Fast is fine, but accuracy is final. You must learn to be slow in a hurry.
Page 93 of 292
The Wards Go To The State Fair
This past weekend, The Wife and I took her mother to the Florida State Fair. It was the first time MIL had been to the fair. On the whole, we enjoyed it. Cracker Country was its normal charming self. Expo Hall was its normal riot of booths of established firms, wild entrepreneurs, and MLMs. The Arts and Crafts hall was more sparse, but The Wife found a booth she managed to find some home decor.
And we came home with fudge!
Broken Education
I was listening to the Unregistered podcast, and Corey DeAngelis was being interviewed. If you don’t know, DeAngelis is one of the leading advocates of school choice. The interview brought up all the problems I have with how we do grade school education in the country. How badly we serve some of our children with how inefficiently we use tax dollars in government schools.
Yes, I will admit in “Derek’s Grand View,” all education would be privatized. I don’t think the government has the correct incentives to run modern education systems appropriately. Particularly when we look at how they have responded in the last two years with the pandemic. However, that’s not the world we actually live in. There is a national interest in ensuring a minimally educated populace, plus we have built our economic structures on government run daycare that will provide some education. Some schools do provide great education, while others are little more than holding pens for children.
So, what can we do? My option for continuing with government schools is “backpack funding” of schools. Essentially, the dollars follow the students. To get the most out of this will require letting the students go to any school within the district, regardless of where they currently live. It will also require allowing the school leadership make hiring/firing/payroll decisions as well as setting local school policies and goals. This would allow for schools to cater to the parents to attract students. Will there still be holding pen schools? Probably. Malfeasance and corruption happen everywhere, but I think there will at least be more accountability in this method. I also think this would help reward high performing teachers and innovative education models.
Monday Fiction – Zombie Strike Part 11 Chapter 110
St. Louis, Missouri; 31 December, 2011, 0100 hours local; Countdown: 23 hours
Castle stepped out of the cab of the truck. The guards at the checkpoint didn’t even put up a fight against his Champions and warriors. They just stood in fear as Mikhail flayed them apart. So much for the vaunted courage of the American soldier. His hand-picked followers would show them what true courage was this day. As soon as Castle’s foot hit the ground of the city of the dead, he felt energy course up his body. Even now, the mystical forces were building. With each step, he could feel the energies increase. These weren’t the energies of Xipe Totec. These were from the Great Death pushing into this world. With the five focus points of the Ritual of Golden Protection and the Key, Castle would take all of the Great Death’s energy to destroy them and rebuild the world in his god’s image. Castle looked at the dark buildings of what was once one of America’s great cities. Now, it was his. Soon, the world would also fall into his grasp.
"Get down!" yelled a voice from behind. Castle felt himself pushed to the ground by one of his Champions. The Champion was so focused on getting Castle to the ground, he didn’t have time to raise his own shield. His head exploded as the bullet struck. Castle snarled as he felt his Champion’s body collapse on top of him. Two more Champions appeared at Castle’s side with magic shields sparkling in the night. Castle waited patiently under the body as his forces dealt with the threat. Better to let his enemies think they’d succeeded.
"You might as well get out from under that corpse," said the voice that alerted Castle to danger. The man sounded bored and annoyed. The two Champions pulled their dead comrade off their leader. Castle graciously accepted his Champions’ assistance as he got to his feet.
"Damn Zombie Strike. I thought they were sixty kilometers south of the city," Castle snarled.
"They are, and that wasn’t Zombie Strike," Collin DuBois said, watching the Truth’s forces attack the ambushers. "I think that was the Knights Templar. They used the same MO on you back in The Hague." Castle looked carefully at the man. As far as Zombie Strike knew, Collin DuBois was dead, killed when the Americans dropped two of their heaviest non-nuclear bombs on the Truth’s creature laboratory. The former SAS soldier was one of the focus points, which was why the Truth kept him alive. It cost Castle about twenty acolytes and two sorcerers in Collin’s various escape attempts.
"Foolish papists," Castle said. His intelligence said the Vatican was keeping its own forces out of this. Apparently, his intelligence was wrong. Castle looked back at Collin. "Why did you warn me? You’ve made no secret your desire to see me dead." The tall man didn’t say anything for a long moment.
"We’re past the point we could’ve stopped you by simply killing you. We’re going to have play this out," Collin answered, his voice a neutral cold.
Fort Deadhead, Festus, Missouri; 31 December, 2011, 0100 hours local; Countdown: 23 hours
"General, Checkpoint Five North is off the net. Checkpoint Six North reports a large force just blew through Five North. At least two hundred strong," the major in charge of the command center reported.
"Castle and his people," Mateo Cortez observed from his seat in the command center. General Allen nodded thoughtfully.
"So it begins," the general in command of all forces of the St. Louis Quarantine Zone observed. "Earlier than we expected."
"To be blunt, it doesn’t matter. If anything, it gives us a larger window to work the plan," Mateo said. Mateo stifled a yawn. He should be asleep with the rest of his team, but he always had trouble sleeping the night before a major operation. He tried, but he kept having nightmares. He kept seeing Robyn torn apart by vampires. He shook his head to clear the image from his mind.
"General, someone just opened fire on the Truth," the major reported, holding his hand to the headset.
"Who?" Allen and Mateo demanded at the same time. Mateo gave Allen an apologetic smile as the general glared at him.
"Not sure. Our checkpoints are reporting the Truth is exchanging fire with someone. It’s not one of ours." The general looked over at Mateo.
"Not my people," Mateo said. "I checked on them before coming over here."
"Get a Predator over there. I want visuals," the general ordered. He turned back to Mateo. "Could it be some of the Great Death that leaked through? Like what happened in Panama?"
"I doubt it. We destroyed all of them in Panama, and Chief Stahl’s little amulet should let him know if more of the Great Death managed to come to this side," Mateo said. "If it is, then our best bet would be to let them kill each other. Makes our job easier."
"Well, we’ll know in fifteen minutes," the general said.
St. Louis, Missouri; 31 December, 2011, 0115 hours local; Countdown: 22 hours, 45 minutes
The sudden gunfire startled the vampire awake. It took her a moment to realize exactly what woke her up. Then, she was furious. For the last week, enough of the master’s energies leaked through the thinning dimensional wall that she hadn’t been forced to feed on the pathetic humans. Now they were disturbing her slumber. That would make the wait until her master came for her seem even longer.
Her body cringed as the unnatural energy crackled. So, it wasn’t just the humans in the funny armor. The strange god’s clerics had finally come. They would try to stop the master from bringing the people into this world. The gods of this world had managed to stop the master before, but not this time. The master learned from his mistakes. The vampire walked back into the apartment she was using as her lair. She looked at the four other sleeping forms. She was the master’s scout. The one chosen to find the place of emergence for the master and her people. These others were the ones chosen to deal with the foolish human clerics. The ten vampires of the Master’s Guards stirred as they felt the energy being thrown about. They would sleep through the hated daylight of this world. It didn’t matter. This would be the last day the humans of this world saw.
Friday Quote – Charles Dickens
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
More Life At Ward Manor
So, this is a round up of some of the “slice of life” items for the last week or so…
- Everyone’s Negative – Everyone in the family tested negative for the covids. BIL had a real bad case that required an almost week stay in the local ED. Note – the hospital was so full, he never left the ED. He’s recovering at home now. There was a silver lining to being sick. I heard The Wife tell MIL: *I will never complain about what Derek doesn’t do around the house after having to do all his chores.* Hopefully, I’ll be able to get out and get the new pistol tested in the next couple of weeks.
- Fuck Scammers – I got an interesting text message informing me that someone was trying to charge over $800 to Nordstroms on my card. After verifying that it was actually my bank trying to contact me and not a scam itself, I was forced to shut that card down. I am awaiting new card, and then starts the process of finding all the sites where I have auto-pay tied to the card. At least I’m not out the $800.
- New Ear Buds – I have been using Apple’s AirPods Pro for the last couple of years. They’re great – when they work. The working part has become less and less. Not a substantial amount of the time, but enough that I hit my frustration cap. I’m testing a set of Jabra Elites at the moment. The fit isn’t as good as the AirPods, but the sound is comparable. I’m going to give them a month or so.
Remington To Pay the Danegeld
Well, kinda. According to the USAToday article, it was more the insurers of the rump of Remington who agreed to shell out $73 million to the plaintiffs. This is the part of the article that worries me more:
As part of the settlement, Remington also agreed to allow the families to release documents they obtained during the lawsuit, including ones that show how the gunmaker marketed the weapon, said Joshua Koskoff, lead attorney representing the families, at Tuesday’s news conference.
Hockley said the families “can’t wait” to release the thousands of internal documents they obtained, which she said “paint a picture of a company that lost its way choosing more aggressive marketing campaigns for profit, with no thought to the impact.”
“From the beginning, it was not about money,” Koskoff said. “It was about getting answers, learning about these decisions.”
He added: “The linchpin of this settlement is that it allows these families the right to share the information as to what they learned.
The money is part of it, but they’re going to reap millions more worth of PR from how they “share” all of this discovery information with their willing partners in the corporate media. They’ve also poked a hole in the PLCAA, which does not bode well for the future.
I wonder if anyone over at the NSSF has considered the idea of a legal fund for the gun companies. Kind of like the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Fund. Everyone pays in and that fund is dedicated to fighting this kind of bullshit. Because make no mistake, there will be another to pay the Danegeld if they do not have their allies to support them.
Monday Fiction – Zombie Strike Part 11 Chapter 109
Festus, Missouri; 23 December, 2011, 1200 hours local; Countdown: 8 days
Mateo Cortez walked down the helicopter’s cargo ramp. Just beyond the still-spinning rotors of the helicopter stood a grim-faced welcoming committee. A young-looking corporal hustled over to lead Zombie Strike’s field leader to the waiting group. Mateo suddenly realized the corporal was Evan Torelli. What was that kid doing here? Mateo filed the question in the back of his mind as General Allen stepped out.
"Welcome to Fort Deadhead," General Allen said. Mateo shook the general’s outstretched hand. General Bull Allen was the commander of the American Combined Anti-Zombie Task Force for the St. Louis Quarantine Zone. Officially called The Quarantine Zone Forward Command and Control Operations Center, Fort Deadhead was the task force’s headquarters. Although the quarantine zone was a fifty-mile diameter perimeter around Saint Louis, the military commandeered the Festus Memorial Airport about thirty-five miles south of the city. Most of Festus’s residents, as well as those in neighboring Crystal City, were now working inside Fort Deadhead.
"Thanks General. I appreciate you setting us up here," Mateo said.
"Just made sense," General Allen said. His warm face went tight. "I expect you to tell me exactly what’s going on. Everything. No more holding back."
"That was one of the first things we expected to do after setting our stuff down," Mateo said, "We even brought a PowerPoint."
"It better be good. I hate PowerPoints," the general replied.
"It should be. We even brought in some of M&W’s marketing people to polish it up," Mateo said neutrally. Lowering his voice, Mateo asked, "Why is Evan here?"
"Kid’s smart and can handle himself," Allen answered, "We ran him through an abbreviated boot camp, which he passed with flying colors. We bootstrapped him so that he could be attached to headquarters. Technically, Torelli’s Special Agent Tredegar’s aide, but he’s really the guy’s bodyguard." Mateo looked over at the gangly, hook-nosed FBI agent. Tredegar headed up the Justice Department’s covert investigation of the Truth. Mateo asked Zombie Strike’s parent firm, MacKenzie and Winston, to quietly ask for Tredegar’s reassignment to head up the task force’s intelligence team. This close to the endgame, Mateo wanted people in place that he trusted.
"Does Tredegar need a bodyguard?" Mateo asked.
"There’s been three attempts on his life since he got here," Allen answered, "Twice for me. Needless to say, I’m more than a little interested in finding out what these people are after." Mateo only nodded. General Allen showed the team their barracks and let them get settled in. Six hours later, the Zombie Strike team, General Allen, his staff and field commanders, and Tredegar and his top staff, including Evan Torrelli, crammed into Fort Deadhead’s main command center. Mateo was standing in front of the gathered personage. He clicked the projector’s remote. On the screen behind him appeared a black and white picture of a young, handsome man dressed in khakis standing at an archeological dig.
"This is Dr. Juan de Castilla, better known as Castle. He is the leader of the Truth," Mateo began. "He comes from a wealthy Spanish family that has been preparing for this day for the last four hundred and fifty years. Everything the Truth has done up to now has been in the cause of fulfilling a prophecy written by the followers of the Aztec god Xipe Totec. The destruction of the satellite constellation, the destruction of Mexico City, the toppling of most of the world’s governments, and the near constant outbreaks of zombies were all part of setting up the world for this. Eight days from now, Castle, and at least his Champions – we call them minions – will go into St. Louis to perform a ritual."
"This purpose of this ritual will be to somehow use the power of Xipe Totec to fend off an invasion of interdimensional beings bent on conquering our world. The Truth calls them the Great Death. This is what they really are," Mateo continued, clicking the remote. The fuzzy picture depicted a seven- to eight-foot tall monster with a flat, fang-filled face, matty brown fur, and powerful limbs ending in sharp claws.
"This is what they look like when they first come into our world. After a while, they will change into something more human-looking. Ladies and gentlemen, the Great Death are vampires." There was a collective gasp of astonishment from the task force leadership.
"Are you out of your mind? Vampires, a ritual to bring in a god, and a world-wide conspiracy? It sounds like a bad movie," said Col. Dickens, the task force’s head Air Force officer.
"I’ve seen the vampires Walt," Tredegar said. "Zombie Strike fought them in Panama a while back. A handful of them nearly wiped us out, and they hadn’t even gotten strong by then."
"If the Great Death, as you called them, are so powerful, why shouldn’t we let the Truth deal with them?" asked one of the intelligence people.
"Because if they manage to defeat the Great Death, the Truth will have the power to take over the world and convert everyone to the worship of Xipe Totec," Mateo answered. "I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my daughters growing up in a world where human sacrifice is considered a normal religious ceremony." There were grunts of agreement.
"So how are we going to stop both the Truth and this Great Death?" asked one of the army officers.
"We know the ritual requires specific people to be involved to work. We have information that some of those people may be members of Zombie Strike," Mateo answered.
"Who?" General Allen asked.
"We think Chief Stahl and maybe myself," Mateo answered, "Unfortunately, the actual people who will fulfill the roles aren’t decided until the moment of the ritual."
"Decided by whom?" Tredegar asked.
"The magic, the gods, fate, all of the above?" Mateo said, shrugging his shoulders, "We don’t know. Our current theory is that if we kill as many of the Truth before the ritual, more of our people will be able to take those roles. From there, we should be able to take control of the ritual and stop Xipe Totec and the Great Death."
"That sounds like a lot of guesses," General Allen commented.
"We know," Mateo said, "That’s why you’ll have the Omega directive underway when we go in." The room fell silent as the task force’s leadership looked at Mateo in stunned silence. The Omega directive was classified to the highest levels. As far as the task force knew, they were the only ones who knew about it beyond the president, the secretary of defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The Omega Directive was simple. At the predetermined time, Saint Louis would be hit by nukes. A lot of nukes from multiple vectors. Nukes on missiles, nukes in gravity bombs, even nuclear tipped artillery shells. Even more horrendous, the directive called for a continuous nuclear bombardment for over twelve hours. The first time General Allen saw the directive, he recoiled in horror at the sheer overkill for a city of zombies. After hearing Mateo’s briefing, the general wasn’t sure if it was going to be enough.
"What do you need from us?" asked General Allen, trying to keep his composure.
"What we really need from the task force is an all-out attack against the zombies in the city," Mateo answered, "We’re going to have a tough enough time fighting whatever Truth forces Castle has with him without having to deal with the hordes as well. After that, I’d like some air cover available on call and someone to control it. Being able to rain down some fire in a pinch would be nice. Any other support you can give us after that will be helpful, but to be honest, you’re going to have enough of a fight on your hands." General Allen stood up and faced his people.
"Well folks, we have a lot of work to do between now and New Year’s Eve. No matter what we do, too many of our boys and girls will be celebrating their last Christmas on Sunday. Let’s do what we can to make sure that it isn’t the last Christmas this world sees."