Sunday - August 27, 2006

Sunday Funnies

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/27/2006 at 12:19 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Saturday - August 26, 2006

Weekend YouTube Silliness

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/26/2006 at 03:09 PM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(1)  Permalink •  

Yo-Ho-Ho And A Bottle Of Rum

I’m glad they caught this guy and stopped his operation ... and not because of what you might think. I’m against software piracy but I’m even more against spam and this cat and others of his ilk have been spamming me for years to buy their cheap ripoffs. Personally, I also think it’s a crime for Microsoft and others to sell their buggy software at the high prices they charge also.

This guy doesn’t sound like a very smart pirate mainly because he chose to operate inside the US. The FBI was bound to nab him sooner or later. Most software pirating is done in China, Singapore and the Far East. Russia is fast becoming the leader in software pirating though. All of these pirates are safely out of reach of the FBI so they continue to operate.

My feeling is that if Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, etc. would just do more thorough testing on their software and ship it to stores with fewer bugs and security holes - at a reasonable price, there would be no market for pirates. As it is, consumers are forced to pay outrageous prices for software that must be continuously patched and upgraded (sometimes for an extra fee - but that’s another story for another post) to keep it functioning. That is a crime.

Software piracy is illegal and rightly so. Bad business practices on the part of software manufacturers should also be a crime. Bill Gates became a gazillionaire selling the shoddiest merchandise ever invented and continues to do so. There are others in the computer software industry just as guilty. Perhaps a little jail time for them might encourage them to mend their ways ... and eliminate piracy at the source.

Florida Man Gets Six Years in Prison For Software Piracy
_{(WASHINGTON POST) - Saturday, August 26, 2006}

The owner of a major software piracy Web site was sentenced to six years in prison yesterday, one of the longest jail terms ever imposed for the growing crime of stealing copyrighted computer products, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in Alexandria also ordered Danny Ferrer, 37, to pay restitution of more than $4.1 million and to forfeit a wide variety of luxury goods he bought with millions of dollars in proceeds. They included three airplanes; a helicopter; and numerous cars, including a 1992 Lamborghini, a 2005 Hummer and two 2005 Chevrolet Corvettes.

Starting in 2002, Ferrer and a number of co-conspirators operated http://www.buysusa.com/ , which sold at huge discounts copies of software products copyrighted by such companies as Adobe Systems Inc., Autodesk Inc. and Macromedia Inc. The total loss to owners of the computer products was nearly $20 million, prosecutors said.

The sentencing in U.S. District Court was the latest step in a Justice Department crackdown against Internet pirates who distribute copyrighted software, movies, games and other products. “Modern-day pirates ought to expect modern-day penalties,” said U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg, who added that the sentence “sends a strong message to those who pilfer the intellectual property of others.”

Nina Ginsburg, a lawyer for Ferrer, said the scheme started because he couldn’t pay the medical bills from his wife’s long-term illness. “That’s not an excuse,” said Ginsburg, who said Ferrer has a “huge amount of remorse” and has agreed to appear in business-group-sponsored public service announcements condemning software piracy.

One such group, the Business Software Alliance, brought the case to the FBI’s attention. An undercover agent then purchased software from Ferrer’s Web site. Ferrer lives in Lakeland, Fla., but the software was mailed to Northern Virginia, which is why the case was prosecuted there. Ferrer pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement.

- More on the story at WAPO ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/26/2006 at 08:56 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Katrina Anniversary Party

August 31, 2005: Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Louisiana/Mississippi coast. Now, one year later, Ernesto is coming to town and the idjits in charge of New Orleans and Louisiana will probably screw the pooch again. Why don’t they just go ahead and cut to the chase ... start blaming FEMA and Bush now and get ahead of the crowd. I predict Mayor Nagin will start whining and complaining in 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .....

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTH COAST OF HISPANIOLA FROM THE HAITI-DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BORDER WESTWARD TO THE SOUTHWESTERN TIP OF HAITI.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA.  WARNINGS WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED FOR JAMAICA LATER TODAY.

A HURRICANE WATCH WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED FOR THE CAYMAN ISLANDS LATER THIS MORNING.  INTERESTS IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS AND WESTERN CUBA SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF ERNESTO.

AT 800 AM AST...1200Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 15.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE 70.6 WEST OR ABOUT 245 MILES...395 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF SANTO DOMINGO IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND ABOUT 455 MILES...730 KM...EAST-SOUTHEAST OF KINGSTON JAMAICA.

ERNESTO IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 15 MPH...24 KM/HR ...AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THIS TRACK...THE CORE OF ERNESTO WILL BE PASSING SOUTH OF THE SOUTHERN COAST OF HISPANIOLA TODAY.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCREASED TO NEAR 50 MPH...80 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS.  ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115 MILES...185 KM FROM THE CENTER. THE LATEST MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT IS 997 MB...29.50 INCHES.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/26/2006 at 08:12 AM   
Filed Under: • Climate-Weather •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Sign Of The Times?

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/26/2006 at 01:32 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

How Things Work

Did you ever wonder how this internet crap works? Well, Professor Skipper is here to help. You see, everything is sent and received from your computer to and from the World Wide Web (WWW) in packets of information. Every packet contains a header which helps it get to where it’s going and a data block which contains the nonsense you typed in your e-mail or browser. Pictured below is the header section and a brief explanation.

Now when you’re at a party you can wow all the girls with your geek knowledge and if Al Gore (inventor of the internet) is there, you can perhaps engage him in a discussion of the relevant pros and cons of the CSMA/CD ptotocols like Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) versus deterministic transmission protocols like Token Ring (IEEE 802.5).

The Internet protocols are the world’s most popular open-system (nonproprietary) protocol suite because they can be used to communicate across any set of interconnected networks and are equally well suited for LAN and WAN communications. The Internet protocols consist of a suite of communication protocols, of which the two best known are the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP). The Internet protocol suite not only includes lower-layer protocols (such as TCP and IP), but it also specifies common applications such as electronic mail, terminal emulation, and file transfer.

Internet protocols were first developed in the mid-1970s, when the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) became interested in establishing a packet-switched network that would facilitate communication between dissimilar computer systems at research institutions. With the goal of heterogeneous connectivity in mind, DARPA funded research by Stanford University and Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (BBN). The result of this development effort was the Internet protocol suite, completed in the late 1970s. TCP/IP later was included with Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) UNIX and has since become the foundation on which the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) are based.

• Source Port and Destination Port—Identifies points at which upper-layer source and destination processes receive TCP services.

• Sequence Number—Usually specifies the number assigned to the first byte of data in the current message. In the connection-establishment phase, this field also can be used to identify an initial sequence number to be used in an upcoming transmission.

• Acknowledgment Number—Contains the sequence number of the next byte of data the sender of the packet expects to receive.

• Data Offset—Indicates the number of 32-bit words in the TCP header.

• Reserved—Remains reserved for future use.

• Flags—Carries a variety of control information, including the SYN and ACK bits used for connection establishment, and the FIN bit used for connection termination.

• Window—Specifies the size of the sender’s receive window (that is, the buffer space available for incoming data).

• Checksum—Indicates whether the header was damaged in transit.

• Urgent Pointer—Points to the first urgent data byte in the packet.

• Options—Specifies various TCP options.

• Data—Contains upper-layer information.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/26/2006 at 12:55 AM   
Filed Under: •   
• Comments (14) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Friday - August 25, 2006

Barking Moonbat Of The Week

This was a tough choice this week. It was either Chirac for waffling back and forth or the Washington Post for calling 2,000 men a “Big Force”, especially when you consider the fact that those 2,000 troops are Fwench. To be precise, 2,000 Fwench troops is roughly the fighting equivalent of an American squad (10 real warrriors).

Chirac and the Fwench pressured Israel to accept this crummy cease-fire deal and promised troops to enforce it. Then Chirac decided Fwance would only send a few engineers to “asssist”. Then Chirac said he would not send troops unless the Fwench were placed in charge and clear rules of engagement were defined by the UN. This is probably because the Fwench have never really engaged in any real fighting and needed a tutorial ... sort of a “Warfare For Fwench Dummies” book was called for.

Now finally Fwance and Chirac have decided to send 2,000 of Fwance’s finest, under Fwench control, to manage the situation. Of course, Chirac also pleaded with the US and Britain to cover their back with more of our troops - possibly to lay down suppressing fire while the Fwench retreat? Fortunately, Tony Blair and George Bush decided to take a pass on this one so it is now up to the mighty Fwench forces to maintain peace between two opposing forces. I’m sure a substantial supply of white flags have already been ordered ...

France Sets Big Force for Lebanon
2,000 to Serve As Peacekeepers; ‘Clarifications’ Set
_{PARIS (WASHINGTON POST)
Friday, August 25, 2006}

French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France would commit 2,000 troops to a new international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. The decision breaks a stalemate that has held up the dispatch of soldiers seen by diplomats as crucial to maintaining the 11-day-old cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Chirac’s announcement in a nationally televised address followed days of intense negotiations with the United Nations, Lebanon and Israel over European concerns that the force would have no clear mandate and inadequate rights to open fire in defense of itself or civilians.

“We obtained the necessary clarifications from the U.N. on the chain of command, which needs to be simple, coherent and reactive,” he said, “and the rules of engagement, which must guarantee the freedom of movement of the force and its ability to operate when confronted with hostile conditions.”

France helped broker the U.N. cease-fire and initially indicated it would commit 2,000 troops to help maintain the truce. But Chirac was chastised at home and abroad when he later said he would dispatch only 200 engineers to augment the 200 French troops serving in an existing U.N. monitoring force on the Lebanon-Israel border.

Chirac said he hoped France’s decision Thursday would spur other countries to join the force, including the United States and Britain. Both have said they are too taxed in Iraq and Afghanistan to take part. In a statement issued in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he is vacationing, President Bush gave no sign of reversing that decision. But he called Chirac’s move “an important step towards finalizing preparations to deploy the United Nations Interim Force of Lebanon” and called on other countries to join in.

So far, Italy is the only other European country to make a major commitment, offering to send as many as 3,000 troops and to command the force. But the direction of the expanded force appears to be in French hands. French and U.N. officials said French Maj. Gen. Alain Pelligrini will retain command of the U.N. mission until his term ends next February. U.N. officials said an Italian general will head a new military command center at U.N. headquarters to map out strategy for the operation.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/25/2006 at 11:50 AM   
Filed Under: • Awards • EUro-peons • Middle-East •  
• Comments (10) • Trackbacks(1)  Permalink •  

The Crazy-Ass Backward Plan

I read Scott Adam’s Blog (The Dilbert Guy) and he is one crazy dude.  I guess cartoonists have to be.  But he is very thought-provoking in his approach to ideas.  Today, he posts his plan for peace in the Middle East.  Read it and think.  I’m not sure I agree with it, but on the other hand, we have been solid allies with Iran in the past.  Here’s a snippet:

When I’m not drawing comics, I spend a lot of time figuring out how to bring peace to the Middle East and end terrorism. Today I’ll describe my best (craziest) idea so far.

Treat this as a thought experiment, in the sense that trying to figure out why it won’t work might change the way you look at the problem, and sometimes that’s a step in the right direction.

If pride is really the underlying emotional barrier to peace in the Middle East, we’ll probably need a solution like the card game from the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There’s a scene where the Sundance Kid is accused of cheating and it looks as if shooting might start because his honor has been offended. When the accuser discovers he’s dealing with the legendary quick-draw Sundance Kid, he starts looking for a way out. Sundance explains that the only way he can leave the table without gunfire, (and his pride intact, we gather from the context), is if the accuser asks him to stay. Eventually the accuser realizes that doing so is the smartest move and he invites Sundance to stay. Sundance then politely excuses himself, honor intact, and no one gets killed.

What say you?

Posted by Drew458     on 08/25/2006 at 11:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Middle-East •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Weekly Moron Award

If you happen to be a young man of Middle Eastern descent and you’re travelling to Turkey from America and you’re stupid enough to bring along your ... ahem ... “pump”, what are you going to tell security personnel when they ask you what that object is in your baggage?

Oh, did I forget to mention that you’re at the world’s busiest airport with thousands of people watching and your mother is standing right beside you?

Of course the really smart thing to do is tell the nice security folks that it’s a bomb ... because having people think you’re a terrorist is less painful than having your mom and half of Chicago know you have a tiny you-know-what ...

Authorities: ‘Bomb’ Was Sex Gadget
_{CHICAGO (AP) - August 24, 2006, 5:14 PM EDT}

Cook County prosecutors say a 29-year-old man traveling with his mother desperately didn’t want her to know he’d packed a sexual aid for their trip to Turkey. So he told security it was a bomb, officials said.

Madin Azad Amin, 29, of Skokie, was stopped Aug. 16 at O’Hare International Airport after guards found an object in his baggage that resembled a grenade, prosecutors said. When officers asked him to identify it, Amin said it was a bomb, said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Lorraine Scaduto.

He later told officials he’d lied about the item because his mother was nearby and he didn’t want her to hear that it was part of a penis pump, Scaduto said. He’s been charged with felony disorderly conduct, said Andrew Conklin, a spokesman with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Amin’s attorney told a Cook County judge Wednesday that Amin whispered that the component was a “pump.” The guard misunderstood, and thought he said “bomb,” according to defense attorney Eileen O’Neill-Burke.

“He told her it’s a pump,” O’Neill-Burke said. “He’s standing with his mother. Of course he’s not going to shout this out.”

However, Judge Gerald Winiecki decided there was sufficient evidence for the case to move forward after the female security guard testified that she heard Amin “clearly” say the word bomb.

Amin is charged with felony disorderly conduct, which could bring a three-year prison sentence if he’s convicted. Amin is due back in court Sept. 13

He told the Chicago Sun-Times after the hearing that security officials did not give him a chance to explain the misunderstanding, that he would never use the word “bomb” while going through a security checkpoint, and does not consider a penis pump an unusual object to own.

“It’s normal,” he said. “Half of America they use it.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/25/2006 at 12:17 AM   
Filed Under: • Stoopid-People •  
• Comments (20) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Thursday - August 24, 2006

Barking Mad Kiwis

In the interests of fairness, we present the following story to illustrate the fact that not every barking mad nutcase lives in San Francisco. Other countries have them too. Down under in New Zealand, they can get especially weird, as evidenced below. You know, maybe if we had more of this kind of silliness going on in the West, all those anal-retentive, deeply religious, easily offended Muslims might decide to leave and go back where they came from. Now there’s a thought to ponder ...

Watch The ‘Boobs On Bikes’ Parade
WELLINGTON, N.Z. (Reuters)
-- 2006-08-23 13:45

Thousands of people—almost all of them men—lined the main street of New Zealand’s biggest city on Wednesday as 25 topless porn stars paraded on motor bikes and two old army tanks.

Businessmen, schoolboys and Japanese tourists lined Auckland’s Queen St to watch the “Boobs on Bikes” parade, which went ahead despite the winter chill, a nippy wind and objections by some city officials.

“It does nothing for our image, it does nothing for our city and I just think it gives us indecent exposure around the country and around the world,” Auckland city councillor Scott Milne told TV New Zealand. “It’s shabby and it’s sleazy and we just don’t need it.” The parade of leather-clad porn stars is part of an “Erotica Expo” organised by self-styled “porn king” Steve Crow.

“You’ll always have a vocal minority, you’re always going to have people who object to everything, be it religion or be it adult entertainment,” Crow said. “If you don’t like it don’t come,” he said. Many of the curious onlookers came with cameras and mobile telephones to take pictures of the parade. Others held aloft banners which read “Sleaze Brings Disease in Body & Mind”.

Most of the local and international porn stars rode pillion on motor bikes during the 30-minute parade. One man clad only in leather pants rode astride a decommissioned army tank. “I don’t know what all the fuss was about, to be honest,” an unidentified male onlooker said. Others debated whether the centrepieces of the parade were real or surgically enhanced.

Police allowed the parade to go ahead because New Zealand law does not regard the public baring of breasts as indecent. There were no reports of arrests during the parade, which briefly distracted about 4,000 local workers at a nearby trade union protest.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/24/2006 at 11:33 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff • Stoopid-People •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Shot Of The Day

A pigeon seeks relief from soaring temperatures in a fountain in Catena Square in Riva Del Garda, northern Italy, August 23, 2006.[Reuters]

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/24/2006 at 11:20 AM   
Filed Under: • Art-Photography • Fun-Stuff •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

You’ve Got … WOOF!

This has to be Sign Of The End Times #4,967. Freaking “Teddy Dawgs” that hook up to your computer through a USB port and read your e-mail or even web sites to you. Gaaaaaaah! I’m going back to bed, pull the covers over my head and pray no one buys me one of these critters. I couldn’t bear to have some cute, cuddly little dawg reading the comments from Bulldog or Rudebadger here to me out loud. If I had a mind, I’d probably lose it ....

The e-Puppy (from AXT Unlimited) will read you your email and word documents! It also allows you to hear internet radio and music!

The built in microphone allows you to record messages and notes. The e-Puppy also has a LED on its stomach for E-Mail notification.

The e-Puppy is easy to operate, with its simple buttons and user interface.

Price: $9.97 ea.

- Easy installation and easy to use
- Converts text from E-mail/Word file/Web Site to voice
- Clear and realistic voice
- No need to use Mouse
- Reads your e-mail or Web Site text
- Supports word (*.doc) files
- Provides sound recording and playing email
- Play music or sound-stories CD-ROM drive
- Listen to internet-radio
- Compatible with Outlook or Outlook Express
- LED for new e-mail notification

- Every body part controls a function

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/24/2006 at 10:50 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-Stuff •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Downsized

“How stupid can scientists be? I mean, we already knew Pluto wasn’t a planet. Are these scientists completely blind or just plain stupid. Pluto is not a planet and never has been. As everyone knows, Pluto is a big, playful, lovable brown dog owned by Mickey Mouse. Now how can anyone confuse that cute little dog with some huge ugly planet? I never ... huh? ... really? Never mind.”—Emily Litella

Astronomers Say Pluto Is Not a Planet
_{PRAGUE, Czech Republic (WASHINGTON POST)}

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930.

The new definition of what is and isn’t a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.

Although astronomers applauded after the vote, Jocelyn Bell Burnell a specialist in neutron stars from Northern Ireland who oversaw the proceedings urged those who might be “quite disappointed” to look on the bright side.

“It could be argued that we are creating an umbrella called ‘planet’ under which the dwarf planets exist,” she said, drawing laughter by waving a stuffed Pluto of Walt Disney fame beneath a real umbrella.

The decision by the prestigious international group spells out the basic tests that celestial objects will have to meet before they can be considered for admission to the elite cosmic club. For now, membership will be restricted to the eight “classical” planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Much-maligned Pluto doesn’t make the grade under the new rules for a planet: “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.” Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune’s.

Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of “dwarf planets,” similar to what long have been termed “minor planets.” The definition also lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun “small solar system bodies,” a term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other natural satellites.

- More on Pluto’s demise at WAPO ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/24/2006 at 09:55 AM   
Filed Under: • Humor • Science-Technology •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Evil Designs

The dance continues. The UN fiddles while Iran burns - with desire for a nuclear bomb. These talks/negotiations/resolutions/threats are going absolutely nowhere and yet the US, the UN, EU and everyone continues to let Iran play for time while feverishly working on a nuclear program. Has everyone lost their freakin’ mind? The Mullahs and the President of Iran are slightly mentally unstable. They are living in the 7th century and if they obtain nuclear weapons they will use them ... if for no other reason than to prove they are a “world power”. So why does everyone let this continue? Riddle me that ...

Iran Nuclear Issue May Head Next to U.N.
_{(FORBES) - 08.24.2006, 08:28 AM}

The United States is working with European allies and other governments over a possible U.N. response to what the Bush administration characterizes as Iran’s inadequate answer to demands that it cease uranium enrichment. Iran maintains it has offered “positive and clear signals” to resolve the dispute over its nuclear program, but could face U.N. sanctions unless it reverses course and agrees to a verifiable halt to enrichment activities that can be a precursor to the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that Iran’s response is missing a “decisive sentence” on whether Tehran will suspend uranium enrichment and appears unsatisfactory. “We are still examining it, but from everything that I hear we cannot be satisfied,” Merkel said in an interview with N24 television.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy saids Iran must suspend uranium enrichment if it wants to return to negotiations, but Russia’s foreign ministry said it would continue to seek a negotiated solution and China appealed for patience and more dialogue. The State Department acknowledged that Iran considered its proposal to be a serious one and promised to “review it.”

But the U.S. statement issued Wednesday went on to say that Iran’s response to a joint offer of U.S, and European trade and other benefits if the enrichment program was halted “falls short of the conditions set by the Security Council” - full and verifiable suspension of all uranium-enrichment activity. “We are consulting closely, including with other members of the Security Council, on next steps,” it said. The United Nations has set a deadline of next Thursday for a formal reply by Tehran.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/24/2006 at 08:57 AM   
Filed Under: •   
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner