Archive for August, 2005

August 02, 2005

Indisposed

I’ll be likely unavailable for the remainder of the week. However, I have a gang of guest bloggers lined up and I’ve even set some stuff to post in the future, that stuff will be repeats of past things that I particularly enjoyed writing.

Don’t despair, I shall return.

Seems about right

Kyer has some discussion of the bullet ID pipe dream that is being kicked around in California. The real purpose of this pipe dream seems to be to put ammunition manufacturers out of business.

Green bullets not so green

CBS news (yes, that CBS news):

Army officials at Camp Edwards believed they were being eco-friendly when they started using a “green bullet” that contains no lead — a move meant to prevent polluting an aquifer beneath the base.

But six years later, after a million rounds have been fired at the base’s shooting ranges, new information suggests the green bullets may not be much better for the environment than the lead ones.

The bullets are made of nylon and tungsten. I recall reading that the copper bullets recently introduced (after jumping through various governmental hoops) were also supposed to be environmentally friendly and, as a bonus, provide more stopping power.

Zetas

Blogs have been all over the para-military, drug forces that switched sides for a while now. Now, some press is picking up on it. Jerry Seper:

A renegade band of Mexican military deserters, offering $50,000 bounties for the assassination of U.S. law-enforcement officers, has expanded its base of operations into the United States to protect loads of cocaine and marijuana being brought into America by Mexican smugglers, authorities said.

The deserters, known as the “Zetas,” trained in the United States as an elite force of anti-drug commandos, but have since signed on as mercenaries for Mexican narcotics traffickers and have recruited an army of followers, many of whom are believed to be operating in Texas, Arizona, California and Florida.

Pretty scary stuff, folks.

And Boy Are My Arms Tired…

Here in Raleigh you often see cars sporting a little oval sticker that says “OBX.” This is, obviously, an abbreviation of “Outer BanX,” which is a pretty popular summer vacation destination. The Outer Banks is (are?) basically a string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, much of which is owned by the FedGov as a National Seashore (no idea if it was seized by eminent domain). Notable attractions include Kitty Hawk, a lighthouse which is on our license plates, and the legendary Canadian Hole (no snickering; we’re NOT talking about Neil Young’s orifices here).

Canadian Hole is, according to me, THE premier windsurfing spot on the East Coast. Located on the Pamlico Sound side of Hatteras Island, the water is calm and shallow, which makes it great for beginning sailors as well as old pros. Plus, this being the Outer Banks (hey, the Wright Brothers chose Kitty Hawk as their launch site for a reason), you’ve got a good chance of some crankin’ wind.

Except, of course, in the summertime. Oh, there’s occasional wind, but the primo season is fall and spring when those cold fronts and nor’easters come rumbling through. Still, there’s always a chance. So when we loaded up the gas-guzzling, environment-destroying, squirrel-squishing SUV last week for our trip out there, of course I packed every single piece of windsurfing gear I own, on the principle that the thing you leave behind is the thing you’re sure to need the most when you get there.

Turns out, when you bring everything, you wind up needing none of it. Major skunkage, dude. Oh, there was some wind; maybe 10-12 mph a couple of days. That’s fine if you’re learning, but I was really hoping for 15-20. And the worst part of it was that every day, the Weather Channel forecast said, “tomorrow, winds 10-20mph.” What I didn’t realize is that that’s basically the default forecast there for that time of year, just as “hot and humid” is for Raleigh at this time of year. So every night I’d go to bed thinking, “Oh yeah, 10-20 tomorrow, baby!” only to wake up to “5-10” the next morning.

But I’m not bitter.

I learned something else, too: now I know why that absurd-looking kite-sailing stuff is so popular. Those guys where hauling butt in the 10-12mph wind. Just what I need; another gear-intensive hobby.

August 01, 2005

Sniff, sniff

Smells kind of Rino-ey in here. And it’s musical.

Legal extortion of bloggers

Another case for jury nullification:

Stop writing and we’ll reduce your charges, an Ohio prosecutor has told an editor, in essence now publicly admitting that the criminal charges lodged against the website writer are direct retaliation for his exercise of First Amendment rights.

Local correspondent needed

With the absence of Bubba from the blogosphere, there is a local political void. Not many members of The Rocky Top Brigade cover local Knoxville/East Tennessee stuff with passion and conviction and, particularly, regularity. Not many are willing to go toe-to-toe with the good ol’ boy network. I haven’t taken it up because I don’t live in Knoxville and, therefore, don’t follow it that closely.

To that end, if anyone wishes to be the Knoxville political correspondent here at SayUncle, this is your chance. As I said, my interest in covering it is minimal (I have a republic to save) but others would view this as valuable. So, if you’re willing to poke the powers that be with a pointy stick and write well (ok, write good enough), this may be your calling.

So, if you take an interest in local politics, follow them closely, and want a bully pulpit, this is your opportunity to do so without allegiance to a local media outlet. Heck, you don’t even have to have allegiance to me. You can take on douchebags like Brian Conley, take pot shots at the News Sentinel’s editorial board, or even make fun of whatever stupid crap Tim Burchett is peddling. The rules:

I must know you or be familiar with you enough to have faith that you know what you’re talking about.

No libel/slander (whichever one means published, I always forget).

Must have the facts on your side.

None of that crazy moonbat or wingnut nonsense.

You’ll have your own category section.

Anonymity guaranteed.

Shoot me an email or leave a comment if interested. Email info is in the upper right portion of the my main page.

Blog gatekeepers

Vanderleun on the fear of Instalinking addresses how a few big blogs are the gatekeepers to other blogs. He wonders if that, essentially, now makes blogs rather like the MSM. Could be. Do a select few of the blog elite (never thought I’d hear that phrase) control the dissemination of information? You betcha.

In the big bloggers’ defense, there are a ton of blogs. I don’t see how the big bloggers can possibly read all of them and, like you and me, probably have their own reading lists. It’s hard to read everything. It’s hard to get their attention, I’d imagine.

If you want your blog noticed, get in good with them. Remember that readers from the various large blogs who pop in when they link to you typically don’t stay. It’s a fact, deal with it. But if they continually link to you, people will start checking you out. And people like to say things to the effect of if you’re a great writer who writes about interesting things, people will find you. That’s sort of true. If you write well about interesting things, you’re more likely to keep a reader who pops in. But writing well in and of itself is useless unless something draws attention to your writing. You’re not going to start your blog today and have (and, more importantly, keep) thousands of visits per day tomorrow, unless you’re some insider involved in a scandal or have some degree of celebrity attached to you. Won’t happen, forget about it.

So, there are gatekeepers in blogging. Your job is to keep those readers who come by way of the gatekeepers interested.

If guns cause crime . . .

why is Switzerland so Safe?

Who’s reading your blog

Gunner says that military intelligence is apparently reading blogs looking for people saying too much:

He was looking into some posts made on my former blog about some force protection procedures for military units overseas. He was especially interested in what a few of the commenter were saying. Apparently someone said too much and they were looking for that person.

Call to arms (locks) – or save someone $10

With the recent passage of a bill in the Senate requiring all handguns (long guns are safe, apparently) sold through a dealer to come with a lock, the effects will likely be non-existent as most guns come with them anyway. However, I wouldn’t put it past dealers to add a few bucks to their prices anyway claiming the locks cost more.

If you’re like me, you probably have a ton of these things sitting around the house anyway. What if we, to save the manufacturers a few bucks, just started returning unused locks to them? Or, you know, mail them all to DiFi.

Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.

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