Picture

Chaka, I noticed that you still don't have a picture for a certain website. So I went ahead and made you one, hope you like it!
(right-click and "Save Picture As...")

Invasion of the Past

So, just to warn you, this is a bitter post.

So I've got a lot of acquaintances from High School who just recently graduated from college. Some of those people are really cool and I hope to run into them again, but a lot of those people are fucking douchebags that I never wanted to ever see again. The past four years have been perfectly fine, since they'll all been somewhere else in the United States and we were all happy. But now that every idiot I've ever met is done with college, they're all back in Minneapolis, bringing the douchebag meter to an all-time high. Seriously folks, get lost and never come back, ever.

That message only goes to the douchebags, not to the fun people I'd like to see again.
Get the fuck out of my city, douchebags.

Victory

"Smell that?... Do you smell that?"

"What."

"Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that... I love the smell of napalm in the morning... Ya know, that gasoline smell... It smells like... victory."

-Apolcalypse Now


That quote from a great movie based losely on a greater book was the first thought that entered my mind when I skimmed this article, which talks about a Destroyer the U.S. is working on that utilizes a rail-gun to launch artillery shells a great distance. This destroyer has the range to cover the entire country of North Korea from the sea. I was always more of a fan of Artillery than Missiles for long-range munitions, and this tool certainly gives Artillery the edge in my opinion. The thing with missiles is that they can be countered by other missiles, whereas artillery shells are a lot harder to counter.
Another article on the ship, this article states clearly that the artillery shells launched by this destroyer's rail-gun are in fact guided-munitions (i.e. precision shells that will in fact be guided towards the correct target). This is also very important as the line between combatants and non-combatants becomes increasinly blurry. Every single long-range munition launched in the Iraq war's Shock and Awe campaign was a precision-guided munition. Every time you saw on the news a big bomber dropping bombs on a random hillside, every single bomb was in fact guided towards an exact location designed to cripple the underground tunnel system.

Plus, a neat thing about this piece of artillery is that it can launch 20 shells in a minute, and in such a way as to have every shell land at exactly the same time.

That smells like victory to me.

Quote of the Day

Today's Quote of the Day comes from a man with infinite knowledge on aerospace engineering:

"how come i'm never apart of the quote of the day ?"
-Linus

Quote of the Day

Today's Quote of the Day comes from a genius of political comedy:

"The only thing that gets me high is the musky smell of my enemy's fear."
-Stephen T. Colbert

Founding Fathers

I've decided I'd like to study the give and take involved in replacing a strong governing monarchy with a gimped representative democracy.
So, I'm going to start reading more works by the Founding Fathers of America. Specifically I'd like to read some of Thomas Paine's works and George Washington's writings. I'd also like to read more about Charlemagne, one of the greater Monarchs of all time. And finally I think that Machiavelli's "The Prince" would be important in this study.
Possibly related to this subject is JS Mill's "On Liberty," Locke's Treatises of Government, and maybe even a book I've got on Foucault's political discussions involving balancing freedom and structure.

Partly what spurred this study is discussions I've been having with a co-worker. He pointed out how everyone seems to accept democracy as the end-all "government," the solution to all problems. Nothing like that should be simply accepted by all without discussion, especially in a society where we have public, centrally influenced, education systems.

Latest CD purchase

I picked up the Hinder cd the other day. I really, really, really wanted the Wolfmother CD, but the store doesn't carry it yet. And the Hinder CD was cheap for some reasion, $8. I would probably quadruple my CD purchase if those douchebags who run RIAA decided to lower the standard CD price to $8.

The big B.C.

An interesting read here. This article suggests being in artificially lit environments at night increases risk of breast cancer in women.

Dear Chaka

Chaka, I am charging you with an official duty: reinvigorate American writing. Me and a co-worker were talking at work today and we agreed there hasn't been a good American writer for too long. Not only that, but global society, in my mind, seems to be in an intellectual lull. The best ideas people can come up with are Utilitarian (read ignorant and lazy) ideas about animal rights and self-satisfaction. I expect your book on shelves within the week.

Aenima

Hehe, after reading more into the Rapture song I lost a little of the taste for it. I still think it is masterful choreography, but it got me thinking... and so I looked into the lyrics of a few other songs I enjoyed. This one I liked even better after reading the lyrics:

TOOL - Aenima
Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this

Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car.

It's a
Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Some say a comet will fall from the sky.
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves.
Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still.
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will cuz
I sure could use a vacation from this

Stupid shit, silly shit, stupid shit...

One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.

Learn to swim.
Learn to swim.
Learn to swim.

Mom is going to fix it all soon,
Mom is coming round to put it back
the way it oughtta be...

Learn to swim.

Fuck L Ron Hubbard and
Fuck all his clones.
Fuck all these gun-toting
Hip gangster wannabes.

Learn to swim.

Fuck retro anything.
Fuck your tattoos.
Fuck all you junkies and
Fuck your short memory.

Learn to swim.

Fuck smiley glad-hands
With hidden agendas.
Fuck these dysfunctional,
Insecure actresses.

Learn to swim.

Cuz I'm praying for rain
And I'm praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom please flush it all away.
I wanna see it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in.
Watch you flush it all away.

Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.

I wanna see it all come down.
suck it down.
flush it down.

My ADSM

Based on intellectual conversations involving metric system, I have devised an American Decimalised System of Measurement (ADSM).

note: This is mostly a sarcastic system of measurement created to show people that there is no need for a metric system. Also note that at least decimalised systems have not yet invaded angular measure, which has quickly become my favorite type of measurement.

The basic unit of length is the foot (ft):
1 Kilofoot = 1000 feet
1 centifoot = .01 feet
1 millifoot = .001 feet

The basic unit of weight is the pound-mass (lbm):
1 Kilopound = 1000 lbm
1 centipound = .01 lbm
1 millipound = .001 lbm

The basic unit of volume is the surt (srt):
1 surt = 1 cubic foot
1 kilosurt = 1000 srts
1 centisurt = .01 srts
1 millisurt = .001 srt

Did I miss anything?

Pardon my French

This'll sound harsh, but my feelings on the subject are harsh.
Fuck this shit!

The last thing we need is something that will impair pedestrians even more.

Metric System

The metric system is officially the dumbest system invented by mankind. Everyone absolutely LOVES the metric system because it's so easy to convert from, say, meters to kilometers, or liters to milliliters. The only problem is, this is an entirely redundant system. Put simply: we already have a decimal system! The decimal point belittles that conversion already. Adding a prefix to the name (i.e. "kilo" or "centi") adds absolutely no functionality. Why do you need 1 centimeter when you already have 0.01 meters?

The metric system is simply a single-unit system. The American System has different, and versatile units. We already have EVERYTHING the metric system has, AND MORE! If being able to choose the perfect unit for the project you're working on is so hard, just pick one of the available units and go with it. No one is stopping anyone from measuring everything in 100ths of a foot, 10ths of a foot, or 1000-foot units. "Oh, that plank is a centi-foot long" or "That plank is a tenth of a foot long" or "That plank is point-one feet long." If that makes you more comfortable, go with it.

Moral of the story, the metric system is a system that has been obsolete since the invention of the decimal point (which was invented a long... long time ago).

Local Songs

These are a couple local bands that have really cool grooves.

White Light Riot
(myspace page)
The song I really like from this band is called "Out of Sight."

The Lid
(myspace page)
The song I like from this band most is called "The Choice." It has an especially sweet intro, in my humble opinion.

Favourite Word

Indefatigable.

I was first introduced to this word while reading a book on famous Frigate engagements. The particular chapter was on Sir Edward Pellew who captained several vessels including one named Indefatigable. If I remember correctly the Indefatigable and a fellow English frigate finessed a French Ship of the Line into landlocking itself. Usually battles between Frigates and Ships of the Line were not faught, the two primary reasons being: 1) A Frigate was never expected to be able to compete with a Ship of the Line, so attacking one was pointless, 2) There was little to be gained by having a Ship of the Line attack a frigate, but there certainly was a lot to lose.

Anyway, I just really like that word.