You know, I used to think that people were just being silly about that. No, it's true. The fire ants, roaches, mosquitos, and pretty much every other form of insect life that flies, crawls, bites, or stings, is in fact, 'bigger in Texas'.
The first Texas roach I saw, I literally did not know what it was. Bloody thing was almost two inches long!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
catching up.
I've been a touch remiss about doing things with this blog, so I suppose it's time to clean the place up a bit.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
10 year old shoots his mother.
A 10 year old child with 'issues' shot and killed his mother earlier today.
The Mainstream Media is busy dancing in the blood, the bastards.
The Mainstream Media is busy dancing in the blood, the bastards.
ruminations on a move to texas.
An interesting offer fell in my lap today.
2.5 acres in Texas, 40 miles due south of San Antonio, on highway 281, with highway frontage.
350$/month and I can do whatever I damned well please. It's even outside any city limits, so zoning isnt an issue...
I'm sorely tempted.
2.5 acres in Texas, 40 miles due south of San Antonio, on highway 281, with highway frontage.
350$/month and I can do whatever I damned well please. It's even outside any city limits, so zoning isnt an issue...
I'm sorely tempted.
Monday, January 3, 2011
'A funny thing happend on the way to the forum'
So, I went to the post office today, and had an interesting encounter.
The place was quite full, and in front of me in line was an elderly woman who was struggling with packaging an X-Box for shipping (to her grandkids, if I caught it correctly.) When she got to the counter, the pleasant ( suprisingly so. ) post office clerk advised her to re-open the package, buy a couple of newspapers from out front, and pack it more securely. The Post office worker was fumbling for something to open the box with, and here's where things went weird.
Without thinking about it, I reached into my pocket and fished out my pocketknife. It's a small folder, the blade is -maybe- 2 1/2 inches long. It's a pocket knife in the traditional sense. I opened it, and held it out, resting in the palm of my open hand, handle facing twords the clerk.
She recoiled as if I'd held up a handful of shit. She was startled, and frightened. The grandmother promptly said 'thank you' and snatched it up, and cut the box open, and then handed it back to me.
I blinked a couple of times, and looked at the clerk. I smiled tentatively and said 'Ma'am, it's a pocket knife, not a rattlesnake.' The crowd laughed, I smiled at her, the clerk smiled back I put the tool back in my pocket.
But what gets me is this.
At what point did we as a culture start looking at flippin pocket knives as weapons?
The place was quite full, and in front of me in line was an elderly woman who was struggling with packaging an X-Box for shipping (to her grandkids, if I caught it correctly.) When she got to the counter, the pleasant ( suprisingly so. ) post office clerk advised her to re-open the package, buy a couple of newspapers from out front, and pack it more securely. The Post office worker was fumbling for something to open the box with, and here's where things went weird.
Without thinking about it, I reached into my pocket and fished out my pocketknife. It's a small folder, the blade is -maybe- 2 1/2 inches long. It's a pocket knife in the traditional sense. I opened it, and held it out, resting in the palm of my open hand, handle facing twords the clerk.
She recoiled as if I'd held up a handful of shit. She was startled, and frightened. The grandmother promptly said 'thank you' and snatched it up, and cut the box open, and then handed it back to me.
I blinked a couple of times, and looked at the clerk. I smiled tentatively and said 'Ma'am, it's a pocket knife, not a rattlesnake.' The crowd laughed, I smiled at her, the clerk smiled back I put the tool back in my pocket.
But what gets me is this.
At what point did we as a culture start looking at flippin pocket knives as weapons?
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thoughts on 'Rights'...
OK, I've been doing nothing with this blog for a couple of years, and just got a bug up my ass to write some things. I've been reading a lot about various people's opinions regarding 'rights', specifically in regards to the 'right' of gun ownership. I think focusing on gun ownership is poor thinking. Let's back up and look at the larger picture, first.
I posit the first 'right' as being;
1. All sapient beings have the right to defend thier existance.
In short, if you think, you are, and you have the empirical right to protect your ability to continue doing so. Clear? Reasonable?
Let's move on.
2. All sapient beings have the right to the results of their labors, and to defend said results.
If you worked for it, you should retain the right to determine how it is used. If someone else tries to take it away from you, you should have the right to use force to keep it. You earned it, they didnt. Taxes and social compacts are a more complex issue, in theory, you agree to give the money to the group, in return for reduced cost of goods and services ( roads, policemen, firetrucks, that sort of thing ).
Now, here's where it gets complicated.
3. No sapient being has the right to -initiate- force.
That's not technically a right, it's a responsibility. but you have to have it to balance out 'rule 1'.
And to clarify further, it does -not- mean you have to wait for the blow to land. If you can see a clear threat to your safety and well-being, you have a right to act on it( see rule 1). Please note that for the sake of this discussion, laws, policemen, courts, and lawyers count as 'force' as well. ( face it, if you defy the court system long enough, some fine fellow with a gun, and a bat-belt full of goodies is going to drop by, and -make- you go to court. This is called 'force'. or, in some places, 'arrest and detainment for trial' )
There's more to it, but I want to change tack for a moment. Let's talk about tools.
We have the right to use force to keep people from killing us out of hand, and we have the right to keep people from taking our stuff ( on a basic level, if I take your stuff, you're going to starve and die. I dont mean your television, I mean your grocery money, or the car you use to get to work, or the computer you use to do your job. ). How do we do that?
With only our hands, that means only the strong have rights. The weak, as history has shown, become slaves to the strong. While other people might be ok with that ( usually because they see themselves as among the strong ) I have some objections to the weaker members of my species being used as slaves and cattle.
How do we make Glenda the Grandma the equal to Charlie the steriod-munching-monster? Clearly we need some sort of force multiplying tool. Something small, light, and capable of projecting enough force to give Charlie a nice refreshing dirt-nap. Something Glenda can carry, and weild, despite being 80, and arthritic from all those mittens she's knitted for her grandchildren.
The firearm is quite possibly the finest individual tool for force multiplication known to man. ( see marko kloos 'the gun is civilization' ).
There are other tools, but nothing works as reliably, as consistantly, and as -cheaply- as the modern firearm.
feel free to discuss, comments are open, wipe your feet, dont be a dick.
I posit the first 'right' as being;
1. All sapient beings have the right to defend thier existance.
In short, if you think, you are, and you have the empirical right to protect your ability to continue doing so. Clear? Reasonable?
Let's move on.
2. All sapient beings have the right to the results of their labors, and to defend said results.
If you worked for it, you should retain the right to determine how it is used. If someone else tries to take it away from you, you should have the right to use force to keep it. You earned it, they didnt. Taxes and social compacts are a more complex issue, in theory, you agree to give the money to the group, in return for reduced cost of goods and services ( roads, policemen, firetrucks, that sort of thing ).
Now, here's where it gets complicated.
3. No sapient being has the right to -initiate- force.
That's not technically a right, it's a responsibility. but you have to have it to balance out 'rule 1'.
And to clarify further, it does -not- mean you have to wait for the blow to land. If you can see a clear threat to your safety and well-being, you have a right to act on it( see rule 1). Please note that for the sake of this discussion, laws, policemen, courts, and lawyers count as 'force' as well. ( face it, if you defy the court system long enough, some fine fellow with a gun, and a bat-belt full of goodies is going to drop by, and -make- you go to court. This is called 'force'. or, in some places, 'arrest and detainment for trial' )
There's more to it, but I want to change tack for a moment. Let's talk about tools.
We have the right to use force to keep people from killing us out of hand, and we have the right to keep people from taking our stuff ( on a basic level, if I take your stuff, you're going to starve and die. I dont mean your television, I mean your grocery money, or the car you use to get to work, or the computer you use to do your job. ). How do we do that?
With only our hands, that means only the strong have rights. The weak, as history has shown, become slaves to the strong. While other people might be ok with that ( usually because they see themselves as among the strong ) I have some objections to the weaker members of my species being used as slaves and cattle.
How do we make Glenda the Grandma the equal to Charlie the steriod-munching-monster? Clearly we need some sort of force multiplying tool. Something small, light, and capable of projecting enough force to give Charlie a nice refreshing dirt-nap. Something Glenda can carry, and weild, despite being 80, and arthritic from all those mittens she's knitted for her grandchildren.
The firearm is quite possibly the finest individual tool for force multiplication known to man. ( see marko kloos 'the gun is civilization' ).
There are other tools, but nothing works as reliably, as consistantly, and as -cheaply- as the modern firearm.
feel free to discuss, comments are open, wipe your feet, dont be a dick.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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