Cuz We Said So

The Word "Unfortunate" is Unnecessary Here

Via Digg: Man in Unfortunate Penis Accident  Asked one commenter, “I wonder what would be considered a fortunate penis accident?”

Seattle to London

Check out these directions between Seattle, Washington and London, England on Google Maps.  Look at step 18 in particular.  This is great!  (Hat tip: Gadling via Download Squad)

Odd, That

Drudge: LETTER FROM CAPTIVE BRITISH SAILOR CALLS FOR IRAQ WITHDRAWAL

Curious how, yet again, the sworn enemies of the United States—meaning this sailor’s captors, who are clearly responsible for this letter, irrespective of this sailor’s personal views on the war—and the Democrats in Congress want the exact same thing.

"This blatant attempt to use Leading Seaman Turney for propaganda purposes is outrageous and cruel."  Clearly they should be using Teddy Kennedy and John Murtha instead.

Far Cry From An Accurate First Impression

Did I really say I was ambivalent at first about Far Cry?  That's just crazy.  This is a great song, and I've since been listening to it repeatedly for the last 24 hours.

Rush always hits me funny like that, though.  I remember being similarly unmoved the first heard Show Don't Tell the first time on the radio, way back when, and it ultimately became one of my favorite Rush tracks.

No Hot Air from Michael Chricton

The Daily Ablution asks State of Fear author Michael Crichton to what extent he thinks climate change is happening, to what extent we’re causing it, and what he thinks should be done.  Crichton’s answer is, I think, a lot more sensible than much of what you hear on the subject:

Hugo Who?

Nominees for this years Hugo award have been announced.  I guess it’s an indication of how far I’ve gotten from my childhood, when I read science fiction voraciously, that I recognize so few names on the list.  I’m familiar with only four:  Vernor Vinge, Mike Resnick, Neil Gaiman, and Samuel R. Delany.  On the upside, I guess it means I have many good writers to choose from if and when I get back into reading this stuff.

“As journalistic windfalls go this is about as good as it gets.”

Microsoft's PR firm sends a reporter their dossier on that reporter.  Oops!  This is hardly nefarious, but ouch, it has to be sooo embarassing.  The excerpts are pretty funny.  Meanwhile, it's a good reminder never to put in writing--or say where you might be overheard or recorded, for that matter--anything you aren't prepared to stand by in public later--because you just may have to.

Bourne To Be Wild

AICN points to the trailer for The Bourne Ultimatum at Yahoo UK.  Who would have though watching Good Will Hunting that Matt Damon would get to play one of the best movie bad-asses around?  Don’t tell me that isn’t just about the most fun ever.

David's Springfield XD9

I finally decided that my interest in recreational shooting is more than a passing fad, and bought myself a pistol.  After doing some research on my options, and having fired a few of them, I picked up the Springfield Armory XD 9mm Tactical Service you see to the right.

The XD shares many features with the Glock 19 I rented.  Both are polymer-framed, striker-fired compact 9mm pistols with roughly 4” barrels.  Both hail from Europe—the Glock from Austria, the XD from Croatia.  Like the Glock, the XD has a trigger safety and an internal safety to prevent accidental discharge if the gun is dropped, but no conventional manual safety.  Unlike the Glock, however—and this is part of what attracted me to the XD—the latter has an additional safety feature, a grip safety similar to that on the Colt 1911, which you can see in the picture at the top rear of the grip.  Unless this is depressed, both the trigger and the slide are locked.  Unlike a manual safety, which requires that you consciously think to release it, the grip safety disengages effortlessly when you hold the gun in a normal shooting grip.

I find the XD’s three dot sights ever so slightly less visible than the bright white dovetail sights on the Glock, but they are still very clear.  Like the Glock, this is a gun I find engenders confidence.  I took my folks out to the range to try it a couple of weeks ago (Mom’s first time shooting) and they like it too.  Between us, we’ve put about 800 rounds through it at this point, and it has performed flawlessly.  I am well pleased.

Oh, and despite being quite a bit less expensive than the Glock, the XD came with a nice accessory package, including a two magazines, a holster, a mag carrier, a cleaning brush, a lock, and a magazine loader.  The last item was particularly welcome, as several weekends of loading semi-autos at the range had left my fingers very sore.

Kaus on the Isakson Immigration Plan

Mickey Kaus: “National Review calls [the Isakson immigration plan]  ‘a welcome compromise between the border-security and amnesty camps.' Not really."  I like his idea better.  Immigration is, like many policy issues, all about incentives.