This caused me to login and post for the first time in a long while.

Just spoke to one of Senator Snowe's assistants in the DC office. The assistant was not familiar with HR 2471. I asked that the Senator oppose such legislation. Senator Collins' office in DC only gave me a voicemail...

Called Senator Sanders' office in DC, since Sanders seems to actually understand little things like the Constitution. Sanders' assistant seemed to think that warrantless access was already the norm.

Apparently I woke up in Russia this morning...

Will contact Leahy's office soon. A little less time with Batman movies, Senator Leahy, a little more time guarding the rights of the citizenry.

No. Sorry. I can't let this one go.

"Dear Leader" is currently gambling on losing his kidnapped Japanese girls, Playstation and VSOP. Starving, murdering, subjugating and indoctrinating millions to satisfy his own bizarre megalomaniac urges.

On one hand, the President of the United States allowed (...and was limited to allowing...) the qualified private sector engineers and managers to fix the problem that they created.

On the other hand, the President coddles the fascist rightists by keeping Guantanamo open, allowing an idiotic "no-fly" list to continue, and continues to delude himself into thinking that Karzai is the partner for conquering Afghanistan. Teabagger corporatists (do you fall into this group...hmm?) blame the President for inaction on the spill, then scream at the idea of increased regulation and oversight.

The President is flawed. BP, TransOcean, and oh...oh yes...Halliburton are at minimum not properly regulated and most likely corrupt. Kim is an insane tyrant.

You, on the gripping hand, are the beacon of logic and liberty.

I believe you meant to say "d'oh!".

Worst. Nitpicking. Ever.

Not for long.

Worst call since Leonidas pre-paid his tee-time at Thermopylae Meadows.

Uuuraaah.

USMC. '93-'97.

"...to the shores of Tripoli".

One Brigand...One Bullet.

You jerk.

Another book I have to go read now...

Said the Prophet Heinlein:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Dammit...what is the conversion formula for Volkswagens to Library Of Congresses?

Or am I confusing dry weight with volumetric measurement?

Oh...drat...maybe Library Of Congresses only convert into teraGutenbergs?

"Holds it...holds it....HOLDS IT!"

EPIC FAIL.

"The Nazi's built the best, but fewer..."

In this corner:
V2.
Me-262.
Sturmgewehr-44.

And in this corner:
Soviet T-34.
Supermarine Spitfire.
P-51 Mustang D.
The B motherfucking -17.
Pervasive use of submachineguns by Soviet infantry.
Ubiquity of the semiautomatic rifle for American troops: M-1 Garand.
The B "Smilin' Joe Fission" -29.
The American escort aircraft carrier.

I'm just saying...

I'm not trying to rain (ash) on your apocalypse debunking parade, but I seem to recall that there are soil layers throughout the midwest that are meters thick.

Meters thick of ash.

From volcanoes.

In North America.

So...it might do more than make your shoes dirty.

You know...that is a funny post.

But I am curious. Has anyone uncovered evidence of more examples of these devices? Is there any clue as to who designed it?

Is it possible that this machine was a breakthrough, one-off prototype, and that its genius inventor went down with the ship? Was the loss of the device a significant blow to the progress of technology?

Or was this an interesting side road that just sort of petered out? I'd be interested to know. Was this a huge loss...or the classical equivalent of the eight-track tape of maritime navigational technology?

"strong police: that's the path to low crime"

Wait...wait a moment...I am channeling a response from the Founding Fathers....

"BWAHAHAHHAHHHAHHHAHAHAHAHA!"

Individual liberty and social prosperity are the ONLY solutions to crime.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled delusions.