What could go wrong?

Seriously, what could go wrong?

As the ad says, bacteria is everywhere. All kinds. And I mean all kinds. So… let’s grow a nice, healthy pile of ‘em at home, kids! After all… what could happen?

** I want you all to know that I went looking for some bacterial infection pictures to add to this post. It isn’t that I didn’t find them. Oh, no. I found them, all right, I just couldn’t bear to add them, even just as thumbnails. Some things… ugh. Just, ugh. If you want to find them, here’s the Google Search. I suggest you take along a vomit bucket. NSFA (not safe for ANYTHING)

On Animal Testing

Animals – with great certainty, mammals like cats, dogs, monkeys, pigs and so on – are conscious, feeling beings. Only the least intelligent human, or one completely unfamiliar with the company of animals, can argue otherwise with a straight face. Animals use language, tools and create domiciles; they express emotion, they will sacrifice themselves for their offspring, and they can learn.

They, in many ways similar to human babies, are unable, for lack of sophistication, to consent to risk taking. They don’t have the potential to turn into the kind of advanced being a human baby does; nonetheless, they do think, they do feel, they do suffer. As any human with any reasonable degree of insight can tell you, imposed suffering without any degree of understanding why leads directly to even more suffering and deeper fear. Therefore, it is wholly unethical to subject them to risk (or certainty) of suffering via coercion; further, it is selfish and cowardly to do so for the benefit of yourself or those you value.

Bicycle Helmets – feh

You can pad yourself until the world can’t hurt you no matter what happens, but the compromise is you lose some sense of the world with every layer you put between you and it. I’d rather feel the wind in my hair.

With regard to insurance companies, they should simply adjust rates and coverage until the bottom line reflects the actuarial reality.

With regard to law, the government should never be telling the citizens how to dress, what precautions they must take when pursuing any particular activity, or trying to justify the forgoing by implementing programs of any kind. If the government is aware that certain types of behavior present specific risks, then they have exactly one acceptable tool available: education. Which I do encourage them to use.

Looking for some good TV?

Broadcast television is, in my opinion, kind of like the badlands of North Dakota. Occasionally pretty to look at, absolutely treacherous to wander around in, and the source of nothing of concrete value whatsoever.

Having said that, I have found the following efforts, uniformly produced by non-broadcast concerns, to be well worth the watching. In no particular order:

• The Sopranos
• Firefly (sadly, an incomplete series)
• Weeds
• Dexter
• The Daily Show
• Six Feet Under
• Enterprise

That’s pretty much it. Just thought I’d drop this as heads-up for anyone who wasn’t aware of one or more of those shows; I’ve really enjoyed them, and so has Deb.

AGW “Denialist”? What?

Personally, I have no problem with the observation that the earth is, figuratively speaking, moving along a graph of temperature. This is the normal course of events. This will continue. The changes are minor, and slow, as always. We will, as long as we are residents unable to leave, have to deal with them. Our presence is certainly not without consequence, and the (probably totally swamped by other effects, such as precipitation) output of considerable CO2 lately is one of them.

Let’s talk Commerce Clause

One of the higher profile judicial injuries done to the constitution is the Supreme Court’s commerce clause scam. The commerce clause of the US constitution simply says that congress is authorized the power to regulate interstate commerce. Interstate means between the states. It’s always meant that.

But the Supreme Court has trashed the actual meaning and replaced it with the following: They now have the power to regulate any commerce, anywhere, including when it transpires entirely within a single state, on the premise that something could be used for interstate commerce.

Here’s what they mean by that, and why the commerce clause is now 100% applied as authority to use power to regulate “intrastate commerce”, the exact opposite of the constitution’s intent.

The Sotomayor Nightmare

The role of our constitution has been eroded to an already frightening degree by decades of congressional and judicial malfeasance. The 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th amendments have all been roundly scorned; the commerce clause outright inverted; the ex post facto directives ignored; and the article 3 authorization to judge constitutional issues perverted into a de facto power to amend.

Now comes Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, a judge with a history of outright constitutional bewilderment. If she is confirmed, as seems likely, there can be no doubt that the injuries to the basis for our constitutional republic will accelerate. Just look at her history:

Excellent Scrabble™ Variation

Do you like Scrabble? Can’t get enough? Try this simple, yet compelling variation.

To play, add these rules:

Public Wifi is Dying

Wired asks, Why isn’t wireless available everywhere?

In a public business I’m involved with, we used to provide free wifi. The cost to do so was low, the risk to our properly isolated network was minimal and our customers really appreciated it – no question about it.

Initially, it seemed like a great idea. A really great idea. And as long as you kept your eyes on the ground and didn’t look too hard at what was going on around you, it kept looking good.

SWL tips for the Yaesu FT-2000

The FT-2000 is a superb radio, one of its key features being a general-coverage receiver suitable for shortwave listening.

Unfortunately, just “out of the box”, it isn’t really set up to make this convenient. Following are some suggestions or tips that make the radio a lot more enjoyable to use for SWL purposes.