The Conservative Zone

Well, I went to a Warhammer 40k tournament yesterday, and it was a tough one. Three rounds, and I thought I scored abysmally.

My first game was against Ben and his Orks, and it was a tough battle. It turned out to be a draw, but I was 4.5 points away from a solid win. You can't get any closer to a win and not win.

My second game was against a kid I don't remember his name, but he played Imperial Guard, oddly enough without any tanks or heavy weapons teams. This one turned out to be a draw as well, he wouldn't come after me and I couldn't get to him without getting shot up. This one turned out to be a draw as well, I managed to kill a couple of units and only lost a Rhino APC.

The third game was against fellow Adeptus Memphis member John and his Orks. This turned out to be a solid win, but a very hard fought battle. At the end of the battle I had a squad and a half, plus a tank and 3 Rhinos. All he had left was his Loota boyz. I was literally one die roll away from a victorious slaughter. I killed his only vehicle, and you have to roll on a unique table to see what happens to it. I wanted to roll a 6, because I thought it would careen out of control and possibly off the board. I rolled a 6! but then I found out the vehicle just dies. When I asked him what number I needed to make the truck careen, he said a 3 or 4. So, as an "what if," I rolled again, getting a 4! Of course, this roll didn't matter, but I rolled to see what direction and how far the truck would go, and it would have gone off the board, along with his command squad, which was over a 1/3rd of his total points. He would have given me the game at that point.

Any way, his big bad command squad got out, and proceeded toward my troops. I charged him, instead of letting him charge me, because when I charge in, I get several advantages, such as the ability to reroll misses on the charge. This one squad, whom I have faced before, ate my entire army by itself the last time I fought it. Well, revenge was sweet, because I decimated that squad, killing 8 models, where you had to hit and wound them twice each. The Warboss and one other model survived my command squad, but died when he charged into another squad already in close combat.

At this point, knowing how tough the competition was for this tournament, I was resigned to something like 8th or 10th out of 14 total players. When it came time to announce the winners, I got Best General! I was totally blown away. When I found out I got 2nd place and was only 4 points behind the guy who won, I was a little disappointed with myself. The one die roll against John, or killing a few more of Ben's Orks and I would have taken the whole thing!

This is now the fourth time I have come in 2nd, and only a few points like this away from the total win. With the difference being like it was with this tournament, every die roll counted.

When I started my first major tournament back in 2003, I thought I'd never win one. Now I can taste a win like Tantalus.

Present score of trophies now stand at three Best Sportsman and three Best Generals, plus one overall winner for SpecialistCon. I'm going to need more wall space!

Posted by Mark at 3:18 PM | Permalink

I've been looking for this commercial for some time, I finally found it on You Tube.

Posted by Mark at 8:48 PM | Permalink

I have been a fan of George Carlin since the first time I heard him, on a friends stereo and the album he had was "Take-offs and Put-ons," long out of print but still funny after all of these years.

I saw him on The Tonight Show a long time ago, and he did his "Modern Man" routine. I like it so much I present it here for your consumption.

Enjoy.

Posted by Mark at 9:36 PM | Permalink

Before you look at the image below, I just wanted to say a word about the title. When running for office, your staffers and volunteers are an extension of yourself. What they do and say, on duty and off duty say a lot about you. They are part of who you are, and what you represent yourself to be.

That being said, take a look at the image below:

Yes, that is a Cuban Flag with a picture of Che on it on the back wall. That's the whole object of the picture.

Please note that the disclaimer at the bottom. They wanted to make sure that you don't associate them with the Obama campaign, even though they are actively campaigning for him.

Obama is also campaigning for a single payer health care system. You can see my thoughts on that subject just two entires down.

Just thought you'd like to know.

H/T to Little Green Footballs and Rachel Lucas.

Posted by Mark at 4:30 PM | Permalink

Yet again, someone with hate in their heart has taken a gun into a "gun-free zone" and murdered several people before turning the gun on themselves.

When will we get the association? "Gun-Free Zones" are nothing more than a target rich environment for those who want to kill.

From Luby's Cafeteria in Texas, to this latest shooting, a properly licensed and used weapon in the hands of an armed citizen would have made a difference. Even if only one person is saved by a licensed citizen shooting down a rogue gunman, isn't that enough? The anti-gunners keep saying "if it saves one life," well the armed citizen in the right place in the right time could prevent more than one death, as opposed to more "gun-free zones."

If you can, if you are able, if you have made the internal decision to end another life when it is necessary, by all means, arm yourself.

It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

Posted by Mark at 1:41 PM | Permalink

I attended a meeting the other day, one that requires me to be there by my job, since a big part of my job is networking.

Anyhow, the people running the meeting were proud that they had voted for either Hillary or Obama. They talked about Single-Payer medical plans, and how good it would be to have such things.

Let me explain the Single-Payer medical system. The government pays for everything, and if you try to pay a doctor for services rendered, then both you and the doctor will be in deep trouble.

Do we have a health care crisis in this country? Probably. But it's brought on by people going to the emergency room for colds, or other minor medical matters. But it will be a whole lot worse when we are talking about making medical care for "free."

First of all, it isn't "free." It's paid for by increasing taxes on you and everybody else. And when I mean increasing taxes, I mean a lot. The numbers that the present Presidential candidates are quoting are less than 1/4th of what it will really cost. Because there will be layers and layers of bureaucracy. As of today, when looking at transfer payments (money gathered in taxes that are paid to citizens, like Welfare), only something like *17* cents actually make it into the hands of the recipients. The other 83 cents is absorbed in bureaucracy.

Now, we only have to look at our Northern neighbor to see how well a Single-Payer system runs, just look at Canada. It takes months to get something simple like a CT scan, which you get less than in an hour at any American medical facility. Like the "Socialist Paradise" that Cuba is, all you have to do is look at what way the rafts are going. Canadians are flocking to the United States like migrating geese to get medical treatment in a timely manner.

Now, let's say we do elect someone who wants to enact a Single-Payer system, and they manage to pull it off. Everyone would then have equal access to health care, and it's fully paid for. Despite the massive tax increase, which would cause a recession (but I digress), suddenly, our system will be deluged with new patients. Unless there was a corresponding increase of capacity, then quality will go down.

Look at it this way. You have a field of land, that produces X amount of grain a year. After accounting for loss, and grain needed for replanting, you can feed Y people. You have a stable system. But then, due to some reason we now have Z people, and Z is more than Y. Either one of two things is going to happen. Either you find more land to raise more grain to feed the extra people, or some people will starve to death, until the number of Y is reached again, and the system stabilizes again.

With the incentive of being a doctor being taken away (you won't have doctors getting paid $100,000+ a year, that's too much), then we have no way to increase capacity. That means all of us will be going on a starvation diet of medical assistance. Care will have to be rationed, and even more people will get a substandard level of care than gets it today.

There are people out there that need care. The disabled need help, because many of them are not able to afford health care and have no way to obtain it. These people already have Medicare, so it will only get worse for them. The ones who do work, but are unable to afford health care need some help. However, if they study and improve their knowledge base, they can get better jobs and afford the health care they need. Those who do not work and do not want to work shouldn't get anything, but those are the people that will drain the blood from the system.

Consider this before you pull that lever for President.

Posted by Mark at 12:32 PM | Permalink

I think you should hear what the Loonies of Coke Pink have to say from their own mouths.

They don't think that WWII was justified, they don't think Al Qaeda is a threat. Among other things.

Please don't misconstrue what I am saying, I don't want them to be shut up, quite the opposite. I think by exposing their beliefs to the general public, they marginalize themselves because of their extreme views. They show themselves as a bunch of tinfoil hat wearing nut jobs who have nothing in common with normal America.

Here's another example of this kind of person:

How can you reasonably communicate with a person that has this kind of world view? You can't. All you can do is shun them. Me, I like to poke fun at them, like I do here from time to time.

Poke, poke, poke.

Posted by Mark at 12:35 PM | Permalink

Well, it seems that in some cases, principles can be bought off. Berkeley Backs Off On Banning Marines.

When threatened with withholding $2.3 million by the Federal government, the Bezerkly City Council quickly fell back from their position, falling apart like a house of cards.

Another example of people who don't think through the consequences of their actions. They thought "free speech" was truly free and without recriminations. They thought that they could say or do whatever they wanted and piss on anybody who disagreed with them. Well, it turns out some of the people who disagreed with them had the power to yank something precious away from them. And so, in typical Liberal fashion, They traded their principles for money.

Way to go.

Posted by Mark at 2:31 PM | Permalink

Tomorrow twenty-four states will hold primaries for Federal offices, the President, all of the House and a third of the Senate.

Vote.

I don't care how busy you are tomorrow, I don't care what excuse you have.

Vote.

It is the job of the citizen to keep his mouth open. You do that by making your voice heard. You do that by voting, protesting and communicating with your Congressmen and Senators.

Vote.

This comes along only once every four years, and it will make an impact as to who you vote for on that first Tuesday following a Monday in November later on this year.

Vote.

You have a choice on the Democrat side between a Black and a woman. Your choices on the Republican side are a RINO, a mild Conservative, and an Evangelical spoiler.

VOTE.

Choose, but choose wisely. I can't tell you how to vote, which lever you pull is your business, but ask yourself, "is this person really the closest to what I would do?" You are not going to find a candidate other than yourself that will agree with you on all the issues, and if you are a single issue voter, ask yourself, "Is my side of the issue the best for the country?"

VOTE.

Do you get the idea that I think that it is important you take some time tomorrow to exercise a freedom that hundreds of thousands of men and women have shed their blood and given their lives? Yes. Yes, I do.

VOTE.

Your future depends on it. With the economy in the shape it's in, what direction it's heading, and what each party wants to do to "fix" it, your choice tomorrow will decide it's direction for far longer than the four or eight years that the next President will be there.

Posted by Mark at 5:49 PM | Permalink

And so, Pretty Boy Tom Brady ate some dirt last night, and didn't deliver. But the Giants delivered something, to Perfectville, Population 1.

So the "Perfect" Pats are relegated to where all of the other Super Bowl losers went, 2nd place.

Posted by Mark at 5:38 PM | Permalink

Okay all of you smoking opponents, look at the Pandora's Box you've opened. But then, maybe you wanted it opened. Mississippi Pols Seek To Ban Fats

What really bums me is that two of the three legislators introducing the bill are Republicans. Probably RINOs.

But there must always be a start to going down that slippery slope, and here it is. This bill is DOA, but the next one might not be. Once they ban fat people from restaurants, then they will continue by banning all cars over 5 years old, or something like that. And of course, it won't make a difference.

I thought we learned from Prohibition, you can't legislate actions of the populace. The direction of things is dictated in the Constitution is that it comes from the People to the Government, not the other way around.

The fact that I am posting about this is alone a sign that something serious is wrong. Do something about it. Write to your legislators and let them what you think about this.

Posted by Mark at 5:09 PM | Permalink

Well, it seems that the City Council of Bezerkly, CA does not want any military presence. They have passed an ordinance that deeds one parking spot in front of the USMC recruiting station over to a bunch of Liberals known as "Code Pink" for four hours one afternoon each week, for the next six months. By the way, please follow the link over to them, I want them to see my site on their referrals.

I love the fact that the people that proclaim freedom for all are restricting someone's right to a parking spot. Just remember it's parking spots today, something else tomorrow.

These whackjobs are so Liberal, they make Nanci Pelosi look Conservative.

The fact that the City has made the Marines "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" just goes to show you that you aren't dealing with rational people. To a Liberal, it's their way, period.

I have always said a Left-Wing Dictatorship requires obedience in thought and action. They want you do do what you are told (not what they are doing) and to only think what you are told to think.

I think that if the City Council of Berkley does manage to kick the Marines out of town, that all Federal funding for the city be withheld. It seems to have worked in the case of doing that to Universities who didn't want military recruiters on campus. The Universities folded quickly when faced with that realization.

Posted by Mark at 4:32 PM | Permalink