A new definition of

Irony.

I've lived in this state for awhile but even after I established residency and paid taxes here (following my departure from the military) I hesitated to tell people I was "from" Missouri. I only lived here.

This is why.

Flawed reasoning in Missouri report
Mo. Panel's Report Links Immigration To Abortion
Immigration report should be rewritten

Now I wish I could say I've never met any Missourians who would think like this. However I try my best not to lie.

Those immortal words ...

"But if you want, you could come over to my house this weekend and we could play."

Wil Wheaton's Geek in Review: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Geek

It's been so long ago I don't remember anymore how or when I got into D&D.

I recall clearly the "Little Black Books" that were the basic Traveler edition, that came in a little black (5"x7") box. I may very well still have them in a box which has very nearly everything GDW ever published for Traveler.

I recall the very first (board war)game I ever played. It was with a fellow at the Alternative Middle School named Danny and it was Avalon Hill's Afrika Korps. One of our favorite rules was that if you captured ... hmm, I don't recall the name of the town but it was on the coast and had no purpose whatsoever within the game, but if you captured it you won. I guess that was our very first "House Rule".

What a long trip it's been. And we're no where near the end yet. :)

Well that went well

The election turned out about as well as I could expect. Talent was narrowly defeated but Hulshof was reelected. On the state level, Amendment 2 on stem cell research narrowly passed, as did the minimum wage hike but the cigarette tax was defeated.

I kind of think these days that each party should control only one house of congress. That may encourage compromise which will allow us to advance in social areas rather than pass bogus legislation whose only purpose is to make it appear that lawmakers are doing work.

Another item which was in the news a lot this morning was a partial birth abortion measure up before the supreme court. As I consider this topic more and more I develop new opinions (or rather opinions where I didn't have one before) on some things. It seems to me that pro-lifers are putting the rights of the unborn ahead of the rights of the living. While I can agree with the idea of protecting the weak and those not able to speak effectively for themselves, this strikes me a bit as some sort of "we're not going to cure disease because bacteria and viruses are alive too!" thinking. And this also strikes me as grossly ignoring the rights of women, which just pisses me off.

But I think I have more thinking to do on the topic.

Go vote,

GO VOTE, NOW!

I may not agree with your politics, you may not agree with mine, but I spent 13 years of my life defending your right to have your opinion and to express it. And one of the most important ways to express your opinion is to VOTE!

If you don't vote then you are definitely part of the problem and you don't get to have any complaints for the next 2 years.

Plus you're a poopyhead!

(a BIG attaboy to those of you who have already!)

Spooky

The one call, besides Brand calling to tell me to let the group know he's running late, I got this morning was from a woman who asked me if I had paged Doctor Patel. Odd but we get wrong numbers sometimes.

Later I was reading this;

Grand jury indicts former Midlander on murder charges

and I see on the ads section one for a Doctor Vikram Patel, who specializes in Sinus, Ear, Nose and Throat in West Texas.

That's a heck of a page.

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Man talk about getting in trouble.

School Bus Driver Fired After Giving President Bush The Finger

I had heard he was in Missouri stumping for Talent. I wanted so bad to go to wherever and stand outside holding a big sign that said "LIAR". But I guess not.

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Jack proposed a pretty scary theory the other day. Consider these facts.

1) Karl Rove and President Bush and everyone from the current administration who's been asked about the possibility of the Democrats taking the House has very confidently denied the possibility, despite the polls. (Easily explained -- what else will they say, anyway? That they're prepared for their party to lose? They have to cheer the home team.)

2) There have been a number of reports from all over the country of various new electronic voting machines malfunctioning -- recording votes for one party as votes for the other. In only one of the stories I've read has this malfunction seemed to favor Democrats. (Diebold tells us that it'll all be fine...)
[ed: Studies at a number of places have proved that these machines are exceptionally easy to hack and it's very easy for even simple things to munge the "paper trail". How can someone tamper with an electronic voting machine?]

3) On the same day that the military tribunals act [ed: What I called the "torture bill".] was passed, Bush signed into law a measure (part of public law 109-364) that makes it easier for him to mobilize the National Guard under federal authority and use the military for police duties -- i.e., declare martial law in parts or all of the US. Habeas corpus and posse comitatus out the window in 24 hours, scary. (The right is defending the measure as a response to the criticisms about federal inaction during Katrina. Because apparently the National Guard would do better than a functional FEMA...)

It kind of sounds like a Bruce Willis - Denzel Washington movie I saw years ago, what was it called? ...
"The Siege". Hmmm.

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Weird Al coined the neatest phrase I've heard in a long time for his song "You're Pitiful".

"Delusions of Adequacy"