Guard Dog

Here is another interesting little tidbit of news. Congressman Charles Rangel, Democrat from New York has said he will introduce a bill in Congress to reinstate mandatory military service through the draft. Thats right all you US males aged 17-28, now that Bush is out of office the Democrats want a military draft! I remember a number of you were hyperventilating about Bush getting re-elected in 2004 worried that he would bring back the draft. He said he would not. He didn't. The Democrats running the show seem to feel a little differently about it now. If it happens I will laugh and laugh and laugh.

GD, what's the size of your tin-foil hat? Really? Think I'm being paranoid? Check this: http://www.congresscheck.com/2009/01/19/ki...22nd-amendment/

Oh I will agree so far so good. But he is just getting started. Two years from now I'll be in a position to admit I was wrong or prove I was right. I desperately hope it's the former.

As for Obama's speech, I thought it was twenty minutes of nothing. He never settled on a coherent message and bounced back and forth between reciting campaign slogans and citing history. Don't get me wrong, he delivered well as he always does, but the text was choppy and he jumped from one subject to another and back, from historical citations to rehashed campaign slogans and back. Half of it was almost Conservative, talking about taking responsibility and the government cannot solve all problems, then in the next breath stated that people should turn to the government for solutions. That is an exteme contadiction. It's kind of like talking about dry rain. I almost thought he was making it up as he went. Did you notice the crowd was not sure when to applaud? As for Obama himself, he scares me half to death. My biggest fear is that he and his fellow democrats in Congress will radically change and expand the role of government into an Orwellian nightmare. Thay are quite capable of it and some are chomping at the bit to do it.

If a secret cabal of individuals ever did seize power, I'm sure I would be on the short list of people to be stood up and shot. In fact it may have happened today. Thats ok though, I'm well armed and won't go quietly.

Oh heck, thats easy. First you invent a nonexistent problem like... global warming for example. Then you get a cabal of associates to pass themselves off as scientists and experts to back up your claims. Then you convince everyone it is their fault the nonexistent problem is happening in the first place and begin making dire predictions that they will all soon be dead and it's all their fault. You let that simmer for a few years, all the while continuing to make dire predictions and after a while nobody will even care that none have come true. As the saying goes, tell a lie often enough and it takes on a truth of it's own. Finally, when panic levels have hit fever pitch over you nonexistent problem, you tell everyone you have the solution that will save them all, all they have to do is follow you. Then they will give up their freedom willingly and you can do whatever you want to them. Of course, there will be few dissenters and non-believers. At first you will discredit them by questioning their intelligence when they do not believe in your non existent problem. Your cabal of associates will be helpful here. Then once you have most of the people following you they will shout down dissenters themselves. Once you have the power, you just kill them. Wasn't that easy?

My dogs. If they can't go, then I'm not going.

I predicted the finding Starbucks crashed Viper and I was feeling pretty clever until the scene with Dee came up. That was a huge shock, did not see that coming.

This is bumped to the top of my "Must Read" list: http://www.amazon.com/Agincourt-Novel-Bern...1420&sr=1-1

Have all of you considered that it may be subbed out? If Obsidian passes on another expansion because they have too many projects, it could easily be subbed out to a small studio like DLA or Ossian. For NWN2 the heavy lifting is essentially done now, a smaller team could pull off a small scale (SoZ sized) expansion with a little new content thrown in.

Out of the Park Baseball v9. I downloaded the demo last night. At first I was not impressed but the more I played around with it the more into it I got. By 4 am I was hooked. I'm buying it tonight. Kelverin you should give this one a look! Its in the mold of Baseball Mogul but much deeper and more flexible. You might like this one.

I don't know if you guys have been following this but it looks like Brandon Sanderson has completed the manuscript for the 12th and final Wheel of Time book A Memory of Light. It still has to go through an editorial cycle and there is bound to be some revision but it looks like that 8/2009 release estimate might be pretty close. http://www.brandonsanderson.com/

Figure this one. If the Giants lay an egg out there today the NFC championship game will be played in Arizona. Those are some words I'd bet you thought you would never hear in the same sentance.

They may be referring to MoW. I would love to see Obsidian take another crack at it just to get more content.

I slept late today, got up at 11. I fed the dogs, made chicken salad for lunch, went on Amazon and ordered Battlestar Galactica Season 4, and a few books. I spent a few hours playing ball with the dogs then carried a glass, a bowl of ice and a bottle of Knob Creek and sat on my porch and just watched the rain. I've got the game on but just can't get into it. I think I'll sepnd a few hours working on my NWN2 mod. All in all, a good day.

Now reading Mark Twains Following the Equator and Stonewall in the Valley by Robert Tanner. That one is about my second favorite American hero. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Are you going to have to go in on inauguration day? I would think all of North Va and Southern MD and everything in between will be at a standstill this time.

I was thinking of using it to create world maps. After working with the OL map I'm really not sure it's worth the trouble it is. For my modding project I am ditching it in favor of a world map ala the OC or MotB. For the Souther Adventures project I comitted myself to making it work. @Josh I'll give those a try in the encounter triggers. I was not using those. Thanks!

Not possible. Snipers must complete infantry school and have at least two years of fleet service before being selected for the scout/sniper program. I don't know about the Army but the Marines do not allow women to serve in "line" units meaning combat units. They do serve in air and support units but essentially infantry, artillery, and armor are not open to women marines. Pretty much everything else is. I don't want to sound sexist here, but the WMs I served with were not very well respected. They did not pull their weight in training or day to day operations and most could not hack it in unit PT. Most of them finished the formation runs in the back of the trail vehicle with not a word said to them. And nearly every one had a mammoth chip on their shoulders. Not easy to deal with at all. That is not to cast aspersions on all WMs, but the ones I knew did not belong in the Corps.

Good news folks! I won't have to sell my organs, eat my dogs, or give up drinking the good stuff. I have a real job waiting for me once the end finally arrives. I just cannot express how relived I am because I have a huge mortgage, a lot of bills, and an expensive drinking problem/ computer game addiction, and I was getting a little nervous. I just want to say, thanks to all of you for your comments and encouragement.

Just got home. It went very well I think. The job is actually with the Shelby County Sheriffs Dept. It does not meet the FCCs requirements for needing a licensed engineer but it once did back when it was called a Class A license. The job description has never been updated. But the HR director said it was a big plus. Essentially the job is a combination of radio technician, IT specialist, Performance Engineer, with some compliance thrown in. I certainly qualify and I thought the interview went well. They told me they would be making their decision by Jan 21st. I also got a call last night from my counterpart in Rogers Wireless. There is an opening there in network design which is what I was doing before accepting the promotion that brought me to where I am today. That company was once part of AT&T Wireless and I know most of the management there to one degree or the other. The catch is if I like the job and get an offer I'd have to move to Toronto. What to do eh?

Never read HP, saw one of the movies though. It's not heavy reading by any means but I would put it on par with Terry Brooks or Robert Jordan. It does not rise to George RR Martins level of plot intricacies or character development but it is very well done. It's a little like Heart of Darkness meets Lord of the Rings.

I have a job interview tommorow. I've got a good feeling about this one. The job requires a GROL and I'm the only EE I know who actually has one. Unless Taks does? Anyway, just picked up my new Joseph Abboud suit today to wear. Looks nice if I do say so myself. Is it my imagination of is the squirrel in the last picture making an obscene gesture?