Harelipfrog

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Ecosystem

Woo Hoo!! I'm a multicellular organism!

Votes

Good luck and safe voting to everyone in Iraq, Sunni and Shiite.

Sunday, January 16, 2005



Thanks to World66 for the map

I am for the most part not an overtly political person, but thought this deserved a comment.

Gunner at No Quarters posted regarding the release of the Brady Campaign's state by state reportcard on gun control. I noticed a pattern, and decided to create a map showing those states that made a C or better. I waffled a bit on including North Carolina for various reasons but decided eventually to go ahead and include it because, after all, they did get a C.

I find it interesting that for the most part the "passing" states are all clumped together. A clump in the northeast around New York (surprise surprise) and another one in the Midwest around Illinois. Then you have California (who amazingly only got an A-), Hawaii (sorry, almost forgot them) and North Carolina.

I went looking for a map showing the number of gun crimes per capita(I have been looking now for over 2 hours) for 2003 or even 2002, but nobody seems to have one. I would really have liked one for comparison.

I did find some very interesting stuff while doing my research.

This is a timeline of gun control laws from Infoplease.

A rather interesting review of a book titled "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws". The reviewer is impressed for the most part with the author's statistics and methodology. I tend to be leery of statistics though, being the daughter of a statistician I know that you can make numbers say virtually anything you want. However I might need to check this book out.

The Bureau of Justice statistics on firearms and crime overall.

I also found it interesting that the Department of Justice agrees with me on the purpose of the Second amendment (yes, it secures the rights of the individual not just the armed forces). It's obviously written by lawyers, as it is incredibly windy and drawn out, but worth taking that time to read. I also find it interesting that there has not been much interest in it in the news.

I am not one for ramming my opinions down other persons throats, and for every person who thinks the way I do on the subject there is sure to be someone else with a completely different opinion.

I will climb up on my soapbox a take a moment to state that I do believe the Second amendment secures the rights of the individual to keep and bear arms, and for that matter that all that gun control laws will ever do is create criminals out of law-abiding citizens. I believe the surest way to keep our children safe from accidents is proper education of our children(these are not toys) not denial or fear of guns and proper storage (yes, I use a gun lock).

And yes, I know someone out there will think I am an absolute loon. So, f*** off, I am entitled to my opinions, its my blog.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Yes - I played with my template again : )

Tsunami

I have not said anything about the tsunami and earthquakes prior to today, mostly because I did not really feel that I could add anything helpful. However I had a friend send this link to me today, and it is just appalling. I thought I would share it with you.

Other helpful links

The Red Cross
AmeriCares
UNICEF
Doctors without Borders
Direct Relief International
WorldVision

Good places to go if you want to help out. One of my personal favorites is Doctors without Borders. One of my mother's favorite docs (Mom is an RN) is part of Doctors without Borders. He volunteers his time once or twice a year to go to South America and treat people there.

Additionally the Red Cross is also a really good place to go. I can't say enough good things about them either.

I don't know about you, but I can't go there to help but this is something just about anyone can do.

Work Funnies

CORPORATE MEMO

As a result of the constant pressure to control cost, we are forced to reduce our current number of employees.

Under this plan, older employees will be asked to go on early retirement,thus permitting the retention of our younger people who represent the company's future.Therefore, a program to phase our older personnel by the end of the current fiscal year, via retirement, is being initiated immediately.

This programwill be known as RAPE (Retire Aged Personnel Early).Employees who have been placed on the potential RAPE list can request a review of their employment records before the actual RAPE occurs.

This phase of the new policy is called SCREW (Survey Capabilities of Retiring Early Workers). Any employee who is scheduled for RAPE, whether or not they have requested SCREW may request a review of their case by upper management.

This phase is called SHAFT (Study by Higher Authority for Termination). Under the terms of the new policy, an employee can be SCREWed twice, with or without request, and SHAFTed as many times as the company deems necessary, but may only be RAPEd once.

If an employee follows the above procedure, he/she will be entitled to receive HERPES (Half Earnings for Retired Personnel's Early Severance) or CLAP (Combined Lump-sum Assistance Payment) following their RAPE, unless he/she already has AIDS (Additional Income from Dependent or Spouse).

Since HERPES or CLAP are considered benefit plans, any employee who receivesHERPES or CLAP as a result of their RAPE will no longer be eligible to be SCREWed or SHAFTed.

Management wishes to assure those younger employees who are not eligible to be RAPEd, SCREWed, or SHAFTed, that the company has not forgotten them. To ensure the motivation and morale of our young employees, the company has also instituted a new program called SHIT (Special High Intensity Training). The company takes great pride in the amount of SHIT our employees will receive. We are committed to giving more SHIT to our employees than any other company in the area. All supervisors have been trained to make sure each employee receives all the SHIT they can possibly handle.

Gunner

Gunner may very well get irritated with me about this, but I am going to put it out here anyway.

Gunner (of No Quarters) will be having surgery later this month, specificly he will be having a Gastric Bypass with a Duodenal Switch (more information on that here). Needless to say, I will not be posting much the next week or so as we get ready for this.

I realize that I have spent the last several weeks apologizing for not posting much, but life has just been too insane for words. Additionally now that we have moved, I only have limited computer access.

I would appreciate any good thoughts that you might send Gunner's way.

Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

New Year Resolutions

I decided that I would post my resolutions for the new year, and then come back at the end of the year and let ya'll know how I did.

Resolution #1
I resolve to loose weight - I am not going to say how much - I don't know anyone who does not have this on their list of resolutions.

Resolution #2
I resolve to try and be more patient with my family - immediate and extended - I am not really sure how to quantify this one.

Resolution #3
I resolve to go back to school by the fall of this year.

Those are the big ones. The ones I really want to get a good start on this year. Good luck to me and everyone out there with your hopes for a better new year.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Water Water Everywhere ....

I woke up early (1:00 am) this morning to the sound of spraying water.

This is not a noise you want to hear in your bedroom.

The only place that it could be coming from is my laundry room which is conveniently located just off my bedroom. When I opened the door to the laundry room I was immediately hit by a spray of ice cold water. It quite literally took my breath away it was so cold.

I turns out that the hose connecting to the washing machine developed a pin-hole leak. Water was spraying out of it, hitting the back of the washing machine and spraying and misting all over the laundry room.

Gunner managed to turn off the water, but there was water everywhere. Water on the walls, the doors, the ceiling, in the washer, and in my shoes.

I think that after cracked pipes (discovered right after the house was purchased, replaced a good chunk of plumbing) and the clogged drains (discovered right after we moved in, we replaced nearly all the drain pipe) that this is the LAST water related item in the house that could break.

At least I hope so.
I'm still cold.

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Christmas Presents

I managed to really surprise Gunner this year (as he commented on his blog) and thought I would give a quick plug to the guys who made it possible!

Flatsigned.com

If you are looking for a unique gift this is one place to go for the reader on your list. The only thing I found disappointing is that they have no book overview, but you have to understand that I purchase books to read them. Personally I think they do you no good if you just get them to look pretty on your shelf.

I encountered them through a couple of their Ebay auctions, and eventually purchased a couple of books from them (the Gunther Rall and the Pappy Boyington books).

One of Gunner's enthusiasms is history, and especially military history with an emphasis on WWII.

I have to admit that those were not my first selections, but the books I really wanted to get were way ... way ... way out of my price range. But Gunner would have really gone nuts had he found them under the tree.

A complete set of Winston Churchill's history of World War II, did I mention that book three was SIGNED.

Something Positive


Which Something Positive cast member are you?

If you have no idea what I am talking about see here.

Take the test.