Cranky-D

It’s the 31st annaversary, or was a day or two ago, of Roe v Wade. Read this and weep.

I’ve been reluctantly pro-choice for a long time. The linked article moved me quite a bit further from that position. Not off that position completely, but further off it, if you get my meaning.

I think Roe v Wade is bad law. I think the decision should’ve been left up to the states, since there is nothing in the constitution supporting the decision, IMO. The Constitution should only be viewed as addressing what the government can do, not what the government cannot do. These days, the interpretation is just the opposite.

More later, maybe. I’m not in the mood to expound. Still kinda sick, but not at death’s door any more.

Any trolls I attract, if indeed I can manage to do so, will be deleted and banned.

A post by Tanya made me start thinking. Of course, being a busy-body, I am very very interested in what dumb thing she did. However, I think I understand her reasons for not sharing. The internet if full of assholes who will pound you mercilessly if you let them.

Anyway, I thought of something really dumb I did many many years ago. I think I was 17. I know my first car, a 1965 Mustang, was painted 1957 Dodge Truck Orange at the time. There was slim possibility of fatalaties, but there you are.

I am used to dealing with cars that are, shall we say, difficult. That car had a weak battery which was really only good enough to crank the car over the first or maybe second time. After that, nada. This was in Southern California, so no real weather had any effect. The fact that someone actually stole that battery later was kind of funny. Anyway, the car has (it’s still in the family, 23 years later) a manual transmission. I was trying to start it one day, so I took it out of gear and cranked it over. Understand, these old cars do not have any interlock keeping you from starting the car unless the clutch is depressed. In the olden days, you were expected to know what the fuck you were doing when driving.

So, I took it out of gear and cranked it over. Nothing. So, I decided to go get a wrench to take the battery terminal off so I could clean them, thus getting a better connection which should’ve resulted in a starting condition. So, off to the garage to get a crescent wrench.

Well, I neglected to put it back in gear. Note (foreshadowing) that my parent’s house was on a gentle slope. When I got back to the car, it was not there. It was rolling down the street, backwards. I ran and caught up to the car, jumped inside, and applied the brakes. No damage to any other cars, no damage to the car in question. I got really lucky.

I have never told this story of stupidity, but it has never happened again. I always turned the tires to the curb after that.

Well, this post would be way too long if I included everything. So, I will just include one topic. And that is the Iraq war.

As a warning, I’m under the influence again. It’s late, 3:23 a.m. right now, before editing. I’ve been watching re-runs of the inaugeral (sp?) coverage. And the crap I heard provided the impetus for this post. Plus, I’ve been feeling like uber shit since this morning. I have a deep cough in the lungs which may very well be a precursor to pneumonia. However, I’ve been drinking lots of fluids other than Jamison and I should survive just fine. I went out and bought food just in case, including some comfort food in little party keesh (phonetic spelling) cups. Nummy. I have my very first microwave right now, at 40 years old. But that’s another post.

What I believe is, liberals would not accept the war under any circumstances. They often go after the lack of WMDs, and say that the lack of WMDs means the war should never have occurred. I disagree. The war was about a lot more than WMDs. It was a mistake to sell the war using WMDs, but there you are. To me, and to other Jacksonians, the war was about getting Iraq on track towards a government which is not as dangerous to U.S. security.

So, they can sort of accept Afghanistan because it’s a relative success and because there is still the war in Iraq to bitch about. Without Iraq, I think the lefties would still be bitching about Afghanistan.

See, I think the WMD angle is an excuse for the liberals. I truly believe that even if WMD stockpiles had been found all over the place (they’re in Syria, in case you didn’t know, we gave them way too much time to move them) the libs would still object to the war on some other ground.

So what do I want? I want the left to be honest. I want the hypocrisy to stop. I want them to admit that they cannot conceive of going to war unless the enemies are invading us (they are, but whatever) in an obvious manner. I want them to admit that every war is another Viet Nam (two words, people). I want them to admit that they believe war is the absolute last resort no matter what, to only be applied when the enemies are killing us in the streets.

I want this because it is a position I could respect, sort of. I don’t support it in the slightest, but at least it’s honest. I’m sick of the dishonesty.

Yeah, the supposed right (they are not in power now no matter what you might think) are guilty of prevarication, but to my mind, not nearly as much as the left. But I’m severely biased.

Remember, I am a pundit of sorts, but until my manifesto is posted, just let me tell you this: I am not interested in converting anyone to my point of view, I am here to preach to the converted.

To sum up, the left would not accept this war under any circumstances. If they would just admit that and move on from that, I would have a lot more respect for them. It’s one thing to base your opinion on a lie, and another to base it on deeply held beliefs. I can respect deeply held beliefs.

Okay, I doubt I have anything resembling an audience at this point, but I think I should say something.

First of all, posting a manifesto and FAQ requires that I edit and upload files via FTP plus edit my template. I’m lazy on that point, even though it’s very easy for an uber-geek like me. Let me just say, PhD in computer science, okay? I said I was a major geek. I’ll get to it eventually. But right now, I feel like laying a bit of it out there for you, whoever is reading this. And that is not the extent of my education.

I support the second amendment. Religously. As in, the founders were clear in what it meant, and so am I, which is, “The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. No argument is either acknowleded nor accepted in any form. Any law or statement against this position is subject to scrutiny if not outright ridicule.

Dissent is not necessarily patriotic. I will give you that it is exercising your first amendment rights, but beyond that, I have no comment. If you’re a commie/socialist, I will call you out on that. I will not support any laws which restrict your conduct, but I will not reject any public outcry against your stupidity. Read the constitution again if you don’t understand my position.

Chances are, if you lay a “liberal” position in my face, I will laugh at you. That may alienate me from my perceived audience, but that’s the way it goes. I was raised to express my own opinions, and I do just that.

Also, I strive to remain anonymous. Please respect that position. If you truly know who I am, I would appreciate it if you would keep that to yourself. I will ban IPs that out me here. I will delete or modify comments in that vein. I went through the trouble of using an anonymous URL provider. I imagine there are ways around that. Please respect my privacy. I only maintain it so I can have the option open of getting a job in defense. If you met me in person, you would get the full brunt of he who is me without qualification. I’m not afraid of expressing my opinion, I’m afraid of the repurcussions. I think most of you can understand that.

You know what? Yeah, I don’t give a damn, that’s what.

So, people are talking smack about the U.S. not responding to the tsunami crisis. My ass. We sent a fucking carrier group to help out. No other country on this increasingly smaller planet can do what we do. And people bitch that we aren’t doing enough.

They can all kiss my ass and all the asses of every citizen of the U.S. The U.S. is the only hope of salvation for all the whining classes. We are there to make sure everyone gets the food, the medical aid, etc. For all the bitching all over the place, including the useless U.N., the U.S. is the shit. We are the only country that can project anything resembling some kind of help on the whole planet. Every other country has set their abilities aside in favor of our abilities. That’s why they have a minor margin in capital (though nothing that’s significant except to liberals/commies (let’s just call a spade a spade here, okay?)). Yeah, asides are a weak point, but I’m posting under the influence here, so give me a break.

The U.S. always takes care of business. And the rest of the world bitches about it. Screw them all. I wish Bush hadn’t given the UN any legitamacy in this latest disaster. The UN deserves nothing from us at all. I wish we’d kick their sorry asses out of the country and use the land for something that would generate some income. They can all meet in Brussels instead.

Let me add this. A serious challenge to relocating the UN would be met by a massive oppostion. Because the delegates would not want to give up the advantages this wonderful country offers. They continue to support their host country’s oppressionistic tactics while paying lip service to converting to a modern system of government. Most of them deserve a cap in the skull, but someone else just as duplicitous would replace them before the blood stains on the carpet dried up.

But if I were ever President, perish the thought, the UN would be kicked out of here toot sweet. That is one of the thousands of reason I will never be elected president of this country. The not the least reason is that I have a tendency to tell the truth.

I saw some braggart at the dead pool saying he has a direct link to satan, blah blah blah, and how his picks will bury the rest of us. One of his picks is John Madden.

I have news for you, neighbor. John Madden is already long since dead.

John Madden died many years ago. Upon his death, the NFL contacted Disney and had an animatronic John Madden made to replace the biological one. Don’t believe me? Note how John Madden never flies. That’s because he cannot pass through a metal detector without setting it off. Note how while he left for a while to join Fox sports, a diversion if I ever saw one, he is back with ABC, which is owned by the Disney corporation. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

His bus is really a mobile repair center. The technology just isn’t there for a decent android yet, so repairs are frequent. And of course, once per year, they have to remove copious amounts of Turducken from his robotic stomach. They have a separate recycling center for the tremendous amount of alcohol John Madden must consume to avoid raising any suspicion that he is not the real John Madden.

For his on-air performances, the system is fairly simple. If you squeeze his right hand, you get long rambling commentaries which have no actual point, but fill in dead air space quite handily. An example of this might be, “Well, this player grew up in the south, raised by his grandmother because his mother had to work all the time and wasn’t married and he never knew his father, so his high school football coach became a father figure to him and saw the potential in that young man and worked with him on a daily basis so that he could become the player that he is today. There are a lot of stories like that in the NFL, and I could tell you a million of them…” and so on and on and on. If you squeeze his left hand, you get short statements of the obvious. Example: “What they’ve got to do is, the quarterback has to throw the ball, and the receiver has to catch it and gain some yardage. That’s how you score points in the NFL.” They were going to have a way to select for insightful commentary, but they ran out of hands.

So, this selection is an exercise in futility. John Madden is long dead, and the animatronic John Madden, the most popular and probably most disliked commentator in the NFL, will live on forever.

Note: this entry also appeared at the dead pool

Well, with the start of the new year, the dead pool is up and running. I can hardly wait for my first score.

My picks show little imagination. I was more interested in participating in the fun than in any attempt at actually winning the competition. In fact, I have no doubt that I will not win. You need many unique and prescient picks to pull that off. My picks are fairly boring. Anyway, here they are:

Just cuz they’re old:

• Pope John Paul II–I have absolutely nothing against this guy, he is just really really old and in poor health. G-d will be calling him home soon, and I wanted to at least get a few points
• Henry Kissinger–Again, I picked him because he’s old, no other reason
• Gerald Ford–My final “he’s just damn old” pick

They’re self-destructive mucho points generators:

• Courtney Love–There is some doubt in my mind if she is actually living any more. She may, in fact, have died long ago and is being kept in a zombie state through drugs
• Scott Weiland–Lead singer with Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, this guy does so much heroin even Keith Richards is impressed. He is supposed to be clean now, according to a VH-1 special on VR, but I doubt that will stick
• Anna Nichole Smith–We all love her, and her yo-yo body weight and drug/alcohol abuse are certainly taking their toll on her. Will she overdose on booze or chocolate? Maybe both
• 50 cent–How many times has this guy been shot? I think it’s nine. And he still gang-bangs

Wishful thinking, as in I want them dead:

• Jimmy Carter–Would this guy just shut up and die already? Seriously. He’d make a great dead president
• Jacques Chirac–The leader of the cheese-eating surrender monkeys deserves to make his appearance in hell soonest
• Ted Kennedy–He’s probably dead already, but pickled
• Dan Rather–When I picked him, he seemed more relevant that he does now
• Kofi Annan–This guy is one of the most well-known criminals in the world. However, he might end up getting replaced by an even more well-known criminal, Bill Clinton
• Fidel Castro–The Cubans could really use a break. We should’ve executed this bastard a long time ago and taken over the island
• Michael Moore–It’s surprising someone this large can still live so long. The world doesn’t need any more of his partisan “documentaries” since too many people believe that this guy actually tells the truth
• Helen Thomas–A figurehead for all that is wrong with the dinosaur media

Yeah, most of my picks are in the wishful thinking category. If you cannot use this list to lay a curse on people, what good is it?

Well, no one reads this site. I can’t say that I blame them. Or at least, no one bothers to comment on anything. Feel free to tell me something. At this point, notes that say I suck major ass would be welcome. Sort of.

So, I’m watching a marathon of this reality show where band members are trying to get a place on Ozzfest. It’s 3:51 a.m. right now according to the clock on my computer. And I keep thinking, hey, I could do that. As in, I could compete on that show. I have talent, as far as songwriting goes. Not that I can prove it to anyone right now, since I have not recorded any of my songs. But I also know I couldn’t compete on that show, because I am just too damn old to do so. Those are kids, and they act like kids, especially the guys who all act like stupid kids. They posture and bluster like fools.

Not that I’m beyond that kind of thing. I just got back from Southern California. I guess I was an ass. However, I don’t think anything I did was wrong, really. My last night at home for Christmas, I had two different people cause trouble. And I stepped up, because that was what I was supposed to do.

All incidents took place in the local bar in which my father and I hang out whenever I go back home. The first involved this guy who acts like a jerk at times. I do not like him. Before this happened, I told my father that if I happen to die soon, he should cremate me and throw my ashes in this guy’s face. Also note that a few days before this happened, he was bothering my father, and my father told him to, paraphrased, “Get the fuck away from me. Leave me alone and we’ll be fine. That’s all I want you to do.” Heavily paraphrased, but that encompasses the gist of what my father said to this guy. This guy has a tendency to take my father’s hat off and put it on his own head, knead my father’s shoulders, and kiss my father on the cheek. My father does not like any of this behavior, and neither do I.

So, this guy tried it again. And I told him, emphatically, paraphrased, to “Stop what you’re doing. Leave him alone. My father does not like that kind of thing.” This delivered in a very firm voice. He apologized. It did not matter. He shook my hand and played the hand-squeezing game that guys sometimes play. I do not have a strong grip, so I quit and asked that he stop what he was doing. The man in question is long and lean, missing one eye, and on disability for some reason I do not know. He is much taller than I, but thinner. I am 5′ 10″ and currently 230 lbs. I have been told that I cut a somewhat intimidating figure, but I don’t feel that way so I cannot verify that opinion. In any case, he backed off which is exactly what I wanted him to do. I don’t want to make special trips back home to take care of guys like this. But I will, if you know what I mean. This way, everyone understands the score. A friend of my father’s congratulated me on my actions. I did what I had to do. I really don’t care if someone gets in my face, as long as they don’t carry it too far. But no one gets in either my father’s face or any of my friend’s faces. My father is not young, and my friends are not violent or even particularly agressive people. I am not violent, but I will not put up with certain behavior.

Unfortunately, there was yet another incident that night. Some guy neither my father nor I know bought us both beers. Nice of him. But later, he decided that his generousity gave him license to talk our ears off. My father and I both tried to send him on his way with nice words, but it didn’t work. Eventually this guy said something insulting to my father, to the effect that, “hey, you’re not part of this conversation,” again paraphrased since alcohol was involved. I told him, “No one speaks to my father that way,” and suggested various places he could remove himself to, all of which were away from us. It took him a while to get the point, and he left. Later, the first guy showed up again and tried to buy my father and I beer. We turned it down. Me, because you cannot buy forgiveness. I don’t know my father’s reason.

Later, the second guy, very much in his cups, showed up again and tried to strike up a conversation. I ran him off, or tried to, but my father, wisely, involved the bartender in the dispute, and she ran the guy out of the bar. It’s always smart to involve the employees in this sort of thing, as long as you know they’re on your side.

Totally as an aside, I got reamed by a local bouncer once. I was in one of my favorite local bars, and some people decided to take a non-liking to myself and my best friend. The biggest one threw popcorn at my friend’s back, and made references to me as being “Santa Claus,” apparently because of my gray beard. I immediately called him out on his whole schtick, but the bouncer, apparently not realizing I have been a patron for at least 7 years, took the other guy’s side. I was very pissed, but apparently our server for the evening informed the bouncer after closing that I was a good guy who never causes trouble (and I don’t) because ever since that time, this particular bouncer has always said hello to me.

I’m not sure of the point to this post. I doubt anyone is reading it, or will read it. But I guess the idea is that if you’re a man, there are certain things you must do to be a man. And, there are certain codes of conduct you must adhere to if you’re a man. More on this later, especially on the growing trend of young men to not understand the code they must adhere to, and how that could endanger them in the eyes of men like me. Men who know the code of honor, and expect everyone to adhere to that code.