What happens when German and Arab technologies combine?

CLICK HERE for the answer.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 10:24 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 23 words, total size 1 kb.

On June 9, the Canadian Supreme Court paved the way to allow individuals to obtain private health insurance. This may be the first break that destroys the Socialist dam.

I have had an ongoing dicussion with a number of individuals of the opposite political spectrum on the topic of Socialized Medicine, and Canada was often offered up as the example that we should follow. I tried to inform them that such a system invariably resulted in a lessoning of quality, and as noted in the story, the CSC AGREES with me, to wit: "Despite this, governments are unable to provide timely tests and treatment to many patients, resulting in suffering and death"

Whenever you get Government involved in what are essentially private sector areas, service always suffers. The more they become involved, the greater the loss. The Candians have finally come to realize that this is just a fact of life.
The ultimate direction they will take still remains to be seen, but I feel that this ruling is my opportunity to indulge in a minor gloat and say "I TOLD you so".
This would have occurred much sooner, had the NHS not had the neighbor to the south providing a safety valve for their system. But eventually, as it always happens, the chickens have come home to roost and they must be attended to.

We certainly have many problems with health care here in the US too, that can't be denied, BUT, we still have the highest level of service for the greatest number of people any health care system in the world.

Government intervention in health care is one reason for high costs...have you EVER seen a bureucratic system that didn't generate inordinate amounts of red tape paperwork, adding to costs and diverting personell from their primary task to (mostly) needless paperwork?

The largest problem with our health care system has nothing to do directly with medical care at all, but the need to "CYA" in an ultra-litiginous society. Tort reform would do more to lower the cost of health care than any other action. Reform in the way Insurance companies assess premiums should be examined and evaluated as well, all to often the insurred pay for projects the companies engage in that have nothing to do with health care.

Some streamlining in the area of medical research and bringing the products of same to the market would help also. Yes, testing need to be done to ensure safety and efficacy, but the present system is rife with built in cost ineffencies, leading to multiple increases in costs above where it is possible for them to be.

Last, but not least, reforming our tax system can help free up large amounts of private and public funds that could help drive down costs through competition. FAIR TAX NOW!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 08:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 481 words, total size 3 kb.

THIS explains a lot about the latest concern about mens fashions in France....

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 21 words, total size 1 kb.

Sydney Goldberg, husband of the Blogosphere's premier newsblogger, Lucianne Goldberg, has passed away. I wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the Goldberg family on their loss.

She felt that this tribute to Sydney written by NRO's John Podhoretz was the most fitting for her site, and who am I to argue?

What finer tribute could a man ask for than that he was truly loved and will be sorely missed?

All that we can know about those we have loved and lost is that they
would wish us to remember them with a more intensified realization of
their own reality. What is essential does not die but clarifies.
The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.
-Thornton Wilder

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 181 words, total size 2 kb.

I know how stupid these quizzes are, but in this case, with the little flame skirmish thats going on, I thought the results were very apre po(sic):

You Are a Rottweiler Puppy

Powerful, smart, and protective. You're eager to growl at anyone you hate - but you're a big sweetheart inside.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:18 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 71 words, total size 1 kb.

I have been Remiss! in the changover from Mblog (that Emigre refuses to acknowledge) I was remiss in not including one of my old blogging friends, Kiril, the Mad Macadonian, and a new friend, a fellow Hoosier that I've been meaning to get around to adding to the blogroll.

Sometimes the law of unintended consequences truly works in mysterious ways, had it not been for a silly little bird in Australia, it may have been months longer before I noticed and corrected such a grave oversight.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 08:31 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 92 words, total size 1 kb.

This has got to be one of the funniest things I've heard of in a Long time. I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired. This is a True phone call from the Word Perfect Help line which was transcribed from a Recording monitoring the customer care department. Needless to say the HelpDesk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the WordPerfect organization for "Termination without Cause." This is actual Dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee. Now I know why they record these conversations!

"Ridge Hall computer assistance; may I help you?"

"Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."

"What sort of trouble?"

"Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."

"Went away?" "They disappeared."

"Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"It's blank, it won't accept anything when I type."

"Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"

"How do I tell?"

"Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?"

"What's a sea-prompt?"

"Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?"

"There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type."

"Does your monitor have a power indicator?"

"What's a monitor?"

"It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?"

"I don't know."

"Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall! ." "Yes, it is."

"When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"

"No."

"Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."

"Okay, here it is."

"Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."

"I can't reach."

"Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"

"No."

"Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"

"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle -- it's because it's dark."

"Dark?"

"Yes, the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."

"Well, turn on the office light then."

"I can't."

"No? Why not?"

"Because there's a power failure."

"A power... A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"

"Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."

"Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them you're too f---ing stupid to own a computer."

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:01 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 523 words, total size 3 kb.

Thanks to Neal Boortz for putting this link up. Just some down home humor to brighten up the day.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 25 words, total size 1 kb.

Holy Claymation,Batman! Will we soon have avatars to stand in for us at those pesky physicals? And you thought those "liquid robots" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) were merely the feverish imagination of a wild-eyed script writer! Seems that life can follow art....maybe.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 48 words, total size 1 kb.

Here's an update on the "Koran abuse" that, should you believe the MSM, is an almost hourly event at Gitmo. Seems that the Muslim extremists don't have all that much respect for their own Holy Scriptures, as compared to the soldiers guarding them.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 04:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 49 words, total size 1 kb.

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at
the top of the tree.

Most men don't want to reach for the good ones
because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt.

Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good,
but easy.

The apples at the top think something is wrong withthem, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait forthe right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Share this with women who are good apples, even those who have already been picked!

Now Men.... Men are like a fine wine.

They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 150 words, total size 1 kb.

Enviromentalists are always touting wind power, solar power, etc etc, but when a viable wind power farm is set up, they yell that "the birds will die".

Well, Writing in the Royal Society's journal Biology Letters, researchers say previous estimates of collision risk have been "over-inflated". Seems the birds are smarter than the enviromentalists and just bypass the wind farms. And the "experts" are forecasting the demise of caribou herds if Anwar is drilled for oil....these are the same "experts" that predicted the same thing when the Alaska Pipeline was being built...guess what? the herds have almost doubled in size around the pipeline area, because the pipeline heats the area and provides extra food and shelter....

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:01 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 124 words, total size 1 kb.

Seems that some in the blogosphere believe that they are the one and only blogger that can use a certain name in their header. He also implied that I used the term Emigre to impugn his reputation. He states that my writing is dishonest and jingoistic. I consider the source and ignore the jibe as inconsequential.
Mamamontezz is much more incensed, as she built this blog, and considers it a slur against both of us.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 12:04 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 81 words, total size 1 kb.

I was just talking to a friend when the topic of morality came up. This is something that is at the heart of our current political polarities today IMHO.

It's a difficult subject to try to tackle, to say the least. Religion is personal to all of us, even when we belong to the same basic faith, and the terms of religion tend to get in the way of a basic discussion of morality.

Most of the Progessive Left hasn't even tried to count religious faith in their terms, and have fallen back into relatavism, which furthur polarizes any public discussion on what is "right" and "wrong". In the Progressive worldview, there IS no absolute WRONG, there is only "cultural norms that may be in conflict".

We on the right have the problem of not wanting to impose a rigid religous view, but intuitively knowing that there ARE some things that are wrong, just because they ARE WRONG. And that intuative sense comes from a faith of one type or another. Logic doesn't have the language to explain it, all the public debates can't come to a total agreement on it. Religion and faith lay it out in a way that people can somewhat digest, even though, even there, our own contrary nature leads to even more confusion on just what the norms should be.

Human nature is to continually push the boundries. Moral boundries come strongest in the form of religious doctrine; with an outside source laying down the rules. We call that source God. The trouble lies in our imperfect, and differing, conceptions of that source and it's rules (morality).

But without some type of moral sense of right and wrong, we are no better than any other beast in the jungle. I want to believe that we are better, but everything around me tells me that we really aren't EXCEPT faith that we are.

(yeah, that last paragraph confuses me too; see what I mean about it being an impossible subject to tackle? I know what I MEAN to say, but my writing skills just don't bring it out)

In a nutshell, Man is the only animal that is more than just being what it is. Man has aspirations to a higher plane, indeed, is the only animal that can conceive of a higher state of existance. It is our highest achievement, and the souce of our greatest problems.

I sincerely believe that relatavism only leads us, ultimately, back into the darkness of the jungle, where only strength and speed ensures survival. And only survival of the individual, not a society.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 11:48 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 442 words, total size 3 kb.

Mike Reed, of Bunker Mulligan passed away Friday. It's sad news for those of us that enjoyed his common sense and wit. But we can be comforted to know that he has gone home and that he will have been welcomed with loving arms, and would forever after never worry about a reserved tee time, the greens are always open and the sky is always blue.

A Dog and Cat Story

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo
safari in Africa, taking herfaithful aged poodle named Cuddles
along for the company.

One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before
long, Cuddles discovers that she's lost.

Wandering about, she notices a leopard heading rapidly in her direction
with the intention of having lunch.

The old poodle thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep
doo-doo now!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, she immediately
settles down to chew on the bones with her back to the approaching cat.

Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy,
that was one delicious leopard!
I wonder if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look
of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

"Whew!", says the leopard, "That was close! That old poodle
nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby
tree figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for
protection from the leopard So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading
after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a
fool of and says, Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's
going to happen to that conniving canine!"

Now, the old poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back
and thinks, "What am I going to do now?", but instead of running,
the dog sits down with her back to her attackers,
pretending she hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says: "Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!"

Moral of this story.. Don't mess with old
farts...age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! Bullshit and brilliance only come with age and experience!

***************************************************************

One hot July day we found an old straggly cat at our door. She was a
sorry sight. Starving, dirty, smelled terrible, skinny and hair all matted
down.

We felt sorry for her, put her in a carrier and took her to the vet.
We didn't know what to call her, so we named her "Pussycat."

The vet decided to keep her for a day or so. He said he would let us
know when we could come and get her. My husband (the complainer) said,
"OK, but don't forget to wash her, she stinks."

He reminded the vet that it was his WIFE that wanted the dirty cat, not him.

My husband and my Vet don't see eye to eye. He calls my husband
"El-Cheap-O," my husband calls him "El-Take-O." They love to hate
each other and constantly "snipe" at each other, with my husband getting
in the last word on this occasion.

The next day my husband had an appointment with his doctor, who is
located next door to the vet. The doctor's office was full of people
waiting to see him.

A side door opened and in leaned the vet; he had obviously seen my husband arrive. He looked straight at my husband and in a loud voice
said, "Your wife's pussy is finally clean and shaved and she now smells
like a rose. Oh, and, by the way, I think she's pregnant. God knows who the father is!" And he closed the door.

Now that, my friends, is getting even...

Government School Indoctrination

David Horowitz has yet another example of the indoctrination into Leftist idiology being conducted in one of our high schools, by their PC teachers.

School vouchers NOW.

Israeli Racism

Yes, the Israelis are racist towards Arabs...So much so, Arabs now comprise the largest single constituant group of the Israeli Labor Party. Maybe Amnesty International will have to cite them for cruelty, having so many Arabs in a Socialist government faction, after all, where is the diversity in that? Arabs serving in a Jewish countries government...I thought that Jews treated Arabs as slaves and/or victoms of genocidal actions.

I'm sure that all the Arabic countries in the ME would have a more egalitarian view. SURELY they would like to have jews participating in every facet of their political stewardships....Funny thing that; seems they have this view that only Arabs, and MUSLIM Arabs at that, have any chance of entering government service. In most of them, you also have to be the CORRECT kind of Muslim. Woe to you if your a Sunni in a Shia controlled area, or vice versa. If you happen to Arab and Christian...well you ARE considered one step up from a Jew in the pecking order...realistically, that means that you'll be tortured second in any pogrom, gives you a little time to observe just what is in store for you.

Yep! The Jews are the racists, for sure!

Gitmo The OTHER side of the story

Amnesty International has received widespread coverage with it's "Gulag" statements about our detention facility at Gitmo...wonder just how much coverage the OTHER side of the story will get?

Note some of the details in the story:"...the prisoner was temporarily in another part of the prison for a bath..." (Yep, sounds like a really HARSH Gulag...They actually expect the prisoners to BATHE!)

"...The entire incident was videotaped, as are all cell-extraction procedures under the tight protocol with which military officials have been running the Guantanamo prison..." (yes, we are SO proud of our Gulag, that we want video evidence on just how brutal we can be.)

"Last week, the Pentagon also acknowledged several incidents of Koran mishandling, although most were inadvertent and all were punished." You have to consider the source of the Koran abuse charges...to some of these fanatics, the mere touch of an "unbeliever" constitutes "Koran abuse". Note that even the inadvertant mishandling of the RoP's Holy scriptures were punished...yeah, sure sounds like a gulag situation to me....

"The military is spending about $2.8 million to construct a psychiatric ward for mentally ill detainees."

"We have an ethical responsibility to provide treatment they need regardless of what they've done or what they're accused of," he said, denying the new psychiatric ward was a response to criticism by human rights groups."(Navy Capt. Steve Edmonson, the head doctor for detainees.)
Um...I thought the purpose of a gulag was the total dehumanization (and ultimately death) of it's subjects? I guess we just don't have the experience to run a gulag the right way....maybe we should ask the Russians? or North Koreans?....I Know! We have a number of VERY experienced contacts in Iraq that we can use for their techhnical expertise in sub-human treatment of prisoners...course we would have to release them from prison to allow them to educate us in the proper methods. And Saddam just might protest that he should have the right to oversee them in their efforts; he WAS the architech(sic) of their program, after all.

Am I cherry picking the article for items that support my contentions? You bet your ass I am! Works for the Left/Socialist/Progressive coallition in THEIR "discussions" of issues, turn about is fair play.

Charles Krauthammer has, as always, an excellent opinion piece on the subject. Would that more pundits would have his clear and logical insights.

Sample link

Monthly Traffic

• Pages: 30240
• Files: 32
• Bytes: 134.4M
• CPU Time: 24:30
• Queries: 1138246

Content

• Posts: 1925
• Comments: 6773

Feeds