Archive for September, 2009

Murder in Ky

Posted: September 27, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Legal Insurrection talks a little about a nasty murder that has put the left all a twitter:

This is becoming a pattern. Left-wing politicians and blogs appear to be hoping for an act of right-wing violence so that they can justify their attacks on ordinary citizens who are against the overly intrusive and destructive Democratic policies. The problem is, right-wing extremists have not obliged, fortunately. So in the absence of right-wing death squads, the left-wing agitators invent facts and events to fit their narrative.

So here’s my moderate voice on the subject: You are a bunch of ghouls who would love to do nothing more than perform a political dance on the grave of poor Bill Sparkman, about whom you really don’t give a damn.

Read his round up of blog reaction and partiucalrly at the Moderate Voice which for once lives up to its name.

If only there was an actual reporter who blogs who could go to Kentucky and actually report on the facts of the case.

Where could we find such a man?

“They breathed a sigh of relief and went on without him”

Posted: September 27, 2009 by datechguy in amazon reviews, hobbies, internet/free speech
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(note the historical information comes primarily from Marvin Albert’s 1957 volume Broadsides and Boarders my review here)

William de la Marck’s or as he was known to his men “Longnail”, primary interest was revenge. Despite the Letter of Marque issued by the Prince of Orange he was driven by beheading of his cousin by the Spanish authorities that ruled the Netherlands and his oath to not cut his hair or nails till he was avenged. His favorite target were Catholics priests and Monks but any ally of Spain was fair game.

He was not planning to begin the fight for Dutch independence when he sailed into the City of Brielle on April 1st 1572, pressure on Elizabeth I of England caused her to order all Dutch privateers to lose their rights in English ports and the wind took them there. He was looking for supplies and booty, the plan was to get what they wanted and get out.

With the Spanish garrison temporarily gone his fleet took the town with ease. With their fellow dutchmen around them the men had a change of heart. Where else had they to go, this was Dutch soil and they were dutchmen, did they really want to give the first Dutch town liberated back to Spain?

De la Marck declared the town taken in the name of the Prince of Orange and raised his banner, he contented himself with the murder of Catholic priests but otherwise left the town alone. They successfully managed to defend the town from the Spanish with the help of the people who rallied behind them and a group of pirates pretending to be patriots were transformed into actual patriots…

…Except for William de la Marck although feeling what the others felt for a while it didn’t distract him from his quest for revenge and his blood lust for Catholic Clergy. His vendetta against Priests and religious was hurting the effort to gain allies against Spain and preventing Catholic Dutchmen from joining the Prince’s cause. He ignored orders from the Prince for religious tolotance and was eventually removed from his command.

He swore revenge and vengeance against his former allies who dared protect the hated Catholic faithful but died shortly afterward from the bite of a mad dog.

Although he had done great service in the past, the Dutch managed to get along without him.

Hmmm a person who sees an atrocity, fights strongly against those who perpetuates it, then puts personal vengeance and dislike of certain religious beliefs over the cause and turns on his allies. I can’t for the life of me see why the story of Charles Johnson William de la Marck would be on my mind these days.

Broadside and the making of a history fan

Posted: September 26, 2009 by datechguy in hobbies
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One of the first games I remember playing was called Broadsidebroadside box It was a game of the war of 1812 and had an unique game system for it’s time (1962).

First of all The players have unequal forces. Half of the British Fleet consist of Ships of the Line and Frigates only 40% of the American fleet consists of Frigates and they have no ships of the line and a further 40% can be sunk with a single broadside.

Next there are different advantages The Americans control shore batteries and know the locations of Shoals that can sink any ship, the British must attack through one of two harbor entrances both swept by guns.

Finally the victory conditions are different: The British must sink the 4 Merchant ships in the harbor. The Americans must sink the ENTIRE British fleet WITHOUT losing their entire merchant fleet. war of 1812

The game is a lot of fun and I still play it with my son once in a while. And it also came with a booklet on the Navel history of the War of 1812. This was the first history book I ever read and began a love affair with history that endures to this day and that my youngest has embraced to a lesser degree.

With the exception of Battle Cry (A simply AWFUL Civil war game, turned me off it for decades) all the games in the American Heritage series sparked my interest in history and led me on my path. (I never managed to get Hit the Beach but my Father served in the pacific in WW 2 so I didn’t need prompting there.)

So if you wonder why I’m constantly quoting historical events, now you know.

According to Charles, he has lost the fight:

Posted: September 26, 2009 by datechguy in Uncategorized
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While looking through lgf to find his opposition to Trig Trutherism. (Thumbs up on that one Charles!) I stumbled upon something interesting, the LGF Dictionary

Whatever one might thing of Charles behavior lately it can’t be denied that he has been an important figure in the blogosphere and going through the dictionary is like a glimpse through it’s history.

However there is also this gem:

racist – A statement of surrender during an argument. When two people or disputants are engaged in an acrimonious debate, the side that first says “Racist!” has conceded defeat. Synonymous with saying “Resign” during a chess game, or “Uncle” during a schoolyard fight. Originally, the term was meant to indicate that one side was accusing the other of being racist, but once it was noticed that people only resorted to this tactic when all other arguments had been exhausted, it acquired its new meaning of “indicating one’s own concession of defeat.”

By his own definition he has been conceding an awful lot of arguments lately.

What was that Alinsky rule again?

… most of all, make them live by their own rules. If you make them live by their own rules, you destroy them. And never forget that ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. Comedy is our friend.– from Saul Alinksy’s “Rules for Radical Comedians.”

Maybe he was riding without a helmet and took a fall affecting long term memory or something?

Of course there is no entry for Raaaaacist in there.

That’s worth a Nelson award

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