Twitter: Worth it.

It's worth it just for this guy. The language is absolute filth (so mom, don't go there), but it's had me in tears before. I literally signed up only to follow these posts, which come out about once a day. For most of the summer, it was the highlight of my day (well, this and watching Jeopardy at lunch).

Transformers 2: Transforming Into a Pile of Crap

Finally got around to seeing this (been gone for a while).

Oh my gosh. Abysmal.

Roger Ebert has an entirely accurate review of it here.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments.

234

Happy birthday to all the Marines out there.

Commandant's birthday message:

World Series

The good thing about the world series is that America wins every year.

At Long Last

I have returned. Unfortunately, with me being gone (and not really posting much before that) and Grim having his hands full with a wife and kid, I don't think we have any readers left (except you mom, thank you). Regardless, I've got a few random thoughts:

It's a bit late in the game to be weighing in on this one, but that justice of the peace that refuses to marry interracial couples is an idiot. Rarely do I read a story where somebody is crying "racist" and it actually IS an instance of racism, but this is one of them. If he doesn't change this policy immediately, he ought to be fired.

The Titans and Eagles straight up got embarrassed yesterday. Really, the Redskins did as well, but that's par for their season. Also, I don't think that when #25 ranked ND comes that close to taking #6 USC to overtime, they shouldn't be dropped out of the rankings, especially when USC jumps up to #4. Also, Jimmy Clausen should at least be in the running for the Heisman, especially after becoming the first QB this season to throw a TD pass against USC (he threw two).

Health care reform that doesn't include lifting the overbearing regulations on the health insurance industry is only making it worse for everyone. Health insurance should be similar to car insurance - essentially a safety net. Routine checkups do not need to be covered anymore than oil changes do.

Ammo is ridiculous. I ordered 9mm ammo back in June that is still on backorder at Cabelas, and I picked up a reloading machine to start doing my own 9mm and 45 ammo, but good luck finding primers for it.

Fireflies

Bob reached the top of the trail just in time to see the western sky radiant with shades of violet and crimson. “Wow, look at that sunset!”

“Gorgeous!” Lisa chimed in, coming up the trail behind them.

“There’s no such thing.”

They both turned around to see where the gruff voice had come from. A man sat on the ground with a staff across his lap. He appeared to be trying to catch bugs by waiting for them to walk across his hands.

“Who are you?” asked Bob.

“The name’s Ted. And I’m getting tired of all these people coming through here talking about the spectacular view, as if there actually was such a thing.”

“What do you mean? Can’t you see the view?” Lisa asked. “You’re not blind, are you?”

“Blind? Ha! That’s just a derogatory term you light-believers use to slander free-thinkers like myself!” Ted grimaced in disgust, “You’re the ones who are deceived, believing in this so-called ‘vision’ thing… something no one ever has any evidence for!”

Lisa was astounded, “You mean you think light doesn’t exist?”

“Think? Ha! I know it doesn’t exist! My life is based on provable Facts, lady, not wishful thinking!”

“So since we can’t prove to your satisfaction that light exists, you won’t believe in it?” Bob was incredulous, “Even after you said yourself that everyone who comes up here praises the beautiful scenery?”

Ted spat, “Of course not! It doesn’t matter how many people believe in it! That’s an ad populum fallacy! Don’t you know anything about logic? I can’t help it if you’re all deceived together!”

“Um, I don’t think that’s how it works… Besides, what if it actually is true?” Bob countered, “Wouldn’t you want to see what everyone else is so excited about?”

“I know a guy who may be able to give you sight!” Lisa pitched in with genuine enthusiasm, “That is, if you’re interested…”

“Nope, not interested. Why would I want to be so restricted, when I currently have the freedom of deciding for myself how to perceive things? You foolish light-believers are too rigid - once you supposedly ’see’ something, you can never ’see’ it any differently! But free-thinkers like myself can perceive it however we wish without any such dogmatic restraints.”

Bob just shook his head in astonishment.

Lisa suddenly noticed the time, “Hey Bob, we’d should think about heading back down to the car.”

“What? Leaving without providing any evidence of your so-called ‘light?’” Ted was giddy with his intellectual victory.

“You’re welcome to come with us,” Bob pointed out, “We could introduce you to that guy…”

Ted cut him off, the grin vanished from his face. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! Why would I want to come with a bunch of misguided fanatics?” he sneered, “Besides, if I leave, who would correct all the ignorant fools who come through here raving about the view?”

Bob sighed, “Just thought I’d offer. We’ll leave you alone now. Oh, and by the way, Ted, you’re sitting awfully close to the edge…”

* * *

As Bob and Lisa hiked back down the trail, they were delighted to see legions of fireflies flickering lazily between the trees, and the gathering mist in the moonlight cast a surreal look to the woods that sloped away in the distance.

Meanwhile, up on the peak, Ted caught two crickets and a firefly of his own. They tasted nearly identical.

He's Come To Save The Day

I love the fact that, not only does this video ridicule Obama, but he was forced to sit and watch it with a smile on his face at the annual RTCA dinner. Burn.

(After about 2:05 or so, it's nothing but ads, so feel free to skip the rest.)

Patriot Xeno Deployment Update #5

Xeno emails again:

Greetings from Ramadi,

The weather is starting to heat up here. It hit 99 yesterday - another two months and it'll be pretty well miserable hot. We were having a contest to see who would guess the first day it would hit 100, but an unnamed OIC ruined it by claiming that we were all of a sudden using his watch as the official temperature gauge, on a day that his watch showed 104 and every other thermometer in the province showed 95. Oh well.

My days have gotten ridiculously busy, as I am now the watch officer, and without getting into the specifics of what I do, we'll just say it's a combination of summarizing reports for the boss and crisis management whenever something happens. It certainly makes time fly, however.

One of the other LT's and I were able to watch season 4 of Battlestar Galactica over the past month, thanks to my wonderful wife, and it was pretty good, except for the last 30 minutes, which were terrible, as I'm sure all of you know.

Daily life has not changed, there isn't much variation here. The big decisions are what tv show to watch on your computer to fall asleep to. Fortunately, I have been making excellent decisions so far. I usually can get a boxscore from the Cubs game every day, which has actually caused more stress, because how can you keep a guy as your closer with an ERA over 6? He gave up 4 runs without getting a single out last night! I leave for a few months, and everything falls apart, apparently.

Thanks to everybody that sent a package - I now have more popcorn on hand than Woodies.

That's all I have for now.

~Patriot Xeno

[ed: I have no idea what Woodies are. I think they're like Kit-Kats. - Grim]

The Top 10 Great American Sandwiches

10. Tuna Melt

9. Lobster Roll

8. Hot Brown

7. Reuben Sandwich

6. Barbecue Pulled Pork

5. Cuban Sandwich

4. Hamburger/Cheeseburger

3. Muffuletta

2. Italian Hoagie

1. Philly Cheesesteak

Good Old-Fashioned British Rhetoric

If only our conservative politicians over here would speak like this, instead of their wishy-washy fence-sitting:

Seen on Twitter

Heh.

Tinzlin: "dear josh, in hs my guy friends read your book and none of them wanted to date. i am now 27 and have yet to have a bf. thanks."

Josh Harris: "Ha! You honestly wish you were married to any of the guys you knew in highschool? (grin) You should be thanking me."

Tinzlin: "dang it. you win this round, harris. you win this round. i now have to go buy all your books."

Patriot Xeno Deployment Update #4

Xeno sends in another missive from Mesopotamia:

Greetings from Ramadi,

February was an extremely busy month here. Things have started to slow down right now, but we'll see what the rest of the month has in store.

The unit assigned to maintain security on our little compound was switched. The old unit was a detachment from the Oklahoma National Guard. For the most part, they seemed to be a good group of guys. They were a lot more relaxed than a Marine unit, but considering that they were civilians a few months ago, it's a little understandable. Our new unit is a Marine Infantry unit. As far as the security of the compound is concerned, they have stepped things up significantly. For conducting combat operations, there is no non-special forces unit I'd rather have. On the other hand, when it comes to making sure our chow gets here on time, those national guard guys can't be beat. Chalk it up to whatever reason, for the logistical side of things, they were top notch.

We're fortunate enough to have a good group of guys with similar ranks/ages, so it makes things easier when you have a group of friends here. We have formed what we call the LPA, or Lieutenant Protection Agency, and we've been able to work together pretty well on accomplishing a number of tasks assigned to us.

We have managed to acquire a method of propelling a Q-tip with enough force for the soft cotton head to punch through the leather on a desk chair. Thus far, we have discovered no practical use for this, but all the same, it's certainly very exciting for everyone involved. I have no doubt that a practical use will present itself.

We're about a week shy of having a full 3 months in - almost a quarter of the deployment. It's gone by pretty quick, but once baseball season hits, it'll probably slow down a bit. I have had to relinquish control of my fantasy teams for the season, which will make this the first year since probably 1994 that I have not been able to do a draft.

That's pretty much it.

~Xeno

Beer - An American Revolution

The people over at Reason took a look at the return of the American craft beer industry over the past couple decades with a short video:


Apparently, today there are almost as many breweries as there were before Prohibition:

Today, although mainstream beers still dominate the market, more than 1,400 breweries in the U.S. produce more styles of beer than anywhere else in the world, and American beers routinely dominate international beer competitions.

It's time to stop apologizing for American beers.

Unless you've been drinking Yuengling, in which case, you've been apologizing to no one, because it is amazing.

"The Colonel"

...starring Mel Gibson.



Haha, I would totally go see such a movie.

A Flicker of Understanding at the New York Times

I don't really have anything against Bono - I think his intentions are in the right place. Nevertheless, the New York Times ran a stellar article this past week from a native African woman discussing some of the pitfalls of foreign aid. Here's a sample:

You argue in your book that Western aid to Africa has not only perpetuated poverty but also worsened it, and you are perhaps the first African to request in book form that all development aid be halted within five years.

Think about it this way — China has 1.3 billion people, only 300 million of whom live like us, if you will, with Western living standards. There are a billion Chinese who are living in substandard conditions. Do you know anybody who feels sorry for China? Nobody.

Maybe that’s because they have so much money that we here in the U.S. are begging the Chinese for loans.

Forty years ago, China was poorer than many African countries. Yes, they have money today, but where did that money come from? They built that, they worked very hard to create a situation where they are not dependent on aid.

What do you think has held back Africans?

I believe it’s largely aid. You get the corruption — historically, leaders have stolen the money without penalty — and you get the dependency, which kills entrepreneurship. You also disenfranchise African citizens, because the government is beholden to foreign donors and not accountable to its people.

She also mentions an organization at Kiva.org which certainly looks intriguing. Apparently, you make loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. When (or if) they eventually pay the loan back, you can then lend to someone else.

Distributism, baby.

Obama Self-Incriminates

"There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know," Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast earlier this week.

Setting aside the question of whether this is factually accurate (and it is debatable), the bigger problem with his statement is that Obama himself has no problem with the taking of innocent life, both young and old, by abortion and euthanasia. Thus, if he's being logically consistent with himself (a big "if" I suppose), there's only a few things he can mean:

1) Obama may quietly believe there is no God.
Indeed, he may think that no God condones innocent bloodshed, but it's okay if no God exists anyway.

2) Obama may believe there is a God, but doesn't care what He condones.
This may be an even more rash and foolish position than the first one.

3) Obama may believe there is a God, but that the unborn (specifically) are not human.
This is pretty foolish, too, since any secular scientist can tell us that the unborn are both alive (they certainly are not dead), and that they are human (it's a genetic fact). I have no idea how he justifies euthanasia, except perhaps by arguing that those who are euthanized are not "innocent."

A Notification

Zombies are the new pirates. (Pirates were the new ninjas.)