Local time where you're at. ("Where you're at"?)

Denizens, whilst I continue to rebuild my system (read:&#160 while I continue to amass funds to purchase a new Big Drive&#153 and some memory upgrades), your homework assignment is to read this (hat tip:&#160 LC Lobo of the Rott).

“Gird your loins”, as Vice-Perpetrator Hair-Butt Plugs would say.&#160 It’s coming.

Denizens, your weekend homework assignment is to read this.

J.D. Longstreet nails it in one.

Denizens, the good news is that both the machines are now back up & stable.

KORRIOTH:&#160 For now.

VENOMOUS:&#160 Oh, thanks, Django Downer.

MERLIN:&#160 Well, y’know, it’s been, what, about three-plus years since the Great Hard Drive Upgrade Extravaganza&#153?&#160 Remember what you’re always saying about electronic components?

VENOMOUS:&#160 Yeah, yeah, yeah – they can fail at any time, for any reason…

ALL (in unison):&#160 …or for no reason.

And even as I type this, the fan on the work box is very audibly reminding me that it’s in desperate need of replacement.

May be a bit before I get caught up (read:&#160 finally post the long-over PFW recap(s)) – but I found a blurb from this column (dealing with pet peeves) this morning and had to repost.

Below the fold.&#160 Go click it – it’s that damn good.

1. The Over-Sensitivity of Everyone

Allow me to explain. This year was filled with celebrities making comments and then apologizing for them when someone was offended. Not a week goes by now where a mainstream or even pseudo celeb doesn’t make controversial comments. Inevitably there will be someone who didn’t like it and when that happens, the public bands together like never before and demands that the person issue a formal apology.

When did our society become so thin-skinned? Can nobody say anything anymore without us reacting like petulant, whiny children? We have become so over-sensitive that we demand apologies at a moment’s notice and then accept them at face value.

Most of the celebs who apologize are merely doing so to avoid damaging their reputation. But we believe them regardless even though the apologize aren’t genuine in the least. I’m not saying that we should dismiss every controversial comment and I’m not saying that celebs should never apologize, but I do think this pattern happens at an alarming rate these days and it’s more than a little ridiculous.

Every misunderstood exchange now makes headlines. Take…mmm everything Nicki Minaj says for example. Recently Steven Tyler made some comments about the quality of her judging on American Idol and it was actually misconstrued as racist. Tyler of course said he was sorry even though he didn’t do anything wrong.

James Gunn, who is directing Guardians of the Galaxy, made some controversial blog posts in 2011. It offended women and gays, among others. He of course spoke out and apologized for his comments. Here’s the thing, they were about fictional superhero characters. He said himself it was meant to be satirical and funny, but that didn’t stop every organization under the sun from coming forward and yelling about how offensive his BLOG POSTS were. Should he have written what he did? No, it was in bad taste. But did stupid comments about fictional people really warrant such anger and hatred in the media? Certain groups were even calling for him to be removed as director of the aforementioned film.

News stories like this go down all the time now. Where did this trend start? Who knows? It could have been any number of situations in the past. Can we not take a joke anymore? Can we not brush a comment off our shoulder? Apparently not. We need to piss and moan about everything.

The fact is people sometimes say dumb things and make mistakes. That is the way life works. But we also take things to heart too often now. We have become so thin-skinned and delicate that it’s perplexing why we don’t just burst apart at the slightest touch.

Damn straight.&#160 Amen & amen.

Props to Chad Webb.&#160 This needed to be said.

And said again, as oft as it takes to drive it through the fecal matter passing for grey matter in some folks’ putrified noggins.

Denizens, your homework assignment to start the week is to read this.&#160 It’s a well-written work of fiction from Matt Bracken over at Western Rifle Shooters.

Or is it…?

Not quite as easy when your All-Universe&#153 offense is going against an experienced&#160 defense, is it?

BWAH-HAHAHHAHAHAHA…!!!!1!!ELEVENTEENTYMILLION!!!!!111!!~

Damn.&#160 Did we say “10-point lead”?

Soooooo very sorry.

How about a 12-point thumping???&#160

Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz was headed toward victory Tuesday night, pulling off a stunning coup and besting veteran Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a fierce, hard-fought, multi-million dollar Republican quest for Texas’ first open Senate seat in a decade.

In the GOP battle that became “establishment” versus Tea Party, Cruz held 56 percent of the vote to Dewhurst’s 44 percent, with 6.780 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

Now that probably won’t hold up, especially if the Southern Command down there goes ahead and takes their foot off Houston’s throat (grin), but this is damned encouraging to behold.

Memo to Davey Pants Pee-yew-hurst:&#160 This is what you get for running like a Demoscum, boy.&#160 Don’t come to us calling yourself a conservative when your entire campaign against Cruz came from the leftards’ Short-Bus playbook – right down to that fuckheaded Sandy Fonzo “Ted Cruz should be ashamed of himself, I don’t know how he can sleep at night” bullshit.

Demoscum&#160 use those tactics, chump.&#160 And you gave a textbook demonstration on why you’re well-known in Texas as a “moderate” (read:&#160 libtard).&#160 The only good thing about your excuse-for-a-campaign is that, because he endorsed you, I can now go back to calling him “Big Dickhead Perry”.

Now.&#160 On to November, and yet another kicking of Donktard ass.&#160

Denizens, we start this week with something out of the Grab Bag&#153, courtesy of the Sibling Unit&#153, who just sent this to me.

Dear Airlines:


Dump the male flight Attendants. No one wanted them in the first place.

Replace all the female flight attendants with good-looking strippers!

What the hell!!

They don’t even serve food anymore, so what’s the loss?

The strippers would at least triple the alcohol sales and get a “partyatmosphere” going in the cabin.

And, of course, every businessman in this country would start flying again, hoping to see naked women.

Because of the tips, female flight attendants wouldn’t need a salary, thus saving even more money.

Muslims would be afraid to get on the planes for fear of seeing naked women. Hijackings would come to a screeching halt, and the airline industry would see record revenues.

This is definitely a win- win situation if we handle it right — a golden opportunity to turn a liability into an asset.

Why didn’t Bush or Obama think of this?

Why do I still have to do everything myself?

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

Well, if that doesn’t jump-start the aviation industry…&#160

Kira Davis – I love you!

(She’s been added to the blogroll, in case you hadn’t guessed.&#160

Wish I could’ve gotten to this yesterday, but there just wasn’t time.

25 years ago yesterday, the great Ronaldus Magnus (a little Rush lingo, there) gave the greatest speech of the 20th century.&#160 (Yes, greater than FDR”S “Fear Itself”, and greater than JFK’s “Ask Not”.)

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

The last real President this country has had to date.

God rest your soul, President Reagan.&#160 Thank you, sir.

According to Hoft over at Gateway Pundit, MSNBC has not only already called the race for Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Lt. Governor Rebecca “Babe” Kleefisch also wins tonight, 59-41.

SUCK IT, LIBTARDS!!1!!ONE!!1!!ELEVENTYBILLION!!1!!!~&#160 BWAHHHHH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!!!!!&#160

(Hat tip:&#160 Guido.)

Denizens, I have another homework assignment for you:&#160 This post, authored by the host of Krissy’s Absurdity, is a classic.

Krissy?&#160 Bra.&#160 Freakin’.&#160 Vo.

You.&#160 ROCK.

And to end our workweek, we bring you this, courtesy of my best friend General Belvedere:

13 Politically Incorrect Gun Rules for Conservatives
April 18, 2012

1. Guns have only two enemies: rust and politicians.

2. It’s always better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

3. Cops carry guns to protect themselves, not you.

4. Never let someone or something that threatens you get inside arms length.

5. Never say, “I’ve got a gun.” If you need to use deadly force, the first sound they hear should be the safety clicking off.

6. The average response time of a 911 call is 23 minutes; the response time of a .357 is 1400 feet per second.

7. The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always win – cheat if necessary.

8. Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets . . . You may get killed with your own gun, but he’ll have to beat you to death with it, because it’ll be empty.

9. If you’re in a gunfight:

* If you’re not shooting, you should be loading.
* If you’re not loading, you should be moving.
* If you’re not moving, you’re dead.

10. In a life and death situation, do something . . . It may be wrong, but do something!

11. If you carry a gun, people call you paranoid. Nonsense! If you have a gun, what do you have to be paranoid about?

12. You can say ‘stop’ or ‘alto’ or any other word, but a large bore muzzle pointed at someone’s head is pretty much a universal language.

13. You cannot save the planet, but you may be able to save yourself and your family.

Damned straight.

(Hat tip:&#160 As much as I hate to admit it, I got this from Malicious Malkin’s sidebar, where it’s taken up temporary residence.&#160 (Then again, that’s about the only reason I still ever go there anyway – certainly it’s not for anything that might come out of her&#160 skanky piehole, eh what?))

Zombie over at PJ Media has something that, the more I think about it, the more I like it:&#160 A new version of the 1040 form that corresponds to this piece-of-shit “Buffett Rule” that Bambi keeps trying to bully Congress into passing.

When Obama first proposed the Buffett Rule last year, I made a post called Voluntary Tax Rates and Personalized Earmarks: How to Solve the Debate over Taxes as the true version of the Buffett Rule. Because, you see, Buffett originally didn’t call for a higher tax rate on the wealthy in general; instead he said that he himself wanted to pay more taxes. Sure, he was just using himself as a personal example, but I thought: Hey, he could be on to something here. Why don’t we all decide at what rate we individually pay taxes? That‘s the Buffett Rule: You want to pay more taxes? Fine — pay ‘em. And if you don’t want to pay more, or even want to pay less — well, we have an option for that too.

To that end, I produced a new version of the IRS’s 1040 form which featured (exactly as the post’s title implied) “voluntary tax rates and personalized earmarks.” But that was last August. Who, after all these months, remembered to use those new forms now that Tax Day has rolled around again?

So I have now updated the revised 1040 form for 2011 and am offering it for download today, April 15, for your convenience.

The form itself is below the fold, with a link to download it for yourself if you’d like.

I’d pay ten percent in taxes, allocated to national defense.&#160 What about you?

Feast thine eyes:

A 2012 Hyundai Genesis coupe.&#160 A 2.0 turbo four (210 horses) that’ll keep up with (if not outright outrun) more than a few V8s.&#160 Thirty miles per gallon – assuming I can keep it under 80.&#160 (And modesty will prevent me from revealing what I had it up to on my way home last night.)

I have christened it Excelsior.&#160 (Sulu:&#160 “They say it’s got transwarp drive.”)&#160 It’s easily the fastest car I’ve ever owned.

As such, it’ll be a major test to see whether or not I can keep my lead foot under control.

Keep me in yer prayers.&#160

Great Honkin’ Cthulu, we could use more backbone like this in the GOP.

As reported in detail at Lost Lettermen and the Kansas City Star, 5-year-old Emma Burton of Olathe, Kan., refused to participate in a class coloring assignment when she and her classmates were told to color in a Jayhawk, the mascot of the University of Kansas. The coloring exercise was part of the kindergarten class’ celebration of the state of Kansas.

However, Emma wouldn’t comply with her teacher’s instructions. Instead, according to her mother — Bug Bytes blogger Julie Burton — the four-foot tall tot brazenly refused to color the Jayhawk on the grounds that she doesn’t like the University of Kansas. She took the Jayhawk sheet she had been handed, walked up to her teacher and asked for a Powercat (the mascot of Kansas State) to color. When Burton was told there weren’t any Powercats to color, she threw the Jayhawk in the trash.

Go read the rest.

Honors her father & mother?&#160 Doesn’t back down in the face of oppressive official adversity?

Damn, I love that kid!&#160