Lead Paint is Good For Your Kids to Eat!

At least that is the view of the Bush Administration, judging from their actions.

I'm not going to rant about this. If you haven't yet figured out that the Bush Administration doesn't give a fuck about you or your kids or your grandkid or anything else under the Sun so long as there is a buck in it for one of their supporters, then it is far, far time that you go buy a clue.

It doesn't matter if the air is polluted, if the environment is desecrated, if the water is foul, if your food or your pet's food is adulterated or poisonous, if you children's toys are hazardous, it just doesn't matter to Chimpy McGreedhead so long as there is money to be made.

Bush's Retirement

"Six years from now, you're not going to see me hanging out in the lobby of the U.N." --George Bush, comparing his retirement plans to what Bill Clinton has done. Mr. Bush said, “I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.”

Might I suggest that he plan on the possibility that he may be tried for various war crimes, including starting a war of aggression (or two) and violations of human rights?

"But the fundamental question is, is the world better off as a result of your leadership?”-- George W. Bush.

Well, that is a question worthy of C-minus Augustus. The obvious answer is: "Fuck no, it sure isn't!"

Sympathy for the Germans

There is this news story about planning for a war with Iran. The implication is that war is imminent.

I'm not sure I buy that. For one thing, I would expect that the planners in Ft. Fumble would have current plans to attack any number of nations or plans to respond to attacks by them. For instance, if the Chinese were to move against Taiwan, I'd expect that the plans for what we'd do about that are already drawn up.

But if it true that war with Iran is in the cards, I am starting to have a degree of sympathy for the Germans of the 1930s. What do you do if your country is in the grip of a bunch of bloodthirsty madmen whose first impulse is to go to war?

Afghanistan is by no means finished, as the Taliban have expanded their influence. Iraq is nowhere near the "last throes" that Cheney boasted about years ago.

And yet these chowderheads, a bunch of chickenhawks who avoided going to serve in a war when they were young, may be maneuvering to start a third war with their first two wars undone.

And let us not forget that their children and nieces and nephews are not serving in any of these wars. They think their wars are so important to the free world and are the struggle of this age, but their kids stay safely home. Actions speak louder than words, and their actions show that these wars are not worth it, they are only to be fought with the blood of other people's kids and the monies of the future generations which will have to retire the debts run up by these "conservatives."

Kudos to the Bush Administration

North Korea agreed Sunday to account for and disable its atomic programs by the end of the year, offering its first timeline for a process long sought by nuclear negotiators, the chief U.S. envoy said.

(The muffled bang you heard off in the distance was the sound of John Bolton's head exploding.)

I'm serious about the kudos, even though they wasted six years while the mouth-frothing neocons did everything they could to provoke a war. I don't know how the diplomats managed to do an end-run around Vice President Voldemort to get this done, but they did.

Yes, I Know

I went a whole day without a snarky or sarcastic post about Chimperor Maximus Disgustus or his Evil Regent or Alberto el Incompetente or his cast of water-carriers and enablers on the Right.

I took the day off. I might even take tomorrow off.

Deal with it.

Cat Photos

I brought this pot of cat grass home. Two of my cats faced off over who would get the first sample.


Not my cat, a friend's cat. I just liked the way the reverse lighting played on his head.


One of the fun things about digital cameras is that you can really play with the settings. In the days of film, doing much experimentation could get costly.

Up in the Air, Junior Birdmen

Yesterday morning. Notice what appears to be a knife slice going from the bottom of the photo and running off in the distance. That is a powerline. They look as though a giant ran a lawnmower through the woods.


Just puttering along through the sky this afternoon, going home. That is 112mph indicated airspeed, which is 126mph true airspeed at 6,500' on a late summer day. I very rarely go any higher than this, I've gone to 9,500' maybe three times in 17 years. Takes a long time to get up there.



The gyro that was formerly installed was a WW2 surplus horizontal card unit. The hole in the panel below the gyrocompass was for the old one's caging knob. The red sheets are acetate; they dim the lights in the VOR displays at night.


This poor Stinson will probably not fly again. I've been told that it was last annualed five years ago and has been parked ever since.

Death by Coffee

It would take 126 cups of coffee to kill me.

So I can drink at least 122 cups more each day!

The Sky is Calling

The Sun is up, the sky is clear and there is an airplane sitting on a tiedown.

See y'all later.

What Government Can Do

I think the view that "government is always incompetent and is an enemy of the people" is a modern view, one that has been put forth by Republicans over the last 27 years, and one that is not really true.

Government went from having nothing more than a few eggheads with an idea to ending World War II with atomic weapons in five years.

Government went from having a ability to put a man in a suborbital space flight to a dozen men on the moon in ten years. Government has sent or is sending robotic space probes to every planet in the Solar System.

The GPS navigational system that provides the signals for everyone in the world to use for all sorts of purposes was put there by our government.

The government has run the safest and probably the busiest air traffic control system in the world, and did so pretty much at little cost to the taxpayer, or at least it did until the Bush Administration started turning it into another method of providing corporate welfare to large companies.

If you're into firearms, the M-1 rifle was a government project. So was the M1903 Springfield rifle and the M-14 rifle. The M-16 was not a government project and it may be just a coincidence that a number of firearms enthusiasts consider it to be a temperamental piece of shit better suited for a firing range than for combat.

The Republicans have put forth the idea for the last generation that government is not an "us", but a "them", that government is not run by our representatives who are trying to do the best they can but a collection of largely faceless incompetents. And what the Republicans have done is that since they are hostile to the idea of government, they see no reason why they just can't staff it with party hacks and ideological goons. Because the Republicans are hostile to government, we get industry that is largely unregulated and destructive to the environment. Anything that can be carved up, chopped down or desecrated to make a buck for someone who is willing to kick some of it back as a campaign contribution is carved up, etc.

And so we now get a Transportation Security Agency that excels at stealing stuff from people's luggage and harassing air travelers to the point that airline flying is an experience akin to having dental work. We get an FAA where pilots who call for the legally-required weather briefing can and do find themselves "on hold" for long periods of time.

And we get FEMA, staffed by a collection of "heckuvajobs".

People bought into the conservative "government is the enemy" view. And in large measure, we now have the government that we deserve.