From the strange annals of military history comes this little scooter that could . A Vespa scooter armed with a 75mm recoilless rifle! (The obligatory "crotch rocket" joke is made in the comments). Actually, a more serious commenter wonders if the "main battery" is intended to be fired from the scooter, or whether it would be removed for operation. He notes that there is no provision for changing elevation. The pictures in the post are unclear, but I can think of a coup...

It is important to be aware of history, not only in the sense of "those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it", but also in the 1984 sense of "Those who control the past control the present". The meaning of the present is shaped by what happened in the past. World War II has a huge effect on the present, and perceptions of the present. People tell us that we should heed the lessons of Munich, 1938 and be wary of negotiating with megalomaniacs. People tell us how...

Today is the 65th anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor. And as the first-hand survivors fade away , it becomes incumbent on the inheritors to keep them alive in our hearts and memories.

Has anyone else been mildly disturbed by the name of the NPC Rogue in NWN2? (This is directed at the browncoat/NWN2 players, obviously)

The election night is come and gone, and while we don't (yet) know which party has control of the Senate, the Democrats, lead by Nancy Pelosi, have control of the House of Representatives. (A quick note to foreign readers who might not be up on the finer points of our government - the Bush Administration has not fallen as a result - just the Republican control of the legislature). I'm not holding out all that much hope for the Senate either, all things considered. Historically, this is par fo...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio. The Northeast The Inland North P...

What type of Fae are you?

The first rule of Anime Club...Never talk about Bish

Which File Extension are You? Which is highly appropriate for someone in tech support, I think. (More appropriate would be .hlp or .chm, but I don't know if those are options).

Your Pirate Name Is... Evil Dagger Dan What's Your Pirate Name?

Your Pirate Name Is... Evil Dagger Dan What's Your Pirate Name?

I went into the kitchen just a short time ago and saw that the clock on the stove was flashing 2:58... a sure indication that we had lost power about 3 hrs ago. Now I have been awake for almost an hour and a half; and this was the first time I realized it... There's damn few things in this house that either don't have onboard power, or aren't UPS'd. (One of these, admittedly, is the cable modem and one of the network switches - so if I had had a big download going I would have realized this. ...

A guide to Christianity - via Jane Galt Money Quote: "Catholics are the New York Yankees of Christianity. They are the biggest and wealthiest team, and their owner is intensely controversial (this makes St. Francis of Assisi the Derek Jeter of Catholicism: discuss)." Hilarious.

With the recent spike in gas prices, we see the acephalous poultry have come out to squawk about subsidizing Archer Daniels Midland by touting ethanol as the solution to our energy woes. It isn't. This article in Business Week lays out the sordid history and real numbers behind ethanol. If you go over to the USS Clueless archives and run this search or this one you'll see another engineering view of "alternative fuels". The sad fact is, ethanol isn't all that. My predictio...

So I'm reading Instapundit and I come across this article quoting from an inteview Senator John McCain did. Go read the article and decide whether it's too harsh to say that the man has lost it... He's a potential presidential candidate. And I already had issues about his "campaign reform". But a man who thinks "I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean go...