A Way With Words

This is taking too long

Isn't it Friday yet? Dammit. This waiting to leave for SHOT is taking entirely too dang long.

Getting closer to getting the paper and celebrating it!!

I got an e-mail today that said my degree had been posted. I should have the actual paper shortly; hopefully within the week, but I don't know for sure. I'm fairly excited that I'm finally getting the tangible evidence of my $15,000, and I'll feel better about having it on my resume. lol! I think I have a shot at graduating Cum Laude, but I'm not sure what my final GPA is.

I leave on Friday night, heading to Vegas for SHOT show. I'm totally looking forward to getting out of Kentucky again. The Winters here are gray most of the time.

I'm gonna be celebrating my birthday with a small number of friends with the Super Bowl, then meeting up with my LF bretheren for a...sloppier get together. Pics will probably not be posted of that; I guess we'll see what happens. Its gonna be a fun, fun six days!

Nigerian 419 Scams: the one that got away!

I mentioned in the other 419 Scam Thread that there was one more that I had received and wanted to post, but that I couldn't find. Well, I found it, but in the printed page form, which means I have to transcribe it. It came originally in all caps, but I'm gonna type it out in more typical grammar, which makes it easier to read. I tell ya, the things I do for both readers of my blog...

Greetings my dear friend:
I hope it will not be an embarrassmentness to you that I am writing even though we have never met. The Nigerian Ministry of Trade and Funny Hats referred me to you as a person of the highest integritableness, and I wish to secure your cooperation in a business venture.

I am a prominent Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Recently, our chief executive, Pope John Paul II passed away after an illness. You can read about it here at
www.cnn.com/2005/world/europe/04/02/pope.dies. At the time, I was in charge of fundraising on the African continent, and I was in possession of a fund containing $19.1 USD intended for the purchase of Bingo cards.

Now that our Pontiff is gone, I am without supervision for the foreseeable future. And I am aware that as a black man, I have a better chance of becoming a Hooters Girl than of being elected Pope. It is my intention to remove these funds from Nigeria and use them for the construction of a bachelor pad in Bel Air, California, where I shall spend the remainder of my life hammering tall blond bimbos like a bloody steam drill. However, I require a foreigner to assist me.

In exchange for 20% of said monies, I will require you to come to Lagos posing as the owner of a company that prints Bingo cards. I shall tender a check to you, which you will run through your bank account in the United States. Then you will remit 80% to me, care of the Western Union Branch in West Hollywood.

Contact me immediately so that we can discuss the modalities of this transaction. If you do not assist me, by Jove, you shall jolly well go to Hell.

God Bless

Cardinal Francis Arinze
Lagos, NIG.

If you happen to know who composed this originally please let me so that proper credit can be given. This has got to be one of the best parodies of 419 scam e-mails ever.

Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran Op Ed by Doug Patton

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Nigerian 419 scam: interesting variations

I've been getting 419 scam e-mails for about five years now, but every once in a while, there's an interesting variation on the theme that makes them worth saving. Since I hang onto them, I figured I'd go ahead and share them in case you don't get the same ones.

This first one's different because of the source of the funds: the family that owns the money, in its entirety, is killed in a plane crash. Naturally, because I'm so well known for my integrity, I'm to assist in the stealing of their money. Interestingly, this guy is planning to defraud the bank, but is going to remain in their employ. The personal contact information is also atypical, but that's simply the evolution of the scam. The thing that still amazes me is that this scam is perpetuated entirely electronically, and yet the spelling and grammar is, in every case I have seen so far, atrocious.

Dear firend

With due respect and humility, I wish to write you about this business
proposal. I am a staff in one of the Bank here in Cote D'Ivoire. I am
writing following the impressive regards to you about this business
opportunity.

In my department, I discovered an abandoned sum of USD $25.4M (Twenty
Five Million Four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in an account
that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his
entire family in September 2004, in a plane crash. Since the notification
of his death, our Bank have been expecting his next of kin to come
forward and claim his fund because our Bank cannot release it unless
somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as
indicated in our banking guidelines and policies but unfortunately I learnt
that all his supposed next of kin or relation died along side with him at
the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claims.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I decided to make this
business proposal to you so that we can co-operate with one mind and get this
fund transferred to your bank account as the next of Kin/beneficiary of
the Deceased Account. Since I am still remain in service with this
Bank, and also since nobody is coming forth to claim the money and I don't
want this money to go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The
request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the
fact that the customer was a foreigner and an Ivorian cannot stand as
next of kin to a foreigner. I will agree that 25% of this money will be
for you as a foreign partner. In respect to the provision of a foreign
bank account where the money will be transfer to, 10% will be map out
for any expenses incurred during the course of the transaction and 65 %
would be for me.

There after I will visit your country for disbursement according to the
percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of
this fund to you as I arranged, you must apply first to the bank as
relation or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your
bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easier and
effective communication and location where the money will be remitted.
Meanwhile, for the first step to proceed, I will advice you to forward
your full name, address, telephone and fax number so that I can make
the registration of your information in our banking system as the next of
Kin/beneficiary of the Deceased Account and I will also backdate it to
the date the account was opened with our Bank.

Upon receipt of your response and after the successful registry of your
information in our banking system I will send to you by fax or email
the text of the application. I will not fail to bring to your notice
that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any
atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the
transfer. You should please contact me as soon as you receive this letter.

I look forward for your response.


Best Regards,
Mr. Julius Akah.
E-mail:juleakah@yahoo.fr
Tél: +22505586622

This second one is interesting because its not about defrauding banks and governments anymore. The twist on the story is that there's a large sum of money that is an inheritance that has to be shipped out of the country to some address of my selection. Seems overly complicated, but its not my scam. Why the security company charged with the box's safe keeping would release it to me and not just send it with her is a bit of a mystery, I guess. Again, the personalizing touch of the e-mail address is given.

Message from Miss Rhodia Punga
Please treat with respect,

My name is Miss RHODIA PUNGA. I am a girl of 21 years old and I am a
citizen of COTE D'IVOIRE (IVORY COAST IN WEST AFRICA), an orphan to the

late former (OBUETI) top cocoa dealer Mr. PAUL PUNGA who died in 2004
as a result of food poison suspected to be given to him by the plans of

his colleaques and uncles because of his fame and wealth, my mother
died when I was 6 years old.

I inherited a total sum of $4.6 million US dollars from my late
parents. This money which is concealed in a metallic trunk box is
deposited in a security and finance company in Ivory Coast under a
secret arrangement as a family treasure and African art works. This
means that the security company does not know the real content of this
box that was sent from the United State of America to Ivory Coast under

a diplomatic coverage.

My main purpose of sending you this mail is because of the way I found
you and perhaps trustworthy to give this priority of shipping this box
of money to any address that you think is very secure and safe in place

with your percentage of which we shall chat on soon. I will come over
to your country to continue my education as soon as the funds is
claimed by you.

There is need for urgent action because I am paying demurrage charges
to the Security Company for safe keeping this consignment. I give
thanks immensely for your co-operation as I look forward to hearing
from you soonest.

Please do contact me through this YAHOO EMAIL address: rdpunga30@yahoo.
co.jp And as soon as I hear from you, I will give you the details of

this transcation and how you will contact the Security Company for the
immediate claim of this trunk box on my behalf.


Best Regard,
RHODIA PUNGA

I thought I had one more, but I can't find it. The last one was a parody, actually, and I really wish I could locate it. I'll keep looking for it, but I'm very disappointed that its not saved where I thought it was. It was quite excellent.

No Money from Me for "Rambo"

"Until America, door to door, takes every handgun, this is what you're gonna have."
--Sylvester Stallone

Nice bit of hypocrisy there, Sly. I guess its totally different when you make a big damn paycheck off of guns. After all, its just a movie, right? Wrong.

Rumors are that you have a CCW and a private range on your property...which I whole-heartedly support. What I can't support is your belief that you're somehow more important than the rest of us, and we need to be disarmed while your celebrity allows you to protect yourself. You can do what you wanna do, bro. However, actions have repercussions, and the repercussion of this is that you will get not one thin dime from me to see any of your movies, in the theater, on DVD on on TV, ever. EVER.
Signed-
Haji, a pissed off gun owning, gun shooting, carrying every day consumer.

Juggernaut!

This was, without a doubt, one of the very funniest things to happen in the snow of Colorado.

Another Sound Bite-Like Attempt to Say Where I Stand

There are websites sprining up all over that attempt to give bubble gum answers as to who I should support politically based on sound bite questionaires. I did this one out of curiousity, rather than the need to know where I stand with the candidates, but here's the results anyway:
90% Fred Thompson
88% Mitt Romney
85% Tom Tancredo
84% Mike Huckabee
79% John McCain
68% Ron Paul
60% Rudy Giuliani
35% Bill Richardson
29% Hillary Clinton
25% John Edwards
24% Barack Obama
24% Joe Biden
20% Chris Dodd
13% Mike Gravel
7% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
29% agreement with Hillary Clinton? Are you kidding me? I'm the Anti-Hillary. If she says something, I'll believe whatever the opposite is. Additionally, where's Duncan Hunter? He's probably even more in agreement with my views than Fred Thompson is, and we agree on a lot. The 7% that I am alleged to agree with Dennis Kucinich does not happen to be on UFO's.

Open Letter to Presidential Candidates

Its an election year, and candidates are allegedly asking for support from registered voters like myself. You want my vote, you need my vote. I'm gonna tell you how to get it.

Arright, lets get right to it. Here's the thing: I'm sick and tired of corporations being demonized for "being greedy". How big a house does Senator Edwards have? Corporations are greedy? I'll tell ya what: I've never been harmed by the head of a corporation. They don't do anything to me other than provide me services and products, and provide jobs. The government, on the other hand, has been all up in my business and done considerable harm to my freedom. You want my vote? Get the damn government out of my life. Get it out of my way. Quit infringing on my rights "for the greater good of the collectiv".

You guys who don't like guns are just gonna have to grin and bear it. I don't like that career politicians that make a hundred K a year are millionares when they leave office. Deal with it. The Second Amendment is about private ownership of guns, even evil black ones. You're gonna have to trust me that I'm going to use it lawfully, because I'm a law abiding citizen. Its already illegal to use a gun illegally. Prosecute the laws that say that and leave me the hell alone to shoot whatever firearm I wanna shoot. Remember what happened when the Dems got all uppity about gun control? Yeah. They lost control of Congress and a Republican was put in the White House. Don't think we won't do it again. LEAVE MY GUNS ALONE. If you have any questions about what the Framers meant, read the Federalist Papers. As a matter of fact, that should be required reading. Go get a copy. You make enough money to splurge on a paperback copy.

You guys don't get the illegal immigration issue, do you? Illegals-not undocumented, ill-freakin'-legal, as in against the damn law-do not contribute tax money to the system that offsets what they take out. Go to the outback areas of California, Arizona and Texas. See the damage these people do to VOTER'S private property. Broken fences, trash clean up, wildfires, cutting of locks, and the like cost AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO VOTE hard earned money. Not tax money, money out of pocket. Illegal Aliens are a drain on America. GET THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM UNDER CONTROL!! Build the fence. If you have a mental block on this topic, get with Duncan Hunter. He gets it. He gets it to the point that he's the guy I support at this time. You want my vote? Fix illegal immigration. I know its not easy, but if it was easy everybody would run for President. I imagine you want to be President because you think you can fix things. That's something that needs fixin' big time. Get it done.

Here's the simple one: cut taxes and CUT SPENDING!!! We're gonna go bankrupt the way things are now. Forget universal health care; that's an impossible pipe dream. You guys in Washington still haven't fixed Social Security. I already expect a huge bolus of a tax increase somewhere down the road if you don't fix it. I'm not gonna see any benefits from it, and I'm throwing money down a hole now that I could be investing in my retirement. You guys HAVE to stop spending money like its Monopoly money. There's rediculous amounts of pork in the budget. You HAVE to get rid of it and get spending under control, or we're looking at another depression. The dollar is falling like a rock because Congress has spent like there's no tomorrow. That cannot continue. Want my vote? Have a plan to fix that.

I don't want to see my friends and aquaintances killed in Iraq. However, the job isn't done, and we have to stay there as long as it takes to get that job done. Pulling out now will destabilize the region, and if we're gonna be killing terrorists, I'd rather have 'em all there than here. The surge worked, despite what those encephalitic morons Pelosi and Reid have said. Let the Democratic party be invested in defeat. That doesn't mean that America has to be. Finish the job there, get Iraq back on its feet, and whack as many terrorists as it takes to get the job done. We started this thing. We have to finish it. You think the costs of being there are high? What do you think the long term costs of America looking like quitters again are? Just because some Americans have the attention span of a gnat doesn't mean all people do. Don't give us another black eye by starting something we don't finish. That would be suicidal for the country.

See? Pretty simple to get my vote. You know what you have to do now. Politically difficult? Yeah, probably. But I don't care even a little bit about how hard it might be. I care that these things get fixed and addressed properly. Other elected politicians have dropped the ball and failed to nut up and go to work. I expect that you believe you're better than they are, or you wouldn't be taking this task on. Go to work for the country.

Just in case you think I don't understand how the system works, TRUST ME when I say that I'm holding my representative- and Congress-members feet to the fire as well. You guys work together and get it done, and you'll have a good shot at being thought of in the same vein as Ronald Wilson Reagan, one of the greatest Presidents in American history. That's no accident. Learn the lessons of the Reagan Revolution.

Who Cares About Calories: It Just Makes Sense.

Here's a couple examples of epic feasting materials. Taken in moderation, its probably good for ya in some way. Taken in excess, these might kill a lesser man.
First up, the BSLT:

This started as a basic BLT. However, a sense of the grandiose caused it to become much, much more. When Makin' Bacon, one might as well cook the whole package. It just makes sense. So we had significant amounts of bacon, which means this glorious concoction has eight slices of bacon on it. If you have bacon, you might as well also cook up the sausage patties in the freezer, too. It just makes sense. A look around the kitchen yielded very large bread, in this case, 6" X 4" sourdough. While building this sammich, it was found that four sausage patties fit on the bread, and since it fit, it needed to be there. It just makes sense. So, in order to build The Overlord of Breakfist Sammiches, start with the base layer sourdough, and arrange the sausage patties thereupon. Next comes eight slices of bacon, followed by tomato and lettuce. They should be in this order to preserve the flow of color; obviously. It just makes sense. Between the lettuce and the top layer of bread one needs mayonnaise. I might consider Miracle Whip and/or Ranch Dressing as acceptable variants, but mayo really is the best option.

I was lovin' this brekfist so much I almost forgot to take a pic of it, but I at the halfway point, I came to my senses and grabbed my camera. While shooting one photo, I noticed an opportunity to create what photographers call "composition". You get a bonus cookie if you can name the movie on the big screen. It would have been better if the ashtray wasn't there, but the power 
of the image still comes through.


Next up is something I saw on the Food Network. I think the show is called "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives". The premise is that the host goes to various non-chain restaurants and checks out their signature offerings within a certain theme. That's where the Stuffed Burger comes from. I wish I could remember who's it is to give them proper credit; they deserve it. They make theirs by using the lid of an institutional sized mayo container. They line it with plastic wrap, and use it as a form. I free handed mine, which is probably how it ended up being so huge. The key is to use good quality beef; don't use the ultra fatty low end stuff or your results won't be as good.

I made a patty and formed a small depression in the middle. next I added a bit of minced garlic (of course!) and a mound of cheddar cheese. Try to keep the impression shallow so that the stuffing doesn't break 
out through the patty. Keep it in the middle, for reasons that will become obvious rather quickly.

Next another patty is formed and then added as a "cap" to the lower patty. Form the edges so that they're sealed as best you can, and throw that bad boy on a griddle or grill. Because the Real Burger King is gonna be pretty thick, go slow with the heat. You don't wanna char the outside and have the middle un-melted. Cook that bad boy to your preferred level of done-ness, and garnish to taste. This is the most tasty burger I've had, and I've had a 
lot of 'em. I'm not making burgers any other way from now on. It just makes sense.
 

Merry Christmas!

I've been in Colorado-Durango, specifically-for about 10 days now, and I'll be here till the 31st....assuming that I don't get snowed in. Its been a heck of a good time so far!

My boy Josh and our friend Matt were here last week. We did some snow mobiling(lotsa fun and the views were rediculous)and a bit of shooting. Josh's new CZ rifle shoots very small groups. I shot about 5 rounds into one ragged hole at about a hundred yards with ammo it didn't like as much. That thing is pretty sweet. Other than the aforementioned activities and a couple visits to local restaurants (not counting Sonic), I've done very little.

Of course, there's been some watching of sports and movies, and we had to do some work to put a good dent in the beer stash, but for the most part, I've spent most of the time here enjoying not doing any required reading, writing of papers, or studying for or taking of exams. I haven't been able to do that for a year, and its been great.

I have been pondering whether I need to get a Masters or not. I can probably finish that in two years, but I don't know yet how much I need it. If I have to, I'll go back, but I haven't come to that decision just yet. I'll see how the job prospects go first.

So, there's the update, and the Merry Christmas/Happy New Year wishes for the three or four readers of Haji's Place. I hope you and yours are having a great time together!

Nancy Pelosi is out of her damn mind

The worst House Speaker the nation has ever seen is running her suck again, saying of Republicans in Congress "They like this war. They want this war to continue." Yeah, that's it Speaker Pelosi. We like war. We want our people to die. Its how we secure power. Nice going, MENSA.

What the Republicans believe in is winning. You don't win by walking away before the job is done. I'd lay money that I've lost more friends and aquaintances than any of the Weak...I mean...Democrats...in Congress, and I don't want to see their sacrifice go for nothing by quitting before the job is done. You short sighted, politically motivated fools in Congress vote to go there, and then want to pull out before the job is done to make the President look bad. How you arrive at that reasoning is beyond me. Clearly you do not have the country's long term interests at heart. If this were any other country, you'd probably be up on charges for treason.

The crux of the matter, of course, comes a bit later, according to the AP article: "She expressed frustration over Republicans' ability to force majority Democrats to yield ground on taxes, spending, energy, war spending and other matters." That might be because between Pelosi and Reid, this Congress has had the lowest approval rating in the history of keeping track of such things, at about 14%.

Face it, Nance. Your leadership has been inept and ineffective. You won't be speaker for much longer, even if by some miracle the Dems keep their majority. Its time you finally packed it in and California got somebody who actually does some good for them. Of course, since you represent San Francisco, they'll just send another socialist. Maybe you can seceed SF from California and the rest of the Union, perhaps taking metro L.A. with you, and start your own little worker's paradise. It really would be the best thing that could happen to the country.

A 19 year journey

I took my last two finals today, and while I'm not sure I aced them, I did very well. Helps to study, apparently. I also dropped my transcript request today, so after 19 years, I'm finally done with school...as far as I know. I keep having this odd feeling that I'm missing something, but I know I'm not. After 19 years, having started in the fall of 1988, I've finally finished off the bachelor's degree. Haven't decided if I'm going for a Master's yet. I have a sneaking suspicion that to get where I ultimately want to be, I'm going to need one, likely an MBA. Be that as it may, I'm just stoked to finally be done with this process.

My one piece of advice is, if you have a choice, don't do it the way I did. LOL

Arthur Blank a racist!??!

Arthur Blank on Monday Night Football made the comment that if Mike Vick eats "fried chicken and french fries" in prison, he won't be in shape to come back and play foo'ball. Apparently, Arthur Blank is a racist for picking fried chicken and fries as the bad-for-you foods that Mike Vick can eat.

Hey, America! I gots news for your dumb asses! White folk like some KFC, too! I bet if you wait long enough, you could see some Crackahs, some Messicans, and some Ornamentals at KFC, gettin' a bucket and fries. This is a non-story. Leave Arthur Blank alone. He didn't do anything wrong. If this is enough to get your race baiting radar tweaked, you are a damn fool and need to get a thicker skin, and grow the hell up.

Football today: I guess this is why they play the games!

Because I'm relatively local to Nashville (Oak Grove is an hour from everywhere, but its still relatively local to Nashville), I got to watch my beloved Chargers against my adopted Titans. The best thing that can be said about that game is that it was seriously hard hitting. They were really going at it. However, for 3 quarters, and for 3 quarters of the last quarter, the Chargers couldn't do anything. The blocking for LT wasn't there, Rivers looked horrible, and nothing good was happening. Then all of a sudden, I guess they realized the game was on the line, and they mounted a couple drives with a couple defensive stands. Long story short, LT pulled off his typical amazingness and went to the house. Game over in OT, and the Chargers would have clinched their division, believe it or not, if Denver had lost. They won big, but I still think the Chargers will win their division again. Norv Turner is not off the hot seat.

New England, on the other hand, looked quite good against a Steeler team that looked good. NE got ahead, and stayed ahead, again. The Steelers, though, are gonna make some noise in the playoffs. The game was closer than the score makes it appear.

Are the Cardinals ever not gonna suck? It doesn't seem to matter who they get, who the coach is, who they're playing....it doesn't seem to matter. They lose. Year after year. I just don't understand it. Clue me in if you know why, because they seem to be much worse year after year than they should be.

Heard on the Hannity Radio Show

I like to listen to that evil, hardcore, right wing neo-con we-wanna-kill-children-and-set-the-world-on-fire talk radio at work. Yeah, I work, which is probably in stark contrast to the guy who called the Hate Hannity Hotline today. The Hotline is a toll free number that Sean Hannity put up for people who hate him to call, and the rage and vitriol is usually pretty amazing. What was even better, and more descriptive, I think, was the guy who called in and said "Hannity, you are a whore! H-O-R-E WHORE!"

Bro, you need to hate less and channel your energy into getting an education. I'd say get a dictionary, but a dictionary would appear to be of limited use to you. LOL

What an odd feeling!

A short time ago, I came to the realization that the six page, 12 source paper I just wrote (its about the flat tax, but that's kinda immaterial) is the last paper I have to write before getting my bachelor's degree. I dunno why that stuck me as it did; I suspect it was because this has been a rediculous 19 year process. Man, what an odd feeling; sort of blend of relief, exhilaration and perhaps even a touch of sadness. Or maybe its because its pretty late and I got a late start on the paper, which means a late finish. lol!

NPR.org and This I Believe

One of my assignments for the last English class (Writing II) I hope I ever have to take is to submit an essay to This I Believe, a long-running program of National Public Radio. The idea is to construct a short (350 to 500 words; a page and a half to two pages) essay that describe a core belief. There have been some celebrities that have participated, as well as mush headed teens and seasoned citizens, with everyone else in between. If you've read anything on my blog, you know I don't have much use for NPR in general, but since this was assigned, and I'm somewhat happy with the results I attained (I still ran a little over 500 words; couldn't help it), I thought I might save my essay here.

Even if its a little long-33 words over, even with editing-there's still some truth to be gleaned from it. I'd also like to encourage the couple people that read my blog to consider submitting an essay or two to NPR. It won't hurt, and it might even help. Give it a shot! At any rate, here's my essay:

                    This I Believe: America's Fighting Men and Women

I grew up thinking I understood the military, and thought I knew what it was all about. My father was a career officer, and I was an Army brat. Because my Dad was one of the most honorable, patriotic people I knew (he passed away in 1993), I thought I understood what it meant to be in the military. It took a relocating of my life to learn what I didn't know.

I was living and working in San Diego, paycheck to paycheck and generally just getting by. Through an online friend, I was offered an opportunity to go take a job in the tactical equipment industry. Besides the interest I have in the products, I was able to cut my cost of living and had an increase in pay. The store is based outside of Fort Campbell, Kentucky; home of the 101st Air Assault Division, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and the 5th Special Forces Group.

When I started, my boss, a former serviceman, told me that our customers “are the real deal heroes. Don't ever forget it”. I thought I understood what that meant. At that time, I didn't. Over time, I came to figure out what it was he was telling me. My first realization was when a soldier came in with his battle buddy in a wheelchair. He had an arm in a cast. and what looked like an Erector Set on his right leg. He obviously lost a rather sizable piece of his leg muscle in that leg. I asked him what had happened. “Got hit by a 105 mm IED”. I asked him what the prognosis was. He said it was a little too early to tell, but the doctors said he'd probably walk again. I didn't know what to say to him then; saying “thank you for your service” seemed hollow and inconsequential. What he said next really blew me away: “It don't mean nothin'; I'm still alive”. I was awed and humbled. This young man might not walk again, and he just considered it the price of doing the job.

I've had the privilege of calling many, many soldiers “friend”. They're amazingly tolerant of civilians like myself asking stupid, often personal, questions. One of my good friends, a recently retired Company First Sergeant in the 101st named Matt E., allowed me the indulgence of recounting his reasons for joining the Service. There was a time when I would have considered his reasons to be the exception rather than the rule. The more soldiers I meet, the more I realize his answer is not atypical. He said “I wanted to be the man on the wall. I wanted to be the one to stand in the breach and do the job. I didn't want someone else to be sent in my place.” The more I ask the question, the more often that is the answer.

Through their sacrifice, I've come to learn what it means to truly serve. I also understand my father better now than when he was alive. I believe in America's fighting men and women.

*Incidentally, Matt E. is the same Top that has had his words of wisdom shared here before. He's an astute, insightful individual, and I am a better man for having him as a friend.

Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims

First, a very Happy Thanksgiving to friends and family around the world. I know that a lot of my friends would rather be here, but they're doing an important job.

My Thanksgiving was devoid of turkey, which was OK with me. I grilled up about a pound of top sirloin, using the classic EVOO/Garlic sea salt/fresh ground pepper method spelled out elsewhere within my blog. Did some more salty corn, cholestertater of death, and some parmesan garlic bread. The breath was awful, but the grub was tasty!

Since I'm taking a required course on early American history, I've been reviewing what I already know about the colonies, and learning a couple new things. One thing that didn't pop out to me until recently is that the Pilgrims had to go to a capitalist system to survive. Interestingly, while the information is more or less all there in the textbook, nobody is coming out and saying it.

What you get is "Captain John Smith told the Pilgrims that if they wanted to live, they had to work". The books generally make it a point to say that they started using a communal system, with everything in a community pot, so to speak. Then the books go on to say "Lots of Pilgrims died that first winter, and then next one". Then they generally make a comment about how it was the leadership of Smith that kept them all together. That's not entirely accurate, though.

What happened was that the level of work that has always been the problem with the communal system was not sufficient to produce enough to keep them alive. We've known since we were kids that Joe isn't gonna bust his butt if Bob and his fat wife aren't going to put out at an equal level. That means that nobody does their best. Nobody excels. This was a big problem for Captain Smith, because lives were on the line. What to do?

Smith changed the entire system. He assigned private plots of land to individual families and told them that if they were gonna live, they were gonna work. That simple change made all the difference in the world. It is not to long a stretch to say that this new concept led to our system of a representative republic.

So what happened with the "everybody works their own plot" system? Some people still died, from disease, exposure, and some other factors. But the long and short of it is, the colony not only survived, but had enough grub to sell a surplus to England and Europe. That simply can't happen any other way. Socialism sounds great on the surface; everbody gets a handout. Everybody is guarranteed a salary, a retirement, and under Hillary's plan, government funded health care. But the same thing happens now as happened then: the more you move to socialism, the less efficient production becomes, and the less people put out to succeed. Once enough people quit putting out, who pays the taxes so the rest can be lazy? Its so rediculously clear that socialism doesn't work. Russia finally subcomed to its system's failure. Cuba is almost sunk. China had to incorporate capitalist priciples to stay competitive, and even they couldn't survive doing that without slave labor. The evidence of failure is all around us...but there is no Democratic candidate for President that doesn't want to run headlong to socialist programs. Do people want hand outs so badly that they will vote for their own ruin? I guess next year's election will show it.

The Real Inconvenient Truth: Gore's makin' bank

While listening to an interview of Frank Batten, founder of The Weather Channel, this morning on the Genn Beck radio show, I heard an interesting statement: Al Gore is standing to make $100 million off of An Inconvenient Crock...I mean...an Inconvenient Truth. Wow. Half that is a butt load of money. Oddly enough, I haven't heard of Algore donating any of that to environmental groups. Makes ya wonder a little, dunnit?

As this flick took off and gained popularity (read: made money), Al was all over the place promoting it. It has been said that he flew around the country in a G5 corporate jet. Its not known to be the most efficient of jets. One of the places Algore went after his guffaw-inspiring win of the Nobel Peace Prize-now forever relegated to inconsequentiality-was to a fund raiser in Arizona. The menu included such things as lobster medallions, tuna steaks, Kobe beef. If you take a look at all that, you'll notice that none of it is native to Arizona. It all had to be transported in. Additionally, in order to be worth doing, I'm sure there was a decent crowd of people there. And yet there is no outcry over all this from the left. What a surprise.

With Algore flying in and serving a completely imported menu (most of which I can't afford), he just left a carbon footprint larger than my entire family does in a year. Add to that all the jetting around the country, and his carbon footprint becomes larger than my whole family and the company that I work for. At least the company I work for contributes to eliminating terrorists.

What strikes me most is that Algore is making a pile of money. Even if he's making a tenth of what he's reported to be, that's still a metric buttload of money. So...money can be made off the global warming thing? Looks like a lot of money, too. Good thing a politician is the guy making it. If it was a private citizen, rather than a politician, you'd have to wonder if there was an integrity issue there. But as long as its a politician, then you can rest assured that he wouldn't say or do anything that might be a little shady. I mean, he's only making about a hundred million bucks on this deal. He has no vested interest in promoting the idea. It has to be true...right? Must be that he's donating all that money to environmental groups. That has to be it. He's not pocketing all that cash. That'd make it look like he's beholden to the concept to make him rich. But he's a politician! They're known for integrity and inviolable character. I mean, its not like he was VP under an impeached president. He's a rock. Yeah. Mr. Rectitude.

I'm not rolling my eyes. Why would I do that? He's a career politician.

Dang, I'm psychic!

Given that the Pelosi/Reid Congress has set an all time record low for approval rating at about 11%, I look a lot like a modern day Nostradamus with this little gem of a post. What else can I say besides....I told ya so!

The obligatory Halloween post

Thanks to school and deployments, I don't have anything else to do this evening, so I'm spending Halloween at home doing nothing in particular. Sure, I should be doing homework...but I'm not. I'm celebrating getting a 96 on my History 108 mid-term and watching the gun stuff on Outdoor Channel. At least I will be until UFC Unleashed comes on.

Since none of that has anything to do with Halloween, I guess I'll get on with my Halloween topic. Of course, since today is the day, a lot of stuff on TV tonight has to do with "spooky" stuff. Most of it isn't, but since Lugosi and Carloff movies are kinda scarce, that's just the way it is. One thing that there is in abundance, though, is programs about ghosts.

If you read my treatise on reincarnation-go ahead and read it, I'll wait-you'll come to the conclusion that the idea of a transitory spirit doesn't hold a whole lot of water with me. The accepted myth of ghosts is that they are the disembodied spirit of someone who died in a bad way. Could be through trechery, murder, accident, unusal Christmas tree mishap...whatever. The general theory is that it wasn't grandpa dying peacefully at home after a long and fruitful life. Why that matters, I don't really know...which makes sense, because you know I don't believe that myth. The "accepted" mythology of the ghost is not particularly feasible.

Now, that is not to say that I don't believe in the spiritual plane; I definitely do. The Bible makes reference to it, and the existence of God and Satan requires that there be an otherworldly place for them to occupy. Going beyond that is getting into spiritual arguments that are somewhat beyond the scope of what I'm intending to convey here, so I'll leave that as it is at this time.

People report scores of happenings that can't be explained easily. We've all heard them; they go by the name of "ghost stories", and are meant to have an etherial explanation to what cannot be explained empirically or scientifically. Let me get this out of the way: I don't believe they're lying, and I believe that many, if not most, of them believe what they experienced at a very deep level. They attribute these happenings to the unhappy spirits-ghosts-of individuals that should have moved to the Great Beyond and for whatever reason have not. I don't believe that they're ghosts. So where does that leave us? If I don't believe they're ghosts, what are they?

My theory on this has not been put forth as a common explanation: those things imputed as ghosts are not ghosts, but they are from the spiritual plane. They are demons and angels. Since most of the stories skew to the malevolent, the majority, if not all, of them are demonic.

Demons are the antithesis of angels. They are the minions of Lucifer (that Satan dude. I guess he likes a lot of names. Pretty vain), who was a fallen angel that can't get it though his head that he can't be God's equal. He was cast out of Heaven for rebelling against God, and his followers went with him. Those followers are demons in league with Beelzebub who do his bidding. That's an archaic way of saying they're his posse, and they're all a bunch of guidos that do what he tells them to. Or he does it himself. Yeah, that's possible: he's not omnicient or omnipresent. Even with his power, he can only be in one place at a time. I guess he's in good shape with all that running around.

"Why?" I hear you thinking. Well, I don't really hear it, actually. I just know that's the next logical question. That's pretty simple, really. Satan can do a lot of creepy, freaky things. As proof, I give you Hillary Clinton. Well, maybe not, but she does things that make ya wonder. Anyway! We mentioned the "why" and couldn't avoid taking a shot at the worst of the Presidential candidates. So here's the very simple "why": because Satan doesn't have to make you a follower of his to achieve his goal. In the book of Revelations, we find that da debbil loses. This is fact, and he knows it. However, since he's already invested in this particular course of action (arguing for predestination...hmmmm....) and can't stop now. Maybe he doesn't know it, but he should. At any rate, as I stated earlier, he doesn't have to make you a satanist to pull off his plan. All he's got to do is to take your eyes off of God. If he's got you thinking ghosts are real, and that the mythology is real, he's done his job.

That quiet little "boom" you heard? Yeah, that was your mind being blown. Again.

UFC 77-don't read this if you're gonna get the PPV later!

Naturally, since I was supposed to be writing a paper today, I took a break from it to watch this PPV. Overall, I was pretty happy with the fo'ty buck I spent on it; the fights were mostly good ones. There was no lightweight epic war like the last one I watched, though. That's too bad, because I like the lightweights.

What's up with Jorge Gurjel? Dominated the first round, and then just fell apart in the second and third. He took shots he shouldn't have, and got literally beaten tonight. As a BJJ black belt, he lost to a brown belt. That's no good.

Vera/Sylvia was pretty dull, but Vera just didn't do enough to stay away and use kicks. Everytime he threw a punch, it seemed like Tim was able to tie him up, force him into the fence, and just wear him down. Meh...that's got a lot to do with why heavyweights aren't my favorite weight class. Brock Lesnar got signed, though, so I guess we'll see if the hype is real or not. I'm very curious, because he's freakin' huge, and was a very decorated wrestler. Gonna be interesting.

I simply do not know what to do with Anderson Silva. The guy doesn't seem to have any significant weaknesses, and he's every part of him is a weapon. He's got KO power in both hands, both elbows, both knees, both shins and both feet. He's unbelievable. Rich Franklin has a good jaw and he's a big, tough, skilled fighter. He was almost beaten at the end of the first round, and got KO'ed in the second. As Joe Rogan said (he's a decent color guy, but he's a lousy comedian), he's at the top of his game, and like Joe, I don't know who's going to challenge him. Looks like Spider Silva's gonna have a good, long run as the title holder.

Shut Up and Sing: shoulda taken the advice

Starz is showing a lot of documentaries these days. The Warren Miller stuff is cool, even though I don't ski. I didn't realize how old he is, and he still spends a LOT of time on the slopes. That's awesome. The other stuff...at least they haven't shown Michael Moore's garbage yet.

One of those is Shut Up and Sing, which is a film about Natalie Maines' big mouth and how it affected the Dixie Chicklets and their company. The thing is, if they'd just have followed the advice in the title of the documentary, they'd have been fine. That's not what they-specifically Natalie-did, and there were issues stemming from it. The thing is, if they had any idea who their audience was at that time, they either would not have put themselves in that controversy, or they wouldn't have made the comments they did. To quote my boy Sneaky: Situational Awareness of an F'n Rock (hereafter referred to SOAFR).

In case you don't remember, at a concert in London a few years ago, Natalie Maines said "We're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas". Now, just so we're trackin' here: the 1st Amendment gives an American citizen the right to say whatever they want, short of the "yelling 'Fire!' in a crowded theater" scenario. She, as well as every other American, has the right to speak her mind, think what she wants, dissent what the government is doing, and on and on. Anyone saying that she, or any other American, doesn't have that right is at least un-patriotic and at worst anti-American. Its how the whole blogosphere exists. Its one of the reasons that America is the greatest country on earth.

The whole reason for me to write this, though, is to point out that they just don't get it. They don't understand who the country audience is, they don't understand that exercising their rights is not done in a vacuum. They just don't get it. At all. That blows me away.

Several years ago, the Chicklets were being interviewed by some network TV anchor guy. I don't remember who it was; it doesn't really matter. They were talking about success, and how the Chicklets weren't seeing the money commensurate to their sales. TV anchor guy did some quick math in his head, and said "this doesn't add up". The dumbfounded looks on the Chicklets' faces were priceless. Turns out they had to sue their record label or management (don't remember which, but they sued somebody) to get the money they were owed. So they seem to have a track record of being less aware.

Then The Comment happens. Now, when you make comments in a culture of hard work, morals, doing the right thing, and conservative politics, they need to be thought out and need to take that culture into account. That there would be a backlash would seem to be, to anybody with two halves of a brain cell to rub against eachother, obvious and inevitable. We're in what's called The Communication Age. There's just about nowhere in the world you can go that what you say won't be noticed by somebody. If those comments were made thinking that they wouldn't be noticed because they were in Europe...well...that's just stupid. They got the backlash that anyone would expect from fans of country music.

And they don't get it. Maines said "I can't believe anyone cares what I say". Here's the double edged sword of the 1st Amendment: you can say anything you want to. But if you're in a position of celebrity, you're automatically under a microscope. Because you're in the spotlight, you automatically are going to be noticed and have attention paid to you. And, because you make money selling a product to the public, you're dependent on their money, which they vote with.

They cried "Censorship!" because country radio wouldn't play their songs. Well...here's the thing. What you say has consequences. Just because no effort was put into thinking about the repercussions doesn't mean that they don't exist. Guess what? Saying things in the context of your job probably will have an effect on your job! What a surprise! Words actually matter? Who'd a thunk it? What happened to the Chicklets wasn't censorship, it was consequences. When the President was asked if what was happening to them was censorship, he said "''the Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind,'' adding, ''they shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out. You know, freedom is a two-way street.'(TMZ)
Can't put it any better than that. I guess that's the difference between a Yale graduate and somebody who allegedly went to UC Berkley and didn't finish.

This film isn't going to do them any favors. If anything, if it gets widely seen by the people who used to be their fans-who they call the source of "redneck bullsh*t" in the film-their careers really could be over.

It appears that they're trying to break from country music and do something different. The problem is, that's not what got them where they are. It rarely works to go down one road to get to gain a fan base and then take a road in a different direction. Ask TSOL. Never worked for them, and they're a good band. Ask Faith No More. They tried going in a different direction and ended the project. Same thing happened to Was Not Was, except that they had a hit that sent them in a different direction. Don Was even went so far as to say that "Walk the Dinosaur" was both the best thing that ever happened to them, and the worst at the same time. Bottom line: I'm betting the Chicklets are doing all this because its all they have left. If they're banking on the dislike for the President to be their fan base, they might wanna look at Congress's 11% approval rating. And Congress is run by the Dems now. It was a good run, Chicklets, but its pretty much all over now. Thank Natalie for not knowing who your fan base was.