JDRF Walk, 2010

Breakfast (why the breakfast for a diabetes event is all-carb is beyond me):
A nice sand-sculpture:
Devin and Grandpa, starting the walk:
Devin and (her) Mom, continuing the walk (she outpaced G'pa and I for the first time):
There's always something oceany to take pictures of (washed up jellyfish):
A couple of pictures to kind of show the line of people:

The End:
A Self-Portrait:
Deving, playing after the walk:

We got our census form...

...and promptly looked up the sections of the constitution which applied to the situation.

From the U.S. Constitution:
Article 1 Section 2:
"Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.
Amendment 14:
"Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."

These are the constitutional guidelines for our federal census, therefore question 1 on my census form is constitutional.

From my 2010 census form:
"1. How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?" Pretty simple, quite constitutional.
"2. Were there any additional people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?" ??? If I answer the first question correctly, do I really need the second one?
Now that we've satisfied the census provisions in the Constitution, the part that pisses me off:
3 wants to know if we rent, have a mortgage, or own outright our home.
4 requests our phone number.
5 asks for first name, middle initial, and last name for each person living here. This might be ok, just to help eliminate fraud, but it's not technically in the constitution.
6 is sexist. Can the government not count us without segregating us by our private parts?
7 is ageist. Can the government not count us without segregating us by our age?
8 is racist. Can the government not count us without segregating Hispanics, Latinos, and Spanish origin folks?
9 is racist. By definition. "What is Person 1's race?" Can the government not count us without segregating us by race?
10 is about whether people in this home live or stay somewhere else sometimes. I don't even know what to say about this one. Does it really make a difference?
There's room on the form for 12 people.

Do I need to point out that the only reason the government needs this information is so that they can redistribute wealth (in theory) from those they see as having it to those ages, colors, and sexes that it sees as not having it?

I'm sure there's a regulation or code somewhere that makes this all legal, but it doesn't make it right.

I think I'll get a big fat red marker and write a "5" on the front page and return it.

well said:

More Kevin's Mead pics

Kevin is 18 now...

We made this mead today. Local wildflower from 2008. 28 Brix with Lalvin EC1118.

We'll open the first bottle 31 Jan 2013. What a nice, dark and aromatic honey it was.

Nietzsche kind of revered hipocrisy,

I don't see it as a very redeeming human quality, myself.

Pelosi: Where Are the Jobs, Mr. President?

August 1, 2003


Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' announcement that 470,000 people abandoned their job searches in July and that 3.2 million private sector jobs have been lost since President Bush took office:

“The fact is that President Bush’s misguided economic policies have failed to create jobs. Since President Bush took office, the country has lost 3.2 million jobs, the worst record since President Hoover. And today we learned that in July nearly half a million people gave up looking for a job.

“Job losses are taking a real toll on the financial security of American families. While Democrats are fighting for opportunity, jobs, and economic security for working families, Republicans continue to focus on helping those who need help the least...
“It is time for President Bush and the Republicans to get to work for all Americans, not just the elite few

Well, we're at a jobless count of 8.4 million during the current recession. Why does she not ask the president about that anymore? Is it really just because today's president is a Democrat? How very small-minded of her. And everyone else.

1 goal down...

I got the 45 out of layaway back on the 3rd of the month, but didn't take any good pics until I ultra-lightly bead blasted the marred finish. It sure looks nice now!
I am relatively new to the 1911 scene. Back in '92 I had a combat commander, but I sold it.
I'm pretty sure the trigger and sights are aftermarket, and maybe even the mainspring housing (it's plastic!). I like the sights a lot, but the trigger has a wiggle to it that bugs me so I may work on/replace that.

The Not-So-Great Communicator

think about the following sentence:

"The middle east is a problem that has plagued that region... for centuries."
-POTUS44 BHO 1-28-2010 at a town hall meeting in Tampa responding to a question from a USF student.

I realize I'm not Harvard educated, but isn't the region itself the middle east? Isn't that like saying that the home 2 doors down from me is a problem that has plagued that house for months?

Old Year, New Year, Same Words...

thanks to Breitbart TV.

Old Year, New Year (Guns XXXIII)

Well, we added to our collection this year unlike most.

in June we added a Heritage Arms .22 convertible (you've seen this posted before):

in September, we added this CZ52 to the family. Well, I guess I added this one.

I bought it without the Wife's permission, but she wasn't too upset when we saw one in a gun shop the next weekend for almost double what I paid. I wasn't really in the market for one, but I couldn't pass up a good deal:

at the beginning of November, we added this Bulgarian Makarov pistol to the collection.

It is one of the most comfortable pistols we own according to the wife who has claimed ownership of this one (so I guess I'll have to get one for me as well!):


last, but not least, our xmas presents! A pair of CZ82s. "His and Hers", if you will:

one by itself, with all the accessories it came with:

one of the great things about these pistols is the importer's mark, hidden away as it should be:

And what's in store for the new year?

-probably refininshing and restocking the CZ82s

-a .22 pistol with a sound suppressor

-perhaps a "his and hers" pair of 10/22s for the wife and I to customize our own rifles

-stocking up on ammo to feed the whole family of guns

-perhaps a few Mosin Nagant rifles since they are just soooo cheap

-constant deal watching

-oh, and getting my .45 out of layaway where it's been since the first week of November.

quizzical BHO

(aff gann iss tan)
(pah kee stahn)
(tah lee bahn)
(al kaiedah)

This is the best I can do at spelling the president's pronunciation of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban, and Alqaeda. the only one he seems to pronounce as though he were an American is "Afghanistan".

I don't know what this means, but I'm sure it means something...

13th Anniversary (IV)

Day 3:

You can barely see (and boy are they hard to shoot!) the dolphins here. It took a couple days to get any pics of them since they don't pop up out of the water too much. They were active like the pelicans every morning in bad light.

This closer-up is the best I got:

Great Blue Heron:

And again with the GBH:

And the pre-dinner view, once again:

We had salmon with leeks. No pictures. I'll be sure to fix that next time we do anything like this. I did post some pics of salmon with leeks in the past if you're interested.

13th Anniversary (III)

Day 2.

Pelicans seem to really love being active in the morning when the light's not too great:

The Wife and I have been paying attention to the sky here in Florida, and we just have to say that I don't think we've seen anything like it anywhere else:

Why, yes, this is a self-portrait. It was not taken by myself, however, but by the lovely Wife:

The not-as-stellar-as last-night's sunset, but still nice:

I think that last one was taken by the Wife. She was trying for that "lava" effect where the sun seems to melt into the sky before it quite reaches the horizon.

We retired to a grilled meal of Nathan's hot dogs, Johnsonville Brats, and pork tenderloin. Unfortunately, I failed to photograph dinner. Again.