June 11, 2022

I'm Gonna' Have to Post This Now...

...'cause it probably won't be funny or make sense by the end of the year



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January 17, 2022

Meanwhile, In, Over, and Hundreds of Miles Around Tonga (Updated)


Tonga blew up!


Internet to Tonga is down and there is very little communication right now with the island kingdom.


Tsunami's from this explosion hit as far away as Alaska and Japan.

UPDATE:
Via Don: The Vulcanologists over at Volcano Cafe have an assessment.  It looks like two of the Kingdom's Islands are completely gone. Ash is playing havoc with communications. It was, apparently, a VEI-5 on the Volcano Eruption Scale. Meanwhile, as the first deaths are reported, Australia and New Zealand are sending reconnaissance planes to assess how best to get aid to the islands, which is not as straightforward as it sounds since the volcano is still erupting and the ash is a menace to turbine powered planes.

Some idea of the scale of the eruption can be gleaned from the fact that, while Tonga is in the South Pacific, the eruption was heard in Alasksa

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March 01, 2021

Wonderduck In Hospital

Wonderduck has been admitted to the hospital with what has been diagnosed as a...blood clot. Many of you know he's had cardiac issues, so this is even more troubling than it normally would be.However, word is that the prognosis is good. 


Please go send him some good cheer in his comments. 

Thanks to Ben for the heads up. 



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January 07, 2021

On The Importance of not Becoming the Monsters One is Fighting

First let me say that I condemn and disavow those who stupidly decided yesterday to get in touch with their inner Antifatard and charge the Capitol building. 


This was stupid.

This was foul. 

This was wrong. 

The purpose of the exercise is to oppose the left, not BE the left. 

These idiots  are jus as bad as Antifa, BLM and all the other thugs we suffered from last year. 

And that is an important component of trying to understand how we got here.

( Note to the linguistically impaired: Understanding is not endorsing, or defending. These actions are indefensible.) 

For some time people have had the following explained to them in the most sanctimonious and arrogant way possible.



And anyone who disagreed was called everything but a child of God. 

None of this excuses the vile shit that went down at the Capitol yesterday, but it does put it into context.

I and many other conservatives are denouncing these fuckwits in exactly the same way we denounced the riots of last summer... and while it's good to FINALLY  have a bipartisan denunciation of political violence, in stark contrast to the previous situation, if AOC and her co-religionists can't disavow their previous statements in favor of insurrectionists, they only make the problem worse.

Because the message that the riots, and the election sent is that only those who violently protest will be taken seriously.  

Trump is a carnival barker and a narcisist. But Trump did not do this. He sure as fuck could have chosen his words better, but he did not start this riot. The rioters are people, with agency, and they chose to be little shits. 

Furthermore, the left has spent a year normalizing political violence. 

This does not excuse the vile actions that took place yesterday. It makes them even more reprehensible, because those stupid actions served to malign the hundreds of thousands of protestors who were there to peacefully protest and it deprives the public at large of any hope that either side denounces violence. 

I have seen it noted on other blogs that this wasn't any different from the many times that lefty loons broke into the Capitol during hearings, votes or state of the union speeches except that the capitol police did not shoot any of those protestors to death....

Outside the Supreme Court 2018

...which almost seems like a fair point until you realize that our side is the one that is supposed to stand against this darkness. Another fact frequently noted is that aside from the broken windows, this was a remarkably sedate riot, with little looting or burning, and while that is, indeed true, the riot was still a damned RIOT. Furthermore, the sacred nature of the venue rather negates that argument. 

There is one big caveat however. 
This is not a defense of this indefensible action but a fact and a warning. 

If riots are the rules by which the political game is to be played going forward, both sides are eventually going to follow those rules. The only thing that had kept conservatives from responding in kind ( Instead famously leaving protest areas cleaner than when they showed up) was a faith that the system could work for them, the bourgeoisie values that were the key to their standard of living and a sense of civics. All of these have been under constant attack, especially in schools to the point that the younger generations are starting to see those cultural checks as indicators of gullibility. 

This is a dangerous place we are in, and if the nation goes over the precipice, a fair amount of the blood spilled will be on the hands of those who acted so stupidly yesterday. And on those who have unimaginable cultural influence and   have so normalized this sort of behavior when it was their allies doing it. 




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October 19, 2020

Tsunami Warning for Alaska

Issued 12 minutes before I typed this




UPDATE: The tsunami has hit.

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October 05, 2019

And Another

A female employee of Kyoto Animation is now the 36th employee of that company to die as a result of injuries sustained in the fire. She was one of three still hospitalized and aparrently contracted an infection in the ICU.




She was in her 20s.

UPDATE: From the Mainichi Shinbun:
Most of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, as the company is known to hire young animators as regular employees and conduct in-house training, while many other studios tend to rely on skilled freelancers.



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September 19, 2019

Rain

Last time Houston got anything like this much rain Ubu Roi nearly got washed away.


Stay dry Ubu.

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September 08, 2019

Dustbury Has Passed.

Charles G. Hill, better known as the writer at Dustbury, passed away today due to injuries received in a recent car accident.




I did not know him personally, though he occasionally did me the great compliment of commenting here.

I know very little about him other than that he served in the army for six years in the mid '70s and he'd been entertaining the world with his blogging for the past 23 years. Yes, he started before blogging was even a word.

His site was eclectic, silly and literate. Through it Mr. Hill brought smiles to a great many faces.

The world is a bit less quirky tonight.

He will be sorely missed.

UPDATE:
There's more here.

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September 04, 2019

A Note to Our Canadian Readers

 Those of you in Newfoundland and the Maritimes are probably looking at the wind speeds of a category 1 or 2 Hurricane and thinking "we get Nor'easters as bad as a that, no big deal!"

Well these are much different sorts of cyclones. They are wetter, dropping insane amounts of rain when they hit land, and they have significantly more storm surge than a North Atlantic storm of comparable wind speed. This thing looks like it will be Category 1 or 2 when it hits Canada. If so, it will surprise you.
Unpleasantly.
Please. Take it seriously. If Dorian follows this track, it is going to be a bad time in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland early next week. 


On a personal note. A hurricane eye is slated to pass right over my parents house again for the second time in 10 months. They'd JUST finished repairs on the barn.
more...

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August 28, 2019

Jessi Combs 1983-2019



Jessi Combs a race-car driver, celebrity mechanic, video personality and engineer was killed earlier today, when her experimental jet car crashed while she was attempting to beat a land speed record.

She was the host of Extreme 4x4 and was a guest and occasional host on Mythbusters.  

 Here she is in the T.R.O.G. event in her customized twin-engine Model T.

One of her last Instagram posts said this...

It may seem a little crazy to walk directly into the line of fire. Those who are willing, are those who achieve great things.


Indeed.


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August 03, 2019

Meanwhile:

Imagine if you will a city of two million that serves as a crossroads and transportation hub as it exists on a great lake between two countries, with a modest lake port, roads and an international airport.

Now imagine that the aforementioned lake has recently been discovered to be one of three in the world susceptible to a peculiar and terrifying phenomenon in which the lake explosively emits enough toxic and asphyxiating gasses to kill all animals for miles around, and this is due to the local geology, which includes two of the most active volcanoes on the planet, which have re-paved part of the town and the airport a few years ago and frequently provides a glowing illumination at night from the largest lava lake on the planet.


image via...

Now imagine this hypothetical city consisting mostly of an expansive, 30 square mile favella, with very limited services, sanitation and mostly dirt roads.

Now imagine the city is in the middle of a war zone.

Now imagine that in the middle of all that, a plague shows up.

If this was a setting for a thriller one was writing, one would risk mockery for an over the top, gratuitous setting.

This, however, is not fiction, it's Goma.

Ebola has reached a transportation hub of of 2 million people, Worse, the people are living in pretty terrible conditions, many without power. This is not an isolated rural town or a city with modern facilities and where the first victims were fortuitously caught and quarantined like happened in Lagos, Madrid and Dallas. No, this is people coming out of the jungle, and crawling into a shanty-town where there are basically no facilities outside of the tourist(?!) areas. This is close to a worst case scenario. Rwanda closed the border yesterday, but due to international pressure re-opened it today.

Apparently 'international pressure' is unfamiliar with basic epidemiology.

Ebola is not anything as bad as the flu or smallpox with regards to transmissiblity. However, while it's not technically "airborne", if it gets in the lungs it can be transmitted short distances through the air much like pneumonic plague. This is really a bad situation and it could go international very quickly at this point.

Fear not though, you can still book a tour to the area.

Because why the hell would you not want to go to this place?



Ebola Tan and Wilhelm: Viral gallows humor originally by 蔵田湖山.


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March 26, 2019

We Have Noted That There's a Bad Side to Everything, but It Should be Remembered That Not Everything Has a Good Side,

Take this for instance.



Why are we paying through the nose and putting our troops on the line to defend these asinine aristocratic authoritarians?

Leave them to the Russians
 

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October 23, 2016

Fearing the Worst; Hoping for the Best for Steven DenBeste (UPDATED)

On October 14th, Steven DenBeste posted that he anticipated there might be an interruption in his posting due to an approaching Typhoon. No one has heard from him since. I've called his landline, others have attempted to contact friends, and Wonderduck and Ubu both contacted vendors he's blogged about using since they are assumed to have his mailing address. 

 
9 days on, the power in that part of Oregon has been restored (and his landline is ringing)., many of us are beginning to fear the worst.

In addition to the storm Steven has been in failing health of late, so his absence is of particular concern.

Steven is an atheist, so he won't appreciate prayers...but they can't hurt....


In the Hopes That it Will Amuse Steven: Pious Bunnygirl with kitten by Juji Amo

UPDATE: Earlier this evening I contacted the police with my limited information, which consisted of a phone number and the city (gleaned through the first six digits of said phone number. A few minutes ago I was contacted by the Beaverton police. There were three addresses that it could have been, the second was Steven's family. The officer had offered to escort them to Steven's house, but they said they would handle things in the family and declined further assistance. That is all I know at this time, and as I'm not family it's all I am likely to discover. It does not sound good. 

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May 14, 2016

A Most Horrid Deed

The other day, on the way to work, I noted that Merrifields Boulevard was blocked by a barricade of sorts. An uprooted street sign and a large box had been placed in the middle of each lane.


I was short on time to get to work and it was raining so I did not get out and pull them out of the street as I normally would have. Instead, I pulled over ,called 911, and told them about the idiot prank before proceeding to work. 

I have had a week to ponder the repercussions of that decision.

I made the call at about 03:35. At 03:45 a young lady returning from work apparently swerved to avoid the obstruction (or hit it) and careened into the subdivision's greeting sign, demolishing it and killing herself in the process. 



The police were still there after I returned home from work, and I offered a statement but had little of use to provide. 

I imagine the barricade was kids being jerks, but whoever they were, they have blood on their hands. 

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October 09, 2014

A Few More Random Links on Ebola

It appears that a UK citizen has died of Ebola...In Macedonia. More worrisome are reports that he had not been to the affected regions. 

More on this here


On a hopeful note. At this point,  none of those being monitored in Dallas have yet manifested any signs of the disease.   

There are persistent reports about scientists saying that Ebola could mutate and become airborne...well a lot of  things COULD happen, but this does not appear to HAVE happened. There seems to be nothing other than Niberuistic speculation and doesn't serve much purpose. In the vanishingly unlikely event it goes airborne, we're screwed anyway, so it seems better to focus on the matter as it exists. This short video shows what it takes to deal with the actual disease.  

Ebola is quite infectious as it exists now and even with its limits could cause some serious issues. ,  I suggest you read this whole thing.  There are further thoughts on how to protect oneself here. Both are very informative, neither is encouraging. 

So what to do?

I suggest that, if there is an outbreak, if possible, avoid mass transit, and don't shop or eat out (eat out of the hurricane chest..that's what it's there for).  In other words,  one should keep ones disaster stock current and be prepared to stay in ones home for a month or so in the event of a quarantine or lockdown. Above all, don't panic. 

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February 03, 2013

Peter David is Asking for Help

Author Peter David has had a stroke.

Actually he had a stroke on December 29 but I just found out via twitter.

Tip jar and more here.

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November 13, 2012

Terrible News

 Steven Den Beste, who was one of my inspirations to get into blogging and now runs the highly regarded anime blog Chizumatic  has reportedly had a stroke.

He is in the hospital and thankfully seems to be recovering. Go send him some good wishes.

UPDATE:
It's bad. However he is conscious and lucid enough to post this comment.


My brotheri s loaning me a laptop which I can use on the hospital's wifi.

Looks like Thursday morning, I'll be transferring to a rehab place where I'm probably going to be staying for a week. I'm not looking forward to it but I'm also not thrilled about being profoundly crippled for the rest of my life, either.



I don't know if I'll have wifi access at the rehab.

In the meantime, my left hand is useless and I'm typing this with one finger.


Get well Steven!
がんばて!

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November 16, 2011

Would-Be Assasin on the Loose!


Seen here wearing the traditional garb of his native LA-La-Land
 This Jackwagon's name is Oscar Ramiro Ortega and he is strongly suspected of putting a bullet through the President's window.


He's 5'8" tall, weighs 160 pounds and has multiple tattoos. He's reportedly been seen at the #OccupyRingworm encampment but a sweep by the secret service there did not find him.


UPDATE: They got him!

Yay!

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August 09, 2011

London Update

It doesn't look like its ended yet.
It's finally starting to illicit some coverage in the US and Drudge has a good chunk of his page  devoted to it as I type this.
More here, here and here.


Readers of Andy Janes' blog will be happy to know that has responded to an E-mail and is OK.

Update: Allan Harvey of Gorilla Daze is in the middle of it and reports "...the sky is full of smoke..." but he is safe and unhurt.

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July 19, 2011

Breaking: US Congressman Leonard Boswell (D Iowa 3rd) Attacked by Gunman in Home!

Boswell who is 77 heard his daughter screaming and found an intruder on top of her with a gun in her face. He reportedly tackled the intruder and the two wrestled until his grandson entered the room with a shotgun...at which point the intruder fled. The assailant is still at large.

Via Alphecca

This is a big deal. There is no indication as I write this that this was anything but a home invasion....but this was a United States Congressman so something bigger can't be ruled out. Coming so soon after the Giffords assassination attempt this has got to have people on edge regards congressional security. I hope the powers that be don't overreact as US Representatives and Delegates are about the only federal officials the citizens have any access to.

In any event it seems that the asshat who is now on the lamb picked the wrong Congresscritter to bother...

Boswell was drafted into the US Army in 1956. According to his Congressional website, he reenlisted and became an army aviator who was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Soldier’s Medal, two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal with V device, and numerous other awards and decorations.


Hooah!

UPDATE: They have caught one person and are looking for another.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety said authorities had arrested Cody John Rollins, 19, of Lamoni. He's charged with first degree burglary, assault while participating in a felony, going armed with intent and three counts of first degree robbery.

He was held on $50,000 bond, and a lawyer hadn't yet been named.

Police also were searching for David Palmer Dewberry, 20, of Fremont, Neb., who is considered armed and dangerous and may have fled the state.


It looks like just a couple of lowlifes who picked a house with a war hero and a shotgun inside. It still bears watching though.

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