New Year’s Resolution for Bloggers

Will, acting as substitute for Chad, who is taking a well deserved break, asks us Virginia bloggers to commit to a New Years Resolution . I'm not sure what constitutes a "Shakespearean hipster or a cynical Emily Dickinson" but I do hereby resolve to always be a "Southern Gentleman".

Perspective Means Everything....

And Steve at Blue Dog puts the Iraq military death toll in perspective. And no, it's not another comparison to WWII.

The Rehearsal Went Awry?

Ooops...
Would-be suicide bombers blown up in Afghan blast - Yahoo! News

What Is It Called If It Doesn't Come From Glenn Reynolds?

It's not an "Instalanche", but a link from RealClearPolitics will completely destroy the symmetry of your graphical hit display.

In his post, Thursday Morning Observations: Always Follow Cheney's Advice, Tom Bevan saved the best for last.

Heh

Growing Exponentially

The ODBA (Old Dominion Blog Alliance) is growing like a deer's antlers. To those of you who are not familiar with that analogy, it means fast!

Let's welcome our newest member Brown Hound. I tried to find a link to the hound's profile, but was unsuccessful. If you know who this is, (information need not be too specific, just a location and gender would suffice) or if the hound himself (herself?) reads this and would care to provide a little more information, I would be appreciative. (An E-mail link can be found in the sidebar.)

UPDATE:
OK, it was late (at least in my world 9:00pm is late) last night when I posted this. Upon revisiting this blog I see that the hound is "John" and he is a father. That answers the gender question. I also learned that he is a duck hunter, and that is a good thing. Hunters here in SWVA don't get a lot of shots at ducks so I'm going to assume he is located somewhat further east.

Addendum To Earlier Post

UPDATE:
After reading Jerry's reaction, and re-reading this post, I feel that some clarification is in order.

When I was traveling like Jerry does now I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 days a year in a hotel room. I typically chose the best accomidations available, but after some time even the best hotel room is still a somewhat restrictive cell. You learn early that all the people are downstairs in "the bar". Since everyone else in "the bar" is drinking, you feel obligated to join them. Consequently, during that time in my life I drank way too much. I remember (vaguely) several occasions when I would wake up in the local Denny's, finish my breakfast, and go to the jobsite for a new day's work.

Today, I leave here (Collinsville) at 5:30am, get gas, coffee, and The Roanoke Times at the Valero station here, and drive to Patrick Springs and Kaye's Kitchen. After a breakfast of eggs and grits (sometimes 'taters instead), (and views of that semi-famous butt) I arrive at at work sometime before 7:00am. I leave there around 5:30pm, stop again at Kaye's Kitchen (and an entirely different, but equally delightful, butt) before arriving back at home around 7:00pm. I now limit myself to one, sometimes two, short glasses of the aforementioned Bushmills before an early bedtime.

Simple Pondering

In one of his posts today Jerry was left wondering about Virginia’s odd method of dispensing alchoholic libations to a paying public.

Someone needs to fill me in on the bizarre state liquor store system (ABC) here in Virginia. It's as if I fell asleep and woke up to find the Soviets had finally invaded and took over the local packaged hootch business.

Jerry, you travel quite a bit, as I once did. I learned quite quickly that there are no “normal” liquor laws. In Pennsylvania, if you want a six pack of beer to take back to the hotel room, you can’t buy it from the local Quick Stop. Beer is sold in case quantities only from “Beer Distributors”. Six packs “to go” may be purchased only from the local tavern. The “Hard Stuff” is only available from a State operated store similar to Virginia.

Maryland has a completely different set of laws for each county... Consequently, no one knows what’s legal there and what’s not.

In Utah, where the company I used to work for was based, you can buy 3.2 beer in supermarkets and convenience stores 7 days a week. Anything stronger has to come from a State owned store similar to Virginia and Pennsylvania. Even in the heart of Mormon Territory most restaraunts do serve mixed drinks and cocktails, but you must ask for them. The law prohibits your waiter or waitress from telling you that they are available. This makes for a twentyfirst century speakeasy type of atmosphere.

Several states, Oklahoma comes to mind, have a bizzare “Private Club” provision whereby a bar can proclaim itself a private club, charge a minimal “initiation fee”, (known elsewhere as a "cover charge") and operate much as any bar or tavern anywhere else.

Finally, there are the more “civilized ?” places like California, France, and New Jersey where most any grocery store can sell you a bottle of Bushmills along with your apples and cheddar cheese. (A nice McIntosh and a very sharp Cheddar along with a short glass of Bushmills being my favorite after dinner before bedtime snack.)

Merry Christmas To All..

I'll be back on Monday Tuesday. Here's wishes for a joyous time with your families today and tomorrow.

"I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." ~ Luke 2:10-11

I'm Not Emeril Discovers A Good One.

I like this guy. He is now on my daily read list.

Football In ANWR

Recently efforts to extract known oil reserves in Alaska's Arctic coastal plain were defeated once again. The coastal plain area of ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) is shown in green on the drawing to the right. If you open the image to full size you will see in red the area the Senate wants to open to drilling. The entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge covers 19.5 million acres. The drawing shows it to be roughly the size of the State of South Carolina. The Coastal Plain (green) covers 1.5 million acres. The barely discernible red square represents the 2,000 acres proposed for drilling. I would like to credit the source of this image, but frankly, I've had it on my hard drive for some time and do not remember were I obtained it.

I've been trying to get this representation of size down to something more conceivable. Luckily, I have AutoCAD and I ain't afraid to use it. AutoCAD is a software application designed for drawing to exact scale. The greatest attribute of the program is that it allows you to draw in full scale, then when you are ready to print your drawing, you specify the size of the sheet being used and the finished drawing is correctly scaled to fit the sheet. In other words, if the device I am designing is to be 20 feet long, I can draw a line 20 feet long on the screen and then zoom in or out to see the entire line.

For example, in this screen capture I drew a football field. In AutoCAD (and in the real world) the distance from endzone to endzone is 300 feet. The dimensions are all perfectly scaled when the drawing will be printed, regardless of the size of the paper I decide to use.

I drew this football field in order to bring the ratios discussed in the first paragraph into a context more relevant to those of us who do not use acres as a daily measurement, not to mention acres in the millions. I assume nearly all of my readers have seen a football field and can conceptualize it's size.

The hashmarks between the full yardlines are each 24" long and 2" wide. Roughly two whole Subway sandwiches laid end to end. Consider the entire field, including both endzones represents Alaska's Coastal Plain that lies within the ANWR (the green part above). All four of the hashmarks between the 45 yard line and the 50 yard line would then represent an area equal to the area of the ANWR coastal plain that is set asiede for drilling. Eight Subway sandwiches lying on a football field represents the small area of the coastal plain proposed for drilling.

Next, I wanted to show the proposed drilling area in relation to the entire 19.5 million acres of ANWR. If you were to download this image you would see a small dot within the zero of the numeral 30 on the opposing team's side of the field. That "dot" does not represent the correct ratio of ANWR to drilling site, assuming the entire field represents all of ANWR. No, that "dot" was something I had to draw there in order for you to see that something was in fact drawn inside the opposing team's 6 foot high "30".

I drew the United States Quarter coin, again in exact scale, that the referee dropped after using it for the game opening coin toss. That Tic Tac just above George Washington's head represents the size of the drilling area in relation to all of ANWR.

If the entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were the size of a football field, the area being proposed for drilling would be much smaller than a Tic Tac breath mint. Estimates of the oil reserves that can be extracted from this Tic Tac range between 10 and 20 years at current consumption.

With the power of AutoCAD at my disposal, I could continue and extrapolate a drawing that represents the drilling area in relation to the entire State of Alaska and even to the area of all 50 states combined. But if I did this experiment with just the State of Alaska the resultant drawing would end up being so small as to have no relevance to the real world in the opposite direction.

A Little Mental Exercise

OK, I know you're intelligent. If you're a returning visitor to this site, you simply must be. I'm going to challenge your intellegence in this post, but not in any mentally superior way. I would never deign to be mentally superior to you, my dear reader.

I want you to imagine nothing. That's right, consider a complete vacuum. You do not exist. Your neighbors do not exist. Even the Earth and all it's animate inhabitants do not exist. No stars, no moon, no sun.

This exercise is getting difficult, is it not? I contend it is impossible for the human mind to imagine a complete "nothingness". Yet that is the question we are faced with regardless of whether we choose to believe in "Darwinism" or "Intelligent Design".

Let's suppose for a moment that you choose to believe in the Darwinian theory of evolution. Extremely simple life forms developed over time into more complex life forms that eventually inhabited the planet we call home.

But remember, we started with a vacuum. Nothing. Nada, zip, zero. Where did the "something" that eventually became "something else" come from?

I don't really care which side you decide to begin from, the "rabbit from a hat" magical phenomena has to occur somewhere within the theory.

Pardon My Appearance

Via e-mail I've been informed that this page does not appear as it should in Internet Explorer. I'm told that on occasion the entire left sidebar is gone in IE. I have been aware of some appearance issues with IE for some time now, and that has been one of my many reasons for investigating Wordpress and commercial hosting. That development is coming at some point in the new year.

CR UVa Joins Alliance

Welcome to The ODBA, CR UVa. Your blog "The Red Stater" has been on my blogroll for some time. I'm pleased to move that link up in the list.

The Old Dominion Blog Alliance continues to grow with this quality addition.

Christmas...Personified

The Red Queen Affair: Jesus Has Arrived

Waldo Jaquith Shows In This Post...

the class that merits being included in my daily reads.

No Comment Needed, Just A Link (Or Two)

Just go and read and cry...
SW Virginia law blog
And
this.

I'm Sorry, Ms. Elenaeous

Somewhere in Roanoke County Ms. Elenaeous is grieving the current situation with the NYTWU.

In a perfect world, the union workers who are conducting this illegal strike would be given a reminder of the Reagan Presidency. Unfortunately, this ain't no perfect world, and Michael Bloomberg certainly ain't no Ronald W. Reagan.

Once Upon A Life In Business Class

Jerry reminds me of life on the road. Fortunately, the type of travel I incurred did not require me sleeping on someone else's sheets for more than 1 or 2 nights. The rest of the time I was there, I knew what went on in that bed the night before. (Don't ask.)

Once upon a time I traveled much as he does now. I worked as a field engineer for a robotics company based in Salt Lake City. I lived here, but I drove to work on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning, (depending upon where the current project was), to Piedmont Triad International Airport between Oak Ridge and Greensboro, North Carolina. Typically I would spend almost two weeks on site and fly back to Greensboro on the following Thursday for a long weekend before doing another turn-around. I would keep the room paid for during that long weekend, thus, no heavy packing for the return trip. (And no unknown shenanigans in what had by then become "my bed".) Carry-ons often consisted of just a briefcase.

There were certain advantages to that schedule. The greatest being that I would get to actually spend time in places like Chicago, Toronto, Augusta, or Huntsville (Alabama), as a typical project may take as long as 18 months. The downside would be that I had to actually spend time in places like Los Angeles, Montreal, or Paris (France, not Georgia). My final project for this company was in Taipei, Taiwan. (It beats Montreal hands down.)

While I cannot lay claim to the feat Jerry proudly describes in an archived post, I must admit to once urinating on a CRJ200, which is nearly identical, just smaller.

Recount Recap

Lighthorse Harry at Sic Semper Tyrannis has a couple of updates on the current status of the AG recount

Chad has more at Commonwealth Conservative

Tommy Denton And The Holiday Tree Kerfuffle

I have stayed away from the current kerfuffle over the latest politically correct offense. I, as a Christian, do not take offense when greeted with "Happy Holiday" or "Season's Greetings". The greeting "Happy Holiday" does, in fact, truly represent a sentiment. One that could be considered appropriate for Christian and Jew alike. "Season's Greetings", on the other hand, is simply insipid. It means nothing and as such could never offend me.

I understand that if the gesture is coming from a salesperson, it is probably merely a rote statement. Roughly on par with "Thank you for shopping our K Mart". No offense meant and none taken. (Never mind that almost certainly no true sentiment was meant as well.) On the occasion that I am offered such wishes by a stranger, or someone whose closest connection with me is the mall bench we happen to be sharing, I also attribute it to simple politeness. Merely a December version of "Have a nice day".

Today, Tommy Denton, in his weekly Sunday column brings up the subject.

As Dec. 25 nears, tensions seem to run a bit higher this year among the season's celebrants.

Emotions ranging from angst to full-blown righteous indignation to eye-watering redemptive passion to save imperiled souls have accompanied a stirring debate over how to designate certain seasonable decorations, specifically, evergreen trees adorned with assorted lights, baubles, stars and other glittering items appealing to the eye.

Earliest memories from my own family's celebrations called it the Christmas tree. Most everyone we knew called it the same thing, most likely because we didn't know anyone who wasn't Christian.

I'm sorry Tommy, I don't know of any other way to refer to an evergreen tree adorned with assorted lights, baubles, stars and other glittering items appealing to the eye. It's a Christmas tree. A tree decorated by Christians in a traditional celebration of a day known to them (and even you) as "Christmas". Thus, it is as an accurate, descriptive noun by which non political persons refer to such a tree.

A device that holds seven candles in a planar row is a Menorah. Be honest now Tommy, would you really write such a column defending the phrase "Holiday candlestick"?

You wonder why people would be offended at such referrals. I can't speak for all Christian conservatives, but my best guess is that most feel similar to me. I am offended by idiocy. And this current act by certain local officials (mostly, although I have seen "Holiday trees" advertised at Lowe's) in an absurd effort to not offend other religions, itself bends reality to an extreme.

From the viewpoint of a liberal, Tommy, perhaps you can explain to me how pretending that Christmas does not exist, or pretending that a Christmas tree is not a Christmas tree, or maybe pretending we are not really celebrating Christmas but instead some Winter "Holiday", assuages the feelings of those who adhere to the beliefs of other religions? I'm pretty sure that my Jewish friends know what I'm celebrating. I would bet that Nani, the Lebanese gentleman who owns the convenience store at the intersection of Daniel's Creek Road and King's Mountain Road here in Collinsville knows that his Christian customers are celebrating Christmas. Would you prefer that we do this celebrating in secret?

Idiocy knows no bounds on Campbell Avenue.

PS.
Only Tommy could work outrage for a Federal tax cut into a column about "Holiday trees". You gotta admit, the man is a talented writer.