Category: Current Events

People can call him a RINO all they want, the guy is still a rare breed in politics, who tells it like it is:

And those of us in Pennsylvania, would just like to thank New Jersey, once again, for being Irene’s punching bag.

UPDATE: Just removed the colander from the dishwasher, just in case it gets bad enough that I have to go hijack some gasoline.

Irene is coming, and it’s panic time in Pennsylvania. People are stocking up on water, and sizing up the family pets just in case it gets really bad. Based on media reports, so far, zombies are certain to follow in the path of the storm. Despite the media hysteria, I am taking on some preparation, but mostly for lots of rain and enough wind to stand a high probability of knocking out power.

Cleaned out all the gutters and downspouts, in the hopes that a clear path for water away from the house could buy me some pump capacity, and time if we start running on batteries. I used to go up on the roof with my mom or dad all the time to do these kinds of tasks, and didn’t think much of it. Now I have to admit I was fairly terrified throwing one foot over the ladder onto the roof, and then the other. The reverse was even worse. Like a cat who climbed up a tree and then can’t get down, I stayed up there a couple of minutes while I worked up the nerve to get back on the ladder from the roof. But hey, the alternative is hanging out of my roof for a few days while I watch a tropical storm come in. It’s not so much the height itself that bothers me, so much as the fear of falling. I know I’m not as sure on my feet as I was at 14 or 15.

The backup pump is supposed to be good for six hours, but I’m not sure I’d count on it. There are no generators or batteries left in the area, so in the event of a protracted power outage, we’re going to use the car’s batteries for the sump pump, and use the cars the recharge them. I may just see if we can run the car’s alternator output right in to run the pump.

In the event we lose power, the blog only has an hour or so of battery. If we go offline this weekend, you’ll know why. We’re well stocked on the important things, like hooch. Food wise, I’m going to smoke a Boston Butt in anticipation of Irene’s arrival.

It’s times like this I’m glad we have New Jersey between us and the sea, so it may act as nature’s punching bag on our behalf. Thanks guys!

UPDATE: I think I just bought the last marine deep cycle battery in Southeastern Pennsylvania. I should have enough battery to last me through anything, provided the DC pump can keep up with the storm. I have enough juice, hooch, and BBQ to last me… wish me luck.

Ray Nagin is going on tv to tell people how to prepare for Irene. As long as he’s saying, “Don’t do what I did,” then he’s right!

In other news, Atlantic City casinos are already shutting down in advance of any orders to do so. I think it’s telling that they have to rope off casinos in order to convince people that maybe they shouldn’t be hanging out at the coast when a hurricane is coming.

I know I’ve been joking about the little rattling we’ve had on the East Coast, but DC is about the worst city in the world to have any kind of earthquake, even one of 5+ magnitude, considering the ground it’s build on. The Washington Monument seems to have suffered actual damage during Quakemagheddon.

I think it’s mildly amusing to watch organizers of the London Olympics try to throw everyone else they possibly can under the bus when it comes to denying school kids tickets to Olympic shooting events. The executives may come from the private sector, but they are doing a very good job at embracing their status as government employees and passing the buck onto everyone else but themselves.

When the ban on allowing schoolkids to get free tickets to the shooting events was announced, they said the anti-gun lobby was to blame for the ban. As part of that excuse, blame also fell on the Mayor Boris Johnson’s anti-gun efforts.

Now that it’s been exposed as outrageously over-the-top insanity, they are deflecting the blame while also overturning the policy. The Olympic organizers are now claiming that the ban on tickets was based on feedback from teachers.

At least the broader Olympic competitive community came together to back the shooters with a defense of the inclusion of shooting from the British Olympic Association.

The British Olympic Association said the shooting competition at the Olympic Games was not only inspirational but sent positive messages of non-violence, respect and friendship.

“The London 2012 Olympic Games is an opportunity for high performance shooting athletes to showcase their skill and talent in a controlled and safe environment,” a BOA spokeswoman said.

”Shooting athletes believe in the Olympic values and can, as role models, pass on the positive message of non-violence, respect and friendship. As such we believe the Ticketshare programme is an excellent opportunity for the future generation of Olympic shooting hopefuls to be inspired by today’s Olympians.”

Of course, the London organizers are probably going to keep trying to shift the blame instead of just admitting they made a stupid decision since they aren’t getting the best attention at the moment. One of their organization volunteers who went through an application process, interview, and training session was arrested as a lead rioter recently. She threw bricks at a police car and was the first to throw bricks through the windows of a Vodafone store and declared that it was “the best day ever.” Yet, the group that recruited her wants to blame Olympic shooters for violence?

No sooner do we get done with the “Earthquake of the Century”, and we’re facing the “Hurricane of the Century.” The battery that feeds my backup sump pump rendered itself into toxic waste in late June. I’ve been putting off replacing it until a job comes my way. Now I might have to do it sooner rather than than later. A battery is only fifty bucks, but the deductible on my homeowners policy is 20 times that. Better to buy the battery, when a pump is the only thing separating me from having a new indoor pool in the finished basement.

This could seriously interfere with my plans for smoking the Boston Butt. I know my dad reads sometimes, so Thursday is probably better than Friday now for the BBQ plans.

I was sitting here a few minutes ago, suddenly felt a jolt, like someone dropped something heavy on the house. Then everything started rattling. Not very furious, but I could tell it was an earthquake because of that initial P-wave hit, then the shaking. Looks like it was centered between Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia. Pretty big for this area. Looking to be around 6 magnitude. Wow. Never experienced that before. Bitter’s mom said it was pretty noticeable down there. I would have slept through it here, but being awake, I definitely felt it.

My California readers can feel free to laugh at me, marveling at the novelty of a little earth movement. Now we’ll watch the news media descend into hysterics at the “Earthquake of the Century!”

UPDATE: Here some pictures of the devastation that has descended on DC.

UPDATE: Since quakes are rare around here, I wasn’t sure what it was at first. If you checked the sky for mushroom clouds, just in case, raise your hand. Reports are the quake released about 10 kilotons of energy. That’s about a terrorist sized nuke, if you didn’t notice the flash.

UPDATE: A strong spirit from DC residents as they deal with the shock and horror “We Will Rebuild”

UPDATE: Marko reminds us of the important questions during this crisis.

Reading through this, one thing that stands out is this is not a guy who was going to be stopped by a few extra gun control laws:

Unlike many lone wolves, Breivik demonstrated that he possessed the intelligence and discipline to plan and carry out an attack that spanned several years of preparation. For example, he joined a pistol club in 2005 just in case he ever needed to buy a gun through legal means in Norway, and was able to rely on that alternate plan when his efforts to purchase firearms in Prague failed. Breivik was also driven, detail-oriented and meticulous in his planning. His diary documents that he was also extremely patient and careful during the dangerous trial-and-error process of manufacturing explosives.

This guy would have kept trying, even if it meant going back to the black market. It seems like he did have the contacts if he had really tried. One thing that’s kind of scary is the fact that there seem to be, at least according to the Norwegian killer, at least fifteen other people throughout Europe who shared his philosophy, and who may be planning attacks of their own.

That’s what it’s being called in the industry, and what Instapundit is reporting on currently. The good news is that drugs are indeed going to get much cheaper as patents on the hot drugs expire. The bad news is there isn’t much in the way of new drugs following up to take their place. The reasons for this are complicated, but part of the problem is how insane the FDA has gotten with their expectations on side affects and adverse reactions. If Obama takes credit for this, it will be kind of laughable. This kind of achievement isn’t something I’d like to preside over, because it essentially spells the death of innovation in this industry.

I’ve worked in pharmaceuticals pretty much my entire career, and in my current job search, I’m biased against taking jobs in that industry. Unfortunately, it has farther to fall before it hits bottom, and starts becoming receptive to new business models and new ideas. As much as I’d like to blame it all on the FDA, it is not the case. All the easy targets have been exploited, and the industry is not prepared to accept the kinds of innovations necessary to target the harder ones.

For me, in the IT part of the business, it’s not a huge deal; my skills are in demand in other industries. I feel for my former colleagues, who are going to have a much tougher time, because their skills are not transferrable.