We Have A Severe Lack Of Space "Facilities"
Will somebody tell me what the heck is going on over at NASA, otherwise known as the National Aeronautic and Space Administration?
First, nearly half of the "probes" that have been launched toward Mars in the past forty years have not made it, then they tell us that it's going to take until the year 2015 to get back to the moon on President Bush's mandate, and finally now we find out that the restroom on the so called "International Space Station" is a one hole'er.
That's right my fellow taxpaying ladies and gentlemen, we're sending a couple of guys and gals up into space to live for months at a time and to be visited every now and then by a Shuttle full of visitors, and all they have is a single toilet to handle nature's urges when the time comes.
What ever happened to having a back up system?
Is this the way we want our scientists and engineers handling things?
And another thing...why is it taking us seven or eight more years to get back to the moon, when we did it in less time back in the 1960's with a bunch of guys wearing pocket protectors and using slide rules to solve the formulas.
Is it a BUDGET PROBLEM?
Why don't we all pass the collection plate and make a donation to NASA to pay for a second toilet on the space station?
All I ask is that we just keep Congress out of the process, else they'll add some kind of resolution on Iraq and funds to build a new outhouse in every town in every state in the Union.
All I know is that it's a good thing I'm too old to be an astronaut and go to the Space Station, because after a pot of coffee and a few bran muffins in the morning I'm afraid that the entire crew would have to abandon ship when I opened the bathroom door and the fumes burned out the computer system and warped the Dilithium Crystals.
On second thought, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that....
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Join Me In Belching Some Carbon
Urrrrrrrpppppppp
I was wandering around the Internet this morning and was quite pleased to find out that I am no longer alone in my TOTAL DISDAIN for the global warming guilt trip currently gripping much of our planet.
The folks over at Grassfire.org are planning a "Carbon Belch Day" where they want people to waste as much energy as possible on June 12 by "hosting a barbecue, going for a drive, watching television, leaving a few lights on, or even smoking a few cigars."
I'd like to add burning a few old tires, having a bonfire, or leaving your gas guzzler idling in the driveway all day to that list, as I wrote in "My Personal Earth Day" back on Earth Day on April 22.
Time to go take a nice long water and energy wasting shower and go do some engineering now...
I was wandering around the Internet this morning and was quite pleased to find out that I am no longer alone in my TOTAL DISDAIN for the global warming guilt trip currently gripping much of our planet.
The folks over at Grassfire.org are planning a "Carbon Belch Day" where they want people to waste as much energy as possible on June 12 by "hosting a barbecue, going for a drive, watching television, leaving a few lights on, or even smoking a few cigars."
I'd like to add burning a few old tires, having a bonfire, or leaving your gas guzzler idling in the driveway all day to that list, as I wrote in "My Personal Earth Day" back on Earth Day on April 22.
Time to go take a nice long water and energy wasting shower and go do some engineering now...
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Aren't You Glad We All Have Government?
Busy Protecting Ourselves From Ourselves...
This morning, for your reading enjoyment, I offer this story about a woman in England who has been told by her local officials that she needs A LIFEGUARD AND SPECIAL INSURANCE for her toddler's 2' deep wading pool:
PORTSMOUTH, England, May 27 (UPI) -- A Portsmouth, England, grandmother says her local government has ordered her to have a lifeguard on duty for the 2-foot-deep wading pool she put in her yard.
Lourdes Maxwell said she has been putting the small pool out in her yard at the start of summer for more than 20 years for her children, grandchildren and neighborhood kids to play in, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
However, she said the city council issued a health and safety edict ordering her to empty the pool after she wrote the council to seek permission for a larger pool outside her house. Maxwell said she contacted her member of Parliament, who convinced the city to allow Maxwell to keep the pool, provided she pays for insurance and has lifeguards watching the pool at all times.
"I asked around for insurance and they just laughed at me. No one offers insurance for paddling pools," Maxwell said. "I'm always there to supervise but they're trying to tell me I need lifeguards for a kiddies' pool as well -- it's crazy."
I'll save the blithering and let you make up your own mind here because I'm fairly certain my regular readers know where I stand on this kind of bureaucratic crappola, other than to say that you can expect this kind of "nanny state" mentality to continue to creep into your life while you're busy working to pay for your house, kids, and cars.
Next we have this story which strikes a little closer to home here in Tennessee about a rare bottle collector that had his million dollar collection of Jack Daniels bottles (full of Jack) stolen by the Government:
NASHVILLE - Prosecutors and defense attorneys are negotiating to settle the case of a Nashville-area man indicted on charges of illegally possessing up to $1 million worth of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
Randy Piper, 47, of Goodlettsville is free on $25,000 bond and is due in court in Lynchburg on Aug. 12 to have a trial date set.
But District Attorney General Charles Crawford and Raymond Fraley Jr., Piper's attorney, both said they are optimistic the case can be resolved.
Piper was indicted in Moore County last January after state liquor officials seized 2,400 bottles in October following a tip that someone was selling alcohol without a license. They raided two warehouses owned by Piper and a home in Lynchburg, the small town about 65 miles southeast of Nashville where the famous Tennessee sipping whiskey is distilled
...
Piper, a plumber, has said he's a collector of Jack Daniel's bottles, and Fraley has said his client was singled out for selling one bottle for approximately $350 and charged with illegally possessing the others.
"It's unfortunate it got this far for one bottle of whiskey," Fraley said. "They took his entire collection when there are collectors around Moore County (Lynchburg) who possess a lot of bottles of whiskey."
...
ABC officials have said the value of the seized liquor has possibly been driven up by the value of the antique bottles, which range from 3 liters to half-pints.
One seized bottle dates to 1914, with its seal unbroken. ABC agents have estimated its value at about $10,000.
Piper and his attorney have claimed that Piper was selling collectible bottles, not whiskey.
...
"The ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Commission) and my office have tried to coordinate what Mr. Piper should get back and what should be destroyed or put in a museum," Crawford said.
Can you believe this CRAP?
The government of the by-God State of Tennessee has gone out and taken a citizen's property, paid for over a lifetime with his hard earned after tax dollars, and is in the process of "collecting" the "illegal bottles" from their rightful owner considering placing them in a museum...while at the same time hiding behind "bootlegging laws" and preventing the owner of the bottles from enjoying the profit from their sale.
Either they are collectors items or they are illegal alcohol...they can't have it both ways, I believe.
If the bottles contained urine samples, ketchup, or "Dr. Rogers Funky Foot Remedy" and somehow there was a collectors market for the sealed containers everything would be hunky dorry, but because it's Tennessee's most famous liquor, produced in a county of the state where it is still illegal to sell alcohol on a retail basis in the year 2008, this poor guy has been arrested, sent to jail, and forced to post bond to gain his freedom.
Are YOU happy with the governments of the world spending YOUR tax dollars protecting you from women with unguarded, uninsured wading pools and vendors of antique liver killing fluids?
Or wouldn't you rather just go back to the idea of the government promoting your right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and let the individual decide the meaning of same?
That will be all...for now...
This morning, for your reading enjoyment, I offer this story about a woman in England who has been told by her local officials that she needs A LIFEGUARD AND SPECIAL INSURANCE for her toddler's 2' deep wading pool:
PORTSMOUTH, England, May 27 (UPI) -- A Portsmouth, England, grandmother says her local government has ordered her to have a lifeguard on duty for the 2-foot-deep wading pool she put in her yard.
Lourdes Maxwell said she has been putting the small pool out in her yard at the start of summer for more than 20 years for her children, grandchildren and neighborhood kids to play in, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
However, she said the city council issued a health and safety edict ordering her to empty the pool after she wrote the council to seek permission for a larger pool outside her house. Maxwell said she contacted her member of Parliament, who convinced the city to allow Maxwell to keep the pool, provided she pays for insurance and has lifeguards watching the pool at all times.
"I asked around for insurance and they just laughed at me. No one offers insurance for paddling pools," Maxwell said. "I'm always there to supervise but they're trying to tell me I need lifeguards for a kiddies' pool as well -- it's crazy."
I'll save the blithering and let you make up your own mind here because I'm fairly certain my regular readers know where I stand on this kind of bureaucratic crappola, other than to say that you can expect this kind of "nanny state" mentality to continue to creep into your life while you're busy working to pay for your house, kids, and cars.
Next we have this story which strikes a little closer to home here in Tennessee about a rare bottle collector that had his million dollar collection of Jack Daniels bottles (full of Jack) stolen by the Government:
NASHVILLE - Prosecutors and defense attorneys are negotiating to settle the case of a Nashville-area man indicted on charges of illegally possessing up to $1 million worth of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
Randy Piper, 47, of Goodlettsville is free on $25,000 bond and is due in court in Lynchburg on Aug. 12 to have a trial date set.
But District Attorney General Charles Crawford and Raymond Fraley Jr., Piper's attorney, both said they are optimistic the case can be resolved.
Piper was indicted in Moore County last January after state liquor officials seized 2,400 bottles in October following a tip that someone was selling alcohol without a license. They raided two warehouses owned by Piper and a home in Lynchburg, the small town about 65 miles southeast of Nashville where the famous Tennessee sipping whiskey is distilled
...
Piper, a plumber, has said he's a collector of Jack Daniel's bottles, and Fraley has said his client was singled out for selling one bottle for approximately $350 and charged with illegally possessing the others.
"It's unfortunate it got this far for one bottle of whiskey," Fraley said. "They took his entire collection when there are collectors around Moore County (Lynchburg) who possess a lot of bottles of whiskey."
...
ABC officials have said the value of the seized liquor has possibly been driven up by the value of the antique bottles, which range from 3 liters to half-pints.
One seized bottle dates to 1914, with its seal unbroken. ABC agents have estimated its value at about $10,000.
Piper and his attorney have claimed that Piper was selling collectible bottles, not whiskey.
...
"The ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Commission) and my office have tried to coordinate what Mr. Piper should get back and what should be destroyed or put in a museum," Crawford said.
Can you believe this CRAP?
The government of the by-God State of Tennessee has gone out and taken a citizen's property, paid for over a lifetime with his hard earned after tax dollars, and is in the process of "collecting" the "illegal bottles" from their rightful owner considering placing them in a museum...while at the same time hiding behind "bootlegging laws" and preventing the owner of the bottles from enjoying the profit from their sale.
Either they are collectors items or they are illegal alcohol...they can't have it both ways, I believe.
If the bottles contained urine samples, ketchup, or "Dr. Rogers Funky Foot Remedy" and somehow there was a collectors market for the sealed containers everything would be hunky dorry, but because it's Tennessee's most famous liquor, produced in a county of the state where it is still illegal to sell alcohol on a retail basis in the year 2008, this poor guy has been arrested, sent to jail, and forced to post bond to gain his freedom.
Are YOU happy with the governments of the world spending YOUR tax dollars protecting you from women with unguarded, uninsured wading pools and vendors of antique liver killing fluids?
Or wouldn't you rather just go back to the idea of the government promoting your right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and let the individual decide the meaning of same?
That will be all...for now...
Monday, May 26, 2008
Quote O' The Day
Listen Up...
"A slip of a foot you may soon recover, but a slip of a tongue you may never get over."
"At 20 years of age the will reigns, at 30 the wit, at 40 the judgment."
"Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none. "
"God heals, and the doctor takes the fees. "
Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
And finally...this gem:
"As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything."
George Carlin (1937- )
"A slip of a foot you may soon recover, but a slip of a tongue you may never get over."
"At 20 years of age the will reigns, at 30 the wit, at 40 the judgment."
"Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none. "
"God heals, and the doctor takes the fees. "
Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
And finally...this gem:
"As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything."
George Carlin (1937- )
Sunday, May 25, 2008
New Book
Look At What I'm Bidding On On E-Bay...
Yes, that's a 1957 first printing edition of Ayn Rand's epic "Atlas Shrugged"...all 1,100 plus pages worth.
Why don't you go buy yourself a copy and loan it to a couple of your favoritefascist, socialist liberal friends to read before this November's election.
Yes, that's a 1957 first printing edition of Ayn Rand's epic "Atlas Shrugged"...all 1,100 plus pages worth.
Why don't you go buy yourself a copy and loan it to a couple of your favorite
I AM Not THAT Old
Am I?
So we went out and saw some grown man & woman get married yesterday.
Upon arrival at the church I thought that I knew and had gone to school with the Bride's parents, but clearly I was mistaken as I cannot be old enough to have a daughter her age.
Then we went and stuffed ourselves with food and drink at the reception, and I saw all of these people that went to College with us in Atlanta and they were all grey headed middle aged men.
There I stood with my ever greying, ever balding pony tailed adorned skull, scratching various body parts and wondering what had happened.
I finally cleared my mind by understanding that Bill & Beth's family had been living in an alternate universe in North Carolina, sponsored by scientists at Duke University, causing time to pass more quickly than the speed the clock clicked down in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida in the years since we first met in 1977.
Then I thought..."But wait, it's 2008, and Curt was born when...1985?"
So SHE IS 23, and...
I AM THAT OLD.
Excuse me while I schedule my hair system transplant and go join a health club...
So we went out and saw some grown man & woman get married yesterday.
Upon arrival at the church I thought that I knew and had gone to school with the Bride's parents, but clearly I was mistaken as I cannot be old enough to have a daughter her age.
Then we went and stuffed ourselves with food and drink at the reception, and I saw all of these people that went to College with us in Atlanta and they were all grey headed middle aged men.
There I stood with my ever greying, ever balding pony tailed adorned skull, scratching various body parts and wondering what had happened.
I finally cleared my mind by understanding that Bill & Beth's family had been living in an alternate universe in North Carolina, sponsored by scientists at Duke University, causing time to pass more quickly than the speed the clock clicked down in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida in the years since we first met in 1977.
Then I thought..."But wait, it's 2008, and Curt was born when...1985?"
So SHE IS 23, and...
I AM THAT OLD.
Excuse me while I schedule my hair system transplant and go join a health club...
