While setting up the link to the Washington Nationals over on the right, I noticed that there was a new Q&A posted, with Washington, D.C. mayor Anthony Williams. I'm already predisposed not to like the guy, after his whining about "Senators" not being an appropriate name for the team due to the fact that Washington "has no senators", despite there being one hundred of them reporting for work several months out of the year.

That being said, at least Williams knows his place when it comes to the President:

Williams: I think if President [Bush] were to come to the game, he should throw out the first pitch. I would hope that he would come. I would like to personally invite him to come. I think as an American and as a Washington, D.C., citizen, I would like to see the president throw out the ball.

He's apparently a Cardinals fan, too. That's just rich. Neener neener, Mayor Williams; my favorite team embarrassed your favorite team. (I hope you're living well; by my count it could be 2090 before you see them victorious again. --Ed.)

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Assuming that, in NASA-speak, "All goes well", I'll be liveblogging Macy's tomorrow, kinda sorta like I did this past year. Hip hip, hooray! The home network's been messed up as we transitioned from dial-up to broadband, so I've been out of contact for a while.

Happy Thanksgiving! Meanwhile, I've got to go play MVP Baseball 2004 for my PS2; it's good to clobber AA teams with the Red Sox as of 15 January 2004. Good for the MVP Awards points, that is.

UPDATE: On the other hand, going for points by beating a specific team in a specific stadium is fun. However, I hate having to send my pitcher to the batter's box. God bless the American League. That being said, I did manage to go 1-4 with Derek Lowe. He also managed to record a shutout of the San Francisco Giants at SBC Park. Sinkers for most of the game, hooray.

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And yes, Virginia, it's a meritless lawsuit. Probable judgment: For plaintiff in the amount of money requested because trains are evil and so are corporations.

At any rate, I found this story on yet another pirate-themed blog---did I miss something here?---which I'd stumbled across somehow: Caution: Do Not Walk on Tracks.

According to the article, plaintiff is suing because a train operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway struck her while she was walking along trackage near her home in Jeanette, Pennsylvania. (That's near Pittsburgh, so it must be former PRR trackage acquired from Conrail. --Ed.) Plaintiff's injuries consisted of "a broken finger, cuts, and pain", according to the complaint.

Now, if you'll allow me to mount my soapbox: Woman, not only are you an idiot, but it's readily evident that God has spared you, because playing chicken with a train is generally a guaranteed way to die in a splattered mist of bone, blood, and other viscera. People who duel with a D9-40CW (one of the most populous locomotives on the NSR) are usually minus a limb or two if (and I stress the conditional nature of this) they live. Many bleed to death, because of the considerable damage a locomotive can do to a mere human body.

As Don Imus puts it, "Jesus God Almighty!" How stupid do you get? I understand that occasionally, trains aren't the loudest things in the world, and one doesn't always process the information of "ground rumbling, bell ringing, horn blaring" as an approaching train. And I'm told that the Union Pacific has trouble keeping its grade crossings in operation. But come on! This was the woman's hometown, and she somehow doesn't know that trains run on railroad tracks?

Plaintiff's suit says of the NSR that, "Defendant's failure to warn plaintiff of the potential dangers negligently provided plaintiff with the belief she was safe in walking near the train tracks," and that the NSR should have posted signs warning passersby trespassers "of the dangers of walking near train tracks and that the tracks were actively in use."

As an old television program I used to watch said, "Gimme a break!" I suppose that this woman will want Robin Chapman, the NSR public relations guy, to walk with her everywhere and say, "Ma'am, these continuous welded rails indicate that at any point in time, a train operated by our crews may be coming by. Please be advised that...."

I am, of course, disgusted with this woman. I doubt that the operating practices of the NSR, or anything else connected to the company had anything to do with her injury. At any rate, let me take this opportunity to point any and all interested parties to Operation Lifesaver, the group founded to promote railroad safety amongst the general public. Their work is vital and worthwhile in the modern era, especially since the general public at large no longer interact with trains regularly enough to know basic safety habits.

Tip of the company-mandated safety helmet to Pirates! Man Your Women!

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And this time, it's not South Carolina's fault. (You bums owe us for taking shots at Fort Sumter; very sneaky of you to start a war that gets fought on Virginia's soil...)

Apparently, some of the liberal side of the aisle started mouthing that this country is the most divided it's been since the Late Unpleasantness, and how perhaps the "blue" States might remedy their unhappiness with the election of November by secession.

As fun as it is to pronounce the doctrine of secession a viable one, especially around left-wing law professors, let's be a little more---not much---serious and take a gander at M.T. Owens' latest column wherein he analyzes a bit of the situation that the secessionsts would face.

Tee hee. If it comes to that, I'll suggest that Governor Warner raise a regiment or thirty of riflemen for a term of service not to exceed two years in the service of the Commonwealth of Virginia, for the purpose of restoring order in the rogue province known as "West Virginia". Where once statues of Saddam Hussein were pulled down, I'll pull down a statue of Robert C. Byrd in the WV capitol. Heh heh heh.

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Hooray! I just finished Knights of the Old Republic for the Xbox earlier, using my first Light Side character. It's the first time I'd ever played through with a Light Side character, so I was really looking forward to a) making time with Bastila Shan and b) repairing HK-47 to his full operational status.

However, as the game developed, it was more beneficial to draw from a pool of Bastila Shan, Jolee Bindo, or Juhani as opposed to HK-47 or my other two blaster users, Canderous Ordo and Carth Onasi. (Although, I did wind up using Onasi eventually while trying to trigger a certain side quest.) I've still never really used Mission Vao---bloody worthless, in my opinion---and I'm having more fun running around with T3-M4, because it's fun to watch it chuck grenades and the like. Plus, cheap Force powers don't affect either him or HK-47.

Bioware did a really good job in differentiating the game play experiences for the Dark Side and Light Side campaigns. Me, I did like everyone else and played through the game the first two times as a Dark Jedi. My last Dark Jedi was basically capable of walking into anywhere and laying waste to darned near anything, only finding trouble on the later levels of the Star Forge.

My Light Side character, a male scout, had a fit dealing with enemies. I must've messed up something in the build---it's been months since I started that particular game---because I usually needed a lot more help, no thanks to those weak Light Side powers. One misses Vader-style remote kills, Force lightning, and other things that make the leveled-up Dark Jedi darned near invincible.

At any rate. Now this means I can eagerly await the release of The Sith Lords, shortly before Christmas. Heh heh heh.

UPDATE, 07 December 2004: This post gets traffic on the basis of repairing HK-47. You need a Repair skill of 17 to fully repair him, and it may take you a try or two even then. I'm told that the various Valor Force powers can help here. In the meantime, I'll be picking up my copy of The Sith Lords later today. Dark Saaiiiiiiiiiiiiide!

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I always look upon the end-of-the-year holidays with a sense of dread. Why is this, you ask? It's simple, really. From mid-November to the first week of January, I'm usually gorging myself on really good food, and other ruinous behavior. Part of this problem is exemplified by three things:

1. Boiled custard. This rich drink---our replacement for egg nog, which is noxious---usually gets guzzled by the carton per day. It's that good, even though the formula got changed in the last two years, and it's runnier than usual. It's delicious, darned near impossible to wash off out of a glass after it's dried, and it's full of things that would make a health nut sick. I haven't spotted my brand in stores yet, but when I do, I'll be buying twenty or thirty dollars worth.

2. Cordial cherries. These little pockets of evil ought to be banned. Even now, I'm sitting here munching on some, and I've already eaten a third of a tray. Yes, I'll probably have horrible sugar-fueled nightmares (thanks to Raptorman for giving me the longest running subject matter for nightmares that I've ever had; even xenomorphs don't scare me as much as ravenous corpses.) That being said, at least I haven't found a cherry pit yet this year.

3. White chocolate Oreos. These things go great with boiled custard. They go great with themselves. I'm no fan of standard Oreos, and chocolate generally is a take it or leave it thing with me. On the other hand, I can eat a box of these things in a sitting. They're devilish little discs of arterial doom, but I, in the words of a penitent Theodore from one of the Chipmunks Christmas albums, "couldn't help it". Tee hee.

Yeah, so I'll probably have to like go on a starvation diet after 07 January, but that's OK. Food is fun.

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NBC News is whining about the fact that a Marine "apparently" shot an unarmed insurgent inside a mosque. This is apparently reason to suggest a trial and to start asking military law experts about the guilt of our obviously bloodthirsty and evil stormtroopers.

Message: I DON'T CARE.

So an Islamist was shot in Fallujah. So he might have been unarmed. So what?

I could absolutely care less about the supposed immorality of this Marine's actions; I'd much rather be giving the man a medal for heads-up thinking, especially against a suicidal enemy.

Bravo zulu to the unnamed Marine, curses to the NBC cameraman so eager to trip up our armed effort, and a 'hope you enjoy hell' to the dead Islamist.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 06:37 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The following text was recovered from the copy desk at al-Jazeera, the Arab world's premiere satellite news channel. Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

"Brothers! A great victory has been won for our cause! We have struck a great blow against the Western invaders, by killing the leader of an insidious Western logistics network. With the death of CARE worker Margaret Hassan, we strike another blow for the re-establishment of the Caliphate and the perpetual reign of Islam uber alles. Er, over all. The infidel woman's organization, CARE---which is not to be confused with our American propaganda arm, CAIR---was guilty of distributing aid and relief to the suffering peoples of Iraq, and for this her sentence was death.

Meanwhile, in lesser news, a meaningless American victory was temporarily achieved in the unimportant city of Fallujah. There are no Americans in Fallujah. Even now, they are committing suicide upon the walls of the city. That is, they would be committing suicide, if they were in the city in the first place, which they are not. We now return you to our regular programming, "The Deep Love of Mohammed for His Camel".

This publication, of course, is readily impressed with the martial prowess of the Base of Jihad group, and commends them for their daring victory against a dangerous enemy. After all, it's very hard to put a pistol against the head of a blindfolded captive; it's one of the most difficult shots in the Terrorist Executions for Dirtbags handbook. Also, I'd like to commend Base of Jihad for knowing its strengths. Soldiers and Marines in Fallujah were too much, so they scaled back their goals to something those camel-buggering dirtbags could handle, like an outnumbered and outgunned old woman.

Prayers for Margaret Hassan and her family, and damnation for the Islamists responsible.

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After the disappointing results of the 2000 post-election period (i.e. Alec Baldwin not leaving for another country) I had learned to discount the anguished protests of those who promised to leave if the evil George Bush was re-elected.

Well, it appears that I'm to be dumbfounded: Apparently, people are kind of taking it seriously, for once. According to CNN, Canadian immigration lawyer Rudi Kischer has set up canadianalternative.com as a way for disaffected liberals to learn about Our Neighbor to the North.

The entire article's worth reading, whether for rage or mirth, so head on over and check it out. To whet one's appetite, a brief recall of and commentary upon an excerpt:

Reasons to move to Canada, as cited by www.canadianalternative.com:

1. Canada has universal public health care.

Yes, but you're living longer in Canada. Who would want to do that?

2. Canada has no troops in Iraq.

Canada barely has any troops in Canada, much anywhere else that Kofi Annan hasn't ordered them to. This is meaningful how?

3. Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol environmental treaty.

Enjoy Third World economies with First World prices! Meanwhile, watch your manufacturing base high-tail it to the People's Republic of China. That is, if Canada had any manufacturing base other than Labatt's or Molson.

4. More than half of Canada's provinces allow same-sex marriage.

And I bet we've got designs on the ones that don't, so you'd best hurry up there.

5. The Canadian Senate recommends legalizing marijuana.

Peh. Cheech & Chong shouldn't be allowed to replace Bob & Doug.

6. Canada has no law restricting abortion.

Terminate all you want! I'm sure the hedonists will make more.

7. Canada has strict gun laws and relatively little violence.

And thus no protection from Trudeaupian government when HRH Pierre decides to send the troops into the streets to enforce the general will of the people, as divined---no pun intended---by him.

8. The United Nations has ranked Canada the best country to live in for eight consecutive years.

Considering that the UN lets genocide in Rwanda, child prostitution in Asia, and lots of other things slide, do you really want to trumpet their evaluation?

9. Canada abolished the death penalty in 1976.

Yes friends, no ultimate responsibility for violent crime! Step right up and get your cushy life sentence for mass murder and bizarre criminal activity!

10. Canada has not run a federal deficit since 1996-97.

And hasn't had a serious blue water navy since the 1950s. For a two-ocean modern state, this is unforgivable.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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On 14 November 1955, the Norfolk and Western Railway inaugurated "one of America's first piggyback operations" between the Bristol (Virginia) yard and points in the Northeast. Piggyback is another name for what is now known as "TOFC", or Trailer On Flat Car, the precursor to today's intermodal containerized freight.

A bit of research indicated that this was a joint service between the Norfolk and Western and its "big brother", the Pennsylvania Railroad. Thus, at one point in time, the PRR's TrucTrain TOFC operation was hauled by N&W steam locomotives. Ostensibly, this would have been done by the N&W's monster Class "A" articulated locomotives.

Another fabulous first for Precision Transportation!

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Amusing quips from historical political figures, stolen from the Federalist e-mail newsletter for conservatives:

"The merit of our Constitution was, not that it promotes democracy, but checks it." --Horatio Seymour

"The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously." --Hubert Humphrey

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bother. Every college football game save three that I cared about today went in the wrong direction. At least Penn State won, and at least South Carolina's loss was to Florida, and hooray for Auburn. They have to win it all in order for me to enjoy the holiday bowl season.

In other news, I am glad that V.P. R.B. Cheney is apparently O.K. after being checked into a Washington-area hospital for apparent chest pains.

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Thanks to the superintendent of the Cold Spring Shops, I'm reminded of an unfortunate anniversary, and my note here is two days late.

On 10 November 1975, S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, a Great Lakes ore carrying vessel, was lost on Lake Superior, after having departed a loading dock owned by the Burlington Northern Railroad. She was loaded with ~26,000 tons of taconite ore pellets for use in the smelters serving Detroit and the automobile industry.

Twenty-nine men were lost as a result of her sinking. Popular culture knows of this accident due to a 1976 song written and performed by the Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot.

For a tremendous amount of information related to the loss of Edmund Fitzgerald, see SS Edmund Fitzgerald Online.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 02:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You know you're a rail transportation enthusiast when, upon receiving a gift of a Hallmark Polar Express "North Pole Table Decoration", you don't immediately plug it up and run the thing. (Company link unavailable because the bums are redoing their site.)

Instead, you look at the locomotive to count the wheel arrangement. For what it's worth, the Polar Express is a 2-8-4 of the "Berkshire" type. For extra points, you look at the (heavyweight) passenger coaches and think you're looking at rolling stock borrowed from the Central Railroad of New Jersey.

According to one site, Pere Marquette #1225, a surviving Berkshire, was used as a visual reference for making the new Polar Express movie. The Pere Marquette Railroad was a Michigan-based railroad merged into the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway on 06 June 1947.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:53 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Tee hee. It appears that the watchwords of some Ohio Democrats are, "The campaign continues", a la William "The Poster Child for Voter Fraud" Daley's remarks in 2000.

Shannen Coffin's latest posting in The Corner mocks the work of these Ohio Democrats (and links to a publication who's covering this story) with the following snarky quip that earned a snicker:

In a related story, New York Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman has filed a belated protest of the American League Championship Series, claiming that A-Rod was really just trying to shake Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo's hand when he knocked the ball loose in Game 6.

Heh heh heh. That's got to rankle the Lopez-Lowry Axis just a bit. Sooner or later, I'll post excerpts from a reader's message who wanted to know just what it was that I saw in the Red Sox. I've been meaning to do that, but computer trouble and time constraints have conspired against me.

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From reports garnered off of CNN's live feed early yesterday morning, and subsequently verified here, over 500 of the enemy have been killed by our troops in Fallujah, while the bums have managed to kill 18 of ours. Our brave allies have sustained 5 dead, according to the aforementioned CNN report.

In any event, these numbers render a kill ratio of 22:1, rounded to the nearest whole number. This is a good start. I like seeing these sorts of numbers. Perhaps---although I am not hopeful---such statistics could be conveyed to the enemy in such a way that they would be convinced of the futility of resistance, and lay down their arms to contribute to the new Iraq. On the other hand, if they will not, then I wholly support running that number to somewhere north of 50:1. Ideally, the enemy would not have managed to kill any of our troops, but that is not the way war works, and I regret it.

Congratulations to our forces and those of our Iraqi allies. I'm proud of you; keep up the good work.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'll be out of the area (and away from my posting facilities) for the entirety of the day; there may be, as David Bowman told HAL-9000 in 2010, an additional message if circumstances permit. If you're at a regional Christmas "show" and see a former graduate student with a distressed and harrassed look upon his face, you've probably seen me. Donations of money welcome.

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This publication notes, without sorrow, the death of Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat.

If I were the drinking sort, I would drink a toast to the people who, thanks to Arafat's policies of terror, never got the chance to die peacefully in bed surrounded by family. Since his death in a foreign hospital bed was the best possible scenario for his eventual departure and succession, perhaps now a permanent resolution to the Palestinian question may be undertaken.

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According to Jen Martinez, the Air Force is using the B-52 Stratofortress against targets in Fallujah. Since I'm a fan of the old Strategic Air Command and American jet bombers in general, this is grimly good news. Actually, I couldn't help but get the Evil Calvin Grin when I read about it.

I, in an obvious display of tactical air power genius not seen since Samuel Pierpont Langley, recommended the use of the B-52 in Fallujah a while back.¹ Admittedly, I'm no SAC/ACC planner, so I haven't the foggiest as to how they're being employed. The article quoted by Ms. Martinez does not suggest any sort of tactical employment, but I doubt they're doing the three-ship cell carpet bombing that I suggested. It has been, however, suggested that the B-52s are being used as on-call close air support. And how!

At any rate, I'd hate to be the Baathist in a bathrobe---or whatever it is these guys wear that looks like bedclothes---who had to duel with a Stratofortress' bomb load. After all, it's difficult to do anything with your 72 virgins if you've been reduced to component molecules.

I hear we've lost 11 soliders and Marines to the enemy; I'd like to thank those servicemen for their service & sacrifice, and thank their families for letting us have them. To our valiant forces, good luck and God bless; I pray for your safety and swift victory. more...

Posted by: Country Pundit at 07:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Er, I'm having some operational (both electronic and server-side) issues that have fouled the postings for the last few days. I'm still here and so forth, but I'm tied up at the moment. Three thousand spam comments aren't helping, and I'm having to go back and manually delete each and every one of them, while also shutting off comments individually.

Sooner or later, I'll have something snarky to say. Meanwhile, pray for the success of our troops and our Iraqi allies against these dirtbags in Fallujah.

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