Hello, and welcome to Necessary Roughness!
Thank you for visiting! Comments are encouraged, but most are screened and will take time to appear attached to a journal entry. Content on the Friends tab is under the control of the individual posters and communities on my friends list and may contain offensive language. -- Dan
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Oct. 28th, 2005 @ 1:11 am Moved!
Entry Image After getting my feet wet for over a year with LiveJournal, I've started a new blog using my old domain name, http://necessaryroughness.org .

LiveJournal has been great for me and still remains quite economical for those who don't worry about a lot of customization. I moved to Wordpress because I found the following things difficult or impossible in the journal I held on LiveJournal:
  • Searches over all posts
  • Page-by-page statistics
  • Javascript for additional features
  • Certain layout features
  • A displayable list of "tags"
  • Dynamic Blogroll
  • Static Pages for features like the Airport Report
  • Trackbacks
The new site has plenty of space for more signals and plenty of bandwidth. I'll still check my LiveJournal Friends list and use it to comment on other LiveJournals. So this really isn't "goodbye". :)

One day, my subscription will run out, or I cancel it. When that happens, the pictures will go away and the journal settles back into the Unearthed theme. I won't delete this journal. Come visit the new site; I hope you find it enjoyable.

Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 26th, 2005 @ 11:40 pm Congrats, White Sox
Entry Image On the other hand, I wonder if I can get a refund on that Brad Lidge T-shirt... :)



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Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 25th, 2005 @ 8:16 pm Ohio State Issues: A No-fer
Entry Image On November 8 (or earlier, in my case) Ohioans head to the polls to decide five state issues and various local issues.

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has put together an Issues Report (PDF) with the five state issues. There are arguments for and against each issue. I did my analysis only reading the issues, then I checked the arguments on both sides.

( Read more... )

So there we have it. An 0-fer, or a no-fer. Each one a power grab and either an ignorance or disregard for decision making by the people at large. Read it (PDF) for yourself and see if you can come up with another conclusion.

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Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 25th, 2005 @ 2:45 pm Noisy Planes over Bossier
Entry Image No magnification on these pictures; my camera only has 5x zoom. :)

Warthogs Warthogs

Two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs (a.k.a. Warthog) scream across the sky north of Barksdale AFB.
B-52 B-52

"Roam where you want to," when you can carry 70000 pounds of mixed payload.


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Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 25th, 2005 @ 9:20 am Addict-Unfriendly Sudafed
Entry Image I got a cold from my older twin over the weekend, and it started blowing up on me yesterday. Compounding the issue was Halliburton's Bossier City turning on the furnace and blowing dust around.

This morning I pulled into the gas station and bought the new Sudafed PE nasal & sinus decongestant. The college-age clerk asked for my ID as a joke, and I said sure, since I so have the body shape of a meth addict! :) Louisiana and several other states have taken the old standby off the shelves because it's used to make methamphetamines.

I took it an hour and a half ago. With the active ingredient, phenylephrine, the new Sudafed seems kindler, gentler...and less able to clear out my sinuses, of course.

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3 calls - Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 24th, 2005 @ 10:36 pm Anne Graham's Blaming of America Used For Rant
Entry Image I've received this particular message twice now. Whether or not Anne Graham Lotz said it, and I can't find a record of it on the CBS Early Show, it's theology that requires examination.

( Read more... )

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2 calls - Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 24th, 2005 @ 8:37 am Lutheran Carnival IX: No Vacation from Vocation
Entry Image Theresa from Be Strong in the Grace hosts Lutheran Carnival IX. She has obviously spent considerable time reading posts for content, and she posts commentary regarding each entry. She's done a good job and has good insights. Thanks, T.K., for your time and all your hard work.

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Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 24th, 2005 @ 12:10 am Texas Suite
Entry Image Made it safely into Bossier City. Premium Priority Club status earned me a couple of nights in the Texas Suite. Double the size of a hotel room, the sutie has an extra couch, round table, and TV in the other room. The bathroom is the same size as in a normal room, and the two closets are combined to create some walk-in closet space.

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Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 22nd, 2005 @ 2:17 pm Ill-prepared and Ill-tempered, Chiefs Still Win
Entry Image Great article on kcchiefs.com by Bob Gretz.
Dealt a raw deal by the NFL and its decision to move the game up to Friday because of weather fears involving Hurricane Wilma, Vermeil reacted like a champ. Understand that he was angry, ticked off and throw in a little mad as well. The NFL went against many of its long-time rules in moving this game. As the traveling party, the Chiefs lost a full day’s preparation and two days of game planning work. They became the first NFL team in anyone’s memory to travel and play a regular season game on the same day.

In the Thursday morning team meeting where he informed the players of the NFL’s decision, his language was course, his message clear. It set the tone for everything that happened in the 48 hours after the game was moved. Many of his words cannot be repeated here, but the point he was trying to make was not a mystery: bleep the NFL, we will play them anywhere, anytime, any place. We will play them in the parking lot, on the sands of South Beach, anywhere they want to play.

What Vermeil did was eliminate the possibility that anyone around Arrowhead was going to use these disadvantages as an excuse for poor performance, unfocused effort and less than prepared play.
The Chiefs did win the game, 30-20.

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Make a call - Permanent Link
Oct. 21st, 2005 @ 10:54 am Thanks 8 Trillion
Entry Image Hat Tip: Free Republic

The Bureau of Public Debt reports that the U.S. public debt reached $8,000,000,000,000 3 days ago.

When a bank makes a loan to a person or corporation, a risk assessment is made to see if the borrower will pay the money back. When the government borrows from the people, to the tune of $4.6 billion directly, people need to make a risk assessment as to whether that money is coming back. Can we see in the future $8 trillion in today's dollars coming back to its creditors? If not, why buy more U.S. bonds? Even if bonds are being paid, what other public debts are being racked up in order to make that happen, since we're in a deficit situation?

It's true that we need to put people in office that commit to paying off the debt by reducing spending. Yet other choices can be made, more frequently. Some have U.S. bonds or Treasury bills bought every paycheck. Is that not a biweekly or monthly choice to facilitate bad fiscal management now?

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Make a call - Permanent Link