This morning I had my normal two cups of Carriboo coffee from the machine that brews K-cups. I don't care for breakfast but the quack says I have to eat it, I suspect he would not approve of my repast this morning. I had a couple of microwave sausage patties and a sliced yellow tomato straight from the vine in my tiny garden. Dang it was good . In an hour or so I will look to lunch. I'm not sure if I will go for a hot dog or a frozen burrito.
I can see why you read this piece o'crap. It is truly mesmerizing in its insight, content, and prose.
July 30, 2014
History does not repeat, history does not repeat, history does not repeat
While the missiles fell almost daily on the population, Britain rallied the troops and fought on against the enemy. Often the battles raged in enemy cities and towns. Civilians were killed, schools, churches and houses were destroyed. Still, the missiles rained down. Britain started bombing the enemy from the air. The enemies ability to wage war was damaged.. Munition dumps and the factories that made the weapons of war were the main targets. The enemy responded by moving the missile launchers and munitions storage areas to civilian population centers. Britain tried to lessen civilian casualties, but the nation must be protected.
If you have studied history, you know the story of Britain's heroic defense in the face of constant rocket attacks. We admire the pluck and heroism of the British people in the face of terrifying, indiscriminate death from above. Their resolve to protect democracy against a totalitarian regime is the stuff of historical fact and legend. Few would disagree.
Now, go back to the paragraphs above and Substitute "Israel" for "Britain" and "Hamas" for "enemy".
If you have studied history, you know the story of Britain's heroic defense in the face of constant rocket attacks. We admire the pluck and heroism of the British people in the face of terrifying, indiscriminate death from above. Their resolve to protect democracy against a totalitarian regime is the stuff of historical fact and legend. Few would disagree.
Now, go back to the paragraphs above and Substitute "Israel" for "Britain" and "Hamas" for "enemy".
July 29, 2014
The Border is finally being secured
Thank goodness the Border Patrol is on the case. Dangerous criminals are finally being stopped at the border.*
Read all about it.
*This post is written in sarcasm font, in case your browser does not recognize it.
Read all about it.
*This post is written in sarcasm font, in case your browser does not recognize it.
Remember when the Democrats claimed Bush was an out of control despot?
I was listening to local talk radio this morning. The national news at the news break described a story about the Obama Administration dumping illegals in various states, including Tennessee. The Governor of the Volunteer State was outraged that the Feds would bring a significant group of people to the State without notifying anyone. According to the news reader, the Administration said they did not notify the State government because of the illegals "privacy rights".
What? Want documentation? How about this?
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the illegal immigrant children have a right to privacy. He said privacy rights of the illegals are more important than the public’s right to know what’s happening.
What? Want documentation? How about this?
"I still have not been contacted and have no information about these individuals or their sponsors other than what was posted on the HHS website.”
July 28, 2014
Head scratcher
Why a single Jew votes, funds, or supports the Democratic Party will forever remain a mystery to me. No political party in the USA has done more harm to Israel and Jews than the Democrats. Not even the American Nazi party.
Quote of the day
“So, yeah, there’s too much money in politics...There are special interests that have too much influence...There is something you can do right now today to make a difference and that is to write a big, fat check. I kid you not, ...I’m going to be honest with you. That’s what we need you to do right now. We need you to write the biggest, fattest check that you can possibly write.” -- First lady Michelle ObamaThese people have even less shame than the Clintons, and that, my friends, is saying something.
Sheer profundidty
Hello Monday blog readers. Allergies are kicking my ass. I guess the plants think it is fall due to all of the global warming we have had this summer. My nose is dripping and my sinuses feel like Bruce Lee is practicing spin kicks against the inside of my skull.
We had a pretty uneventful weekend. Last night I threw some hot dogs on the grill. I made some potato salad and baked beans. A couple of tomatoes fresh from the garden and some deviled eggs made for a simple feast.
Yes, it is indicative of the excitement level around here when grilling hot dogs is the highlight.
We had a pretty uneventful weekend. Last night I threw some hot dogs on the grill. I made some potato salad and baked beans. A couple of tomatoes fresh from the garden and some deviled eggs made for a simple feast.
Yes, it is indicative of the excitement level around here when grilling hot dogs is the highlight.
July 26, 2014
Simple things
A cardinal is singing with frantic effort in the willow. The wind rises and falls from the southwest as it is wont to do in mid-summer. The sun is cutting pale yellow slices through the dark clouds as thunder rumbles in the distance. The coffee in my cup is dark and lukewarm and nearly gone. An Ian Fleming Bond novel and the TV remote perch side by side on the table beside my recliner vying for my attention. I can hear the neighbor's air conditioner running while in my den the ceiling fan wraps spiral shadows on the textured ceiling. In the corner the treadmill smirks a reminder of exercise undone while my right ankle throbs a mute response. Life continues apace and I am truly blessed.
July 25, 2014
July 24, 2014
Humorous, exciting, pithy, and attention grabbing
It occurs to me that the title of this post likely was nonsensical to you. Of course my titles are often ridiculous. very often they have nothing to do with the post content. I long ago embraced the notion that headline writing was not in my wheelhouse. And yes, I see you in the back waving your hand aggressively in the air. I know that writing in general is not among my strengths. So just shut up already.
Anyway, back to the point. It was the early or mid 1970's and I was at Boy Scout camp.* The powers that be in the troop made the decision to attend the camp in the last week of the season. Big mistake. The kitchen staff was doing their best to use up the stock of goods on hand. We were given a steady diet of rice and beans cooked in every conceivable way. In those days the young me was a picky eater. High on the list of foods that I would not eat was any kind of bean and rice in all of its forms. We had bean soup for lunch, chicken with rice for dinner. Rice and raisins for breakfast. Chili for lunch. By mid week I was starving. Beef jerky and soft drink "suicides" from the Trading Post will only sustain a growing boy so long. Besides, I did not have unlimited funds at hand.
Finely, I sat down at the table and heaped on platters was a nirvana breakfast -- scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes. The dishes were passed and we all filled our plates. I grabbed the salt and some asshole had loosened the lid. Most of the shaker ended up square on my plate. Everyone laughed. I thought I would cry. I didn't. There was no better way to be ostracized in those neanderthal pre-women's lib days of macho men than by crying for anything less than amputation, stabbing, or watching Brian's Song. I am fairly certain they served red beans and rice for lunch.
I am still not too fond of beans. I do like rice though.
*Camp Ransburg if you must know
Anyway, back to the point. It was the early or mid 1970's and I was at Boy Scout camp.* The powers that be in the troop made the decision to attend the camp in the last week of the season. Big mistake. The kitchen staff was doing their best to use up the stock of goods on hand. We were given a steady diet of rice and beans cooked in every conceivable way. In those days the young me was a picky eater. High on the list of foods that I would not eat was any kind of bean and rice in all of its forms. We had bean soup for lunch, chicken with rice for dinner. Rice and raisins for breakfast. Chili for lunch. By mid week I was starving. Beef jerky and soft drink "suicides" from the Trading Post will only sustain a growing boy so long. Besides, I did not have unlimited funds at hand.
Finely, I sat down at the table and heaped on platters was a nirvana breakfast -- scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes. The dishes were passed and we all filled our plates. I grabbed the salt and some asshole had loosened the lid. Most of the shaker ended up square on my plate. Everyone laughed. I thought I would cry. I didn't. There was no better way to be ostracized in those neanderthal pre-women's lib days of macho men than by crying for anything less than amputation, stabbing, or watching Brian's Song. I am fairly certain they served red beans and rice for lunch.
I am still not too fond of beans. I do like rice though.
*Camp Ransburg if you must know
July 23, 2014
The very best beet recipes
My daughter was at the house when I came home from a meeting yesterday afternoon. She brought me a Dilly Bar. Life is good.
I was very glad to see her. She got home late Sunday night from a two week educational sojourn to Europe as part of her advance degree program. I think she had a good time, but to her chagrin, she learned what those of us who have traveled to Europe in the summer have discovered -- namely air conditioning is non-existent, or poor at best, at many hotels and restaurants. She also complained about the European tendency to treat an ice cube like a nugget of pure gold. Somehow the knowledge that you can actually make large quantities of frozen water cheaply is not common knowledge at European eateries. All of these discomfits were exacerbated by the fact that western Europe is in the midst of a near record heat wave.
I was very glad to see her. She got home late Sunday night from a two week educational sojourn to Europe as part of her advance degree program. I think she had a good time, but to her chagrin, she learned what those of us who have traveled to Europe in the summer have discovered -- namely air conditioning is non-existent, or poor at best, at many hotels and restaurants. She also complained about the European tendency to treat an ice cube like a nugget of pure gold. Somehow the knowledge that you can actually make large quantities of frozen water cheaply is not common knowledge at European eateries. All of these discomfits were exacerbated by the fact that western Europe is in the midst of a near record heat wave.
July 22, 2014
Things I know Number 1,412
If you do not want your boss involved in your contraceptive choices, you should not ask him to pay for it.
July 21, 2014
Things I know, number 4
No matter how depressed you may get, a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie always makes you feel better.
Can't Decide?
If you are looking to criticize someone for the continuing violence in the Israel/Palestinian conflict I can help with just one simple question.
If Hamas had not launched missiles into Israel, how many Palestinians would have been killed by Israeli attacks?
Logic. Facts. They are sure stubborn things.
If Hamas had not launched missiles into Israel, how many Palestinians would have been killed by Israeli attacks?
Logic. Facts. They are sure stubborn things.
July 20, 2014
July 19, 2014
Old Julys
I lived in a large subdivision in a small town. The houses were made cheap, built fast and designed for new families, first-time homeowners and down-sizing older folks. The streets were curvy and wide and the blocks sported cul-de-sacs and sidewalks. The houses were close together but the back yards were large. As such, the entire neighborhood was filled with kids. Lots of kids. If you counted the kids on both sides of the street of my one little block there were close to 50. Not the whole block square, just one stretch of street. All of about the same age.
By day we were out playing and sweating in the July sun. There was no air conditioning. There was certainly nothing of interest to a nine year-old on the three channels we got on the TV. We raced through sodden bowls of cereal from boxes that boasted of their sugar content.
We headed out to play or ride our bikes. Coming home to have a fried bologna sandwich or peanut butter on Wonder bread for lunch. Kool-aid or lemonade washed it down. The afternoon was spent on adventures. We headed to the little park and the ditch along the tracks to catch crawdads or minnows. We rode the town on our bikes, sweaty urchins on stingray bikes with tall handlebars and banana seats with sissy bars.
Around five o'clock the dads started coming home from work. Smells and sounds of supper cooking seeped through the open kitchen windows. Some kids ate as soon as Dad came home, others later. Calls to supper echoed off the aluminum siding and rooftops all around the neighborhood. The neighbor to our west bellowed an undecipherable "Ruhhggg" for "Rich" when it was time for his son to belly up to the dinner table. My Mom usually paged my brother, knowing i would tag along, Dad hollered a short, clipped "Boys".
The boy who lived at the entrance to our cul-de-sac was called each evening by his mother. She had a screeching warble that could function as a high-pitch foghorn. She had amazing breath control and the way she stretched out the vowels in "Tracy" would have made an opera singer jealous. You could hear her blocks away as she launched her call into the evening air. Traaaaaaaaaacceeeeeeeeeeee" Tarzan blushed in shame for his comparatively weak-assed nature call. Train whistles on the Nickle Plate hushed in respect. "Traaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeeeeeeee". Everyone in the eastern half of the county could hear her. Everyone except Tracy, that is.
"Hey man, I think your Mom is calling" we would say.
"I don't hear nothing". Every subsequent call was louder and longer than the one preceding. Rumor had it the brass works on the other side of town wanted to hire Tracy's mom to replace their broken factory whistle.
"Traaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" Birds took flight in fear. The Civil Defense started their phone tree in fear of a Russian attack with a new weapon. Muezzin from the mysterious Middle East begged her to teach them her long-distance voice projection secrets to use in their call to prayer. "Traaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee".
She would launch into the "Tracy" wail, even if the kid was standing right in the front yard of his house. The sound of that ear-piercing call still echoes in my memories.
By day we were out playing and sweating in the July sun. There was no air conditioning. There was certainly nothing of interest to a nine year-old on the three channels we got on the TV. We raced through sodden bowls of cereal from boxes that boasted of their sugar content.
We headed out to play or ride our bikes. Coming home to have a fried bologna sandwich or peanut butter on Wonder bread for lunch. Kool-aid or lemonade washed it down. The afternoon was spent on adventures. We headed to the little park and the ditch along the tracks to catch crawdads or minnows. We rode the town on our bikes, sweaty urchins on stingray bikes with tall handlebars and banana seats with sissy bars.
Around five o'clock the dads started coming home from work. Smells and sounds of supper cooking seeped through the open kitchen windows. Some kids ate as soon as Dad came home, others later. Calls to supper echoed off the aluminum siding and rooftops all around the neighborhood. The neighbor to our west bellowed an undecipherable "Ruhhggg" for "Rich" when it was time for his son to belly up to the dinner table. My Mom usually paged my brother, knowing i would tag along, Dad hollered a short, clipped "Boys".
The boy who lived at the entrance to our cul-de-sac was called each evening by his mother. She had a screeching warble that could function as a high-pitch foghorn. She had amazing breath control and the way she stretched out the vowels in "Tracy" would have made an opera singer jealous. You could hear her blocks away as she launched her call into the evening air. Traaaaaaaaaacceeeeeeeeeeee" Tarzan blushed in shame for his comparatively weak-assed nature call. Train whistles on the Nickle Plate hushed in respect. "Traaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeeeeeeee". Everyone in the eastern half of the county could hear her. Everyone except Tracy, that is.
"Hey man, I think your Mom is calling" we would say.
"I don't hear nothing". Every subsequent call was louder and longer than the one preceding. Rumor had it the brass works on the other side of town wanted to hire Tracy's mom to replace their broken factory whistle.
"Traaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" Birds took flight in fear. The Civil Defense started their phone tree in fear of a Russian attack with a new weapon. Muezzin from the mysterious Middle East begged her to teach them her long-distance voice projection secrets to use in their call to prayer. "Traaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee".
She would launch into the "Tracy" wail, even if the kid was standing right in the front yard of his house. The sound of that ear-piercing call still echoes in my memories.
July 18, 2014
He's at it again
I am not sure how, but the biggest buffoon to ever hold office* has managed to be responsible for the economy 6 years after he left office. According to Democrats, Bush is responsible for the mess at the VA. W is to blame for the mess in Afghanistan, the violence in Iraq**. In true Urkel-like manner, I am sure George W watches the news of the day and whines "Did I do that?"
I am waiting on the edge of my seat for the Obama to take a break from golf and fundraising to describe in detail how the Bungling Bush managed to cause the flood if illegals on the border, the escalating violence in the Mideast***, and the downing of the Malaysian Airlines jet over Ukraine.
Obama will probably get around to properly laying the blame at Bush's feet just as soon as he winds up yet another vacation.
*according to Democrats
** did you notice that the rebels found a bunch of Weapons of Mass Destruction? The press kind of glossed right over that news.
*** how is it that Hamas is not condemned for launching missiles at Israeli civilians? Especially when the Hamas launchers are located in civilian areas -- mosques, schools, neighborhoods?
I am waiting on the edge of my seat for the Obama to take a break from golf and fundraising to describe in detail how the Bungling Bush managed to cause the flood if illegals on the border, the escalating violence in the Mideast***, and the downing of the Malaysian Airlines jet over Ukraine.
Obama will probably get around to properly laying the blame at Bush's feet just as soon as he winds up yet another vacation.
*according to Democrats
** did you notice that the rebels found a bunch of Weapons of Mass Destruction? The press kind of glossed right over that news.
*** how is it that Hamas is not condemned for launching missiles at Israeli civilians? Especially when the Hamas launchers are located in civilian areas -- mosques, schools, neighborhoods?
July 17, 2014
It was just like being back at Boy Scout Camp
It has been a while since the wife and I ate out a a restaurant. It has been even longer since we had BBQ, one of my mostest favorite foods. So last night we found ourselves at my favorite BBQ chain location. When the food came I breathed in the sweet, smokey goodness, took a small bite and reached for the salt to add just a smidgen of seasoning to that delicious pulled pork. And doom descended on me and my pork. Some jerk had loosened the lid on the shaler and about a tablespoon of salt poured on my food before I could stop the flow.
Seriously, we were in the bar, so I know a purported adult pulled the juvenile prank. Some people never move beyond junior high.
I scraped off the salt and top layer of pork and the food was still good, but not as good as it could have been.
Seriously, we were in the bar, so I know a purported adult pulled the juvenile prank. Some people never move beyond junior high.
I scraped off the salt and top layer of pork and the food was still good, but not as good as it could have been.
July 16, 2014
Wild wild west
Indianapolis has been rocked by a plethora of shootings and killings this year. The murder rate is on a record setting pace. The shooting of a police officer last week has brought the situation to a head. The community has started discussions and neighborhood initiatives to try and quell the violence. Many in the city are also turning to worthless measures that accomplish nothing but make the participant feel good like taking worthless "blue pledges", rallies, and moments of silence. I am surprised there has not been sightings of blue ribbons in the lapels of leading do-gooders.
If you want to get to the root of the problem, take a look at this story. There is plenty going on under the surface. But the very culture that deems it OK to pull out a gun and shoot at a fleeing car exemplifies the issue.
A couple of weeks ago two guys bumped into each other and instead of apologizing, or resorting to a punch in the nose, they pulled their heaters and sprayed the area with chunks of lead, hitting and wounding everyone in the area except each other.
A routine family argument ended in gunfire just earlier this week. As the wife said, "whatever happened to the old fashioned fist fight?" We all have a flight or flee response to danger. As long as the "fight" instinct means you reach for your gat, then the violence will only get worse.
If you want to get to the root of the problem, take a look at this story. There is plenty going on under the surface. But the very culture that deems it OK to pull out a gun and shoot at a fleeing car exemplifies the issue.
The person who fired the shots also remains a mystery.No one was protecting anyone in this situation. An idiot was firing a gun at a fleeing car. Heck, that does not work in the movies, there is no way, beyond dumb luck, random holes made by a piece of metal less than a half inch in diameter will stop a moving car. Most people can't accurately hit a target beyond 20 yards with a handgun without using a proper stance and with lots of practice. I suspect holding the gun with one hand and sideways lessons the accuracy even more. We should be thankful no innocent bystanders were hit.
But, Lard thanks whoever they are for protecting her children.She believes things could have gotten a lot worse if the driver hadn't been scared away.
A couple of weeks ago two guys bumped into each other and instead of apologizing, or resorting to a punch in the nose, they pulled their heaters and sprayed the area with chunks of lead, hitting and wounding everyone in the area except each other.
A routine family argument ended in gunfire just earlier this week. As the wife said, "whatever happened to the old fashioned fist fight?" We all have a flight or flee response to danger. As long as the "fight" instinct means you reach for your gat, then the violence will only get worse.
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