Heh.

You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and don't enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you. Serenity (Firefly) 88% SG-1 (Stargate) 75% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 69% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 69% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 56% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 56% Moya (Farscape) 56% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 50% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 44% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 44% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 25% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 19% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

Le sang nouveau est arrive!

The VodkaPunditerri has yielded a fine new vintage!

And yes, I know I'm mixing my metaphors... {harumph}

A beautiful boy, from beautiful parents. Let's wish good fortune to Preston Davis, which shouldn't be too hard, considering his antecedents.

Good on ya, Stephen and Melissa.

Arrgghhh! got SMASHed

LT. SMASH is happy, and John of Arrgghhh! is glum.

In fact, I bet SMASH is wearing a smile just like Rummy's:

Congratulations to the Navy team for breaking the tie!

Can't argue with this...

Over at Chiefly Musing, Nathan developed a rather profound observation.

Go there, and (as they say) read the whole thing.

Thanks to Dean for the link! :)

I'm too sexy for my shirt...

In an odd fit of insanity, I submitted a photo to the King of Cotillion competition.

For those of you who don't know, the Cotillion is a collection of sexy, sassy, classy blogger babes. No men allowed! (sorry guys, get your own clubhouse)

The winner gains the title "King of the Cotillon."

In any case, yours truly is in competition with some truly ferocious competition, including the infamous B.C., Imperial Torturer, Jay (Stop the ACLU), and (worst of all) Thunder6 (365 and a Wakeup)!

This could get ugly; wounded egos, tempers flying. And that's just us guys...

Nope. The ladies can't complain they lack choice, this time.

Drop on by, and vote.

Physically spent, and morally bankrupt...

So what do you do, when you add eight whole blogs (out of maybe eight bazillion you really like) to your blogroll?

Do you send some sort of tacky form letter to all eight? Or should you send a personal note?

Or should you just wait for them to check their referral logs and get pissed off?

Heh...

Words of Wisdom

Someone I've read occasionally, but never linked, recently posted 21 Pieces of Good Advice.

Go there. Read the list, and immerse yourself in the wisdom of Acidman...

No. Really. I'm serious.

Anyone who pisses off Oliver Willis has to be worth reading.

The new guy

Can't sleep from the anti-flu narcotics in my system (funny, they're supposed to help you sleep), so I'll mention a new guy on the block, who was nice enough leave a kind comment about my blog. :) Besides, Greyhawk has been mentioning him, and he looked interesting.

Why not run on over and visit 365 and a Wake Up, run by a California Army National Guard officer currently in Iraq, who goes by the call thunder6. He writes some good stuff.

Greyhawk recommends this post about checkpoints and journalists. A good choice.

Me, I like his description of ice in desert:

Today a thunderstorm rumbled through Baghdad and showered the FOB with gumball size hail. A couple of the troops armored up and waded into the storm, reveling in the raw display of nature’s power. The fat frozen raindrops scuttled off the armor plates like miniature billiards, sheathing the troops in the open with what looked like icy halos. It was as surreal an experience as any I had experienced here in Iraq. So much for the desert being as dry as a bone. Iraq has turned out to be a lot different from my expectations, and the differences run far deeper then the climate.

If that doesn't do it for you, try his (rather short) explanation why anyone smart would ever want to be a soldier. His answer:

I spoke from experience, and I spoke from the heart. I told him about the misery of feeling my feet rot in the swamps of Florida during ranger school. I told him about getting stuck in knee deep mud during a blinding deluge in Germany. I talked about having to pull my frozen finger off the trigger while riding through the Balkan winter. I talked about the string of missed birthdays, holidays and weddings I never had the opportunity to celebrate. And I told him about living in the sun stoked furnace that was Kuwait in the summer. I purged all the collective misery of my decade in the service. Having finished my impromptu confession I paused for a long moment, letting SPC Frances absorb the full weight of my response.

As the silence stretched like a teardrop waiting to fall I broke the silence and told him that I would do it all over again. His face contorted into a mask of disbelief, his jaw drooping slightly from the strain of following this verbal about-face. His lips shaped the word “Why?” but there was no breath to give it voice.

Before answering him I told him about how part of my heart chipped off when I looked into a mass grave in Bosnia. How for days after my dreams were clouded with an image of the very earth opening a yawning pit to engulf the dead, only to choke on their numbers and leave them on the surface half swallowed. I talked about countries where famine and disease left people whose bodies left shadows that gave the illusion you were looking at a photographic negative of a skeleton. About places where the only rule of law was the brutal and unswerving laws of physics and ballistics and the only peace one could hope for was the grave. And the story that did not need telling, the story of our ongoing struggle with insurgents who revel in the misery and deaths they cause our forces and the Iraqis.

As I finished I noticed my mouth was dry and I had to take a long draw of water before continuing. When I slaked my thirst I told SPC Frances to close his eyes and I would tell him why. As he closed his eyes I told him to imagine his young wife, his beautiful infant daughter and the future he wanted for them. He paused a moment and a smile slowly creased his face. As he looked up I caught his eyes and told him a simple truth. I told him that the thin line that separates the two realities isn’t a line on a map or the signature block on a document filled with hollow proclamations. The dividing line between the two kingdoms is a long line of soldiers. And that is why I’m proud to call myself a soldier. Its not about a lack of options, or the size of my paycheck. Its about what kind of world I want to leave for my children if I am lucky enough to be a father.

The man can write...

UPDATE: Almost forgot. Check out his photo section, too. Great stuff.

Happy (punny) Birthday

Well, it's Andrew Cory's birthday as I write this, so drop on over to the thread at Dean's World and wish him happy birthday.

His preferred present would be y'all linking to his blog, Punning Pundit, so why not do that too?

So Happy Birthday, Andrew, and yer on the bloglist here, too, even if you are a squishy, "reality-based" lib'rul. :) Hope you like the wrapping paper I picked out.

Just checking, run along now...

Just helping out Greyhawk with trackbacks while he tests some stuff at Mudville...

One of the issues he's facing is load-times for dailup readers. Me, I can't comment on that, since I have a five megabit/sec connection thru RoadRunner these days. Muhahahaha... :)

Whoopsie!

...which refers to the following link, as well as my disrepect in not linking to Lisa for forever and a day!

Anway. Lisa, who is a real pro with the sticky web-stuff, brings up a vulnerability which affects just about every engine except Internet Explorer. Go figgre.

And here I thought Open Software was invulnerable. Looks like someone dug up some Kryptonite...

Now. Before some MS-vocates start spewing bilge 'bout how "everyone's vulnerable"*, I'd like to point out that Firefox/Mozilla is still safer, and more stable, than IE. And that Firefox/Mozilla will likely retain that laurel for rather a while.

But (as the great captain says) "Don't get cocky, kid!" Firefox/Mozilla users should keep an ear peeled for odd chances such as this. Maybe they should add an exploits link to their homepage?

Food for thought...

*Suggested new MS ad: "Hey, the Other Guys suck too!^tm!!"

Ahhh, much better!

A (belated) welcome home to Greyhawk, and all of the servicemen and women recently returned.

And for those still there: Godspeed. We're praying for you.

Is turnabout fair play?

Another bloglist newcomer (for me) is Gay Orbit, where you can "discover your inner homo." Heh.

In this particular post, Michael Demmons asks "Ahmmm, again, why is it judicial activism when gays and lesbians use the courts, but not when conservatives use the courts?"

Well, that's a good question.

My first reaction is "It's not 'activism' when you move to eliminate the offending decision." That is to say, the original decision proposed changes far beyond the original intent of constitution of the great state of Massachutsetts. While I haven't studied the decision in great detail, I think the judges went too far, far too quickly.

This is not to say that I oppose gay marriage. This is not the case. But more than a few folks (including a few gay/lesbians I know, including one self-professed "Green/Yellow-dog Democrat" {g}) hold that pushing for complete acceptance, now actually increases resistance among middle-of-the-road Americans. Add to that the bad idea that many Federal judges apparently believe -that they are collectively Earl Warren, and that they Constitution is written in pencil- and you have a recipe for negative reaction against gay marriage. I cite the various November, 2004 State referendum/amendments as evidence. The results were decisively against gay marriage.

I think this is less a widespread prejudice against gay marriage than a reaction against what many feel to be a frequently abused judicial override of the administrative perogative.

A careful study of employee benefits packages offered by many corporations -which are generally held to be "conservative" in many ways- in the 1990s shows that they were offering progressively greater benefits to gay couples in order to hire the best people available. While the "dot-com" bubble burst several years ago, this demonstrates a basic truth: that the general American society is at least potentially ready to accept gay/lesbians as full partners in the social circle. It also shows that money-power is not only color-blind, but gender-neutral. But what else would you expect from a currency which prominently features men in pigtails?...

Point being that -I believe- gay/lesbians will achieve full political, social, and economic participation in American life in less than a generation. I'll even say the "tip over" point will be reached by 2020.

What can injure the advancement of gay/lesbian rights is the dogmatic, doctrinaire insistence of "freedom, NOW," by either the GLBT extremists, or the fringe elements of the modern "left." And, while I make it a point to strenuously avoid civil rights/gay rights analogies, it must be pointed out that extremist abolitionist groups in the North generally tended to reinforce Southern resistance to emancipation, not reduce it. Which influences tended to force, well, a solution of force instead of compromise.

Food for thought....

Warriors and Soldiers

Aargh. Must blog more, stay up all night staring at the walls less.

Anyway, speaking of "Argghhh!," I'd like to welcome John of Argghhh! to my bloglist, and thank him for the reciprocity. If you haven't visted the Castle, check out his Gun P0rn, or this post, about a visiting moonbat with more (self-proclaimed) balls than brains.

Apparently Jeremiah is not familiar with professional soldiers. That's the catch, of course. Warriors are quite different from soldiers. And if you go back in history, you'll find the most dangerous, and consistently successfuly professionals were the Roman citizen-soldiers. Our men and women in uniform are their spiritual and operational descendants.

One of the key indicators of serious professionals is that they're, well, serious about what they do. They avoid the "slam/bang," "gee whiz" excitement that winds up the warriors. In fact if (again) you check the historical records, in WW2 the Germans found American advances rather unnerving. The Brits played music as they attacked, the French cheered, and so on. But the Amis just marched in a silent, cold resolve.

One of Jeremiah's slurs against American troops is that they are cowards because they can, and do habitually unleash artillery support which has demonstrated a bowel-loosening* accuracy and volume for over seventy years. No sane soldier wants to be on the recieving end of American artillery; not even the "hadjis" in Iraq. You'll notice they've been sticking with IEDs.

This complaint is nothing new. Even the vaunted Wehrmacht complained about the "unfair" artillery advantage they Amis had. It was, of course, unfair only to the extent that they couldn't return the favor...

But -you see- that's the difference between a warrior and a soldier. A warrior engages in war for the buzz, or the excitement. For him, it's fun.

A soldier, on the other hand has a rather more serious point of view. War is his profession. His motto is "heads, I win, tails, you lose." Or -to quote an anonymous wise man- "It's easier to expend material in combat than to fill out the forms for Graves Registration."

Better yet, I'll quote George Patton, one of the few American generals of whom the Germans were quite afraid:

Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

*for the other side, anyway. :)

My first annual... (revisited)

There's some great people out there. Dean, naturally... :)

Then there's Rocket Jones; someone who I really should link to more often, since rockets are da bomb (metaphorically speaking).

Right now I especially want to thank Annika for some linky love, especially since she's of Danish extraction (what can I say, Nordic women are sexy), and she links to cool airplanes (what can I say^squared, Nordic women who link to airplane photos are really really sexy, heh).

I gotta say, MuNuvians really are the nicest people...

Zoooommmm!!

I don't know if it's just the local area (maybe I'm lucky enough to be in a test market), but I just got an email from RoadRunner explaining that they just increased the bandwidth to 5Mbps (megabits/second).

So I trotted over to testmy.net; a great place to see just how fast your throughput really is.

I tested out at 4683Kpbs (4.68Mbps)! Another way to measure that is 572 KB/sec (Kilobytes/second).

Or, as the web page says "You are running: 84 times faster than 56K and can download 1 megabyte in 1.79 second(s)."

Yowza!

My first annual...

Thursday, January 27, will mark my first blogiversary. I doubt I'll hit 6,000 visits by then.

But hey, it's been a fun 12 months anyway...

My thanks to those who dropped by, and to those to even commented.

Especial thanks to those who have linked to me, and my BlogDaddy, Dean Esmay.

Here's to the new year!

Hoo-rah!

It seems that John of Arrggg! has become a Mortal Human two days in a row.

I, for one, would like to welcome our new overlord and master...

Heh. Good on ya, John.

Ok, maybe not so dumb

Ok. In this post, I accused Michael Demmons of bad reasoning.

Discussions in the comment thread with Michael cleared things up somewhat. He was commenting on which party -if any- was responsible for abortion rates in the US. Thing is, one of the posts upon which he was commenting linked back to Oliver Willis; someone I avoid reading in the same way I avoid "reality" TV and Ben Affleck policitcal commentary. Hence I didn't read the original posts.

I have to admit that "if you had to blame a party, I would blame Republians" (later changed to "social conservatives") is semantically much different from the absolute statement that Republicans (or "social conservatives") are responsible for the abortion rate, etc.

So I retract the vehement tone of my original post, but stand by the facts presented. Said vehemence was due to percieved bad reasoning, not the social position per se.

Yes, boys and girls, that's one of the things that gets Casey fired up: really bad reasoning. Now you know. :)

Minor update

I forgot to mention a while back that the Smart Cleric -Paul Burgess- went and got hisself a blog of his ver' own!

Worse yet, I didn't update my link so that it pointed to said blog. That's fixed now.

So run on over and give Let the Finder Beware a try; maybe Paul's old Sci-Fi comic book is up your alley. Or perhaps discussions of philsophy a la Camus are your forte. Or maybe you just like hot chicks like Uma Thurmond and her huge hands...

Heh.

Rationality not included

It really should say that on some columns. Honestly. Take this one, for example, in which Michael Demmons blames the pregnancy and abortion rates in America on Republicans, although in a later comment he backtracks in order to place the blame more squarely on the "social conservatives."

The mind boggles...

Naturally, I felt compelled to reply. ;)

I'm amazed. Floored. Damn near speechless.

The complete lack of logic in blaming America's abortion rate on "social conservatives" induces a terrible sense of awe in those of use who can actually engage our brains in useful work.

Mr. Demmons, just for starters: you do realize the basic ethos, moral code, and expectations of "social conservatives" were the norm for this country for (oh...) several centuries, yes?

You do realize that -for many, many decades- there wasn't any question of the high rate of abortions in this country, because it was bloody illegal? You are aware of that? And that those laws were based on the "social conservative" ethos. Not to mention those same "social conservative[s]" opposed the legalization of abortion.

Yet somehow, in some odd way, the people who are against abortion the most are the ones getting the blame. Odd, that... One wonders if the author actually thought their way through the proposition, or merely spilled some some dogmatic beliefs into the blogosphere.

Some numbers might be in order. The CDC itself says that abortion rates steadily increased between 1970 and 1984 (you know, when the Democrats controlled the federal government most of the time, and lead prevailing thought regarding the anti-war movement, women's rights, gay rights, and so on.

After 1984, the rate has steadily decreased, while Republicans (one certainly tends to equate "social conservatives" with the GOP), falling from 364/1,000 in 1984 to 311 in 1995, and down to 246 in 2000. In other words, when the social conservatives steadily gained ground in Washington, D.C. and the national culture became more conservative, the rate of abortion decreased.

An examination of the tables by state show that generally the highest abortion rates are in areas that are strongly Democratic, such as New York (30/1,000), District of Columbia (25), Washington (20), New Jersey (18), and Oregon (18). Alabama stands at 12, Oklahoma at 10, and Idaho a paltry 6. Yet it's still the fault of those darned "social conservatives!"

Several folks have compared the abortion rate in America to Amsterdam, accompanied by a corresponding sneer. Yes, and the murder rate in Nazi Germany was lower than that in the United States. I suppose that means the National Socialists developed a less violent culture in 1930s Germany...

If you look carefully, you'll see that the CDC has managed to confuse things by only differentiating by race (white and black/other) in one table, and by "ethnicity" (hispanic and non/hispanic) in another table.

This obscures the fact that abortion rates are much, much higher for both hispanic and black women, compared to white, non/hispanic women.

So maybe all those morally superior, condescending ...people... comparing the abortion rate in America to Amsterdam should examine those groups and locations with very high rates, and attempt an effective generalization on just why said rates are so high.

Damned inconvenient things, facts. They really should be used more often.

It's a boy! (but you already knew that)

The Dynamic Duo, Rosemary and Dean are even now having their second baby.

Since they cheated, they already knew it's a boy, and they've named him Draco Malfoy Esmay.

Ok. Just joshing. His real name is Drake. ;)

Godspeed, you two, and let's send our prayers out for them.

linky love

Ahhh. I hate the holidays. I hate them ^cubed when I have the flu for several weeks.

Feh. Enough. Time to start posting again. Right now, some "link love." :)

Dean Esmay has managed to find a way to piss off half of Known Space with one of his iconoclastic positions here, wherein he challenges conventional thought on what really causes AIDS.

VodkaPundit Stephen Green lapses into premature Olde Farte Mode while ruminating on the origin of Twixters, with a bonus link to a delightful Lileks column on Olive Garden in the bargain.

Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters raises a good point while discussing the legitimacy of the upcoming Iraq elections

We managed to muster out a whopping 60.7% of our registered voters nationwide for our election -- and that was the best in over a generation. So far, I don't hear calls that our past nine elections should be invalidated due to their low turnout.

John of Arrrgh! mentions the work his Rotary Club does, including tsunami relief, Polio eradication, and sending school supplies to Iraq. One of his on-the-ground correspondents in Iraq included an adorable picture of some schoolkids saying "thanks."

Finally the always lovely (and talented) Ambra Nykol thinks Governor-theoretically-elect Gregoire is evil. Her reaction to Mr. Gregoire's title as consort-elect of First Gentleman: 'Riiiight. I am so not calling anybody a "First Gentleman".'

Heh.

test

This is only a test...

UPDATE: Ok, looks like I won't get bitten by the year-end wraparound problem...

I'm in pain

This is truly excruciating. I've lost all web access from the house. Arrgh.

Right now I'm blogging from the Fairfield Lane Public Library. It's a lovely place, really. This reminds me I should post some photos of the library, and the adjacent fine arts building they're finishing now.

In any case, I'm limited to 45 minutes/logon, although one librarian hinted that special circumstances might persuade them to extend that. (note to self: look into that)

So blogging may be limited the next few days. Neither I nor Time-Warner is sure how long it will take to get my service back. I might even blog about it. So far the RoadRunner folks have been working hard to take care of me.

"Arf!" says Sandy

I have before quoted and linked to the lovely and talented Ambra Nykol.

There's a reason for that. I mean, she is lovely, and -well...- talented. At least, I wish I were that judicious, balanced, and well-spoken at that age. And I know she's still got me beat on style... ;)

But there's another reason: she's a political/fashion trend-setter.

I mean, who else in the blogosphere could wear a hot pink "Bush" t-shirt, and still look cool?

Yeppers, smart, sexy, sassy, and expressive: that's Ambra... Heh.

Correction

In my previous entry, Just what is a diversion, anyway?, I attributed to Dale Eddy a quote which stated that FDR "premptively" declared war on Germany.

It turns out that this is not the case, and I had mis-read Dale's original post.

I've corrected that entry, and my apologies to Dale.

Time...

...marches on, for all of us. Sometimes I think, "Damn, it's been three days since you blogged, fool!" Heh.

Ok. Right now I have to say "Happy 23rd Birthday" to the absolutely stunning, and always stylish Ambra Nykol.

Being a true gentleman, I would never point out that she's nearly one-third through her expected life span already; the numbers are even more embarassing for yours truly. :)

But, really, y'all should drop on over there and tell her "Happy Birthday." While you're at it, enjoy her new look, since she's finally started using Real Blogging Software^tm.

With young'ns like Ambra around, I'm perfectly confident that this country will be in good hands during my grey-haired years. Which, in my case, should be by the next week or two...

Tee hee.

Decisions, decisions...

It seems the truely lovely and talented Ambra Nykol is stumped on what to name her upcoming new column in Seattle's Seaspot Magazine.

She has narrowed the possibilities down to two: Consider This, or Politickin'.

Since my suggestion has been brusquely dumped into the bit-bucket (sniff....), why not drop by and let her know which one you like? Me, I'm for Consider This, myself.

Ohh, a new link!

I see that Greyhawk has opened the floodgates by inviting blogs to submit links so he may considering linking to them...

Since I have read his work for a while now (although I don't comment very often) I'll jump in with both feet.

Consider this, sir, my application for approval. One of my favorite posts is the Fog of War series I put up back in April.

FWIW, at this point I'm still a "slithering reptile" in the ecosystem. :)

One of the best...

Every once in a while I like to point folks to a really good blog. In this case, you should run, not walk over to Sgt. Hook's place, and read his latest post.

His writing qualifies him as the modern-day Ernie Pyle. Check him out.

Zinging the Dickens

out of Dickens...

I was about to add the lovely and talented Ambra Nykol to my blogroll anyway, when I dropped by her place to double-check the URL for my blogroll.

That's when I found her trenchant comments on The Giants of Literature.

My favorite shot: "There was a moment when I enjoyed Great Expectations. The end." Ouch! Heh.

Check her work out; it's worth it.

Extra Credit

Wow. It's been a week since I posted anything.

This is not good. I won't bore anyone by posting my personal problems, but it's getting pretty hard to work up the gumption to accomplish anything, much less post on the blog.

Anyway, I'm putting this up to announce that Dean has asked me to return as a sem-regular (on weekends, or occasionally exciting topics of immediate interest) poster on his blog, concerning things scientific and/or military.

Hopefully this will get me fired up a bit, so that I post more here. :)

Iron Blogger SUPREME

The Queen Of All Evil reigns supreme. She smacked down the puling upstart Ara Rubyan like a red-headed stepchild at K-Mart.

All Hail her (formerly) Red-Headed Highness.

"SHE" is back!!!

Yes, that sexy, classy, and ever-fascinating blogger Rachel Lucas has returned to the fold.

Oh, damn. How do I celebrate this? The Green Party goober upstairs has already left for the weekend, alas. No one to human-sacrifice now.

Whoopsie. Almost forgot; there's a Gore-ian across the street. Scrump-tidillyumptious! Just let me break out the barbecue sauce... :)

Arrrgh!

Great. I just noticed I'm now getting porn spam comments.

Wonderful....

Oh, well, time to install that plug-in. :-)

And, YES, mt-blacklist works its potent mojo on evil spambots!!

Urk. Now Lachlan has me doing it; I"m singing She Dropped Da Bomb On Me while I'm despamming the blog... Heh.

While you were out...

I may not be posting as much here for a bit, since I'm guest-blogging at the ever-impressive Dean's World.

Drop on by....

That's no moon, that's a SPACE STATION!!

Sorry, but I had to use that title. Nothing else can convey the awe, the majesty, and (considering the reference in Twister) the sheer mind-number terror inspired by

THE QUEEN OF ALL EVIL

AKA Rosemary Esmay, formerly of Dean's World. Welcome to the blogosphere!

Why "formerly"? Because while Rose has been writing on Dean's World for a while, she finally decided her own wings were strong.

Please note that this member of the Royally Dark Side is a registered Republican, and yes shep, I know you think that's redundant! :) But Rose is an equal-opportunity abuser: she'll beat up on anyone if they deserve it.

So if you have a rude sense of humor, and like hot polish women with huge... tracts of land, run over and pay the Queen a visit.

Almost forgot. Her Royal Sinisterity asked for "link love." Here you go, girl!

P.S. I put you in a special place on my sidebar as a "welcome" gift.

The Sins of Kos

Dean Esmay has recently weighed in on