BANG!!!

Cool video of a flash mob at the University of Florida - apparently recreating a banned X-box commercial.

KH

Don't read this BLOG....

...that is don't read this blog if you like to think your life is private and the government really wants you to be free.

I kinda wish I didn't find this.

Otter

Inconsistencies

Say what you will about Ann Coulter, but one of the things I really like about her is her ability to use Lexis Nexis.

In this weeks column she points out why Democrats don't really have a leg to stand on while bitching about the current gas prices.

I won't put intellectual honesty and consistent logic in the court of either party, but thank God the internet allows us the historical gateway to review the lunacy.

Otter

X-Play, the drinking game...

Now we at Scaggsville love X-play. We don't actually play video games, maybe in the last five years we put in about 50 hours of XBOX time (all in about 1 week with Fable), but we love the show which is all bout video games.

Some of it (alright a lot of it) is how freaking hot Morgan Webb is... Yummm

Achemmm...

Some of it is how freaking funny the show is... and I quote... "Ninja Please!"

But now, it's 'cause of the X-Play drinking game.

Otter

Blog

Blog.

Read the comments... awesome.

Otter

Bird Flu Hits U.S.

Bird Flu has hit the first trailer park in Florida...

This is Pretty Damn Cool

and I'm hard to impress (mostly because I don't pay attention). Anyway, the guy in this link (from Gordon College) does a live-action re-enactment of a level of Super Mario Brothers. Definitely Cool.

Kid

Adopt a Fence

Usually I cringe when I hear the word "activist," but in this case I'll make an exception. It appears that an improved border fence may be constructed by "activists" with or without our government's help. If nothing else, the picture of the proposed fence is pretty damn cool. I just want to know where to park my laser-firing oblisk. In the mean time, if you are interested in having your name written in barbed wire across our nation's borders, you can adopt a portion of the fence here.

The Hidden Evil of Gas Prices

Found this 2001 Senate report that explains exactly how our gas prices are set. Interesting that many of the same issues that were discussed in detail in this report are still some of the same problems we encounter today. But whether or not you like paying $3+ a gallon for good old 87 octane of unleaded juice, the truth behind the numbers is we are exceeding our supply with an extraordinary demand. So as much as we love to blame "big oil" for our problems, they really aren't the issue here - or at least the one most Americans should really focus on.

The issue we should focus on is the hypocrisy of our government who pushes legislation such as the Clean Air Act and other environmentally-focused legislation that do little more than make production costs go up and the average citizen shell out more for their tank of gas. What we should focus on is the excessive amount of taxes that are pushed onto each gallon you pump into your car. In Maryland (my home state) we pay just over 40 cents a gallon just in taxes. California takes the pie with 50 cents a gallon. Here check your state.

Quick math here...Depending on the price of gas in your state, that's a tax of about 20% of the cost of a product. Tad high considering most sales taxes on other products are first of all, local (gas taxes also include federal taxes) and usually in the range of nothing to 8%.

Our politicians over in Washington should can the big oil rhetoric, control their spending, and cut taxes on our fuels rather than start another committee to investigate a problem that already has a clear solution.

Campaign Against Wal-Mart?

One would think that 2008 would be a race for our next President, but rather it seems that what we have on our hands is a campaign that’s starting to gain momentum. It’s not Hillary (Thank God) – it’s against Wal-Mart.

On one side we have the libs, lead by mad “Dean Folk” and some unions who feel that the 1.3 million Americans who work for Wal-Mart can be treated better if they were to be unionized – despite the fact that traditional unionization has failed several times. On the other side we have a company that is simply trying to exercise its inherent right to capitalism.

Those who have followed this issue may remember some legislation that was passed in the Maryland General Assembly not too long ago that imposed minimum healthcare benefit standards to large employers, effectively requiring businesses to not only pay an employee a salary, but to also take on a chunk of their health care costs through insurance.

So who exactly is this war against? Wal-Mart? I say it’s against the 1.3 million Wal-Mart employees who simply exercised their legal right to refuse to join a union.

America is worth spending time on your knees in the dirt.

A personal account that shows the lunacy of allowing "unskilled" immigrants into the country while skilled tradesmen following all the rules are screwed over.

Otter

Oh, to be in England...

This is what is coming our way... This is the shape of America if we don't do SOMETHING. The left really is screwing up the world and it's all there to see, just freaking open your eyes!

Read the story above. Do a Google search for Crime in England. Take a look at all of Europe, see what's going on. They represent our future, look at the policies they have in effect. Look at the morals they embrace. They are what the left wants us to become.

Seriously read the whole article.

Otter


Hat tip to the Smallest Minority

Welcome to the Wasteland

... and every thing seems to have turned out fine!

Otter

"A Ball of Fire Protects MY Car"

Imagine if you could say that. Now read about the latest car theft deterrent in South Africa.

Now, why do I feel like I'm going to see a picture of how Otter modified his toothbrush to do this? A little duct tape, D batteries, and some gasoline. Stay tuned. We may have a visual.

Arena Football Madness

Damn you Arena Football. You're just a tease until the big show starts in August... But until then, this is probably the only reason to watch a replay of Arena Football - a brawl in the stands. Make sure you keep an eye on the woman who tries to calm everyone down.

Fast Forward This Philips

Big brother...errr...Philips...wants to make extra sure that you get your daily dose of commercials. In the works is a device that literally takes control of your TV when a commercial is aired. No more fast-forward or switching channels either, that is, unless you pay a fee. Here's the patent text:

"1) prevents a viewer of a direct (nonrecorded) broadcast from switching
channels when an advertisement is displayed and (2) prevents a viewer of a
recorded program from fast-forwarding the recorded program in order to skip past
advertisements that were recorded with the program. A viewer may either watch
the advertisements or pay a fee in order to be able to change channels or
fast-forward when the advertisements are being displayed."

Well at least they don't tie you to your couch...but in the meantime, kill your television.

Europe... may be some hope for em after all...

The link above is the story. This is the crappy phone video.

If you don't know, there is a "fad" spreading through Europe called Happy Slappy. What these punks do is take avantage of the pansy ass state that Europe is in, by walking up and slapping strangers in the face all while filming it.

Yeah, can you imagine that happening in the US? There would be some dead slapping punks.

Anyway, this is. Great the Happy Slappy guy in this video gets OWNED. Knocked out with one punch. Serves 'em right. I half expect the origninal (only real) victim to be brought up on charges the way things work in the UK.

Otter

Taxes Here…WHOOOO!

Happy tax day everyone! Found this interesting tidbit about YOUR United States taxes including how we compare to other nation states in their taxing practices as well as other things that will probably piss you off if you were one of the 90 million people who actually paid taxes this year. This quote was priceless:

“This year, about 132 million tax returns will be filed in the U.S., and about
43 million returns will get back every dollar that was withheld from their
paycheck. The remaining 90 million returns will end 2005 having paid about $1
trillion in federal income tax.”

BATFE Takes Down Ninja

This is another in my series of all types of cops are either stupid or assh***s or both. Cops chase down a college kid for nothing other than wearing a bandana. He was going from a Pirate party to the dining hall.

Of course one of these "highly trained" gun cops claims to see a gun (which of course never existed). I'm starting to think that dog that used to live in my neighborhood who always chased every runner or biker - no matter how many times the chain snapped his neck back after a running start - was somehow brighter than the cops here that day.

I would make a crack about how the likelihood is that none of these cops ever went to college, but, since they're "Feds," they probably went to college, but never got invited to any cool ninja parties.

Kid

UPDATE: Here's a link on the Agitator that has a picture. Seriously, these guys are crazy and should be fired. Absolutely an unconstitutional reason to chase someone, tackle, detain and drive his head into the ground with your knee.

Smellovision

Yikes...not sure that I want smells coming out of my TV. Especially when they are "crafting" special scents for various scenes. Floral scents for love scenes? How is that real life? Unless you are playing tonsil hockey in a garden.

Of course this could be awesome for the cooking channel (aka. FoodTV) when Emeril is firing up something chocolate or maybe grilling a steak. But that would just make me hungry. What we need is a TV to instantly produce the food you see on the cooking channel or commercials while it's cooking. Now that would be awesome. I might actually pay attention to that Dominos Pizza ad.

Kudos to the Drudge Report for preparing us for the next phase of technology.

Excerpts from Flight 93

A CNN reporter who was present during the playback of the Flight 93 recorder did a pretty interesting recount on camera. It's absolutely bone-chilling, but a good reminder to anyone why we're at war today and what it takes to be an American hero.

Guns yet again...

This post is for Linda and others who are slowly getting tired of all my gun posts :)

It's a pretty even handed way of looking at the roots of the issue and why we have different beliefs. Why no matter how many times I rant and rave about the 2nd amendment we won't agree. It all boils down to belief and culture.

What I think the conflict boils down to is a struggle between the collectivists & the individualists. It's not a question of trust per se, it's a question of faith. It’s a belief that one system is better, more ideal than the other.

Give it a read if you have time. Don't be scared away from the pink banner at the top of the page either.

Hat tip to Kevin.

Otter

Shoe Laces

Holy crap.. after thirty some odd years of life, I found a better way of tying my shoes.

Otter

Nunca acaricie un perro ardiente.

I have no idea whatsoever if this "Free Online Translater" actually translates what I'm writing into various languages, but it's fun to sound educated and whatnot.

Quick...somebody. Does this really say my ass is on fire? "Mi asno se arde."

Where were French road-blocking protesters when Hitler's tanks were rolling across Europe?

Story about French Protests...

Title shamelessly stolen from The Peoples Cube.

Really the only reason to post the story was for the title though. It made me laugh out loud.

Otter

Rights for Criminals?

That's what you are when you break the law...a criminal. You're a criminal if you knowingly run through the desert to cross our borders without going through the legal process of immigration. So what's next - rights for convicted murderers? child molesters? That would be an interesting march. Wonder how quickly Hillary and the left would jump to their feet in support.

Almost every country in the world - including Mexico - has laws the prohibit illegal immigration. In Mexico, it's the equivalent of a felony to enter illegally. Why does it need to be different here?

What's boggles my mind the most is that this article points out that this march included thousands of immigrants who legally entered the U.S. Those who may be familiar with this and the citizenship process know that it can take up to 7 years to process. To me this is like allowing 11 million people in front of you at Disney World while you've been standing in the line at the Dumbo Ride for 7 years. Why support this? This isn't your battle and it isn't going to make your wait shorter. These people circumvented a legal process and don't deserve anything short of deportation.

Goblet of Fire and an Armed Society.

I’ve thought about this for a while and it has finally bugged me enough to post about it. You may recall from reading GoF or watching the recently released to DVD movie, that Voldermort’s crew rolls in pretty hard and mucks up the World Quidditch Championship after party. In the movie it was a little more dramatic and violent than in the book, but effectively the same thing happened.

A bunch of evil folks (Death Eaters) used weapons (in the form of magic) to terrorize and attack a large body of average citizens. All civilians fled the death and destruction while the members of the Ministry of Magic (as the law enforcement agency) bravely went out to face down the bad guys.

I don’t see this happening.

Not at all.

Everyone at this after party was a Wizard (well, except for the camp site owners). So in theory, everyone there was in some way armed. Sure the Death Eaters were using bad ass “kill’n” spells, but even the children there could cast spells to make them puke slugs and what not. See how long you would live if someone disappeared your bones or caught you on fire or dropped something heavy on your head. “Winguardian Levyosso” indeed.

In actuality what would happen is the 20 or so jerks would start shooting up the joint blowing up tents and what not, simple survival instinct would kick in and most world lash out with their own use of force. The result would be overwhelming. 20 evil dudes verses thousands and thousands (assuming even a 70 to 90 percent pansy rate, there were, as far as I recall over 100 thousand in attendance).

A pretty simple application of the Lancaster equation on the effectiveness of a force (the effectiveness of a force is directly proportional to the effectiveness of its weapons and to the square of its numbers) would show realistically the Death Eater’s weapons could not be that much more effective to overcome the average citizens numbers.

In all the Harry Potter books whenever Wizards fight they do so in single combat with directed weapons (except when Sirius Black was accused of “blowing up” a bunch of muggles). This type of fighting is essentially sidearm combat.

Now, envision 1,000 armed people sitting around having a good time and 20 anti-social jerks start shooting up the place. How long do you think it would take before there were 20 dead jerks? There are still people out there who take responsability of the group seriously.

So basically J.K Roland is either completely wrong about violence and self defense or the British behave in ways my American brain can’t fathom.

What I DO KNOW, is if the above scenarios happened in Texas, well, lets just say the Death Eaters wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

Otter

EDIT... While not exactly what I am talking about... The Smallest Minority has pointed out yet again that Armed muggles reduce crime.

Still Amnesty

Well it's confirmed. Our Senate is a bunch of pansies wanting to knock out this revised immigration bill so they can enjoy their recess. Although the final text has yet to be released, MSNBC is reporting that three key points are covered, rated for your viewing pleasure:

• Enhanced border security: EXCELLENT - This is the most important issue of this debate for a number of reasons including national security. We need to stop the "bleeding" of illegal immigrants into this country before tackling any other immigration policy.
• Regulated future flow of immigrants into the U.S.: GOOD/OK - Not really sure of the details of this measure, but it does go hand in hand with making sure the good guys get over to our soil, especially when we're looking for specific skills that American workers lack.
• Legalized status to the millions of men, women and children in the country unlawfully: BAD - Granted the Senate proposed a tiered system that based on the length of time illegals spent in the U.S., but this is still AMNESTY. We are literally awarding people for breaking the law.

Missing from the initial text of this legislation are the penalties to businesses who still hire illegals after this legislation is enacted and the logic explaining why any illegal would want to come forward and actually go through the citizenship process. For example - If you are making money under the table, not paying taxes or insurance, why would you come forward to go through the citizenship process if after you successfully go through the process are tax deductions, insurance costs, and possibly union dues all coming out of that SAME paycheck?

Not to mention the impact to all those businesses who are now going to pay illegals at least minimum wage, and possibly a market-corrected wage now that they are "on the books."

The Senate really had the opportunity to stop ignoring this illegal immigration problem, but instead they took are adding yet another law to the book that won't be enforced and provides no solution to "dealing" with our growing illegal population.

Non-replaceable battery...

Non-replaceable battery my ass. See what you can do with a little time, a paring knife, an old highlighter and some parts from a broken computer power supply. Ohh yeah, electrical tape... lots of electrical tape.

Saved myself like six bucks or something. When this D-Cell dies, next time I'm gonna wire a couple batteries in parallel. That should vibrate the crap out of some gingivitis.

Otter

Film Trailer: 'United 93'

This just gave me the chills...