This is Serious Mum

Got game?  If you have to ask, probably not.

Vox has been running a series of posts for some time now on this topic.  I read them but mostly don't comment.  The reason is two fold.  One, as a Christian I'm ashamed of my non Christian days and of many things I've done.  I prefer to keep any conquests/indiscretions private.  Also, since any stories I would tell involve other people, it would be a major violation of someone else's privacy as well.  A gentleman never tells.  I never did in high-school or college, even when telling would have scored me major points.  Two, I don't have any interest in helping anyone shag more chicks.  Its not my problem.

In the most recent "Got game" post Vox was accused of basically being a middle aged voyeur looking to rekindle his lost and misspent youth.  Frankly I have no idea if this is true, and I don't care.  But it has got me thinking. Why are these kinds of posts seemingly so popular?  I think I have the answer.  The commenters are worried that:




*Jamie if you and your mates could email me some more songs, I'd be happy to post them too.

SEC Follies

So what is really going on at the SEC?

I mean the economy is in the crapper.  The banking industry is a bunch of corrupt dorks on the government dole.  Wholesale mortgage lending was basically fraud since the 1970's. Wall Street bankers knew it and did everything could to make a buck off the situation.

We may never know what the government oversight folks were doing or how hard they tried to prevent the current economic melt down.

At least they weren't surfing porn all day.

In case there are any SEC HR managers reading this.  I promise if you pay me $222,418 a year, I won't waste government resources doing anything untoward on line.  Heck I could not pay attention to the things I'm supposed to be regulating  and save gov resources at the same time.  Just send me a check and I'll stay at home for a cool $200 grand a year.

Postulating

Disclaimer:  I've done very little research on this.  I'm simply putting out some thoughts that I believe should be investigated.  The small amount of research I've done is very limited and I am by no means an expert or even a particularly well informed amateur.

World Net Daily ran an article titled Buzz Kill!.  The article was about the phenomenon of sudden deaths of honey bees world wide.  This isn't the first time I've seen articles on this as the problem has been growing for the last several years.  I have a hypothesis as to what is causing the problem.  I think that the wide spread use of Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO's may be to blame.  

Basically a GMO or GEO (Genetically Engineered Organism) is any plant or animal that has been genetically altered by man made methods.  This is done with crops for many reasons like enhancing a crops resistance to herbicides, insecticides and pests.  The reasons seem very logical.  A crop, like corn or wheat that is altered can be planted in a field that has been heavily sprayed with a product like Round Up.  The round up will kill the weeds and increase the yield of the crop.  A higher yield means better profit per acre. The concept is similar with insecticides and making a crop resistant to pests.

Scientific testing of the effects of GMO crops is very limited. The industry has limited regulations and there is little governmental or popular support for enhanced regulation, testing or product labeling. Agra business is keen to avoid all product labeling for a variety of reasons. This is a link to a anti GMO activist web site for those of you interested in more info. Here is a link to some more scholarly articles. 

One of the things we do know is that GMO crops can have effects on mammals. If that is the case and some of the reasons for using GMO's is there effect on bacteria, chemical, viral and insects as it relates to plant health, it seems plausible that the use of GMO plants could have a negative effect on on non-target species, either as a result of coming into direct contact or as a unintended consequence of cross contamination. 

If I had the time/resources I would pursue this.  Since I don't, I would be interested in the thoughts of others on the topic.  I know that some experts (Farmer Tom) and some possibly interested amateurs stop in here from time to time.  Both opinions and any links to information are welcome.

The Boy is Back

Guess who just got back today?
That wild-eyed boy that had been away
Haven't changed, haven't much to say.

Spread the word around
Guess who's back in town?

He flew home today
Most folks showed up to say hi
They knew about this young guy.

They spread the word around
Our boy was back in town.

He left with a dream,
United States Marine
Guess who just got back today?
That wild-eyed boy that had been away

He left, with a lot to do, not a lot to say.

The town showed up and lined the street
from the airport parking lot
to the place our boys family went to meet.

It was a parade of sorts
We were proud of this our young man
Even gave him a piece of land.

Guess who just got back today?
That squared away Marine that had been away
Things changed, haven't much to say.

The flags flew half as high
We all knew why
The clouds covered the sun in the sky.

The paper spread the word around
Our Marine was back in town.

The town showed up and lined the street

from the airport to the place the family went to meet

We were proud of this our young man

The county gave him a piece of land.

The Lance Corporal's reward for dying in Afghanistan.

In high school many of my friends were college students I worked with. The boys are back in town served as a start of summer anthem for me from the time I was 16 till I was about 22. When summer came we would crank up Thin Lizzy and jam out while drinking beer and checking out girls. There was no war on, other than the war young men wage on boredom, sobriety and celibacy.

The second of my towns war dead came home recently. He was a young man who, according to the paper, wanted to be a marine his entire life. His dad was a marine and it was his way of becoming a man. He did well with it and even made rank fairly quickly considering his young age of 19 years. He came home to a hero's welcome. Too bad he didn't get to see it.

Tax Day

Tax day is almost over in my time zone.  15 min to go as I write this.  My taxes are done and have been for a bit.  I started them back the first part of Feb.  This last year we didn't make a great deal of money due to my not working and when I did find work, having it be of burger flipping variety.  

Like I do every year, I used a tax program to do my taxes.  Normally I get to efile, which makes things easier on me.  This year, the former banker turned consultant, turned burger flipper, turned coal miner, who still itemizes because I always have; had to paper file.  The reason being I exceed the limit of one of the forms, you can only have 2 but I had 3.  So I had to paper file instead of the efile that I prefer.  I guess I like efile because if your getting raped it may as well be convenient and quick for the victim.

I'd like a rational explanation for why it took 63 printed pages, for a guy who made next to nothing to do his taxes.  Come on.  It's not like I have a ton of complex sources of income or trust arrangements.   IT TOOK 63 PAGES of tax forms!  In years past I had a client whose annual income exceeded six figures a WEEK.  I always received a copy of his tax return for my records.  The longest one I ever remember him having was less than 40 pages.

Cause We Care So So Much

We need government health care, because we as a people care so much about the misfortunes of others.  Right? Right.  Government health care is about doing whats best for the government not whats best for "the people".  Its about generating, or trying to generate a new source of income for the Federal coffers while offering a "benefit" for "the people".  This has been tried before of course.  Social Security was and is a government funding scam designed in such a way that people and politicians would believe that they had a "moral right" to receive the money that they paid in taxes back in the form of benefits. For a more detailed explanation (56 pages of scholarly research) go here.

Some may say, "big deal who cares if the government collects more money in taxes".  The only thing that matters is that sick people get the care they need to help them survive.

Except in reality it doesn't work that way.  In private insurance, people who are sick are excluded from new coverage if they have a "preexisting condition".  The reason is that the insurance company doesn't want to get stuck paying for someone that knows they are sick and only now wants coverage because they don't want to foot the bill themselves.  The term for this is adverse selection.  Basically these people will only pay premiums if/when they think the benefits they need will be greater than what they pay into the system.  Insurance companies try to avoid these "customers" like the plague.

A national system would take care of that problem, so the reasoning goes, because everyone would pay and everyone would get the care they need.  Right?  Does it work that way now?  We have a national system that is supposed to take care of the needs of the poorest.  The US has a very costly social safety network that takes care of the neediest, for the common good.  That's what all the politicians claim.  So what would happen if a really sick person, who needed very expensive care as well as needed public money to pay her bills came along?  Do you think the all benevolent federal care givers would gladly send her welfare payment and pay for her health care?  That's what they claim is supposed to happen, isn't it?

Why don't we ask Diana Smith about her experience with the social safety net. Diana's story is a heart breaking one.  She has a rare form of cancer.  She also has a little boy.  She is poor and on public support both for her income and for her medical care. In order to get well she needs a expensive transplant treatment.  Two things have to happen for her.  One she has to get well enough to qualify medically for the treatment.  Two, she has to get the Gov to pay for it.  The good news is that the government will pay for the procedure if she can get well enough.

So she goes to treatment.  She follows the docs advice.  She gets better.  She medically qualifies for the expensive life saving procedure that will hopefully allow her to return to heath and become a productive person again. It looks like the socialized plan is working the way its claimed it will work.

Except the purpose of the social safety network isn't providing care, its about collecting taxes.  Bureaucrats are very good at two things, licking boots and following rules in an endless game of CYA.  Nobody wants to  pay for the expensive transplant, but they are obligated to.  Unless of course Diana somehow is disqualified from receiving the treatment.

I can see it now some medicaid bootlicker case manager breaks the news to his boss.  "Well sir the bitch got better and qualifies for the procedure." "Frank, that's going to blow our budget and cost us our effectiveness bonus and my promotion" the boss screams.  "Sir I think I have a solution" he replies; "If we raise her income, she won't qualify for Medicaid".  "You idiot" the boss says, "She's broke, sick and can't keep a job, that's why she's on medicaid". "How can she make more money"?  Easy, they get social security to give her a couple of hundred bucks for her kid. Now she is to "wealthy" to receive public assistance, compliments of public assistance.

And that is one of many ways to screw "the people" out of their "benefits" that we all are taxed for in order to take care of us, for our own good.

In the reports I read, no one is claiming that Diana was intentionally screwed by the bureaucrats.  Of course no one is going to without very strong evidence and even then they might not.  Fighting the power, is a better slogan, than a career strategy.   For the sake of argument lets assume it was all an accidental blunder. 

Do you want these jokers, operating at this level of complacency, deciding what care you need?

Jerry Reed

This song was done in 1958.  I read that the average American paid around 6% of their gross income in federal income tax that year.

St Paddys Day

I had a post for March 17th, but I forgot to post it.  Here it is anyway.

Patton staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy. He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Kathleen.He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step. As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, Patton sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his bum was cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed..
In the morning, Patton woke up with searing pain in both his head and bum and Kathleen staring at him from across the room.She said, ‘You were drunk again last night weren’t you?’ Patton said, ‘Why you say such a mean thing?’

‘Well,’ Kathleen said, ‘it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly ….. it’s all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror.

Once upon a time

Not my work.  I don't know who the author is.  I found it and thought I'd pass it on.

"Once upon a time there was a very happy couple. Their names were Freedom and Capitalism. They married and had many wonderful children. Their names were Independence, Self-worth, Hard Work, Dignity, Charity, Faith and Hope. They all lived happily for many years and the children respected their parents and loved them both very much.

But Freedom and Capitalism later had several naughty children; very naughty. They weren't so respectful and never appreciated their parents. Their names were Wealth Envy, Environmentalism, Animal Rights Activism, Racism, Feminism,and Liberalism. These evil children blamed their parents for everything and hated their parents, Freedom and Capitalism.

In fact, these unappreciative children began to despise their parents since they didn't realize their parents gave them everything they had and didn't realize that they wouldn't even exist without their parents. They hated their parents so much, they began to plot with their neighbors to kill their parents and to keep their home.

Their neighbors' names were Socialism and Communism, who on the outside were a very lovely couple, but inside they were very, very ugly. They and their children, whose names were Despair, Poverty, Suffering, and Repression had been welcomed into every neighborhood they had lived in. But then thrown out after years of suffering and the loss of many lives.

So late one night in total darkness (because Socialism and Communism did everything in darkness and away from the light of the truth,) while everyone was asleep, Wealth Envy, Environmentalism, Feminism, and Animal Rights, with the help of their younger obnoxious brother, Hollywood, disguised Socialism and Communism and all went into the house of Freedom and Capitalism. It wasn't hard because the two parents, Freedom and Capitalism, always left their gates and their door open for everyone. Wealth led the way because he knew the house oh, so well. The evil children led Socialism and Communism throughout the house, one room at a time. And one at a time they killed Hard Work, then Dignity, then Independence, Self-worth, Charity and Faith.

They finally found the room of Freedom and Capitalism and killed them as well. It wasn't hard to do, since Freedom and Capitalism always left their door unlocked and open for everyone. Only Hope survived. Hope survived hiding in the closet. She ran out during the ensuing celebration. After Socialism and Communism moved in, things went well for a while but then they decided they didn't like Freedom and Capitalism's evil children, either. They wanted their own children to have the rooms in their new house. So late one night in total darkness (because Socialism and Communism did everything in darkness and away from the light of the truth,) they sent their children to kill Freedom and Capitalism's remaining evil children.

Poverty and Suffering killed Environmentalism and Animal Rights first, for they were so hungry, they had to kill all the animals for food and the trees for their wood. And besides, why should animals have rights if people don't? Hopelessness killed Liberalism. Then Poverty, Suffering, and Repression killed Feminism. And Hollywood, the young obnoxious son of Freedom and Capitalism, was also killed. Finally, Wealth Envy, who led the attack on his parents, died at the hands of Poverty since there was nothing left to envy.

So Socialism and Communism and their children, Poverty, Despair, Hopelessness, Suffering, and Repression lived in the once beautiful home of Freedom and Capitalism which was now in great disrepair and they all lived sadly ever after.

All that was left of the family of Freedom and Capitalism was Hope who was quietly hiding in the woods."

Screwing a Good Man

Ohio Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Apeal.

Some personal disclosure on my part.  I know Bob Baker, owner of Freedom Arms personally.  I think he is a good guy, even if he is a bit stubborn. I just got back from playing with the new single shot and I might even shoot it this year in comp.  Here is a video of Bob showing off the gun.

But that's not what this is about.  In 2007 Bob lost a court case where he was sued for a defective model 83 in 454 Casull.  Today I read that his appeal had been denied a hearing.  Here are the facts of the case:

Robert Taylor of Adamsville, Ohio. Bought himself a FA model 83 454 Casull in Ohio and came out to Wyoming to go hunting.  He then shot his own leg off, and the doctors had to amputate below the knee.  He wanted someone to pay for it all, so when he got back to Ohio he sued Freedom Arms and every one else he could think of for ten million bucks  Everyone except FA was let off the hook.  The jury then awarded Mr. Taylor $600,000 in damages but found him 50% responsible for the accident, so that means he gets $300,000.

Here is what the article says happened:

According to court records, Taylor was taking off an overcoat when the side of the coat caught the hammer of the gun and caused it to discharge a bullet into his lower right leg. Doctors treating Taylor's injury amputated his right leg below the knee.

Taylor's lawsuit alleged the gun was "defective and unreasonably dangerous" because it allowed the firing pin to make contact with the primer cartridge before the firearm was fully set to be fired. That resulted in the possibility the gun could fire without the hammer being fully cocked back and the trigger pulled, the plaintiffs argued.

Here is what I think happened:

Mr. Taylor wanted the finest cowboy gun made on earth.  He bought himself the biggest baddest 454 in a single action made, the Freedom Arms model 83.  Then he wanted to do what any number of easterners want, come out west and go hunting with his new hand cannon.  Then he shot himself.

Keep in mind I've never talked to Bob about this.  The guy Taylor claims his coat caught the hammer and fired the gun on accident.  I'm having a big problem with this being true.  I plain don't think it happened.  See I've hunted with the model 83.  I was using one of Bob's guns that was on loan to me with the understanding that I would write up an article and get some pictures if I made a kill.  You can't make these guns misfire.  In fact the safety features, are designed around Bob's fear of lawsuits.  They are the strongest and most fool proof that can be made.  I plum don't buy Mr. Taylor's story.

I think Taylor came out and was playing cowboy on his hunting trip.  I think he caused the gun to go off some how.  I don't know if he was fast drawing, or if he had the gun hammer back while the gun was holstered or what.  I just don't buy that he went to take his coat off and that caused the gun to misfire.  Even if that was true one question I'd like to know the answer to is, "why didn't he have the hammer down on an empty chamber?".  That's what the owners manual and hunters safety and every other safety manual suggests you do with a revolver.  Like I said before, Taylor was playing cowboy.  I don't know if he was hunting elk, deer or antelope but even in the wilds of Wyoming, none of those critters shoot back.  He should have carried the gun properly.  He should have used it correctly.  He should have stayed in Ohio.

Bob Baker shouldn't be on the hook for paying for this guys accident.

For Nate

Its Easter time and someone has to post a link to what the fuss is all about.

Take a gander and vote for which one you think Nate would like best.