I'm back from vacation. You did not even know I was gone, that is how dedicated I am to this piece o'crap blog of mine. Even though I was in the most beautiful place on Earth I posted nearly every day for you.
Not really. Almost every post for the past ten or twelve days was canned. I think I put up one fresh post. I imagine that is a comment on the quality of the content around here.
What? Oh, the wife and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage later this month. It has been her dream as long as I have known her to go to Hawaii. So we spent a glorious week on Oahu. And yes, as part of the deal she had to agree to go to Pearl Harbor with me. I may or may not post pictures of the trip in future posts.
At least I know you did not miss me too much. I wish you had stopped by to water the plants though.
May 31, 2014
May 30, 2014
May 28, 2014
Another day, another scandal
I suspect the Democrats in Congress will be demanding a Special Prosecutor to investigate who in the administration outed a CIA officer and Station Chief.
You remember the outrage when the Bush Administration quoted a reporter about CIA desk jockey Valerie Plame? Certainly naming the CIA Station Chiief in Kabul is worse?
Oh never mind, I forgot Democrats are by nature f-ing hypocrites.
You remember the outrage when the Bush Administration quoted a reporter about CIA desk jockey Valerie Plame? Certainly naming the CIA Station Chiief in Kabul is worse?
Oh never mind, I forgot Democrats are by nature f-ing hypocrites.
The gift that keeps on giving
Let that tune occupy your mind on a Wednesday. Good luck washing that from your skull.
May 27, 2014
Why Iwould never send my Kids to Rutgers University
I have been thinking about something way more than it deserves. You may or may not be aware that I am an avid student of history. While my major was history (my degree is Liberal Arts), I claim only rudimentary skills or training as a historian. Still, I am certain that if I was a parent of a student taking a history class at Rutgers University I would demand answers from the faculty, the President, and the Board of Trustees.
Several members of the faculty that lead the protest against honoring former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as a commencement speaker and an honorary degree were members of the history department -- including Professor Jackson Lears and Rudolph Bell. I find it utterly amazing a purported historian would forgo an opportunity to discuss and hear the words of someone intimately involved in a significant historical event of the past decade. Politics aside, here is a chance to see and hear the words of person who was a decision maker in world politics. Further, it is an opportunity interact with the first female African-American Secretary of State. This is a case of historians literally holding their hands over their ears and chanting nah, nah, nah in order to keep from possibly hearing something with which they personally disagree.
One of the first lessons I learned in my upper-level historiography classes* was that a historian must recognize and try to eliminate his inherent bias'. Clearly, the members of the history department at Rutgers skipped class to watch General Hospital the day that lesson was taught. Ignoring history because you do not like the outcome is malpractice at best. What historian would skip the opportunity to witness Hitler's Munich Rally? Who would protest a chance to listen to Robert E. Lee? What real historian would ignore a chance to listen to Bin Laden express his reasons for 9/11? I am certainly not making any historical equations, but only a greater point. Would I skip a opportunity to listen to President Obama had he spoke at my commencement? No, I would go if only to view the words in a historical framework.
The role of a legitimate historian is not ignoring facts and evidence and historical personages that he does not like. Would a legitimate historian ignore the words of Castro, or would she contrast his words with events of the Cuban Revolution as described by those who fled the Island? Documenting the past is the job of a historian. Refusal to listen to a person intimately involved in history is beyond my comprehension. Are these so-called historians ignorant of the term "primary source"?
I bet Professor Lears** or his equally outspoken fellow in the history department at Rutgers, Rudolph Bell*** occasionally publish in magazines, scholarly works, or perhaps write books. How can any reader believe any of their findings and research? Clearly these so-called historians are so filled with political bias they are suspect of leaving out key facts and pieces of evidence in order to support their thesis. That is not scholarly academic work. That is not history. That is propaganda.
As such, Rutgers is cheating its history students.
Notes a re below the jump
Several members of the faculty that lead the protest against honoring former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as a commencement speaker and an honorary degree were members of the history department -- including Professor Jackson Lears and Rudolph Bell. I find it utterly amazing a purported historian would forgo an opportunity to discuss and hear the words of someone intimately involved in a significant historical event of the past decade. Politics aside, here is a chance to see and hear the words of person who was a decision maker in world politics. Further, it is an opportunity interact with the first female African-American Secretary of State. This is a case of historians literally holding their hands over their ears and chanting nah, nah, nah in order to keep from possibly hearing something with which they personally disagree.
One of the first lessons I learned in my upper-level historiography classes* was that a historian must recognize and try to eliminate his inherent bias'. Clearly, the members of the history department at Rutgers skipped class to watch General Hospital the day that lesson was taught. Ignoring history because you do not like the outcome is malpractice at best. What historian would skip the opportunity to witness Hitler's Munich Rally? Who would protest a chance to listen to Robert E. Lee? What real historian would ignore a chance to listen to Bin Laden express his reasons for 9/11? I am certainly not making any historical equations, but only a greater point. Would I skip a opportunity to listen to President Obama had he spoke at my commencement? No, I would go if only to view the words in a historical framework.
The role of a legitimate historian is not ignoring facts and evidence and historical personages that he does not like. Would a legitimate historian ignore the words of Castro, or would she contrast his words with events of the Cuban Revolution as described by those who fled the Island? Documenting the past is the job of a historian. Refusal to listen to a person intimately involved in history is beyond my comprehension. Are these so-called historians ignorant of the term "primary source"?
I bet Professor Lears** or his equally outspoken fellow in the history department at Rutgers, Rudolph Bell*** occasionally publish in magazines, scholarly works, or perhaps write books. How can any reader believe any of their findings and research? Clearly these so-called historians are so filled with political bias they are suspect of leaving out key facts and pieces of evidence in order to support their thesis. That is not scholarly academic work. That is not history. That is propaganda.
As such, Rutgers is cheating its history students.
Notes a re below the jump
May 26, 2014
May 24, 2014
May 23, 2014
Cause and effect
The wife and I were in WalMart the other night. A woman on one of those electric carts nearly ran us over. Did I mention she was a large woman? So fat her ass and thighs kind of just flopped over the sides of the seat. In her cart was five cases of Coke, three bags of Cheetos, and several cans of Pringles.
Draw your own conclusion.
She will probably sit next to me the next time I have to fly
Draw your own conclusion.
She will probably sit next to me the next time I have to fly
May 22, 2014
Whether the weather
The last ice age was at its maximum peak about 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered much of North America, Europe, and Asia.
The ice sheets and glaciers have been melting ever since, with a few periods of cold spells and warm spells. But in general, the ice has been melting for twenty millennia like the Wicked Witch of the West in a hot tub.
When did this melting go from being a good thing, allowing us to grow food, live, and watch bikini-clad girls in summer to the modernglobal warming, climate change, climate chaos we-are-all-going-to-die panic? A "consensus" of scientist agrees there have actually been several periods in the long history of the Earth where there were ice ages; times where glaciers and ice sheets covered a significant portion of the land. In time those glaciers and ice sheets retreated (you know, melted).
There was cold glacial periods. There was global warming. Then global cooling. Then warming. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
It seems to me this melting and warming has been going on long, long, before we started the Industrial Revolution, eons before Duke Energy and ConEd fired up their first coal burning power plants, hundreds of centuries before Monsanto screwed with the DNA of a kernel of corn, way before we started raping Mother Nature like a Nigerian school girl sex slave.
Maybe, just maybe, my refusal to drive a Prius is not to be blamed.
 | |
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Last_glacial_vegetation_map.png |
When did this melting go from being a good thing, allowing us to grow food, live, and watch bikini-clad girls in summer to the modern
There was cold glacial periods. There was global warming. Then global cooling. Then warming. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
It seems to me this melting and warming has been going on long, long, before we started the Industrial Revolution, eons before Duke Energy and ConEd fired up their first coal burning power plants, hundreds of centuries before Monsanto screwed with the DNA of a kernel of corn, way before we started raping Mother Nature like a Nigerian school girl sex slave.
Maybe, just maybe, my refusal to drive a Prius is not to be blamed.
May 21, 2014
Representative Louis Gutierrez' should be impeached
Mr Gutierrez took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America. If this article is true, The Democratic representative from Illinois is actively encouraging Government employees to break the law.
In my book that makes him a liar and a man without honor. His oath is not worth a piece of used toilet paper. If the Congressman does not like the law, he should work to change it. If the law cannot be changed, then Mr. Gutierrez should heed the words of President Obama -- "Elections have consequences. Get over it".
When the people who govern us choose what is legal and not we no longer live in a Republic, we live in a oligarchy. When our representatives make their own laws it is tyranny. Jefferson would weep tears if he could see what his Party has become.
In my book that makes him a liar and a man without honor. His oath is not worth a piece of used toilet paper. If the Congressman does not like the law, he should work to change it. If the law cannot be changed, then Mr. Gutierrez should heed the words of President Obama -- "Elections have consequences. Get over it".
When the people who govern us choose what is legal and not we no longer live in a Republic, we live in a oligarchy. When our representatives make their own laws it is tyranny. Jefferson would weep tears if he could see what his Party has become.
May 20, 2014
The Big Government Liberals Were Right
Remember when critics of ObamaCare said that the law would result in wait lists, bureaucrats deciding medical issues instead of doctors and overcrowded, understaffed hospitals?
Remember when the supporters of ObamaCare held up the VA Hospital system as the proof of how things would work in the new world of Big Government Medicine?
I think they were right. All of them.
Remember when the supporters of ObamaCare held up the VA Hospital system as the proof of how things would work in the new world of Big Government Medicine?
I think they were right. All of them.
May 19, 2014
Don't put a title on me
I had a great weekend. I did not do anything of note that I can remember. I walked 4-plus miles both Saturday and Sunday morning. I watched a couple of baseball games, pulled some weeds. I even took a short nap on Saturday when the wife went to the mall to do whatever she does at the mall.
Last night I threw a couple of thick ribeye steaks on the grill. Baked spuds, corn and some rolls rounded out a great meal.
I guess the weekend was kinda like this post -- a whole lot of nothing.
Last night I threw a couple of thick ribeye steaks on the grill. Baked spuds, corn and some rolls rounded out a great meal.
I guess the weekend was kinda like this post -- a whole lot of nothing.
May 18, 2014
And you where there
May 17, 2014
More old ads
One sure way to ensure you do not get any nookie for a few
May 16, 2014
Liberal Opposition to the Death Penalty
"Maybe they...should comfort themselves by thinking of Lockett’s execution as a very, very, very late-term abortion. You know, the kind that liberal darling Wendy Davis filibustered for 11 hours to keep legal." source
I do not always agree with Ann Coulter. Sometimes I do not even find her amusing. Sometimes she hits a home run.
May 15, 2014
Gee, no one saw this coming
The Russians are limiting our access to the Space Station.
Not to worry, I am sure NASA can re-purpose the mission from Muslim Outreach to actually flying into space in no time flat.
Thanks Obama, the one government program you actually cut is now coming back to bight us in the ass.
Not to worry, I am sure NASA can re-purpose the mission from Muslim Outreach to actually flying into space in no time flat.
Thanks Obama, the one government program you actually cut is now coming back to bight us in the ass.
About that Oath
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” US Constitution, article two, section one, clause eightPresident Obama held up his hand and twice swore this oath before the American people.
He told a group of law enforcement officials they should not bother enforcing immigration laws. He told the Justice department not to enforce the DOM act (it does not matter if it is a good law, it is the law). We won't even get into the various changes by fiat to his own eponymous health care disaster.We will only mention in passing the death and destruction caused by passing guns to Mexican criminals. When a president swears to uphold the Constitution, he swears to abide by the laws of the land. He is the one who executes (Chief Executive) or enforces the law and the Constitution. This is not a matter of interpretation or of viewing the Constitution as a "living document". It is the heart of our republican government.
There was a time when a man's word meant something. There was a time when Democrats had honor and integrity. Remember their outrage when Nixon tried to use used the IRS on his political enemies? In my world, which clearly is growing smaller and smaller, a man who breaks his oath is apiece of shit, unworthy of respect, without honor. One who supports, defends, aids, abets, and encourages a liar are nothing but liars and without honor themselves. Draw your own conclusions.
May 14, 2014
Stick a shiv in the Warden
I spent seven excruciating years confined in this building.
Then I went to Junior High and it was even worse.
Then I went to Junior High and it was even worse.
May 13, 2014
History through a modern lense
Last week I was privileged to give a short talk on the life of a Civil War soldier to my daughter's fourth grade class. We learned about the food, clothing, and life of a typical Union private in the western theater. We ended the discussion with a short lesson in the manual of arms and drill, using yardsticks as imaginary Springfield muskets. My daughter teaches the advanced class of students and they asked some good questions and seemed genuinely interested. I think I managed to get through the 45 minutes or so of class without mumbling and stuttering like an imbecile.
At one point I was discussing the uniforms of the Civil War when immediately two or three hands shot into the air. I was not giving a lecture and throughout the discussion we were doing give and take, to make sure the kids understood what I was presenting. I acknowledged one boy who stated in complete seriousness and with an earnestness and thirst for knowledge "I thought there was no color until the twentieth century. Weren't the uniforms grey and black?". I looked at him in dumbfounded amazement and noticed several other kids nodding in agreement. Suddenly, my daughter started to laugh. She explained that sure there was color, only the pictures were in black and white.
We laughed about it later and she said she had a similar experience a few months ago when a phone booth was referenced in a story the kids were reading. Not only did they never seen a phone booth, but the idea that there was no cell phone to use was beyond their understanding. We live in amazing times.
At one point I was discussing the uniforms of the Civil War when immediately two or three hands shot into the air. I was not giving a lecture and throughout the discussion we were doing give and take, to make sure the kids understood what I was presenting. I acknowledged one boy who stated in complete seriousness and with an earnestness and thirst for knowledge "I thought there was no color until the twentieth century. Weren't the uniforms grey and black?". I looked at him in dumbfounded amazement and noticed several other kids nodding in agreement. Suddenly, my daughter started to laugh. She explained that sure there was color, only the pictures were in black and white.
We laughed about it later and she said she had a similar experience a few months ago when a phone booth was referenced in a story the kids were reading. Not only did they never seen a phone booth, but the idea that there was no cell phone to use was beyond their understanding. We live in amazing times.
I can feel it in the air tonight
Over the past month or so I have watched an occasional old episode of Miami Vice on Netflix. I am slowly working my way from episode one. It is a way to pass the time in lonely hotel room. I suppose it is a better diversion on a road trip than an evening of beer and hookers.
Back when Miami Vice first hit the airwaves in the mid and late 1980's it was sensation of color, sound and music video-like editing. Today, the colors are more like a washed out pastel. High def plasma screen technology and digital imaging has changed the way we see color on television. What was new technology in the 1980's -- brick sized cell phones, computers, all seem quaint when viewed 30 years later. But I still get a kick out of Sonny and Tubbs.
Back when Miami Vice first hit the airwaves in the mid and late 1980's it was sensation of color, sound and music video-like editing. Today, the colors are more like a washed out pastel. High def plasma screen technology and digital imaging has changed the way we see color on television. What was new technology in the 1980's -- brick sized cell phones, computers, all seem quaint when viewed 30 years later. But I still get a kick out of Sonny and Tubbs.
May 12, 2014
Your opinions may vary
I am certain of this, it was wrong, wrong, wrong for the school to suspend the kid in Texas who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
May 11, 2014
May 10, 2014
May 9, 2014
A (gasp) scientist on Global Warmingcoolingchange panic
Bam! That will leave a mark. A real life physicist debunks the "settled" climate change crowd with one simple letter of the alphabet.Too bad the "settled" community will not bother to read. You see, there is far too much money (and power) at stake.
h/t Mr B
h/t Mr B
May 8, 2014
Beast of Burden
99.9999% of the time I have no issues working from home. But on a day like this.....let us just say working in a dank cubicle without a glimpse of the gorgeous outside would be a blessing. It would be much easier to focus on work if the sun was not calling my name.
May 7, 2014
Jenna Elfman naked
A Union infantryman in the Civil War had a 1 in 18 chance of dying in battle. His chances of succumbing to disease or illness was 1 in 8. 40% of the dead in the Civil war were never identified.
May 6, 2014
That stung my eyes
A guy on the hotel elevator this morning reeked of Aqua Velva. I didn't think they made that any more.
With Apologies to Mitch Ryder
Suppose Hillary runs for President in '16. Say she is elected. Do you think she will wear a blue dress to the inauguration?
May 5, 2014
Will Work for Tacos
I hope you had a good weekend. I did, even though it was full of work. I spent Saturday helping a friend with a long-running remodeling project. Sunday was spent in the yard. I trimmed some bushes, dug out a few dead shrubberies, helped the wife plant flowers. We had tacos and I made some salsa for supper. Later, we enjoyed some homemade ice cream. I threw some cut up fresh pineapple and strawberries on mine, blood sugar be damned. I watched the Cubs choke away a chance to sweep the Cardinals. But I had ice cream...
May 4, 2014
May 3, 2014
May 2, 2014
Watergate, waterboarding and the non-outing of CIA employee
Apparently the old "Dude it happened a long time ago" excuse passes muster in ObamaLand. I wonder if Democrats would have bought that defense from the Nixon White House or any other Republican scandal? Too bad we do not have real reporters any more, just shills for the Democratic Party. But in the minds of Democrats, there is a clear difference, in some of the scandals they investigated; Democrats were the imagined victims. In Benghazi it was just American soldiers who were killed while the State Department and White House watched.
Politicians are stupid
I do not know why anyone looks to elected politicians as problem solvers, or wise leaders. I am certainly biased, but it seems that politicians from the Democrat party are exceptionally stupid. From Hank Johnson's concerns Guam might tip over, to Sheila Jackson Lee's query regarding finding the Apollo landing site on Mars (among many other idiocies) to Nancy Pelosi's "we have to pass it to find out what is in it", stupidity seems to be part and parcel of elected Democrats. Now the Democratic representative from Washington DC, Elanor Holmes Norton, claims the war in Iraq was “perhaps the most catastrophic war of the 20th century by the United States of America.” source
The Iraq war was in this century -- namely the 21st. The deadly 20th century gave the world the Second Boer War, the Russo-Japanese war, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Russia/Afghanistan, the First Gulf War, the war in the Balkans and the mass political killings in Russia, China, Cuba, Cambodia, Central America and the many and on-going wars in Africa. Not to mitigate the loss of life in Iraq, but how about we turn down the hyperbole a bit?
If MS Norton mis-spoke and thinks the Iraq war will be the worst this century, I advise her to get a little historical perspective. A century ago in April 1914, the horrors of WWI and WWII had not even occurred yet. For a bit more perspective, there were an estimated 188,000 deaths in Iraq. That total was easily surpassed by the casualty counts in the opening months of "The War to End All Wars". It is estimated there were one million casualties in August of 1914 alone. It is beyond silly to make any claims about "the most..." anything in a century not even 14 years old.
And you think these people can create a new Health Care system?
edited to corrected errors.
The Iraq war was in this century -- namely the 21st. The deadly 20th century gave the world the Second Boer War, the Russo-Japanese war, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Russia/Afghanistan, the First Gulf War, the war in the Balkans and the mass political killings in Russia, China, Cuba, Cambodia, Central America and the many and on-going wars in Africa. Not to mitigate the loss of life in Iraq, but how about we turn down the hyperbole a bit?
If MS Norton mis-spoke and thinks the Iraq war will be the worst this century, I advise her to get a little historical perspective. A century ago in April 1914, the horrors of WWI and WWII had not even occurred yet. For a bit more perspective, there were an estimated 188,000 deaths in Iraq. That total was easily surpassed by the casualty counts in the opening months of "The War to End All Wars". It is estimated there were one million casualties in August of 1914 alone. It is beyond silly to make any claims about "the most..." anything in a century not even 14 years old.
And you think these people can create a new Health Care system?
edited to corrected errors.
May 1, 2014
Obama -- the zero point one percenter
The first quarter GDP was an anemic 0.1%. This is the Obama recovery, my friends. I thought passing the stimulus bill, bailing out GM and Chrysler, and raising taxes would fix all of this? I thought ObamaCare was going to create a baziilion jobs?
Never mind, I just realized my mistake. It is rich racist white dudes refusing to spur the economy. We just need to raise taxes more, increase the minimum wage and make sure everyone makes the same salary, no matter the job skills or ability, and everything will be fine.
Never mind, I just realized my mistake. It is rich racist white dudes refusing to spur the economy. We just need to raise taxes more, increase the minimum wage and make sure everyone makes the same salary, no matter the job skills or ability, and everything will be fine.
Nary a tear
Poor Clayton Lockett. His execution
was botched. He suffered for 10 minutes before his lethal dose took
effect. He died, that was the point. I am not too sad Clayton had to
wait an extra ten minutes to go to Hell. Maybe Karma struck a blow for
justice. After all, Lockett was a four time felon who shot Stephanie
Neiman in 1999 with a shotgun then buried her alive. I think maybe she
suffered just a bit more than poor Clayton.
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