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I’m beginning to wonder if this foul contagion that has settled upon me might be more than a cold.  I’ve been alternating between hot and cold, but not yet to the level of chills (*crosses fingers*).  Maybe it’s just a really mean cold virus.  Anyway, it has addled my brain to the point of near uselessness, leaving me little interest in writing blog entries.  However, I have been reading other sites and I have a few thoughts left.

First, Rachel Lucas opened a can of worms by commenting on homosexuality, HIV, and the Thacker nomination.  The thread is currently up to 108 comments.  One thing that distressed Rachel (and me as well) was the number of people who seem to think that quoting the Bible is sufficient to end debate on the subject.  For me and Rachel and many other people the Bible is simply a book.  I certainly don’t have a problem with people who wish to base their lives on its teachings, but I do take umbrage and exception when they try to apply it to the rest of us.  I have had a number of gay and lesbian friends over the years.  From conversations with them I can only conclude that homosexuality is inborn in most cases.  There are cases where people make a choice—this was the case with one lesbian I used to know who was raped as a teenager.  Regardless, though, this does not prove the argument that all gays are that way by choice.  When confronted with an argument from someone that all homosexuality is by choice and the statements from actual homosexuals who always knew that they were that way from their earliest recollections, I tend to believe the gay person.

On another topic, I was glad to see this.  Those damn fools at DARPA shouldn’t even have considered something as outrageously unconstitutional as Total Information Awareness.  Let’s hope the House goes along and nips this in the bud.

Finally, I thought the “Axis of Weasels” was hilarious.  It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking anything at the time.

I went to the range tonight, despite this damn cold.  The range I usually go to is the one at Bass Pro Shops in Grapevine.  Because of safety concerns they can’t connect the range to the store’s heating and cooling system.  Instead, they have large fans pulling in outside air and filtering it before sending it back out.  Once a month or so they replace the filters, which makes the inner door nearly impossible to open (the range has an “airlock” to isolate the people outside from noise and contamination; the range is built so that air is pulled in, but the inner door opens out).  I mention all this to point out that my entire range session was spent in a 40F room with an annoying draft (I suspect that the range qualifies for a windchill reading).  Of course, if it were summer I’d be complaining about the heat.  I went in there one day last summer when it was 99F outside and I thought I was going to die.  I spent half the time cleaning my shooting glasses because they kept fogging.

As a public service I should let people know that applying Carmex while chewing Orbit gum is a dangerous experience (yeah, I know you’re not supposed to get it in your mouth, but sometimes you forget and lick your lips).

Listening to Mozart’s Requiem right now.  I think that my favorite movements are Dies Irae and Confutatis.  Maybe.  I have a hard time choosing.  I’ve been known to put the whole thing on repeat for a couple of hours.

Final note: Still under viral attack.  Considering calling in heavy weapons (Nyquil).

Cold Fury brought this post by Brian Tiemann at Peeve Farm to my attention today.  I hadn’t read his site before, but I found it interesting to see the perspective from someone who was formerly a hard-core liberal:

But 9/11 and its aftermath made me turn around completely on many other issues. A deeper understanding of American history and the country’s founding ideals gave me a deep respect for gun freedoms, though I still don’t like shooting them or memorizing bullet dimensions or making things blow up.

He’s coming to this later than I am.  My political turnaround came between 1993 and 1995 (you can guess what events took place in those years, but don’t jump to conclusions about why my outlook changed; more on this later).  Except for the gun issue (I was part of the armed liberal camp), I would probably have been right there with him on a lot of things back in my younger days.

I think I will write about my political conversion and the events of 1993 to 1995, but just not right now.  I’m under viral attack and it’s sapping my energy.  I’m not good for much right now other than sitting here and staring slack-jawed at the screen.  I hope this is just one of those short-term decisive victories, rather than long, protracted trench warfare.

Steven Den Beste has some thoughts on the Jacksonian response to any possible French or German collusion with Iraq on WMDs.  I’m not sure how strongly I would react to such news, but I agree with the general sentiment.  Maybe that’s because I have already crossed over that line with France and Germany.  I regard them (or at least their governments) in a similar manner to Saudi Arabia.  Which is to say that I don’t really trust them and I don’t consider them our allies.  Maybe I’m cynical, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the French or Germans supplied equipment or raw materials to Iraq.

PCWorld is reporting that a company called StorCard has created a credit card-sized data storage device that can store from 100MB to over 5GB.  It uses a mylar disc inside the card to store the data and includes a magnetic stripe for possible future use in magnetic readers.  Additionally, it includes an integrated processor that can perform data encryption.  The company claims that the readers will retail for under $100.00 and the cards will be under $15.00. 

I could think of some handy uses for an inexpensive storage medium that could hold lots of data in a small form factor.  However, I noticed that the company claims that their technology “targets government, healthcare, law enforcement and public safety markets.”  This sets off alarm bells for the civil libertarian in me.  I have some concerns about misuse of this technology by those who would number and control us every second of our lives.  I hope this company doesn’t think it’s going to profit from some kind of national ID card scheme.  If so, then I won’t care anymore about the handy uses of the technology.  I will regard them as my sworn enemy and will work to do everything in my power to destroy them.  That may sound harsh, but don’t understimate the power of a sufficiently vocal group of unhappy people.  If you think we can’t make a difference, just ask Richard Sharp (former CEO of Circuit City) about DIVX (and the $100 million he threw down the toilet on it).

Via Slashdot.

It appears that the war with Iraq will start sometime in early February, when the nights are the darkest due to the new moon, or so goes the current speculation.

I’ve been avoiding the topic of war until recently, as my primary interests lie in the areas of firearms, technology, and civil liberties.  At heart I’m an isolationist who believes in free trade.  That may sound weird, but it just means I’d prefer to have peaceful commercial relations with other countries and to pretty much keep to ourselves otherwise.  However, I also believe strongly in the idea of self-defense and I think this must also apply to nations.  So you can imagine the ambivalance this has generated for me.

But I still find myself in reluctant agreement with the invasion of Iraq.  However much I may be tempted towards revenge for the attack of September 11, 2001 (and I would not hesitate to put a bullet in bin Laden’s head if you put him in front of me; if he were still alive, that is), my contemplation of Iraq has been much cooler.  This is not something I arrived at flippantly or through blood lust.  I worry about the coming war.  No matter how well we plan and how superior our forces, Murphy always rides along when the flag flies.  I worry about our troops who may not come home or those who will come home horribly wounded.  And I know that while our forces will do everything in their power to prevent innocent deaths, they will happen.  The reports I’ve seen indicate that many Iraqi people understand this, and accept it as the price of freedom, but I hope that they still feel that way after the war is over.

I also worry about the aftermath of the war.  Will we have the resolve to stick around for however long it takes to turn Iraq into a functioning democracy?  If not, then I fear that 20 years from now we’ll have to go back when the next madman pops up and threatens the world.  I also hope that President Bush releases some of the definitive proof that he and Tony Blair have been claiming to have.  It would go a long way towards putting some of my concerns to rest.

But regardless of my isolationist tendencies, I cannot in good conscience side with the anti-war crowd.  There may be some principled people among them, but I can’t separate the signal from the noise to distinguish their message from that of groups like A.N.S.W.E.R.  According to some scholars, socialism and communism are directly responsible for more deaths than any other cause in the 20th century (over 100 million dead in places like the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia, etc).  I have absolutely no qualms about saying that communism is evil.  I also cannot abide anti-semitism.  The anti-Israel and anti-semitic (not exactly the same, but usually linked) sentiments expressed by some of the protesters are sickening.

I think ultimately what brings me to my conclusion is something that has been denigrated by many, but that still moves some of us.  That something is patriotism.  I’m not a flag-waver.  I didn’t go out and put flags on everything on September 12th.  I don’t believe in God or any of that, but there’s more to patriotism than God or flag waving.  I may rant and rave and rail about the creeping socialism that I see encroaching on our country, but I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.  I have a great love for this country and the ideals on which it was founded.  I want to see us continue to live by those ideals.  I believe that in order to do that we must neutralize the external threats before we can deal with the internal ones.

Anyway, that’s just the opinion of an isolationist who has become a reluctant hawk.  I suppose this post will contain parts that will upset both the pro- and anti-war camps.  Oh well, it can’t be helped.

“Nothing worth having comes without a fight
Gotta kick at the darkness ‘til it bleeds daylight”
   —Barenaked Ladies, Lovers In A Dangerous Time

I knew these protesters were dangerous fools, but I just didn’t comprehend the depth of their hatred for the United States or their anti-semitism.  Lee from Right-Thinking went to the protests in San Francisco and found some disturbing stuff:

Anti-Semitism was rampant at the protest. I heard the phrase “fucking Jews” uttered by at least ten different individuals. I also heard a number of people discussing how the Israelis had infiltrated our government to commit genocide against the Palestinians. This sign is a great example of this sentiment. “I want YOU to die for Israel. Israel sings Onward Christian Soldiers.” I would have expected this type of message from a Klan rally, or maybe some skinheads. I wasn’t necessarily surprised to hear it from a bunch of left-wing anti-war folks, I was just surprised at how open they were with it.

Found this image via the discussion section to this post over at little green footballs.  I think it speaks volumes and I’m glad to know that someone was there to challenge the peace protesters:

(It should be noted that not all pacifists are this way—just our modern batch of no war for any reason appeaseniks.  I have great respect for those who have served this country in the past as battle-field medics and priests.)

Went to the video store across the street from UNT to see if there was anything worth renting.  At this time of year the place gets picked over by the incoming horde of college students, but I still like this little video store better than Blockbuster.  Our local Blockbuster is located inside the Wal-Mart super center.  Getting in and out of the Wal-Mart parking lot on a Saturday afternoon is an exercise in creative avoidance.  Given my misanthropic tendencies, it’s best to avoid such antics.

I selected Big Trouble and made my way to the counter.  The clerk, a young woman of 21 or 22 (she had an “Over 21” stamp on her hand from some club but she couldn’t be much over 21), was in the back room watching a video when I approached.  I don’t think that she realized that the screen was visible from the counter, since I caught a glimpse of a hardcore porno movie before she turned it off.  I didn’t say anything about it, although I couldn’t keep a smirk off my face.  At this point I think she realized that she’d been BUSTED.  Oh well, I’m not a prude about such things.  More power to her if she wants to watch a dirty movie.  For some reason it just amused me.

Unfortunately, my amusement was short-lived.  I stopped at a local barbecue place for some lunch.  When I came out someone had thrown a bottle of milk at my truck, splashing the passenger side.  I wish I knew who had done it.  My first impulse would be to shove that bottle so far up their ass that they’d be sneezing milk for a week.  Unfortunately, all those annoying “assault” laws would get in the way (and it’s also best to avoid conflict when armed).

Bleh.  That seems to be a pattern for my life.  Whenever I find myself in a good mood about my fellow man, some goon comes along and reconfirms my latent misanthropy.