Thursday, February 28, 2013

Ah, That First Obamacare Experience

Technically it won't be until next Friday when I go back for blood tests, but I got the scoop from the phlebotmist today.  Tomorrow is her last day there - from now on the nurses will be doing the blood draws.  The new Obamacare  laws cut the payment per vial sent in for analysis by more than 1/2.  My doctors office doesnt do enough draws to make it financially worth the company  keeping someone at that office. I do hope the nurses have practiced  on something more than an orange.

Unemployment Numbers Explained

So how can over 873,000 people come off the unemployment line when there
were only a little over 114,000 jobs created?

Luckily I found a transcript of a conversation between two eminent
economists discussing this very question!

Here we go, the recent unemployment report explained --

COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .

ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It's 7.8%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that's 14.7%.

COSTELLO: You just said 7.8%.

ABBOTT: 7.8% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 7.8% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that's 14.7%.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it's 14.7% unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, that's 7.8%.

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 7.8% or 14.7%?

ABBOTT: 7.8% are unemployed. 14.7% are out of work.

COSTELLO: IF you are out of work you are unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, Obama said you can't count the "Out of Work" as the unemployed.
You have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!

ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.

COSTELLO: What point?

ABBOTT: Someone who doesn't look for work can't be counted with those who
look for work. It wouldn't be fair.

COSTELLO: To whom?

ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But ALL of them are out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out
of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks
of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you're off the unemployment roles that would count as less
unemployment?

ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don't look for work?

ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That's how the current administration gets
it to 7.8%. Otherwise it would be 14.7%. Our govt. doesn't want you to read
about 14.7% unemployment.

COSTELLO: That would be tough on those running for reelection.

ABBOTT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to
bring down the unemployment number?

ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?

ABBOTT: Bingo

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier
of the two is to have administration supporters stop looking for work.

ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like the Economy Czar.

COSTELLO: I don't even know what the hell I just said!

ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like Obama.










Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Sigh

So I blogged a little while back about having spent years totally immersed in a project, a project that took an enormous about of research and nit-picking detail work.  Only to find out in the end that the division I was doing the work for had run out of money for the project a couple years before and didn't bother to tell me.  Well, after beating my head on the desk for a while in order to not strangle someone I comforted myself with the thought that at least everything was now in place if the project ever got renewed.  I gave a presentation, and then took from my presentation and report and wrote an article for publication in a trade magazine about the project.  Months ago.

My division chief OKed the article for publication and told me to send it up to the Chief Geodesist for review.  I did.  Chief Geodesist says it needs to come through my division chief, not me.  OK, lets do it the step by step through the hierarchy.  So I send an e-mail to my division chief about it and he immediately sends the article to the Chief Geodesist with his blessing.  An hour later I get an e-mail from the Chief Geodesist - my division chief is at a conference and he doesn't want him bothered.  Have Tom send it.  In other words, have Not Division Chief repeat what my division chief just did an hour a go.  While at his conference.

And all the while because the real world people outside the HQ actually don't play at being Abbot and Costello, I've got an editor I personally know at that magazine waiting for the article.

Been doing this job for 33 years.  Getting real close to telling people what I think of them and suggesting actions that are probably physically impossible.

Monday, February 25, 2013

'Puter

Computer is dead dead dead.   Can't play for now.  Hopefully soon.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Sorrow in the Midst of Joy

In the midst of all the business and pleasure of a new baby has come sadness.  My daughter's beloved boxer became ill and before they even were able to make a full diagnosis it become clear she was dying.  Boxers are tumor factories and one developed in her liver.


Rest in peace, sweetheart. You were much loved.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Bear Tagging

I don't know who the commentator in this is, but he's a delight.  Made me laugh out loud, and it has an "Awwww, how cute!" factor as well.


Saturday, February 9, 2013

Baby on the way!

will post as i can!

Apparently I Have a Talent

For killing computers. Scratch the refurb one they gave me after I killed the last one.  At least I got enough warning of impending doom that I got everything backed up.

Friday, February 8, 2013

R.I.P.

Rest in peace, another victim of "safe and legal and rare" abortion.

Yesterday a woman died of complications due to a late term abortion performed by Leroy Carhart in Germantown, MD:
The woman, who came for a third trimester abortion from out-of-state, arrived at GRHC on Sunday and was seen by pro-life activists every day through Wednesday. Witnesses said she appeared “pale and weak.”
Early Thursday morning, the woman began suffering chest pain and other discomforts. Her attempts to reach Carhart were unsuccessful. The woman was taken by her family from her hotel to a nearby hospital emergency room at approximately 5:00 a.m. Efforts by hospital staff to contact Carhart or get informational assistance from the abortion clinic were unsuccessful.
The patient suffered massive internal bleeding into her abdominal cavity. She slipped into a Code Blue condition approximately six times before finally succumbing to her injuries at around 9:30 a.m. The case has been placed with the Medical Examiner for further investigation.
This is at least the second death known to be caused by Carhart.  Many maternal deaths due to abortion go unreported, however, because it is SOP of abortion mills to move women out to a local hotel immediately after in order to distance the mill from any injuries or deaths that appear/occur after abortions.  It's just legal.  It's neither safe or rare.

De-Tweeted

The National Black Pro-Life Coalition has had its Twitter account shut down.  Why?  They announced their intent to protest the NAACP.


Spokesman Steven Broden said it’s a form of censorship:
“It negates our ability to communicate with our audience or to the general public about our positions,” he told Fox News.
Broden said social networking is especially important to black conservative groups because he said they typically get ignored by the national media.
“We are ignored not only by liberal media – but I’d say conservative media ignores us as well,” he said. “Our point of view, particularly as it relates to what’s going on in the black community is not being heard.”
They accuse the NAACP of failing to represent the best interests of the black community – especially their ties to Planned Parenthood – which the pastor accused of “targeting the black community” by trying to control the population through abortion.
“They have failed to protect the black family,” Broden said.
Broden said it’s time for conservative media to start covering the stories of conservative blacks.
“Until we get the kind of coverage and our voice is heard, we will always be seen by the media as a monolith,” he said. “And we are not a monolith. There are a number of us out there who have an alternative point of view.”
 You can read the whole article here.

Abortion is the number one killer of African Americans, outstripping HIV, homicides, cancer, kidney disease, and heart attacks COMBINED.  Yes, abortion is profoundly racist.

The group has an informative website here.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

A Commonality

A question:

What do this gun...




...and these two presidents have in common?



If you said that the TEC DC9 was explicitly banned by the Clinton-era "assault weapons" ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004 and is also on the Obama list of banned firearms he would love to impose on us you would be correct.

Why is that significant?  Because a TEC DC9 was one of the weapons used in the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.  1999.  That would be a date that falls between 1994 and 2004.



Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Finally!

The range has re-opened, and Murphy's Law and I got over there for some range therapy today.  So good to smell gunpowder again.


I didn't group well, but I did finally get to use my own reloads.  ML says I need to crimp the tops a little.


But, really, I was happy just to be able to get out there again.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Priestblock

1940 was a banner year for the forces of the German Reich.  One by one Nazi forces overran the countries of France, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, imposing Hitler's totalitarian state on millions of Europeans.

Victorious Germans in France

In Belgium, Gestapo control brought the closure of the International Catholic Cinema Office in Brussels.  The office was a thorn in Hitler's side - it was referred to as "the Vatican's headquarters in the fight against German films."  The Cinema Office files were seized and the premises became the headquarters of the German military police.  The office, once a private chapel, was later used as an SS torture chamber.

With the closing of the Cinema Office, its head, Father Jean Bernard, shifted his efforts to assisting Luxembourg refugees who had fled to France ahead of the advancing German army.  In January of 1941, Father Bernard was arrested by the Germans.  In a largely Catholic part of Europe, priests were viewed by the Nazis, with good reason, as centers of resistance, and any excuse would do for their removal.  Father Bernard was never sure of why he was arrested, but after stops in a couple prisons, he was shipped to the Dachau concentration camp. 

Father Bernard survived, and in 1945 he published his memoirs of his time in the camp, first serially in a magazine, then later as a book, Priestblock 25487:  A Memoir of Dachau.  Priestblock was the section to which Catholic priests were sent, 25487 was his identity during his time in that camp of horrors.


The brutality of the concentration camp and those charged with running it cannot be exaggerated.  In fact, it will always be something that most people can't even imagine.  And those prisoners who were a part of any organization that defied the Nazis were particularly vulnerable to the perverse cruelty of their jailors.  In Priestblock, Holy Days were celebrated by the guards with increased brutality to the inmates:  the Good Friday before Father Bernard's arrival was observed by the random selection of priests for the "hanging punishment."  Hands tied behind them, they were hoisted by their bound hands and left to hang in brutal mockery of the crucifixion that Good Friday commemorates, most of the of the Good Friday victims died or were permanently disabled.

Photo of Hanging Punishment at Dachau
Resistance to the Nazis reverberated into the camps:  those too sick and weak to work were simply left naked in the cold to die after one incident of resistance in occupied territory.

Eventually, Father Bernard was freed, and was able to give us a first hand account of both the horror and the indomitable spirit and faith that existed in Dachau.  Although sometime hampered by illness contracted during his imprisonment, he still served for long years after his release, dying in 1994.

Priestblock 25487 is sometimes a painful read, but I highly recommend it.