4/30/2006 05:07:00 AM
Gotta pack tonight. Not easy cramming six months of stuff into two bags. Laptop, of course, going with me. Let's hope it holds up.
Thanks, Rump Leakage, for the comic relief. No, not when you're trying to be funny, but when you're trying to be cool. ROFLMAO! You are a fool.
I just opined at length on my usual index page (which you'll find here), so no need to repeat it all now. Just know that you are one of life's greatest gifts: someone who, in taking himself so seriously, provides the sane world an occasional source of sheer hilarity.
And, in the fake smile department, Tom DeLay kicked your ass, dude. How's it feel to be beaten by a lush? Oh wait. . .
I've seen more convincing smiles on Easter Island.
4/22/2006 10:49:00 AM
Man, I'm beat tonight. Whatever happened to the days when processing for a deployment could be accomplished in a day? I guess, like the days when we had enough people and equipment to do our job productively and comfortably, they're long-gone.
Can't write much, or even especially cogently when I come home zapped & anxious about this upcoming "vacation" to warworld.
SO... time to rest on my laurels: check out this nifty image . . .
:)
4/15/2006 03:46:00 PM
I might have invested in the wrong blogging platform. Well, invested time, that is. I guess you get what you pay for monetarily.
This blogspot crap is pissing me off.
First, it was the image of the VLA. With normal HTML I couldn't size the thing right, so I had to operate in the non-HTML-user window and manually resize the goddamned thing, using preview, until I got it just right. What blogspot rocket scientist decided NOT to allow simple HTML during image insertion? Instead of your basic width & height instructions, you've got to calculate the "scroll method:hand" ratio (or whatever the hell that shit was) - otherwise the image is not proportionately correct. If I had time to learn new HTML commands, and fuck with a calculator during image adding, would I be FUCKING BLOGGING?
Second, after all that work, my blog reverted back to what it was about an hour ago. No, I did not accidentally click "recover post," or anything else that should have triggered that potentially catastrophic event. Fortunately I'm in the habit of ctrl+A, ctrl+c everything before I move to the next screen, so I actually saved my post.
Seriously, if I'm finding this shit is so user-unfriendly at home, how in the hell am I supposed to maneuver through it while living in a tent?
Where's my dog? I need something more reactive than a ball to kick. As Junior said in the first episode of The Sopranos this season, GOD FUCK IT ALL.
LOL.
4/15/2006 03:22:00 PM
Every Friday's a "good Friday."
Right?
Am I right?
The Very Large Array - at least part of it (17 dishes not pictured here). Took this shot about six years ago. I love the Southwest.
Two weeks to go...
4/08/2006 02:14:00 PM
KUDOS to Harry Taylor, of Charlotte, NC, who courageously stood up to the "president," despite a crowd of apparently pro-Bush neoconanderthals, and told George Bush he should be ashamed of himself.
Naturally, many of the right wing nutsacks online and on air responded with their rallying cry, "WATCH WHAT YOU SAY!" or "what a retarded thing to say to the president!" No need to tell you how allergic to free speech the rabid right is.
Interestingly, Taylor is yet another "anachronism," if you believe the neocon propaganda: he's a businessman.
Thanks Harry!
4/07/2006 03:09:00 PM
Rookie mistake. No doubt I'll make many more.
4/06/2006 03:10:00 AM
This clown is resigning from office.
So long, limp hammer. :)
4/02/2006 08:51:00 AM
Now I feel better.
Got this page up and running, a month or so before deploying. Now, if I can gain access to blogspot.com from "over there" I'm in shape.
I'd been worrying I'd have to put up another one of those "I'm currently 'elsewhere,' but will return by (months away)." Every time I've deployed I've done this, and each time I'd lost most of the few regular readers I'd managed to attract.
So I'll be toying with this for awhile. By the time most of you see this it'll be three to four weeks from now. By then I hope to have this blogging stuff down pat.
4/02/2006 07:23:00 AM
Preparing to deploy - trying to figure out this blogging stuff so I can keep the site current from the other side of the world.
Crossing my fingers here...
9/25/2003 01:40:00 AM
(2) Rubberglue - Circular reasoning. "It's outrageous!" "Why is it outrageous?" "Because he said blah blah and did blah blah and the fact is it's just simply outrageous." Making the premise equal the conclusion (also applies to religious "logic.")
(3) The Redirect - Most often as the word "LOOK." Used to quickly get past some debatable claim. "I've been to the Moon, twice, and even found life there... but LOOK - let's get back to the point..." Occasionally used for a moment where the liberal has, or is on the verge of, scoring a political point. "But wasn't George Bush considered AWOL in the 70's?" "I don't know, save it for another time, but LOOK ..."
(4) The Factpinion - "Two New York City policemen said the situation is chaotic" is a fact. "The situation is chaotic" is not. Real pros wield this tool to curb their opponent's argument: "But the opinions of two policemen do not equal the fac..." "Are you saying they lied?"
(5) Quali-no-Quanti - Qualifying without quantifying. "Your argument is specious," then neglecting to explain how the argument is "specious."
(6) Ignor'Bliss - "Don't know, don't care!" The sarcastic "Yeah, okay!" "Whatever" etc. Best when accompanied by an eye-roll or annoyed-sounding sigh.
(7) Thinking in Blocks - Leads to stereotyping. Psychologists call masters of this tool cognitive misers. An example: Joe, democratic mayor of a tiny town, thinks there are too many American flags on display. Conclusion? "All Democrats are flag-burning communist hippies."
(8) The Pep Rally - Repetitive, space-filling, "morale boosting" coach-speak...
"The NEW YORK TIMES,
the L.A. TIMES,
the Washington Post,
the U.S.A. TODAY"
Etc. Patterned as a rabble-rousing, rhythmically repetetive chant:
"da DAH DAH DAH
da DAH DAH DAH
da DAH DAH DAH..." etc.
(9) The Pseudo'cession - The pseudo-concession; focuses more on the magnanimous gesture of the concession, while ignoring the original act/error. "I was incorrect, but now I'm setting things straight! That's the kind of man I am. I admit my mistakes. Unlike some liberals I know... I admit my errors."
(10) Phony Authority - Twisting a normally valid tool into a lie, as in citing the percentage of liberal journalists while neglecting to cite the opposite & equally tilted percentage of conservative editors and publicists. Embellishing actual statistics, such as the time O'Reilly said, "37% of Florida college students are black!" In reality, 37% of Florida college students were minorities.
Know your enemy.
9/13/2003 02:19:00 PM
If, in our walk through this playground of reality, we dismiss the notion that every modicum of life itself is black or white, it should be clear that conservatism and liberalism are not so much twins on a seesaw of "balance," but more like a merry-go-round's stop and go. Of course, no sensible person wants to ride an unrestrained merry-go-round, but life does not stop (actually, it does. But none of us here is fairly qualified to discuss that matter).
Certainly, the ability to understand and appreciate the forces behind change is required in order to stay in stride with the ever-changing world about which one might purport to report "factually." It's important that someone who professes to impartially report the news not only be able to identify specific trends, but also to correctly analyze the forces that precipitate those trends. And if an observer becomes excessively obsessed with the trends he or she is doomed to miss the forces that lead to them.
Simply put, one cannot pretend to objectively describe an ever-changing world if he thinks change is an alien force in a static world. If you're prone to knee-jerk at life's continuous stream of surprises, any claim you might make of neutrality in news reporting is either egregious or just plain stupid.
(Considering the money FOX News' phony baloney makes, I'd say egregious. It's the fan base at FOX filling the stupid shoes)
It's my opinion that a conservative bent and the reporting of news are akin to oil and water; while some slower spectators may be captivated by the performer's sleight-of-hand, no amount of spin can truly unite the two.
PT
