Man feared dead after being grabbed by crocodile, also people breathe air and water is wet.

Um, yep. Once you get grabbed by a Salty, your life expectancy drops to near zilch at a dramatic rate. I feel sorry for the guy and his family, but the NBCNEWS.com headline writers have once again come up with a sandwich of "DUH!" in how they write.  Also in the headlines today at good ol' NBC?  Snipers 'deliberately" shoot at UN Inspectors. Um, yeah. That's what snipers do. They don't shoot randomly. Come on NBC, are you even trying?

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/25/20179207-crocodile-attack-australian-camper-snatched-from-muddy-river?lite

I really wish newspapers and media sites would take a little more time and either do the pun thing or at least report the facts. Trying to be a tabloid when you aren't is just lame. Guess they have to avoid talking about the Fed unwinding and the impending economic damage.

Red Head Girl in Bikini

Not really, but that seems to be a lot of what generates traffic for my blog. Odd.
Must be b/c of the Feral Irishman

Be good.

Its stuff like this that feeds conspiracy theories

I'm sure it went down just as presented by the FBI, but its this sort of odd circumstance that gets the tinfoil hat brigade salivating.

Man with ties to Boston bombing suspects shot during FBI questioning

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/22/18418012-man-with-ties-to-boston-bombing-suspect-shot-during-fbi-questioning?lite

This was not an accident, it was parental idiocy and child neglect

So a 5 year old boy in Kentucky shoots and kills his 2 year old sister with his 22LR rifle. It was a bolt action, single shot Crickett. Mom was home. They claim it was an accident; the boy was "just playing with it" and didn't realize there was a shell in the chamber. The gun normally sits in a corner in a room of the home.

1. Why wasn't this gun locked up?
2. Why wasn't the in gun lock on safe? (Cricket has a tubular key lock on their rifles)
3. What parent leaves a possibly loaded weapon around for their 5 year old to "play" with?
4. Why wasn't the child trained to only use the gun under parental supervision?
5. How do you call this train wreck an accident?

These parents need to go to jail. This is classic child neglect for the 5yr old and involuntary manslaughter for the 2yr old. I have nothing but pity for the poor boy who will now go through life as his sisters killer.

If you are in a friend or neighbors house and see firearms out and about, chastise them. We are a community and we should self-police. Although both of my kids are gun safety trained, I still check on the status of firearms before they go over to a new friends home. A little bit of "being the parent" goes a long way in keeping your children safe.

Less importantly, this kind of crap makes law abiding gun owners look bad in the press.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/01/18000685-five-year-old-boy-accidentally-shoots-kills-sister?lite

Changed the look

Changed the look to make it easier on mobile devices which is what I largely use for my IntarNetz scrolling these days. I'm sure no one will mind....

Anybody want to Polka?

I found a fun place in downtown Columbus, that serves good German Bier and Brats and has a dance floor and music for my German wife to get out and dance.
If you're ever in Columbus, check out www.germaniacolumbus.org and see if they have an event when you're in town. The Bier Garten is great, especially being a little green oasis downtown in the midst of all those tall buildings.
Prost!

Right handed but left eye dominant

So I find out out yesterday, after taking my #1 kid to a 4H shooting safety training course that said child is right handed (I knew that) but left eye dominant. Since all I knew about eye dominance I can sum in up two words (not much) I'm looking for help from the intarwebz.
We ended up after multiple iterations and options having the kid shoot with from the left shoulder on a right handed rifle (we had left and right handed savage mark II's available). This resulted in pretty good groupings and the cheek weld was natural while aiming with the left eye, but it still made working the bolt awkward. Using a lefty rifle was tough b/c there was no fine motor control in the left arm, and using the right handed rifle was tough b/c the right arm had to come back from the forend. This worked b/c we were using a bench rest setup and the barrel and forend were supported without the kid's arm.
Of course in a standing or prone situation this would be difficult for a kid to hold up the rifle entirely from the trigger guard area since that would be so far behind the center of balance for the rifle.

So, should we stick with left shoulder, right hand rifle or maybe just move straight from bolt-action to semi-auto to avoid any issues with the bolt altogether?

The kid also wants to get into archery and there just happened to be an archery instructor on site yesterday who said we were going to be pretty much looking at a left handed bow as the only option for someone using their left eye to aim.

I spend all these years making sure both my kids are right handed and no one ever told me to also put a patch over their left eye and make damn sure they are right eye dominant. ;)

Anybody have any experience or thoughts? By the way, the #1 child has gone through a couple of doses of vision therapy over the years to cure the kid of being cross-eyed and we have absolutely no interest in trying to go back at 10 years of age and re-train the eyes on something else, so using the right eye isn't an option.
Anyone with any feedback is appreciated.

Repost - Solar Water Heater Offer from DR Power - New update

Solar Water Heater Offer from DR Power

for comments see original post  http://seanownsthemoon.blogspot.com/2010/03/solar-water-heater-offer-from-dr-power.html

I like DR products, made like tanks and made in the USA.

They are partnering with built by a sister company firm that build solar water heaters, selling a DIY kit that includes solar collector, heat exchanger and a water storage tank that connects to your current hot water heater. Plus the solar collector has a small photovoltaic cell that powers the pump, which A: means you don't need to run any new electric for this system and B: the solar water heater only runs when their is sun enough to power the PV cell. So another one on the plus side is that it looks easy to install in that you don't have to re-plumb your house. 

This is all well and good and I have been considering one, especially with the federal and state tax credits knocking about $4K off the price, plus as a previous DR owner, I get a special $450 coupon.

I initially was confused by Sunward's pricing information, but thanks to their help I have seen that it is pretty straight forward and I hope to be able to place an order in 2010.
Heating water in your home and refrigerating food are about 80% of an average homes energy usage. If I can knock a dent in one of those, that's not a bad thing. Running a fridge on alternate power.....now that's for another blog post on anther day.

UPDATE, August 2011: Well, with my change of vocation at the end of 2009 and the ongoing economic troubles making me save every dime I could for a rainy day, I still haven't bought this system.....but I still want to. Anyone out there own one that wants to give a review? DR and Sunward, any chance you'd long term loan me one to try?  ;)

UPDATE, Feb 2013

Their new website does a much better job of marketing the whole kit. I'm seriously considering buying one still, I have about half the $$ saved up, and while I normally don't like debt, I may finance one soon as this would be a good time to become less grid reliant. We've lost our power multiple times this winter and I really enjoy hot showers.

I hate loud cars

http://xkcd.com/1156/

I'm going to use some Pavlovian skills and see if I can't get the kids in my neighborhood to turn down their bass......

Get a grip on reality will you please?

So someone in Turkey bought their kid a LEGO Star Wars set, and when the Uncle came over and saw it he immediately decided that is was a Turkish mosque and Asians being represented instead of...well...fake stuff from George Lucas' mind.He got incensed, spoke to his local community center and now is contemplating a lawsuit for this great insult against Islam.

I'm well aware that ol' GL has co-opted pretty much anything not nailed down in order to add filler to his Star Wars series (And God knows he has re-released the films every time some new tech has come along that lets it come out an iota better for the viewer)
                                                          but to think that he took this

and created this

is really pushing it.

Considering that they dont look anything like each other other than both having domed roofs, I can't imagine they are linked.

So when LEGO comes out with this

I have to say it looks a lot more like Star Wars than a Turkish Mosque (which by the way started life as a Christian Basilica under the Eastern Roman Empire, look it up).

As for the characters looking Asian  sure Jabba has almond shaped eyes, and smokes a hookah, but I have yet to meet a large green worm looking "person" claiming to be from Asia, so I'm going to have to shut that argument down as well.

This is why religious nuts (no matter the religion) drive me crazy. Its a childs toy modeled after a childs movie. No hidden meanings are required. The set will run you $120, which is also crazy as a price for a kids toy in my mind, but hey, if those Danes can get that price, more power to 'em.

Jason Sudeikis now luckiest man alive

Its official, he's engaged and now gains the coveted title of man for whom I am the most jealous.

Mental health Reform Needed Now

It is almost impossible for anyone to understand why the school massacre happened at Sandy Hook. It is time this country took seriously the identification and treatment of mental illnesses. We must modify the current over-reaching privacy and HIPPA related health care laws and allow mental health professionals, family doctors and family members who become concerned about a loved one to have quick and easy access to a 72 hour psych hold. We cannot afford to continue to squander chances to intervene before such unimaginable horrors occur. The recent headline, "Could school massacre be gun control tipping point?" should read "Could school massacre be mental health intervention tipping point?"

Why aren't schools locked down all the time?

They are talking on the news about how the schools in the district in CT have gone to lockdown following the shooting. Isn't that like closing the barn door after the horse runs off?

Wouldn't the schools be safer if they were locked all the time?

As a parent I would have no problem having to stop in a lobby or anteroom and speak to someone behind one of those security windows before being buzzed into the main building. A little determent could have saved a lot of lives today.

I'm going to speak with my Congressman and Superintendent of Schools. Maybe you should do the same.

Food for thought.

• Connecticut school shooting

Who the F#$K hurts kids?

So some idiot decided it would be a good idea to walk into a school in Connecticut and shoot some people. Teenagers are found guilty of murdering a toddler. A dad kills his kids b/c he loses custody in a divorce.

What the hell is wrong with these people????

Even before I was 5 years old I had it ingrained in me that you don't hurt children.
Its about the worst moral sin you can possibly do, and yet we hear about it again and again.

I blame parents. As a parent I spend a fair amount of time teaching my kids good moral judgment skills. I doubt most parents do the same.

You should raise your children to understand that some things are just NOT DONE.
It bothers me so much that I have quit watching TV series after they hurt a fictional child.

Society needs to realize that until we raise a couple of generations that abhor violence to children, we are going to keep having whackos make the news for beating, raping, murdering children.

As a father I want to always keep my children safe, what do you do when someone attacks their school while you're at work?

I'm going to go throw up, excuse me.

19th Bridge Collapse or Failure

Since 1990, by my best count, 19 major bridge collapses have occurred in the USA, the majority of which occurred since 2000. Our infrastructure is falling apart and Congress and our state governments are playing the part of Nero and sitting idly by while our country falls apart at the seams. This is what happens when social programs get more funding than roads.

But no worries, state officials say there is no environmental problem with a train-car of highly toxic vinyl chloride spilling into a local river. Nothing to see here, move along.

19 bridges in 32 years, thats about one every 1.6 years. So no worries, I doubt YOU will be on the next one to fall....right?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/30/us/new-jersey-train-derail/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Really Congress?

The country is about to hit one of the biggest self-made roadblocks Congress has ever cooked up and they tell us that in addition to working through their secret tax negotiations with the President to fix all that ails us, they are also going to save millions by switching us to dollar coins and nickels made from steel.

DOES ANYONE ANYWHERE ACTUALLY THINK THIS MAKES SENSE?

We have ever-climbing debts, a gridlocked Congress that has done nothing about passing a budget for 3 years, a .gov that cant figure out how to not paint itself in a corner, a tax code that no one can understand and they think that a priority right now should be another episode of "shall we kill the dollar bill?"

Really? Really? I mean, come on now, do you think you can distract the American public at this point with that tired old gag?

News Flash, get us out of foreign wars (inlcuding the sooper secret ones) and we'll save $4 Billion a month, then axe a few other beloved items and suddenly we have a budget that meets tax revenue. The proposed coin measure would likely save $4.4 Billions OVER THIRTY YEARS.

FIX THIS NOW CONGRESS! Passing a (balanced) budget is one of the few tasks outlined for you in the Constitution.

For anyone interested in what I'm blathering about, A: pull your head out from under a rock and become aware of the issues fast approaching us in 2013 and B: click on the link below.
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/kill-bill-us-says-dollar-coins-would-save-4-4b-1C7350149

Alive and Well and Thankful

As we approach Thanksgiving, I just want to send a shout out that I am thankful for all my friends and family, and very thankful for the job I have had this past year. After bouncing between contract positions for 2 years, I think I finally found a place I want to stick with. Heres hoping the economy can keep its wits about itself and my job continues to like me as much as I like it.

I know I seemed to have died online, but I have been reading your posts (you know who you are). I have just been sooper busy with work and family and have decided to spend my free time with the kids and my honey. Keep up the free ice cream, my machine seems to be broken.  ;)

Happy Holidays to Jay G, JWR, Fred, Ryo, Linoge, Old NFO, Brigid, Tam, Pissed, Rob Allen, Wirecutter, Breda, Roberta, SayUncle, Excels at Nothing, ENDO, and all the rest who make me smile with all their online metaphysical and physical wanderings. You are all a part of my daily/weekly routine and even if I am only a virtual connection, I enjoy it.

Here's hoping we all enjoy 2013 even better!

Funny of the week: Act of Valor movie review

A little leap day smile from me to you by way of Tam, I wish more movie reviews were like this.  :)

Went to see Act of Valor at a matinee...from View From The Porch by Tam


Some thoughts:

•So none of the SEALs is Sir Anthony Hopkins. So what? I'll bet the Screen Actors Guild doesn't mail dues checks from Stallone and Schwarzenegger back un-cashed.

•The plot is not Hitchcockian: Some bad guys are going to try and do bad things to America. A bunch of SEALs are attempting to stop them, mostly by shooting them in the face. They don't sit around and anguish over the deep meaning of shooting terrorists in the face, either; they make like a Nike commercial and Just Do It.

•Wow.

•By the time the lights came up, you could hear a pin drop. It was a full five-Mississippi before anybody in the theater so much as moved to grab their coat.

•I am so used to watching gun handling in movies and thinking "You're Doing It Wrong!" that it was refreshing to see one that made me think "Huh. I'm Doing It Wrong."

•I will be going to see it again on the big screen. This is a big screen movie.

Gun ownership up, especially among women

A right not exercised soon becomes a privilege.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbc-news-channel/45897106#45897106

But the anti-gunners tell me gun ownership is down
http://www.saysuncle.com/2012/01/05/but-the-anti-gunners-tell-me-gun-ownership-is-down/

Rear Ended - FORD POS does have a 5 Star crash rating

So there I am stopped at a light yesterday, behind another car, just patiently waiting for the light to turn green when WHAM, I get rear-ended by some texting fool who never hit the brakes b/c they werent paying attention. Luckily little ones 1 and 2 were with their grandmother for the day post-Christmas and not in the backseat of my Ford P.O.S.
But, turns out that all my grumbling about how much I dislike the car (its a 2005 Taurus and rides fine, but I've never really liked it) didnt show the car enough respect. The little Korean hatch back slid under my rear bumper and scratched up my paint job and lifted my back end up and dropped me back on the ground. The import was accordioned in the front back to the wheels, with the radiator set back and the hood crumpled all the way back to the windscreen. Somehow her headlights survived unscathed. Maybe the Koreans should have built the rest of the car the way they did the headlights.
But, my ugly Taurus will live to drive another day. I'm not saying I'm falling in love with her (She's named Sandy) but I have more respect for her today than I did yesterday morning when I woke up, thats for sure.
So, I guess I have to admit my wife was right when she convinced me the 5 star crash rating was more important than fuel economy. Does that mean I have to tell her that?
:)