2007 March 24

I am an American Horseman.

We spent Saturday riding horses around Jack Brooks Park. L- rode Blue and I rode a new horse named Ringo. Ringo is a fine name for a horse, but only because I think of Johnny Ringo, the "King of the Cowboys".

The trails were quite muddy, but Ringo is a trail-riding horse and handled them quite well. Blue, with all his prissy dressage and English training was a bit ornery.

We had a good day. I got a sunburned V at the base of my throat. In the evening, I shaved my beard because it was full of pollen or something. Whatever it was, it had to go. Sometimes it just needs a fresh start.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 22

Given that I have recently filed my taxes, a quote from Thomas Jefferson is in order.

We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds...[we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our mis-managers to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers... And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for[ another]... till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.

He was practically a psychic. The federal government has been allowed to go into debt. Remember, it is the Federal Government that is in debt, not the people of the United States. The current federal debt is $8,841,235,362,509.02 This site says, "The estimated population of the United States is 301,245,285, so each citizen's share of this debt is $29,348.96." Oh, really. Send me an invoice. Show me what I am getting for my money. A war in Iraq. I want a refund. Welfare. I want a refund. Where can I get an itemized invoice of the national debt. Here is a nifty little site: Budget Explorer. Interesting, the government reduced the deficit and even had a budget surplus while Bill Clinton was president, but have run deficits since George W. Bush has been in office.

Junto

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 22

Nothing beats a strong opening paragraph in a news story:

Charles Voyde Harrelson, the hired assassin of a San Antonio federal judge, professional gambler and father of movie star Woody Harrelson, died last week in the maximum-security cell where he was serving two life sentences.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/celebrities/4649344.html

In other news, BONG HITS 4 JESUS.
It will apparently be up to the Supreme Court to determine to what degree school administrators can limit free speech. The author of the above editorial make a good point. Can schools prohibit legitimate, legal speech (such as a discussion of the nations drug laws) because they deem it against the school's mission. Even religious organizations are teaming with the ACLU because they fear school administrators could further suppress religious freedoms. http://blogs.chron.com/bluebayou/2007/03/jesus_marijuana_and_the_rights.html

My readings into origin of the Constitution have been very interesting and very enlightening.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The first amendment states that Congress shall make no law regarding religion. That prohibition was not directed toward State governments. Neither Congress nor the Supreme Court have the right to make any rulings regarding state laws. This provision was included by the Colonies which were all VERY religious in nature and who wanted to maintain their religions free from outside interference.

Looking at the context of the Constitution, everything our government does these days is unConstitutional.

This quote is sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson, sometimes Thomas Paine. Can anyone source it?

Government governs best that governs least.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 10

The next European generation

According to this article in the Christian Science Monitor, the European Union turns 50 in a few days. Really. I can remember when EU automobile stickers first started appearing in Germany while I was there. I guess it just wasn't called the EU before then.

I have been reading The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to American History and an older book from Half Price on the intent of the Founding Fathers and the design of our nation. The European Union now is what our the United States was in the beginning. The US has evolved into something that would appall men like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. The federal government is exactly what out Founding Fathers were trying to prevent when they wrote the Constitution. Almost everything our government does these days is unConstitutional.

I wonder if the European Union will devolve the way the United States has into a centrally-controlled nation where the rights of states to self-government is diluted. The member nations seem to be opposing it. Because the member states are not "one people, one race, one religion" like the early American colonies, it seems more likely the EU will self-destruct before it can go the Federalist way.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 21

John Bolton says, “I believe that ultimately the only real prospect of getting Iran to give up nuclear weapons is to change the regime.” source: MSNBC

Right, Johnny boy, because regime change has worked so well for the US in the past. Just take Iraq, for example, a stunning example of a successful regime change.

Or let's take Cuba. American "regime change" in Cuba in 1898 directly led to Fidel Castro's success, forming one of the most enduring, successful, anti-American governments in the world. Stephen Kinzer discuss 14 regime changes, from the more-or-less successful overthrow of Hawaii, to the current quagmire of Iraq.

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq and an interview with the author and the continuation of the interview.

Time for Détente With Iran by Ray Takeyh

Regime Change and Its Limits by Richard N. Haass

Belgians Lead Push for Regime Change in America (humor)

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 18

We went to see 300 Friday night. I wouldn't let my parents see it, but we took the Boy. Wow! What a movie. Frank Miller is an awesome graphic artist and they managed to recreate his style in the film. It is breath-taking. You seldom see a film that stays so close to the source material. What they added really improved the story (except maybe the Todd McFarlane freakshow, destined to be made into toys).

The good thing is it inspired me to overrule the Woman and bring my weight bench back into My House. I have a shot of Leonidis and the Captain, and Daniel Craig flanking me for inspiration.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 14

Busy Busy Busy.

We (the company) were not as prepared for Daylight Savings Time as we should have been, but it is all better now, thanks to a lot of hard work. I am doing some exciting things in code for our (the company's) website.

I am also reading a new old book on the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, to be followed up with research into the Secession of the Confederacy. The end result should be a short paper on how Lincoln and the Republicans overthrew the ideals of the Founding Fathers and created a government whose relation with the States was worse than that of England to the Colonies, ending up in our current mess with a federal government that is growing out of control.

Interesting stuff. History is written by the victors. As Nick Cage said, if we had lost the American Revolution, George Washington, et al. would have been beheaded as traitors and their heads posted on pikes. Instead, they won, so they are good guys.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

Laura took the Which Serenity character are you? test. I turned out to be Mal; Laura turned out to be Zoe. Appropriate, huh?

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 10

Now that L- has weekends off, we spent the day with the horses. There are two new babies in the family, each around a week old. One is a baby human and one is a baby horse. Baby horses are a lot cuter and a lot more fun at one week old. Photos of both to come.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 10

What an adventure cats can be.
Last night, I came home from work and noticed the catnip container lying empty in the driveway. L- and A- had been playing with the cats. I was tasked with finding George so I wandered around the house. The neighbor dogs were barking at something, so when I got to that side of the house, I saw Bob on the roof. I was talking to him, telling him to go to the back when I noticed Earl under a tree.

He was lying there perfectly still with the catnip jar on his head. Oh great, I thought, Earl has died of a drug-related incident, but as I approached him, he jumped up and ran off. I tried to catch him and for a dead cat he seemed pretty fast and agile. He disappeared into the bamboo.

I recruited L- to help, but he had disappeared good. L- went to get A- to help. After some time searching, A- saw him go over a fence and into a back yard of a house on Sue Barnett. I went and got the car to drive over there.

This morning, L- (who now has weekends off) woke me up, calling me from the kitchen: "Help hold Earl."

They make those catnip containers out of some tough plastic. Anyway, Earl is fine and back to peeing on stuff, so out he goes.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

Microsoft Customers Irate over Daylight-Saving Time Woes

Some people (not many probably) are hacked because of how much effort it is to get various apps up-to-speed). Granted, I wonder if my programmable thermostat will handle the change well - oh, wait, just like all my clocks, I will have to change it myself. Hmm, maybe that will work for computers as well!

How about blaming the government fro screwing around with DST. They claim it saves energy. Supposedly we use more energy in the evening, so "springing ahead" gives us an extra hour of daylight in the summer. Okay, then why do we "fall back"? Falling back makes it get dark really early in the civilized world. I do not hang around the house in the morning. I want to have more light in the evening when I am home to get outside and enjoy it, not in the morning when I am cloistered in a windowless office.

Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time and gets along just fine. I lived there for a while and it was a great pleasure not having to worry about resetting my biological clock. There are many reasons to want to live in Arizona and that is one of them.

Apparently, the original plan was to add two months two DST, but whiners complained, but now, all we need to do is add four months to DST and all the problems will be solved.

And even Macs are not immune to DST woes.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

Some credit for these poembs go to Gallagher, the comedian.

tomb bomb comb a poemb laughter daughter draught draft? thought though through throw? I take bow. bow bough ow!

tomb bomb comb 2 a poemb tomb bomb comb home some sum?

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 March 9

We watched CSI: Crime Scene Investigation last night. It had Alan Tudyk in it as a pedophile. He was eerily good. It was a rerun. Apparently when it first aired, it drew .6 million extra viewers to CSI.

I think Alan would have been a "that guy" if it were not for Firefly. He is currently performing on Broadway in Prelude to a Kiss.

Jim@JimSkipper.com

I have a friend who owns a Mac and drives a Volkswagon Bug. What does that say?

It seems those Mac commercials are getting gayer and gayer all the time. Mac does not have major security issues for the same reason garbage dumps do not have security problems; nothing important is in there. And if Mac's have such great security, why are there so many security patches? You mean, Macs need security patches just like Windows?

Jim@JimSkipper.com

2007 MARCH 8

All I want is pancakes for breakfast. Is that so much to ask?

I ran my 1.5 mile interval training last night, first time in a while. Then we watched Lost, then I had a dream that made Lost look like Gilligan's Island.

I think I have figured it out. See, L- and I have pretty vivid dreams. Mine are really - well - vivid. Full color and rich with detail that makes real life seem 2-dimensional. Anyway, I think what happens is that the cats eat the catnip, then sleep with us and exhale hallucinogenic vapors.

Apparently, big cats, such as tigers, are extremely sensitive to catnip. I would like to see that!

2007 MARCH 7

TCM is hosting Sleuth Month. Last night we watched The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep, both with Humphrey Bogart. Great movies. The Big Sleep had some great dialog, not just because Raymond Chandler had some great dialog, but William Faulkner co-wrote the screenplay.

I think next year when I run Casino Diable at OwlCon, I will run it as a film noir game in the 8 to midnight slot.

2007 MARCH 6

"You gotta be good. You gotta be strong. You gotta be 2000 places at once."

Today is Tuesday. I forgot to take my vitamin. I had grits and chocolate milk for breakfast. I let the cats out. L- will be mad. I am brewing Jasmine tea. I have so much work to do I don't know where to start.

Your results:
You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)

Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 85% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 75% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 65% Wash (Ship Pilot) 60% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 60% River (Stowaway) 60% Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 55% Alliance 25% Inara Serra (Companion) 20% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 15% A Reaver (Cannibal) 15%

Honest and a defender of the innocent. You sometimes make mistakes in judgment but you are generally good and would protect your crew from harm.

Click here to take the "Which Serenity character am I?" quiz...