Here’s the URL — http://www.freerepublic.com/~gunssavelives/. Here’s what comes up (at least on my screen) – This account has been banned or suspended At least they had the courtesy to provide a link back to me. heh-heh And let’s not forget that the United States government, in particular the CIA, had a hand in putting Saddam in power in Iraq — the Powers-That-Be wanted someone in Iraq who could stand against the Islamic militants that took power in Iran after the Shah fell in 1979. Yes, I realize that it’s a privately-owned forum,. and the owners and moderators can do exactly as they please. Still, they claim to be better than the Democrats, yet they behave exactly as do the people who run Democratic Underground. UPDATE: 2 April 2008 — At first, the Freeper admin pukes had the word “Okay” linked to my personal Xanga site, as I have it above. At present, it links back to this blog entry. Hmmm
Month: December 2007
-
Booted from Free Republic
Today I discovered that my latest account on Free Republic has either been banned (deleted) or suspended, with no warning or mention as to why from the Freeper moderators. I suspect that it was due to a posting I made saying that the Iraq invasion and subsequent occupation was/are based upon bullshit and blue sky instead of anything resembling rational thinking or principles, and that the Kim Dynasty of Communist North Korea was and is (by any standard I can think of) worse than Saddam was while he was in power in Iraq. -
Searching for Myself
Every so often, I run a Google search on myself to see what comes upGoogle search for “Mike Blessing” — I place frequently in the top ten here (first place goes to a West Virginia realtor). Also listed along with me is the deputy city manager of Oceanside, California, a church chorus singer, and a Catholic priest in Ohio. I wonder what they think when they run Google searches on themselves and my stuff keeps popping up?
Google search for “mikewb1971″ — OK, let’s narrow it down a bit — this search is just for my stuff. I get 1,350 hits — not bad. My Myspace site comes up first, and this Xanga site comes up fourth
Google search for “MikeinABQNM” — I used to use the handle “MikeinABQNM,” but I switched to “mikewb1971″ because that’s more transportable — if I were to move away from Albuquerque, the older handle would nom longer apply. Funny here that I’ve apparently got a profile or two here that I don’t remember creating.
Google search for “GunsSaveLives” — This is my handle on
Victor Milan‘s message board, and was my handle on “Free Republic” until a few days ago, after I made a politically-incorrect comment about the Iraq Occupation (my account there has been suspended or deleted).
-
Book Review — When the Devil Dances and Hell’s Faire, by John Ringo
When the Devil Dances and Hell’s Faire, by John RingoWhen the Devil Dances and its sequel, Hell’s Faire are really one novel in two volumes from John Ringo‘s Legend of the Aldenata series – see Ringo’s afterword at the end of Hell’s Faire — Ringo says that he had 90,000 words completed on the book, then “9-11″ happened, his publisher (Baen Books) gave him an extension on his deadline, and the book turned into two volumes.When the Devil Dances takes place about five years after the end of Gust Front — four more waves of Posleen invaders have landed on Earth, totalling about a billion invaders, and killing over five billion people. All humanity has to do is hold out until the Galactic Federation’s Fleet arrives to drive out the Posleen. There’s a few problems there. First the (idiotic) American president shoots down a plan to defend America from the Rockies and Appalachians, focusing the defense around the big cities. Second, the Posleen breed like rabbits and come to full maturity within two years, at which point they pick up a weapon and join the march. Of those on the march, 90 percent are semi-sapient “normals,” about on par with chimpanzees where intelligence is concerned. The normals are perfectly happy to march through minefields, machinegun fire, and/or incoming artillery and mortar fire, if their “God King” so desired. The God Kings, for their part, ride above the normals on anti-gravity platforms armed with high-powered lasers, plasma cannon, and hypervelocity missiles, and are able to shoot down any aircraft or missile that clears the horizon.
But the Posleen are vulnerable to ballistic artillery and mortar fire, which accounted for innumerable casualties in their ranks. As long as the incoming projectile was unpowered, their defenses wouldn’t pick it up. Death doesn’t matter much to the Posleen — they just chop up their dead for food, which provides rations for those that follow. Another human tactic that kills many of the invaders is the use of demolitions of various kinds — claymores, blowing up bridges, blowing down buildings, etc. It gets to the point where the Posleen are trained to avoid anything bearing the logo of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
When the Devil Dances also marks the debut of the SheVa-class armored fighting vehicle, particularly SheVa Nine, named “Bun-Bun” by its crew, after the homicidal, switchblade-wielding mini-lop rabbit from the webcomic Sluggy Freelance. The crew even goes so far as to paint a 30-foot picture of Bun-Bun the rabbit, complete with switchblade, on the frontal armor of the turret. Only this Bun-Bun is massive (385×468 feet, 170 feet high, 7,000 tons unloaded) — picture a football stadium that can move around under its own power at about 30 miles per hour. On top of that, the SheVa class gun platforms fire a 16-inch cannon (like the kind on the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey), the shells from which are in the 10-kiloton range (about the same as the nukes that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
One of the things I like about Ringo’s stories is that he finds ways to fit some humor into the death and destruction. Case in point — this exchange on p.592 of the paperback edition, as the crew of Bun-Bun are engaging Posleen spacecraft in the area of Franklin, Georgia –
“Target C-Dec! TWELVE HUNDRED METERS! TOO CLOSE!”
“FIRE!”
“TOO CLOSE!”
“IT’S KNIFE-FIGHTING RANGE! WE’RE BUN-BUN! FIRE THE DAMNED GUN!“Hell’s Faire is the “fourth” book in the Legacy of the Aldenata series by John Ringo.
Well, sort of. In the afterword, Ringo informs the reader that he had 90,000 words completed on When the Devil Dances on 11 Sept 2001, and being distraught as a result of the attacks that day, requested and was granted an extension. When he did turn in the manuscript, it was hastily edited and proofread, so Hell’s Faire is really Volume 2 of When the Devil Dances, as the series was originally conceived as a trilogy. As such, Hell’s Faire is more of the same as from When the Devil Dances.
Another thing that I liked about these two books is that Ringo brought back the characters of Sergeant Major Mosovich and Master Sergeant Mueller, who took part in a LRRP-style reconnaissance mission to a Posleen-held world, and their team was almost completely wiped out after being ordered to snatch a live Posleen for study back on Earth. Ringo brings them back for these two books, and good for him for doing so. They form a big part of the plotline for these two books, leading another LRRP team into Posleen-held territory, this time, here on Earth.
-
A Politically Correct Greeting
Subject: A Politically correct greeting
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:27:29
From: Ron BjornstadPlease be advised of and accept my offer, with no obligation implied or implicit, of my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, age appropriate, celebration of the winter solstice (summer solstice in the southern hemisphere) holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice, with due respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all;
And for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “AMERICA” in the Western Hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, gender, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, dietary habits, clothing preferences, tattoos and/or body piercing or lack thereof, hair style or color, choice of computer platform or operating system, preferred mode of transportation, annual income, or sexual preference of the wishee.
(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. If portions of this wish are subsequently held to be unenforceable or improper under local law or custom, those portions of this wish shall be considered null and void without changing the balance of the aforementioned wish. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.).
Recent Comments