Action Adventure Vacation 2008 - Post-Ike Update

This may be less interesting to some than others. The red arrow indicates where we had our lunch snack that Jenni blogged about, and I also referred to on my blog.



When we were in Galveston, this street was lined by businesses that are not there anymore. I think it's really interesting that the very building that we ate at is still there. It better puts the whole thing in perspective for me.

About Gun Control vs. Personal Responsibility

To both my readers,

As usual, I'm preaching to the choir on this one. I hope you enjoy anyway.

Imagine that you are in a room with nine other people. Of the ten people including you, nine of them are nice people. These nine are well-balanced, caring individuals that want to get along and be peaceful with each other. The tenth one is a sociopath. Number ten wants nothing more than to hurt others and generally be a jerk.

Let's imagine that there are no weapons allowed in the room. Of course, nine of you will comply and not have weapons. The tenth doesn't care what the rules are, and brings a gun in with the full knowledge that there are nine sitting ducks. It is possible that between nine of you, you could eventually overpower the tenth, albeit through some calculated bloodshed and collateral loss.

Now imagine if you will that weapons are welcome in this room - encouraged in fact. When our sociopath is in this room with nine other people who are well-armed, well-trained and well-practiced. Sure, he can bring a weapon in as well, but he has cause for concern in actually acting on his evil impulses. If he should choose to act on dark intentions, the other nine would be ready to quickly restore the peace.

If it should come to a firefight, nine responsible people would:
1) treat his or her weapon as if it were always loaded.
2) keep the weapon pointed away from each other.
3) keep his or her finger off the trigger until the perpetrator was in the sights.
4) not take the shot unless it was a clear one.

The fact of the matter is that people don't refrain from violence because it is illegal, or for fear of the repercussions. Good people refrain from violence because it is not right. Bad people don't refrain from violence because they don't care what is right or not.

Instead of a room of ten, let's put this scenario into the statistical scope of reality. According to the FBI, in the year 2007, there were an estimated 466.9 violent crimes per 100,000 people. This amounts to you being one person in a room of 214 people, of which one is an asshole. Keep in mind that this is a number on ALL violent crimes, not just gun-related violent crimes. That one person in 214 could be prone to pushing an old lady down the stairs, raping your sister, or any one of a number of atrocities including shooting another human being in cold-blood. Would you feel more or less comfortable if the other 213 were well-trained, well-practiced and well-armed?

This is why a well-armed society is a polite society. Not because everyone needs to have the threat of death hovering over their head - just the bad guys. Anyone who would consider gaining the training and practice, and arming themselves will get my encouragement and support.

Obamabomb III

In an exclusive interview with GMA, Barry had this to say:

"If we're going to ask questions about, you know, who has been promulgating negative ads that are completely unrelated to the issues at hand, I think I win that contest pretty handily," Obama said.

*In my very best BHO voice* If, umm... If we are going to, going to, you know, going to vote for this guy... ...and say that he has A Golden Tongue... Shouldn't we make sure, make sure that he can speak?

His supporters say he has "A Golden Tongue," but it's only dumbasses that seem to be still supporting him despite these flubs. Does that make his tongue pyrite?

Impeach? You've got to be kidding me!

I've been seeing bumper stickers like this for a while now. You know, I'm a firm believer that everyone is entitled to their own stupid opinion, but this is just plain dumbassity! Sentiments like this are much akin to "I'm going to sue you even if I have to take it to the Supreme Court!" Yeah - you do that, dumbass.

It's like this: Should someone go to jail because you don't like them? Let's say that your neighbor really pisses you off. You can say all kinds of nasty things about them, but what if they aren't doing anything illegal or wrong? If the cops came and hauled them off, I hope your conscience would pang just a little bit. This is exactly what these "special" drivers are suggesting we do. They are suggesting that their dislike of our President is grounds for criminal charges on him. I'm sorry, but that is beyond the scope of everyone having their own stupid opinion. To me, that viewpoint is more criminal than what they are claiming against the man.

As these thoughts were taking on their current structure, I was reminded of my wife selling bumper stickers on her blog. I thought that I might try my hand at it as well. So, to all of you who know these people, and want to help re-direct them to not look so ignorant of due process and the way checks and balances work, I submit this jewel for your approval:


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

You can simply place this bumper sticker over the top of the offending, dumbass bumper sticker that they currently have. It works great if you buy a used car that it pre-decorated in all kinds of rhetorical tripe. It's not just for political stickers, either! If you have a preowned car that you have been unable to remove the "Keep Honking: I'm Reloading" or "I Brake for Blondes" sticker from, this can be like an apologetic white-out for your car. Old bumper stickers can get stubborn, after all.

Heck, this one works on the other side of the fence as well! From poll records to current approval ratings, a little over a quarter of our country's people who voted for G. W. B. TWICE has since changed their minds about him. Do you need to cover up that embarrassing "Bush 04" sticker? No big deal. You can use my sticker to say that it was a major FAIL on your part (although I would still have to disagree with you).

Anyway, I hope that both of my readers get a good laugh out of this post. If you both buy a sticker, I'll even earn $.80!

Palin for VP

I think it's really funny how one can directly gauge how nervous the left is by how preposterous their claims get. My wife, Jennifer sent me this one. And then, my friend, Instinct posted this link in his blog. The stories have gotten so ridiculously bigger-than-life. They make her out to be a gangster the likes of which would make the Clintons green with envy. Besides all of that, when did this become a race between Obama and Palin, anyway? She won't be running for president until the 2012 election. Regardless, this is how the rational *ahem* conversation goes between a typical Republican and Democrat:

Republican: "I'm concerned with Obama's lack of experience. He was a Community Organizer for a little while, and is a brand-new senator. He hasn't headed up any significant projects. Besides that, the way he talks makes it sound like the thinks that the Federal government should run our lives. I don't really want that to happen. Sure I've heard rumors questioning his citizenship and some other things, but I'd really rather not put too much weight on that. If he gets elected, surely they will check the proper paperwork. We can't get a driver's license without at least two forms of ID. I would think that to be President he would need to produce a birth certificate at least."

Democrat: "Huh uh! Palin is the one with NO experience! What does being a mom have anything to do with anything? She should have aborted all of her babies, if she's a real progressive woman, anyways. You know that she extorted all kinds of funds from the poor people in Alaska, and that she owns slaves, and hates everyone? She's scary! HOPECHANGE!"

Republican: "Um, okay. I don't know where you are getting your information, but I might be interested in seeing some documented evidence. You are bringing up some pretty serious accusations there. Besides that, you didn't even respond to what I said..."

Democrat: (interrupting) "And one time, she melted a nun with acid that she squirted out of her eyes! I know because I read it on libtard.com!"

Republican: "Those must be some good drugs you are on there, hippie. I'm sorry, I thought we were having a rational, respectful, political conversation. But, apparently..."

Democrat: (interrupting again) "She's an alien who has come to the Earth to take over and enslave our species! And she gave birth to bat-boy! And, and, and... ...and she ate Tokyo!!!"

Republican: "Look, buddy. You obviously have no interest in discussing politics like a grown-up, and I have my mind made up on my vote due to rational thought. I guess I'll let you back to your 'Bush is eeevillll' comic books for now."

Democrat: "Bush? BUSH? BBBUUUUUUUSSSSSSHHHHH??? He's the reason why gas is so expensive! He drinks oil, and so do his friends! We're losing the war in Iraq! He's the stupidest clown in the world! He's got two brain cells and they fight! But, he's also a diabolical, evil genious! He's supporting terrorists with his...."

Of course, the Republican has to simply walk away when he terminates the interchange. Don't get me wrong. I have friends that are very intelligent who are going to vote for the Donkey for their own reasons (as much as that makes me scratch my head), and I respect them for it. But, it seems like the internet is just chocked full of these simpletons who bomb on the GOP because it's the 'cool' thing to do. If they understand that 'Hope' means 'take away your freedom' and 'Change' means 'tax the hell out of you', then I suppose they've picked the right candidate.

Cars & Money

I saw this today in a link that my wife sent to me. I have to believe that the study is oddly slanted. I just hired a carrier to haul a trailer to Oregon at $1.40/mile. He was driving an F340, Super Duty, 4x4, crew cab, long-bed dually. This study shows the average cost per mile for F-Series pickups at $2.392. What they are saying is that in order for Customer A to get enough out of the vehicle to make it worthwhile for that kind of hire, Customer B must be losing money on it like mad, in order for the average to come out to this number. Similarly, I know very well that my wife and I aren't spending $.962/mile on our Sentra when you include gas, payment, insurance, and all maintenance; and it would be in the high end of the model comparison, being the SE-R Spec-V, the hot one in the family. Furthermore, I can't see a Viper and an Avalon being nearly the same cost per mile over the course of their lifetimes. This just in: don't buy an Armada, splurge the extra 0.26% lifetime cost and get the Lamborghini. They're practically the same price in the long run!

Sarah Palin

For anyone who saw her speech at the RNC last night, all I have to say is this: YEAH!

For those of you who missed this, here's the transcript, courtesy of NPR.

Some highlights include gems like these:

While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.

That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.

I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere.

If our state wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves. When oil and gas prices went up dramatically, and filled up the state treasury, I sent a large share of that revenue back where it belonged — directly to the people of Alaska.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all.

Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more nuclear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative sources.

This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot — what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.

And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

If character is the measure in this election ... and hope the theme ... and change the goal we share, then I ask you to join our cause. Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States.

I'm not going to claim to be the first or only blogger covering this subject, but I am proud of the way this is going. Before McCain's choice of bringing Palin aboard, I was not looking forward to casting my vote. I don't like John McCain much. I dislike him far less than Obama, but it felt like the choice of the lesser danger. Mrs. Palin has changed my mind on this. I don't think I'm alone, either. Did you hear that? That was the sound of Senator Obama sweating. So, I submit for your approval: