Tuesday, May 27, 2008

These People Make the Laws

I just ran across this video (here). A barrel shroud is a safety feature. This woman thinks we should ban/regulate them. Her reasoning will astound you. The clip is under a minute long.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Sand Runner

By C.W.Holeman III
© May 25, 2008
(Raw Dream Material.)


Near future:

I was at at prison/resurch facility in deep desert.

Test goes wrong. Bomb explodes. The OIC decides to convert all inmates into power. It will of course kill them. It was an accident the bomb blew early. Almost killed the test team in the sand. I escaped. I'd been jailed for being too close to to the test. I saw the lack of safety protocols.

I heard the order to convert to power. I ran. I fled. Fleeing from place to place, I eventually made my way home.

Bt this point, Everyone thought I was a bad man. I was a fugitive for something. Not for what I'd done. I knew If I was captured that I would be killed right away, before I could squeal on the OIC.

I picked up a pair of HC M-SD Cards.

I made it home. I got to the church building where I'd been going. My sister (dark hair) brought me food. I ate in the attic. I was going to stay there, sleep. But there were too many of them. They were going to find me.

I ran again. Someone grabbed me. A cop. I couldn't get away. I knew I was dead. No way out. He was trying to lock my brain. I'd be helpless then. Unable to fight.

He almost had me locked. I was desperate. I initiated Brain Dead. I would be dead in moments. Every man's right. The cop looked to his superior, should he let me? She shook her head, but she said yes. What kind of man, she must have thought, would kill himself? I don' t know if she knew what was waiting for me. Must not have, not with that look on her face.

But I had cheated.

Remember those CH M-SD Cards? I had placed a back up copy of Me in each of them. As I sagged to the ground, my last bytes on their way to the either, I popped in the card.

Back-ups are wonderful things. Don't leave home with out them. I don't.

My memories of the last few hours would be a bit fuzzy, but the brain would retain residue images of things past.

The cop tried to grab me. But I was off again. Through the town I ran. Up stairs, through shops, past stores, down stairs. Past the horse corral, almost to the open fields again. Almost to the country. Almost to safety.

I had eluded so many cops. I could see lights flashing all around.

A car pulled up behind me. One of those big ones. It pulled past me and parked. On the other side of the open field, there were more of them. This one was so close.

Bor was a friend of mine. I went to a Bible study at his house. He was a cop. I'd know him for years. He walked up slowly.

He offered me hope. The first I'd had since the alert went public. I trusted him.

You always hear the saying, hide in plain sight. That's was Bor did. He took me to jail, put me in a cell, and locked the door. I was relieved. It was the local holding station. There were a few other people in there with me.

A little while latter, when the broadcast stared, I was so happy. I'd done it. The imprint from a HC M-SD Card was better that an eye witness. Bor transmitted it on all the bands he could.

A cop has access to a lot of bands.

I sat in that cell, and I laughed.

I sat in a cell, but I was free.

The truth was out.

You can't put

a genie

back

in

a
.
.
.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Reviewing "Stargate Atlantis" Season Three

I've just completed watching the third season of "Stargate Atlantis" on DVD. It was fantastic.

Although the Wraith were not as prevalant in this season as in times past, when they did show their ugly, pale faces, they presented unique and interesting challenges for Weir, Shepard and company to overcome.

The time not spent on the Wraith was filled with character development, new people introduced (Meredith's sister ) old enemies revisited (the Jenni), new enemies encountered (a new breed of Replicators) and some out-of-this-universe conundrums.

WARNING: Big Spoiler!

My biggest complaint of the season was, and it's a real doozy, the manner in which Dr. Carter Beckett died. The fact that he died at all, I object to because I liked everything about him; from his accent to his manner, to -well, everything.

I could have lived with his death if only he had died in a worthy manner. Worthy meaning he spent his last few minutes removing an exploding tumor from a person. I don't count Little Nobodies whom you've never seen before, and will never see again, as people. (In the context of fiction.)

Dr. Beckett ought to have been given the honor of giving his life for someone whom we, the audience, actually care about. Tala, Ronan, Zalanka. Even Lorren would have been OK. But to cut off his life for a faceless man? I call it a waste and a shame.