Category Archives: Musings

From this morning’s fishwrapper. So, a guy (who just happens to be agnostic) got arrested for DUI in Perrysburg. His blood alcohol level was .297, or about three times the legal limit. The judge gave him a choice: join Alcoholics Anonymous or spend 30 days in jail. Now the Ohio ACLUis suing because they claim that the perp was unconstitutionally forced to choose between a “faith-based” treatment program and going to jail.
Now, this is so wrong I don’t even know where to begin.

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Some bloggers have been known to opine that only blogs feature good writing. I present this as a counterexample in the humor category.

So, Brandt is wondering about Ohio’s concealed-weapons bill. He wants to know when the shootouts start. Ha ha.
When I was considering moving here, I was disturbed by the fact that Ohio doesn’t allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons. This seems like a fundamental right to me, but then I grew up with guns in my home– I was taught from an early age how to handle them safely, how to hunt with them, and so on. I’m not scared of them as some fundamentally eeevil force; they’re no more inherently dangerous than my power tools or gasoline cans. I have many friends in various states that allow CCW; those that I know to carry on a daily basis range from a biker-looking 6’4″ guy with a buzz cut to a mild-mannered chain-smoking author to a very refined and elegant-looking middle-aged woman to a sweet-natured Mormon housewife with three young kids. They carry for self-protection, and I fail to see anything wrong with that.
Clearly I’m not going to change Brandt’s mind; after all, he’s admitted to being “anti-gun”, which is right up there with “pro-choice” or “pro-life” as a signal that someone’s mind is made up, thankyouverymuch. I would just point out that there’s no statistical or anecdotal evidence that having CCW increases street crime. I’m not going to bother citing John Lott or any of the other scholarly studies that prove this, because I don’t think they’ll change his mind either.
I will, however, ask this: how does a law permitting concealed weapons carry “legitimize concealed carry for everyone whether your local sheriff has given you a permit” or not? If you have a permit, you can legally carry. If you don’t have a permit, you cannot– exactly the same situation we’re in now. If you carry a concealed weapon without a permit, you go to jail (in fact, in Ohio you are assumed guilty unless proven innocent!) Passing a law to legalize something doesn’t legitimize it under other conditions– despite what all the War on Drugs folks say about medical marijuana.

HEY! If you need parts, please see this entry, which lists several sources for them.
Yes, it’s true; if you query Google for breadmaker parts, I show up. I got a nice comment yesterday, setting out the sad story of a lady who’s lost her breadmaker paddle. I can certainly sympathize, so I did a little digging and found this, which seems like the answer. It also appears that Toastmaster has an 800 number, but it’s too early to call them.
Of course, by posting this here, I am only reinforcing Google’s tendency to serve up my blog when people query for breadmaker parts. This has already happened with my post about Speakeasy’s free-Xbox offer— it shows up on the third page of a Google query for “free xbox”, and so I get lots of comments from kids looking for a freebie. Sorry, kids; Santa Claus is at the North Pole, not north Ohio.

The Bloviator is written by a doctor, but he talks like a normal human. Recommended.

Via BackupBrain, Rose Kelleher’s rant on why computer books suck. Maybe it’s because she writes about Notes.

For some reason, yellow jackets are very common in this area. I don’t like them.

Anders Jacobsen has a great series of articles on optimizing Movable Type. My favorite: how to get more hits on your blog. He left out one strategy, though: put lots of pictures of scantily-clad women on your site.

So, the UNMOVIC inspectors went to one of Saddam’s palaces yesterday. This would seem to be a good thing, if you assume that the reason behind the inspections is to inventory Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Of course, if you’re one of the folks who thinks that UNMOVIC is just a front for the US to drop the hammer on Iraq, perhaps you’re not convinced. Here’s my modest proposal.

1. Gather up all the UNMOVIC inspectors in a secure location. In fact, why not add a few more, for good measure?
2. Find a suitable military unit (I happen to have one in mind). Two battallions with organic air assets should do the trick.
3. Send a demarche to the Iraqi foreign minister, c/o the UN. The letter should read as follows:
   

   Dear Mr. Sabri:
   UNMOVIC inspectors will shortly be visiting a variety of facilities around your country. They will be accompanied by heavily armed Marines. Any attempt to obstruct their progress will be dealt with severely. We regret any temporary inconvenience this may cause. Have a nice day.
   Sincerely,
   -The UN Security Council (except France)

4. Begin the inspections: load up the inspection team in a Super Sh*tter, add some Cobras and Harriers, and fly them directly to whatever they want to inspect.

When I say “directly”, that’s what I mean. Want to see the warhead plant at Al Qa Qaa? Set a waypoint for the parking lot, fast-rope in a company of Marines, and let them secure the facility for inspection. This does not (at least to me) seem greatly more intrusive, or violative of Iraq’s sovereignty, than the current plan, but it would seem to eliminate the opportunity for Iraq to screw around with the inspectors (e.g. by blocking them in traffic) or the inspection process (e.g. by quickly hiding stuff while stalling UNMOVIC at the gate.)

The famous Jeremy Zawodny has family in Toledo. That means there are at least two bloggers here (at least when he’s in town).
Update: another Toledoan has come out of the woodwork. In fact, he is proudly sounding his barbaric yawp (not to be confused with The Barbaric Yawp, which is actually pretty good) all over my comment pages. Welcome, Dan!

Wow. Talk about a lot to be thankful for. It’s snowing. That’s good. I spent an hour shoveling the driveway (not so good), but I didn’t drop dead (good) and I got both vehicles backed into the garage for easy egress tomorrow (also good). Now I’m sitting in front of the fire (very good), doing actual paying work (very, very good) on my new laptop (gooder still). Arlene is defrosting some red beans (more goodness), and since it’s Monday night, we get to have Family Home Evening after dinner (best of all). Ahhh, life is good.

Having a hard time shopping for that special someone? Don’t know what to buy? How about some German spy underwear? The German equivalent of the CIA is about to start selling merchandise, including underwear labeled “TOP SECRET” and “Not for public use”. No word on whether they’re be bulletproof.

On the way back from Michigan yesterday, I read the Detroit News/Free Press. This was, to put it mildly, a little disconcerting– I’m not used to seeing so many mentions of union this and union that, coming as I do from the right-to-work South. Anyway, it wasn’t a bad newspaper, but there was one thing I found noteworthy: there were four or five columns (and a couple of scathing letters to the editor) about the whole “What would Jesus drive?” question. Apparently the Interfaith Council folks drove to GM headquarters in hybrid cars and staged a peaceful demonstration, and that doesn’t sit well with lots of folks in Motown.
My favorite was this article, titled “Religion has little, if any, place in market for automobiles”. The author claims that these churches should start with their own parishoners first, although he grudgingly acknowledges that “Christian and Jewish leaders are welcome to raise any public policy question they like, including whether sport-utes are chariots of the devil.” Say, thanks! I’m glad we have your permission. His major point– that higher gas taxes and wider deployment of clean-diesel engines will do more than picketing GM– is certainly true, and I’d welcome both of those measures to boot.
This article (with its claim that “government regulations [are]making it so difficult to find the capital need to exploit new – and risky — inventions”) is good too– if you need a laugh, that is.