I'm Offended!

New layout

2009-07-27T19:23:00.002-04:00

I have a new template for the blog now. It will stretch the body of the text out so when I put up videos it's not overlaying the text in the column to the right of it.

Kentucky Homeowner Shoots Would-be Thief

2009-07-24T22:22:00.000-04:00

The amusing part is his accomplices were saying that he was looking to rent it... at one in the morning... wearing a mask and gloves.

Skateboard Beat Down!

2009-07-24T21:58:00.001-04:00

Some people just deserve an ass kicking.

Is this thing on?

2009-07-24T17:11:00.001-04:00

I haven't posted shit in a good long time on here. I have Facebook and post everything to there so maybe I'll cross post to both. Hmm....

-- Post From My iPhone

At last! (or Finally I Get My Stupid Ass Tased)

2008-02-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

Great Song

2007-12-14T21:54:00.000-05:00

The Hand-Job Protest Song - Watch more free videos

Which Doctor Are You (Another Gay Little Quiz)

2007-09-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

Which Doctor (from Doctor Who) Are You?

You are the eighth Doctor! Friendly and warm, you are the most human of all the Doctors. Your sense of style is a bit old-fashioned. You have a bit of trouble figuring out exactly who you are at first, but no worries. Eventually you'll find your way.
Take this quiz!

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| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS By Lt.Col. Grossman from "On Combat"

2007-07-04T12:21:00.004-04:00

When I started this blog I had a hard time thinking up a catchy byline to add to my profile so this (semi-regular) blog of mine wouldn't look so blank. After numerous revisions I stuck with 'Warrior. Scholar. Servant'. I was asked by a friend 'Why did you put Servant?' I didn't know how to answer his simple question so I just shrugged and said 'Because I am.'

This is what I'm about.

_______________________________________________

ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS

This essay, by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman, former West Point psychology professor and retired Army Ranger, was sent by the wife of a retired Marine. She notes, "I've met many Marines in the past 25 years, all the same type: Strong, compassionate, patriotic, brave. Many of our non-military friends say they can't understand why Marines are the way they are. I thought the following article shed a bit of light on these brave men."

Warrior Ethos

"Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?" - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy, November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.
Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there that will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf."

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, which is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."

Until the wolf shows up! Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- From sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

"Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"

"There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men." - Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize; especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in ?Fear Less,? his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.

If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself... "Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

Why Do I Do These Stupid Quizzes?

2007-06-23T06:45:00.000-04:00

You scored as Harry Potter, You can be a little reckless and hot-headed at times, but a more brave and courageous friend would be hard to find.

Harry Potter

80%

Hermione Granger

75%

Ginny Weasley

75%

Remus Lupin

65%

Severus Snape

65%

Albus Dumbledore

65%

Sirius Black

55%

Ron Weasley

50%

Lord Voldemort

20%

Draco Malfoy

15%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

Gun Grabber's Ignorance Is Bliss (or I Believe It's A Shoulder Thing That Goes Up)

2007-04-25T07:05:00.000-04:00

Does this women even have the right to make laws if she doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about? Brrr... and she's ugly as sin too.

The Moral Is...

2007-04-15T18:47:00.000-04:00

I saw this one on the M&P Pistol Forums...

A 5th grade teacher was trying to teach her students about stories with morals.
Each student had to come to class with a story from their family that had a moral.

The teacher asked, “who wants to go first?” Little Jenny raised her hand and walked to the front of the class.

“Our family raises chickens for eggs. So I went out to the barn last year to collect eggs for market. I gathered all the eggs, and put them in a basket. While we were driving to market, the basket fell off my lap and a lot of the eggs broke.”

The teacher said, “very good Jenny; and what is the moral?”

Jenny said, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

The teacher said, “who’s next?” Little Susie raised her hand and walked to the front of the class.

“Our family raises chickens for meat. So a few months ago we had 23 eggs. I thought we would soon have 23 baby chickens; but 4 of the eggs didn’t hatch. We only had 19 baby chickens.”

The teacher said, “very good Susie; and what is the moral?”

Susie said, “don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

The teacher went through the whole class until only one kid hadn’t gone yet.

The teacher said, “I guess that leaves you Johnny.” Little Johnny walked to the front of the class.

“My uncle Bob was a fighter pilot in Vietnam. He was shot down over enemy territory. Before he left his plane he grabbed an M-16, a machete, and a bottle of Jack Daniels. As he was parachuting down, he got bored. So he drank the bottle of Jack Daniels.”

“When my uncle landed, he was in the middle of 100 enemy troops. He killed the first 60 with his M-16 until he ran out of bullets. He killed the next 30 with his machete until the blade broke. And he killed the last 10 with his bare hands.”

The teacher said, “Oh my gosh, Johnny! That’s a horrible story. What could possibly be the moral to that story?”

Johnny said, “Don’t Fuck with uncle Bob when he’s been drinking!”

Todd Jarrett IPSC Pistol Grip Lesson

2006-12-14T20:21:00.000-05:00


A lesson from 1996 IPSC World Champion Todd Jarrett on how to properly hold a handgun from the 2004 Shootout at Blackwater. This and other videos available on DVD at http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/blackwater/

Too funny and probably true...

2006-03-27T17:56:00.000-05:00

Hilary Clinton goes to a primary school in Ithaca, New York, to talk about the world. After her talk she offers question time. One little boy puts Up his hand, and the Senator asks him what his name is.

"Kenneth", replied the little boy.
"And what is your question, Kenneth?"

"I have three questions:
1. Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
2. Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
3. Whatever happened to all those things you took when you left the White House?"

Just then the bell rings for recess. Hilary Clinton informs the kiddies that they will continue after recess.

When they resume Hilary says "OK, where were we? Oh, that's right, question time. Who has a question?"
A different little boy puts his hand up. Hilary points him out & asks him what his name is.

"My name is Larry." "And what is your question, Larry?"
"I have 5 questions:
1. Whatever happened to your medical health care plan?
2. Why would you run for President after your husband shamed the office?
3. Whatever happened to all those things you took when you left the White House?"
4. Why did the recess bell go off 20 minutes early?
5. What happened to Kenneth?"

Lifesavers!

2006-03-12T09:44:00.000-05:00

A teacher was doing a study testing the senses of first graders, using a bowl of lifesavers.

The children began to say:

"Red..........................cherry,"

"Yellow.....................lemon,"

"Green.......................lime,"

"Orange.....................orange,"

Finally the teacher gave them all honey lifesavers.

After eating them, none of the children could identify the taste.

"Well," the teacher said, "I'll give you all a clue, it's what your mother may sometimes call your father."

One little girl looked up in horror, spit her lifesaver out and yelled:

"Oh My God!!!! They're assholes!"

Scary, Scary, Scary (And YES this did happen)

2005-12-10T10:57:00.000-05:00

Give Me Stem Cells!

2005-09-29T08:08:00.000-04:00

Very interesting article from WorldNetDaily.com

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Adult stem cells restore
feeling in paraplegic
Apparent major breakthrough
with patient paralyzed 19 years

Posted: September 28, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

In an apparent major breakthrough, scientists in Korea report using umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal-cord injury patient.

The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cythotherapy, centered on a woman had been a paraplegic 19 years due to an accident.

After an infusion of umbilical cord blood stem cells, stunning results were recorded:

"The patient could move her hips and feel her hip skin on day 15 after transplantation. On day 25 after transplantation her feet responded to stimulation."

Umbilical cord cells are considered "adult stem cells," in contrast to embryonic stem cells, which have raised ethical concerns because a human embryo must be destroyed in order to harvest them.

The report said motor activity was noticed on day 7, and she was able to maintain an upright position on day 13. Fifteen days after surgery, she began to elevate both lower legs about one centimeter.

The study's abstract says not only did the patient regain feeling, but 41 days after stem cell transplantation, testing "also showed regeneration of the spinal cord at the injured cite" and below it.

The scientists conclude the transplantation "could be a good treatment method" for paraplegic patients.

Bioethics specialist Wesley J. Smith, writing in Lifesite.com, expressed enthusiasm about the apparent breakthrough, but also urged caution.

"We have to be cautious," said Smith, a senior fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute and a special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture. "One patient does not a treatment make."

The authors of the study note, writes Smith, that the lamenectomy the patient received might have offered some benefit.

"But still, this is a wonderful story that offers tremendous hope for paralyzed patients," he said.

The fact that the patient has a very old injury, Smith added, makes the results even more dramatic.

Smith said he has known about the study for some time, "but because I didn't want to be guilty of the same hyping that is so often engaged in by some therapeutic cloning proponents, I waited until it was published in a peer reviewed journal."

Like most breakthroughs using adult stem cells, this one has been completely ignored by the U.S. mainstream media, Smith pointed out.

"Can you imagine the headlines if the cells used had been embryonic?" he asked.

Thinking about it gives me chills - B

Yeah! What He Says! (A Katrina Article)

2005-09-21T00:34:00.000-04:00

Assigning blame
Charles Krauthammer

September 9, 2005 From Town Hall.com

WASHINGTON -- In less enlightened times, there was no catastrophe independent of human agency. When the plague or some other natural disaster struck, witches were burned, Jews were massacred and all felt better (except the witches and Jews).

A few centuries later, our progressive thinkers have progressed not an inch. No fall of a sparrow on this planet is not attributed to sin and human perfidy. The three current favorites are: (1) global warming, (2) the war in Iraq and (3) tax cuts. Katrina hits and the unholy trinity is immediately invoked to damn sinner-in-chief George W. Bush.

This kind of stupidity merits no attention whatsoever, but I'll give it a paragraph. There is no relationship between global warming and the frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes. Period. The problem with the evacuation of New Orleans is not that National Guardsmen in Iraq could not get to New Orleans, but that National Guardsmen in Louisiana did not get to New Orleans. As for the Bush tax cuts, administration budget requests for New Orleans flood control during the five Bush years exceed that of the five preceding Clinton years. The notion that the allegedly missing revenues would have been spent wisely by Congress, targeted precisely to the levees of New Orleans, and reconstruction would have been completed in time, is a threefold fallacy. The argument ends when you realize that, as The Washington Post notes, ``the levees that failed were already completed projects."

Let's be clear. The author of this calamity was, first and foremost, Nature (or if you prefer, Nature's God). The suffering was augmented, aided and abetted in descending order of culpability by the following:

1. The mayor of New Orleans. He knows the city. He knows the danger. He knows that during Hurricane Georges in 1998, the use of the Superdome was a disaster and fully two-thirds of the residents never got out of the city. Nothing was done. He declared a mandatory evacuation only 24 hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. He did not even declare a voluntary evacuation until the day before that, at 5 p.m. At that time, he explained that he needed to study his legal authority to call a mandatory evacuation and was hesitating to do so lest the city be sued by hotels and other businesses.

2. The Louisiana governor. It's her job to call up the National Guard and get it to where it has to go. Where the Guard was in the first few days is a mystery. Indeed, she issued an authorization for the National Guard to commandeer school buses to evacuate people on Wednesday afternoon -- more than two days after the hurricane hit and after much of the fleet had already drowned in its parking lots.

3. The head of FEMA. Late, slow and in way over his head. On Thursday he says on national television that he didn't even know there were people in the Convention Center, when anybody watching television could see them there destitute and desperate. Maybe in his vast bureaucracy he can assign three 20-year-olds to watch cable news and give him updates every hour on what in hell is going on.

4. The president. Late, slow and simply out of tune with the urgency and magnitude of the disaster. The second he heard that the levees had been breached in New Orleans, he should have canceled his schedule and addressed the country on national television to mobilize it both emotionally and physically to assist in the disaster. His flyover on the way to Washington was the worst possible symbolism. And his Friday visit was so tone-deaf and politically disastrous that he had to fly back three days later.

5. Congress. Now as always playing holier-than-thou. Perhaps it might ask itself who created the Department of Homeland Security in the first place. The congressional response to all crises is the same -- rearrange the bureaucratic boxes, but be sure to add one extra layer. The last four years of DHS have been spent principally on bureaucratic reorganization (and real estate) instead of, say, a workable plan for as predictable a disaster as a Gulf Coast hurricane.

6. The American people. They have made it impossible for any politician to make any responsible energy policy over the last 30 years -- but that is a column for another day. Now is not the time for constructive suggestions. Now is the time for blame, recriminations and sheer astonishment. Mayor Nagin has announced that, as bodies are still being found and as a public health catastrophe descends upon the city, he is sending 60 percent of his cops on city funds for a little R&R, mostly to Vegas hotels. Asked if it was appropriate to party in these circumstances, he responded: ``New Orleans is a party town. Get over it.''

sigh There Goes My Faith In The Human Race Again or 'Why I Never Donate. Ever'

2005-09-18T20:27:00.000-04:00

It's amazing how the people of this country can unite during times of great disaster. Of course 9/11 was a big one and that ended up being ruined by United Way because they 'had enough money donated from the 9/11 telethon' and they decide in their infinite wisdom to give some of that money to 'performing arts'. Anyway...

Now with Hurricane Katrina the $2000 debit cards being handed out by the Red Cross and FEMA are being used at Victoria's Secret and strip bars. How much of a scumbag do you have to be to rip off needy people? And if you are a legitament recipient of one of these cards, what the fuck are you thinking? Do you think you're going to spend it and then hold your hand out for another one? Oh yeah... that's how it will probably work. Some whiny Democrat will start maoning about how Bush is doing such a shitty job... well that's happened already. Anyway my gripe is Liberals like to throw money at a problem hoping it will go away. If it doesn't, raise taxes and throw some more at it.

I learned a very important lesson when I was a young man. My father took me to a Yankee's game and while we were on the outskirts of the ball park among a throng of people, dirty water dog vendors and the usual group of people selling their wares a young latino aproached my father. He was probably about 11 or 12 with these big puppy dog eyes and asked in a pleading voice 'Please sir, I am very hungry and I haven't eaten. May I please have some money for food'. Sometimes as kids you really can't appreciate what adults are about. That day I found out my father was no sucker. He looked at the kid and pointed to the hot dog vendor and said 'Let's go, I'll buy you a hotdog'. The look on this this little shit's face was classic, he looked stupified, stuttered for a second and half mumbled '...uh... no thanks' and walked away. Walked away to some couple who, you guessed, gave him money. Right around the time this kid was mumbling his reply to my father the light bulb went off in my head. This little fucker is full of shit! As I watched him walk away I started to get really pissed off and I wanted to go over there and kick his ass! My father calmed me down and I wondered how anyone can be such a conniving little douche bag (I thought that, I said something a little less vulgar). He just sighed, shrugged his shoulders and said 'There will always be people like him'. My father sensed something fishy and he reacted in the right way. If the kid was really hungry he would have taken the hot dog and I'm sure my father would have given him some cash after. I guess he was a sucker for certain kids, how do you think I ended up getting away with what I did? Rest easy Pops.

What I do to donate is volunteer my time. I'll do phone work or computer work for people for free or whatever else they need help with. Of course I've been burned too many times to give away my stuff or cash. Here's some of my favorites;

One time I was strapped for cash and a friend offered to buy my shotgun off of me for $100. He said it will be there waiting for me when I had the money. Well when I had the money a short time later I found out he sold it to someone else for $200. That pissed me off. Done.

Another time I was doing hours and hours of free computer work for this guys nit picky commie wife. Nothing I did to her computer was ever good enough or some minor little silly detail wasn't just right. He would tell me that I had to come over his house that night and work on his wife's computer until it was right. My response was 'no' and I am never going to work on your computer again'. And I haven't. Done.

Friends of mine went on vacation for two weeks and asked me to house sit for them so they didn't have to pay to put their dog and two cats in a kennel. They lived about 25 miles from where I lived and it added another 50 miles to my daily ride to and from work. I also had to leave work immediately so I could get back and let the poor dog out to go to the bathroom. I did this for two weeks so I brought my Mac, satellite radio and some laundry over. They came home while I was at work (and never called to tell me they were home), and when I got there my stuff was unplugged and in a pile on the dining room table. OK whatever. I wanted to spend some time with his kids but his wife said 'you can't stay'. Basically it was 'we have no more need of you get the fuck out'. Very rarely in my life do I genuinely get mad enough to do another person violence but I had to leave or I would have. Done, pay the money for a fucking kennel.

Another favorite was helping another friend put in a walk way. I spent a week of my vacation time digging, pulling up roots, and lugging bricks and bags of sand and stone around. I've wired his home network for him as well as 'given' him a 5 port switch that he never paid me for. I tried to get him to paint some little metal miniatures for me (and he's really good at it because he does it all the time) and I would buy them from his store. He refused to do it and I heard him saying (to someone else) how I'm lazy because I didn't want to paint them. He recently moved his computer to the other side of the room and it's expected that I rewire it. Sorry, I'm too lazy. Done, no more freebies.

And that is why I don't donate anymore.

C#/.NET not cross platform? What A Shocker! (That's sarcasm folks)

2005-09-18T06:56:00.000-04:00

This is an email that I sent out to a friend of mine who is an A #1 Microsoft Fanboy.

Before we continue I want to explain .NET and C#. C# is the programming language (like Java) created by Microsoft and .NET is the framework (like the Java Runtime Environment) used to run the code. You write something in C# and it should run on any .NET compatible framework. What MS does is use Windows specific code (ex. windows.forms) to write their apps so it's only available to Windows. The Mono project is trying to implement a .NET compatible framework for alternative OS' (Linux, Mac as well as Windows) so that code will work. Without any support from Microsoft to port the framework to other OS' how cross platform can it be? Exactly, they don't want it to be. They want to hide behind the fact that it's a 'standard' and 'everyone' can use it. This is typical MS FUD.

Here's the Email;
Microsoft has absolutely no intention what so ever to make '.NET' a standard. If they did they would allow the Mono Developers into their little conference. I said from the beginning that MS is only creating .NET so they could take out Java, which has a true cross platform framework. Microsoft releases the bare minimum needed to get a standard created and then uses proprietary code for Windows (can you say 'windows.forms'?). I'm sure you won't believe this email or make some excuse for why they did it, but come on for cryin' out loud open your eyes! No more C# for me. I'll copy and paste the article since you probably won't read this anyway..

Here's the article;
Microsoft 'bars' Mono from conference

Ingrid Marson in Los Angeles, 16 September 2005
uk.builder.com

But are Microsoft developers even interested in developing .NET applications for Linux?
Mono project founder Miguel de Icaza claims that Microsoft prevented the open source project from holding a meeting at the company's Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles.

Microsoft states on its conference Web site that its 'Birds of a Feather' sessions are proposed and voted on by the community. But the Mono BOF was never listed for voting and therefore received no votes, despite the submission being confirmed, according to De Icaza's blog.

The Mono project develops software that allows .NET client applications to be run on various operating systems including Microsoft, Linux and Mac OS X. As Mono is a competitor to Microsoft's .NET implementation, de Icaza said it may make the software giant "nervous".

A Microsoft spokesperson said on Thursday: "Microsoft received hundreds of requests for Birds of a Feather sessions and unfortunately it was not able to accommodate all requests. Mono is just one example of the level of excitement within the developer community around .NET."

As the Mono team were not able to hold such a session, the developers arranged a meeting at hotel near the PDC conference centre on Tuesday and handed out flyers to conference attendees to inform them about the event.
Although various developers that Builder UK spoke to on Wednesday had heard of Mono, the majority were not interested in having .NET development tools available for alternative platforms, such as Linux.

PDC attendee Mike Roberts said Microsoft's customers are unlikely to switch from Visual Studio to the open source project. "There are two types of businesses — the ones that buy into Microsoft and those that don't. The people who bought into the Microsoft world probably won't switch to Mono. The other people — those using Java or LAMP might do, though," said Roberts.

Windows Vista Beta 2 Videos

2005-09-17T22:23:00.000-04:00

shows off Windows Vista's graphics engine. Notice how hovering over the minimized windows in the taskbar will bring up a thumbnail view of the window.

read more | digg story

I LOVE The Japanese

2005-09-11T16:41:00.000-04:00

They are some funny little bastards! Here's a view from an elevator 'security camera'. Funny shit...

P.S. This is my first post from my Linux box and it's running better than I thought it ever would.

Microsoft Owns The 'Double Click'... No really...

2005-09-11T13:12:00.000-04:00

It's amazing at what the US Patent Office will give out a patent for. Of course then again looking at how government handles anything these days (Katrina) it doesn't surprise me too much. Read the article.

I'm patenting the 'Twice Click', similiar to a 'Double Click' only you don't have to sell you soul to a crappy software making company who's idea of innovation is renaming 'index.html' to 'default.htm'.

Honesty Is The Best Policy

2005-09-05T10:15:00.000-04:00

Hey, I'd give this guy 5 bucks...

Some More Jokes From The Inbox™

2005-09-05T09:39:00.000-04:00

From Shabba Dabba Doo

CATHOLIC DOG

Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company. One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest and asked, "Father, me dog is dead. Could ya' be saying' a mass for the poor creature?"

Father Patrick replied, "I'm afraid not; we cannot have services for an animal in the church. But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there's no tellin' what they believe. Maybe they'll do something for the creature."

Muldoon said, "I'll go right away Father. Do ya' think $5,000 is enough to donate to them for the service?"

Father Patrick exclaimed, "Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus! Why didn't ya tell me the dog was Catholic?
_______________________________

DONATION

Father O'Malley answers the phone "Hello, is this Father O'Malley?"

"It is" "This is the IRS. Can you help us?"

"I can"

"Do you know a Ted Houlihan?"

"I do"

"Is he a member of your congregation?"

"He is"

"Did he donate $10,000 to the church?"

"He will".
_______________________________

CONFESSION

An elderly man walks into a confessional. The following conversation ensues: "I am 92 years old, have a wonderful wife of 70 years, many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Yesterday, I picked up two college girls, hitchhiking. We went to a motel, where I had sex with each of them three times."

Priest: "Are you sorry for your sins?"

Man: "What sins?"

Priest: "What kind of a Catholic are you?"

Man: "I'm Jewish."

Priest: "Why are you telling me all this?"

Man: "I'm telling everybody."
_______________________________

BROTHEL TRIP

An elderly man goes into a brothel and tells the madam he would

like a young girl for the night. Surprised, she looks at the ancient

man and asks how old he is. "I'm 90 years old," he says.

"90!" replies the woman.

"Don't you realize you've had it?"

"Oh, sorry," says the old man. "How much do I owe you?"
_______________________________

SENILITY

An elderly man went to his doctor and said, "Doc, I think I'm getting senile. Several times lately, I have forgotten to zip up." "That's not senility," replied the doctor. "Senility is when you forget to zip down."
_______________________________

PESTCONTROL

A woman was having a passionate affair with an inspector from a pest-control company. One afternoon they were carrying on in the bedroom together when her husband arrived home unexpectedly.

"Quick," said the woman to her lover," into the closet!" and she pushed him in the closet, stark naked.

The husband, however, became suspicious and after a search of the bedroom discovered the man in the closet. "Who are you?" he asked him.

"I'm an inspector from Bugs-B-Gone," said the exterminator.

"What are you doing in there?" the husband asked.

"I'm investigating a complaint about an infestation of moths," the man replied.

"And where are your clothes?" asked the husband.

The man looked down at himself and said,... "Those little bastards!"

Rag Heads

2005-09-04T19:04:00.000-04:00

Another one From The Inbox™

Recently I received a warning about the use of this politically incorrect term, so please note, we all need to be more sensitive in our choice of words.

I have been informed the Islamic terrorists, who hate our guts and want to kill us, do not like to be called "Rag Heads", since the item they wear ontheir heads is not actually a rag, but in fact, a small folded sheet.

Therefore, from this point forward, please refer to them as "Little Sheet Heads."

Thank you for your support and compliance on this delicate matter.

From Psycho Don