Look, folks, anything with people in it is gonna' have idiots, and the sensationalist 'news' industry will make those idiots 15 minute wonders. Use your head before you judge.

What's your get-home plan?
Boston to Myrtle Beach is about the same distance as Beaumont to El Paso. You could find yourself stranded at any time. Consider how you'd finish your journey.

From Daniel Estrin, via Yahoo News, "Israeli liberals woke up after national elections with a demoralizing feeling: Most of the country, in a deep and possibly irreversible way, does not think like they do."
Here's the thing, liberals: outside of the 12 people you interact with all day every day, nobody thinks like you do. Your nation and people are under threat of annihilation, and your government has had every peace overture rejected; what do you think your enemies want?
The article also highlights the true attitude of leftists, who claim to be inclusive, toward anyone (especially when they're right) who dares disagree with them- "Drink cyanide, bloody Neanderthals. You won." Stay classy, smelly hippies. The adults will continue to keep civilization runnin' for ya'.

WOW.
I've always said that the reason I don't routinely use the metric system is the units are useless, but this article really explains it.

Huge news for our friends in the northeast U. S.-2014 was the warmest year on record. Of course, that's only for Siberia and Nevada climates-everyone else just had weather.
What are these people tryin'a sell me?

HOLY MISTRESS OF SNARK!
I wish I'd thought of that.
The best I'd come up with was blamin' it on the Roomba.

Article II, clause 2, says that the President makes treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, providing two-thirds thereof concur. So, the Senate telling a hostile foreign power that the illegal deal the President is tryin'a make won't be honored is treason? What the hell is wrong with some people?

I checked the numbers, and Iran has no uranium reserves. That means that the number of centrifuges Iran needs for peaceful purposes is not 'as many as 190,000 or more', it's zero. If Iran wants to generate electricity, let 'em buy fuel rods from Australia. The only reason they'd want centrifuges is to try'n extract weapons-grade fissiles.

A Portsmouth, NC police car catches fire in front of Dunkin Donuts. Sometimes, the jokes make themselves.

Happy Pi Day, everyone!

Happy Friday the Thirteenth!
For the second time this year.
Weird year continues.

So, when I point out that this is a terrible winter, I'm confusing weather with climate.
When someone else points out that some spot out in the western Pacific is warmer than last year, that's 'anthropogenic climate change'?
What are they tryin'a sell?

Wow.
First I find out about Jimmy Greenspoon, and then Terry Pratchett. You talented people out there be super duper extra careful, in case it really runs in threes.

After perfecting the unified field theory and developing a reactionless faster-than-light drive, researchers found time to aim a PEPT at a dishwasher. Really, nobody with any useful work to do needed that machine?

A quick note to all our beloved E. R. staff: the weather here was so nasty last week the drug-seekers stayed home. This may be a sign of the end of days.

Things you don't see in Texas very often:

Did I just hear "Eminence Front" used in a GMC ad?

Political word for the day:
Polaroids n. Irritating rectal lesions that twitch either left or right when stimulated.

Stipulating that the only way I want to hear about an Iranian nuke program is in a sentence including the word "annihilated" (and maybe "daring I. D. F. operation"); where did Secretary Kerry go to school that allows him to think that "as many" belongs in the same sentence as "or more"?

I told y'all handgun cartridges are all pretty much the same. Here's the numbers:
.45 ACP    370 ft/lbs
9 mm        421 ft/lbs
.40 S&W  375 ft/lbs
.39 Spec   349 ft/lbs
There's only so much a handgun can do. There isn't very much energy in the case, and the weapon is supposed to be operable one-handed. That's why the common self-defense rounds are about 3/8-7/16 inches in diameter, and deliver half the energy of the .30 Carbine, a "rifle" that's hardly worth carrying.

The weird year continues. In the past week, there've been two house fires within a quarter-mile of here.Whatever y'all are burnin' to stay warm, be careful with it. More cold comin' mid-week.