http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50208495#50208495
No AR15 used in school shooting!
Why ban them? I ask honestly. I don't own one.
27 December 2012
25 December 2012
Merry Christmas!
Today, no politics, no ranting about the Constitution, or the corruption of politicians.
Today I take care of Mrs. Crazed American, laid low by a cold, and try to get out to commune with the mountain this afternoon.
G-d bless all of you, Friend and Reader.
May this day be one of love, family and warmth. Remember your blessings and keep this day in a way that fills your heart with joy.
Pacem,
Crazed American, out.
Today I take care of Mrs. Crazed American, laid low by a cold, and try to get out to commune with the mountain this afternoon.
G-d bless all of you, Friend and Reader.
May this day be one of love, family and warmth. Remember your blessings and keep this day in a way that fills your heart with joy.
Pacem,
Crazed American, out.
24 December 2012
Business in the 21st Century, Part I
This is going to be the first in a series of posts, when I, your humble author, lays upon you a critique of modern business, as viewed through the lens of a small, buzz-word-centric, business in the "e-commerce" field, that heavily leverages long, run on sentences in it's official communications, and strives to be synergisitcally present in the social media paradigm, and leverage that presence into market driven action.
Horseshit.
Basically this is my treatise on how a cool, little company began to believe it's own hype, and eventually went from being special, to being effectively a mediocre mail order catalog company, with high turnover. It has to do with forgetting what made the idea special in the first place, losing sight of making each and every employee feel valued, losing sight of team building, taking 27 steps backward by trying to take things to the next level, and testing loyal and dedicated employees.
I will not include any specifics, this may or may not be a company I'm working for. I have worked for companies like it in the past, and the fundamental things to do wrong were done there as well.
Long story short, there are fundamentals that make a successful business and fundamentals to make an unsuccessful one as well.
Let these treatises serve as a cautionary tale to entrepreneurs out there. This is not a case of sour grapes, merely lessons learned. Identities will be changed to protect the innocent, or in this case brilliant and clueless alike.
Should be interesting and an excellent way for me to organize thoughts and perhaps branch out into a business of my own...
Horseshit.
Basically this is my treatise on how a cool, little company began to believe it's own hype, and eventually went from being special, to being effectively a mediocre mail order catalog company, with high turnover. It has to do with forgetting what made the idea special in the first place, losing sight of making each and every employee feel valued, losing sight of team building, taking 27 steps backward by trying to take things to the next level, and testing loyal and dedicated employees.
I will not include any specifics, this may or may not be a company I'm working for. I have worked for companies like it in the past, and the fundamental things to do wrong were done there as well.
Long story short, there are fundamentals that make a successful business and fundamentals to make an unsuccessful one as well.
Let these treatises serve as a cautionary tale to entrepreneurs out there. This is not a case of sour grapes, merely lessons learned. Identities will be changed to protect the innocent, or in this case brilliant and clueless alike.
Should be interesting and an excellent way for me to organize thoughts and perhaps branch out into a business of my own...
22 December 2012
hmmm...
Wrote a long, cogent post about the current state of the union.
Accidentally deleted it. Probably for the best.
So, I will report that I have installed a new-fangled digital antenna on my TV. Winegard flat antenna. Costco $29.99. Good stuff. I now have access to Telemundo in full HD. Everything (except for the local CBS affiliate) else comes in clearer with no digital interference.
All of that, and I was able to hide my antenna underneath an old map of Ft. Benning...
Miracles of modern technology.
We live in a golden age folks, live it up and never stop being grateful for what you have, no matter the circumstance.
Crazed American, out.
Accidentally deleted it. Probably for the best.
So, I will report that I have installed a new-fangled digital antenna on my TV. Winegard flat antenna. Costco $29.99. Good stuff. I now have access to Telemundo in full HD. Everything (except for the local CBS affiliate) else comes in clearer with no digital interference.
All of that, and I was able to hide my antenna underneath an old map of Ft. Benning...
Miracles of modern technology.
We live in a golden age folks, live it up and never stop being grateful for what you have, no matter the circumstance.
Crazed American, out.
20 December 2012
Cold Winds Blowing
I'm done ranting about politics for a while. I'm pretty sure you all get my drift.
Cold winds are indeed blowing. Literally. It's damn freezing cold outside. Ah, winter in the mountains is so spectacular. Looks as though Russia is getting it pretty bad with temps around -50 F. That's a cold day on Mars, for crying out loud.
Russian winters like that make me try to imagine what the German infantry on the Russian Steppe in 1941-43 must have felt like in the winters. Unimaginably cold, with little more than your wool uniform and a woolen greatcoat, if you were lucky. Fingers freezing to the steel of your rifle, frostbite, entire squads freezing to death at night, otherwise huddling together, trying desperately for any tiny bit of warmth. Fires were verboten, they only served to allow Ivan's artillery spotters and snipers to be able to get your range.
I've been cold, truly cold only a few times in my life. One time stands out, March of 1993 - two weeks before "spring break" at the small small Engineering School on the Hudson River in New York that I attended. I was a member of a club that went on occasional camping trips (some would call them Field Training Exercises). We road marched to an adjacent post - a lovely spot of rolling countryside called Camp Smith. It got brutally cold that weekend, a large cold front dropped in on us out of Canada. We loaded up into Marine Corps CH-53s (operation was firmly "Purple" - joint function with students from a small liberal arts and technical school from Annapolis, Maryland) and air assaulted into a remote airfield. Things unfolded nicely, some good training points, some excellent lessons learned. After the op we had a great AAR in a hanger, loaded back up into the 53's and headed back to Camp Smith.
We dropped into a nice LZ, and then road marched to a patrol base where we set up to laager for the night. For the day we had been the assaulting element. That night, we were OPFOR. The bad guys. There were about 50 of us, and our Platoon Leader got our squad leaders organized, while we got into a loose perimeter in the dark. Since we were supposed to be learning, we only six night vision devices for the whole platoon. Stumbling around in the freezing dark our squad leaders set up into our areas of responsibility, gave us sectors of fire, that we could barely make out in the dark, and told us to hunker down.
Once cooled off from the strenuous road march and the activity of setting up the patrol base, the cold really began to put it's fingers into us. I put on every bit of clothing I had. Fashioned a T-shirt into a hat, Wrapped up in poncho, poncho liner uniform, field sweater, field jacket, hell I then put on my wet weather gear hoping that the vinyl might reflect any bit of heat back towards my shivering body.
The PL began to send out patrols to harass some other organizations from our school, non-club members, some of the class company commanders had decided to field their companies out there. Our club members went out, a squad at a time to go agitate and create some excitement. A group of students from the small technical school in Maryland were attached to us. Great guys, intrepid and brave, sallied forth, executed a very nice probing action against one of the class companies, turned around to head back, and then got promptly lost.
As this was happening, I was so cold, I was almost convulsing from the shivering. My world shrank until all there was, a cold tiny cocoon of ice. Far away, movement registered to my ears, I became concerned that my chattering teeth would be a liability. Aside from the rusting of movement inf front of me the only sound I could hear were my teeth rattling. A Class company patrol was wandering, stumbling around right outside our patrol base about 100 meters from my squad's section of the line. Whispered instructions to hang tight and avoid detection were delivered. Soon, they passed. My squad leader and our Platoon Sergeant soon came up to me and told me to gear up. We had to go out and try to find our brave Marylanders. I thanked the two of them profusely.
Sweet Jesus, I was saved. Movement caused my body warm up. We went out into the cold night, ranged out into the night, looking - or should i say listening for our water-borne comrades. In order to allow our comrades to save face, we were told to keep out little patrol quiet, not be detected. I could have cared less, I was merely happy to be moving. Our comrades had a radio, we had a radio. They were unbelievably angry at themselves, embarrassed at being lost. They told us where they thought they were, we went there, no dice. We told them to remove their blank adapters and fire three rounds. An M16 firing a blank with no blank adapter is not a quiet thing. We, having taken a knee and removed our headgear to listen, could hear nothing, other than the distant chatter of small arms and artillery and grenade simulators from the other students. The must have been miles away. Finally our comrades were able to find a hardball road, outside the military reservation, and we were able to vector them back to the patrol base. Our squad leader asked us if we wanted to head back to the patrol base, or just hang out in the woods and see if we could mix it up a bit. I had no wish to go back and hunker behind the cold rock and enter back into the cocoon of ice. We patroled out until an hour or two before dawn, effectively conducting reconnaissance, identifying where the other patrol bases were, and even scouting ahead to find the LZ for the AM. Just as the sky began to lighten, the PL ordered us up and we headed to the LZ, to be picked up by NEw York Army Reserve UH1's for the quick hop back to school. Ah, school -where there were hot showers, and Green Girl Comforters, and radiators that put out loads of delicious heat.
It got below freezing that night. The water in my canteen had frozen solid.
I never want to be that cold again, but it was an experience that I will never forget, and I cannot imagine what those winters on the Steppe must have been like. I knew I was going home soon, I knew that the rifles of those arrayed against us projected nothing that could wound anything, save our pride. No one was trying to kill us, we were students, we were learning. I learned lessons that night, indeed.
Stay warm and toasty, friends.
Crazed American, OUT.
Cold winds are indeed blowing. Literally. It's damn freezing cold outside. Ah, winter in the mountains is so spectacular. Looks as though Russia is getting it pretty bad with temps around -50 F. That's a cold day on Mars, for crying out loud.
Russian winters like that make me try to imagine what the German infantry on the Russian Steppe in 1941-43 must have felt like in the winters. Unimaginably cold, with little more than your wool uniform and a woolen greatcoat, if you were lucky. Fingers freezing to the steel of your rifle, frostbite, entire squads freezing to death at night, otherwise huddling together, trying desperately for any tiny bit of warmth. Fires were verboten, they only served to allow Ivan's artillery spotters and snipers to be able to get your range.
I've been cold, truly cold only a few times in my life. One time stands out, March of 1993 - two weeks before "spring break" at the small small Engineering School on the Hudson River in New York that I attended. I was a member of a club that went on occasional camping trips (some would call them Field Training Exercises). We road marched to an adjacent post - a lovely spot of rolling countryside called Camp Smith. It got brutally cold that weekend, a large cold front dropped in on us out of Canada. We loaded up into Marine Corps CH-53s (operation was firmly "Purple" - joint function with students from a small liberal arts and technical school from Annapolis, Maryland) and air assaulted into a remote airfield. Things unfolded nicely, some good training points, some excellent lessons learned. After the op we had a great AAR in a hanger, loaded back up into the 53's and headed back to Camp Smith.
We dropped into a nice LZ, and then road marched to a patrol base where we set up to laager for the night. For the day we had been the assaulting element. That night, we were OPFOR. The bad guys. There were about 50 of us, and our Platoon Leader got our squad leaders organized, while we got into a loose perimeter in the dark. Since we were supposed to be learning, we only six night vision devices for the whole platoon. Stumbling around in the freezing dark our squad leaders set up into our areas of responsibility, gave us sectors of fire, that we could barely make out in the dark, and told us to hunker down.
Once cooled off from the strenuous road march and the activity of setting up the patrol base, the cold really began to put it's fingers into us. I put on every bit of clothing I had. Fashioned a T-shirt into a hat, Wrapped up in poncho, poncho liner uniform, field sweater, field jacket, hell I then put on my wet weather gear hoping that the vinyl might reflect any bit of heat back towards my shivering body.
The PL began to send out patrols to harass some other organizations from our school, non-club members, some of the class company commanders had decided to field their companies out there. Our club members went out, a squad at a time to go agitate and create some excitement. A group of students from the small technical school in Maryland were attached to us. Great guys, intrepid and brave, sallied forth, executed a very nice probing action against one of the class companies, turned around to head back, and then got promptly lost.
As this was happening, I was so cold, I was almost convulsing from the shivering. My world shrank until all there was, a cold tiny cocoon of ice. Far away, movement registered to my ears, I became concerned that my chattering teeth would be a liability. Aside from the rusting of movement inf front of me the only sound I could hear were my teeth rattling. A Class company patrol was wandering, stumbling around right outside our patrol base about 100 meters from my squad's section of the line. Whispered instructions to hang tight and avoid detection were delivered. Soon, they passed. My squad leader and our Platoon Sergeant soon came up to me and told me to gear up. We had to go out and try to find our brave Marylanders. I thanked the two of them profusely.
Sweet Jesus, I was saved. Movement caused my body warm up. We went out into the cold night, ranged out into the night, looking - or should i say listening for our water-borne comrades. In order to allow our comrades to save face, we were told to keep out little patrol quiet, not be detected. I could have cared less, I was merely happy to be moving. Our comrades had a radio, we had a radio. They were unbelievably angry at themselves, embarrassed at being lost. They told us where they thought they were, we went there, no dice. We told them to remove their blank adapters and fire three rounds. An M16 firing a blank with no blank adapter is not a quiet thing. We, having taken a knee and removed our headgear to listen, could hear nothing, other than the distant chatter of small arms and artillery and grenade simulators from the other students. The must have been miles away. Finally our comrades were able to find a hardball road, outside the military reservation, and we were able to vector them back to the patrol base. Our squad leader asked us if we wanted to head back to the patrol base, or just hang out in the woods and see if we could mix it up a bit. I had no wish to go back and hunker behind the cold rock and enter back into the cocoon of ice. We patroled out until an hour or two before dawn, effectively conducting reconnaissance, identifying where the other patrol bases were, and even scouting ahead to find the LZ for the AM. Just as the sky began to lighten, the PL ordered us up and we headed to the LZ, to be picked up by NEw York Army Reserve UH1's for the quick hop back to school. Ah, school -where there were hot showers, and Green Girl Comforters, and radiators that put out loads of delicious heat.
It got below freezing that night. The water in my canteen had frozen solid.
I never want to be that cold again, but it was an experience that I will never forget, and I cannot imagine what those winters on the Steppe must have been like. I knew I was going home soon, I knew that the rifles of those arrayed against us projected nothing that could wound anything, save our pride. No one was trying to kill us, we were students, we were learning. I learned lessons that night, indeed.
Stay warm and toasty, friends.
Crazed American, OUT.
19 December 2012
Letters
A passage from a letter from the Crazed American to the Libertarian Floridian Photographer:
"I've got a brand new Dicks Sporting goods down the street from the house. They had exactly one AR there prior to this tragedy. Over priced Bushmaster.
"I've got a brand new Dicks Sporting goods down the street from the house. They had exactly one AR there prior to this tragedy. Over priced Bushmaster.
My concern is the provisions of the ban, and how that might play out. Transfer and sale of existing weapons, for instance. Registration is something I cannot abide, and cannot support. Hell, I don't even own any "assault" weapons / modern sporting rifles, but I still won't do it. Closest thing I have is an M1 Carbine I bought from a Tallahassee Cop back in 1996. Jumping through a few more hoops for permits is one thing. If I have to tell Uncle Sugar what I have... that's not OK. If you need to know what happens after registration, please see The Country Located where Great Britain Used to Be (higher violent crime rate than the US), Australia, Germany in the 1930's, China, Russia, Armenia, et al.
As far as the NRA goes, I support their current stance, but their marketing sucks, and i think it might be time for a new EVP, Mr. LaPierre's too polarizing at this point... the Second Amendment Foundation is where it's at - Gottlieb and Gura argued McDonald and Heller in front of USSC - and won.
The People feel as though they have to do something. Gun Control is the low hanging fruit. I lived through the last ban and ended up buying a very nice Egyptian MISR-90 and a box of 30 rd magazines for under $400. It was new production and had all of the AWB features (no bayo lug, no pistol grip and had a 10 rd mag that came with it) ended up selling it cause I needed the money in college. If they enact a ban, and the political winds change (maybe with a continued Libertarian bent) the ban will go away. It's a piece of legislation, and it will get overturned, especially if they don't provide for a sunset - like the last one). Silver linings, perhaps this will galvanize the Pro RKBA community to get out there and really change hearts and minds.
At least, that is, until the economy goes completely unhinged.
18 December 2012
A thought on the Bill of Rights
So, according to most of the "gun control" proponents out there:
if this is true:
The Second Amendment applies only to muskets!
Then this must also be true:
Your computer (and modern telecommunications) cannot be used for purposes relating to the 1st Amendment, right? Your thoughts must be limited to Quill and Parchment ONLY!!!
Just musing...
if this is true:
The Second Amendment applies only to muskets!
Then this must also be true:
Your computer (and modern telecommunications) cannot be used for purposes relating to the 1st Amendment, right? Your thoughts must be limited to Quill and Parchment ONLY!!!
Just musing...
16 December 2012
READ THIS
Read this and tell me your heart does not BREAK for this woman:
http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html?m=1
Why can't people get heath they need??? It doesn't take government control - it doesn't take socialism.
It's just insurance... it should be easier to get health insurance than it is to get car insurance.
A powerful issue that will undoubtedly occupy our families and our nations for years to come.
May G-d give us the ability to reason, and help those who need, desperately, the help that exists out there.
Crazed American, out.
http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.com/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html?m=1
Why can't people get heath they need??? It doesn't take government control - it doesn't take socialism.
It's just insurance... it should be easier to get health insurance than it is to get car insurance.
A powerful issue that will undoubtedly occupy our families and our nations for years to come.
May G-d give us the ability to reason, and help those who need, desperately, the help that exists out there.
Crazed American, out.
End of an era, part 3456
This blog is going to see quite a bit more action in the next year. I'm finding Facebook to be, well, tiring. I've realized that I've used it as a crutch, and it more than smacks as a tad of addiction. So I'm weaning myself from it.
2013 is going to be a year of change. One of them is going to most certainly be a reduction in the amount of time spent on the "Social Media". Granted, this blog is considered to be "Social Media", but come on... Nobody reads this fucking thing. I know, miracles of modern technology and the stats feature of blogger's dashboard. This is nothing more than a public accessible journal.
So instead of posting to Facebook, I'll post here.
Today I had a WONDERFUL day. I took my wife and daughter to the Hobbit. 3d IMAX, baby. Well worth it. Added bonus, got to see the first 9 minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness. Can't wait for that one.
Then took my Daughter skiing. Her sixth day out, my eighth. Foot and a half of powder. She rocked it. Then home, dinner and a spate of building in Legotown. Tomorrow sees some home improvement work (continuing remod on a bathroom), then to see a show at a local museum and dinner with friends.
Tomorrow will be a good day.
Just wish I could sleep now...
Crazed American, out.
2013 is going to be a year of change. One of them is going to most certainly be a reduction in the amount of time spent on the "Social Media". Granted, this blog is considered to be "Social Media", but come on... Nobody reads this fucking thing. I know, miracles of modern technology and the stats feature of blogger's dashboard. This is nothing more than a public accessible journal.
So instead of posting to Facebook, I'll post here.
Today I had a WONDERFUL day. I took my wife and daughter to the Hobbit. 3d IMAX, baby. Well worth it. Added bonus, got to see the first 9 minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness. Can't wait for that one.
Then took my Daughter skiing. Her sixth day out, my eighth. Foot and a half of powder. She rocked it. Then home, dinner and a spate of building in Legotown. Tomorrow sees some home improvement work (continuing remod on a bathroom), then to see a show at a local museum and dinner with friends.
Tomorrow will be a good day.
Just wish I could sleep now...
Crazed American, out.
15 December 2012
Can't sleep...
To say that the events of today have shaken me is an understatement. Not necessarily the horrible fact that a literal madman went on a killing spree against his own family and a school, but also the immediate clamor for more laws to stop the problem. Today, I have heard the gamut, from the immediate banning of all guns, to the immediate rounding up and murder of anyone with mental illness. Both extremes are reprehensible.
As you know, the Crazed American is a strong proponent for the Second Amendment (and the rest of the Constitution, for that matter). I am a gun owner, and a concealed carry permit holder. I keep my guns secure and safe, and all who live with me are aware and knowledgeable of where the firearms are kept, and safety rules for their storage and use.
I believe that G-d (or whatever deity or creator figure you acknowledge) granted all human beings the right to be free.
Go ahead and ban guns. There are three hundred million of them here in the US. You know what that does to stop madmen, and people who decide to break the law? Flat fucking nothing. All it does is steal a right from those who are responsible and law abiding, and only wish to decisively defend themselves or engage in a hobby or sport.
How many laws did the shooter break before he entered the school?
If he was indeed mentally incompetent, he broke the law by touching the tools used to commit his perverse acts. He killed his own mother, by shooting her in the face.
He illegally gained possession of handguns (under 21 - illegal)
He broke a law by going into that school, armed.
He perpetrated the most reprehensible of all acts, the cold blooded murder of terrified children. As a man, as a father, as an American, as a human fucking being, I am sickened unto death of what that demon did.
Now tell me, a person, he'll bent on savagery and mayhem, is going to be dissuaded, how exactly?
In 1927 a man enacted the biggest school murder in history. He killed 45 people with bombs. Keep in mind this was long before the Federal Firearms Act of 1934. That means that monster could have bought Thompson sub machine guns through the mail. No InstaCheck, NCIS, no 4473, no background check. People bent on murder will murder. It may take them a moment longer to do it, but they will do it.
It boils down to freedom. Each and everyone of us has it. Most people claim to cherish freedom. We have to all understand that freedom isn't always pretty, it isn't always clean. Sometimes freedom can be disgusting, painful, bloody and awful - and that is just something's that can be considered art.
Guns are tools. They lack anima. A gun cannot commit murder any more than a car, or a hammer, the jawbone of a buffalo, or a rock can.
I leave you with this: in the 1930's a government banned firearms. Then it banned the mentally ill, and by banning I mean industrialized murder. It got worse from there...
As you know, the Crazed American is a strong proponent for the Second Amendment (and the rest of the Constitution, for that matter). I am a gun owner, and a concealed carry permit holder. I keep my guns secure and safe, and all who live with me are aware and knowledgeable of where the firearms are kept, and safety rules for their storage and use.
I believe that G-d (or whatever deity or creator figure you acknowledge) granted all human beings the right to be free.
Go ahead and ban guns. There are three hundred million of them here in the US. You know what that does to stop madmen, and people who decide to break the law? Flat fucking nothing. All it does is steal a right from those who are responsible and law abiding, and only wish to decisively defend themselves or engage in a hobby or sport.
How many laws did the shooter break before he entered the school?
If he was indeed mentally incompetent, he broke the law by touching the tools used to commit his perverse acts. He killed his own mother, by shooting her in the face.
He illegally gained possession of handguns (under 21 - illegal)
He broke a law by going into that school, armed.
He perpetrated the most reprehensible of all acts, the cold blooded murder of terrified children. As a man, as a father, as an American, as a human fucking being, I am sickened unto death of what that demon did.
Now tell me, a person, he'll bent on savagery and mayhem, is going to be dissuaded, how exactly?
In 1927 a man enacted the biggest school murder in history. He killed 45 people with bombs. Keep in mind this was long before the Federal Firearms Act of 1934. That means that monster could have bought Thompson sub machine guns through the mail. No InstaCheck, NCIS, no 4473, no background check. People bent on murder will murder. It may take them a moment longer to do it, but they will do it.
It boils down to freedom. Each and everyone of us has it. Most people claim to cherish freedom. We have to all understand that freedom isn't always pretty, it isn't always clean. Sometimes freedom can be disgusting, painful, bloody and awful - and that is just something's that can be considered art.
Guns are tools. They lack anima. A gun cannot commit murder any more than a car, or a hammer, the jawbone of a buffalo, or a rock can.
I leave you with this: in the 1930's a government banned firearms. Then it banned the mentally ill, and by banning I mean industrialized murder. It got worse from there...
07 December 2012
Infamy_DEC 1941
I just explained to my daughter that right now how everyone on the planet's live changed for better and for much, much worse.
It ushered in an era of intense technological and cultural change.
Our whole modern world took shape after 07DEC1941. Nuclear power and weapons, rockets, guided missiles, TV guided bombs, radar, employer provided health insurance were just the start. Women found employment, and the call to serve their nation was so strong that some committed suicide because they were found wanting, physically or mentally by the Armed Forces. It was a different time back int he 1940's. America was peopled by those made of a different, sterner, steely stuff. That generation founded one of the greatest success stories and victories in human history.
That generation of the planet earth did amazingly good things, and amazingly evil things. They brought to us industrialized murder. They turned war into an industry, and it never stopped.
Long story short people were people back then. I think it is useful for those of us today to look back on the experiences of those who were alive at the time, and imagine the fear that the Japanese Imperial Naval Aviators must have felt as they crossed the December Pacific from their task force to their targets on Oahu, wondering if the American Navy would be ready for them. Also, remember that right now, the US Navy was enjoying the last, peacetime sleep it would for the next four, long, bitter years that changed the whole world.
It started for us in Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i in December of 1941. We ended it in August of 1945.
We are well served to remember the events of the 1930's and 1940's. I remember and pray that we as a race have grown to the point where a war of that magnitude never visits us again. But knowing humanity as a student of history, I also realize that it will, I just hope that a force for freedom and liberty is around to take the fight to the enemy unflinchingly, and do what it takes to win. In wars of ideology, like the Second World War, there is no second place. Just ask the citizens of Stalingrad, Berlin, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki...
Peace should be the chosen course, but as humans we must understand the lessons of history and the ability to wage war against those who would kill or subjugate us.
Remember, dear friends,
Crazed American, OUT.
It ushered in an era of intense technological and cultural change.
Our whole modern world took shape after 07DEC1941. Nuclear power and weapons, rockets, guided missiles, TV guided bombs, radar, employer provided health insurance were just the start. Women found employment, and the call to serve their nation was so strong that some committed suicide because they were found wanting, physically or mentally by the Armed Forces. It was a different time back int he 1940's. America was peopled by those made of a different, sterner, steely stuff. That generation founded one of the greatest success stories and victories in human history.
That generation of the planet earth did amazingly good things, and amazingly evil things. They brought to us industrialized murder. They turned war into an industry, and it never stopped.
Long story short people were people back then. I think it is useful for those of us today to look back on the experiences of those who were alive at the time, and imagine the fear that the Japanese Imperial Naval Aviators must have felt as they crossed the December Pacific from their task force to their targets on Oahu, wondering if the American Navy would be ready for them. Also, remember that right now, the US Navy was enjoying the last, peacetime sleep it would for the next four, long, bitter years that changed the whole world.
It started for us in Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i in December of 1941. We ended it in August of 1945.
We are well served to remember the events of the 1930's and 1940's. I remember and pray that we as a race have grown to the point where a war of that magnitude never visits us again. But knowing humanity as a student of history, I also realize that it will, I just hope that a force for freedom and liberty is around to take the fight to the enemy unflinchingly, and do what it takes to win. In wars of ideology, like the Second World War, there is no second place. Just ask the citizens of Stalingrad, Berlin, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki...
Peace should be the chosen course, but as humans we must understand the lessons of history and the ability to wage war against those who would kill or subjugate us.
Remember, dear friends,
Crazed American, OUT.
05 December 2012
Spit, bailing twine, bubble gum, deficit, debt (add water and shake)...
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/20264712/detroit-councilwoman-to-obama-we-supported-you-now-support-us#.UL9ceqMvNRE.twitter
Detroit seems to think that since they voted to re-elect El Jefe, that they can now get some sweet, sweet bailout cash.
From where?
The US government is, if you couldn't tell, not exactly flush with funds.
This "fiscal cliff" that is coming - as the commentator and political philosopher Jon Stewart said - is completely self inflicted. Therefore, to the Crazed American, it is not an issue. There is a larger issue, the proverbial 800 pound gorilla in the room everyone refuses to acknowledge.
We're quickly approaching the point where all the revenue of the US will be completely subsumed by debt payments. This debt cannot be paid off, to say nothing of the unfunded liabilities, which by some estimates range from $40 TRILLION to $540 TRILLION dollars. The New Deal / Social Security model, with 30+ years of retirement, is over. People my age will NOT see it. There is now no way.
Expect the following: All 401K's will be seized (in one form or another) by the US Treasury. It will all be invested in US Government bonds. This will have the effect of cratering the stock market, but will be one of the only remedies if one of our foreign sources of capital (creditors such as Japan, Britain or China) either decide to stop lending, or run out of cash. It will attempt to be ameliorated with a portion of the new federalized retirement fund being allocated to a specific group of companies that will benefit. Also, do you think for a moment that there might not be just a speck of corruption that enters in there? The .gov will contribute to companies that play ball (ala Google) with surveillance or other programs the .gov finds useful.
Currency default is on it's way. The fact that the US Treasury is on the course to phase out pennies and nickels (and possibly dollar bills) means that the US Dollar might just be on it's way out the door. Or, if they decide to "keep the dollar" they'll change it's value, or "base" it on gold. No matter what happens, it WILL continue to inflate, at a steepening rate.
The Fed or the Treasury could start buying up mortgage securities in order to prop up the big banks (oh, wait that's already happening to the tune of $40 Billion a month).
No matter how you cut this stinking, rotten fruit, it's going to be unpleasant.
What can you do? As for this Crazed American, it involves reducing or eliminating debt, building a liquid cash reserve (both in bank and physical cash). If you still invest in the stock market, minimize your risk, and be ready to pull it should conditions change drastically. Also planting a garden, getting to know my neighbors and paying attention to local political issues is critical. Discussing with Mrs. Crazed American topics that range from losing a job, to getting stuck in a whiteout, to having to exist without one or more utilities.
I do not think we are headed for "Lord Humungus, Warlord of the Wasteland, face colanders and V8 Interceptors" time. A full blown collapse to the point of lawlessness isn't likely. The Government is well served to keep the power on and the water running. Critical infrastructure is listed as critical for a reason. Pockets of breakdown (riots, mass looting) are unavoidable, especially in the populated and truly desperate locations (such as Detroit, LA, Chicago, New York).
Of course, all bets are off if the .gov can't keep people fed, the lights on and the water running for more than a short time.
Long story short - when it comes to this bullshit "Fiscal Cliff": bring it, let's see what happens, and if necessary, and it pains me to say it...
Let it burn. Over the cliff we'll go, and as the Sage Mr. Stewart said, "...for a few seconds it'll feel like we're flying..."
Detroit seems to think that since they voted to re-elect El Jefe, that they can now get some sweet, sweet bailout cash.
From where?
The US government is, if you couldn't tell, not exactly flush with funds.
This "fiscal cliff" that is coming - as the commentator and political philosopher Jon Stewart said - is completely self inflicted. Therefore, to the Crazed American, it is not an issue. There is a larger issue, the proverbial 800 pound gorilla in the room everyone refuses to acknowledge.
We're quickly approaching the point where all the revenue of the US will be completely subsumed by debt payments. This debt cannot be paid off, to say nothing of the unfunded liabilities, which by some estimates range from $40 TRILLION to $540 TRILLION dollars. The New Deal / Social Security model, with 30+ years of retirement, is over. People my age will NOT see it. There is now no way.
Expect the following: All 401K's will be seized (in one form or another) by the US Treasury. It will all be invested in US Government bonds. This will have the effect of cratering the stock market, but will be one of the only remedies if one of our foreign sources of capital (creditors such as Japan, Britain or China) either decide to stop lending, or run out of cash. It will attempt to be ameliorated with a portion of the new federalized retirement fund being allocated to a specific group of companies that will benefit. Also, do you think for a moment that there might not be just a speck of corruption that enters in there? The .gov will contribute to companies that play ball (ala Google) with surveillance or other programs the .gov finds useful.
Currency default is on it's way. The fact that the US Treasury is on the course to phase out pennies and nickels (and possibly dollar bills) means that the US Dollar might just be on it's way out the door. Or, if they decide to "keep the dollar" they'll change it's value, or "base" it on gold. No matter what happens, it WILL continue to inflate, at a steepening rate.
The Fed or the Treasury could start buying up mortgage securities in order to prop up the big banks (oh, wait that's already happening to the tune of $40 Billion a month).
No matter how you cut this stinking, rotten fruit, it's going to be unpleasant.
What can you do? As for this Crazed American, it involves reducing or eliminating debt, building a liquid cash reserve (both in bank and physical cash). If you still invest in the stock market, minimize your risk, and be ready to pull it should conditions change drastically. Also planting a garden, getting to know my neighbors and paying attention to local political issues is critical. Discussing with Mrs. Crazed American topics that range from losing a job, to getting stuck in a whiteout, to having to exist without one or more utilities.
I do not think we are headed for "Lord Humungus, Warlord of the Wasteland, face colanders and V8 Interceptors" time. A full blown collapse to the point of lawlessness isn't likely. The Government is well served to keep the power on and the water running. Critical infrastructure is listed as critical for a reason. Pockets of breakdown (riots, mass looting) are unavoidable, especially in the populated and truly desperate locations (such as Detroit, LA, Chicago, New York).
Of course, all bets are off if the .gov can't keep people fed, the lights on and the water running for more than a short time.
Long story short - when it comes to this bullshit "Fiscal Cliff": bring it, let's see what happens, and if necessary, and it pains me to say it...
Let it burn. Over the cliff we'll go, and as the Sage Mr. Stewart said, "...for a few seconds it'll feel like we're flying..."
03 December 2012
Guess this was the wrong week to stop sniffing glue...
Above still needs no introduction.
The Dear Lord wouldn't give me a damn thing, if I couldn't handle it.
I meet your challenge, and will thrive. I think this week I will remodel a bathroom as well...
30 November 2012
Waiting for the storm...
NWS is expecting a bit of the storm that's soaking Northern California to hit us shortly. Today through Monday, is probable. So I Pray the Crom will bless us with a decent blanket of the white stuff, so that I might break out the new skis and get some righteous turns. Not to say that I don't enjoy my old "Bro-nated" rock skis, but I'm ready to slash some pow.
Ah, the life of the "responsible" ski-bum...
Ah, the life of the "responsible" ski-bum...
29 November 2012
26 November 2012
Bond XXIII ?!
OK, Skyfall did not suck. Damn fine film. Excellent direction, excellent acting, great design.
One bone to pick: lose the three lights on the back of Bond's new PPK/S... Also have him carry one of the new Walther PPQ's. Better caliber, more magazine capacity, still quite concelable.
Excellent points: Bond reloads the PPK/S!
Thank you Mr. Mendes for not having that damn "shaky camera / cinema verite" shite... that is a tired device.
James Bond (along with the Star Trek movies) should become a vehicle for directors and guest actors.
See it. I'm buying the Blu-Ray the day it bows. Good stuff.
22 November 2012
Happy Thanksgiving!
Spending time with those closest, cooking, skiing, eating...
Thanking my lucky stars that my life has turned out the way it has.
Thanks!
Thanking my lucky stars that my life has turned out the way it has.
Thanks!
21 November 2012
100% chance of more postings
I may get to that magic number of 5 posts per week at this rate.
Turkey is being brined. The majority of provisions for the annual dinosaur feast have been procured.
Timing cooking turkey around skiing may prove to be challenging, but I am up to it I hope. G-d in heaven, I love my life.
Turkey is being brined. The majority of provisions for the annual dinosaur feast have been procured.
Timing cooking turkey around skiing may prove to be challenging, but I am up to it I hope. G-d in heaven, I love my life.
20 November 2012
Ah, the glories of modern technology....
Blogger has an iPhone app... Now I shall post more! Lucky you.
15 September 2012
Praise the Lord and Pass the Sierra Match King...
So good friends sent me this article:
http://www.activistpost.com/
They wanted to know what I had to say, so I said:
Now that I have my coffee this fine and chilly morning, and have read this article, please allow me to opine.
http://www.activistpost.com/
They wanted to know what I had to say, so I said:
Now that I have my coffee this fine and chilly morning, and have read this article, please allow me to opine.
Allow me first to categorically state that I understand and am actually buoyed by the fact that at least some people are taking notice of what the .gov does.
I have done much research and much thinking on this subject thanks to the prior purchases and 176K rounds of Sierra Match King for the DHS does not concern me at all.
This request is by the DHS for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol.
First the blank ammo: the .gov doesn't use blanks for training trigger control, especially with snipers. They don't need to: why shoot blanks when you have plenty of live ammo to train on? Blanks can also be pretty harsh on VERY expensive rifles. They use it for force on force training with blank adapters on belt fed machine guns. Also, 25K of blanks? Please! In the early 1990's at the Southeastern Hudson Institute of Technology, (a place not known for it's state of the art Weaponry - my issue rifles were a 1965 TRW M14 and a 1965 Armalite AR15 stamped M16) my Vietnam issue M60 was known to go through 600 rounds of 7.62 blank in a 24 hour FTX.
DHS has, to their credit, adopted the Secret Service / FBI model of sniper and overall marksmanship training. That means quarterly qualifications with duty weapons. Got a friend up here (10+ year veteran of the FBI let me shoot his MP10, rad), and he said that during the time ramping up to qualification people would BURN through ammo.
Secret service snipers are some of the best in the world. For one simple reason... they get adequate ammo to train. Snipers are not completely born, nor are they completely made, and good snipers can go through a prodigious amount of ammo. 5K rounds to get someone proficient. In US Army Sniper school there's several weeks of 100-200 rounds a day. Secret Service and FBI snipers get better than military snipers spend much more time on fieldcraft (camo, infiltration / exfiltration and intelligence gathering). DHS snipers train to shoot, that's pretty much it.
Minor note: Military doesn't use much of the .308 (7.62x51mm) in sniper rifles. They use primarily the .300 Win Mag or .338 Lapua. Better range, flatter, harder hitting.
So let's take 5K rounds to get someone trained up (some more, some less), or 2K for qualification and proficiency. We're talking less than 100 sniper qualified officers. I can account for every bullet (CRITICAL NOTE: Sierra Match Kings are not sold as complete rounds, they're sold as bullets, you have to make them into match grade ammo, which is artistry unto itself), and still not do the typical .gov of buying more than I need.
Why buy one for the price of one when you ban buy two for the price of two?
So, I take away form this the important lesson that my .gov is teaching me. Having firearms is important, but having the ammunition to feed them is more important. I do as my .gov does. Stacking it deep.
Am I concerned that the .gov needs so much ammo? Yes. Law Enforcement is WELL armed and has great training. We should be vigilant, but not overly concerned - yet.
Crazed American, out.
10 September 2012
99 Problems, but a good movie ain't one...
THIS does not surprise me in the slightest.
If you look at historical trends, movies HAVE ALWAYS done well during times of economic downturn.
The reason for this could easily be explained:
1) when economic times get bad, people WANT to escape. Movies allow people to do that.
2) It's a short term, easy, and relatively cheap date. See a film, have a drink and a discussion afterwards.
Why, then is the movie industry tanking?
1) The advent of theater quality equipment for not too much money in peoples homes?
2) Making really shoddy, shitty, hack crappy remakes, reboots and prequels all the time?
I'm going with choice #2.
Hollywood is making shite. The vast majority of the pablum they are coming up with is derivative crap.
Not to say that Hollywood has never made derivative material before. For example, this last weekend, The Crazed American, his brother, Mrs. Crazed American, and Youngest Crazed American went and saw the IMAX re-release of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The theater was not empty, there were probably two hundred people there, all who shelled out premium dollars to see one of the greatest (and admittedly DERIVATIVE) films ever produced.
It was:
OVER 30 YEARS OLD
Filmed on FILM ( a more expensive and labor intensive process than modern digitally produced movies)
A film with NO CGI
A film with limited use of Blue / green screen
Models and Matte paintings, and PRACTICAL effects.
Excellent acting, good stunts, good writing and story (before George Lucas lost his marbles)
I have seen than movie, literally two hundred times, if I've seen it once. Seeing it on IMAX? Transcendent.
So my $.02? Hollywood should stop making shit, and start making decent, original work. The occasional decent prequel opportunity (I'm looking at Prometheus and The Hobbit), is not terrible. But otherwise? C'mon!!
Also, keep Shia LaBouf out of Indiana Jones Movies, please. As far as I am concerned, you can even make more Indy movies, I have some incredible ideas to bridge the gap.
Hey, Hollywood: Take five years off to retool, and do nothing but show remastered versions of movies made in the 1970's and 1980's. Take the original negatives, clean em up, transfer them to digital, don't add a damn thing! No more reboots, no more remakes. That model is failing, OBVIOUSLY.
Crazed American, out.
If you look at historical trends, movies HAVE ALWAYS done well during times of economic downturn.
The reason for this could easily be explained:
1) when economic times get bad, people WANT to escape. Movies allow people to do that.
2) It's a short term, easy, and relatively cheap date. See a film, have a drink and a discussion afterwards.
Why, then is the movie industry tanking?
1) The advent of theater quality equipment for not too much money in peoples homes?
2) Making really shoddy, shitty, hack crappy remakes, reboots and prequels all the time?
I'm going with choice #2.
Hollywood is making shite. The vast majority of the pablum they are coming up with is derivative crap.
Not to say that Hollywood has never made derivative material before. For example, this last weekend, The Crazed American, his brother, Mrs. Crazed American, and Youngest Crazed American went and saw the IMAX re-release of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The theater was not empty, there were probably two hundred people there, all who shelled out premium dollars to see one of the greatest (and admittedly DERIVATIVE) films ever produced.
It was:
OVER 30 YEARS OLD
Filmed on FILM ( a more expensive and labor intensive process than modern digitally produced movies)
A film with NO CGI
A film with limited use of Blue / green screen
Models and Matte paintings, and PRACTICAL effects.
Excellent acting, good stunts, good writing and story (before George Lucas lost his marbles)
I have seen than movie, literally two hundred times, if I've seen it once. Seeing it on IMAX? Transcendent.
So my $.02? Hollywood should stop making shit, and start making decent, original work. The occasional decent prequel opportunity (I'm looking at Prometheus and The Hobbit), is not terrible. But otherwise? C'mon!!
Also, keep Shia LaBouf out of Indiana Jones Movies, please. As far as I am concerned, you can even make more Indy movies, I have some incredible ideas to bridge the gap.
Hey, Hollywood: Take five years off to retool, and do nothing but show remastered versions of movies made in the 1970's and 1980's. Take the original negatives, clean em up, transfer them to digital, don't add a damn thing! No more reboots, no more remakes. That model is failing, OBVIOUSLY.
Crazed American, out.
01 September 2012
Response to the beaten brow
The Winds of September
Looking out the front windows of the BaseCamp, seeing th lovely mountains enshrouded in clouds. Last night we saw thunder, lighting and extended rain for the first time in a very long time. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
Today, wind, calm and sappy country love songs on the radio. Tonight, board games with the Youngest Crazed American, pizza and Star Trek.
The leaves on the mountainsides are changing. Fall is on it's way. Hallelujah.
Pray for snow,
Crazed American, out.
Today, wind, calm and sappy country love songs on the radio. Tonight, board games with the Youngest Crazed American, pizza and Star Trek.
The leaves on the mountainsides are changing. Fall is on it's way. Hallelujah.
Pray for snow,
Crazed American, out.
31 August 2012
Browbeating, and other commentaries on politics
Gentle reader,
Yesterday, I was browbeaten (politically) by someone that I not only respect, but share some political affinity with. He and I agree on more than we disagree.
The topic over which said kerfuffle took place? My lack of support or even token enthusiasm for his political champion, Mitt Romney. How dare I, a devout believer in the principles of fiscal conservatism, not be out with a Romney Sticker on the back of may car? How am I, a freedom loving patriot, not capable of swallowing my misgivings and throwing in for a man like Mitt? How dare I not sit in rapt attention in front of the TV and watch the pablum the GOP has crafted to put in my face?
In the interest of full disclosure, I did watch the last half of the acceptance speech. Romney is no orator. But then again, neither is Barack Obama (who in my opinion has given exactly one, rousing speech - 2004 Democratic Convention). Also, I admittedly would prefer a Romney / Ryan administration compared to a Obama / Biden one. But only for the fact that the President would be given at least some scruitny by the Obama-fawning media. Even "Democrat-Identifying" friends admit that they are amazed at how little scrutiny our Beloved Leader gets from the media.
But, it's hard to admit that my opinion of the future of our Great Nation is not a bright one.
The challenges that the next administration faces are daunting, to say the slightest. Economic insanity is not far away. Not to mention, the GOP has been less than stellar in it's adherence to fiscal conservatism in the recent decades. Also, just 'cause there is a rich man in the White House (who UNDERSTANDS business, granted), does not mean that once he is elected sunshine and rainbows will spontaneously erupt and businesses will fall all over themselves hiring and spending.
I do not enjoy socialism, in any form. I am opposed to ObamaCare, which is based on RomneyCare of Massachusetts fame. A program that has actually bankrupted what was left of the formerly solvent People's Republic of Mass.
So Mitt's answer for it? Repeal and Replace. I guess we'll see... but forgive me if I'm not terribly surprised when one less than perfect idea is replaced with other less than perfect idea.
Also, Romney LOST me when he trumpeted the stupid line that he supports the "sanctity of life and traditional marriage". Hold the g--da-ned, f--king phone. You mean to tell me, that with the literal EXISTENTIAL crisis that faces this country, anyone in their right mind would waste the energy of one neuron firing to prevent two, consenting adults from entering into a stable partnership, that would do nothing if not encourage investment in our neighborhoods and local trades? Don't believe me? Ask a residential contractor if they've ever worked for a gay couple. If they have, see if they were not thrilled to work for such people - I'd be surprised if their opinion of them was anything, if not stellar.
As I have stated before, I share Richard Cheney's opinion of Gay Marriage - I'm for it. "Freedom means freedom for everyone."
As for the abortion issue? The Crazed American is of the opinion of Hillary Clinton when it comes to abortion. It should be legal, safe and above all, RARE.
You know what, Republicans? Fix the economy, get America employed again, fix the rampant waste and corruption that exists in our government. Re-establish the rule of law here. Restore freedom (Patriot Act, NDAA, TSA, et al). Make sure that we can, in perpetuity provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. Do those things, and then in that era of unrivalled prosperity and freedom, you can come back to me and tell me how homosexuals marrying each other causes higher taxes. Or how, if abortion is legal, it prevents people from getting jobs. Or either of them somehow effect the freedom and proserity of my family. Do that, and we can have the same "rational discourse" that the Democrats want to have with me about the Second Amendment rights that were given to me by my creator.
Also, as the two regular readers of this blog will tell you, is my "line in the sand" attitude about firearms rights in this country. I DO NOT TRUST MITT ROMNEY TO PROTECT THEM. I trust him as much as I trust Barack Obama, which is to say, not at all. I only point to Romney's own words and his record as Governor of Massachusetts. His NRA Life Membership and his recent statements should be looked at as what they are, pandering.
I have carried water for the Republicans in the past, and have been ashamed by the power they have taken through my voice. They have wasted money, lives and freedom in their pursuit of power and control. Democrats seem only too happy to continue on with the very policies they claim to hate so much.
When you boil it right down, I will not be voting for Willard Mitchell Romney for the same reasons that I will not be voting for Barack Hussein "Barry Soetero" Obama. They both believe in the same progressive, big government, nanny statism. It's not for me.
I will never again vote for the lesser of two evils, nor will I hold my nose and vote for a man who I only partially agree with. I will only vote for those who I agree with, and am ready to carry water for.
Needless, to say, their ain't ANYONE up for election, or even hinted at being one I would vote for. Not even the vaunted Herr Doktor Representative Paul. Gary Johnson? Maybe, but I'll probably just write my Dad in again, even though he said that he would not serve if elected.
It's something that I am trying to impress on the Youngest Crazed American. If you have misgivings about a politician, LISTEN to those misgivings, and unless you are ready for them to be your leader, do not lend them your voice. Trust instinct. We are given them by G-d for a reason. They are honed by the terrible deaths of thousands of your ancestors. When your Spidey-sense tingles, you are loathe to ignore it's sage counsel.
Yesterday, I was told that if I didn't vote for Mitt Romney, I would be wasting my vote and helping Barack Obama take another four years and destroy this country. Please, spare me the doom talk.
This country is heading for a fiscal cliff at 100 miles an hour (ask Uncle Sugar). The small amount of economic improvement that Romney might be able to impart will only slow it. Next year payments on our debt will exceed all other spending, combined. The idea that the budget can be balanced is science fiction. If the government cut ALL other spending, and laid of all of the people that work for it, and somehow was able to raise revenues (taxes) to the point where they are now (considering a LARGE FRACTION of the American population work for Uncle Sugar), then MAYBE... but with those people entirely unemployed. Mitt Romney MIGHT be able to slow down the careening car, but it can't be stopped at this point.
There will have to be a currency default. Since our currency is debt (thanks Federal Reserve Corp.!!), that'll mean we'll be defaulting on our debt as well. Since the Chinese and the British hold vast quantities of our debt, those economies WILL crater. It is not a question of "if" anymore. Am I worried about the Chinese? Nope. The barrel that they have us over is the same one we have them over. BOHICA in an MC Escher kind of way...
The next several years will be hard, it will be a painful time. The person that browbeat me about it told me that if I didn't vote for Romney, Barack Obama would be re-elected and he, and several other wealthy friends of his would immediately take their capital and run for a "safe haven" like Canada. Please, dude, give it a rest. IF the US is heading into the toilet, guess who else is, too? Also, if it gets so bad here, how long do you think it would be before we rolled some tanks into Canada to make sure that fuel supplies are coming to us, and not to China? You think Canada, population 30 million, is ready to accept a bunch of put-out angry, rich Americans? A group of people who are willing to leave their country over a socialist-lite and who have a tendency to REALLY not enjoy socialism? Not so fast.
Allow me to state categorically, I do not envision Mad Max times ahead. Nothing like that, just the 1930's plus modern technology (Stuff cannot be un-invented. Think what The Grapes of Wrath would be like with Twitter and iPhones.
To sum up, some less-than-pleasant times are a' comin'. Times of incredible change. But those times will be a lot less pleasant if on top of the mess that is the economy, I can't sleep 'cause I helped, even as a token, perpetuated the fools that are leading us to ruin. I believe in the idea of America, the spirit of our country too much to even play lip-service support to someone I do not support with up to my life, fortune and sacred honor. It may sound dramatic, but these are dramatic times. My vote is the only voice I have, and the Republicans and Democrats will not be lent that voice, unless they do things that I agree with wholeheartedly.
That ain't terribly f--kin' likely.
I believe in this country, I believe in it's ideals of equality, freedom, and liberty. I believe in the rule of law. No matter what happens in the coming years, I will be that guy that tries to teach the Constitution to the street punks.
So say we all,
Crazed American, Out.
Yesterday, I was browbeaten (politically) by someone that I not only respect, but share some political affinity with. He and I agree on more than we disagree.
The topic over which said kerfuffle took place? My lack of support or even token enthusiasm for his political champion, Mitt Romney. How dare I, a devout believer in the principles of fiscal conservatism, not be out with a Romney Sticker on the back of may car? How am I, a freedom loving patriot, not capable of swallowing my misgivings and throwing in for a man like Mitt? How dare I not sit in rapt attention in front of the TV and watch the pablum the GOP has crafted to put in my face?
In the interest of full disclosure, I did watch the last half of the acceptance speech. Romney is no orator. But then again, neither is Barack Obama (who in my opinion has given exactly one, rousing speech - 2004 Democratic Convention). Also, I admittedly would prefer a Romney / Ryan administration compared to a Obama / Biden one. But only for the fact that the President would be given at least some scruitny by the Obama-fawning media. Even "Democrat-Identifying" friends admit that they are amazed at how little scrutiny our Beloved Leader gets from the media.
But, it's hard to admit that my opinion of the future of our Great Nation is not a bright one.
The challenges that the next administration faces are daunting, to say the slightest. Economic insanity is not far away. Not to mention, the GOP has been less than stellar in it's adherence to fiscal conservatism in the recent decades. Also, just 'cause there is a rich man in the White House (who UNDERSTANDS business, granted), does not mean that once he is elected sunshine and rainbows will spontaneously erupt and businesses will fall all over themselves hiring and spending.
I do not enjoy socialism, in any form. I am opposed to ObamaCare, which is based on RomneyCare of Massachusetts fame. A program that has actually bankrupted what was left of the formerly solvent People's Republic of Mass.
So Mitt's answer for it? Repeal and Replace. I guess we'll see... but forgive me if I'm not terribly surprised when one less than perfect idea is replaced with other less than perfect idea.
Also, Romney LOST me when he trumpeted the stupid line that he supports the "sanctity of life and traditional marriage". Hold the g--da-ned, f--king phone. You mean to tell me, that with the literal EXISTENTIAL crisis that faces this country, anyone in their right mind would waste the energy of one neuron firing to prevent two, consenting adults from entering into a stable partnership, that would do nothing if not encourage investment in our neighborhoods and local trades? Don't believe me? Ask a residential contractor if they've ever worked for a gay couple. If they have, see if they were not thrilled to work for such people - I'd be surprised if their opinion of them was anything, if not stellar.
As I have stated before, I share Richard Cheney's opinion of Gay Marriage - I'm for it. "Freedom means freedom for everyone."
As for the abortion issue? The Crazed American is of the opinion of Hillary Clinton when it comes to abortion. It should be legal, safe and above all, RARE.
You know what, Republicans? Fix the economy, get America employed again, fix the rampant waste and corruption that exists in our government. Re-establish the rule of law here. Restore freedom (Patriot Act, NDAA, TSA, et al). Make sure that we can, in perpetuity provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. Do those things, and then in that era of unrivalled prosperity and freedom, you can come back to me and tell me how homosexuals marrying each other causes higher taxes. Or how, if abortion is legal, it prevents people from getting jobs. Or either of them somehow effect the freedom and proserity of my family. Do that, and we can have the same "rational discourse" that the Democrats want to have with me about the Second Amendment rights that were given to me by my creator.
Also, as the two regular readers of this blog will tell you, is my "line in the sand" attitude about firearms rights in this country. I DO NOT TRUST MITT ROMNEY TO PROTECT THEM. I trust him as much as I trust Barack Obama, which is to say, not at all. I only point to Romney's own words and his record as Governor of Massachusetts. His NRA Life Membership and his recent statements should be looked at as what they are, pandering.
I have carried water for the Republicans in the past, and have been ashamed by the power they have taken through my voice. They have wasted money, lives and freedom in their pursuit of power and control. Democrats seem only too happy to continue on with the very policies they claim to hate so much.
When you boil it right down, I will not be voting for Willard Mitchell Romney for the same reasons that I will not be voting for Barack Hussein "Barry Soetero" Obama. They both believe in the same progressive, big government, nanny statism. It's not for me.
I will never again vote for the lesser of two evils, nor will I hold my nose and vote for a man who I only partially agree with. I will only vote for those who I agree with, and am ready to carry water for.
Needless, to say, their ain't ANYONE up for election, or even hinted at being one I would vote for. Not even the vaunted Herr Doktor Representative Paul. Gary Johnson? Maybe, but I'll probably just write my Dad in again, even though he said that he would not serve if elected.
It's something that I am trying to impress on the Youngest Crazed American. If you have misgivings about a politician, LISTEN to those misgivings, and unless you are ready for them to be your leader, do not lend them your voice. Trust instinct. We are given them by G-d for a reason. They are honed by the terrible deaths of thousands of your ancestors. When your Spidey-sense tingles, you are loathe to ignore it's sage counsel.
Yesterday, I was told that if I didn't vote for Mitt Romney, I would be wasting my vote and helping Barack Obama take another four years and destroy this country. Please, spare me the doom talk.
This country is heading for a fiscal cliff at 100 miles an hour (ask Uncle Sugar). The small amount of economic improvement that Romney might be able to impart will only slow it. Next year payments on our debt will exceed all other spending, combined. The idea that the budget can be balanced is science fiction. If the government cut ALL other spending, and laid of all of the people that work for it, and somehow was able to raise revenues (taxes) to the point where they are now (considering a LARGE FRACTION of the American population work for Uncle Sugar), then MAYBE... but with those people entirely unemployed. Mitt Romney MIGHT be able to slow down the careening car, but it can't be stopped at this point.
There will have to be a currency default. Since our currency is debt (thanks Federal Reserve Corp.!!), that'll mean we'll be defaulting on our debt as well. Since the Chinese and the British hold vast quantities of our debt, those economies WILL crater. It is not a question of "if" anymore. Am I worried about the Chinese? Nope. The barrel that they have us over is the same one we have them over. BOHICA in an MC Escher kind of way...
The next several years will be hard, it will be a painful time. The person that browbeat me about it told me that if I didn't vote for Romney, Barack Obama would be re-elected and he, and several other wealthy friends of his would immediately take their capital and run for a "safe haven" like Canada. Please, dude, give it a rest. IF the US is heading into the toilet, guess who else is, too? Also, if it gets so bad here, how long do you think it would be before we rolled some tanks into Canada to make sure that fuel supplies are coming to us, and not to China? You think Canada, population 30 million, is ready to accept a bunch of put-out angry, rich Americans? A group of people who are willing to leave their country over a socialist-lite and who have a tendency to REALLY not enjoy socialism? Not so fast.
Allow me to state categorically, I do not envision Mad Max times ahead. Nothing like that, just the 1930's plus modern technology (Stuff cannot be un-invented. Think what The Grapes of Wrath would be like with Twitter and iPhones.
To sum up, some less-than-pleasant times are a' comin'. Times of incredible change. But those times will be a lot less pleasant if on top of the mess that is the economy, I can't sleep 'cause I helped, even as a token, perpetuated the fools that are leading us to ruin. I believe in the idea of America, the spirit of our country too much to even play lip-service support to someone I do not support with up to my life, fortune and sacred honor. It may sound dramatic, but these are dramatic times. My vote is the only voice I have, and the Republicans and Democrats will not be lent that voice, unless they do things that I agree with wholeheartedly.
That ain't terribly f--kin' likely.
I believe in this country, I believe in it's ideals of equality, freedom, and liberty. I believe in the rule of law. No matter what happens in the coming years, I will be that guy that tries to teach the Constitution to the street punks.
So say we all,
Crazed American, Out.
30 August 2012
Political Post
Apparently, the Party of the Enlightened Wealthy is having a convention in Tampa.
Next week, the Party of the Wealthy Enlightened has it's convention in Charlotte.
Allow this post to demonstrate:
1) my complete apathy for both
2) the staggering numbers of f--ks I do not give.
I've said it before. They are the "left" and "right" arms of the same rapist.
All I advocate is the return to the rule of law, in a place where such an idea of "too big to fail" is met with derision.
Enjoy the bread and circuses.
Crazed American, out.
Next week, the Party of the Wealthy Enlightened has it's convention in Charlotte.
Allow this post to demonstrate:
1) my complete apathy for both
2) the staggering numbers of f--ks I do not give.
I've said it before. They are the "left" and "right" arms of the same rapist.
All I advocate is the return to the rule of law, in a place where such an idea of "too big to fail" is met with derision.
Enjoy the bread and circuses.
Crazed American, out.
25 August 2012
The Empire State Massacre
I know, I know. Two posts in one day.
So New York's finest, in the attempt to stop a murderer, end up shooting up a street full of people.
Video's out there. Nine people shot, two dead, seven wounded.
Most, if not all of the wounded are having doctors pull NYPD issued slugs out of them.
For the longest time, NYPD has been criticized for their officer's tendencies to shoot to slidelock against a threat. It's happened numerous times before.
Not to second guess the two patrol officers who responded to this threat and put down the murderer (well done) but ended up hitting seven times more innocent people than bad people in the process, but law enforcement agencies HAVE GOT TO increase their training. Triggger control and advanced marksmaship training is key! SIRT, simunitions, shoot houses (virtual or real - hell have them play a Call of Duty knock off where their pay is docked $100 every time they shoot an innocent avatar)... the tech exisits. Peace Officers have got to be trained better and to a higher standard with firearms. It is hopefully the tool they use the least, but it is the ultimate tool to be equipped with.
I'm not saying for a moment that police shouldn't have firearms. They should, and the Crazed American is of the mind EVERYONE should).
Also, New York, Detroit and Chicago, how are those gun laws working out for you? You've got the strictest gun control around and your gun violence rate is... The highest in the nation? Ah. You obviously need more gun control. If it ain't working? Do it harder, right?
I live in a smaller-sized "big" city in the intermountain west. We've got a population that is for lack of a better term, armed to the teeth. Liberal concealed and open carry laws. When's the last time we had a massacre? We had a shooting in a mall a few years back. Six people, including the shooter died that night. Kicker? The mall was a "Gun Free Zone". Thank G-d an off-duty cop (carrying concealed) was there to HELP stop the bad guy.
The Dark Night Massacre in Aurora, CO? Gun-Free Zone
Sikh Temple in Wisconsin? Although the President of the temple died like the Warrior-Poet he was, bloodied Kirpan in hand.
Virginia Tech?
Chicago (in general, some of the most draconian anti-gun laws in the nation), last weekend (13 dead in 30 minutes)?
Washington, DC (any day of the week - most restrictive firearms laws)?
New York (highly restricitve gun laws - permits to own only issues to celebrities or politically well connected), last week when hot dog vendors actually got into a firefight over selling hot dogs, or the Empire State shootings?
There's a common theme here, and I can go right on citing specific instances.
Allow me to sum up:
GUNS ARE NEVER GOING AWAY. Technology is progressing to the point where people can print firearm components and soon the ENTIRE FIREARM on a 3d printer. IN METAL.
In America, the easiest places for criminal murderers to commit murder is in places where they know the least amount of resistance will be encountered. People bent on murder are not all that concerned with having the felony trespass with a firearm added to their litany of criminal charges. The death penalties from the 14 murder convictions kind of out weighs the minor felony count.
People have always snapped, maniacs exist and have existed since the beginning of time. Like with the genius, the artist, the person of amazing abilities, sometimes people have (or get) their wiring messed up. They have or find a need to hurt and kill. They have a need to make others (sometimes strangers) suffer. As humans, not only are some models mentally damaged and need to kill, some are wired to figure out ways to end mayhem. In pre-history, predators like that were quickly dispatched with a buffalo jawbone to the skull. In Roman times, the Gladuis made quick work of the maniac. We have modern technology and the ability to allow a 93 year old woman to defend herself from violent rape and murder by killing her two, twenty year old assailants. Why do some of us fear tools?
You may not "like"guns, the mere sight of them might send you into a hoplophobic fit of pants-sh-tting hysteria. I know people like this. Some of us do not have your mental problem, some of us are trained and have the tools to stop a maniac bent on spilling blood. My guns are no more danger to you or any of my neighbors than the hammer or circular saw in your garage is to me. If you're not planning on murdering me, mine or innocents near me, what do you have to fear? I am trained, I am licensed, background checked, and I am held to a higher standard than most local, state and federal law enforcement officers.
Concealed Carry permit holders (at least in my state) are held to a higher background check level than police officers. We obey the law. So when there is a "Weapons prohibited" sign, who does that sign disarm? Not the f--khead with the shotgun and pipe bombs who wants to redecorate the inside of the IKEA into a symphony of blood, fear and death. It disarms his resistance. Creates a lovely environment of Swedish furniture and terrified, screaming, running, crying panicked people and a few of them trying to figure out how to fashion the leg of a Diksuk chair into a club to keep the maniac from putting rounds into his wife, child, or fellow man.
F--kery.
Crazed American, out.
So New York's finest, in the attempt to stop a murderer, end up shooting up a street full of people.
Video's out there. Nine people shot, two dead, seven wounded.
Most, if not all of the wounded are having doctors pull NYPD issued slugs out of them.
For the longest time, NYPD has been criticized for their officer's tendencies to shoot to slidelock against a threat. It's happened numerous times before.
Not to second guess the two patrol officers who responded to this threat and put down the murderer (well done) but ended up hitting seven times more innocent people than bad people in the process, but law enforcement agencies HAVE GOT TO increase their training. Triggger control and advanced marksmaship training is key! SIRT, simunitions, shoot houses (virtual or real - hell have them play a Call of Duty knock off where their pay is docked $100 every time they shoot an innocent avatar)... the tech exisits. Peace Officers have got to be trained better and to a higher standard with firearms. It is hopefully the tool they use the least, but it is the ultimate tool to be equipped with.
I'm not saying for a moment that police shouldn't have firearms. They should, and the Crazed American is of the mind EVERYONE should).
Also, New York, Detroit and Chicago, how are those gun laws working out for you? You've got the strictest gun control around and your gun violence rate is... The highest in the nation? Ah. You obviously need more gun control. If it ain't working? Do it harder, right?
I live in a smaller-sized "big" city in the intermountain west. We've got a population that is for lack of a better term, armed to the teeth. Liberal concealed and open carry laws. When's the last time we had a massacre? We had a shooting in a mall a few years back. Six people, including the shooter died that night. Kicker? The mall was a "Gun Free Zone". Thank G-d an off-duty cop (carrying concealed) was there to HELP stop the bad guy.
The Dark Night Massacre in Aurora, CO? Gun-Free Zone
Sikh Temple in Wisconsin? Although the President of the temple died like the Warrior-Poet he was, bloodied Kirpan in hand.
Virginia Tech?
Chicago (in general, some of the most draconian anti-gun laws in the nation), last weekend (13 dead in 30 minutes)?
Washington, DC (any day of the week - most restrictive firearms laws)?
New York (highly restricitve gun laws - permits to own only issues to celebrities or politically well connected), last week when hot dog vendors actually got into a firefight over selling hot dogs, or the Empire State shootings?
There's a common theme here, and I can go right on citing specific instances.
Allow me to sum up:
GUNS ARE NEVER GOING AWAY. Technology is progressing to the point where people can print firearm components and soon the ENTIRE FIREARM on a 3d printer. IN METAL.
In America, the easiest places for criminal murderers to commit murder is in places where they know the least amount of resistance will be encountered. People bent on murder are not all that concerned with having the felony trespass with a firearm added to their litany of criminal charges. The death penalties from the 14 murder convictions kind of out weighs the minor felony count.
People have always snapped, maniacs exist and have existed since the beginning of time. Like with the genius, the artist, the person of amazing abilities, sometimes people have (or get) their wiring messed up. They have or find a need to hurt and kill. They have a need to make others (sometimes strangers) suffer. As humans, not only are some models mentally damaged and need to kill, some are wired to figure out ways to end mayhem. In pre-history, predators like that were quickly dispatched with a buffalo jawbone to the skull. In Roman times, the Gladuis made quick work of the maniac. We have modern technology and the ability to allow a 93 year old woman to defend herself from violent rape and murder by killing her two, twenty year old assailants. Why do some of us fear tools?
You may not "like"guns, the mere sight of them might send you into a hoplophobic fit of pants-sh-tting hysteria. I know people like this. Some of us do not have your mental problem, some of us are trained and have the tools to stop a maniac bent on spilling blood. My guns are no more danger to you or any of my neighbors than the hammer or circular saw in your garage is to me. If you're not planning on murdering me, mine or innocents near me, what do you have to fear? I am trained, I am licensed, background checked, and I am held to a higher standard than most local, state and federal law enforcement officers.
Concealed Carry permit holders (at least in my state) are held to a higher background check level than police officers. We obey the law. So when there is a "Weapons prohibited" sign, who does that sign disarm? Not the f--khead with the shotgun and pipe bombs who wants to redecorate the inside of the IKEA into a symphony of blood, fear and death. It disarms his resistance. Creates a lovely environment of Swedish furniture and terrified, screaming, running, crying panicked people and a few of them trying to figure out how to fashion the leg of a Diksuk chair into a club to keep the maniac from putting rounds into his wife, child, or fellow man.
F--kery.
Crazed American, out.
Bonds
So, our glorious system is set up in such a way that municipalities (counties, cities, townships, towns, hamlets, villages, etc.) don't have the financial wherewithal to be able to function on their own.
Officially, these governments have enough revenue (taxes and fees) to pay all of the dog-catchers, cops, et al, least nominally, but for special projects they have to create bonds.
For the cheap seats, a bond is a financial device that has a nominal value (let's say $100). We sell them to people, at a discount and guarantee an interest rate over a time period. When the time period is reached, it is known that the bond has matured. You can then go to the issuing organization and turn the bond in, for which they will pay you the face value plus the interest that is owed.
All well and good, right? We have to have that new park, repave the sidewalk, plant some trees, build a stadium, provide all of our local workers with pensions and health care in perpetuity. All important instances of building for the collective good, right?
*Side note: The Crazed American is not against pensions or perpetual health care, the employer (private, governmental) had just be damn sure they can pay for it - especially when times get bad. If you can't pay for it, don't offer it. NO MORE UNFUNDED LIABILITIES (evidence? California, US Gov't)*
Problem is this: most cities and towns cannot meet their payroll without lines of credit and bonds in perpetuity.
Municipalities are starting to go bankrupt because 1) our money is a sham (different topic) 2) our cities and towns and counties are living FAR beyond their means.
Who to blame? The politicians? Nope, they're slime and we all know it.
Us. We did it. We think that we're entitled to this fairy tale government that can do everything for us and everything to us. The entire system is now gamed to vote us all as much from the (empty) treasury as possible. Are we evil, are we super greedy?
No.
We had the best of intentions, the best ideas. Then we handed it off to people who we now rail against accusing them of betraying some sacred trust.
Think I'm crazy? Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha himself, just reduced his exposure in the hopelessly over-leveraged municipal bond market by half. He pulled $8,000,000,000 (eight billion) out of that mess. Granted, he's still got another $8,000,000,000 in there, but c'mon. The writing is on the wall. He'll be pulling as much as he can out of it as fast as he can without cratering the market entirely.
Think this is just some financial mumbo jumbo? What happens if it happens to your locality? How are you going to feel when the cops can't patrol, the street lights are out, no one landscapes the medians or parks, the libraries close and the utility services become unreliable? No doom speaking here, it's happening in California and Michigan.
The federal debt cliff is coming. The fools in charge and the fools in waiting aren't equipped, or capable of fixing the problems in front of us. The system is broken, and will be broken until the everyday man and woman stands up and rebuilds their small corner of the country. Once there are four rebuilt corners, that's a rebuilt room. Enough rebuilt rooms, and you have a rebuilt house.
Get to know your neighbors, get involved with local organizations and charities. Put down the goddamned electronic devices for a little while each day and plant a garden and share your bounty with your neighbors, with your fellow Americans. Rebuild community.
One Corner at a Time.
Crazed American, Out.
Officially, these governments have enough revenue (taxes and fees) to pay all of the dog-catchers, cops, et al, least nominally, but for special projects they have to create bonds.
For the cheap seats, a bond is a financial device that has a nominal value (let's say $100). We sell them to people, at a discount and guarantee an interest rate over a time period. When the time period is reached, it is known that the bond has matured. You can then go to the issuing organization and turn the bond in, for which they will pay you the face value plus the interest that is owed.
All well and good, right? We have to have that new park, repave the sidewalk, plant some trees, build a stadium, provide all of our local workers with pensions and health care in perpetuity. All important instances of building for the collective good, right?
*Side note: The Crazed American is not against pensions or perpetual health care, the employer (private, governmental) had just be damn sure they can pay for it - especially when times get bad. If you can't pay for it, don't offer it. NO MORE UNFUNDED LIABILITIES (evidence? California, US Gov't)*
Problem is this: most cities and towns cannot meet their payroll without lines of credit and bonds in perpetuity.
Municipalities are starting to go bankrupt because 1) our money is a sham (different topic) 2) our cities and towns and counties are living FAR beyond their means.
Who to blame? The politicians? Nope, they're slime and we all know it.
Us. We did it. We think that we're entitled to this fairy tale government that can do everything for us and everything to us. The entire system is now gamed to vote us all as much from the (empty) treasury as possible. Are we evil, are we super greedy?
No.
We had the best of intentions, the best ideas. Then we handed it off to people who we now rail against accusing them of betraying some sacred trust.
Think I'm crazy? Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha himself, just reduced his exposure in the hopelessly over-leveraged municipal bond market by half. He pulled $8,000,000,000 (eight billion) out of that mess. Granted, he's still got another $8,000,000,000 in there, but c'mon. The writing is on the wall. He'll be pulling as much as he can out of it as fast as he can without cratering the market entirely.
Think this is just some financial mumbo jumbo? What happens if it happens to your locality? How are you going to feel when the cops can't patrol, the street lights are out, no one landscapes the medians or parks, the libraries close and the utility services become unreliable? No doom speaking here, it's happening in California and Michigan.
The federal debt cliff is coming. The fools in charge and the fools in waiting aren't equipped, or capable of fixing the problems in front of us. The system is broken, and will be broken until the everyday man and woman stands up and rebuilds their small corner of the country. Once there are four rebuilt corners, that's a rebuilt room. Enough rebuilt rooms, and you have a rebuilt house.
Get to know your neighbors, get involved with local organizations and charities. Put down the goddamned electronic devices for a little while each day and plant a garden and share your bounty with your neighbors, with your fellow Americans. Rebuild community.
One Corner at a Time.
Crazed American, Out.
12 August 2012
Spelled out...
Cogent, rational and accurate...
Fairly hard to argue the facts. Spread the word, 'mericans.
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/capitalism-institute/2012/jul/28/ban-assault-rifles/
The best, rational explanation of what the Second Amendment means to a lot of people in this country...
Crazed American, Out.
Fairly hard to argue the facts. Spread the word, 'mericans.
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/capitalism-institute/2012/jul/28/ban-assault-rifles/
The best, rational explanation of what the Second Amendment means to a lot of people in this country...
Crazed American, Out.
08 August 2012
401 BC
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Libya and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.
A final thought: Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 401 BC.
by John Cleese – British Writer, Actor, Tall Person and friend of an Irish saint
Deja Vu... all over again!
Gentle Reader,
I am again at a place where I am without a leader. I cannot vote for the freedom hating, deeper skin toned lackey of the oligarchs, nor can I vote for the lighter one...
What differences do they have?
One is all for the draconian restriction of civil rights (speech, surveillance, arms). The other is also for spending, spending, spending. They both LOVE the nanny police state.
There is no difference 'twixt the two.
I will not waste my vote, but I'm to the point where my vote does not matter. I will probably write in ChThulhu. If we're going off the deep end, why not go with someone who knows what it's like to live underwater?
Meh,
The Crazed American
P.S. This country is broke - the only reason it's still afloat, is that the rest of the world is MORE broke. Increasing taxes on the rich (or anyone else) will merely kill what little activity is left. Raise the taxes on the rich, cut spending, and lower the taxes on everybody else.
Not going to happen.
Great.
12 March 2012
Time flies!
Listen up, people!
Lest you think that the current crop of fools that wish to be our new supreme leader has made yours truly despondent and morose, you could not be further from the truth.
I am of the mind that the economy will not significanty improve. The slight improvemnt we have seen is despite our Deal Leader's and the Klepto-ligarchy in Congress actions, not because of them.
No systemic foundation exists for real improvement. We've spent our way into a deep, deep hole, folks. We need a new frontier and soon. The only thing that's going to get us moving again, is getting us moving.
Speaking of moving...
Mrs. Crazed American and I are about to take possession of new digs. The Homestead (aka BaseCamp Ponderosa) should be ours by the end of the week. Home-ownership.
Five bed, three bath, on .18 acre. Needs some cosmetic rehab. Tune in here for periodic status reports.
Lest you think that the current crop of fools that wish to be our new supreme leader has made yours truly despondent and morose, you could not be further from the truth.
I am of the mind that the economy will not significanty improve. The slight improvemnt we have seen is despite our Deal Leader's and the Klepto-ligarchy in Congress actions, not because of them.
No systemic foundation exists for real improvement. We've spent our way into a deep, deep hole, folks. We need a new frontier and soon. The only thing that's going to get us moving again, is getting us moving.
Speaking of moving...
Mrs. Crazed American and I are about to take possession of new digs. The Homestead (aka BaseCamp Ponderosa) should be ours by the end of the week. Home-ownership.
Five bed, three bath, on .18 acre. Needs some cosmetic rehab. Tune in here for periodic status reports.
18 January 2012
SOPA, PIPA... Baaaaad.
Hey, Congress.
F--- you and the horse you rode in on. You'll probably pass it anyway, but I'd like to take this opportunity to express my opinion that we officially have MORE THAN ENOUGH laws.
This'll probably qualify me for indefinite, uncharged detention under the recently passed NDAA, so in the immortal words of a Greek dude who lived a long time ago...
MOLON LABE. Come and get me. It's time to renegotiate the social contract.
Freedom and Liberty ain't free, easy or pretty, nor are they safe.
Crazed American, Out.
F--- you and the horse you rode in on. You'll probably pass it anyway, but I'd like to take this opportunity to express my opinion that we officially have MORE THAN ENOUGH laws.
This'll probably qualify me for indefinite, uncharged detention under the recently passed NDAA, so in the immortal words of a Greek dude who lived a long time ago...
MOLON LABE. Come and get me. It's time to renegotiate the social contract.
Freedom and Liberty ain't free, easy or pretty, nor are they safe.
Crazed American, Out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)