Pukin' Katz is a blog my wife has started about our feline friends. This is your chance to get the life stories of our boys, plus many more action and napping shots.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: cats, blogs
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Honda Civic, RIP
I've got a quick moment this morning to explain why there's been a dearth of posting on my part this week. My 1990 Honda Civic died on Christmas night. Something locked up in the steering mechanism as my lovely wife Rowan and I were leaving my parents' house. The next morning, I removed the ignition assembly and determined that that wasn't to blame. I put the car up on ramps and looked at the steering components underneath while my dad wiggled the steering wheel, yet I couldn't see anything obvious. Whatever it was would have required a trained mechanic to fix, and doubtless the bill for the labor would have been more than the car's value.
So now my parents have graciously lent us the car my mom usually uses to get to work. My wife's Volvo sprang an oil leak at the camshaft bearing a couple weeks ago, and our Range Rover has needed brake work for a while. My brother helped me replace the parking brake cable last week, and now I am in the midst of replacing the rear rotors and pads. I got the right side done Thursday night, and of course there were complications to the complications. I ended up rebuilding the caliper, and replacing the brake line. I'm soon out the door to work on the other side, which stymied me because I couldn't get the tire off. My lug wrench actually got bent in trying to remove some of the lug nuts. Fortunately, my dad had one of my grandfather's old breaker bars with the right size socket to use, so things should go better today.
Peace,
Tor
So now my parents have graciously lent us the car my mom usually uses to get to work. My wife's Volvo sprang an oil leak at the camshaft bearing a couple weeks ago, and our Range Rover has needed brake work for a while. My brother helped me replace the parking brake cable last week, and now I am in the midst of replacing the rear rotors and pads. I got the right side done Thursday night, and of course there were complications to the complications. I ended up rebuilding the caliper, and replacing the brake line. I'm soon out the door to work on the other side, which stymied me because I couldn't get the tire off. My lug wrench actually got bent in trying to remove some of the lug nuts. Fortunately, my dad had one of my grandfather's old breaker bars with the right size socket to use, so things should go better today.
Peace,
Tor
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
This Week's Tenant
This week, I had two strong applicants for renting the space in the left column. They both deserve your visit, so I hope you'll click on over to their blogs and say hi. I'm also adding both of them to my blogroll! (Which, as you may have noticed, has had a few sites removed lately and as such is a more exclusive neighborhood -- I'm about halfway down the list, and will be reevaluating the rest of the blogs in a methodical {i.e. slow} manner.)
The lucky tenant is Mystickal Incense & More. Despite the fact that I'm anti-incense, I allowed myself to ignore my prejudice and enjoy Stephanie's blog. She's a pagan entrepreneur who makes all of the products she sells by hand. The blog not only promotes her business, but also contains a lot of personal ruminations. Recently, she's had a lot of anti-bible-thumping rants. I'd hate to get on her bad side.
The other applicant was Reflections in the Mirror. Dawn has recently taken in a foster kitty, and otherwise advocates for cats with feline leukemia or immunodeficiency virus. She even operates a webring to that end.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs, cats
The lucky tenant is Mystickal Incense & More. Despite the fact that I'm anti-incense, I allowed myself to ignore my prejudice and enjoy Stephanie's blog. She's a pagan entrepreneur who makes all of the products she sells by hand. The blog not only promotes her business, but also contains a lot of personal ruminations. Recently, she's had a lot of anti-bible-thumping rants. I'd hate to get on her bad side.
The other applicant was Reflections in the Mirror. Dawn has recently taken in a foster kitty, and otherwise advocates for cats with feline leukemia or immunodeficiency virus. She even operates a webring to that end.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs, cats
Peter Porcupine
A shout out of gratitude to Peter Porcupine for renting me a spot on his blog. It's on the Cape, which isn't too crowded this time of year. Good spot for getting away from the holiday bustle. And a good spot for reading about injecting rationality into environmental policy.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs, environment
Technorati tags: Cape Cod
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs, environment
Technorati tags: Cape Cod
Monday, December 26, 2005
New York Times: Spellbound
As far as I can tell, someone from the New York Times was visiting family or friends in Maine, and needed to put the travel expenses down as business-related. That's the only reason that folks from Gotham would bat an eye at a window display with young women wearing lingerie. This issue is such a yawner, except for two or three people in the Maine Christian Civic League, that when the Maine newspapers reported on it weeks ago, I couldn't really work up enough gumption to blog about it. Oh, and a few folks on the WLOB discussion boards seem to be in a snit, as well. Here we've got a state with serious problems, and some folks seem to think a bunch of Madonna-wannabes are priority one. Go figger.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: Maine
Technorati tags: Augusta Maine, lingerie, lingerie models
Peace,
Tor
Categories: Maine
Technorati tags: Augusta Maine, lingerie, lingerie models
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Idiot on Ice
So you're a burglar who's gotten the car you've stolen from a dealership stuck in the icy driveway of a home from which you've just burgled a laptop computer. What to do? Ask the homeowners for help, of course! You should have been able to guess that the local constabulary would eventually be involved.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: idiots, crime, Maine
Peace,
Tor
Categories: idiots, crime, Maine
Free Speech in Augusta, Maine
Free speech will remain free in Augusta, at least for now. It's possible again to stage a political protest or march in the state's capital without obtaining insurance and paying the police department exorbitant fees.
Seems to me that pretty much sums it up.
One aspect of the case that was particularly troubling was that the city seemingly excluded certain groups from jumping through the hoops. That's political favoritism, even if the groups are the "Board of Education, Little League or other organizations." When you allow government or quasi-government bodies to have their marches for free, but charge significant amounts of money to dissenters, that's bald-faced tyranny.
This ruling is a great Christmas present for libertarians of all political persuasions in Maine. Even for folks who didn't know they were libertarians, but are, even if it's just concerning this one topic.
Peace,
Tor
Technorati Tags: Augusta Maine, MCLU
“To march is to speak,” said Judge John Woodcock in a 51-page opinion. He went on to say, “A march can be a powerful and effective community expression of ethos: to celebrate our heroes—as on Veteran’s Day; to applaud our commonly-held values—as on July 4th; or, consistent wit this Country’s longest-held traditions, to protest our policies and attempt to effect change—as in Selma or Washington, D.C.”
Seems to me that pretty much sums it up.
One aspect of the case that was particularly troubling was that the city seemingly excluded certain groups from jumping through the hoops. That's political favoritism, even if the groups are the "Board of Education, Little League or other organizations." When you allow government or quasi-government bodies to have their marches for free, but charge significant amounts of money to dissenters, that's bald-faced tyranny.
This ruling is a great Christmas present for libertarians of all political persuasions in Maine. Even for folks who didn't know they were libertarians, but are, even if it's just concerning this one topic.
Peace,
Tor
Technorati Tags: Augusta Maine, MCLU
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Howl @ The Moon
Howl @ The Moon is renting a space to Tor's Rants, starting today. Please stop by and say hi to Coyote! I am particularly intrigued by his concept of the Reality Exchange, tho I doubt I'd participate. I like to mull things over before I write (or speak) a response, so I tend to shy away from real-time interaction. Anyway, thanks for the parking spot, Coyote!
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs
Buddhists for Christmas
You simply must read this essay on Christmas greetings, if only to find out what Jackie Mason did to let the world know how he feels about it.
The thing about Christmas that any sane person must admit is that it is only the current name of a long-observed holiday. And the folks in Sri Lanka, who are predominately Buddhist, adore Christmas. I think most Americans would have a hard time explaining all this "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" nonsense to Lankans.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: Buddhism, religion, holidays
Technorati Tags: Christmas, Merry Christmas, Sri Lanka, Happy Holidays
The thing about Christmas that any sane person must admit is that it is only the current name of a long-observed holiday. And the folks in Sri Lanka, who are predominately Buddhist, adore Christmas. I think most Americans would have a hard time explaining all this "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas" nonsense to Lankans.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: Buddhism, religion, holidays
Technorati Tags: Christmas, Merry Christmas, Sri Lanka, Happy Holidays
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
ID got ID'd
When a conservative, Republican, church-going, Bush-appointed judge sees through the sham of Intelligent Design, you know the creationist movement will have tough sledding ahead.
I still think that the ultimate solution will be to set up a constitutional wall between school and state, just as there is now a wall between church and state. School (as does education in general) should deal intimately with questions of moral and perhaps religious or theological Weltanschauung. In a government-run school system, it is impossible to deal with such subjects without trampling on someone's First Amendment rights.
Peace,
Tor
Technorati Tags: Intelligent Design
I still think that the ultimate solution will be to set up a constitutional wall between school and state, just as there is now a wall between church and state. School (as does education in general) should deal intimately with questions of moral and perhaps religious or theological Weltanschauung. In a government-run school system, it is impossible to deal with such subjects without trampling on someone's First Amendment rights.
Peace,
Tor
Technorati Tags: Intelligent Design
Friday, December 16, 2005
Cancergiggles Gets Published
Cancergiggles (aka Cass Brown) has his book (based on the blog) coming out today. Here's a warm wish for continued health and successful sales. Do go and at least check out his blog. He's got a hilarious story about a Range Rover.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs, books
Peace,
Tor
Categories: blogs, books
Save Wampi: The Loan is Paid Off!
Wampi's medical bills have been paid off. I'll retire the link from the blogroll today. I'll also be checking out other links over the next few weeks to make sure they're still as special as they were when I blogrolled them. I expect that will make room for others. If anyone has any suggestions for good regular blog reads, especially if a) they are not already overexposed; b) they deal with libertarianism, Buddhism or kitty-kats; or c) they deal with Maine or have a Maine connection.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: animals, blogs, cats, Maine
Peace,
Tor
Categories: animals, blogs, cats, Maine
Thursday, December 15, 2005
David McCullough
My lovely wife, Rowan, gave me an early Christmas present this past Sunday: attendance at a lecture by historian David McCullough. It was a lecture to raise funds for the Camden Public Library, and was sold out. In person, McCullough is as unpretentiously thought-provoking as I imagined he might be from having read a few of his books. There was supposed to be a Q&A at the end of the talk, but the old chap used up all the time in his lecture.
There is one question I would have liked to ask him. Early on in his talk, he spoke of the fact that historic persons didn't live in some historic costume pageant. They lived in their present, with uncertain outcomes from their actions. He disparaged the way history is taught these days, with the seeming notion that A necessarily begat B, which evolved inevitably into C. As he was speaking these words, I noticed shadows of Hegelian, specifically Marxist, notions of the unavoidable progression of history. Since the American educational system is one of the few almost totally socialist sectors of our society, I can't help but wonder if that has something to do with it.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: education, history
Technorati tags: David McCullough, Karl Marx, Marxism, Hegel
There is one question I would have liked to ask him. Early on in his talk, he spoke of the fact that historic persons didn't live in some historic costume pageant. They lived in their present, with uncertain outcomes from their actions. He disparaged the way history is taught these days, with the seeming notion that A necessarily begat B, which evolved inevitably into C. As he was speaking these words, I noticed shadows of Hegelian, specifically Marxist, notions of the unavoidable progression of history. Since the American educational system is one of the few almost totally socialist sectors of our society, I can't help but wonder if that has something to do with it.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: education, history
Technorati tags: David McCullough, Karl Marx, Marxism, Hegel
Monday, December 12, 2005
Federal Marijuana Monopoly Challenged
Even Grover Norquist of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform is in favor of ending the current governmental monopoly on growing marijuana. It just goes to show that rationality can obtain in any member of any political movement at any time. It's not really surprizing that Norquist is taking this stance, because he is fundamentally a bean-counter. Anyone who understands basic economics and the sorry track record of government monopolies would have to come to the same conclusion, unless they let their cultural prejudices overrule their rational faculties.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: drugs, government, economics, libertarianism, science
Technorati tags: Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform, marijuana research
Peace,
Tor
Categories: drugs, government, economics, libertarianism, science
Technorati tags: Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform, marijuana research
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Rental Situations
This post will be a lot shorter than I'd like it to be, mostly due to extra hours spent lately at the theatre and getting eBay listings up.
Welcome to my current blog renter (in the left-hand column), Fragile Musings. The only reason I chose this blog is a cat called Pilot, who could be a long-lost cousin of Oliver.
I'd also like to thank Philip at Dark Glass for his kind words in revealing his choice for renting out his space (not to me). I've been linking to the folks who rent to me and to the folks to whom I rent, but now I'm of a notion to emulate his practice of reviewing the blogs who bid on his space. I think that's a wonderful idea, and I hope that I'll have enough time and discipline to follow through.
Peace,
Tor
Category: blogs
Welcome to my current blog renter (in the left-hand column), Fragile Musings. The only reason I chose this blog is a cat called Pilot, who could be a long-lost cousin of Oliver.
I'd also like to thank Philip at Dark Glass for his kind words in revealing his choice for renting out his space (not to me). I've been linking to the folks who rent to me and to the folks to whom I rent, but now I'm of a notion to emulate his practice of reviewing the blogs who bid on his space. I think that's a wonderful idea, and I hope that I'll have enough time and discipline to follow through.
Peace,
Tor
Category: blogs
Thursday, December 8, 2005
What the Heck Did Santa Do?
A fellow in Miami Beach has set out a striking Christmas display. For me, the interesting and scary thing about this story isn't that this fellow put up a blindfolded and bound Santa hanging from a noose in a tree (tho it certainly is a clear signal that he has some issues he's working through), but that his neighbors actually complained to the police, thinking that the police would be able to do something about it. It's scary that so few people have any notion of First Amendment rights. I mean, the FIRST AMENDMENT is not written in some esoteric codicile that only 128th degree Masons are allowed to consult. Anyone who has made it through sixth grade should have a basic understanding of it.
Peace,
Tor
Peace,
Tor
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Ford, Land Rovers and Advertising in the Gay Press
Ford has decided to stop placing ads for Jaguar and Land Rover products in some gay publications. Some gay rights advocacy groups are suspicious that this comes so soon on the heels of Ford execs' meeting with the American Family Association to avoid a boycott.
It is interesting to note that Ford is still going to place ads for its Volvo products in those publications, which lends some credence to their statement that the ad placement decisions are purely business decisions. As someone who briefly worked for a small publisher in Maine, and who placed ads in a smorgasbord of periodicals, I can attest to the fact that ad placement is as much guesswork and dart-throwing as it is a rational discipline. Anyone who advertizes knows that most of their ads are for nought.
As an owner of an '87 Range Rover, may I say it doesn't matter to me one whit where Ford advertizes. It probably will have little or no effect on me. I'm one of those people advertizers hate, because I remember the ad (if it's good), but rarely the product name.
Peace,
Tor
Tagged as:
Land Rover Range Rover Ford American Family Association
It is interesting to note that Ford is still going to place ads for its Volvo products in those publications, which lends some credence to their statement that the ad placement decisions are purely business decisions. As someone who briefly worked for a small publisher in Maine, and who placed ads in a smorgasbord of periodicals, I can attest to the fact that ad placement is as much guesswork and dart-throwing as it is a rational discipline. Anyone who advertizes knows that most of their ads are for nought.
As an owner of an '87 Range Rover, may I say it doesn't matter to me one whit where Ford advertizes. It probably will have little or no effect on me. I'm one of those people advertizers hate, because I remember the ad (if it's good), but rarely the product name.
Peace,
Tor
Tagged as:
Land Rover Range Rover Ford American Family Association
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Thursday, December 1, 2005
South African Gay Weddings
Another important step forward for gay marriage internationally. The article is vague about how the new RSA constitution bans discrimination against gays, so I'm unclear whether it means the government is banned from discriminating (which is as it should be), or if people in their private lives are also banned from discriminating (which would be interesting at the cotillion ball).
UPDATE: Washington Post reports:
Here are two things that couldn't have less to do with the concept of gay marriage. Before gay marriage was legal, was violence against gays any more permissable under law than it is now? Does legalizing gay marriage suddenly also make rape illegal? Didn't think so. I'm obviously no student of law in the RSA, but I suspect rape was already illegal, regardless of the sexual orientation of the victim (or the rapist, for that matter). A note to my fellow proponents of legalizing gay marriage in the U.S.: Stay on message. Just talk about gay marriage and why it should be legal. Don't talk about issues that are not even tangentially related. We will eventually win based on the strength of the appropriate argument alone.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: gay, government, marriage
Technorati tag: gay marriage
UPDATE: Washington Post reports:
Gay activists expressed hope that the ruling would lessen the violence and ridicule they say are common in South Africa despite a clause in the nation's constitution prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Rape of lesbians by men claiming they can "cure" their attraction to women are also common, gay and lesbian leaders said.
Here are two things that couldn't have less to do with the concept of gay marriage. Before gay marriage was legal, was violence against gays any more permissable under law than it is now? Does legalizing gay marriage suddenly also make rape illegal? Didn't think so. I'm obviously no student of law in the RSA, but I suspect rape was already illegal, regardless of the sexual orientation of the victim (or the rapist, for that matter). A note to my fellow proponents of legalizing gay marriage in the U.S.: Stay on message. Just talk about gay marriage and why it should be legal. Don't talk about issues that are not even tangentially related. We will eventually win based on the strength of the appropriate argument alone.
Peace,
Tor
Categories: gay, government, marriage
Technorati tag: gay marriage
Jason Buckley
Just a shout out of appreciation to Jason Buckley, who is renting Tor's Rants a prominent spot through the BlogExplosion program. If you've got a good broadband connection, check out his videos.
Peace,
Tor
Category: blogs
Peace,
Tor
Category: blogs
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