Finally found a new plugin that does polls. Doesn’t allow write-in stuff (so far as I know) so if your choice is somewhere else you’ll have to add a comment.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
Category: OCF
Nothing Says Spring Like a Blanket of Snow
We had a very warm, snow-free winter this year and now that it’s officially spring, the snow started coming down heavy this morning. But I’m telecommuting today and don’t have to drive so why not? There were five deer in the forest outside my living room window. I was enjoying the view until the German shorthaired pointers joined me. They started barking and scared the deer away. But before the fearless defenders of the castle did their job, I was watching the deer feeding. Apparently, there are enough new shoots on trees and bushes for the deer to browse on. Yesterday the mallards returned to the swamp and grazed on the plant life that has been available since the pond thawed out two weeks ago. Camera Girl saw a turtle swimming around over the weekend and the sound of the spring peepers has been noticeable lately. I put up that photo of the first garter snake and the first bluebird has made an appearance at the feeder. So even though it looks like January 23rd outside my window I’m not fooled. Sure, we could still get the April Fool’s Nor’easter this year and even have to break out the snow blower one last time before moving the lawn mower to the front of the shed. But spring is busting out all over the place. This is just the spiteful spirit of annoying New England and its contrarian position against anything normal and happy. But it won’t win. We just have to be a little more stubborn than the powers of death and dissolution. There’s snow on the ground but Spring’s in the air.
22MAR2020 – OCF Update – Locked Down in New England and Annoyingly Upbeat
Don’t ask me why but for reasons unknown I am disgustingly cheerful today. It can’t be the temperature because it was 20◦F this morning and that’s not spring in my book. Maybe it’s the sunshine and the increased daylight hours. But whatever the cause I haven’t got any angst to distribute this morning. What’s a prophet of doom to do? So, I’ll use my COVID-19 lockdown leisure time today to walk the prison yard, shank a few of my enemies with a shiv, or shiv them with a shank and start a new tunnel to freedom.
I was looking around at a number of science sites talking about quinine derivatives that might be a component of an effective COVID-19 treatment and a couple of interesting things emerged.
- The first is that there is some pretty good evidence that chloroquine and azithromycin is effective in preventing COVID-19 infected people from developing life threatening pneumonia.
- The second is that many people in the pharmaceutical industry hate Trump so much that they are angry that he may get credit for pushing a successful treatment forward in a timely manner.
I work with a lot of technical types and they are mostly anti-Trump. There will be a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth if the President gets credit for shortening the pandemic to something manageable. These people really are almost gleeful in the face of a looming depression. That’s how much they despise the President and, by extension, how much they despise us.
Maybe that’s part of the reason I’m optimistic and cheerful today. I think the therapy being mentioned is going to be effective at lowering the death rate to a very minimal level and allow the rest of us to get back to work. Boy, that would piss off a lot of people I know. Good.
This week I expect some more movie reviews and possibly music reviews. I also feel it is time for a political satire. What exactly it will entail is hard to say sonce there are so many targets to choose from. I think I’m overdue to put together a description of the current state of Sony mirrorless photography and identify the much smaller number of holes in the system that exist currently. And going along with my recent defense of Western Civilization, I think I’ll have a post giving my take on outreach to the various groups that are assumed to be wholly owned subsidiaries of the Democrat party. I mean, some of those people, women especially, probably haven’t heard a conservative argument about anything in their whole lives. We may be able to do some recruiting.
And on the photo side I’m going to do a few more focus stacks. I was at a standstill this week because suddenly my computer thought my camera was a storage device and not a camera and so I couldn’t use the software that allows remote control. I found that the only thing that fixed the problem was reloading the drivers for the USB devices. Of course, it is a little chilly for outdoor focus stack work but I am a martyr for my art.
Finally, a suggestion came up during the preliminary planning for ShatnerKhan II. It was hinted that maybe the program could include non-Shatner-related themes. It seemed like heresy to me but I said I would consider it. I throw it out to the readership if this is anathema or is it the natural evolution. I think the only way to even consider this is if deep theoretical research is done in advance to justify the validity of non-Shatner content. I foresee the need for enormous quantities of deli meats and potato salad to even begin this kind of philosophical discussion. What do you think?
So good morning my fellow prisoners of the COVID-19 gulag. We have nothing to lose but our chains so have a fun day.
Two Nations Under One Flag
Yesterday I said that my co-worker hated President Trump so much that he was ecstatic at the idea that the economy would be tanked by the COVID-19 outbreak because it would throw the election to Biden. Think about that. He would rather see his beloved 401K devalued than let a conservative run the country. That seems to me to be a marker.
We’re not just philosophically different. We are two enemies trapped in the same cell. We don’t just dislike each other we can’t tolerate each other’s presence. And yet we have to interact with them every day and everywhere. But it’s a very lop-sided arrangement. They know we exist by virtue of the resistance we give to laws they make to afflict us. But we are surrounded by their institutions. We are submerged in their culture. We are drowning in it. We have to hear their propaganda 24/7 on every television channel, every social media site, every newspaper, every pop song, every movie screen. They propagandize our children and run the human resources department of every company in the country. They’ve even taken over almost every pulpit in every church. We need our own space. But how do we keep it when any attempt to go our own way is protested, harassed and criminalized?
What will need to be done is form an underground. And the best way to do that is in plain sight. My personal favorite idea is to form our own church. How exactly that is done is the detail that needs to be worked out. Should it be an existing denomination that has a very hands-off attitude toward parishes or should it be a new sect? I tend to think a new sect is the better way. That way no one enters it thinking it is something than what it turns out to be.
Theologically, it would be traditionalist. It would stress scripture. It would adhere to the traditional church teachings on marriage, family and personal behavior. It would reinforce the traditional roles for men and women in the family and the community. And church business would be governed by a group of elders which consisted exclusively of married men who have children.
Once a church was up and running all the other programs that a church sponsors could reflect the community this church represents. Youth sports programs, community charitable programs, outreach to the poor and elderly, community entertainment like theater and music programs. We’ll have to replace the scouts with our own version of that once useful organization. And, most difficult, but a truly worthy goal would be a school. But a school would be very difficult because keeping the progressives out would be a constant war. And the government would make it its highest priority to force it into compliance with the progressive norms they so dearly love.
So, to start with, religious instruction would be an important program. It would be something that prepared children to recognize the errors in the surrounding culture and provide them with coping mechanisms to allow them to exist in that outer world without letting it poison their minds.
Another aspect of the church would be community networking. It would encourage members of the church to practice solidarity and support each other in business relationships and social groups. It could produce a list of preferred service providers and craftsmen for the various trades that a community needs and, in that way, help make the community more self-supporting.
And finally, church social functions like dances and clubs could be an opportunity for young people to look for love. What better place to find a mate than among families that already see eye to eye on values?
I am very interested in getting all kinds of feedback on the practical problems in starting such a community. If anyone has information or links to similar endeavors I’d be obliged. And if you have any different but equally useful ideas on building something for our side feel free to comment or send me an e-mail.
Spring Fever 2020
To the superstitious, pardon my use of the f-word in the title of this article. I intend no pun. I’m just anxious for spring to sweep away a very odd winter. This has been an extremely warm and snowless one and now with the pandemic altering how we work and live I’m impatient for good weather to get me out of the house and make the world more interesting.
I’m tired of tv and the internet and want some real things to see and do. I read that the Vernal Equinox will be March 19th. This is the earliest it’s been in 124 years. I guess that has something to do with this being a leap year. So, this is the last week of winter. In honor of that I’ll go out today and get a few photos of leaves budding and flowers sprouting and anything else that says spring.
Meanwhile I think I’ll look for some cheerful topics to write on. I’m pretty bored with doom and gloom. I’ll search for some activities that I haven’t been able to do since last year. And that will put me in a better mood for writing. So, excuse me for a while. I’ll be back later this morning to see what new catastrophe has descended upon us. But until then you all have my permission to go have some latest winter fun.
12MAR2020 – OCF Update
As COVID-19 slowly annoys us all to death, I’m sitting here at the Compound telecommuting and contemplating the state of this goofy world we inhabit.
I’m in a little bit of a lull right now. I need to do some planning for the weeks ahead. But I’m somewhat distracted by panic around me. I just find it uninspiring to write about people hoarding toilet paper.
The photo side of things needs some work but the outside world is extremely blah at the moment. I’ll have some spring stuff soon but nothing has interested me yet. I’ll probably try a focus stack outside on a new sprouting hyacinth that I noticed breaking out of the dirt today.
And I’m always looking to expand the scope of the site so if anyone out there is looking to share a post on something of general (or even specialized) interest write me at orionscoldfire(at)charter.net and we can discuss it.
I should have a chance this weekend to break out of my malaise. So hang in there, I’ll come around soon.
27FEB2020 – OCF Update
As has been the case lately that stupid day job has been interfering with the important things in my life. Well, what can you do? They pay me a princely salary and I don’t really get much done. It’s hard to walk away. But I will persevere and keep the content coming as best I can.
I’ve got some Shakespeare movies that I’ll review. I’m still about 70 pages from the end of “The Age of Entitlement.” As I’ve said, it’s painful to read but it’s an amazing story of how we got where we are in a step by step narrative.
I think the Monday morning (or Sunday night to be completely technical) post won’t be on the 2020 race or big things in the news. I think I want to talk about practical things we can do day to day to improve our lives while living under the thumb of Big Brother (who by the way, doesn’t really love us).
And finally, I’ve got to figure out some way to get more comments from the folks out there. Especially when we get lots of new viewers. It’s way too quiet. Maybe some sort of contest. So if any of you folks know of effective way to increase comments, I’m definitely interested in ideas.
Pathetic Progressive Life Imitates Exaggerated OCF “Art”
So Sunday night I posted my incredibly over the top comic masterpiece “The Absolutely Final, Last Stand of the Losers, 2020 Democratic Kamikaze Debate.” Well, over the top may not be completely accurate. All descriptions of the Tuesday night debate put it within an order of magnitude of what I described in my parody. Ah, a prophet is never honored in his own time. It does my heart good to know that the Dems are fulfilling the direst fears of the progressive powers that be. If Bernie gets a convincing plurality of the delegates it will be checkmate against them in the November election. Give him the nomination he will go down in flames. Strip him of the nomination and his followers will stay home. Sweet poetic justice for the Left encouraging the Millenials to believe in magic socialism. Feel the Bern!
24FEB2020 – OCF Update – Site Analytics
Today was an amazing day on the site traffic wise. Whatfinger picked up my little Debate Comedy Post and depending on whether you use Google Analytics or another index that counts the bots too, we had something between 660 and 830 page views as of 10 pm eastern time.
But as exciting as that is, I still haven’t succeeded in getting viewers from all 50 states in the same day.
This time it’s Alaska and South Dakota that are holding out. Other times it’s been Vermont or Delaware.
Ah well, there’s still time. But I fear I will be denied again. The color darkness represents the number of readers in a state. In this case you can see that Texas has the highest number of readers at 70. If anyone knows anyone in Alaska or South Dakota that needs a laugh at Bernie Sanders’ expense let them know tonight is the night to click in.
The Absolutely Final, Last Stand of the Losers, 2020 Democratic Kamikaze Debate
Dramatis Personae: Bernie Sanders (BP); Joe Biden (JB); Elizabeth Warren (EW); Amy Klobuchar (AK); Mike Bloomberg (MB); Mystery Candidate (MC); Christiane Amanpour (CA); Rudy Giuliani (RG); Joy Reid (JR); Anderson Cooper (AC); Rachel Maddow (RM);
(Scene 1: Inside the media booth at the final Democratic Debate in San Francisco)
CA – Hello, I’m Christiane Amanpour with my interesting British accent, and we’re here at the final 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate in beautiful San Francisco, California.
RG – Beautiful? You call trying to navigate around a sidewalk festooned with human feces and vomit beautiful? Christiane, that’s some weird alternate reality you live in.
CA – And as you can see and hear, I’m joined by the always cantankerous, former Mayor of New York and current attorney for President Trump, Rudy Giuliani.
RG – I can live with cantankerous.
CA – And we’ll be here to see who will step up and try to knock Bernie Sanders off his trajectory of winning the Democratic Presidential Nomination.
RG – Actually I’m here for the laughs. These losers are trying to stop the Crazy Party from nominating the King of the Lunatics. That seems to be an impossibility.
CA – Despite Rudy’s penchant for Right Wing propaganda, it will be interesting to see if the more moderate candidates attempt to make an issue of Bernie Sanders flirtation with socialism.
RG – Flirtation? I would say that it was consummated to use a polite word. To continue your analogy, if this were seventy years ago, we’d be seeing a shotgun wedding between Bernie and Communism.
CA – Well, enough of this banter. Let’s go to the debate stage. The seven candidates are now advancing to their podiums and the moderators are seated. We have CNN’s Anderson Cooper and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid.
RG – Ah yes, the voices of reason. Where did I put my barf bag?
(Scene 2: Wide shot of the moderators and candidates on the debate stage)
JR – I’m Joy Reid and welcome to the audience here at the Palace of Fine Arts here in vibrant San Francisco.
(A voice from the audience gives a loud bitter laugh and an epithet. A struggle is seen in the audience and a man is tased and carried away.)
JR – Spirits are high and let’s meet our panel and the candidates. I’m joined by my colleagues Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper who know in their hearts that that wasn’t me who allegedly said those homophobic remarks all those years ago because that is not who I am.
(Maddow and Cooper glare at her over rigid smiles.)
JR – And here are the 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates. In decreasing order of electoral relevance, Senator Bernie Sanders, the socialist democrat from Vermont; Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City; Vice President Joe Biden of Delaware; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend Indiana; Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; Billionaire Tom Steyer of San Francisco California. Welcome all of you or Zae, Zee, Zi, Zo, Zou and sometimes Zy.
(The candidates look confused and mumble some replies.)
RM – Hey wait a minute, that’s not Tom Steyer there at the loser end of the podium. It’s a masked intruder in an ill-fitting white pantsuit!
MC – That’s right Rachel Maddow, I am the “mystery candidate” and Tom Steyer has voluntarily surrendered his place on the stage and his billion-dollar fortune to me in my run for the presidency.
AC – But that’s nonsense. This is the end of the campaign and there’s no way that can be justified under the rules of the debate or the DNC campaign requirements.
BP – Wanna bet Anderson? How do you think they justified screwing me out of the nomination last time?
RM – Alright but why the mask? You’re obviously Hillary Clinton and you’re not fooling anyone.
MC – That’s ridiculous! Hillary Clinton is so beloved by the people that she would never disguise herself. It would be throwing away her natural advantage.
RM – If that’s so how come you lost the last two times you ran.
MC – That’s a damn lie. The Russians stole the election from me. … I mean from her.
JR – Alright, whatever, we don’t have all night let’s move on and get this show on the road.
AC – The first question will be answered by all the candidates. Why do you want to be President of the United States of America? Senator Sanders?
BS – I wanna say that when I am President the first order of business will be to make the minimum wage $500 dollars an hour. That way all Americans will be earning a million dollars a year. Then I will make the tax on the million-dollar bracket 100%. That will flood the treasury with cash and balance the budget. I would seize all businesses and nationalize them and all profits would be divided equally by all the people. And finally, I would declare all humans and some primates American citizens and allow them all to enjoy the fruits of this land. To each according to his needs and from each according to his abilities.
RM – Hey that’s misogynist! You should have said her or at least their.
BS – Yes, that’s what I should have said. But, I am very old, you know.
MB – Hey can I say something in rebuttal?
AC – Well Mayor Bloomberg, it’s your turn to answer the question. If you want to discuss Senator Sander’s answer feel free.
MB- Thanks. Bernie Sanders is a dangerous lunatic. What he just laid out was a delusional plan that would bankrupt the country and collapse the financial system of the entire planet. I can’t actually calculate how bad it would be but I guess that tens of millions would starve in the first few months and the urban areas would devolve into cannibalism within the first year. Shortly after that the Chinese would invade and occupy the more desirable farming and mining areas and allow the rest to revert to primitive tribalism.
BS – This bloated plutocrat is lying. He has grown fat on the forced labor of the lumpen proletariat.
MB – Hey looks who’s talking about bloated and fat. I keep my weight at a very optimal point and you look pretty flabby to me Mr. Millionaire Communist.
BS – Liar, I’m a Democratic Socialist! And a millionaire isn’t a billionaire like you!
MB – Socialist, Communist. Potato, pattata.
AC – Well Mayor Bloomberg, you’ve critiqued your opponent’s plan. What is you reason for running?
MB – I see the most urgent threat that America is faced with is what to do about the “Big Gulp.” Are you aware that the fifty-ounce beverage is killing more Americans each year than cancer and opioids combined? And also, the average American butt size has increased by eleven inches over the last twenty years. I am on a crusade to bring health and longevity to the people of this great country. Once my War on gulps is victorious, I intend to go after the Big Mac, the Whopper and, God willing, the all you can eat Lobster Fest at Red Lobster.
AC – Well I see what you mean about butt size. It’s a pet peeve of mine too. Well Mr. Vice President, it’s your turn.
JB – You know when I was the right-hand man of a certain clean articulate President named Barack Obama, I suppose you remember him, he said to me, he said, “Joe, old friend, what can be done to stop the Big Gulp?” Well I drew up a plan and pushed through the legislation in record time and that’s how we defeated the Big Gulp.
MB – That never happened.
JB – Listen you lying, dog-faced pony soldier, why don’t we have a push up contest or go out behind the barn and decide this the old-fashioned way with chains and straight razors.
AC – Please Mr. Vice President, try to stay on track.
JB – Well as I was saying, back last year when I was Vice President, I set up the program that made the minimum wage $500 an hour and that’s how we ended poverty in our lifetime.
(Stunned silence descends on the stage and crowd.)
AC – While the former Vice President is being escorted to the emergency room for treatment, can you tell us your reason for being President, Mayor Buttigieg.
PB – Thank you Anderson, we all acknowledge the terrible struggle you’ve endured at the hands of the rampant homophobia that is America’s scourge. I too have tasted the whiplash sting of its cruelty.
AC – Ahhhh? You do know I’m a Vanderbilt and have hundreds of millions of dollars, right?
PB – No amount of wealth can make up for the whiplash sting of cruelty.
AC – Sure, but it really helps, don’t you think?
PB – Well, maybe. Anyway, my priority will be ensuring that every American child knows the name and correct pronunciation for the names of all the Latin American dictators, uhhh … I mean leaders in our hemisphere.
AK – Screw you, you little jerk.
AC – Please Senator Klobuchar, your turn isn’t next.
AK – He sucks!
PB – Homophobe!
AK – Ahhh, grow a pair you little weasel!
AC – Please, please! Let’s get back to business. Senator Warren it’s your turn.
EW – Thank you Anderson. One of the most important parts of my candidacy is bringing a woman’s perspective to the presidency. Women are the practical money handlers in their families. We know how to avoid debt and live within our means. Looking at Senator Sanders’ ridiculous proposal it doesn’t take a CPA to see that a $500 an hour minimum wage is insanity. The fact that he doesn’t recognize its absurdity is proof of his unfitness to be President. Applying a real-world perspective along with a woman’s social justice instincts points to a minimum wage that is absolutely no higher than $450 an hour.
MB – Is it too late for me to get a MAGA hat?
AC – Alright let’s hang in there for a few more minutes. This thing is almost over. Senator Klobuchar have you got some brief comments you’d like to make.
AK – You betcha. I can’t win this thing. I’m too close to normal. What I would like to do is throw something at that little weasel Buttigieg. If someone will just hold him for a second, I’ll kick his skinny little butt.
AC – Security please escort Senator Klobuchar from the stage and get Mayor Pete some smelling salts. Alright, “Mystery Candidate,” would you like a shot at the question?
MC – I’d be delighted Anderson. For all of my life I’ve strived to educate the American people about their unworthiness and what they needed to do to atone for their sins. And at the top of that list is making me their President. I’ve suffered as no other woman ever has. I’ve been ridiculed for my looks, my weight, my voice, my husband’s womanizing and for the very large number of coincidental suicides that seem to occur all around me. I want to be President so that all this persecution will end. I will set up a Presidential tribunal that will adjudicate all these capitol offenses fairly and once these people have been brought to justice, I intend to eliminate the 22nd amendment by executive order and give the United States the permanent and hereditary leadership it has always deserved.
AC – Okay, I think my colleagues will agree to skip their questioning so that we can escape before the voters storm this building and drag us off to Alcatraz for summary execution. I apologize heartily to the American people and promise to find a real job where I can atone for my connection to this lunatic asylum.
(Scene 3: Inside the media booth)
RG – Well there you have it. Christiane Amanpour has fled the building with Joe Biden in hot pursuit trying to grab her shoulders and smell her hair. I haven’t had such a good time since the Yankees won the World Series from the Mets in 2000. Well anyway, it doesn’t look like there’ll be much drama in November but I suppose that’s best for the country. But I hope you’ve enjoyed the show. Sorry it couldn’t have gone longer but these people really do need to get back to the hospital. Good night and Keep America Great in November.