June 24, 2004
FOR THE CHILDREN
Reader Sean Starke is quoted in this USA Today piece on computer wargamers:
"It's like playing a pickup game of basketball," says Sean Starke, 40, of Middletown, N.J., a member of the 60 or so members of Dads Playing SOCOM, a group of adults who play Sony's SOCOM II: Navy Seals games online.
He often allows his 10-year-old daughter to play the game on PlayStation 2 with him. "It's obvious that it's a game. I don't really have fears of her Columbining."
Sean means that his daughter is unlikely to go on a killing spree, not that she’ll direct a crap documentary. He writes: "I think it's important that my daughter know the difference between an M14 and an M16."
Speaking of Columbine ...
The company distributing filmmaker Michael Moore's Bush-bashing movie "Fahrenheit 9/11" says it won't reject an offer of help from Middle East terrorist organization Hezbollah.
UPDATE. Through the magic of modern comments box technology, fellow proscribed-behaviour fan Iowahawk has been in contact with speeding hall-of-famer Daemond Rogan:
When Chicago police officer Maurice Burks' radar gun registered 160 mph on Wednesday, his first reaction was disbelief, but a check of his gun revealed it was working. Burks gave chase to a speeding motorcyclist along Chicago's Lake Shore Drive, but was unable to keep up. Police then contacted a Honda motorcycle dealership to find out if the bike could actually be going that fast, and were told its top speed was 165. The rider, Daemond Rogan, 32, was finally stopped when he doubled back on a street. He was ticketed for speeding in a 40 mph zone, which carries a $300 to $500 fine.
That was three years ago. This week Daemond received a letter informing him that he’s again eligible for a driver’s licence. Go, man!
Posted by Tim Blair at June 24, 2004 12:18 AMI take it Michael Moore’s over come his Columbine induced aversion to guns then (to say nothing of suicide bomb belts).
Posted by: Noddy at June 24, 2004 at 12:43 AMken, i refuse to answer for 2 reasons:
1) she actually is my sister, so that's just ick
2) her husband is a major in the usmc who could wipe the floor with me with but a flick of his little finger.
come to think of it, she could wipe the floor with me as well, as she used to be a staff sgt in the usmc, so yes, she is indeed a babe!
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 24, 2004 at 12:56 AMIn the UK there was a recently a case where the only child to get all the questions about WWII right in a secondary school class was an avid player of WWII-era war games. The teacher was astonished.
Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge at June 24, 2004 at 12:57 AMWell, I know one thing for certain: she doesn't truly understand the concept of shameless sellf promotion. This is shameless self promotion:
Remember, you heard it here first.
And here second.
Now that is shameless self promotion
Posted by: Ken Summers at June 24, 2004 at 01:05 AMAnd if you hadn't noticed before, Mr. B, I like bellicose babes.
Posted by: Ken Summers at June 24, 2004 at 01:06 AMken, i refuse to answer for 2 reasons:
1) she actually is my sister, so that's just ick
2) her husband is a major in the usmc who could wipe the floor with me with but a flick of his little finger.
come to think of it, she could wipe the floor with me as well, as she used to be a staff sgt in the usmc, so yes, she is indeed a babe!
Ugh, still the diplomat stooge. Yes, she's our sister, and yes , she's a babe. Stop trying to suck up to Major Dad, sheesh......
Posted by: Crusader at June 24, 2004 at 01:23 AMDo you think AndreaTimCharles minds that we use up valuable bandwidth in silly private conversations and shameless self promotion, not to mention talk of Playgirl and babes?
Posted by: Ken Summers at June 24, 2004 at 01:25 AM"I think it's important that my daughter know the difference between an M14 and an M16."
And if you've raised her properly, she prefers the extra hitting power afforded by the M-14. When does the AWB die in Congress, finally?
Posted by: Crusader at June 24, 2004 at 01:27 AMHey Crusader, sometime we gotta get together with THS. I'll supply the beer, you supply the Mr. Blingblingly stories.
I suspect it will provide blogfodder for weeks.
Heh.
Posted by: Ken Summers at June 24, 2004 at 01:29 AMI was going to link to the latest Mike Peters cartoon in today's Dayton Daily News, but interestingly, he is no longer available on their website. He's virulently anti-Bush, and most of his cartoons are rubbish, but today he put up one of Dick Cheney holding up pictures of Saddam Hussein and Michael Moore, saying: "We now believe al-Qaida has had long established ties to Michael Moore." I thought it was particularly ironic in light of the latest news that Hezbollah is offering funding for his movie.
Ah, the left. They just can't help shooting themselves in the foot. Repeatedly.
Posted by: Rebecca at June 24, 2004 at 01:32 AMHey Crusader, sometime we gotta get together with THS. I'll supply the beer, you supply the Mr. Blingblingly stories.
I suspect it will provide blogfodder for weeks.
Heh.
You shoulda been with us at Va Beach a few(!) years ago when we got together. The spousal units had no idea what they had gotten themselves into...
Major Dad missed it, but then he already knew what he had married into.....
Rebecca, I wonder if there is a connection between the news and the cartoon's disappearance. Heh.
Posted by: Ken Summers at June 24, 2004 at 01:36 AMHey Crusader, sometime we gotta get together with THS. I'll supply the beer, you supply the Mr. Blingblingly stories.
i just think that's a bad idea.
{checks appropriate RICO statutes...}
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 24, 2004 at 01:38 AMKen, one can only hope.
MMs crack legal team at work already, perhaps? hehe
Crusader –– I remember the -14 fondly, but if I was going to go 7.62, I'd go with the H&K G3. Accurate, and you can drive a truck over the damn thing.
Posted by: richard mcenroe at June 24, 2004 at 02:00 AMI feel compelled to enter this unseemly discussion, although am at a loss which traumatic event in my childhood explains these unholy urges.
Mr. Summers ~ bellicose indeed, sniff. I'm a ray of freakin' sunshine, and everyone knows it. However, the beery bleary blogging with Blingley (Oh God, how I LOVE alliteration!) and Crusader...hmmm.
Nope, nope. Too horrible to contemplate. You seem like a sensitive 90's type, who'd never survive the reality that is 'us'.
Now, I have to go abuse the &*%$er who mentioned my mustache. Totally un-babe-like, so avert your eyes.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at June 24, 2004 at 02:04 AM"Sensitive 90s type"?
I take umbrage. I come from a long line of hard-working, hard-drinking country people. My family scares all city folk and many country folk. Hell, they even scare me and I own guns.
I have many, many frightening stories, most involving liquor. More frighteningly, some don't.
"Sensitive 90s type", indeed. It is to laugh.
Side note to Rebecca: Go here.
Posted by: Ken Summers at June 24, 2004 at 02:20 AMCrusader –– I remember the -14 fondly, but if I was going to go 7.62, I'd go with the H&K G3. Accurate, and you can drive a truck over the damn thing.
richard- Very true, but I have more firing line time with the M-14 and the FN-FAL, so they tend to be what I prefer in 7.62, but the H&K is a fine battle rifle. I just have a soft spot for the M-14/M-1A. I need to pick one up, but I have sooo much fun with my 45-70, and what with the Grinch dropping off a few toys for the firing range, I have a hard time setting aside the funds to get an M-1A.
Posted by: Crusader at June 24, 2004 at 02:30 AMI have many, many frightening stories, most involving liquor. More frighteningly, some don't.
"Sensitive 90s type", indeed. It is to laugh.
Ken, sad part is, none of our stories involve stimulants of any type, so we may have you a bit, and we haven't even started in about JC, the older (younger, for THS) brother of the clan. Things get real ugly from there........
Posted by: Crusader at June 24, 2004 at 02:41 AMAm I sensing a challenge? A freak-off, perhaps?
Well, why not. The one was a lot of fun, and gathered 135 comments.
Posted by: Ken Summers at June 24, 2004 at 04:12 AMCrusader, if you mean "Automatic Weapons Ban", go to The Smallest Minority; the site includes a countdown to the end of the AWB.
Posted by: The Real JeffS at June 24, 2004 at 08:19 AMAnd if you've raised her properly, she prefers the extra hitting power afforded by the M-14.
she does, but she blows through those darn 20 round magazines way too quickly.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 24, 2004 at 08:56 AMCrusader, if you mean "Automatic Weapons Ban", go to The Smallest Minority; the site includes a countdown to the end of the AWB.
That's the one. Can't wait until it is gone.
she does, but she blows through those darn 20 round magazines way too quickly.
Short burts, grasshopper, short bursts....or just fire semi-auto, even better. I thought the Grinch taught you better.....
Posted by: Crusader at June 24, 2004 at 09:04 AMactually, she figured out on her own to pulse the trigger, and she's damned accurate that way
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 24, 2004 at 09:20 AMactually, she figured out on her own to pulse the trigger, and she's damned accurate that way
I'm sure she taught you a few things after she figured that out.....
Posted by: Crusader at June 24, 2004 at 09:40 AMif by that you mean "cleaned my clock", then you would indeed be correct, sir.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 24, 2004 at 10:09 AMDo you think AndreaTimCharles minds that we use up valuable bandwidth in silly private conversations and shameless self promotion, not to mention talk of Playgirl and babes?Hah. I am just letting you all natter on -- you will be unaware that my Evil Trap has closed about you until it is too late. Bwahahahahahahaha!
Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 24, 2004 at 12:19 PM
It's not that I mind the trap so much. It's the fact that it was baited with Playgirl that's embarrassing.
Posted by: Ken Summers, Perversion Catalyst at June 24, 2004 at 01:09 PMhey, you're the one who put in the link to Playgirl; she just gave you the html for you to hang yourself with.
you had such promise until you picked that ill-fated contest with emily...pity, really.
I purchased Full Spectrum Warrior yesterday, and damn thats a good game. It's a commercial version of a training simulator used my the US military.
Better than TV at the moment :S
Posted by: TJW at June 26, 2004 at 09:27 PM