Policy Z - Latest Comments

Re: Not Every Shooting is a Bad Shooting

lily — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:06:21 -0000

The car clutch is inside the flywheel housing between engine and transmission and you must be pay attention to it. The clutch cover gasket, clutch plate and clutch release bearing are important factor of safe driving. The high quality tire valve on your auto tyre can improve the performance of your vehicle!

Re: Death Takes a Great Critic

lily — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:05:39 -0000

The fasteners of universal parts are hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together. The major component of fasteners including machine screw, car nut, hose clamp and auto clip. It can be used in auto industry and other industries and indispensable for any vehicle!

Re: Beautiful Music

zombyboy — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:42:46 -0000

I'm listening to that right now. Beautiful-- she has an gorgeous, rich voice. Thanks for pointing it out.

Re: Copyright

zombyboy — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:39:59 -0000

I actually agree with pretty much everything you've written. I've liked the idea of replacing current copyright law with something closer to our patent laws (although I think that needs an overhaul, too).

Hadn't, however, really thought about the felony angle. We've expanded what counts as felonies to such an extent, though, that I'm amazed that any of us manage to get through life without committing one (or at least without getting caught).

BTW- Great to see you writing and interacting with us again. I had been wondering how you were doing.

Also, I have what feels like a really nifty idea in my head that I want to talk to fellow gun bloggers about. I'm hoping we can find a time to get together sometime soon.

Re: Beautiful Music

jed — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:29:10 -0000

I wouldn't have guessed that to be Lanegan, but then I don't have your breadth of exposure either. Certainly the mood and styling fit with other stuff I've listened to.

Going off on something of a tangent, I just heard a track by Cesária Évora, 'Sodade'. Oh, so nice.

Re: Copyright

Publicola — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 06:02:44 -0000

Copywrite law is seriously messy, and I think counter-productive to the desirable end. In essence it's inconsistent with Property Rights, and thus harmful to the property interests of the creators and the consumers. Trying to maintain some consistency with the new fangled digital mediums used to transfer completed works is equally messy and harmful. If it were up to me I'd scrap the whole system and replace it with someone much more akin to the patent system - exclusive Rights for a limited period, say 20-30 years then after that it's public domain. Transfer of a file would be like any other transfer of property - if there's no monetary transaction then it's hunky dory. Not that the record companies and movie studios would think that's a cool & groovy plan - I'm just sayin'.

Back before certain states outlawed smoking in buildings they didn't own (not that I'm still bitter, cause I'm not. I'm not...), you could find flagrant violations of copywrite law every night from 10-2. I don't know of ANY cover band that sent a list of the tunes they played along with the requisite royalties to ASCAP or BMI. While unenforceable that is a trespass on current copywrite law, and has been for decades.

In any event, I can't see replacing the "life + 50 years" with anything less, or making any more meaningful reforms to the copywrite laws. Too many big companies would spend everything they had to stop it. Sans some major reform, the arguing of what constitutes "fair use" is largely academic. Points could be made on either side, but no argument will arrive at a solution that respects property Rights of all concerned or even advances the premise that copywrite laws hinge on.

Btw, since we were talking about guns ya know, a side effect of this copywrite mess is that a lot of violations of the law are felonies. That would land someone in the "prohibited person" camp, & thus deny them - for life - the ability to legally possess firearms or ammunition. So miscounting the number of angels on the proverbial pinhead whenst you d/l that file of the song from the album that hasn't been marketed in 15+ years could render you defenseless for life if you're caught & the record company wants to make a fuss. Cheery situation, isn't it?

Re: Apologies

zombyboy — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:09:43 -0000

You know I love it when we talk about the Broncos...

Re: Apologies

Scribe of Slog (McGehee) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:26:31 -0000

What could possibly be going on to generate serious commentary about?

With the possible exception, I suppose, of the Broncos beating the eyepatches off the Raiders at Mile High...

Re: It Isn’t Just the Economy

Jerry D'Antonio — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:00:53 -0000

On northbound lane of I-77, just before the downtown exits, is a billboard. This is a favorite billboard of radicals and idiots because it is probably the most-viewed billboard in the north half of the state. Today it says "Obama supports gay marriage and abortion. Do you? Vote Republican." (http://www.ontopmag.com/articl...

Billboards like this make it very difficult to listen to and fully process your very rational and reasonable position.

And this is part of the larger problem. At the risk of over-generalizing, rational and reasonable opinions are becoming increasingly rare. They are the edge case. Offensive billboards like the one above are the norm.

Thankfully I'm not driving to Cleveland that often anymore so I don't have to see that sign. Maybe I'll be able to retain my rationality by election day.

Re: It Isn’t Just the Economy

zombyboy — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 02:37:22 -0000

You have to do what your conscience dictates. You don't owe your vote to anyone or anything except for your own sense of what is right or wrong.

For me, this election is about two things: slowing spending and stabilizing the economy in such a way that the private sector starts creating jobs again. After that, it's a big question of who gets to nominate the next Supreme Court justices. Next on the list are various entitlement reforms. After that you get into a mash of things where I agree and disagree with Romney.

Same sex marriage, immigration, death penalty-- all places where I disagree, but they aren't going to sway me into giving my vote to someone who I fully believe is actively hurting our country and our economy.

And I don't care whether Planned Parenthood gets tax dollars or not. I don't think presidents do much to change the abortion debate, either, so that doesn't much enter into the equation. To be honest, I don't much care about abortion one way or the other, so I can't really see an instance where that would be a deciding factor for me.

I guess it really comes down to this: I'll start caring a little more about what a presidential candidate thinks of gay marriage (for instance) once I believe our economy and our place in the world is more secure. When it comes to priorities, some of those social issues just don't manage to get onto my radar right now. Not on a big, national level, anyway.

On a local level, I will continue to support those things where I can. I tend to believe that most of those things will be bottom-up changes, anyway. Drug legalization and same sex marriage in particular.

And I don't know that I agree with this part: "If I vote for him I tacitly endorse those positions which I find abhorrent." Not entirely agree, anyway. Unless I run for office, I don't think I'll ever find a candidate who believes everything that I believe. I don't think of it so much as endorsing their positions as I think of it as doing my best to find a candidate who reasonably fits my biggest priorities and who has a reasonable chance of winning. No matter who I vote for, there are going to be some compromises and, generally speaking, those compromises will often be big.

If I wait for perfection, I'll end up camping with the libertarians. They run hilarious candidates with no chance of victory and complain loudly, bitterly, and angrily from the sidelines when they don't get their way.

I'm an incrementalist and I fully believe that "politics is the art of the possible." Folks like the libertarians (and certain strains of Tea Party activists, Ron Paul fanatics, and the progressive left) seem to think that politics should be a pathway to utopia and they very rarely have the effect on the national conversation that they hope they will have.

You and I have a lot of the same thoughts on politics at all levels-- some of the same values and beliefs, although certainly not all. I'm going to vote Romney with no hesitation and I'm going to keep working to make sure that the GOP ends up, over time, looking more and more like you and me.

I think I've wandered pretty far afield here, but you touched on something that has come up in conversations lately and I've been wanting to talk to you about it. So there it all is...

Re: It Isn’t Just the Economy

Jerry D'Antonio — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 10:18:23 -0000

I'm so torn. When it comes to the economy and national defense, I can't bring myself to vote for Obama. When it comes to social issues, I can't bring myself to vote for Romney. The standard refrain is "I disagree with Romney on X but the job of the President is Y..." which is true, but where do we draw the line? I find some of Romney's positions on social issues to be truly reprehensible. If I vote for him I tacitly endorse those positions which I find abhorrent. At some point I won't be able to do that any more. Maybe this is the year. I don't know...

Re: Reminder: Government Successes Tend to Look a Lot Like Failures, Pt 2

zombyboy — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 14:31:25 -0000

What bugs me most about this situation in particular is that there were other, better options at hand that would have been better than the solution they chose. Not only do they not have a clue, they actively make things worse when they try to "help"--and then want us to thank them for their bungled heroics.

Re: Reminder: Government Successes Tend to Look a Lot Like Failures, Pt 2

bllew — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 11:24:55 -0000

Government programs are created to solve some problem, real or imagined. If they succeed, then all those government drones in the program are out of work. If it fails, it's always because not enough effort and money was applied, so the program in question will need more money, more people, and promotions for everyone.

Failure is the best fertilizer for government.

The creation of a government agency to address a problem is a public admission that the leadership is completely clueless on the topic.

Re: Reminder: Government Successes Tend to Look a Lot Like Failures

zombyboy — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:35:20 -0000

Smart. The honest truth is that Social Security is really just an old folks' welfare scheme that nearly everyone in the US will qualify for but an ever smaller chunk of us actually fund directly. Woo.

Re: Reminder: Government Successes Tend to Look a Lot Like Failures

Jerry D'Antonio — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:00:44 -0000

Sadly, this is precisely why my wife and I do not include Social Security in our retirement planning. If we get any money from Social Security it will be a nice, unplanned bonus. We sure as hell aren't counting on that.

Re: Rental Review: The Grey

zombyboy — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 23:34:26 -0000

One of the things that I enjoyed was that a movie that I expected to be mindless actually ended up being thought-provoking and beautiful.

Thanks for the comment.

Re: Rental Review: The Grey

Gridlock Manifesto — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 20:31:33 -0000

In my opinion the answer from “God” is that He leads John to
come to the conclusion that despite the difficulties of recent, life is worth
fighting for, and that he does. It took
the contemplation of each of those 8 men’s lives to bring him to his knees and
accept that life must be fought for, each and every day. I’m also glad I ordered the movie for my DVR
by going onto Dish Online because it is so much easier to see the selections
for rental, and I can even sort by genre, title or rating. That comes in handy when I’m looking for a
“kid friendly” movie without weeding through so many other inappropriate movies.

Re: I Do Not Think That Means What You Think it Means, The Presidential Edition

zombyboy — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:25:30 -0000

And, God, I hope that's not what he meant.

Missed you at the party. Hope you're feeling a bit better.

Re: I Do Not Think That Means What You Think it Means, The Presidential Edition

Steve Wheeler — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:53:28 -0000

As I saw elsewhere, the only way the plan could be considered to have worked is if it were a plan to destroy the economy.

Re: Adrift

zombyboy — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 03:26:03 -0000

Umbrellas make drinks happy. Didn't you know that?

Re: Adrift

Robin Roberts — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 17:30:01 -0000

Tiki brings umbrella drinks.

Re: Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash: The World Revenge Tour (Updated)

jed — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:23:19 -0000

Toga! Toga!

s/folks/womens/

Re: Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash: The World Revenge Tour (Updated)

zombyboy — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:08:03 -0000

I applaud your good decision-making while simultaneously weeping at your absence.

Re: Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash: The World Revenge Tour (Updated)

Robert Hayes — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:44:17 -0000

No can do - parenting time with daughter, and I'm not taking her out to the bars until she's at least 10.

Re: Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash: The World Revenge Tour (Updated)

zombyboy — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:23:36 -0000

I have 12 w/ 4 maybes, but I'm hoping to get a few more folks coming, too. We'll see.