From Morgan over at House of Eratosthenes. I'm going to steal the whole thing, because I agree with every word of it. But do go over and read his blog.

I’m polite, pleasant and belligerent. Anti-Marijuana, pro-states’-rights, anti-abortion-for-profit, pro-child-discipline, anti-tofu, pro-meat, mostly-anti-tattoo, pro-nice-lookin’-lady-in-skimpy-clothes, anti-little-kids’-shopping-cart, pro-clean-new-socks, anti-women-with-short-hair, pro-beer, anti-Hillary, pro-dry-wine, anti-anti-war, pro-soldier, anti-made-up-learning-disability, pro-charcoal-barbeque, anti-communist, pro-Hooters’-waitress, anti-hippy, pro-nuclear-arsenal, anti-carbon-cap-n-trade, pro-family, anti-feminist, pro-Boy-Scouts, anti-needle-exchange-program, pro-Palin, anti-judicial-activisim, pro-Mike-Rowe-Dirty-Jobs, anti-George-Soros, pro-capitalism, anti-woman-politician-in-pant-suits, pro-nice-lookin’-ladies-in-short-skirts, anti-convertible-with-top-down-going-boom-chicka-boom, pro-cute-woman-giving-me-a-cold-beer, anti-Michael-Moore, pro-profit, anti-ObamaCare, pro-free-market, anti-tribal-living, pro-individualist, anti-dickhead, pro-entrepreneur, anti-douchebag, pro-nice-person, anti-sleezebag, pro-law-abiding-citizen, anti-pervert, pro-capital-punishment, anti-murderer, pro-vigilante, anti-rapist, pro-vigilante, anti-kidnapper, pro-vigilante, anti-creep, anti-weirdo, anti-whacko, pro-vigilante…

I like the smell of gunpowder. I like it when the caliber begins with the number 3. I like it even better when the number begins with a 4.

I like pretty ladies much better than ugly ladies, and I like fit ladies much better than tubs-o’-lard — BUT!! — if you’re a female, if your hips are 46″ wide, but you love humans and you love strength and ability, you and I will enjoy a bond those skinny man-bashing bitches will never ever know. If you’re pretty, I’ll like you even better when you bring me a cold beer. I like the pretty gals even better when they bring me a hot plate of appetizers with the beer…especially when it’s basted with something slightly tangy. And when they wear something short that shows lots of leg, I like that even better. Cold beer, hot wings, nice-lookin’ bare female leg…and gunpowder. And when I earn money beyond the sensibilities of magnitude of whoever might be paying attention…I get to keep it all…I’m like a puppy when you rub its belly. I’ll follow ya anywhere.

But don’t literally rub my belly, unless you’re my girlfriend.

When I see little kids figure out how to do something they didn’t know how to do five minutes ago, it absolutely makes my day. I don’t care if it’s my kid or someone else’s — well, I do, but the situation holds irregardless. When I see a crooked psychiatrist invent a new three-letter-acronym so a new weakness can be enabled across the decades, I get sick to my stomach and wanna kill somebody.

I think Indiana Jones, as unrealistic as he is, is a role model. Because he’s all about L-I-C-O-R-I-C-E: Leadership, Initiative, Creativity, Ownership of problems, Resourcefulness, Ingenuity, Courage & conviction and Energy. (Those Skywalker boys, as my son and I have noticed, are a little bit light on the O and the C.) T.I., as gritty and realistic as he may be, is not a role model because he’s a thug. He’s missing his licorice.

In short — I’m pro-freedom. Pro-ability. Anti-co-dependence. Pro-strength. Anti-drug-dealing-scumbag-fuckwad.

It really can’t get any simpler than that. Any questions?

This needs no embellishment.

The road to freedom and the restoration of the republic has more to do with the Founders' "Public Virtue" than almost anything else. Time will prove me right, but the longer you let this go, the more painful The Reckoning.

Irish Cicero

I've finally added some plants to my back patio. Only a few so far. The first set consists of a small rose bush, salvia, and lily of the Nile, in your basic terracotta pots. The little table there came with the chairs, and makes a good plant stand.

In the other corner I've placed a Confederate Jasmine. It's definitely one of my favorite plants, and looks and smells amazing when it blooms. To keep with the Mediterranean feel, I got the big terracotta pot there with the neat looking vine creeping around the whole thing.

The nursery I got them from, Blodgett Gardens, also had a really cool armillary, that I want the jasmine to grow on. A bit of Roman statuary and I'll be all set.

This is still just a start, though I might not do a whole lot more this season. Ultimately I want there to be green and flowers everywhere. I better see how well I do taking care of these before I spend hundreds of dollars on more plants. It'll also give me a chance to see what I can find at the medieval fairs next winter. I really like their copper fountains.

A couple of weeks ago, I found some patio furniture for my house. I had been wandering around the garden sections at Walmart, Lowe's, and Home Depot, when I found this table at the Home Depot.


I love the tile. I didn't have anything in particular in mind when I was looking, but when I saw the table, I knew that's what I wanted. Puts me in mind of the Mediterranean.

My next goal is to deck it out with plants and flowers. It'll be a jungle by the time I'm done with it. Though that might take some time, given that I'll have to get pots and planters and everything else. Oh well. Gives me time to plan. I think I ought to stick with the Mediterranean theme.

Now that the House has passed the health care bill, though it still needs Obama's signature to become law, it seems like the time to review what to do about it. We are fairly far down the road to serfdom, one we have been walking for over a century. It's not like state control of our lives is a new thing. People are not going to suddenly get better because the government runs everything (as opposed to just regulating it...), nor are they going to magically get sick and die. For most of us, the changes will come slowly and without notice. So option number one is:

Do Nothing
Bureaucracy being as ineffective as it is, it will take time to implement any of the legislation, accompanying regulations, agencies, and enforcement. It might be years before everyone finally figures out what it all means and how to comply with it, and it will happen slowly, giving people time to adjust. That's not intentional, but bureaucracy retards progress, and people are used to bureaucracies doing stupid things anyways, so a new set of random regulations and procedures aren't going to phase anybody.

Most of us will simply accept things as they are, and keep our heads down, hoping that we never become the target of the government's ire. It's a very practical mentality. The government is extremely powerful and not required to play by its own rules. Challenging it on your own is a loosing strategy. Most people will assume it's not that bad, and hope and wait for sanity and common sense to return to D.C.

Only we've been slowly shedding our freedoms for several generations now. Something most people haven't really noticed because we've been gaining material wealth much faster. But we've reached the point where our material wealth is going to stop growing and start shrinking. And then we'll realize we have neither the freedom nor the power to go create all that wealth. All the while some faceless government bureaucracy adds more and more regulations and laws on how we work, and play, and build, and consume. So we could always:

Switch Sides
The best place to be in a statist regime is high up in the government apparatus. The laws don't apply, you get more of the wealth, such people will generally see no change at all in their lives due to the all consuming power of the state. The point of taking over everything is reap the benefits of controlling everything.

In America at least, media elites also fall in this category, being more an informal branch of government than an independent organization (the Department of Propaganda, to be specific).

Of course, for us on the right, we wouldn't be able to maintain our principles. Or reason. Or common sense. So if we don't want to sell our souls, we could:

Fight
Open rebellion is an option. One that our founding fathers ultimately picked against British (and for much less cause). I've not heard anybody seriously advocate revolt, but at this point, I think an armed revolt that completely replaces our current government is the only way to regain our liberties. I wonder how much trouble I'll get in for saying that?

The problem with this approach is that if you loose, you die. And you cause all kinds of hell for everybody else on your way out. And give the government a solid excuse for taking away more of our freedoms.

A little insurrection looses. To beat something as powerful as the US government, you'd need a sizable portion of the population willing to fight and die for their freedom. More and better people than those willing to fight and kill to maintain the current regime. Nothing I've heard from the Tea Parties or the right wing blogosphere indicates that people are willing to fight and die for their beliefs. They're still trying to work within the system, all nice and legal. I've not even heard any serious calls for civil disobedience.

So if fighting is not an option, that leaves:

Flight
Our last option is simply to run away. Leave America and it's state run nightmare and go...somewhere. The list of places better than America is really short. I haven't put any entries on the list yet.

America's influence spreads across the world, but that influence is weakening, and it will get weaker, as socialism slowly eats up all our resources. So there should be places out there that don't have to follow America's lead.

Ideally, such a place would be strong and growing in Christianity. Christian morals and values are the foundation of liberty. From Christianity we get such ideals as hard work, taking responsibility for yourself, honesty, generosity.

Such a country should have the resources and industry to provide for it's people, to be self sufficient in the event of a global economic collapse. Basically have everything going for it that America had going for it for most of its history. Such a country may exist, but I don't know where it is, which makes it difficult to run away to it.

None of these options are very good. Perhaps instead of asking 'what should I do,' I should be asking a different question:

Why
Why do I need freedom? Not in the abstract sense, not in the 'what's best for society' sense. In the very personal sense, why do I need freedom? And I realize that I need freedom so I can choose to follow God. Or not. Everything hinges on that choice. I choose to follow God, and His son, Jesus. That is not a choice anybody can make for me, and it is not a choice anybody can prevent me from making. At best, they can hide that the choice needs to be made.

But having already made my decision, having already declared my faith in the LORD, what can any power on earth do? Persecute me? Imprison me? Kill me? Such things are hard to stand, but they are nothing compared to eternal life with the Father.

But now I am truly free. It does not matter if our government takes over every aspect of our lives. It does not matter if I am a citizen or a serf. I have the freedom to follow God, to try and live a righteous life. I can be honest, though it cost me. I can be generous, though I have nothing. I can love, though I am hated for it. What freedom I need no force can take away. The real question is will I exercise that freedom, even unto death, or will I cower and submit, and take the easy way out?

I do not need to flee what my country is becoming. I do not need to rebel against the government. I do not need to give in to progressivism. I need to be the best man I can be. That is an option that is infinitely more difficult than any of the others. But if I can do that, then I have done all I can to fight for freedom.

Courtesy of House of Eratosthenes. Please note that some language may not be appropriate for small children or Baptists.

On the whole, I think this was more informative than the alphabet soup news.

I had been trying to come up with an exercise routine when I came across a couple of articles on a new website I had found, The Art of Manliness. So based on the fact that I have no exercise equipment of any sort, I pulled from the two articles and created my own routine, which for the past few days I've been running through every morning before jumping in the shower.

Here is the routine (the articles explain each exercise):

• Glute Bridges - 3 sets of 15
• Tin Men - 30 each leg (alternating)
• Piriformis Stretch - 2 sets of 5 (each leg)
• Spine Stretch - 12 reps
• Deep Knee Bends - 3 sets of 10
• Calf Raises - 4 sets of 10
• Leg Raises - 4 sets of 5
• Push-Ups - 3 sets of 10
• Bicycle Crunches - 3 sets of 20

The whole thing takes me about 15 minutes. I only started the routine a few days ago, so I've not noticed any great change yet.

I do want to note three deficiencies in my new routine. First, it's very light on arm and upper body exercises. I don't have a pull-up bar or weights, so I'm not sure yet what I can do to work out the upper half of my body more.

The second problem is that this is not going to increase my flexibility much, especially in my legs. For most people, that would probably be fine, but I also do karate, so I need greater flexibility in my hips in order to do proper kicks. I have recently pulled my hamstring trying to do proper kicks anyways, so I know that my current flexibility is not sufficient to do good kicks. The best stretches I know of for this are partnered wall stretches. You brace yourself against the wall and your partner raises your leg out in the different kicking positions. This allows you to stretch beyond your natural limits while maintaining a proper kicking stance. You can also have your partner compress the leg into the kicking chamber. I just need to find a partner.

The third short coming is that these short exercises are not going to build a lot of endurance. They're not really designed to, but it needs to be said so I know to find something else to do to build aerobic endurance. Like a 2 hour karate class where you don't stop moving. I've been jogging for a while now, and after a few karate classes, I went from huffing and puffing after two miles to just starting to breath hard. It's amazing how much more you can do when somebody else is pushing you.

Now I just need to keep at it every morning and not slack off.

A quick primer on modern economics:

Hat Tip: The Anchoress

I made some major additions to the living room today. I have replaced the sofas, got a new lamp, and some really neat candles. The sofas are from American Signature.


They're pretty neutral as far as the fantastic style I'm going for. If anything, they are more contemporary in style than I was really looking for, but I didn't particularly like the old fashioned styled sofas. However, with the right accents, I can still achieve a sense of the exotic and fantastic. Other parts of the living room are already heading in that direction. Here's the new spot for my trunk.


The lamp there is from World Market, and matches the lamp that hangs over the couches.


The final addition to the house today is a collection of orange and blue (Go Gators!) candles, also from World Market. They're very Moroccan in style. They fit with the whole far off lands idea, almost Arabian Nights.


That actually gets me most of the furniture in the living room. The only furniture I have left is to replace the coffee table and end tables. Everything else will be decorations. I have lots of wall space left for paintings, swords, and what not. I also want to get some throw pillows and curtains. This is where the more fantastic elements will really come out.

I was wandering around the Escapist today when I came across some links to a Star Wars: The Old Republic walkthrough over on IGN. I was immediately hooked. I was looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV, since I loved FFXI so much, but I think Star Wars definitely wins.

Final Fantasy still has an attraction for me. It was the first MMO I played, and is still the gold standard for a medieval fantasy world. I'd like to see how Square Enix upgrades that.

But. Star Wars. It's Star Wars. I'm so excited I can't get out a coherent thought. The fan reflex kicked in hard. Star Wars!

Fwp-shhhhsssss... wronnnn, worrrarrang. Wrorr-K-SHH! K-SHHkrilkrklkkrlk, wrooonn, wroaonng.

Last night marked my first time back at karate since college. Once again I am studying Butokukan and Aikido. After one class, three things are readily apparent:

1. I am really, really out of shape. I mean really out of shape. After only an hour of floor exercises, my vision was darkening around the edges, I could see stars, my legs were shaking, and I couldn't hold my hands steady. And afterwards, I was unable to do all 20 two-count push ups, nor all 10 full-body crunches. And that's for what sensei called a light class.


2. I actually remembered all the techniques. Not any of the Korean for them(back at UF, we only used Korean for the first year, then switched to Japanese. Not that I remember the Japanese). But I did know the techniques. I even remembered the bit of Aikido we did at the end.


3. I am really bad at them. OK, so while I remembered the basic movements, chambers, and footwork, the execution was just all around sloppy. None of movements were clean and crisp. My body was very disconnected; feet, hips, and hands all moved independent of each other. Nor was I getting full chambers most of the time.

The final assessment is that I have a long way to go. I would not be surprised if it takes the whole semester to get back to where I was before I dropped out four years ago. Still, it is something I want to do, in part to get in better shape (it's much easier with someone pushing me for a whole class), and partly so I have the ability to defend myself even when unarmed.

And if you're interested in the title of the post, go listen to this.

I found an interesting article on hats over at Big Hollywood today. It caught my attention since I do wear a hat, a battered old fedora I've had for many years. I wear it almost everywhere, and it has long since become my trademark. It imparts a sense of style and adventure that is otherwise missing from men's fashion.

I'm somewhat haphazard on the hat etiquette, hats having gone out of style long before I was born. Seems pretty straight forward, and since no one else knows it, it'll be hard for anyone to say I'm wrong.

This hat has reached the point in its life where it only works with casual clothes. It's too weather beaten for anything really formal.

One of my Christmas gifts this year was my very own treasure chest. It fits perfectly with the old world style I am going for in the living room. With the tiger painting, I was worried that the downstairs would become too oriental for my liking. I want something a little more fantasy for the living room. This is definitely it.


Of course, I'll have to trap it, like a proper rogue.


I still need to get the main furniture for the living room, mostly so I'll have an idea of what colors I can work with in all the other accessories. I'll have the library paid off in another couple of months, then I can start looking for sofas and chairs and tables. Slowly but surely I'll create my adventuring abode.

Last night marked my Third Annual New Year's Eve Rocket Battery. In order to top last year's array, I got my self a bigger camp grill. I started off by lacing safety fuse across the top of the grill. There is over 65 feet of fusing on that thing. Then we began sticking bottle rockets on the launch platform.


Here is the finished array. Not as many add ons as last year, but more bottle rockets, some 1300.


But of course, what you want to see is the launch. So here it is:

The laser comes courtesy of some friends up on the building next door. I was hit with a few bottle rockets, some of which decided to explode when they hit me. Still have all my fingers. Here is the after math.


Since we've upgraded from cardboard, there were no fires to put out this year. I guess if we want to go bigger, I'll have to get another grill.