To Feed a Small Nation

Today at work we ordered a glorious pizza from The Pie for lunch. I had forgotten how obscenely huge these things are. I really think they could feed a small nation... or 10 hungry employees... one of the two.

This is the type of pizza that defines American values! A life of excess and the challenge to push engineering of food to impossible levels. Why settle for a mere 600 calories when you can get a weeks worth of nutrition (and I use the term loosely) in a single sitting? To do so would be do deny the very thing that makes this country great!

For reference, that is a standard 8-inch paper plate that I've placed in the center of that bad boy. And this isn't even the largest size they offer!!

God bless America!

The Car of the Future?

I present you with what I feel is the greatest step thus far in automotive engineering. Consider the following...

A sporty roadster that can go from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds... with a redline of 13,000 RPMs.

Standard features include leather seats, Blaupunkt stereo system, HomeLink universal transmitter, power windows and locks, air conditioning, touch nav screen with GPS, PIN activated security and vehicle disabling system, Bluetooth and Wifi integration.

I know you're thinking, "So what? I can get this in any sports car." Well hold on to your butts...

Consider that this vehicle costs you less than two cents per mile to drive and gets an equivalent of 256 miles per gallon.

Consider that you can drive over 200 miles at less cost than a single gallon of premium grade gas.

Consider that this baby is 100% electric with a battery that is capable of 100,000 miles before any performance losses begin to occur.

My I present to you what I personally believe is the first version of the automobile of the future, the Tesla Roadster. I heard a very, very short blip about this car on the Glenn Beck Program about two weeks ago, and just recently got around to doing some research on it. I must say that this... this!!! is the kind of alternative fuel automobile that America has been waiting for. Not some wussy, spineless Prius. A car that has looks, performance, reliability, and could completely free you from the grips of those dastardly Saudis.

I am a firm believer that when more of these kind of cars come to be, that many Americans will more than happily cast aside our gas-guzzling cars. This is the way Capitalism works, the way America works. Take your "Cap and Trade" and shove it, Obama and McCain. Give me an alternative that I actually want to drive and I guarantee it will sell, and sell well.

You can check it out for yourself at TeslaMotors.com.

Not for the Faint of Heart

There's two items I really want to get into today, so let's begin. I'm going to be up-front... this post is not going to be for the faint of heart. If you have problems with tough subjects and some mild profanity on my end, you should stop reading this now.

My first item for today comes from the great state of Massachusetts, courtesy of the piece of human trash, Rep. James Fagan. Mr. Fagan set off immense controversy with comments spoken last month at a House debate regarding Jessica's Law, a new piece of legislation requiring massive mandatory sentences for child sex offenders.

This is what Rep. Douchbag had to say:

"I'm gonna rip them apart," Fagan said of young victims during his testimony on the bill. "I'm going to make sure that the rest of their life is ruined, that when they’re 8 years old, they throw up; when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep; when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares and they’ll never have a relationship with anybody.”

Fagan said as a defense attorney it would be his duty to do that in order to keep his clients free from a "mandatory sentence of those draconian proportions."

Contrary to the beliefs of our Supreme Court, I happen to be in favor of the death penalty for people convicted of raping a child. I feel that our technology has progressed to the point that DNA evidence is fairly reliable means for proving guilt. After that, we're talking execution.. and not this lame-ass sit on death row for a year waiting bullcrap. I'm talking a bullet to the head but only after Bubba in cell block 5 has had his way with them.

The only thing that pisses me off more than child rapists, are the dirtbags like Rep. Fagan who not only defend them but try to find legal loopholes to get them out of a hard conviction. Complete assholes who have forgotten that their job is to defend the innocent, to ensure justice, not to shield the guilty.

If you feel like I do, I urge you to at least email Rep. Fagan. Even if you don't live in Massachusetts I think the message needs to be sent to this fool that he's completely wrong in the head.

By the way, here's his full contact information if you should feel so inclined:

STATE REPRESENTATIVE
JAMES H. FAGAN

State House
Room 163
State House
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: 617-722-2040

District Office
26 Dean Street
Taunton, MA 02780
Telephone: 508-824-7000

E-Mail: Rep.JamesFagan@hou.state.ma.us
Party Affiliation - DEMOCRAT

I am Ninja!

Well I finally caved. Yes, yes. I finally caved to the glory that is Ninja Gaiden 2. This is probably, aside from Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, one of the most highly anticipated titles to date for the XBox 360. I've been trying to hold out as long as I could... but Microsoft pulled me in with a wonderful free demo available through XBox Live. Damn you Microsoft!

Please note the "M" rating on the cover. I've only played about half of the first mission thus far, and I can tell you with absolute, unwavering certainty that this is not a game for children. Lucky for me, I have no children, so let's get on with the bloodshed shall we?

I'm guessing this is one of the major bad guys I will face down the road. He's a member of the Dark Spider Clan. Yes, that is a scantly clad woman in knee high leather boots wrapped in chains that he's got over his shoulder. I plan on rescuing her later... awww yeeeah!

The first thing that grabbed my attention about this game is the stunning detail of the graphics. The lighting is excellent, the character rendering is beyond compare, and the action my god the action is pretty fast paced. You have a full arsenal of ninja technique at your disposal, including varied weapons of mayhem. My trusty Dragon Katana in hand, I set out to rescue the girl.

... the aftermath of my first encounter with the minions of evil. I emerge victorious, the battered remains of my enemies litter the ground before me... the battle is mine!

... taking a break from the carnage to meditate and take in the wonderfully detailed scenery ... if this game is anything, it is a graphical masterpiece!

I'm doing my best to not blow through this game in my typical one to two days of solid gaming, so I stopped shortly after taking these pictures to come and post my latest displays of virtual heroics. I'm very impressed with the game thus far.

Thank you for playing! I look forward to killing you soon!!

Carrie Underwood!!!!!!

She's on "The List," and she's on her way to Salt Lake City on November 19th!! That's right! Carrie Underwood!!!!! I've heard she's a singer... of some kind... awwww yeeeah.

Now comes the task of working my way into some tickets!

CARRIE!! UNDERWOOD!!!

Army of Volunteers

One of the neat things about where I work, is that as a community bank our company puts tremendous time and resources back into the areas in which we live and work every single day. This year has been no different. So far we've had a rather successful United Way drive, multiple charities to which have been donated tens of thousands of dollars, and this week has been the Zions Bank Paint-a-Thon.

To be honest, I kind of came into this at the last minute. My good friend Mike spearheaded the effort for our department. My schedule has been rather tight this week, so I was only able to help out today. I feel a little guilty that many of my coworkers put forth monstrous amounts of effort prior to today. My duties today consisted of painting the shutters, touching up the trim, and talking to the homeowner about when she could start watering her lawn and such again. All in all, I think I was there for about 2 hours.

Here's the finished product. Check out those HOT shutters!

I'm not particularly hot on the color scheme, but Mike assures me that fry-sauce beige is what the homeowner wanted. Apparently the original color was a grayish blue, which personally I think would look a lot better, but its not my house. My heart really goes out to the Zions Bank employees in St. George who worked on similar projects today... as temperatures soared over 100 degrees for most of the day.

Even the small contributions help, or that's what I was told anyways. Honestly I feel better just from showing up today! It was a great experience to help someone I don't even know.

What the Hell is Wrong with People?

At the beginning of today, I was prepared to come home and write a sad, sad tale involving supermodel Adriana Lima and the further thinning of my "Approved List." However, something on CNN.com today captured my attention... and the word "outraged" doesn't even begin to describe what I felt. This story comes straight to you from Turlock, California, courtesy of CBS13.com:

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department began receiving calls late Saturday night from motorists witnessing a man beating a young baby. The suspect had a child's car seat in the back of his four-door pickup truck, which caught the attention of an elderly couple at 10:13 p.m. Saturday because it was stopped in the two-lane road facing the wrong direction, Singh said.

"What we got from witnesses is he was punching, slapping, kicking, stomping, shaking," Singh said. "They tried to intervene and get involved, but their efforts really didn't have an effect. The suspect was engaged in what he was doing. He just pushed them off and went back to it."

The story paints a picture of a man convinced that the child had been possessed by demons. From all accounts he stopped on the side of the road, removed the child from his carseat, and proceeded to beat, stomp, kick, smash, and otherwise pummel the child into a form so unrecognizable that they will have to perform DNA tests to determine the child's identity. If you can stomach to read the details of the story, you can find it here.

A gruesome, horrible tale. Make no mistake. This POS deserved what he got. However the part that outrages me isn't the act itself... it was this part, as I re-read it:

"They tried to intervene and get involved, but their efforts really didn't have an effect. The suspect was engaged in what he was doing. He just pushed them off and went back to it."

Read that section again. He just pushed them off... just pushed them off and went back to it. How in the name of all that is holy could these people allow this to happen? How could they stand by watching a small child, one or two years of age, face this type of death and more or less give up trying to restrain him? What the hell have we become as a people, as a nation, where we will stand by and do nothing?

If I may loosely quote Sir Edmund Burke, "All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

To me, this is more than a story of a child. This is more than a story of some sick, sick man. This story is a dark stain of blame on whoever it was that stood by, did nothing, and allowed 'evil' to triumph. I hope and pray that the people who were the witnesses, the people who stood by and made this half-assed attempt to stop this man, I hope they live every night of the rest of their lives with the memory of the crushed, unidentifiable child laying dead on the road.

I believe in the power of the individual. I believe this man could have been stopped. If he could have been stopped 'in time' is a matter of debate, but to not fight for the child's life I feel speaks volumes about the current state of our society.

Those of you who feel like I do, take the time now to burn this situation into your memories as a time that you would not have stood idly by.

Peace of Mind

Ah, Boston. I've loved their music ever since I was a small lad. Now through the miracle of modern technology I too can live the dream! I can play guitar for the legends! Booyah!! (mental note: need to play with digital camera settings to take pictures of TV that won't burn your eyes off)

I recently downloaded what I have deemed the "Classic Rock" pack for Guitar Hero III. A three-pack made of pure 80's-rock win: Boston's "Peace of Mind", Journey's "Any Way You Want It", and Foreigner's "Juke Box Hero" - I find myself jamming to the music like I did in my youth, and often times at the expense of my overall score. Its a great pack, however, containing the original vocal tracks and awesomely remastered guitar tracks.

In other gaming news, the Ninja Gaiden II Weekend of Vengeance begins this weekend. I'm seriously thinking about picking the game up from Blockbuster Video this weekend so that I might login and smite my opponents with bloody, ninja-style carnage. It goes without saying that this game is Rated M ... meaning "don't play with children anywhere around you." I haven't played the game yet, but the movie on Xbox Live had more than enough gushing blood to last several minutes of footage.

Awesome.

Rise from the Ashes... Again

Well... its time to give this another try. After attempting to blog a few months ago - unsuccessfully I might add - its time to start anew with a hope of more frequent thoughts, updates, and general insanity.

I'm Scotch McC. Gamer, evil conservative, wannabe drunken martial artist, and overall nice guy - most of the time. Its nice to meet any of you who happen to come across my blog page. I live in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah, where I have since the day I was born. I have a great wife but no kids yet.

I feel its fair to be up front on my political beliefs, mostly because they will likely taint every post I have on this blog to some degree. Yes, I am one of those evil conservatives. No, I don't get money from Big Oil, but I wish I did. So, what is a conservative exactly? I think one of my personal idols, Glenn Beck, put it best:

"To be a conservative is, in my definition, is somebody that believes in the power of the individual, somebody that believes, please let me make my decisions, that I have a right to succeed and not be penalized for it. I have a right to fail and have no one run to me if I don't want them to run to me. A conservative believes I have a right to manage my family, I have a right to discipline my family in the way I see fit, as long as it is not criminal. A conservative believes I have the right to worship God, I have a right to worship the God of my understanding, and I do not have the right to jam my version of God down anybody else's throat or my version of no God down anybody's throat. A conservative believes live and let live. That's what a conservative believes. A conservative believes in the smallest amount of government, the smallest government you can get without anarchy. That's what a conservative believes."

That's about all for today. Going to get this finished up so I can work on some other things for the site later.