Monday, April 16, 2012
Stand your Ground Racist?
Ok so the outcry about the Trayvon Martin killing has gone a certain way I don't understand. I have been hearing in the last few days that people outraged by the killing are protesting the stand your ground laws. They have pressured corporate sponsors to stop funding a legislative action group that promoted these laws calling them racist. Just because it is assumed that Zimmerman is benefiting from that defense doesn't invalidate this as a worthwhile law. The known facts of the Martin killing don't reflect on stand your ground laws as I understand them. It seems to me this killing is polarizing the public into liberal versus conservative agendas and includes all aspects of these various political views however much on the periphery of the event it is. Liberals will blame lax gun laws as the reason this person died. I say its not lax gun laws, but racism pure and simple. Its easy to fix gun laws. Fixing hearts is next to impossible. I have always said you can't legislate morality or outlaw hate.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The pics from the Garage Project
So here are the pictures from the pulley mounting system project. I actually put up another one on the other side of the garage and it is holding a Mercedes Flag right now. You may ask why I put up another one I mean you would have had to rent another ladder and spend way more money than necessary on building it as opposed to buying a kit? Well the reason is safety. What I realized was this system has single point failure modes. If the rope breaks or the cleat holding the rope comes off the wall or the pulley mounting rail comes out of the ceiling; crash! So a back up system is needed to prevent the suspended heavy item from falling on the expensive vehicles parked under them. So I got the ladder and instead of a simple mount and ropes I installed a second pulley system and incorporated mounting points for safety backup ropes. These pictures are from the first system only.
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
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week of March 25
The killing of Trayvon Martin is a tragedy. Racism, stereotyping, prejudice run all through this event and the aftermath. Wearing a hoodie can get you first stereotyped then killed. This morning I put on my gym gear and thought that the green UA hoodie, I was about to put on, automatically says something about me to others. I wore it proudly, because to me wearing it is my right and fuck those who would judge me by my clothes and color of my skin. I put on my hoodie and thought about Trayvon Martin. So after today I'm not calling them hoodies. Their Trayvon Martins, TMs or Martins, so I will never forget what racism is capable of.
You can dismiss this as an aberration or a one-time incident or an at of a crazy person, but it's not. Racism goes on everyday from subtle slights, harassment, and even to murder. We can try and act like we're past it as a country, but believe me it is alive and well. Those that deny it are like Holocaust deniers and the racism of those claims sickens me to hear. It will never be defeated by denial, but rather only when confronted can it be beaten. Education and exposure to other races is the only way. The education those that don't interact with other races comes from the media. They are poisoned with the "funny" sitcoms that exploit racial differences for a laugh, but in reality those cheap laughs come at a high price. So I would expect some pressure to come from those being honest about racism to demand that the media self regulate. People scoff at politically correctness. I am guilty of it too, but if the public doesn't see anything but stereotypes portrayed in the media then where is the truth going to come from? I hope some good comes out of this case. There is an opportunity here to talk honestly about racism and use this to weaken it's hold in America. There is another problem with this case and the attention it has gotten but I will leave that for another day.
You can dismiss this as an aberration or a one-time incident or an at of a crazy person, but it's not. Racism goes on everyday from subtle slights, harassment, and even to murder. We can try and act like we're past it as a country, but believe me it is alive and well. Those that deny it are like Holocaust deniers and the racism of those claims sickens me to hear. It will never be defeated by denial, but rather only when confronted can it be beaten. Education and exposure to other races is the only way. The education those that don't interact with other races comes from the media. They are poisoned with the "funny" sitcoms that exploit racial differences for a laugh, but in reality those cheap laughs come at a high price. So I would expect some pressure to come from those being honest about racism to demand that the media self regulate. People scoff at politically correctness. I am guilty of it too, but if the public doesn't see anything but stereotypes portrayed in the media then where is the truth going to come from? I hope some good comes out of this case. There is an opportunity here to talk honestly about racism and use this to weaken it's hold in America. There is another problem with this case and the attention it has gotten but I will leave that for another day.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
St Patty's day
I just realized St. Patrick's Day is Christmas for drunks. Now I have an issue with this holiday. I just spend $40 on 2 cornbeef sandwiches and 2 Guinnesses. Now IIRC the Irish are know for being not the most well off ethnic group, so wouldn't it follow that the fair offered would be on the cheap side? Not so in this day and age of the perversion of the holidays for the gain of business. I would think discounts should flow out of respect for the ethnic group's historical financial status, if not for consideration that your bar is packed today more than any other. Anyway I mean cut us a break we had to by the damn green shirts anyway... BTW I saw some ridiculous outfits this weekend.
This time of year also sees the NCAA tournament taking place. Well as usual my bracket is busted after 2 days. The only year I won anything is the year I had the vision that Syracuse (with Carmelo) would win. One of these years I am going to stop throwing my money away and just do one bracket instead of the typical 4.
*************Update***************4/1
Due to Kansas beating Ohio State, looks like I am going to win the work bracket $120 minus the $30 from all the entries gives me $90. I guess I didn't throw my money all away!
This time of year also sees the NCAA tournament taking place. Well as usual my bracket is busted after 2 days. The only year I won anything is the year I had the vision that Syracuse (with Carmelo) would win. One of these years I am going to stop throwing my money away and just do one bracket instead of the typical 4.
*************Update***************4/1
Due to Kansas beating Ohio State, looks like I am going to win the work bracket $120 minus the $30 from all the entries gives me $90. I guess I didn't throw my money all away!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Weekly Update WO 3/11
Finished the pulley project. Yeah once again making it yourself isn't the cheapest or easiest way. I'll keep the story simple. I should have bought this for $20:
Instead I built my own for a cost of $200. Well that was for 2 (put 2 up in the garage) and $30 was a ladder rental which I would have had anyway. Live and learn and it was actually fun.
Got the bike out. Changed the Oil and filter, put air in the tires and it didn't start. Weak battery was the problem. Got an AGM battery, so I'm back in business.
In the next 2 weeks I got to start the boat process. Wash, polish and wax the hull. Then troubleshoot the bilge pump and clean the battery connections (if not replace one or both), then the Wash wax and polish the topside and then clean the interior. Actually now that I am thinking about it I might get the boat yard to do the wash wax part. Yeah its $400, but man its alot of work. Well I still have the interior and bilge pump issue.
GOP primary
Romney looks like he's on his way, but Santorum is putting up a fight. I hope Santorum wins; better chance for Obama, too far to the right. Whereas Romney is moderate and could give Obama a fight. We'll see.
Instead I built my own for a cost of $200. Well that was for 2 (put 2 up in the garage) and $30 was a ladder rental which I would have had anyway. Live and learn and it was actually fun.
Got the bike out. Changed the Oil and filter, put air in the tires and it didn't start. Weak battery was the problem. Got an AGM battery, so I'm back in business.
In the next 2 weeks I got to start the boat process. Wash, polish and wax the hull. Then troubleshoot the bilge pump and clean the battery connections (if not replace one or both), then the Wash wax and polish the topside and then clean the interior. Actually now that I am thinking about it I might get the boat yard to do the wash wax part. Yeah its $400, but man its alot of work. Well I still have the interior and bilge pump issue.
GOP primary
Romney looks like he's on his way, but Santorum is putting up a fight. I hope Santorum wins; better chance for Obama, too far to the right. Whereas Romney is moderate and could give Obama a fight. We'll see.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Whitetail president's day weekend
Went to Whitetail. The boarding was pretty good, best I have done. We started out with a green. then quickly decided the blue hill was for us. The top of some of the trail was very rough full of moguls. Then The First Black Diamond...rode! It was very warm 50+. As the day went on the mud and rocks started to show through. This picture is of the green hill from the blue hill.
You can see the mud peaking through.
Mark getting ready to roll.
A couple of nice sunset shots after a hard day.
Update on the XBOX. The Graphics card seems to have failed. I got a refurbished one and a 2 year warranty. The good news is it was an older model which took my hard drive and it has HDMI output to help streamline the wiring. I probably need to get a new hard drive for reliability, but its ok for now.
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