Coffee is Wheels Up

I meant to do this a while ago but have been caught up in other things.  Including finding out I owe my Uncle Sam this year more than I was expecting.

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There were six 50 packs of via along with a bunch of the smaller packs.  The coffee is currently en route and should be arriving for mail call for a bunch of soldiers next week.  Thanks to all of you who participated.

*For those wanting to keep score it was at least $235 of extra business for Starbucks.  I got some late comers to the party that I just gave addresses to.

SSCC #277–White Plains

The scene when the police arrived was that an old man pressed his Life Alert button, and to which the White Plains police responded to help.  By the end of the encounter, he had indeed fallen and he couldn’t get up. That’s because they put two bullets in his chest.  That’s a very different scene.

This is a prime example of why I have grown very wary of cops.  Yes more often than not I have had good interactions with them.  That said many will jump on the “use force” bandwagon as if that is the only tool in their tool box.

I feel officers created this situation and they aggravated it to the point they had to shoot because it was them or him.  Think about that for a second.  They provoked him into defending himself at which point they could shoot him.

Protect and serve indeed.

State Sponsored Criminal Count 277: Officer John Doe

Because when an old man accidently activates his medical alert it means he really wants cops to come shoot him.

via Uncle

In Which I Went To An Alternate Universe

So I was told this by a friend last night and I couldn’t believe it, so he forwarded me the email.

Prof. Schneider has been nominated for the CEA Reid Miller Teaching Excellence
Award, and we want EECS to win.  If you want to help, please send an email to
Cindy Zimmerman at [email protected] by next Monday with a few comments on what
you liked about Prof. Schneider’s teaching (if you liked something).

The same Schneider who students avoided like the plague.  The same Schneider who had students fleeing his classes left and right.  The same Schneider who often doesn’t teach the same class twice because too many students dropped or complained.  The same Schneider who has never worked a day in actual industry and has been teaching his entire career.  The same Schneider who belittled me when I went to his office hours.  Lastly this is the same Schneider who told me I shouldn’t become an engineer.

I don’t think so.  This bugs me so much I’m actually bothering to do a blog post about it.  Think about how badly he must have left a taste if I’m still remembering his attitude from the one class I had from him 7&1/2 years ago.  Many of my friends had other classes from him more recently than that and many had similar experiences.

Know who should be up for that award?  Tim Hanshaw by far he was one of the best instructors I had.  I would work my schedule and course order specifically to get him as an instructor.  His ability to explain the how and why and make the solution to complex problems obvious and simple was fantastic.  He never made his students feel dumb or that they made a poor choice in going into engineering.  Then, to top all of that off, during lectures he would emphasize why something is important by tying it back to real world experience.

Hanshaw is teacher and he does a fantastic job at teaching his students.  Whereas I, along with many other students, look at Schneider as the devil incarnate.  When did I end up in the Twilight Zone?  I suppose it could be worse, they could be putting Alex Dimitrovski up for the award. [Russian Accent]Oh, it’s easy, it’s easy. Popt Quiz![/Russian Accent]

SSCC #276–Baltimore

Be warned if you have blood pressure problems.

A Baltimore police officer has been suspended for his “conduct” in the aftermath of the shooting of a 13-year-old girl, and after the weapon police suspect was used in the crime was found in his personal vehicle, according to law enforcement sources.

Why would he have the weapon though?

Police investigators believe the off-duty officer, whose name was not released, was in a relationship with a relative of one of the juvenile suspects charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter, sources said. Investigators are trying to determine whether he advised the juveniles after the shooting occurred.

Bet he did it all for the nookie.  No worries about him being found with a murder weapon.  He’s on paid leave pending charges or administrative discipline.  Expect his resignation anytime to avoid the black mark.

State Sponsored Criminal Count 276: Officer John Doe

Because you always aid and abet criminals when the nookie is on the line!

So Guess Who’s Coming To Town

It isn’t Santa.  This guy makes Santa look like weak sauce.  Probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.

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He’s coming for Boomershoot and to visit with some friends in the area.  Crazily that is the only pic I took of him the last time he was here.

There’s been a bunch of stuff I’ve put off, guess I need to get stuff done now don’t I?

*Hopefully I didn’t jinx it with what happened last year.

Ear Worm Wednesday – 3/7/2012

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This is not a normal ear worm Wednesday.  It’s not really an “Earworm” but it did start flowing through my head this morning when I heard about the loss of a blogger I read off and on from time to time.

I wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas Captain, and may your skies always be clear and your visibility unlimited.

 

The Tripwire Question.

A Girl and Her Gun stumbled across a post that is designed to provoke thought about your tripwire.  I hopped over to her linked post and read through the comments.  Between A Girl and Her Gun and the comments there it’s it’s obviously about that time again.

Starting off I have previously talked about tripwires here.  More specifically the ignored lessons of the 20th century.

First up, if you’re caching weapons, the time to use them is now.  You’re assuming that you will still be able to freely travel back to your cache as well as assemble with your friends for an armed resistance.  You have no such guarantee and anyone who is attempting to disarm you is trying to pacify you.  Any claims of good intentions are false and here’s why.

  1. In the words of John Ross, “The time to fight is before you’re handcuffed in the back of the van.”  Having us volunteer our arms is like asking us to climb in the back of a van while hitch hiking and handcuff our self to the floor.  At that point, what can the driver do to you?  Anything that he wants.
  2. Any politician wanting your arms doesn’t want them for “the public good” he wants them so you have not way to fight back.  We have seen time and again the falsehood that is gun control.  So knowing that their claims are lies, why would you surrender your arms?
  3. Everyone has the right to self defense as well as the right to the best tools to do so and it is a divine right and thus not within the bounds of mankind to remove that right.
  4. As a law abiding citizen, what does your disarmament do for the government?  It serves to ensure that you have no means to fight back if you decide you disagree with a law.  It stacks the deck entirely in their favor.

So with that out of the way, lets get to the core of A Girl and Her Gun’s post:

How many stories have we read about activists that save the world while their own kids suffer.  Is the greater good more important than the individual?  Absolutely not and yes, of course it is. There has to be people who are willing to sacrifice it all for what they believe in, if not, where would this country be, where would I be?

Yes, kids will suffer two fold because of this assault on our rights.  They will suffer the first because there will be those of us who will kiss them on the forehead and never see them again.  There will be others who will have them stripped away by the government because they dare to speak out against the state.  The state is a terrorist by all definitions.  These terrorists understand the leverage provided by using someone’s family against them.  This fact is an inevitability of the situation.  We do not wish for it, but it is the beast coming to our door and he can not be ignored. Forgot to post the second: The kids rights are in jeopardy just the same as your own.  Their choices are being made for them and the worst part is they will never be aware of that fact.

There is nothing more important than my children and each of them deserve to grow up knowing they are loved and valued and they need a mommy for that, at least partially, but then again, if they are growing up in a North Korea kind of country, who the hell cares or maybe it matters even more.

There is no question in that.  See this post which ended in a letter to my future kids.  Growing up though I learned that love has many forms.  My dad never expressed it in the ways most people would expect.  He just couldn’t, it wasn’t in his nature.  In fact there were only two times he ever actually said it, one of which was just before he passed away.

My dad would have left home without thinking twice to ensure the safety of my mother, my sister, and myself.  If it was necessary to guarantee my future beyond his horizon he would fight.  He would fight not just because it was the right thing, but because he loved us and wanted the best for us. 

There is no question my dad would act against any threat against his family, he proved it.  I know not everyone who reads this blog looks upon religion the same.  I also avoid it because I don’t like forcing my beliefs on others.  However this line has a significant weight despite the religion.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13

While at the time children may not understand and this applies to sacrificing time with those you love as well.  With age comes wisdom.  They will understand that the choices were the opposite of selfishness.  You fought not just for your right to have a choice, but for their own as well.  It is not only your children who will understand the sacrifices.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing – Edmund Burke

While one would want to just be with your kids to physically protect them, it provides the excuse for good men to do nothing.  There are many reasons not to fight when you consider your children.  However I can think of nothing that would put a bigger fire in my belly than the fear of evil men making decisions for myself and my children without a way to say, “NO!”

*I pulled those lessons from Joe, his post can be found here.