JamesSavik

Hello summer storms, my old friend You've come to pummel us again Because a visage loudly booming, Left trees down while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains the sounds... of chainsaws

The horrible mutt just got to the kitty before his Ninja skills were strong enough.

2nd Warning: Circular Reasoning: is a logical fallacy in which the reasoner begins with what they are trying to end with. The components of a circular argument are often logically valid because if the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. Example: Father Porter's answer to the atheist was Psalm 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. The problem here is that Father Porter has used a bible verse to argue the existence of God. Another example much closer to my point: They must really be stupid because they don't think like we do. Sometimes others see things we miss. This is especially true when the corporate owned media is spoon feeding you a distorted version of the truth. A version they spent billions trying to sell the country and the country rejected.

http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.html

It's not the first time that biased and politicized "intelligence" has caused serious problems. The last time we got a close look at it was in the run up to the 2nd Gulf War. One camp was absolutely sure that Saddam had WMDs. The other was absolutely sure that he did not. Both had paid informants that were telling the spooks on both sides exactly what they wanted to hear. We're all a bit like that. We are ready and most willing to hear and believe what our preconceived biases tell us. To be perfectly fair, Saddam had sworn vengeance on the US for his humiliating defeat in Gulf War 1. It wasn't unreasonable to expect that he had bad intentions. What everyone forgot on both sides of the behind closed doors debate was that no one had a smoking gun either way. What too many people in the Washington bureaucracy have forgotten is that they don't work for their patrons. They don't work for a party, bureau, agency or agenda. They work for the people. If you can't do your job without bias, you need to retire and manage a fast food establishment.

This story was published on Codeysworld

I've tried to stay out of this but the hysteria is a little appalling. Nazis may as well have won? Isn't that a just tad over the top? There is a reason we got Trump.

With A Whimper This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper. -T.S. Eliot from the Hollow Men How did it happen? It was an accident of course; the convergence of a million accidents, misunderstandings and bad judgement. It was ignorance of the world of microbes and the arrogance of people that thought it couldn't possibly matter. It started in the hospitals of all places. The same hospitals ruthlessly scrubbed with antiseptic shining surfaces and all of their protocols to keep infectious agents at bay. The microbes had been around since before mankind. Those microbes lived out their short lives and reproduced just like they had for millennia. That is until we started trying to kill them on mass with antiseptics and antibiotics. Oh we killed them all right— by the quadrillions. For what were they after all but Mere microbial vermin that could be a nuisance and even a danger. Over and over again except for a very select few. The few survivors were just a little different from the rest. They were genetically different from the rest. We had no idea that we were shortcutting millions of years of evolution. Over the course of a few short decades in human years, we pushed bacterial, fungi and viral evolution further than millions of years of natural selection could have possibly achieved. Over time those microbes changed in ways both subtle and gross. It was the changes in the cytoplasmic membrane that made the most difference. Most antiseptics and antibiotics attack those membranes to destroy bacteria. We had inadvertently given rise to a new breed of bacteria that were for all practical purposes armor plated. None of our chemicals could affect them. They were impervious to even our silver bullets. Many of our old, well known microbes changed and became something altogether different. Common bacteria that no one gave a second thought soon became destroyers. We first noticed it in Staphylococcus aureus. It became completely resistant to anything and everything that modern pharmaceutical science could throw at it. It started slowly at first appearing very rarely— killing a few people here and there in hospitals. They called them opportunistic infections. Over time it slowly gained momentum like a malignant wave. In a few years, hospitals became so dangerous no one would go near one. Then it became like a row of dominoes as old but new again microbial enemies of mankind came back with a roar. Suddenly a skinned knee or a sinus infection just might be a death sentence. The first mega killer was Streptococcal pharyngitis. It mutated like its cousin into a drug resistant killer and spread across five continents killing seven hundred million people. Suddenly strep throat became one of the most pernicious slayers of mankind in world history. The next big mega killer was Clostridium perfringens- ancient anaerobic decay bacteria so common that it was ignored. Suddenly it was everywhere and killing people in a matter of a few hours. One point two billion people were dead over four months. Then came... God only knows what it was. It was a red gram negative bacterium. We never could identify it because it was so different from its progenitor. It was hell's own creation. It went through our people like a buzz saw. It was a horror like none I've ever seen before. I lived through the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s. Once again a microbe killed everyone that I cared about. AIDS was a like Sunday picnic in comparison. It was so fast and so toxic that it was like a surrealistic nightmare. People died so fast we couldn't even study it. Healthy people literally dropped dead. It attacked the red blood cells and excreted a neurotoxin so deadly that just a few micrograms killed in a matter of minutes. It was like seeing people go out like bad light bulbs. World population crashed in a matter of two years from 7.5 billion to just over 500 million. I don't really know if it’s over. It might still be going on. What saves us now is our population density is so low that humanity can no longer sustain a pandemic. Now it is up to the survivors to find the will to go on. This city that was once so busy and noisy- now all that can be heard is the wind blowing through empty buildings carrying the stench of death. Journal entry of James Savik, dated June 4, 2028

Grandma is a playa! LOLs

the End of the Big K "There is no way I’m wearing that!" The comm crackled, "Come on Bobby, you have to. There's too much damage. Most of the ship is open to vacuum." "I can't. I've got claustrophobia. I'll go nuts in there." "Look- you've got to do it. Containment is breaking down on the #3 Fusion plant. We lose that and this wreck will become a mini supernova. You've got to get out of there." Bobby looked at the big suit of powered armor. It sat in a service bay like a sleeping monster. The suits were designed to be intimidating and the eight foot dark gray monster was just that. He said, "OK. What do I have to do?" The voice over the comm changed, "OK Bobby, I'm going to talk you through this. You see the command console?" Bobby found the terminal built at the side of the service bay. He hit the spacebar and a login screen came up. He said, "I've found it. There's a login prompt on the screen." "Use login FltMar35, pass word is jarhead!" Bobby typed in the login and spoke, "Fleet Marine 35, password jarhead!" The screen immediately came up: Alliance Marines, Authorized personnel only. Power Armor Mark VIII, diagnostic utility. Bobby said, "I'm in. I've got a menu: Ready 100%, diagnostics, configuration, systems, expendables, ammunition and file." The voice said, "Good. pick the file menu and pick the saved configuration file rescue. That'll configure the armor for you." Bobby picked file labeled rescue and the computer responded with a prompt: Configure armor for rescue y/n? He chose yes and an hourglass appeared on the screen. Loading rescue configuration. Please wait. While the computer configured the suit, he looked around. The battered ship was slowly bleeding to death.Red warning lights were blinking and he could hear a fire alarm somewhere through the hull. There was an explosion somewhere in the distance that transmitted a jolt through the hull. The voice on the comm said, "You need to get in and run the eject routine Bobby. Some ammo just cooked off on the flight deck and blew out a big chunk of the hull. Big K has had it. She's coming apart at the seams!" The computer routine finished running and the armor's chest plate opened up. Bobby grabbed the bar just above the suit and dropped into suit saying, "I can't believe I'm doing this." Immediately the suit came to life. He suppressed a sudden flare of panic as the suit began to close around him. Inside the suit, it automatically adjusted to fit his body and a voice came on inside his helmet, "CORA Computer Oral Response Automata online. Suit configuration rescue. Should I begin eject sequence?" Bobby said, "Initiate eject sequence. Once outside set thrusters to get clear of the ship." Another explosion wracked the ship. Through his helmet, he could see the bulkhead deform and see the indications that the compartment was decompressing. Suddenly he felt what must have been at least five gravities of acceleration as the suit was fired like a bullet through its ejection tube. As soon as he was outside, the suits thrusters kicked in and sent him on a trajectory well away from the stricken carrier. Someone was screaming, "Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" It took a moment for him to realize that it was him. Bobby said, "Cora- adjust camera view, I want to see the carrier." Cora said, "Camera view adjusted. Rescue beacon initiated." The view changed to the carrier rapidly receding in the distance. There was a small constellation of search and rescue shuttles orbiting a safe distance from the stricken ship busy picking up survival pods. The long, stately shape of the A.S.Kaga was marred by large holes from the enemy missile strikes. Parts of the ship were glowing a dull red color. There were geysers of water and air escaping the hull as explosions and internal fires destroyed the ship that had been his home in the fleet for the last year and a half. Suddenly the Big-K vanished in a white flash as the fusion bottles let go. All that was left of the big majestic ship was a white hot nebulae of debris and gas slowly spreading out into the big dark.

Try the inauguration drinking game. Take a shot of tequila every time you hear some verifiable bulls**t. Please check with your doctor first to make sure your liver is up to this game.

The tea was Liptons, not Mary Jane's blend.

A lot of people think the test kits the cops have will pop positive for anything tested. I remember an old guy that got busted for having weed- they had tested tea leaves which were "positive". Maybe the suppliers are cutting corners?

photo uploading Truth over Drinks "It's time to bury the hatchet." Colt looked stunned and said, "Maybe in that rat bastard's head." Jerry said, "Oh come on Colt. I know he's a rival but.." "Rival? You don't know what Frank did to me do you?" "I know it goes back a long way." Colt sighed and said, "Frank cost me..." Jerry said, "Come on Colt. I know you have a mad hate of Frank Garrett. Everybody that knows the two of you knows, but nobody knows why or at least they aren't telling me. Want to talk about it?" Colt replied coldly, "No. But you're the only one with the right to know. It goes back a long way and did a lot of damage. If you'll pour me a stiff drink, I'll tell you." Jerry walked over to the bar and pulled out a pair of highball glasses and put ice in them. He grabbed the Johnny Walker Black and poured two fingers in both glasses. He handed one to Colt and said, "Maybe we should have a seat." They sat down at their poker table and Colt took a drink. He sighed and began. "Frank and I met when I moved to Springfield at the start of fifth grade. At first everything was cool. We were friends and hung out. At the time I didn't really know it but I was attracted to him. You know how it is before you figure out you're gay." Jerry nodded. "Then came the summer between sixth and seventh grade. Let's just say we figured out a lot of things... together." Jerry said, "You two were..." "Yeah. We started off jacking off together and it escalated. We weren't really sure what it was all about but we kept it on the down low and..." "You were boyfriends." "We were boyfriends but not really. Frank just liked getting off but it was more to me. I started having feeling for him." Jerry said, "Well... what happened?" Colt took a swig of his drink and grimaced. "Toward the end of summer break that year, Frank went to spend two weeks with his grandparents which were complete religious lunatics. The night before he left, I kissed him goodbye. That wasn't something we did much of. He blushed and looked uncomfortable and we said our goodbyes." "I don't know what happened during those two weeks but we were never friends again. I knew when he got back but he didn't call or come over. I figured he was busy and I'd see him at school. When I showed up for my first day of Middle School, it was like walking into a war. The son of a bitch told everybody he knew that I was a faggit. I got my ass kicked every fucking day because of that shit stain. I had to change schools over it and it followed me. I never really got away from it until I graduated- and there were times when I almost quit school but my parents wouldn't let me." Jerry said, "I knew that you had it rough in high school but I had no idea." Colt drained his glass. "Well now you know why I hate that son of a bitch. I hate him worse now that he came out. He threw me to the wolves so he could be the nice, safe closet case." Jerry sighed and said, "We're going to run into him. It's not that big a town. I've already seen him and his boyfriend at the Glass Onion and Molly's." "Then I'll walk away. I'm sorry babe but that rat bastard cost me years of misery. This isn't something I can just forget. I love you and would do anything for you except make nice with Frank fucking Garrett."

thank goodness we're done with po' daddy.

Again at Castle Roland

I'm not at all pleased at the people Trump is putting into place. Too bad the moderates blew him off early. At this point a Jeb Bush or a Rand Paul looks a hell of a lot better than the FRC religious nut of the week. Expect Trump to fire people that don't perform in their positions. It's his management style. If there are cabinet members that let their ideology get in the way of the job, they'll get the hook.

Scruffy the kitten approves of this thread.

Cali will be repossessed by the Chinese.

Dear Canada- A number of our most obnoxious citizens are planning to immigrate to your country. I would strongly suggest that you deny them entry because they are self important ass hats. You guys are some of the nicest, most polite people in the world and I would hate for you to have to put up with these decadent celeb-u-tards. You've always been a bro and you don't deserve it. -Your bud, the United States

My analysis: people were voting AGAINST Hillary Clinton. Not necessarily FOR Donald Trump.

...I voted for Gary Johnson.

My cats would rather nap on the nice warm tower.

This was a fun tale but not very historically accurate. Everything in the British military at the time was about seniority in grade. He may have had the rank but, until he got a few years in grade he would have always been the most junior at that rank. An Army Captain serves as a company commander or in a senior staff officer billet (G-2 or G-3). Our Captain is commanding a unit at battalion strength. Where the story did shine was its depiction of "irregular" units. This one was run very, very lawfully under our good Captain. Most irregular units are little better than bandits. At their worst they are terrorists. By treating civilians well "El Toro" became their champion and could count on their support even when legions of froggies were out beating the bushes looking for them.