For more football type stuff.

Somebody asked me yesterday in the college thing I think if I'd drop some fake Benjamins on the Cowboys and Eagles today. Sure, what the hell, they both suck and it's fake $20s.

You're on. Whoever you are. Only you know who is you.

Open political/whatever you want post here.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:58 AM | Comments (344)
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Here.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:56 AM | Comments (23)
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We Politely Request That All Off-Topic or Political Comments Be Directed to the Thread Directly Below This One, Which Will Serve Officially as the Current "Active Conversation" Thread for All Discussions Not Related To This Topic.

-- Sincerely, the Fascist MGMT

It is a measure of the seriousness with which we consider booze that there are carefully written legal definitions of literally everything we drink (If you click on that link, you may discover a typical case of government overreach -- the US government, in its infinite wisdom, has defined Irish Whiskey).

Of course the only important definitions are for those quintessentially American spirits: Bourbon, Rye, Corn and Straight Whisky.

more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:31 AM | Comments (179)
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Ewok mandated. Ewok approved.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:17 AM | Comments (49)
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Why Carry A Gun?

From Massad Ayoob at the DC

Kathy Jackson said it best on her website (www.corneredcat.com): “I carry a gun because I can’t carry a policeman.”

Great Moments In Equal Protection

Read this great piece by Emily Miller on the Washington, D.C. police department's lax enforcement of the district's gun laws as long as the guns in question are being used to protest the second amendment. Call it the David Gregory Rule.

The Children's Defense Fund, which is cosponsoring the event, said in a press release that blacksmiths will be using “illegal guns confiscated by the police.”

...

It is illegal in the District to possess a firearm that is not registered. When asked about the event, Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s spokesman said that, “These are not firearms. They are scrap parts only, and they are inoperable.”

ThatÂ’s actually legally irrelevant. According to the District firearms laws written after the Supreme CourtÂ’s Heller decision in 2008, even a non-functioning firearm must be registered and can result in criminal liability.

Gun Of The Week

(answer below)
more...

Posted by: andy at 05:50 AM | Comments (184)
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How many shopping days 'til a new president?

Too many. Way, way too many.

Posted by: andy at 03:30 AM | Comments (199)
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Well, here is the screen on the 2DS

more stuff below more...

Posted by: Gang of Gaming Morons! at 11:41 AM | Comments (115)
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There are indeed Two Americas.

Thanks to Monty.

Posted by: Ace at 05:07 PM | Comments (220)
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I have a bunch of these, many of which are sadly documented on the blog. Such as my great delight in discovering that C.S. Lewis first wrote "When I became a man, I put away childish things," but then being informed that his origination of this statement was slightly disputed (by, like, the Bible).

One that I've never actually gotten straight is "East/West." To me, East means "near the Atlantic," so if you say "East Africa," my eyes go right to the West coast of Africa. Every time.

What about you?

Posted by: Ace at 04:05 PM | Comments (419)
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The Auxiliary Library At Casa de Muse*

*no, not really. This is actually the library on the 3rd floor of Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. It contains over 4,000 books.

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's prestigious Sunday Morning Book Thread.

OK, so before I get into the primary topic today, I have a question: what do you think the average person should read in order to be able to participate in a democratic, constitutional Republic? This question came up in e-mail a few days ago and I'd be interested in acquiring the collective wisdom of the Moron Horde. Thank you all in advance.

It Is Pitch Black. You Are Likely To Be Eaten By A NaNoWriMo

What in the world is a NaNoWriMo, you ask? 'November' is the short answer. The long answer is that November has been designated as as National Novel Writing Month, hence the polysyllabic acronym. The idea is that they want to get writers off their duffs and get that first draft completed at long last and on its way to eventual publication. They've got a website and everything:

At NaNoWriMo, we provide the support, encouragement, and good old-fashioned kick in the pants you need to write the rough draft of your novel in November.

You can use the resources available on the website to track your progress, get pep talks and support, and meet fellow writers online and in person.

Now What?

OK, you've completed your kick-ass, take-no-prisoners, great American novel, so now how do you get it published? Getting past the gatekeepers of the traditional publishing houses has always been difficult and problematic for new writers. For example, Theodor Geisel ("Dr. Suess") was turned down by 27 publishers before his first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, was accepted for publication. You could always go the self-publishing route, but that was always very expensive and chancey. The difficulty of finding adequate distribution was always a major roadblock to this option. But then the internet came along, along with the world-wide web. Then came the Kindle and other e-Reading technology, and the result has been a veritable explosion of self-published books.

And also with it, an explosion of shady publishers, con men, and scammers.

Of course, even in the early days of the internet, there were unscrupulous publishers waiting to pounce on the unwary. Here is a creepy and disturbing story, from when Usenet ruled the earth, of a scam operation that turned into cyberstalking. Fortunately, for the cause of Right and Truth, the scammers picked the wrong woman to harass.

I've wanted to post some sort of guide for beginning writers on how to avoid some of the pitfalls they might encounter in their quest to get published. The problem is, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Fortunately, the lovely and gracious Sabrina Chase, an actual writer and author with actual experience of these sorts of things, as well as a moronette in good standing, e-mailed me this week and provided exactly what I required. And I didn't even have to ask for it. Sensing my plight, she just whipped up a new writer's guide and sent it to me. It'a so good that I'm just going to copy-and-paste the whole thing below the fold: more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:20 AM | Comments (177)
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