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Space and other oddities

Today is a watershed day both personally and for mankind.

This morning Nick and I went to the lawyer, signed a bunch of paperwork and left a large check behind to bring to an end our struggles with debt. Starting now, our money is our own and we can make decisions that will begin to construct the rest of our lives – rather than constantly trying to get ahead of the curve. This is an all round good thing, but still stressful and very guilt inducing. Very. I know this is totally a first world problem, but it’s still difficult.

For mankind, today is the end of an era of space flight. Atlantis STS-135 has taken its last flight. I’m sad that our country has abandoned space. Russia and China will step in, but I think the United States’ willingness to walk away from leadership in space travel/exploration is just one more step towards the end of the US as a global power. One more link in the chain that will lead the United States to be just another voice in a world that is ruled by China.

Overall, I’m tired. I’m tired of the stress of our personal crap and I’m tired in general.

The good news is that despite my malaise, I’ve updated my Etsy Shop with lots of new stuff and there’ll be more new stuff soon. I’ve been getting in my bead shipments, so there’s more purple and amber on the way!

Now, it’s time for lunch and perhaps a short nap. I feel like I’ve run a marathon today. Buh.

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Terrorism as a Marketing Tool, pt 2

First of all, let’s revisit my 2003 rant about GeeDuhbya and his use of terrorism as a marketing tool. Ok, caught up?

Now I invite you to change out references to Duhbya and insert Obama. Still pretty much works, right? Not the imperialism so much, but most of it still fits. I am never disappointed when it comes to politicians finding creative ways to divert attention from important issues. Gotta hand it to them, sleight of hand is their forte.

And the media. Ah, yes, the media. I used to think CNN was a reliable source of news, but after last night’s stupidity, now I put them with FOX in biased sensationalism. From their reports last night of “100% certain!” to today’s “Um, well, there is no body, but, um, he was buried AT SEA! Yah, at sea, and uh…” Yah. Sad. If that asshole CNN commentator said “Osama bin Laden is dead” once, he said it 100 times. He was practically chanting it! Wow, trying too hard? They REALLY want the public to believe this.

Good thing I’m not part of the sheeple herd CNN was clearly chanting to. :/

From the CNN site today: “There are photographs of the body with a gunshot wound to the side of the head that shows an individual who is not unrecognizable as bin Laden, the official said.” Um, what? Spin much? Here’s the ever changing article. CNN keeps revising this post – no doubt to make sure to cast as much golden glow of accomplishment onto the administration as possible.

From my Twitter feed:

WTF? “not unrecognizable”?? I call bullshit. Buried at sea? BULLSHIT. Gov’t LIES to divert attn from its ineffectiveness.

And this ALSO shows quite nicely how Obama is not above the ole shuck and jive if it behooves him. Whatever it takes to get reelected.

For all of you who preach the Gospel of Obama, I’d like each and every one you to SUCK IT. He is the lowest of the low: a politician.

I love this WikiAnswers post about Muslims being buried at sea. The answer is the BEST.

The Obama administration is creating this bullshit story – that can’t be proven, with the convenient “burial” of the body – for several reasons:

    1. to play off Duhbya’s efforts to kill bin Laden – and be “successful”
    2. to divert attention from the fact that this administration has been ineffective at dealing with, well, pretty much anything, just pick one: economy, immigration, health care, reversing the Patriot Act, foreign policies, tax reform, etc., etc.
    3. to rally the Obama Faithful and remind them that he is the messiah and ensure his reelection (which is assured IMO, since there will be no viable opponents)

The Obama Faithful will find my comments most unseemly, I’m sure. And they can all eat a bag of dicks. The fact of the matter, which I have stated from the first day of The Messiah’s reign, is that he’s first and foremost a politician. Therefore, his first and foremost goal is extending his reign. He is not above using lies, ruses, unprovable events or whatever is available to make himself look good to his flock of sheeple.

Any politician worth his salt would do the same thing. Politicians are all the same, people. They are grabbing power and money as fast as they can grab ’em. They have gone out of control and sheeple just keep on being led by whatever ruse is presented.

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE LIES.

Here is the transcript of Obama’s victory speech – complete with plenty of god references at the end. Gee, hope that doesn’t hurt anyone’s widdle feewings. Feh.

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Ah, Politics!

I’ve come to realise that pretty much across the board, young people who are raging liberals really don’t get it. They are completely unwilling and/or unable to see that entitlements and government intervention into private issues really won’t work for the long term. It never has! This is not a new idea! I’ve never been a raging liberal OR conservative, so I really don’t get the reasoning behind it.

I’m a centrist. Every single political test I’ve taken puts me smack in the middle of all the various parties. Which means, of course, I have absolutely no one representing me, ever. I’ve never been all that liberal or conservative. I’ve got liberal ideas such as free college and healthcare but conservative ideas about entitlements and civil rights and drug enforcement. Just want to get that established before I go into my frustration with 20 somethings who worship Obama and blame the problems of the world on Republicans. Continue reading “Ah, Politics!”

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Bleach your hair, change your life

OH, if it were that simple. Even though it’s not quite that powerful, I find that bleaching my hair does raise my spirits and cheer me up. Must be the chemicals seeping in!

So while I wait for the bleach to finish up, I thought I’d make a catch up post with lots of little stuff. Sort of a round up if you will.

– Heather’s moving to Vegas. Part of me is sad and part of me is jealous. The party this weekend will be fun.

– The Middle East is unraveling and all dumbass Americans can say is “Go Democracy!!”. ::shakes head:: If more Americans had a vague clue about the history of the region and OUR part in it, I think there’d be more people like me who are a) not surprised by the violence and b) VERY worried about how this will affect those countries such as ours who are totally dependent on them (the countries that are melting down now) for oil. This is SERIOUS, people. And “democracy” has nothing to do with it.

– The bullshit in WI. This comes down to the traditional debate of whether unions are beneficial or not. I fall on the NOT side of that. They artificially inflate wages and entitlements. You’ll never hear a union member offer to give up his entitlements for the sake of the company or the bigger economy. Look at the auto companies. UNIONS destroyed that industry. Yet far left hippies think that unions are the answer. Nope. Not even a little bit.

– Trek Trax was OK – what little we saw of it. We got busy around here on Sat and blew off the con but did go up Sunday to check it out. Met the Duras sisters, which was my main goal, and saw the Miss Klingon Pageant. They really need to work on the flow of that for next year. We might get a dealer’s room table next year just for fun and to support the con. It’s small enough that we might actually sell something! LOL

– We also wold love to do Furry Weekend Atlanta, but damn it’s pricey. You’ve got a cheap table ($65) but they don’t give you any passes with the tables, so you end up paying $80 for 2 passes + $65 for the table and that’s $145 for a table. Quite a bit, for such a specialized con. But we may do it anyway next year just to see how we do.

– This year will be an interesting one for our finances. We plan to have a whole new outlook by this time next year, I can promise you that.

– The Mirena is still causing light bleeding. It’s been 6 wks now, with 5 of that bleeding. ::sigh:: I NEVER get a break. NEVER. The good news is that there’s no pain, but still. What a fucking hassle.

– I’m loving this weather! 70s in Feb? Yes, please!

– Go buy something from my Etsy store – I’ve got some bracelets in there, now. It’ll help raise my spirits. Or buy a sketchcard from ThinkWeasel!.

Now, I’m off to rinse this bleach out. Tsaketa!

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TSA Response from Isakson

I wrote a pissy email to Senator Johnny Isakson about the harassment of Americans perpetrated by the TSA and I actually got a response. I don’t think it’s a form letter, but you never know with politicians. I like this response, however I doubt there’s little to be done about the TSA. Once they are unionized, they will NEVER go away and their power will only increase. Nonetheless, I like the response so here it is, complete with header:

Dear Ms. Pratt:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) security procedures. I appreciate hearing from you and appreciate the opportunity to respond.

I fly between my home in Georgia and Washington nearly every week. Having seen and experienced firsthand the new TSA procedures, I share the very strong concerns of my constituents. Specifically, I have concerns with the image produced by the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines and with the intimate nature of the physical screening.

At a recent hearing at the Senate Commerce Committee, I questioned TSA Administrator John Pistole on TSA’s policies. I asked for TSA to come back to the Commerce Committee in a classified setting and share with the committee specific intelligence they have gotten that prompted TSA to impose these radical changes to airport screenings. I believe that seeing this intelligence is important for the committee to appropriately conduct its oversight role and determine if the TSA is acting in the most appropriate manner. I am pleased that TSA has agreed to this request.

During this hearing I expressed concern with the intrusive nature of the pat downs and plan to work with my colleagues to review that process and make changes if possible. I also expressed my concern with the scanner images themselves, and asked what progress TSA has made in moving to the automated target recognition feature that eliminate the viewing room and instead use a cartoon stick figure on the machine itself, visible to the passenger. Administrator Pistole said they are in the process of testing that technology and hope to roll out it out in airports in a matter of months. I also admonished the TSA for not implementing a system to provide expedited access to sterile areas for flight crews, also known as CrewPASS. I was pleased that, shortly after my line of questioning at the hearing, TSA announced it was moving forward with CrewPASS. I expressed my concern that the Department of Homeland Security and TSA have not done a good enough job of explaining the meaning and intent of its aviation security regulations and policies to the traveling public, or to its field representatives who are charged with enforcing them. I believe that TSA consistently fails to communicate these changes, especially when doing so could speed up the process and give travelers an idea of what to expect. I also asked for, and received, clarification that children under the age of 12 are not subject to pat downs. As a grandfather of nine, most of whom are under the age of 6, I was disappointed to see that TSA then reversed course on that policy, and that children under the age of 12 are now subjected to a modified pat down. I am working with my colleagues to address this issue.

I recognize that security is a balancing act, and that we must balance the free flow of commerce and freedom of movement with security in the post 9/11 world. I was disappointed that Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Napolitano said that “if people want to travel by some other means” they have that right, and when she implied that air travel is not a right. I do not think her comments reflect an understanding of the necessity of air travel and its importance to our nation’s economy.

I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure the TSA implements appropriate passenger screening that manages risk to the specific threats and uses intelligence information to apply greater scrutiny to those who need it, not using a one-size-fits-all approach to security and screening everybody the same way.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov/ for more information on the issues important to you and to sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator