2006/01/31

You know that it is pretty bad...

...when your town makes it onto a major news feed website. What makes it worse is when the phrase "radiation leak" is involved.
Fire-Rescue personnel and area medical personnel geared up for mass casualties when an industrial accident at a Baymeadows manufacturing facility Monday morning leaked a small amount of radiation.

The Unison Industries building in the 7500 block of Baymeadows Way was evacuated and police blocked streets in the area after a cylinder of krypton gas exploded in the facility about 10:45 a.m.

Unison spokesman Wayne Moles said he was not aware that any product used in their facility had a high radiation risk.

"That gas primary involves hydrogen, nitrogen,other elements, but has a small amount of krypton 85 in it, and that may have been the source of the readings that the fire department found," Moles said.

2006/01/30

Make your own motivational poster.

I found the above link from a thread on The High Road. Click the link above and have at it!

Here are some examples:



2006/01/28

Tag, you're it.

Okay, so Ken tags me with this little internet quiz. Check it out.

1) What is your middle name?
Starts with a T

2) What size is your bed?
King.

3) What are you listening to?
Whatever audio is coming from the multitide of video games I play.

4) What are the last two digits of your phone #?
56

5) What is the last thing you ate?
Church Street Stacker from Ruby Tuesday's

6) Last person you hugged?
My son.

7) How is the weather right now?
Cold. I love the cold, because I'm hot blooded.

8) Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?
My wife.

9) What's the first thing you notice about the opposite/same sex?
Opposite: Whether she has huge....tracts of land.
Same: Threat potential

10) Do you have a bf/gf ?
No, my wife would kill me if I did.

11) MIA

12) Do you drink?
Yes. Some might argue, but Tequilla is actually a drink.

13)Have you ever gotten so drunk that you don't remember the entire nite?
There were a few I wish I could forget.

14)Hair color?
Dark Brown

15) Eye color?
Blue

16) Fav baseball team?
I'm with Ken on this one. "The best thing about baseball season is that it ends!"

17) Fav animal?
Dogs

18) Favorite season?
Winter

19) Ever cried for no reason?
No, usually there is a death involved.

20) Last movie you watched?
Doom (surprisingly not as bad as most folks think)

21) What book are you reading?
No book, but currently flipping through the March issue of GUNS magazine.

22) Piercings?
None personally, but I like 'em.

23) Favorite movie?
Aliens, Band of Brothers (mini-series, I know, sheez)

24) Fav college team?
None. But I will say that I prefer college hoops. At least you don't "VOTE" for a winner.

25) What are you doing right now?
Avoiding work.

26) Pets?
Yes.

27) Dog or cats?
Living together...mass hysteria!

28) Favorite flower?
Plumed Cockscomb

29) Have you ever been caught doing something you weren't supposed to be doing?
Nothing illegal.

30) Have you ever loved someone?
Still do.

31) Who would you like to see right now?
The guy from the state lottery commission handing me a winning check.

32) Are you still friends with your ex's?
N/A

33) Have you ever fired a gun?
On occassion.

34) Do you like to travel by plane?
Yes

35) Right handed or left handed?
Both

36) If you could be with someone right now, who would it be?
my bed, at home.

37) How many pillows you sleep with?
I only have one. My wife has about 500.

38) Are you missing someone?
No, I know where I put them

39) Do you have a tattoo?
No.

40) Do you watch cartoons on Sat. mornings?
My son controls the TV on Sat. mornings, so that would be a yes.

41) Are you hiding something from someone?
I have no room left to hide anything, it all belongs to my wife.

42) Do you play an instrument?
Um, no.

2006/01/27

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

Creeping....Rusty....Meat....

Friday FIREPOWER!
  • The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
    Two 8-by-20-inch touch screen displays dominated the dashboard.

    Tapping the screen changes radio channels. Touching it elsewhere selects a weapon to use: missile, bomb, cannon.

    Pointing to a landing spot on the map display tells the computer to fly the plane there – nearly hands off.

    A visual system built into the pilot’s helmet projects an image onto the visor, giving real-time navigation and targeting information. No matter which way the pilot’s head turns, the data are always in view.

    Voice commands are integrated into the controls to rapidly react to changing mission requirements.

  • "I just can't believe she's a police officer."
    Some thought a car had backfired in the parking lot. But that wouldn't explain the sequins, or the smoke, or the smell of gunpowder in the south St. Louis County restaurant.

    "I ain't got no gun," was the only thing the stranger told the crowd in the restaurant before gathering her purse and teenage daughter from a nearby booth and running out of the place about 1 p.m. Friday.

    But she did have a gun, investigators said, apparently a low-quality one that discharged by accident when she dropped her purse.

    She had a secret too, one that she might have kept had White not rushed to the window and called out the license number for a customer to jot down. The fleeing woman was an off-duty St. Louis police officer.

    The bullet blew a hole in a window and came to a safe landing in front of a doorway. A fragment struck a van outside. But no one was injured.

    St. Louis County police tracked down the city officer, who they said first denied even being at the restaurant, in the 4300 block of Telegraph Road. Then she told police that she had fled because she thought she was under fire. Finally she confessed to the accident, police said.

    The officer, whose name was not released pending consideration of charges against her, eventually told police that she had thrown the weapon out her car window along Interstate 255 because she was afraid she was going to be in trouble.
    Unlike the trouble that she is in now by discharging a firearm in public, fleeing the scene of the incident, denying such said incident occurred, and disposing of the evidence. If this was just Joe Citizen, do you thing he'd have been allowed to just resign from the situation? I don't think so, at least not with all of his rights intact.

    It also goes to show that if you do carry a weapon, it should be safely and securely encased so that there will not be an accidental discharge under any reason.

  • For your car security needs: The Console Caddy.

    I just picked up the compact console caddy from R&D Enterprises. It fits in my center console of my car. It is built like Fort Knox, and weighs a ton. I'll soon have it anchored into the structure of the car, for extra security. It uses a mechanical lock, so no messing with batteries. I'm very impressed with how it is built and what it can hold.

2006/01/26

Want to sneak into the US? Mexico helps to make it happen.

A Mexican government commission will distribute at least 70,000 maps showing highways, rescue beacons and water tanks in the Arizona desert to curb the death toll among illegal immigrants.

The National Human Rights Commission, a government-funded agency with independent powers, denied that the maps would encourage illegal immigration. Officials said they would help guide those in trouble to rescue beacons and areas with cell phone reception. The maps will also show the distance a person can walk in the desert in a single day.

"We are not trying in any way to encourage or promote migration," said Mauricio Farah, one of the commission's national inspectors. "The only thing we are trying to do is warn them of the risks they face and where to get water, so they don't die."

He estimated that 500 Mexicans died trying to cross the border in 2005. Many die in the desert, where summer temperatures soar above 100 degrees, and many drown while trying to cross the Rio Grande.

Funny, I thought the best way in this situation to keep the people alive would be to prevent them from doing the ILLEGAL act that might cause them to die in the first place.

There are two major issues I see that prevent action on the Mexican illegal immigrant problem:
  1. The economy of the businesses that support the usage of illegal labor. If you combat the root cause, money, things might change. However, can you honestly say that you'd be willing to pay $5 for the formerly $0.99 taco at Taco Bell because the cost of picking the lettuce and tomato rose through the roof? I doubt many Americans, who are comfortable with their cost of living, will be willing to pay the price in dollars out of their own pocket to secure the Southern border. Sometimes it is easier to combat the demand side than the supply side.

  2. Politicians who want the Latino vote, believe that any immigration reform will mean that they will lose such said vote. Securing their personal power base is more important than securing the border.

2006/01/25

A pox on Earl

Like the character he plays on My Name Is Earl, Jason Lee seems to be suffering from a case of bad karma.

How else to explain his diagnosis of adult-onset chicken pox, just as NBC announced that it was renewing his series for a second season?

Production on the comedy was shut down over the weekend after Lee was diagnosed with the virus.

Fortunately for the rest of the cast, no one else was infected with the itchy ailment; unfortunately for Lee, he was judged highly contagious and will have to remain in quarantine for several weeks.

As someone that has suffered through an adult case of the chicken pox, I can say that it sucks royally. It is a painful and miserable experience, especially if they go internal. You can't put calamine lotion down your throat.

2006/01/24

Sometimes you need your glasses in the car for more than driving.

Definitely NSFW, but funny as hell. Gotta love those countries that can laugh and joke via commercials without having a stick up their ass!

2006/01/23

Night, Night. Sleep Tight. Don't let the...oh crap, too late.

Legions of tiny blood-sucking bugs are munching their way through the Big Apple, making this the city that never sleeps ... tight. Bedbugs are back, and they're not just rearing their rust-colored heads in New York City. Authorities say it's a global crisis: Exterminators who handled one or two bedbug calls a year are now getting that many in a week, according to the National Pest Management Association.

The elusive critters avoid light and attack in the middle of the night. About the size of an apple seed, a bedbug hides among cracks and crevices in furniture and walls, and can disappear into the edge of a picture frame or between buttons on an alarm clock.

The pests are efficient and active travelers, often hitching a ride on people's clothing and jumping from host to host when people brush up against each on the subway, in elevators or on crowded streets.

Cooties: It's not just for kids anymore. As unfriendly as New Yorkers are stereo-typed to be, I'm surprised to see them so nonchalant about being crammed into a subway. Ripe for the picking from these little suckers.

2006/01/20

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

Remember...Keep your booger hook off the bang switch.

Friday FIREPOWER!
  • Pistol pr0n!!!!

  • Build your own Gauss Pistol.
    "A Gauss Pistol is a specific kind of "Coil Gun". Coil Gun: A device that accelerates a ferromagnetic projectile using a coil of wire and a pulsed power source, usually capacitors. A large current is put through the coil, making it magnetic and attracting the ferromagnetic projectile. When the projectile passes through the coil, the current switches off and the coil loses its magnetism, allowing the projectile to keep going".

  • Something from the FN Police Shotgun Manual
    "As a gun owner, you accept a set of demanding responsibilities. How seriously you take these responsibilities can be the difference between life and death. There is no excuse for careless or abusive handling of any firearm. At all times handle your shotgun and any other firearm with intense respect for its power and potential danger."

  • Soldiers could lose benefits for wearing non-issued armor.
    Two deploying soldiers and a concerned mother reported Friday afternoon that the U.S. Army appears to be singling out soldiers who have purchased Pinnacle's Dragon Skin Body Armor for special treatment. The soldiers, who are currently staging for combat operations from a secret location, reported that their commander told them if they were wearing Pinnacle Dragon Skin and were killed their beneficiaries might not receive the death benefits from their $400,000 SGLI life insurance policies. The soldiers were ordered to leave their privately purchased body armor at home or face the possibility of both losing their life insurance benefit and facing disciplinary action.

    Unfortunately, just like a corporation, the military can't have people bringing in their own equipment, because the insurance doesn't cover it and there is the need for uniformity. I understand it, but I wouldn't like it if it is causing lives to be lost. If there are better products on the market, use them. It just takes so damn long for something to be fielded and approved without palms being greased.

    EDIT: The Army is adding side-armor to their already incremented armor selection. There has also been some questions to the above nature of the story, particularly of the source. Grain of salt time.

2006/01/19

Longevity Calculator

So, because I don't drink much, don't smoke, don't do recreational drugs, buckle up, and drive safe, I'm gonna live forever! However, because I'm a fat ass that has a family of medical issues, I'm doomed! Not too bad, says that the average life expectancy is 75. That'll work for me. 2045, here I come.

2006/01/18

Mayor commissions study on crime due to murder rate concern.

With already nine homicides in Duval County this year, the Sheriff's Office needs your help to keep violent crime down.

Meanwhile, Jacksonville's mayor is getting concerned.

With the number of homicides growing, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says they need the publics help to keep crime down.

Ken Jefferson with the J-S-O says residents need to stay alert.

"Stay vigilant in your own neighborhoods," Jefferson says. "If you see anything or anybody that looks suspicious or acting suspicious, give us a call."

Jefferson says programs like neighborhood watch can also keep crime down.

If you see suspicious activities in your neighborhood, call the J-S-O at 630-0500.

Meanwhile, the number of murders so far in 2006 has Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton concerned.

There were fewer 104 murders in 2004, 91 last year, but by the numbers, 2006 is off to a bad start.

"It concerns me greatly, and it concerns our Sheriff greatly," Peyton says. "The numbers are staggering, they're not acceptable. I think we need to do all we can as a community to address them.".

Peyton says he's disturbed by the murder rate, and he hopes an upcoming J-C-C-I study on the factors involved with violent crimes will help them reduce the numbers.


Well, I can tell you for a fact that the number one factor involved with violent crimes is the criminal. The rest are just circumstances and tools. However, studies like these can go on to become legislation that wouldn't be popular with quite a few of the Appalachian-Americans around here.

2006/01/17

Never rob a cartoonist.

A MAN who allegedly robbed a renowned Victorian cartoonist has been caught, thanks to a detailed caricature drawn by his victim.

Police said the cartoonist, Bill `Weg' Green, who is famous for his drawings of AFL Grand Final teams, offered to draw a picture of the robber when police arrived at his home in Melbourne's east.

Mr Green, 82, had been confronted by the robber in the carport of his Heathmont home on Saturday morning, police said.

The robber tried to assault Mr Green, then stole a red racing bicycle from the rear shed, Senior Constable Michael Henry said.

Police who attended the scene took the drawing with them to meet other officers who had arrested a man for another theft nearby.

"Holding up the cartoon, both members were amazed to find it was the spitting image of the arrested man in the back of the divisional van," Senior Constable Henry said.

Wanted for questioning:


Speaking of caricatures, how about those comments from
Ray "Chocolate" Nagin? Got MiLK indeed.

2006/01/13

Misc. Friday Ramblings...

The problem is a short between the chair and the keyboard.

Friday FIREPOWER!

2006/01/12

How far would you go for a free photo?

Step into the box and do everything you are told. Hmmm, you could have quite a bit of fun with this one, if you aren't afraid to get sued. I'm actually surprised that hidden camera gags like this still work. I'm more surprised that Candid Camera was still running after so many years, especially with the litigious nature of the past few decades.

2006/01/11

If at first you don't succeed...

... zero your damn scope. Oh yeh, don't video your failure and let it out on the internet as well. Also, shooting at a roadway, and with another deer stand in the near distance, is just asking for a ricochet shot. Four rules....four rules...

BTW, what did you get for Christmas?

2006/01/10

Watching your dream (house) take flight.

Need for screen-enclosure reform exposed

A Palm Beach Post examination of widespread wind damage to pool and patio enclosures across Florida has led to calls for action by legislators, regulators and the industry that builds them.

The Dec. 29 report, published after two busy hurricane seasons, documented that thousands of aluminum enclosures collapsed at wind speeds far below what they're supposed to withstand, at a cost of millions of dollars. Among the causes cited for the failures: inadequate engineering, poor construction, cut-throat price competition and poor building code enforcement at the state and local levels.

In South Florida, the Florida Building Code requires structures to withstand 140-mph gusts. That's discounted for patio cages, because people aren't expected to weather storms in them, and for exposed locations, but it's clear even within the industry that massive damage is occurring at wind speeds of 100 mph and less.

When I had my screened patio room installed, the builder was quick to point out that the fine-mesh screen, in high wind, acted like a sail. He said that if I was expecting winds in excess of about 75mph, cut the screens. That will allow the wind free passage through the patio, and will not generate lift against the roof panels. He went on to say that replacing screen is cheap compared to having to replace the enclosure plus structure damage. I agree.

2006/01/07

Appalachian American wisdom for the day.

"My parents were Native American and Irish. How......about another round of drinks." - Steve McGrew


"Married women don't have to wear lingerie anymore. Why bait the hook when the fish is already in the boat?" - Steve McGrew

2006/01/06

Misc. Friday Ramblings

The doctor is in. 5¢

Friday FIREPOWER!
Sniper shot that took out an insurgent killer from three quarters of a mile

Gazing through the telescopic sight of his M24 rifle, Staff Sgt Jim Gilliland, leader of Shadow sniper team, fixed his eye on the Iraqi insurgent who had just killed an American soldier.

His quarry stood nonchalantly in the fourth-floor bay window of a hospital in battle-torn Ramadi, still clasping a long-barrelled Kalashnikov. Instinctively allowing for wind speed and bullet drop, Shadow's commander aimed 12 feet high.

A single shot hit the Iraqi in the chest and killed him instantly. It had been fired from a range of 1,250 metres, well beyond the capacity of the powerful Leupold sight, accurate to 1,000 metres.

"I believe it is the longest confirmed kill in Iraq with a 7.62mm rifle," said Staff Sgt Gilliland, 28, who hunted squirrels in Double Springs, Alabama from the age of five before progressing to deer - and then people.

"He was visible only from the waist up. It was a one in a million shot. I could probably shoot a whole box of ammunition and never hit him again."

That distance isn't really a limitation of the scope as much as a limitation of the ammunition. The M24 platform is rated 800m accurate, but as written in the article, its lethality extends well beyond.

Honorable mentions this week:

2006/01/05

The Three Question Personality Test




Your Personality Is


Rational (NT)


You are both logical and creative. You are full of ideas.

You are so rational that you analyze everything. This drives people a little crazy!

Intelligence is important to you. You always like to be around smart people.

In fact, you're often a little short with people who don't impress you mentally.

You seem distant to some - but it's usually because you're deep in thought.

Those who understand you best are fellow Rationals.

In love, you tend to approach things with logic. You seek a compatible mate - who is also very intelligent.

At work, you tend to gravitate toward idea building careers - like programming, medicine, or academia.

With others, you are very honest and direct. People often can't take your criticism well.

As far as your looks go, you're coasting on what you were born with. You think fashion is silly.

On weekends, you spend most of your time thinking, experimenting with new ideas, or learning new things.

2006/01/04

Soccer families and swingers do not mix.

Parents who traveled from South Carolina and Clearwater to bring their 11- to 13-year-old daughters to a five-day soccer tournament said they were shocked by the parade of sexually adventurous partygoers who sashayed through the glass-enclosed atrium, sometimes flashing breasts and bare buttocks in front of their children.

They described the dress of some of the swingers at the Crowne Plaza Hotel-Airport in Orlando as "raunchy, despicable and worse than prostitutes."

"We thought we were coming to Orlando, not the Las Vegas Strip," said Mark Gilbert, the father of a 13-year-old who plays on the Clearwater Chargers, a group of 13-and-under players.

One employee said the party was advertised on a swinger Web site, and participants -- some of whom engage in partner-swapping and voyeurism -- came from across the United States.

"We're not prudes by any means," said Rob Young of Greenville, S.C., who said his two daughters, Leah, 13 and Lauren, 11, were asking questions that were difficult to answer. "We would have liked to have been informed when we checked into the hotel so we could have made other arrangements."

Young said he complained to hotel management and to John Hollis, an off-duty Orlando police officer, asking if the swingers could be kept out of the hallways and lobby. He said neither the officer nor the hotel manager acted on his complaints.

Paul Camporini brought his wife, seventh-grade daughter and eighth-grade son from Safety Harbor and said he had to "delicately explain to my Catholic school children that swingers change partners during the evening."

Camporini, 49, said his son initially did not want to travel to watch his sister play soccer but "thought it [the swingers' party] was downright hilarious."

"My biggest gripe is that the hotel had two distinctly different groups under the same roof," he said. "A soccer team and middle-aged swingers should not have been booked together. Even Disney tells guests when they book during Gay Days."

Having stayed at hotels on multiple occasions when there were some sort of youth events going on, I can say that I'd rather have the adult swingers than having some group of prepubescent brats roaming the hallways at all hours of the night. My experience is that there are very few instances where the youths are under control. And no, my complaints were not acted on either. Soccer parents, meet your damn kettle; to that hotel, the swinger's had just as much right to be there as your damn kids. So, neener, neener. :P

I do agree with one of the parents, in that if something like a convention or event is going on at the hotel, I'd really like to know so I can entertain alternate arrangements.

2006/01/03

It's my potty, and I'll die if I want to.

A mother in Dallas is one of several parents complaining about a new interactive book for toddlers in which Sesame Street character Elmo asks "who wants to die?" according to a Local 6 News report.

Family members said 16-month-old Miranda Boll's new book, "Potty Time With Elmo," was supposed to teach an interactive lesson using voice commands.

However, when the book's buttons are pressed, it reportedly says something it is not supposed to -- "who wants to die?"

"It's a sick joke," mother Angela Bolls said. "If it's a joke then it's a bad one, you know? And it's not necessary. It's inappropriate."

Bolls said she checked another copy of the same book and found that it says something completely different; "Who wants to try to go potty?"

The company that makes the book said it has had several complaints concerning the book, according to the report.

For when you have to take a really killer sh!t.