You Can Dress HIm Up, But You Can't Take Him To Town....

While I think a couple, three of us who recognized BigJ's style, probably didn't do him any favors by ratting him out, ultimately, I am pretty sure it was the obvious grammar gaffes, "Say" instead of "says", a plethora of missing prepositions, and the coup de gras....."shut up!", that got him once again bounced from that Advocate Bar.
As well, his feeding frenzy approach to attacking a number of different posts, coupled with choosing the name "Exile", were probably instrumental in hastening his most recent demise on the Vicad forums in really short order. The shame of it all, is that I think the guy has something to say, and with the right approach and a little coaching and some friendly editing by someone who is qualified, he probably would be a player in the forums. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink....

I'll See Your Ham, And Raise you a Tweet.......

At the risk of stepping on a few old toes here, I am going to go out on a limb, and say that I finally am starting to see some value in Twitter, and in some of what I once considered to be aggravating social networking websites. Doesn't mean I'll be tweeting tomorrow, or opening a MyFace account, but in the wake of the tragedy in Haiti, I do now see some value in these "instant" communication media, Johnny come lately sites. I have known Ham operators, many of them over the years, and while I admire their technical expertise and dedication, I think that likely now, with the UPS systems in place on cellular communications, and the networks that are in place, that the old tubes and dials are regrettably going the way of the old spout we used to pierce the top of an oil can with, and the oil filter removal tool( for those of us that weren't so cheap that we just drove a screwdriver through the damn thing and twisted it loose the messy way). I reckon it's just progress, and while I am one who usually bitches about software upgrades, invariably, they usually turn out to be better that the last version, and now as I always have, I will likely get with the program sooner or later. That doesn't mean my crotchety old butt won't whine about it for a while first and find some kid to sit them down and tell them about the "good ol' days though...........

Four, Three, Two.....Liftoff?

I think some of the media outlets are using Wall Street math to determine the end of the decade. I am seeing more and more "decade in review" stories, including in the Houston Chronicle. Uh......I hate to have to be the one to burst their bubble, in particular, the ones arguing that the decade started in 2000, so consequently, it ends in 2009. These people remind me of some of the grammar optional commenters who provide daily entertainment for the masses online, then when pinned down, respond with "hey, this ain't rocket surgery".......
Yes, the decade started at the END of 2000....and completed it's first year Jan.1, 2001. Last time I pulled out the abacus, and considered when the first year ended, then moved ten buttons, the end of the decade was at the end of the 10th year.......not the 9th. When our first grade teachers had us do the count to ten drill, how many of you started with zero and ended with nine? Like I said - Wall Street math......no money down, no credit check, and no payments until 2012.......no shit. On the other hand, I suppose it's easy to overlook that year of "no payments", huh? That is until you notice that by the time you start making those monthly notes, you start to notice that the cat has already shredded the end of that "new" sofa, or that the Chevy already has 40,000 miles on it, and is starting to make some funny noises and really pulls to the left...........

Fly Naked.........

.....which will likely eventually lead to a lot more passengers flying "united" (and not all of them necessarily on United jets). Seriously, can you think of a better answer? The body scan x-ray machine you say? well, first, when Nigerian Akumba Matata boarded his last flight in Amsterdam, enroute to becoming a martyr and celebrity, he allegedly was screened by one of the new "pecker checker" devices, and nothing was found. I say rather than spending billions on screening devices, just make all passengers surrender their clothing and board naked. Maybe issue them a unisex disposable jumpsuit to travel in, and let that be that. That should pretty much take all the guesswork out of flying, huh? It might cause a bit of a stir at first, and put a dent in air travel for a spell, but you have to believe that it will be a cheap solution in more ways than one. To begin with, unless I misread the part of the Islamic law I thought I read, it is unlikely any of the potential bomb carrying culprits will be allowed according to their religious beliefs, to board a plane in the buff. Of all the species of animals on the planet, maybe this is the catalyst that will give the one holdout, pause to reflect over the silly need they have to feel like they should cover what they were born with, which coincidentally, is the same equipment every other passenger on the flight was born with as well.

As long as our government finds it necessary to meddle in other cultures and attempt to tell them where they can live, how they can worship, and how they should run their governments, I suspect we will be stuck with the fact that a few of them are going to want to cause us harm.

I say rather than allow them to control us with fear and intimidation, and force us to try to stay one step ahead of barbarians who still use rocks as weapons by investing billions in technology, we just go back to the basics, and make 'em strip to get on the plane. Should work. Where do you want me to stack my clothes miss?

The Vatican Bowl

In the second annual Vatican Bowl, the Pope was sacked early by Susanna Maiolo for the second year in a row. The play was overturned, as she was penalized for unnecessary roughness on a Cardinal.

Merry Christmas _ Peace On Earth

Extra Money for Christmas?

I just saw a little story on GMA about putting microchips under the skin of pets, to be able to locate them in the event they are stolen or wander off. Than made me smile, and remember fondly, an old friend I had back in Austin. I was at his house one day many years ago when we were much younger, and I noticed that he had a really cool new dog, and I asked what his name was. His answer? "Well I don't plan to have him long, but I guess I should name him, huh? I was thinking either "Lost Dog", or "Reward".....what do you think?"