Bad Dye Job

White Hair - Achieved through the use of smoke and mirrors.
The .50 Cal. Desert Eagle isn't real. I'm merely posing.
Firearms are dangerous. They kill Hippies. 

Darlin' suggested that I share more about myself in my blog about a week ago. Since it's New Year's Eve (Hogmanay in Scotland), I decided to purge myself of this hidden information about myself to all of you who read this blog. 

My hair is not white. It's black as a raven's wing. I dye it white to appear older and more seasoned (which is a euphemism for rotting). Many people used to tell me, "Oh, you're rotten!" Taking that to heart, I decided to keep my hair white all of the time and to conceal my dark hair roots through a non-patented (but infinitely clever) process that I'm not going to share.

Also, I'm sharing some other information about other bloggers. I'm dragging all of you out of the closet!

• Frequent Poster - WoFat: That is NOT his real given name. Many people use it, but it's not the name that he was born with. 
• Frequent Poster - Opus #6: That's not her real name either. I don't know her real name, but I know that she communicates with Donald Trump. Suspicious but true.
• Frequent Poster - Race Bannon: That's not his real name either. Once would think from his screen name that he's a racist but he's not.
• Frequent Poster - Azra: Not an alias, which makes her appearance here on the blog very suspicious. 
• Frequent Poster - Darlin: One of the more dangerous people here because she is a chef - and shows photos of her baked goods (no, not her muffins - get your mind out of the gutter) without actually sharing them.
• Frequent Poster - Coffeypot: Even more dangerous than Darlin. He's a Navy veteran and old sailors never die -- they just get a little 'dinghy'...
• Frequent Poster - Euripides: Yes, it's not an alias. And old Tanners never die, they just go into hiding.
• Frequent Lurker - Anonymous from Reno. Gambling advice: Never do amazing card tricks with the people you play poker with

The Bear Remembered

I was minding my own business when US Ambassador April Glaspie tacitly gave Saddam Hussein a wink, a nod and what amounted to a green light to invade Kuwait. Some people believe that the US Government had the ability to watch tanks and troops marshall on the border and fuel trucks line up to service and refill the armored spearhead that gathered. I don't know about that. America is a long way from the Iraq/Kuwait Border. How could they see that? I'm a skeptic...

When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the President of the United States made Saddam Hussein's business -- my business. I deployed with SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One, Delta Platoon to the Gulf Region. Later to be transferred to SEAL Team Five Alpha Platoon at Ras Al Mishab, where in my role as N2, I planned missions for the US Naval Special Warfare operation in the Gulf. We waited - and I planned - and most of those plans were shot down by none other than General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, US Army as being too dangerous and too likely to lead to serious loss of life. For a young man who had more balls than brains, I was offended.

Then I had an epiphany. The General was correct. And I came to love General Schwarzkopf because of the man that he was. And I personally mourn his passing. They broke the mold when they made General Schwarzkopf.

Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf
Nickname	"Stormin' Norman"; "The Bear"
Born	August 22, 1934 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 27, 2012 (aged 78) Tampa, Florida
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1956–1991
Rank	General
Commands held	1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division 24th Mechanized Infantry Division I Corps U.S. Central Command
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Grenada Gulf War
Awards	Defense Distinguished Service Medal Army Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross Bronze Star Purple Heart

Gun Control Reimagined

In a perfect nation, the only legal rapid fire weapons with high capacity magazines would be in the possession of people who protect politicians from people wielding illegal rapid fire weapons with high capacity magazines.

Is that logic flawed?

Who protects the common innocent mass - the great unwashed - from criminals? The answer goes something like this. "They are on their own. They have no status, no elite cadres of bodyguards and no need for bodyguards because they are not elite. If they have a problem, they can call the police. And the police will come if they are not busy protecting (higher priority) politicians." 

Those who think that this idea makes sense also buy off on the notion that the State should have a monopoly on dispensing "legitimate violence".

When you look at the photo (right) you may ask yourself, "why is that chucklehead smiling?" Why the shit-eating grin? Then if you look closely down to the border of the photo (lower left) you'll note that he has a holstered Glock 21 (chambering a .45 ACP). Are armed people happier people?

Argument in favor of Evolution

I know that many people believe that evolution from one species to another is a myth.

Some people accept that species evolve within an environment such as the shark (above).

Others hold that man somehow developed from an aquatic ape.

I've been doing research on my own by looking at the trendy youth of today (below).

And I think that it's plain that humans are evolving back into a species of fish.

There is a standard human on the left and on the right we see classic indications that those humanoids are well on the path to becoming fish.

In his book, Your Inner Fish, Neil Shublin discusses how humans evolved from fish. The good doctor is afraid (or so it seems) to take that theory one step further.

But is there only one evolutionary track available for humans? Some people suggest that we are not only heading for the ocean, but for the wallow as well:

My end of the world list.

I have neglected a few skills and with the end of the world only two days away, perhaps the way to approach all of those unfinished sill sets is to take a few easy ones and work on them. Like knot tying.

Or treasure hunting. However, I have no idea how much treasure I could amass in two days and what I could do with it once the world ends.

Cryptozoology interests me but if I acquired a hairless cat (the only kind of cats that I like) in the next day or so, playing with the cat for a day seems pointless - and to tell you the truth, I'm not much of a cat lover.

I'm not a drinker, but the idea of constructing an illegal home distillation system to brew illegal alcoholic beverages (bootleg white lighting) seems appealing since I've seen a few episodes of the new reality television series Moonshiners.

The only problem with this plan comes with a mouth full of teeth. I'd need to pull a few and learn to wear denim overalls to meet the current fashion demands of the profession. All in two days? 

Being Ugly is in Vogue!

There aren't many animals uglier than hippos.

But even I have to admit that this one is cute as a bug's ear.**

However when they get a bit older, and "long in the tooth", the genes kick in and the whole cute factor fades - and stereotypes kick in. I've been told that they make poor house pets as adults. Adult Hippos can out run many humans (20 mph burst speed).

They live in Africa and in Colombia, South America (introduced into the wild by Pablo Escobar).

** I've never actually seen a bugs ear, 
but people say that they are cute, so I'm running with it.

Schrödinger's cat

Schrödinger's Cat is a paradox of sorts which revolves around an uncertainty principle which is explained in this way: A cat, a flask of poison and a radioactive source are placed in a sealed box.

If an internal monitor detects radioactivity, the flask is shattered releasing the poison and killing Schrödinger's Cat. There is a 50% chance of that happening, which implies that there are equal chances of the feline being alive or dead. From a quantum mechanics perspective, the cat is both alive and dead at the same time but when you crack open the box and look, you will see that either the cat is alive or the cat is dead. 

Thus, Erwin Schrödinger lighted a firestorm of controversy in the theoretical physics community and you can review the different theories at your leisure if you care. (I suspect that if you care, you would have already done this, but My Journey Blog offers you references)

• Copenhagen Interpretation
• Many Worlds Interpretation
• Ensemble Interprétation
• Relational Interpretation
• The Objective Collapse Theories

Why was Schrödinger doing these experiments (playing dice with the universe)?

My theory takes it a step further.

We Elected the Wrong Guy

Everybody in the mainstream media enjoyed cracking on Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican Party's nominee for president. They called him an out-of-touch rich guy. I'll admit that he's a lot richer than I am, but he shops at Costco, just the same as I do.

What are the chances that after the Presidential Election, you'd see Barack and Michelle buying Christmas wrapping paper, household items and toys for the grandkids in Costco? Setting aside the fact that they don't have grandchildren, my guess is that there is not a chance of that happening. You see, the Romneys don't employ housekeepers, drivers, cooks or other servants. Mitt still irons his own shirts and helps Ann with the cooking and cleaning.

As it so happens, both Mitt and I bought our grandsons the same toy cars, and we both use Kirkland paper towels... I'll take the guy who shops for stuff like everyone else as a leader before I'll take any elitist progressive stuffed shirt.

The Course of True Love?

Is an age difference of sixty years significant in a relationship where love abides?

Yes, just when you thought that you too could date Crystal Harris, she and Hugh Hefner are engaged…again.

It seems after a very public breakup and some time apart, Harris, 26, and Hef, 86, are finally ready to get married. The two plan to tie the knot on New Year’s Eve at the Playboy Mansion - providing that the Mayan Calendar is not correct in which case, the world will end on December 21.

In June 2011, Harris called off her wedding to the Playboy mogul just five days before they were set to walk down the aisle. Earlier this year, she moved back into Hefner’s mansion, and it seemed the two were reconciling.

Crystal is from San Diego, California where she attended San Diego State University. Both of her parents are from England but Crystal was born in Lake Havasu, Arizona. She was a Playmate of the Month appearing as Miss December 2009.

I suspect that you are asking yourself whether or not I actually care about this stuff. The answer should be plain. I don't. Not in the slightest. Except to say that it's comforting to know that if you're a guy, you're rich and you're 86, NOTHING need stand in your way of finding 'love' from a 26 year old bombshell. You don't even need a 14" personality.

What is "too aggressive"?

I didn't valet my car last night. I parked on the street. I didn't want the valet to have access to firearms that may or may not have been in my BMW. I attended a quinceanera (fifteenth birthday party) for a young lady, who I don't personally know. I simply responded to an invitation from a tio (uncle).

note: A quinceanera is sort of like a wedding for a fifteen year old girl with no groom. It's usually a very elaborate birthday party with the 'court' of the birthday girl performing many organized dances, there are MANY speeches and the ubiquitous mariachis.

The joke runs that usually they have the big party when they're 15 because by the time they're 16, they're married and the 'father' ran off so there won't be a wedding... 

My decision not to go with the herd and valet park, and to park off-site and walk sparked a discussion later that evening (before people started drinking) that morphed into a discussion that I am going to throw out here on the blog.

A person accused me of being too aggressive. They didn't accuse me of being criminally aggressive, simply of being "aggressive" as if that was a bad thing. They responded to my assertion that had the Japanese got as far as India in the Second World War, Gandhi's theories of "passive resistance" would have floated down the Ganges River with his bayoneted, beheaded carcass.

The fears of man are many. He fears the shadow of death and the closed doors of the future. He is afraid for his friends and for his sons and of the specter of tomorrow. All his life's journey he walks in the lonely corridors of his controlled fears, if he is a man. For only fools will strut, and only cowards dare cringe. -- James Warner Bellah, "Spanish Man's Grave" in Reveille, Curtis Publishing, 1947.

In modern thought, the old "assertiveness" has been replaced by the new "aggressiveness", which implies that being anything but a 'hive insect' is somehow wrong. The new progressive thought process runs on the order that there is something wrong with people who are attracted to the idea of a nation of individuals who deal with their own problems without relying on an (inefficient, unproductive) central government to tell them how and what to do.

One of the party-goers asked me not to "take out" another person who attended the party, and who I don't particularly like. I replied, "Why would I do that here at this party?" They shrugged and said, "Sometimes you can be on the aggressive side." WRONG. In the past, I've stood up for my rights and for those of people who I care for and am willing to act decisively in self defense. That is not aggression. That is assertive self-defense. Defending one's self has been construed in our post modern, namby-pamby world as "aggressive". Another person standing nearby said, "Ok, but I'll bet you're armed." I replied that, "Of course I'm armed." (legally) That seemed to confirm the opinion of the person who felt that I was aggressive. 

"See, you're armed. You admit it."

"What's wrong with being armed?" (legally)

"It's a sign of aggression."

"It's a sign of preparedness. Aggression is not wrong when properly applied, but being it's better to have than not have, certainly at a frigging quinceanera where people's hispanic gang member relatives and Sinaloan drug dealers are present (which they were, but they kept to themselves and were on their best behavior)."

"Are you saying that you'd shoot one of the relatives here at the party?"

"I would defend myself - and others - if needed, but there is a vast gulf between wanton aggression and being prepared to protect myself. You haven't seen me 'going Columbine' here."

"The night is young."

A mixed bag of military people (in dress uniforms) also attended the large, very formal, banquet-style party and the same person drew a distinction between them (apparently unarmed) and me (armed) as the difference between the "aggressive" and "non-aggressive". However, the difference between most military people and me is that most of them have never fired a shot in anger. Maybe 1/5,000 military people ever fire a shot off the range - and a lot of them don't shoot on the range. At this point, I walked away from the argument.