Monday, January 10, 2005

Plucky Critter

Small dogs and eagles don’t mix?...

Now, this would’ve been a sight to see.

“A dog survived a flight in an eagle’s claws then endured a week of sometimes subfreezing weather before finding its way home, a veterinarian said Wednesday.”

“Vet: Dog survives snatch by eagle, cold”

Posted by John Venlet on 01/10 at 06:28 AM
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Sunday, January 09, 2005

The Caliber of This Argument is Small Bore

.50-caliber spuriousness…

If the following argument for banning individuals’ right to own a .50-caliber rifle,

“They can pierce the skin of an aircraft,”

uttered by Daniel R. Vice, of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, is the main basis for banning the right to own a .50-caliber rifle in California, it won’t be long before California attempts to ban ownership of any type of gun, whether it be a handgun, shotgun, or high powered pellet gun.

“California Bans a Large-Caliber Gun, and the Battle Is On.”

Posted by John Venlet on 01/09 at 09:21 AM
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EPM2b Gene

Dogs and seizures…

My Aussie, Iz, and her sister, Zader Mae, suffer from seizures.  A most disheartening affliction to observe.  Iz suffered from half-a-dozen of the seizures in 2004, and she started 2005 off with a bang, suffering two seizures in about 10 hours time, one at around 9 P.M. New Year’s Day, followed by a second seizure at around 3:35 A.M. on the 2nd.  Dang it!  In an unusual coincidence, Zady also suffered two seizures in about a ten hour timeframe, also on New Year’s Day and early in the A.M. on the 2nd.

Thus it was with interest I read this BBC News article titled “Epilepsy gene identified in dogs.”  Though the information presented in the article is of little value to the Iz, it’s interesting to note none-the-less.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/09 at 08:32 AM
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Saturday, January 08, 2005

A New Stereo, Somewhat of A Renege, with A Hemi

Play it loud, what can I say, run it fast…

For Christmas, I treated myself to a new stereo.  Designed by Boston Acoustics, the stereo has, so far, delighted me with its sound, especially when I popped Steely Dan’s “The Royal Scam” into the CD player.

The impetous for my purchase, was a late night pickup of the lovely Melis from the airport.  As we made our way home, after her arrival from parts unrecalled at this moment, my Burb died in the middle of a busy intersection on snowy night.  Damn, I hate that.  Anyway, due to this unfortunate event, and the inconvenience of a stalled vehicle, with the lovely Melis as a passenger, I decided to upgrade.  My stereo, and vehicle, in one fell swoop.

Now, the Burb has served me well, ferrying family, friends, the Iz, and I, over 219,000 miles of roadways since 1994, and the Burb’s stereo system wasn’t necessarily lacking, either.  And though I did state, not so long ago,  “I Definitely Will Never Purchase a Brand New Car,” due to “black box” techology being incorporated into new vehicles, my new stereo came wrapped in a Dodge Magnum RT.

The Magnum RT is definitely a muscle car.  The Hemi’s 340 horses power it down the road with aplomb, knocking aside 100 MPH as if strolling casually down the boulevard with a lovely lass.  Though some reviews I’ve read have bitched because you can’t “squawk” the tires, the car definitely is not a slug.  If you’re running down the highway at 65 MPH, and then punch it, the Hemi decisively pushes you back into your seat, and then rockets up to speed, with ease.  As for drag racing stats for the car, 0 to 60 in six (6) to seven (7) seconds isn’t anything to scoff at, either.

So, anyway, I treated myself to a new stereo, wrapped in Magnum RT, and I am enjoying the heck out of it.  At speed.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/08 at 01:36 PM
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Not Merely Insanity

You are our slave…

In a post titled “Legislative Insanity and judicial insanity,” David J. Heinreich, over at the Mises Economics Blog, points to recent travesties which appear to further enslave women, rather than emancipate.

First, on the legislative side, a bill, sponsored by the State of Virginia’s General Assembly (R) John A Cosgrove, HR 1677, which would require women who miscarry, even in the privacy of their homes, to report said miscarriage to the police.  Need I state that this is NONE of the cops business?

Second, on the judicial side, a judge, Judge Paul Bastine, who evidently considers himself the arbiter of all things great and small, who revokes a woman’s divorce; a husband battered and beaten woman; because she is pregnant.

The above items are not merely insanity.  They are travesties, which deserve to be ground under the boot heels of free individuals.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/08 at 12:57 PM
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Damn, I Didn’t See That Shoal, There

Submarine aground, oops…

Well, there’s one Navy Captain who, in all likelihood, is going to lose command of his boat.  It seems the USS SAN FRANCISCO ran aground somewhere in the vicinity of Guam.  The SAN FRANCISCO is a 688 class sub, of the same type I was on during my days in the nuclear navy.

Though I rue the fact that this boat has run aground, it almost seems apropos, considering the city the boat is named after.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/08 at 09:34 AM
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Friday, January 07, 2005

Cost Overrun Early Warning System

Tsunami warnings for those in the know…

Yesterday evening, I happened to catch a blurb from some politico talking head, I can’t recall whom, who uttered something to the effect that spending alot of dollars, gathered of course from the pockets of the unwilling, to install a tsunami warning system out in the world’s oceans, would “possibly avert” a future tsunami disaster of the proportions we have recently been made aware of.

Undoubtedly, such a system would provide a soothing balm to the minds of the world’s leaders, who could then offer this early warning system as a carrot to the masses; you’ll be safe, now, little ones; but as to the system having the ability to possibly avert a future tsunami disaster, I find that difficult to digest.

In fact, I find the calls for spending millions, if not billions, on installing a tsunami early warning system, as fatuous as the B612 Foundation’s lobbying Congress for monies to move asteroids around in space, or Alex Taborrak’s call for monies for an asteroid disaster early warning system.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/07 at 06:22 AM
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Thursday, January 06, 2005

Epidemic Alert, again

Teachers, students, and sex, oh my

So, Drudge is acting as the CDC, I guess, keeping the world abreast of the latest student/teacher sexual tryst.  Linking to this story and this story with the breathless “YET ANOTHER: Charged With Having Sex With Two Thirteen Year Old Boys…” and “AND YET…ANOTHER…,” respectively.

Yo, Drudge, does the local Grand Rapids, Michigan case fall into the epidemic classification?  I mean, I know the story is kind of old, from December 16, 2004, but medical researchers always attempt to pinpoint the source of an outbreak, right?

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 08:16 PM
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Testing One, Two, Three

Testing the new digs…

Well, it’s been awhile.  First, a sincere thank you to Daniel Medley from Lobowalk.  Daniel is a good friend of my brother and sister-in-law out in Salt Lake.  I have not had the pleasure, yet, of sitting down with Daniel to break bread and imbibe in the nectar of the gods, but, I do know that time will come.  Thank you, Daniel.

The reason for the new digs stems from, well, you can read about why not far below this particular post.

This setup has quite a few more bells and whistles than my previous digs, so it’ll take a bit of getting used to on my part.  I hope to soon have the basics I need to be aware of down pat so I can once again add to the cacophony, though with a decidely more import than much of what is available for consumption out there on the net.

Good to be back.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/06 at 07:28 PM
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Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Dumb Cops and Tasers - Incident #4,523,216

Old ladies, six (6) year old kids, and now a guy in a wheelchair.

Dumb asses.

Recent story via Drudge.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/21 at 03:09 PM
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Monday, December 20, 2004

Dang It

I am still having issues with comment spamming.  Dang it!

Currently attempting to arrange an upgrade, with a big ass spammer beating stick.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/20 at 07:38 PM
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An Ode to Libraries

Will digitising books, gathered in great libraries around the world, sound the death knell for libraries?  I doubt it very much.  There are great benefits to the digitized word, but, the digitized word will not replace the edifices which currently house wonderful collections of books.

Ben Macintyre enjoys libraries, and he shares his thoughts on them, and the coming online world of libraries, in a piece titled “Paradise is paper, vellum and dust.”

From Macintyre’s piece.

“I have spent a substantial portion of my life since in libraries, and I still enter them with a mixture of excitement and awe. I am not alone in this. Veneration for libraries is as old as writing itself, for a library is more to our culture than a collection of books: it is a temple, a symbol of power, the hushed core of civilisation, the citadel of memory, with its own mystique, social and sensual as well as intellectual. Even people who never enter libraries instinctively understand their symbolic power.”

Via Arts & Letters Daily.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/20 at 08:55 AM
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A Joke?, No, a Slew of Blundering Fools Spending Stolen Money without Thought

Sheriff Dan Mack thinks it’s some kind of ”...dark-colored joke…” that the thirty thousand dollar SUV he purchased, with Homeland Security grant money, can only be used in response to a terror attack, in Hamlin County S.D.  An area of the country where I think most individuals can probably take care of themselves.

Plasma teevees, pagers, and garden hoses, are just a few of the other items bought with Homeland Security grant money, in states across the U.S.

This isn’t some “dark-colored joke.”  It’s fools, leading fools, in ignorance.

“Rural county’s new Homeland SUV sits unused, awaiting terror attack”

Posted by John Venlet on 12/20 at 08:38 AM
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Sunday, December 19, 2004

A Writing Utensil

Like Billy Beck, I have a preference for a certain pen.  The Parker VECTOR Rollerball.  It’s a fine writing instrument, and the one I currently have in my possession, has been so since 1994.  I’ve run one-hundred and fifty plus refills through it.

Last night, I was presented with a similar model of this type of pen.  It’s a MATISSE Rollerball.  I actually prefer it to my Parker.  The pen has a nice heft in the hand, and I actually think the pen glides across the paper, at least in my hand, with more authority than the Parker.  I think I’ll enjoy the pen for many years to come. 

Posted by John Venlet on 12/19 at 05:44 PM
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Mucked Out

Well, I’ve completed mucking out the spam infestation in my comments.  I cannot, at this particular moment, resume allowing comments, but I do plan on resuming commenting, after making the necessary arrangements.

Not too long ago, in a short post titled “A Short Thought on Respecting Property,” I remarked on an incident involving my dog, her scat, and a dumpster.  That post is a fine commentary on why I would not participate in such a action as the spammers have here.

Posted by John Venlet on 12/19 at 05:35 PM
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