The obligatory link: Bill would block credit cards for illegals
Three cheers for Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. It's nice to see at least one member of Congress standing up for what's right, even though it may cost them politically in the future. She's introduced a bill which, as the above link states, would prohibit Bank of America's asinine plan to offer credit cards to people without acceptable forms of identification.
For those who didn't catch the beginning of the story, click here for a refresher.
2007/03/08
Yesteryear's Sci-Fi Is... (#3)
The obligatory link: Israel unveils portable hunter-killer robot
For your peace of mind, just assume I offered up a Terminator reference here, and that it was either exceptionally funny or not depending on your preferences. Now that that's out of the way, let's see what nifty stuff the article says this little machine can do:
For your peace of mind, just assume I offered up a Terminator reference here, and that it was either exceptionally funny or not depending on your preferences. Now that that's out of the way, let's see what nifty stuff the article says this little machine can do:
- It can move "undeterred by stairs, rubble, dark alleys, caves or narrow tunnels"
- It can act "as bomb-sniffing and bomb disposal equipment"
- And, it can "carry an Uzi machine-pistol or plant a grenade"
Whatever Happened To Spiral, part 2
Google Alerts are a wonderful thing, aren't they? They'll keep an eye on certain keywords for you, and if they happen to pop up, the system will fire you an e-mail to let you know.
Anyway, setting aside the how, apparently a brand new manga publisher is going to publish Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~, along with three other Square/Enix titles (one of which is Zombie Loan, by the mangaka of Rozen Maiden). The company in question is Yen Press.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to know what quality of a job they're going to do, since they haven't released anything yet, and the word that's going around is that their first releases will be well down the year. However, we can fervently hope that they will take after the Go! Comi/Del Rey Manga school, with quality translation, intact honorifics, and explanations of cultural references in the back of the volume. Time will tell, though.
Anyway, setting aside the how, apparently a brand new manga publisher is going to publish Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~, along with three other Square/Enix titles (one of which is Zombie Loan, by the mangaka of Rozen Maiden). The company in question is Yen Press.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to know what quality of a job they're going to do, since they haven't released anything yet, and the word that's going around is that their first releases will be well down the year. However, we can fervently hope that they will take after the Go! Comi/Del Rey Manga school, with quality translation, intact honorifics, and explanations of cultural references in the back of the volume. Time will tell, though.
2007/03/06
Campaign Fatigue?
The obligatory link: Will Campaign Fatigue Set In Early?
The link this time is really just for another opinion on the matter. Here we go, by the numbers: Some politicians have been campaigning since late last year. Let's call it four months, for the sake of convenience. We now have approximately twenty months left until the election. So, when this finally winds down to a close, unless every single announced candidate at this point has dropped out by then, we'll have been hearing from some of these people on the same topic (vote for me) for two years.
Now, I can be fairly said to be a political junkie. I pay reasonably close attention to what our elected officials say and do outside of election time, at least, as such things are reckoned now... I can even search up the text of a house or senate resolution, if I really need to. ... ... ... So, having established those credentials, let me say that I'm quickly reaching saturation on this campaign. None of the candidates are telling me anything I didn't already know about them, nor are they saying these things in particularly interesting ways. Instead of the continuous pounding of a hammer, which is (usually) accomplishing something, this seems more like the continuous pounding of a headache. Is there a doctor in the house? Or at least someone with a couple of aspirin I can bum?
This isn't entirely negative, of course. Well, it is in a way, but what campaigning this long does is it gives everyone who jumped out of the gate so early plenty of time to come up lame. Also, it should help anyone who has patience, and who can wait for people to get tired of hearing the same things from the current crop... provided, of course, that this patient person or persons can come out with a strong, articulate message and vision. (It's a bit outside the scope of this commentary, but could it be what's really been missing is a candidate with a grand vision of America as it should be?)
Anyway, wake me up when they start saying interesting things, instead of reading the same old bedtime stories.
The link this time is really just for another opinion on the matter. Here we go, by the numbers: Some politicians have been campaigning since late last year. Let's call it four months, for the sake of convenience. We now have approximately twenty months left until the election. So, when this finally winds down to a close, unless every single announced candidate at this point has dropped out by then, we'll have been hearing from some of these people on the same topic (vote for me) for two years.
Now, I can be fairly said to be a political junkie. I pay reasonably close attention to what our elected officials say and do outside of election time, at least, as such things are reckoned now... I can even search up the text of a house or senate resolution, if I really need to. ... ... ... So, having established those credentials, let me say that I'm quickly reaching saturation on this campaign. None of the candidates are telling me anything I didn't already know about them, nor are they saying these things in particularly interesting ways. Instead of the continuous pounding of a hammer, which is (usually) accomplishing something, this seems more like the continuous pounding of a headache. Is there a doctor in the house? Or at least someone with a couple of aspirin I can bum?
This isn't entirely negative, of course. Well, it is in a way, but what campaigning this long does is it gives everyone who jumped out of the gate so early plenty of time to come up lame. Also, it should help anyone who has patience, and who can wait for people to get tired of hearing the same things from the current crop... provided, of course, that this patient person or persons can come out with a strong, articulate message and vision. (It's a bit outside the scope of this commentary, but could it be what's really been missing is a candidate with a grand vision of America as it should be?)
Anyway, wake me up when they start saying interesting things, instead of reading the same old bedtime stories.
Hiss! Boo!
The obligatory link: Ban on booing at local high school games considered
This is just ridiculous on the face of it. While I'm not quite sure if it can be said that booing has been going on since time immemorial, Wiki thinks it may date as far back as ancient Greece. In any event, booing is certainly a time-honored tradition.
I don't think it's going too far to say that this is another of those attempts to wrangle good feelings out of legality. I mean, seriously, they use the term "crack down on negative conduct" in here. When I hear that, you know what comes to mind? Murder, rape, theft, physical assault... that kind of stuff. There's a level of difference here between, "Hey Ref, get some glasses!" and "Hey Ref, I'm'a kill you and eat your children!" Taking issue with the second, given the current state of our culture, is understandable. Taking issue with the first, meanwhile, is just another example of the expanding pusillanimity of Americans.
This is just ridiculous on the face of it. While I'm not quite sure if it can be said that booing has been going on since time immemorial, Wiki thinks it may date as far back as ancient Greece. In any event, booing is certainly a time-honored tradition.
I don't think it's going too far to say that this is another of those attempts to wrangle good feelings out of legality. I mean, seriously, they use the term "crack down on negative conduct" in here. When I hear that, you know what comes to mind? Murder, rape, theft, physical assault... that kind of stuff. There's a level of difference here between, "Hey Ref, get some glasses!" and "Hey Ref, I'm'a kill you and eat your children!" Taking issue with the second, given the current state of our culture, is understandable. Taking issue with the first, meanwhile, is just another example of the expanding pusillanimity of Americans.
March Reading Challenge
So, I found out today, six days late, that the local library is holding a reading challenge for adults. It's a fairly ordinary library event, really... Just read ten books, or for fifty hours, between March 1st and March 31st. Now, done officially, there's some log that they'll give you to record your progress, but I figure, that's what I have a blog for.
Anyone who wants to participate is certainly welcome. Anyone who wants to grab my review style to post each completed book is welcome to do that as well.
Anyone who wants to participate is certainly welcome. Anyone who wants to grab my review style to post each completed book is welcome to do that as well.
2007/03/05
Yesteryear's Sci-Fi Is... (#2)
The obligatory link: A missile punch at bullet prices
Yes, I know, from the dateline on the article, I got to this one late. Still, it is an interesting little article. Starting from the chatroom for Constitutional Public Radio, we got on the topic of various rotary cannons last Thursday. Naturally, that got the Wiki juices flowing freely, and several clicks down the line from vulcan cannons, I ended up with this.
Essentially, the Navy is working on a railgun. To put it in easier terms, it's a gun that fires bullets using magnets instead of gunpowder. Of course, being the Navy, they're doing things big. What we're talking about here is a ship-based weapon capable, according to the article, of Tomahawk cruise missile ranges, with about two minutes faster time-to-target, for $1000 a shot (as opposed to the approximately $1000000 per shot for the Tomahawk), and approximately the same amount of destructive force.
From the article: "Garnett compared that force to hitting a target with a Ford Taurus at 380 mph. "It will take out a building," he said. Warheads aren't needed because of the massive force of impact."
Of course, they're talking about 2020 or so on this project, so we're certainly not there yet. Still, it's cool all the same.
Yes, I know, from the dateline on the article, I got to this one late. Still, it is an interesting little article. Starting from the chatroom for Constitutional Public Radio, we got on the topic of various rotary cannons last Thursday. Naturally, that got the Wiki juices flowing freely, and several clicks down the line from vulcan cannons, I ended up with this.
Essentially, the Navy is working on a railgun. To put it in easier terms, it's a gun that fires bullets using magnets instead of gunpowder. Of course, being the Navy, they're doing things big. What we're talking about here is a ship-based weapon capable, according to the article, of Tomahawk cruise missile ranges, with about two minutes faster time-to-target, for $1000 a shot (as opposed to the approximately $1000000 per shot for the Tomahawk), and approximately the same amount of destructive force.
From the article: "Garnett compared that force to hitting a target with a Ford Taurus at 380 mph. "It will take out a building," he said. Warheads aren't needed because of the massive force of impact."
Of course, they're talking about 2020 or so on this project, so we're certainly not there yet. Still, it's cool all the same.
Tokei Muyou - No Need For Clocks
The obligatory link: Postal Service fixes long waits by removing clocks
Is anyone surprised that a government entity came up with removing clocks from an area to try to cut down on people complaining about the amount of time they have to spend waiting? Setting aside my normal dislike of the Postal Service for a moment, can you conceive of a private company even thinking about doing something like this? "Well, our service is about as slow as molasses... What do we do about it?" "I know! We take down the clocks to distort our customers' sense of time, and thus get away with it! This has the added bonus of not having to maintain and upkeep the clocks, too."
No, it seems fairly obvious that a private company would either hire more staff to cover the amount of work, or find some way to streamline the operation to cut the service time down. Unfortunately, obvious rarely happens when government is involved.
Kyle at Lone Star Pundit has another take on this story.
The title, 時計無用 (tokei muyou, or "no need for clocks"), is a play off of the title of 天地無用 (tenchi muyou, "No Need For Tenchi"), a mid-90's adventure/comedy anime.
Is anyone surprised that a government entity came up with removing clocks from an area to try to cut down on people complaining about the amount of time they have to spend waiting? Setting aside my normal dislike of the Postal Service for a moment, can you conceive of a private company even thinking about doing something like this? "Well, our service is about as slow as molasses... What do we do about it?" "I know! We take down the clocks to distort our customers' sense of time, and thus get away with it! This has the added bonus of not having to maintain and upkeep the clocks, too."
No, it seems fairly obvious that a private company would either hire more staff to cover the amount of work, or find some way to streamline the operation to cut the service time down. Unfortunately, obvious rarely happens when government is involved.
Kyle at Lone Star Pundit has another take on this story.
The title, 時計無用 (tokei muyou, or "no need for clocks"), is a play off of the title of 天地無用 (tenchi muyou, "No Need For Tenchi"), a mid-90's adventure/comedy anime.
Another Body Blow For Personal Responsibility
The obligatory link: Poll: The Politics Of Health Care
You can click over and there's a PDF with the full results, but let me just hit the highlights so you can tear your hair out now...
I don't even need to finish that series I've been doing on the constitution to know that this one is none of the federal government's business.
Again, no real surprise. We could probably even get some of the regulations out of the way of nuclear power if we could convince enough people that it was "for the children".
Still, there is a minimal bright spot in all of this:
You can click over and there's a PDF with the full results, but let me just hit the highlights so you can tear your hair out now...
Most Americans believe government can play a role in fixing the health care system. Two-thirds say the federal government should guarantee that all Americans have health insurance.
I don't even need to finish that series I've been doing on the constitution to know that this one is none of the federal government's business.
Eighty-four percent of Americans favor expanding government programs in order to give health insurance to all uninsured children.
Again, no real surprise. We could probably even get some of the regulations out of the way of nuclear power if we could convince enough people that it was "for the children".
Still, there is a minimal bright spot in all of this:
Less than one in three, however, say the government would do a better job than private insurance companies at actually providing medical coverage. Forty-four percent said the government would be worse as a health care provider than private companies.
Someone Get Roswell On The Line
The obligatory link: UFO science key to halting climate change: former Canadian defense minister
The title really does say it all here. A former government official who is calling on the governments of the world to take the covers off all that alien technology they've been holding back from the UFO crashes... to help stop global warming.
No, it's not scientific. The only value is that it's worth a laugh. At least he's got his science fiction down, to an extent:
"Alien spacecrafts would have traveled vast distances to reach Earth, and so must be equipped with advanced propulsion systems or used exceptional fuels"
The title really does say it all here. A former government official who is calling on the governments of the world to take the covers off all that alien technology they've been holding back from the UFO crashes... to help stop global warming.
No, it's not scientific. The only value is that it's worth a laugh. At least he's got his science fiction down, to an extent:
"Alien spacecrafts would have traveled vast distances to reach Earth, and so must be equipped with advanced propulsion systems or used exceptional fuels"
2007/03/02
Bring In The Stunt Double!
The obligatory link: Stand-in mistress sought to take wife's abuse
This is definitely one of those stories that sounds too odd to be true. Then again, I'm still sitting on another one about what is essentially rent-a-wife, so maybe this does fit right in. Essentially, a guy wants to hire a lady to take the fall as his mistress so that his wife won't find out about his real mistress. Not quite enough to set one's head to spinning, but it's certainly getting there.
Still, all things considered, as long as the guy can keep knives and heavy weaponry out of it, the equivalent of $2,400/hour isn't exactly a bad take...
This is definitely one of those stories that sounds too odd to be true. Then again, I'm still sitting on another one about what is essentially rent-a-wife, so maybe this does fit right in. Essentially, a guy wants to hire a lady to take the fall as his mistress so that his wife won't find out about his real mistress. Not quite enough to set one's head to spinning, but it's certainly getting there.
Still, all things considered, as long as the guy can keep knives and heavy weaponry out of it, the equivalent of $2,400/hour isn't exactly a bad take...
Another Trope Bites The Dust
The obligatory link: Petrol lit with a cigarette? Only in the movies.
Sounds like an episode of Myth Busters to me, but apparently tests have been done by the ATF to see whether or not a lighted cigarette can cause gasoline to combust. Unsurprisingly (if you read either the title or the link title), it won't. Not even if the cigarette is currently being puffed on (which increases the temperature by 200 degrees Celsius or so). Now it's just another thing requiring a suspension of disbelief.
The real question here is, "Why doesn't it work?" After all, the temperatures seem conducive to it. Unfortunately, the folks conducting the test don't have an answer for us. And since it's a rather obscure focus for further scientific study, the world may never know.
Sounds like an episode of Myth Busters to me, but apparently tests have been done by the ATF to see whether or not a lighted cigarette can cause gasoline to combust. Unsurprisingly (if you read either the title or the link title), it won't. Not even if the cigarette is currently being puffed on (which increases the temperature by 200 degrees Celsius or so). Now it's just another thing requiring a suspension of disbelief.
The real question here is, "Why doesn't it work?" After all, the temperatures seem conducive to it. Unfortunately, the folks conducting the test don't have an answer for us. And since it's a rather obscure focus for further scientific study, the world may never know.
Not As Bizarre As The Headline, But Quite Dangerous
The obligatory link: Anti-Jewish cartoon angers L.A. Koreans
I know, I know... It's not exactly the kind of headline you expect when anti-Semitism comes up in the media.
Reality is much simpler, thankfully, in this case. Apparently there's a publisher in South Korea that publishes the cartoon in question. While I can't say that I ever thought of the far East as being a hotbed of anti-Semitism, I have to say it's a good idea to catch it and stomp on it firmly now. Doubly so since, as is mentioned rather late in the article, the cartoon in question is part of a book aimed at "teaching children about other countries". Kind of makes one wonder what's written in the other books in that series...
I know, I know... It's not exactly the kind of headline you expect when anti-Semitism comes up in the media.
Reality is much simpler, thankfully, in this case. Apparently there's a publisher in South Korea that publishes the cartoon in question. While I can't say that I ever thought of the far East as being a hotbed of anti-Semitism, I have to say it's a good idea to catch it and stomp on it firmly now. Doubly so since, as is mentioned rather late in the article, the cartoon in question is part of a book aimed at "teaching children about other countries". Kind of makes one wonder what's written in the other books in that series...
Japanese of the Week
族 (zoku) n,n-suf. - tribe; race; group
I'll grant you, this is rather an odd one. It wouldn't have come up, except that I was reading a story by Doug Giles where he referred to the "heterosexual tribe". Now, that one doesn't have an attached term in Japanese as far as I know, but Giles was using it in relation to homosexual men, for whom a term has been coined: 薔薇族 (barazoku), the rose tribe. (For the sake of completion, the term for homosexual women is 百合族 (yurizoku), the lily tribe.)
Until and unless someone can show me that the Japanese have already coined another flower tribe term for heterosexuals, I'm banking for the 菖蒲族 (ayamezoku)... The iris tribe. Why? Well, beyond the fact that it's a nice-looking flower(link goes to GIS), it's the favored flower of Narumi Kiyotaka in "Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~". In other words, I'm being influenced by what I'm reading again.
As to why I know all this (and you're getting this one as a bonus), chalk it up to this word:
豆知識 (mamechishiki) n. - trivia; bits of knowledge (lit. - bean knowledge)
I'll grant you, this is rather an odd one. It wouldn't have come up, except that I was reading a story by Doug Giles where he referred to the "heterosexual tribe". Now, that one doesn't have an attached term in Japanese as far as I know, but Giles was using it in relation to homosexual men, for whom a term has been coined: 薔薇族 (barazoku), the rose tribe. (For the sake of completion, the term for homosexual women is 百合族 (yurizoku), the lily tribe.)
Until and unless someone can show me that the Japanese have already coined another flower tribe term for heterosexuals, I'm banking for the 菖蒲族 (ayamezoku)... The iris tribe. Why? Well, beyond the fact that it's a nice-looking flower(link goes to GIS), it's the favored flower of Narumi Kiyotaka in "Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~". In other words, I'm being influenced by what I'm reading again.
As to why I know all this (and you're getting this one as a bonus), chalk it up to this word:
豆知識 (mamechishiki) n. - trivia; bits of knowledge (lit. - bean knowledge)
Surprising That They'd Even Consider It
The obligatory link: Post Office may issue "forever" stamp
Even though the post office is provided for in the Constitution, I can't say that I really like the fact that it still exists as a government entity. After all, haven't plenty of private companies proven that they can do a better, faster job?
Anyway, on the table today is the post offices' attempt to raise stamps three cents (again). I understand they need to cover things like fuel costs, but the thing is, with the admission that usage of first-class mail is declining, it looks more like an attempt to pad their numbers.
As to the "forever" stamp, the concept is to print a stamp with no valuation on the face, so people could buy them at the current price when they were issued (figure the three cent increase goes in, so that'd be 42 cents), and they would remain valid even in the case of a future rate increase. There is certainly a chance to speculate on the price of stamps here, particularly for people who use a great deal of them. Of course, what happens if they later go off and "un-forever" the "forever" stamp? Sure, it sounds rather illegal, but a government entity could probably get away with it, if it tried hard enough.
Even though the post office is provided for in the Constitution, I can't say that I really like the fact that it still exists as a government entity. After all, haven't plenty of private companies proven that they can do a better, faster job?
Anyway, on the table today is the post offices' attempt to raise stamps three cents (again). I understand they need to cover things like fuel costs, but the thing is, with the admission that usage of first-class mail is declining, it looks more like an attempt to pad their numbers.
As to the "forever" stamp, the concept is to print a stamp with no valuation on the face, so people could buy them at the current price when they were issued (figure the three cent increase goes in, so that'd be 42 cents), and they would remain valid even in the case of a future rate increase. There is certainly a chance to speculate on the price of stamps here, particularly for people who use a great deal of them. Of course, what happens if they later go off and "un-forever" the "forever" stamp? Sure, it sounds rather illegal, but a government entity could probably get away with it, if it tried hard enough.
2007/03/01
Mr. Fusion, Is That You? (What Have You Done With Your Hair?)
The obligatory link: The prophet of garbage
I can't say I ever really thought of "Back To The Future" as science fiction, though the claim could certainly be made. Follow the link, though, and you'll find that someone has apparently turned into science fact what was science fiction when the movie came out in 1985. Next thing you know, he's going to tell us that we don't need any roads.
I can't say I ever really thought of "Back To The Future" as science fiction, though the claim could certainly be made. Follow the link, though, and you'll find that someone has apparently turned into science fact what was science fiction when the movie came out in 1985. Next thing you know, he's going to tell us that we don't need any roads.
Let's Go Fly A Kite
The obligatory link: Pakistan: 11 dead, 100 injured in kite flying festival
Okay, I expected the deaths from stray bullets. What I didn't expect where the sharpened kite strings. ... ... ... Yes, you heard me right. I said, "Sharpened kite strings."
And yes, the article is going to tell you how such a thing happens. Instead of thread, or maybe fishing line, the use of wires or glass coatings is involved. What possible reason could there be to turn kite flying into combat, though? I don't get it.
Okay, I expected the deaths from stray bullets. What I didn't expect where the sharpened kite strings. ... ... ... Yes, you heard me right. I said, "Sharpened kite strings."
And yes, the article is going to tell you how such a thing happens. Instead of thread, or maybe fishing line, the use of wires or glass coatings is involved. What possible reason could there be to turn kite flying into combat, though? I don't get it.
Geoff Reviews - Rozen Maiden (v.3)
Title: Rozen Maiden (volume 3)
Media: Manga
Text: English (translated)
Story: Peach-Pit
Art: Peach-Pit
Publisher: Tokyopop (originally Gentosha Comics)
I have to start this off by being nice, since Tokyopop got its act together a bit in this volume. Suiseiseki actually did gain a mode of speech in place of her ever-present "desu". They translated "desu" as "yes", yes. Also, they almost weaned themselves entirely off of "impish" as a translation for "chibi".
The actual volume entails more maneuvering, along with the proper introduction of the third (or is it the fourth) doll in the Rozen Maiden series, Souseiseki. (Please, don't blame me for forgetting whether Suiseiseki is 3rd and Souseiseki is 4th, or the other way around... They're twins, after all.) It's also nice to see Jun growing as a character in this volume.
So, at this point, we know there are six dolls, and we've been introduced to all but the second one. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that last introduction is going to happen before anything serious happens in regards to the fights that make up the "Alice Game".
One open question from the volume is, who are the brothers Jun witnessed, and how do they tie in? (Well, we know about one of them, but that's a spoiler for the volume.) Also, on a related note, how and why was Jun able to witness this, when it wasn't part of his past experience? Sure, we can relate that back to the existence of magic in the world if we need to, but it seems like the kind of thing that ought to be explained at some point. Something to look forward to, perhaps.
Media: Manga
Text: English (translated)
Story: Peach-Pit
Art: Peach-Pit
Publisher: Tokyopop (originally Gentosha Comics)
I have to start this off by being nice, since Tokyopop got its act together a bit in this volume. Suiseiseki actually did gain a mode of speech in place of her ever-present "desu". They translated "desu" as "yes", yes. Also, they almost weaned themselves entirely off of "impish" as a translation for "chibi".
The actual volume entails more maneuvering, along with the proper introduction of the third (or is it the fourth) doll in the Rozen Maiden series, Souseiseki. (Please, don't blame me for forgetting whether Suiseiseki is 3rd and Souseiseki is 4th, or the other way around... They're twins, after all.) It's also nice to see Jun growing as a character in this volume.
So, at this point, we know there are six dolls, and we've been introduced to all but the second one. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that last introduction is going to happen before anything serious happens in regards to the fights that make up the "Alice Game".
One open question from the volume is, who are the brothers Jun witnessed, and how do they tie in? (Well, we know about one of them, but that's a spoiler for the volume.) Also, on a related note, how and why was Jun able to witness this, when it wasn't part of his past experience? Sure, we can relate that back to the existence of magic in the world if we need to, but it seems like the kind of thing that ought to be explained at some point. Something to look forward to, perhaps.
2007/02/28
Tricked By The Cover
The obligatory link: Dems urge GOP to halt immigrant prank
Wouldn't you think that the GOP was actually doing something? Well, aside from the fact that they can't be troubled to do much in the way of actual work on illegal immigration, anyway? No, unfortunately, all the ruckus is about the College Republicans "Catch an Illegal Immigrant" bit.
The sad part, though, is where the RNC actually reponds:
Egregious... Merriam-Webster has it as "conspicuous", often as in "conspicuously bad". Of course, the only reason the whole thing is conspicuous at all is that people keep writing stories about it. Which leads us right into the next part. People are writing stories about the event, making it conspicuous, as it were, because they're "offended". (And yes, that belongs in scare quotes if anything does.) Frankly, I take issue with people who condemn as offensive folks who are essentially trying to get out a message of, "Hey, there're people over here breaking the law... Y'all wanna do anything about it?"
Well, file it under "there's no such thing as bad publicity", I suppose. Maybe if it stays in the public view long enough, people might actually get the idea. ... ... ... Then again, maybe not.
Wouldn't you think that the GOP was actually doing something? Well, aside from the fact that they can't be troubled to do much in the way of actual work on illegal immigration, anyway? No, unfortunately, all the ruckus is about the College Republicans "Catch an Illegal Immigrant" bit.
The sad part, though, is where the RNC actually reponds:
Tracy Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said "we find these activities both egregious and offensive and condemn them wholeheartedly." But she noted the College Republicans are independent of the RNC: "We do not control their activities."
Egregious... Merriam-Webster has it as "conspicuous", often as in "conspicuously bad". Of course, the only reason the whole thing is conspicuous at all is that people keep writing stories about it. Which leads us right into the next part. People are writing stories about the event, making it conspicuous, as it were, because they're "offended". (And yes, that belongs in scare quotes if anything does.) Frankly, I take issue with people who condemn as offensive folks who are essentially trying to get out a message of, "Hey, there're people over here breaking the law... Y'all wanna do anything about it?"
Well, file it under "there's no such thing as bad publicity", I suppose. Maybe if it stays in the public view long enough, people might actually get the idea. ... ... ... Then again, maybe not.
Maybe Heinlein Was Right
The obligatory link: Flying Beverage Cup Has Another Driver In Hot Water
Actually, I've thought this way for a while, but there really may be something to the whole "an armed society is a polite society" idea. After all, if you think about it, isn't road rage a whole lot like some of the rants floating around the internet? You know, the kinds of things that wouldn't happen if there was the barest chance that the target could fight back, whether or not they did?
It's a project beyond me, but looking into the decline of such things as individual weapon ownership and pistols at dawn in relation to the statistics of assault, the rise of road rage, and so on. The level of insanity needed to do such things would likely rise as the chances of the target being armed rose, at the very least.
Just to touch on a different part of this story for a bit, it should be interesting to see what kind of a sentence this guy gets (the maximum is ten years, according to the article), since the previous instance mentioned involved a woman who got sentenced to the minimum (two years) and then let out after seven weeks. For some reason, I'm not expecting a comparable sentence.
Actually, I've thought this way for a while, but there really may be something to the whole "an armed society is a polite society" idea. After all, if you think about it, isn't road rage a whole lot like some of the rants floating around the internet? You know, the kinds of things that wouldn't happen if there was the barest chance that the target could fight back, whether or not they did?
It's a project beyond me, but looking into the decline of such things as individual weapon ownership and pistols at dawn in relation to the statistics of assault, the rise of road rage, and so on. The level of insanity needed to do such things would likely rise as the chances of the target being armed rose, at the very least.
Just to touch on a different part of this story for a bit, it should be interesting to see what kind of a sentence this guy gets (the maximum is ten years, according to the article), since the previous instance mentioned involved a woman who got sentenced to the minimum (two years) and then let out after seven weeks. For some reason, I'm not expecting a comparable sentence.
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