Mr President

This is one of by buddy Kent's cats. His name is Mr President. He is a rather attractive beast in his velvety grey finery, and as you can see in the shot below, a very nervous boy. I have the pleasure of watching his beasts while he takes in the Indianapolis 500.



And in the next shot, he is not so much perturbed, as he is keeping track of the movements of another cat behind and to the side.

Milling Attachment proof of concept.

Well, relocation of mounting holes went well, and the vise lines up nicely.



The above picture shows the four jaw chuck mounted end mill, piece of aluminum scrap mounted in the new milling attachment assembly. The chuck is running about 800 rpm, as I use light feed to mill the slot, which can be seen more clearly in the following shot.



Now that the concept has been proven, I still lack Y axis travel and for that will need to figure out a way to employ the compound slide to get up and down travel. Maybe after the nap.

Milling attachment Follies

This blogging can get in the way of getting stuff done sometimes. But alas, I think that sharing and documenting this process may be of assistance to someone, somewhere........Anyhoo, I spent a reasonable portion of yesterday bolting parts of an angle vice from a drill press to to a piece of angle iron secured at a dlocal scrap yard in the interest of doing some milling on the lathe without a large outlay of cash (not that this is a bad deal).

Inspired by the following simple hack from a site I discovered only yesterday I set about blowing off all standards and practice of good sense and shose to do some eyeball machining, starting with a couple of holes on one side of the angle iron to mount to the tool post (first picture below) , and then some holes on the other side to accomodate mounting of the vise.



As you may notice in the shot below that there is a lack of symmetry in the mounting holes for securing the vice. There are actually five, the fifth one remaining in pilot hole status 'cause I had located it too far off center to leave enough meat on the vice for a tapped hole.
Needless to say this (my tendancy to hack on the fly) will come back to bite me in the ass.



The next shot is of the bottom of the vice, with one hole drilled to tapping size and the other still requiring the attention of the number 7 drill bit which my little Starrett wallet chart had indicated was the proper size for a 1/4 x 20tpi tap. Visible in the snap are the tap and one of the mounting bolts.



The holes were succesfully tapped, and I must state that when tapping cast iron one must be particularly patient and liberal in the application of cutting fluid. I could tell that I was pushing the tap a bit (which is why I picked up a couple of spares) but backed off as I remembered what a major league pain in the ass it is to remove broken taps. I finished the tool post mounting holes to finished size, mounted the vice to the angle iron and the angle Iron to the compound slide on the vice. Everything fit as it should, and I was glad that I thought about drilling two toolpost mounting holes as the vice might accomodate a bit more travel. Below is a snap of the finished project................



.............and if you look closely, you may not that the bottom jaw on the vise is located above the center line of the lathe..................which means anything in the vice will be above the cutting tool, and therefore, this setup is usefull only if I am interested in milling the vise itself.

Major headslap moment, but a pretty easy fix. Simply locate new mounting holes for the vise in the angle, which is what I intend to do after making a bit of breakfast. This screwup has had the benefit of considering mounting the vice to the compound slide and the compound to the angle and the angle to the cross slide, but this will require a bit of lathework and some thought.

Till next time, and hopefully I will have wiped the stink of wankerdom off of my person.

a Very nervous cat.

Jack enjoying some early evening terrors on the sidwalk in the back yard that leads to nowhere.

>

Another shot of the poor terrified beast.

Saddam's tighty whitey's.

I resisted the curiosity to look at the picture for a while, but then caved. I follow a link to the BBC story, and catch this little demonstration of astonishing ineptitude.

'Destroy the myth'

The Sun cited US military sources saying they handed over the pictures showing Saddam as "an ageing and humble old man" in the hope of dealing a blow to the resistance in Iraq.

"It's important that the people of Iraq see him like that to destroy the myth," the paper's source was quoted as saying.

Right, just like the humiliating photos of his post capture doctor exam, released to break the backbone of the resistance just over a year and a half ago, which was about six months after declaration of victory, and the glorious photo-op that was the inspiration of this blog's title.

Just like the photos of his dead sons were supposed to...........Jeez.

The above has all the hallmarks of the broken record, bird brained logic, employed by the NeoCon's to start up the Middle Eastern Meatgrinder and comments to the contrary by millitary mouthpieces shoul be taken with a Saltlick. These idiots are still operating under the illusion, that the resistance has anything to do with Saddam. But then again these idiots learned all the wrong lessons from Viet Nam while declining to learn from another's mistakes, the Soviet invasion and eventual withdrawal from Afghanistan.

A statement from the US-led force said it was "disappointed at the possibility that someone responsible for the security, welfare, and detention of Saddam would take and provide these photos for public release".

The statement added: "This lapse is being aggressively investigated to determine, if possible, who took the photos, and to ensure existing procedures and directives are complied with to prevent this from happening again."

Col Boylan said: "As far as any breaches of the Geneva Convention, that's something we are looking into. We did not officially release those photos, and so there's a question on whether it is actually a breach or not."

Wow, nice looking loophole you have there, Colonel, I would definately maintain the death grip you have on it. It's a damn good thing that no one is reaponsible for anything, otherwise someone might end up in the pokey.

I won't go into the fact that this is YAVGC (yet another violation of the Geneva Convention).

Kitainy and Bean

A shot of the back of the Kitainy Yevshenki staring at something. "What is it boy?"



Following a story with his nose, as Bean hangs out with her new friend "baby bunny".



Followed by another shot of the two.

Finally got around to making some brass chips.

Below, I am using the drill chuck mounted in the talistock to bore an exhaust port. As the bore needed to continue through the entire length, the part needed to be removed from the 4 jaw chuck remounted and boring continued from the other end. I kind of thought of it as a smaller version of the chunnel, and it took a bit longer than I anticipated.



Below is the finished part.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

So this afternoon on this thread over at the eschaton, a troll going by the nom de blog The American Left, makes a few interesting statements. So what the hell, I will share them with you. Any Italicised text represents something said by some other party, any bold text or text within parenthases will indicate snark or background.

i'm getting my ass handed to me everywhich way, and i just can't take it anymore.

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 3:48 pm |

And so it begins, makes a good point doesn't it.
...

Every time Bush is proven right or the liberal media is proven wrong, all I have is name-calling and impotent RAAAAAGE! It's easier to throw crap than to stand up for what is right!

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 3:53 pm |

...

Obviously the American military has beaten prisoners, killed them, sexually humiliated them, but don't you libs DARE accuse the military of flushing a Koran down the toilet, or you will expose yourselves for the tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy kooks you all secretly are.


Obviously the American military investigated, tried, and convicted the people responsbile, so America must be bad and should be attacked by Saddamites and Islamofascists on a regular basis.

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 3:55 pm |

Not sure it is aware of it, but he is responding to a parody troll.
.....

i hope your son, your daughter, your mother, your father, your freind, your brother, whoever goes to iraq and dies for the lie.


Wishing death upon people--another great support-building tactic brought to you by the American Left!

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 3:56 pm |

...

we didn't start this war.


Correct-Saddam started it.


We'll finish it, and the Iraqis will thank everyone who supported their liberation.


I don't know what they'll think of the people who supported Saddam, though.

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:04 pm |

It should be obvious at this point that there is no reasoning with this one.
....

Bolton will stand up to dictators and murderers, and their supporters, in the UN. We just can't have that happening.

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:09 pm |

.....

How exactly, did Saddam start the war? (I had asked this question in response to 4:04)


Kuwait, 1991, was supposed to give up his weapons and stop oppressing people afterward? Spent his time instead building palaces and buying off leftist politicians like your hero George Galloway and Jacques Chirac?


Saddam started it. We finished it.

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:10 pm |

I won't even go into the details of our "a nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat" complicity.
....

another stupid ass.


Another leftist dodge. You're the one who wished death upon someone I know to "teach me a lesson". Typical--use violence to force ideological purity.


And you wonder why so many people tried to escape from the workers' paradises of the Soviet bloc?

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:14 pm |

.....



If you finished it, what are 150,000 soldiers doing bogged down in Iraq?


Trying to keep your dead-ender allies among the remnants of the Ba'ath party, and their friends among al Qaeda, from killing more freedom-loving Iraqis and toppling the democratically-elected government.


I know you freaks hate votes and elections--just look at the fight over the constitutional option, where you nuts want to prevent a fair vote on judicial nominees--but can you at least pretend to have the best interests of Iraqis at heart once in a while, instead of foreign jihadis and friends of the former dictator?

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:17 pm |

....

Saddam is awaiting trial for his many crimes, when he should be given a comfortable home, welfare, and some understanding.

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:20 pm |

.....

TAL - let's show these rotten bastards what true patriotism is all about by signing up for military service and volunteering for duty in Iraq. (the General made this statement and drew out a rather curious response)


Why would I want to go to Iraq when there are even more dangerous and diabolical Islamofascists for me to fight right here?

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:24 pm |

I presume he is referring to us evil leftists, but clearly the ftrain has jumped the tracks.
....

Ethiopians are voting in elections today. Why can't they just have a brutal dictator like all brown people are supposed to have?

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:26 pm |

Trans. I don't think I am a rascist fuckwit, besides monumental evidence to the contrary.
...

I just bought a new yellow ribbon decal for my Suburban last week. See: you commie pinko libs hate the troops.


That's good, but it's not enough. You also need to make a call to Rush Limbaugh's show to voice your support at least once every three or four months.


I know waiting on hold ain't fun, but it's the very least we can do to show our solidarity with those young men and women who are in harm's way.

The American Left | Email | Homepage | 05.15.05 - 4:31 pm |

HA HA HA HA HA

What a terrible waste of all that food, water, and air.

More lathe fun

While not obvious in the photo, the lathe is running at about 200 rpm. Notice that the hand on the dial indicator is barely a blur. This is because the brass rod in the four jaw chuck has been centered to about .0007 or within 7 ten thousanths of an inch, or as the old timers would put it 7 tenths. This is actually pretty damn good for a lathe of this quality and probably represents the limits of concentricity in the rod itself.

In any event, time to make something.

Oh Sweet Jesus.

Thanks to Wtlodge40
Who had the following to say:

http://www.bushfish.org/

And I do apologize.... but why should I be the only one pouring disinfectant in my eyes?

Satire is fucking dead - DEAD!

So I hop on over to check out the link and what do I find?



While Godwin's Law may have at one point been appropriate, I do not think he could have anticipated the ascendancy of BushCorp, nor the numbers of people who would follow into lockstep support of dear leader. From the site (dripping with a persecution complex).

If this country's legislature and judiciary are supposed to
reflect the values and beliefs of The People, then send them
a message that they are WAY off course!

If you are tired of secularists telling you that The Lord has no place
in our government and our public institutions, then show them that
you disagree.

This symbol, this site, and this car magnet have been created for the
millions of Americans who support the President and his vision for a
government that embraces religion, morality, and family values. It
shows worship to the Lord, respect for the President, and hope for
all.

Join the millions of Americans who believe that President Bush’s faith-
based administration presents the best hope for America’s future.
The future is in your hands. Stand up and be counted!

Democracy be damned, these folks are hell bent on the establishment of the "Theocratic States of Crackerstan"

Rice in Iraq: "War came to us" Yeah, Riiiiiiiiiiiight

Well the Mistress of Mendacity, does it again. Thanks SteveNS . On how many freaking levels this is wrong, I am not going to bother to calculate, but I will take a moment to remind everyone of the conventional 9-11 story, and that is that a bunch of Saudi terrorists with no proven connection to Saddam Hussein were responsible for the attacks on the US that day. So lets take a look at the wonderfull feelgood Photo-Op that was Condi's visit to Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Sunday, urging patience for the country's fragile new government and offering encouragement to American troops.

Rice, making her first visit to Iraq as secretary of state, spoke to hundreds of U.S. troops and diplomats in Baghdad.

"I want you to keep focused on what you are doing here," Rice told the diplomats and troops who gathered in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. "This war came to us, not the other way around."

"The United States, along with the rest of the free world, believed somehow for a number of years that people in this region didn't care about freedom," she said. "We cared about stability. And what we got was neither. We got a malignancy that was growing that came to haunt us on the fine September day" in 2001.

A couple of things. First what region are you referring to exacly, IsRabiStan, a region bordered by china in the east, Russia to the north, the Indian Ocean to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, or are you just referring to RabPersiaStan, the region that for some reason sits on top of the oil that rightfully belongs to Team America™? Secondly the way that "...fine September day" rolls off fyour tongue, makes me wonder if you do not consider yourself to have benefitted from the horrible events of that day.

And was not your previous job to see to it that such events did not happen at all, and instead of reprimand, you enjoy a promotion. How do I get into your line of work, how do I get on the fast track of spectacular Hacktacularity, whenever will the Peter Principle come to my assistance?

Friday night Chiquita Blogging

There really is nothing to add. Just too freaking cute.

Friday Bean Blogging.

This is the smallest member of our "herd" and also the most likely candidate as the surgeon responsible for the entrails on the dining room rug. If you look really closely you can see her thumb on the forward facing forepaw. Her five regular toes are covered in the tan fur.

As usual she was moving towards me at the time of the shot so it is not as clear as I would like, and the lighting did not help, but I digress, and present Bean, cold blooded killer and real sweetheart.

Threatening sky.

Both of these shots were taken 5 minutes ago. It's springtime in South Central Indiana. Right after rolling the dice and taking the bike out to get some milk. A soaking was definately in the offing, but as luck would have it I made it back in time to notice this and avoid the rain.






It sounds like it is getting stormy out there.

Wooooo Boy, a Putrid Pile of Republican Peccadilloes.

Thanks to my Friend Phila, of Bouphonia and a regular at the Eschaton, did the heavy lifting which I will share with you here. Between jerking off horses and having sex with equine quadropeds, and taking advantage of your wife's Narcolepsy to pleasure yerself, a few things seem to have fallen through the cracks.

Update: Phila say he got half of this material from Armchair Subversive and Political Amazon so please feel free to check out the good work going on over there.

If we're going ot have lots of long posts, they may as well talk about Republicans who fuck children.

Enjoy!

Colorado GOP activist Randy Ankeny used the Internets to lure a 13-year-old girl to a house decorated with "numerous photos of President Bush." He photographed her topless, then tried to have sex with her. He accepted her refusal, but said that if she told anyone what had happened he would "ruin her life." Click the link for many, many more stories about this "rising star" in the Republican party.

Phil Giordano, Republican former mayor of Waterbury, CT, is so catastrophically perverted that I had to read the charges against him twice to make sense of them.

The children in question are girl cousins, aged 9 and 10. He is also said to have fathered a 7 year-old boy by the mother of one of these children, meaning he may have been having sex with his son's sister. Also, the teenaged daughter of the mother of these two young girls has said she was paid money by Giordano to watch him have sex with her mother -- in his City Hall office!

Sheesh. Could you run that by me again, this time with sock puppets?

Mark A. Grethen, another "rising star" in the GOP, was found guilty of six counts of forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual battery against children in 2001. That didn't stop the National Republican Congressional Committee from inviting him to receive a "Republican of the Year" award in 2002.
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:06 am | #

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Robert Bauman (R-Md.) had oral sex with a teenage boy.

Republican anti-abortion activist (and Terri Schiavo idolator) Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist.

Anti-abortion extremist Nicholas Morency confessed in 2001 to possession of child pornography.
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:07 am | #

---

Edison Misla Aldarondo, Republican former speaker of Puerto Rico's house of representatives, molested his step-daughter and raped her friend. Both girls were seventeen at the time.

Richland County Commissioner David Swartz (R-OH) raped two girls who were under eleven years old.

Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge took pornographic photos of underage girls.
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:08 am | #

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Republican pastor Mike Hintz, a married father of four, had an affair with a 17-year-old girl from his church's youth group.

Merrill Robert Barter confessed that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy during the Republican State Convention. Barter declined to resign his post as County Commissioner.

GOP election official Kevin Coan was picked up in an Internet sting, after soliciting sex from an investigator whom he believed was a 14-year-old girl.
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:08 am | #

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Republican legislator Peter Dibble was arrested on child sex charges earlier this year.

Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich was convicted of the "indecent assault" of a 10-year-old girl.

Republican assembly candidate Richard Gardner was found guilty of molesting his daughters, but argued that he was still eligible to run for public office.
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:09 am | #

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Anti-gay activist Rev. Stephen White offered a 14-year-old boy $20 for oral sex.

Anti-abortion extremist John Allen Burt molested underage girls who were living in his "home for unwed mothers."

Conservative talk-show host Jon Mathews was found guilty of "indecency with a child by exposure."
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:09 am | #

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Christian Coalition leader Beverly Russell molested his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Susan Smith, whose later murder of her own children was treated by the Right as evidence of the nation's moral decline under Bill Clinton.

Andrew Buhr, Republican party nominee from the Missouri house, pleaded guilty to oral sex with a 13-year-old boy.

Republican businessman Richard A. Dasen Sr. paid over a million dollars for sex with dozens of young girls, including a 15-year-old. He volunteered at a service called "Christian Financial Counseling," ostensibly to help people who were in financial trouble, which put him in a perfect position to offer desperate women money in return for sex.
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:10 am | #

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Nicholas Elizondo of the Young Republican Federation went to jail for sexually abusing his 6-year-old daughter.

Republican legislative aide Howard Brooks raped a 12-year-old boy, and possessed child pornography.

Republican legislator Keith Westmoreland was found guilty of exposing himself to underage girls. He later killed himself.
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:11 am | #

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Earl Kimmerling became a darling of the ultra-right when he fought tooth and nail to prevent a gay couple from adopting an 8-year-old foster child that had been placed under his care. Kimmerling's pastor and state Republican officials got involved in the case. Kimmerling later confessed to molesting the girl.

Paul Ingram, former head of his county Republican party, went to prison on six counts of child rape.

Pleasant dreams!
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:11 am | #

---

Oh, almost forgot...

Republican alderman Mark Harris molested a girl repeatedly between the ages of 11 and 13. Harris initially claimed the abuse was "unintentional." Her father said "Did he have a moral compass? Did he act with a conscience? Did he abide by the laws? No. It wasn't one time. He did it over and over and over."
Phila | Email | Homepage | 05.13.05 - 3:13 am | #

Now that's an impressively disgusting list. And the party of Projectile Projectitude wants to lecture US on morality?. Go forth and visit his blog, a link should not be difficult to find.

Deana, the Glorious One

She is the mistress of a two cat two dog household, and I am proud to exist in her pantheon of personage, which makes capturing ideal images of her difficult. You see, as I get into position to snap one, she immediately starts in my direction for some lovin'. I seem to have this problem with most of the felines in the extended family, in fact the majority of shots have my feet in them (see last thumb).




I am definately gonna have to work on my stealth techniques or pray for better shots when it gets hot, and they get lazy.

My little Metal lathe

This is a shot of a small metal lathe. A handy tool for making all sorts of things. It has been said that the metal lathe is the only machine that could reproduce itself. It was that quote that led me to an interest in machine tools, or maybe that was a rekindling, what do I know, I am an old man now.


Below are a couple of cubes turned out of round rod, fabricated with the aid of the four jaw chuck, for practice and grins.

Hooray for Everything.

Titled after the superbowl halftime show in a Simpsons episode, the following will mostly be about me. Today I have the pleasure of beginning my 41st trip around the sun. I have to admit that the approach of this milestone has been somewhat unsetteling, as I have pondered the difference between the actual impact my existance has had on the planet, to the one that I once dreamed I would have.

I loathe self promotion and crave candor, but have promised myself, that today I should do some accounting, and indulge the inner Me, Me, Me, and attempt to catalogue some of my achievements. If the plan works out (see first four words in previous sentence) you may hear about an invitation to the Olympic Training Center, the completion of my first bicycle frame a month and a half after being instructed in the operation of the oxy acetylene torch. Maybe something about how I cut my rock and roll chops, in a trio, with a grammy award nominated guitarist or how much fun it is to communicate over long distance with kit built, homebrew, or seriously modified Ham Radio equipment. Possibly you may hear about my journey to computer literacy, or the time when the owner of a local fine dining establishment, asked me to cover for his best cook a couple years after I had last worked in the place, and how I have recently discovered that I am a natural in the machine shop.

OK, now I feel a little sick.

In any event, I will post a couple of possibly interesting things today if I do not get sucked into a day spent at that Blog of ill repute, occasionally referred (actually once, by some idiot LGF'er) to as Haloscam.

I hope that it is as gorgeous a day in your neck of the woods, as it is in mine.

Cheers.

Jack, Hard at work.

A sky shot from moving car with new camera

On the way home from the purchase of some rechargable batteries for the new camera, the sky looked pretty cool so I took the shot from the moving car.

Look what the cat dragged in.

The following is a shot of what appear to be the head, eyes and entrails of a small rodent, left as a gift on the dining room floor. A very small portion of Haggis, and some tiny sausages may have been the "message" sent by the intrepid killer.



I must say that the surgical precision is quite impressive.

Mother and puppy blogging Friday

Our next door neighbor Sophia's, Miniature Pinscher, Chiquita, became a mother for the first time on Monday morning. She is just adorable, and has taken to the mantle of motherhood nicely. Below, chiquita, and brood are out of the "manger".