This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Zero Ponsdorf

  • Collateral estoppel

    Can’t claim to fully understand the term, but I heard it on Law and Order.

    At a minimum it IS one of those words or phrases that is fun to say. Not unlike “Oglethorpe”. Kinda feels good to verbalize.

    In context it suggests that we have judged the OWS hippies lacking in many ways, and it IS hard to NOT keep doing more of the same.

    Taking them lightly is arguably fraught with danger.

    To paraphrase my earlier statement for emphasis: A herd made up of a couple of hundred enthusiastic clowns can trample you if they stampede.

    We can make fun of some gangster holding a weapon in an improper grip… so long as it’s not being pointed at us.

    This ‘movement’ looks silly, granted, but…

    I do hate to pee on the parade, so YMMV.

  • In Honor of the VVAW

    I didn’t see any heavy ground combat, and didn’t earn any heavy duty medals… But I do like a good sea story. They begin “This ain’t no shit…”

  • Poor Roland…

    BTW, I do love the Thompson… Easily one the simplest automatic weapons ever created.

  • Useful Idiots

    I’ve made a fairly earnest effort to understand ANY point the OWS folks are trying to make. One of the oldest rules of warfare is “Know Your Enemy” after all. Simply pointing and laughing, although fun, is a dangerous tactic once the numbers reach a sort of critical mass. A herd made up of a couple of hundred clowns can trample you if they stampede.

    It’s rather obvious that one faction is using The Saul Alinsky Playbook, and some others are anarchists. However, the vast majority are simply useful idiots. Although I’m loathe to cite WND for anything more than Chuck Norris articles there IS a good precis on that subject by Ellis Washington over there.

    One analogy might be a gay man supporting the Islamists Arab Spring movement.

    But… I’m thinking martyrdom, or cannon fodder. NB, I am NOT using hyperbole when I suggest that the leaders of OWS will be seeking REAL violence. Something well beyond Kent State, in fact.

    So I’ve come to pity most of the OWS crowd.

    ETA: Perhaps I’ve communicated poorly? By saying “well beyond Kent State” I’m referring to a major earthquake. Think martial law type stuff. One governor has already joked(?) about calling off elections. YMMV

  • Luddites Unite!

    BlackBerry outages spread to North America

    BlackBerry users across the world were exasperated Wednesday as an outage of email, messaging and Internet services on the phones spread to the U.S. and Canada and stretched into the third day for Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.

    For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
     For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
     For want of a horse the rider was lost.
     For want of a rider the battle was lost.
     For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
     And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

    Gotta wonder what this will do to the various Occupiers?

    If we’re lucky it’ll bring government to a standstill?

    Hmm…

  • Rats With Antlers or…

    Bow (deer) season is underway here.

    Aside from a few poacher/road hunter types deer season is a pretty orderly affair here in West Virginia.

    The deer eat my apples, corn, flowers, etc. I eat them. Seems a fair trade?

    Deer cost billions in property damage to automobiles alone each year, but there still limits to what hunters can legally kill (harvest for the squeamish).

    PETA and their ilk decry even these rather modest efforts. Save for one curious case:

    Slaughter on the Island: Highjacking the Flag of Conservation

    Nestled in the Pacific Ocean approximately 30 miles from the mainland of Santa Barbara sits a beautiful island where majestic Roosevelt elk and Kaibab mule deer roam free. Ferried across a treacherous channel, these grand species were brought to Santa Rosa Island some 80 years ago, but their days are officially numbered. A complete slaughter of these magnificent animals is scheduled to occur before the midnight tide rises on Dec. 31, 2011. Sharpshooters will be en route to the island soon to comply with a 1996 court settlement and 2007 legislation that reinstated the extermination order.

    The 83-square-mile island was privately owned for more than a century before being sold to the National Park Service in 1986 for $30 million. Used as a cattle and sheep ranch for much of its modern history, overgrazing disrupted the balance of the island`s ecosystem. The 1996 lawsuit settlement required the removal of all cattle, sheep and feral hogs from the island, followed by a phased reduction of elk and mule deer to culminate at the end of 2011 with complete extermination.

    As this is a government-mandated animal slaughter, you may ask where the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have been in the process. They have been curiously absent, giving us a clear picture of their definition of “conservation.”

    I don’t hunt much myself any more, got a friend who loves freezing his ass off and/or getting soaking wet who does, and I get as much meat as I want. Still I can recognize bull shit when I see it.

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  • TAH Theme Song?

    I suspect Jonn is tone-deaf, but…

    Some time back I proposed:

    I’m thinking this one:

    I’m a bit more than curious. Shouldn’t there a bit of music that is our background?

    Jonn Added: If we have to have a theme song, it’d be this one;
    (more…)

  • It Is Happening AGAIN!

    Every year here it happens. I’m convinced it’s a conspiracy, but I am paranoid!

    My trees are changing color…

    Thought about posting pix, but in this day and age they might be fake? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a Photo-Shopped pix.

    I don’t know what to do… The colors are kinda nice, shucks we get tourists.

    And every year it gets colder in a month or two as well?

    Global Climate Change weenies are  screwing with me, I think. If THAT ain’t a conspiracy then what is?

    ETA: Thanks TD:

    I do wish that video made me feel better?