Okay, everyone, get ready for Carbon Belch Day.

June 12 looks like a good day for a cookout. For the entire neighborhood.

Update: I see that Ace has some of the same reading habits that I do.

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Via Hot Air comes this court ruling: "U.S. currency is discriminatory towards the blind."

Wow. No one saw that coming.

I can't say that I'm surprised. Ever since I saw Braille drive-up ATMs, I've known that common sense and reason had decided to take a permanent vacation. Also, since websites have been sued under this stupid fucking vague-ass on purpose law for not being blind accessible, I've merely been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Update: Via Gabriel Major comes this link to Hans Bader. Money quote:

The appeals court wrongly gave short shrift to the burden imposed on third parties, suggesting that it did not even need to be considered, even though other federal court rulings recognize that an institution is not required to accommodate a disability or religious practice if doing so would unduly burden third parties. ...As Judge Randolph noted in dissent, “There are approximately 7,000,000 food and beverage vending machines in the United States; by one estimate, it would cost $3.5 billion to retool or replace these machines.”

I'm gonna sue the estate of Gary Gygax for making me like Kryptonite to women. D&D is discriminatory against social misfits and losers because, well, I'll simply ask the clowns in the 9th Circuit to make up some shit for me. It's what they do and they're good at it.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:28 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Someone asked me how I celebrated Earth Day. He seemed quite offended when I told that I burned 100 gallons of kerosene and 200 pounds of coal while running the AC in all of my cars and my house, with the windows wide open. Also, I ate a crapload of beans so that I wouldn't ignore the methane production. After all, I can't have a bunch of bovine farm animals leading the way, because that would be just wrong.

In case you were wondering, the person in question avoids eye contact with me now. I'm at a loss to explain as to why this is the case.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 11:15 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Today, the lovely and talented Rachel Lucas celebrates her [computer error] birthday. Go buy her something. Better yet, give her some cold hard cash.

I'd ask y'all to give me something, but (a) it's not my birthday and (b) I don't have any links up for PayPal or Amazon. Besides, I'd feel bad at the number of people who'd swallow their tongues from laughing hystericall, so consider it a public service on my part.

Update: Okay, Rachel publicly posted her age, which I already knew. However, I will continue to be a gentleman and not mention that she's now 36 years old. Yeah, I'm good like that.

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Maybe, just maybe, the Pope should stick to what he knows, such as spiritual matters, rather than lecturing me on the virtues of accepting whatever pronouncements the dictator-fellating fuckwits at the UN have to say about pretty much anything, including, but not limited to, global warming. Excerpt:

Countries that act unilaterally on the world stage undermine the authority of the United Nations and weaken the broad consensus needed to confront global problems, Pope Benedict said on Friday.

From your mouth to God's ears.

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John Scalzi, noted grammar authoritarian:

Dear writers in the English language:

“Alright” is not a word. You’re looking for “all right.” For everyone confused by reading in the dictionary that “alright” is a “non-standard usage,” thus maybe okay to use, you should know that “non-standard usage” is polite lexicographer speak for “version used by illiterate hamster pokers,” and when you’re not looking, they all point and laugh at you. Yes, they do. I’ve seen them do it. And it was mean.

In a followup post, Mr. Scalzi displays the picture that is worth a thousand words:

Posted by: Physics Geek at 10:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And by crazy, I mean absolute batshit, bugfuck, should be in a wraparound coat in a padded room crazy. Jonah Goldberg links to some nutjob who forths at the mouth in her hatred of Firefly. Now, I've got no problem with people not liking Firefly. Such a person is, of course, a moron, but that doesn't mean he/she is insane. In this case though, we've definitely left reality far, far behind. And check out this reply in the comment thread:

Very articulately written. You've really untangled the woman-hating mess of this show, not an easy thing to do when there's so many levels of it.

Normally, I wouldn't link to such drivel, but I got an enormous laugh out of it and figured that you might need a chuckle today, too.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:54 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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Andrea Harris needs a little help. I've seen bloggers offer some spare change when others have been in trouble, such as Lileks, Dean and Jeff Goldstein, among others. Well, our little Twisted Spinster could use some of your extra quarters right now. Go now.

If you don't have any spare cash (and I've been there more times than I'd care to remember), post a link and spread the word.

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Okay, I get that Rachel Lucas' site is a bit more potty-mouthed than mine, if for no other reason than I tend to cuss in her comments, which probably tends to raise her score. But Dr. Helen? I came in behind the pleasant Dr. Helen's blog on the Cuss-O-Meter?

Seriously, WTF? It's time to break out the Seven Words You Can't Say On TV: shit-piss-fuck-cunt-cocksucker-motherfucker-tit. Also, fart, turd and twat, because George Carlin felt compelled to add those later.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 07:30 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Okay, old-sort of-to the blogroll. Kim du Toit reopened kimdutoit.com, but under a new name this time: Geopoliticus.

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So training is finished, as am I. It was a grueling 2 months of no life and no time with the wife and children. On the plus side, the lack of sleep and intense stress- my job kind of depended on my passing all of the training- combined to wreck my immune system, so I guess everybody wins. In any event, posts unrelated to pretty much anything will resume in the very near future. My thanks to anyone who stopped by to check on me. If you sent me an email, well, I've got about 1,500 to wade through, so don't be offended if I haven't replied. I likely just haven't read it yet.

Oh yeah, one more thing: UNC still sucks, but they are the ACC champs. My only consolation is that the East bracket looks murderous, so the odds are stacked against them reaching San Antonio. If they make it this year, they will have earned it.

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Anyone heard what happened to It Comes In Pints? Ken left a message, but I don't have his or Emily's email address. This is what I see at their site:

Update: Ken left a message that he can temporarily be found here, whilst the lovely and talented Emily kicks someone's ass gets things straightened out.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 10:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Also, I'm old. At least, my birthday last weekend reminded me that I haven't been 20 for a while. In any event, in the comment thread to this post, Bill Quick posted the following comment:

Me? I’m busily emptying out my bookshelves, except for those items simply not available in electronic format. I’m an early adapter, but I expect that within ten years the only people still reading everything on dead tree will be the hopelessly stubborn old fogies who babble on about things like the “feel” or the “smell” of a “real book.”

Guilty as charged. When I learned to read, a vast new world opened up for me to explore. I go anywhere, any when and be almost anyone, all while sitting comfortably in my favorite chair: I was there at the Alamo; I saw stars being born; and I took part in intergalatic civil wars, fighting methane breathing aliens. Holding the book was part of the experience for me.

And that hasn't changed. I love sitting with a book not, unlike Giles on Buffy, for the smell or touch alone, but rather because the tactile sensation is part of the reading experience for me. Have I ever read e-books? Sure, and I'll probably grab my own e-reader some day. But I think that that day might be delayed a bit. I have too many books that I love lying around. Too, too many books. So many books that I might have to add on to my house. Sigh. But I'll keep on aquiring more because it's just what I do.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:07 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Okay, they actually don't, but I might try to reduce the profanity I post on this blog.

Of what do I speak? This post. Bask in the sublime idiocy and arrogance wrapped in its cocoon of blissful ignorance.

It would be wrong of me not to note that Tim F. has the post listed under several categories, one of which is General Stupidity. While I find that category accurate, I suspect that I do so for entirely different reasons than Tim.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 11:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Thank you for your patience. For the record, I finished all of my training and passed all of my tests. I've always been pretty good at school, but covering 600 pages of new material every two days got to be a bit grueling; I'm glad that it's over.

In completely unrelated news, Duke and Carolina square off next weekend for what will likely be the #1 seed in the ACC tournament. VCU won its regular season title again and now heads to the CAA tourney needing, most likely, the tournament title to receive an NCAA bid. Right now, people are projecting VCU as an 8 or 9 seed, which puts them on track to face off against a #1 in the second round. Again. Guess who might be waiting for a rematch? Yeah, there's a better than average chance that Duke might receive a #1 this year. I'll bet that the team is itching for another shot at VCU. Then again, this VCU team might be better than last year's, so it would be a very interesting game.

In case you haven't figured it out, I love college basketball. March Madness is my favorite sports event of the year. I can hardly wait.

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Posting will be sporadic over the next few weeks. I'm in intensive training out at the plant the entire month of February, so only 3 weeks to go. I have found time to make a few comments at other blogs, but that was pretty much after my only test last week. Five more tests to go.

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Bryan Preston relays his still vivid memory of the Challenger disaster. I remember it clearly, much like my mother remembers when she heard about Kennedy. For the record, I was in a tanning booth at the time.

Allow me to explain.

In 1986, my mother and I owned a small business, a combination ice cream shop and bakery. One of the other businesses in the strip mall was a tanning salon and she offered all of us merchants a deep, deep discount to use her place. I had been in an 8:00 a.m. class that morning and had a break until around 2-ish or so. A good friend of mine wanted to head to the tanning booth and I offered to drive, figuring that I could get a discount for her while taking advantage of a little radiation drenched snooze time. We got there, I put on the radio headphones, climbed into the tanning booth and drifted off. I was startled awake by the horrific news bulletin. I lay there for a few minutes more listening to the updates and then headed home to catch the news. It was a bad, bad day. As it happens, I vaguely remembered the Apollo mission where 3 astronauts died on the launch pad. I say vaguely because I was wee little child at the time. In any event, the Challenger disaster will stay with me until I lose what little wits I possess.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:46 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Andrea Harris performed her usual blog move on January 1. What with vacation and family obligations, I didn't notice until today. Once again, the blogroll has been updated to reflect this change. Please visit her at, once again, Twisted Spinster.

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Susie is celebrating "the anniversary of my 23rd birthday" . Stop by and wish her a big Happy Birthday.

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I'm on vacation in sunny St. Augustine, Florida, right now but I saw this comment over at Ace's place and couldn't resist posting it:

"Arguments from design don't even get off the ground. There have been many versions over the centuries, from St. Augustine to William Lane Craig, but they are self-refuting, and can be demolished with one simple but devastating question: who or what created this "intelligent designer"?"

You're kidding, right? I'm agnostic, and I think that's an idiotic response. Atheists aren't one iota less obligated to come up with one hell of an improbable First Cause than theists are.

Now back to the sun and beer, but probably just more beer.

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