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Where I've Been
A man and his Toyota at Grays River Wyoming.
Big Sky Country? An understatement...
Ran into a storm of mayflies crossing the Snake River Canyon on Saturday that lasted 10 minutes. At first I thought it was raining, then decided that rain is usually not black and doesnt stick to you windshield. It literally blackened the front of the Toyota, making the headlights unusable. Even after using a truck stop car wash, The front is still covered with little tar like bodies of these suckers. Note to Toyota, follow Land Rovers lead and put wipers on the headlights...
After crossing the Norther Nevada Desert on Saturday, I was struck by a condition that closely resembled cholera or dysentery. Without going into details best left unblogged, I'm here to report that while for many hours I was absolutely certain I was about to meet my demise in a most undignified way, I'm alive and happy to report that the event has,ahem, passed. Up till now, I wasn't aware that Montezuma had even been to Northern Nevada, much less wished to see revenge enacted just for my crossing it.
I saw a real live, non-cartoon moose on Sunday in the Grand Targhee, my very first moose without a corresponding flying squirrel around as his partner. Meeting a moose in person is much like meeting a big cow with antlers. It's docile and very, very interested in vegetation, of which you are not and thus you find yourself totally ignored. My youngest sister ( the local Wyoming inhabitant - known in the family as "Calamity Jane" as her her lifes work is now a backwoods guide in the Jackson and Yellowstone Area, hence the visit to the region) says as a general rule not to expect such cooperation as this from the moose population.
As a result of my new found ability to "talk to the animals", she now calls me "Dr. Doolittle". Actually what she said was much colorful and more in taking with her well deserved nickname, but I try to keep this a family blog as much as possible. Just remember that she too was raised in the Navy, and now finds herself in career as backwoods guide for fisherman( just insert your favorite colorful F-word verb between "Doctor" and "Doolittle", and you get the idea). She is not the kind of person you meet hanging around the water cooler at CNBC Headquarters in Fort Lee New Jersey.
And maybe that explains everything that is wrong with "Teevee News" in one simple lesson.
Like my father, she has no little tolerance of "fools or easteners". I only get special dispensation from the application of this rule because "I'm family". I have evidence to support this fact, because I was there the day she came home from the hospital, a fact I never let her forget. Its exactly this sort of "family history blackmail" that keeps me alive when she's guiding me through the backwoods. I have some embarrassing pictures Calamity, and as long as I get back to the house in one piece, they'll stay hidden. If something were to happen to me, I don't think you would be able to survive the shame of the release of pictures of you when you were five on that merry-go-round horse crying you eyes out in fear while we all pointed at you laughing. Yeah, hard to be big tough backwoods guide with those embarrasing pictures out there, isnt it? You better think twice before you hit me over the head with that shovel, Ok Calamity?
Saw a dead moose on the roadside on Monday, 150 miles from the first moose I came across on Sunday. I have no idea if the two knew each other. I can't imagine any car hitting an animal that big and being drivable afterwards, but while the moose was still laying there in a very undignified way, there was no sign of the car that hit it. This showed me in very real terms what the local economy considered valuable and what was simply not worth the effort. A crushed car will get towed to a carlot and poured over by insurance adjusters, while a dead moose will just lay by the side of the road. I cant help but feel that the moose deserves a more fitting end than a Chrysler Minivan.
Somewhere in America is a husband hurredly explaining to his wife what happened to "the family van" that he took against her better judgement for a weekend of fishing with his friends in the Caribou National Forest in Eastern Idaho. She is of course, not buying "the moose story". Trust me maam, whoever you are, no matter how bad your favorite "family truckster" looks right now, the moose got the worst part of the deal.
Ok, back to work...
Posted @ May 28, 2007 10:24 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)
psst, wanna see what 2000 hypocrites looks like?
This parking lot is filled with cars attending an event. Examine the cars closely and see if you can guess if this event is:
1. An NRA meeting?
2. An offsite Halliburton corporate meeting?
3. Minivans? Hmmm, minivans mean "breeders" and "breeders" are either at church or walmart ( theres a difference?) and that must mean this is a church meeting where religious zealots are working to take away the "right to marry" from gay people everywhere.
3. A Marin county eco-religious book signing and fund raiser, starring the 'Holy Bishop of Gaia' himself, Al Gore.
Want more? Oh yes you do... Click here.
Oh, did I mention bumperstickers? yes, theres bumperstickers too!
Posted @ May 25, 2007 06:56 AM | Comments (2)
my entire worldview has been totally shattered
I'm just not prepared to live in a world where this is true.
I mean, how will I spend the endless hours arguing with my leftist friends if I can just point to a simple set of facts and be done with it? Wheres the sport in that?
Posted @ May 24, 2007 08:29 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Bush!
A friend just called and said one key line from a 1970's blacksploitation movie and at the same time I was looking at the picture of Harry Reid doing his "French Aerobics" and it just got me laughing. 30 minutes later, I'm still laughing.
So as a service to you the readers of this blog I will share the joke with you and since I'm audio-visually challenged, you'll just imagine the bass line intro to the Issac Hayes classic "Shaft!" from the movie of the same name and follow along with the pictures below.
Who's the white chief Exec
That's a sex machine to all the chicks?
(Bush!)
You're damn right
Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his brother man?
(Bush!)
Can ya dig it?
Who's the cat that won't cop out
When there's danger all about
(Bush!)
Right on
You see this cat Bush is a bad mother--
(Shut your mouth)
But I'm talkin' about Bush
(Then we can dig it)
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman
(Laura Bush )
fade out...
He beat the cowards today, and thats all that matters to me right now. In the words of President Lincoln when describing General Grant "I cannot afford to lose this man, he fights".
It would have been all to easy to give in. A lesser man would have done just that. This man, is not a lesser man.
I dont always agree with him and he annoys me at times to the point of distraction, but there are days like this one when I thank my lucky stars that he is the man in that job.
Thank you Mr. President.
Posted @ May 22, 2007 04:06 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (2)
my sides hurt...
Democrats Drop Troop Pullout Dates From Iraq Bill
Hahahahahhhohohohoehehehehehahahahahaha. oh man, I hvent laughed that hard in years.
Posted @ May 22, 2007 03:53 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)
Sarkozy to divest French ownership of EADS
Emirates Airlines A380, coming to an airport near you...
It looks like its a "Whoa Nellie!" situation after all.
From the UK Guardian:
"Mr Sarkozy has already met the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, to discuss the future of EADS. "I found in the German chancellor someone who has perfectly understood that we need to act fast. What I want is that it works," Mr Sarkozy said. The speed with which the new president has addressed the issue reflects the high profile EADS and Airbus have in France."
Airbus and its parent company EADS have identified as one of the key problems in the structure of the company the dual board, dual management structure where decisions are shared between French interests and German interests. You should also understand that President Sarkozy went to Chancellor Merkel only two days after taking office. The topic of conversation appears to have centered around the issue of EADS and it also appears that the conversation was to find out if there would be any problem in France "cashing in its chips".
From what I've been able to glean from multiple sources it appears very likely that France will divest itself from state ownership of EADS. This follows the UK divestiture last year. This is harsh medicine for European socialism, but it will in the end be very good for EADS.
That leaves one question to be answered, who would purchase the shares once divestiture begins to occur? Rest assured, there is already an interested party waiting in the wings, and thanks in no small part to the short sighted, pig ignorance on the part of American Xenophobes this have found it necessary to spend their capital in some place other than the United States.
And who is this other party?
You'll remember Dubai, as the owners of "Dubai Ports World" and all the endless controversy that their appearance on the world stage caused when they tied to buy a UK based port management company last year. Dubai is the group that every tin hatted crackpot was so absolutely sure was going to "work with terror groups to sneak a bomb into the United States because they would control security at ports", which was never the case but dont let a few facts get in the way of a good story, right?
It now appears vey likely that not only will Dubai be buying large numbers of aircraft from a direct competitor of Boeing, but they will also be buying into the manufacturing process as well. Gee that worked out swell, didnt it!
Now in retrospect doesnt it seem silly to have worried about "The Ports Deal" in light of the new reality? European manufacturing is now tied to a vast sea of available Arab capital. That my friends is a much bigger and very real threat to this country than the cartoon "boogeyman" threat presented by the possibilities of Dubai Ports World moving shipping containers at our ports.
Folks you have to understand that in the world there are allies and investors and there are also enemies and competitors. There are times when you have to set your prejudices aside and just get on with business. Frankly, I would rather have Dubai investing their money here than in Europe. DeGaulle once said that "France has no friends, only interests" and he was right. Countries have no friends, they have interests. Dubai and France are both looking after theirs, but we foolishly helped them work together to do it.
My grandfather spent three years as a "guest of the emperor of Japan", and yet his car was a small Mitsubishi Truck. Mitsubishi was the manufacturer of the wartime "Zero" aircraft. When I asked him about why he would make this choice, he said "Well, we won the war, and they make damn good cars so why the hell not!"
He was in his own small way, simply looking after his interests.
Posted @ May 19, 2007 09:41 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)
Whoa Nellie!
Is Sarkozy about to divest France of Airbus?
Looks like I've got some reading to do this evening...
Posted @ May 18, 2007 01:53 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)
Question of the day
Is there any political constituency remaining on the entire planet Earth, other than Barbara and George H.W. Bush, that President George W. Bush hasn't absolutely pissed off this week?
Just checking.
I mean, President Clinton couldnt make a decision without talking to a focus group beforehand and that truly was a bad thing, but so is doing just the opposite. Every once in a great while as you serve in public office you might want to try to satisfy the people who voted you into office, even if you personally disagree with it.
Posted @ May 18, 2007 10:40 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)
Good News, Bad news - The Next Generation
Here's a set of problems that I've faced this week that my fathers generation and my grandfathers could never have imagined. They worried about polio epidemics, world wars, deep dark economic depressions; but this is what I have in my generation as "good news - bad news"
The "Good News":
My home and my home office have been upgraded from copper to fiber optic, and it all works fantastic. In 1978, I wrote my first computer program on a time sharing computer system using a "modem" on an acoustic coupler at all of 110 bits per second, on paper tape no less! Now I sit at home and work at a 75mb. In 1978, I thought 300bps was fast... You kids out there have to go to museum to find out what a "modem" is, or an "acoustic coupler". Ah, those where the days my friend. Good times, good times...
The "Bad News":
My 47 inch plasma monitor just died. You know, its not like you keep a spare one of these things in the closet and there really is no substitute for them. Now instead of displaying lovely scences in High Definition, its just a big black void sitting there silently mocking me. Damn...
Welcome to the world of 2007...
When I stop and think of the conditions of the lives of my ancestors, there are days when I'm embarrased to say that I have any real problems at all.
Posted @ May 17, 2007 10:15 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (4)
Your Daily Dose Of The Dreamliner
From Boeing.com:
Snip...
EVERETT, Wash., May 15, 2007 -- The gigantic composite wings for the all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner were delivered to Everett at 4:10 a.m. PDT today.
Manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at its facility in Nagoya, Japan, each wing is 98 feet long. Standing on edge in custom-made tooling, the wings were delivered together to Boeing via the Dreamlifter, a specially modified 747-400 used to transport 787 major assemblies. The 787 is the first commercial aircraft to use composite materials as its primary structure. It is also the first Boeing aircraft featuring an all-composite wing.
"A composite wing of this size has never been built before," said Scott Strode, 787 vice president of Airplane Definition and Production. "This is a tribute to our fantastic team. We believe the Dreamliner sets a new standard for how commercial airplanes will be made in the future."
The wings were immediately delivered to the 787 final assembly factory. Additional work -- including attaching the wingtip and movable surfaces -- will be completed by Boeing. The total wingspan of a 787 is 197 feet.
The 787 Dreamliner is the fastest-selling airplane in aviation history, with firm orders for 567 airplanes from 44 airlines.
End snip...
What you are looking at in this picture is the single biggest innovation in aviation since the jet engine. That odd shaped structure coming out of the front of the 747 Transport is the 787 main wing spar. A spar thats made of composite material for a large commercial jet. Think of this as the I-Beam of the aircraft or the central weight and stress bearing structure for the entire aircraft.
What happens when the main wing spar fails in mid flight?
Well, this happens -
This is a Lockheed C-130 fire bomber. The reason it doesnt look much like an aircraft in the picture is just a second before this picture was taken, the main wing spar snapped at the fuselage and broke the wing in two. At that point, It ceased to be an aircraft.
The lesson here is that main wing spars are important and crucial in the design of aircraft. If you're a company betting on composites in the creation of that wing spar then its a 'bet the company' kind of bet. Win the bet, your company rules the halls of aviation for another generation. Lose the bet, and people die.
That's right folks, those metal wings you see today flexing out your seat window when you fly your friendly neighborhood airline are about to be made of good old fashioned - plastics.
More correctly, they are to be made of 'composite materials', and they are also to be 'Made In Japan' by a subcontrator who got the job because they were the lowest bidder in the competition for the work.
Relax. It will be a great aircraft. In 10 years, everyone will insist on composite materials over metals.
I sure hope it all fits together and that the seams dont show when all the parts are glued together. I hope this is aircraft a "Revell kit", and not a "Monogram kit"(an inside joke for all the airplane model kit builders out there, and you know who you are...).
Posted @ May 15, 2007 10:56 PM | Book Reviews | Comments (1)
To Our Three Daughters (A Fisking)
We hope that by the time you read this, the solutions to global warming will be well under way.
It's only Tuesday dear, you might want to give yourself a little leeway on this...
You already know from living with us, how concerned we are about this problem.
Yes my dear, this is the real reason you've never been allowed any sleepovers with your friends, why birthday party dreams of pony rides and big plastic "bounce houses" are crushed under the reality of mommy desperately needing to host yet another NRDC fund raiser on the same weekend.
Sometimes, we go over board with our reactions to everyday annoyances like over -packaged products, leaving lights on in the room, taking too long a shower or leaving your chargers in the wall.
'Wire Hangers' darling, don't forget the 'Wire Hangers'.
We embarrass you when we glare at hummer drivers and or get emotional when we talk about drowning polar bears.
Ohh, nooo. Not the the dreaded liberal "glare". You inhuman bastard Laurie David, dont you know how that must make those people feel, knowing that you disapprove of the free expression of their consumer choice? How do you expect them to live with the shame of it all? You know when the Prius driving people glare at me for driving a 4-wheel drive SUV I can't hardly notice it because they are usually doing it from a full three feet below my floorboards.
But we do this because all of the things that we love and care about are at stake.
How dare those people buy big cars just because they can. I mean really, who do those people think they are anyway?
We do this because we do not want the day to come when you ask us why we did not do more.
Why, oh why did you take me to Disneyland, instead of riding in an inflatable boat with Greenpeace? Why did you make me go to my graduation when I could've been arrested for civil disobiedience and thrown into Cook County jail? Why did you force me to get a car for my high school graduation when what I really wanted was to cut sugar cane in solidarity with the workers in Cuba?
We want you to be able to enjoy snowy winters.
Yes, damn you all and your Hummers for eliminating the white christmases we once had in Malibu and replacing it with the oppressive day in, day out disgusting sunshine. Let's try to enjoy winter this year in Aspen, Telluride, Banff and St. Moritz. Let's take the Lear Jet out for a run. You know, at Park City Utah, they expect you to actually carry your own skis! Now that's roughing it!
We want you to be able to cool off between your sheets on summer nights.
It's called "Air Condtioning" its that knob on the wall, over there next to where the servants quarters are. If you turn it to "ON", cold air magically comes out of these vents in the ceiling. It really is the greatest thing since sliced bread. You should try it. Apparently the servants sit in the other room and blow air across ice cubes with paper fans. I dont know why everyone doesn't have servants, they are just so damned handy to have around.
We want you to see the leaves change colors when they're supposed to.
Not just when we forget to turn the sprinkler system on when we leave the house in Malibu for 6 months while travelling around the world in a jet, like what happened last year.
We want you to visit Yellowstone National Park and spot a bear.
If were lucky and we pray real hard to the Goddess Gaia, perhaps we can get a bear with some real show business talent, like maybe one that can ride a unicycle while juggling beach balls, instead of one that falls over on his back and grabs his feet and sticks his ass up at us from the side of the road or knocking over trash cans all night long with his friends, like they did when we visited last year.
If you get a mosquito bite, we want it to itch, not carry a deadly disease.
Gee, its a damn shame we got rid of all that nasty DDT stuff. I wonder how they got rid of mosquitos back in the golden age, before all this fol-der-all called "modern" living.
We don't want your generation to be the generation that is defined by mass species extinction.
Not to worry, this is the generation already defined by narcissistic personality disorder.
We want you to live in a world where we face the truth about our problems and do everything we can to solve them.
Doing everything we can? Kinda cuts into that whole "leasure time" idea doesnt it.
We want you to grow up to be activists.
Not just any "activists" you understand, but the right kind of "activists". Don't go getting any ideas about protecting Second Amendment rights, working towards freedom for Cuba, ending the practice of abortion or emancipation of any islamic countries or anything. That sort of "activism" just wont do.
That's why we wrote our book, The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming.
And how many trees died in the production of that book? How many Octopuses (Octopii?) died just to have their ink squeezed out of them into big industrial sized vats, just so you could write a book that no one will read and will fill the garbage dumps of America like so many dirty disposable diapers already do? Shouldn't all books exhorting the green lifestyle be online audio books that download to your Ipod so you can listen while you sit and brood on all day at the horrors of Western Civilization while sipping a 7 dollar cup of coffee at Starbucks?
It's for girls like you and yes, boys, too.
Aw, gee thanks! Boys too! Wow, I feel all warm in side, like a Cocker Spaniel puppy just licked my face as I rolled down a big grass hill in the sunshine. Oh wait, thats just a toilet paper commercial that I'm watching.
The more people who understand global warming, the better chance we have at bringing about change -- change as individuals and change as a country.
And if you and your friends shave their heads, wear saffron robes and chant 'Hare Krishna' at the airport terminal, a spiritual awakening will occur across the land, from sea to shining sea.
Change means accepting the fact that the way we are living is causing huge damage to our planet. Change means that once we accept that responsibility, doing everything in our power to correct our course. Change means hope, not despair. Once you understand global warming, you understand how much you can do to solve it. Time is of the essence...lets get started.
So stop writing mindless books, stop papering telephone poles with flyers that exhort the arrival of the Dave Matthews band, stop making bumper stickers, stop celebrity airlifts for charity events, stop the whole 'Soylent Green is people' speech every time it gets a little hot in the summer ok?
We love you so much,
Your mothers,
Laurie David and Cambria Gordon
It doesnt matter who you are in life kids, you don't get to pick your parents.
Posted @ May 15, 2007 12:12 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (1)
Question: Where is the Islamic Ghandi?
So the other day while watching the Richard Attenborough movie 'Ghandi' and I'm thinking to myself;
"Here we see a follower of the tenets of a non-Christian religion who wishes to free his people from Western Imperialism. Ghandis methods were to say the least, unconventional but more importantly they were successful. His methods worked, didn't require an army and what's even more interesting, his former enemies now adore him. If your goal is to succeed in removing and occupying force from your country, then this would seem to be the proven and most successful method to do it. And yet despite Mr. Ghandi providing a clear leadership template for successfully ridding your countrymen from 'foreign influence', it would seem that instead of this, the most "peaceful" of options, that nearly every other method possible has been tried by Islamic populations, and all have fallen into miserable failure. "
So, if Islam is a "religion of peace", then where in its long history is there an example of an Islamic "Ghandi"? So far, the history of Islam is littered with Generals, Commanders, Princes and Kings, but I can't find an example of an Islamic leader who doesnt seem to eventually want to 'go to the sword' himself or advocate its use for others, almost as an article of faith.
My second thought is that there is nothing we in the west would like to see more than the appearance on the world's stage of an "Islamic Ghandi" but nothing that many leaders in that faith would fear more, which I think illuminates a great deal of the situation at hand.
Posted @ May 14, 2007 07:22 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (3)
Quickly
I'm busily doing the 'revenue generation dance' today so I dont have time to elaborate this question as fully as I should, but just to get you started while I'm out...
Apparently the FBI has interrupted a possible attack on Fort Dix New Jersey.
1) Those who say we should 'protect the troops by bringing them home' need to explain that conceptual idea in the light of this very real context. New York, is home and terror attacks have killed people there. New Jersey, is home, yet terror attacks are now being tried. For those of you educated in public schools since 1980, New York and New Jersey were never part of any Islamic empire in the past.
This is the fundamental lesson of 9/11 that the left fails to recognize. There is no arbitrary line behind which we can retreat, and what is worse is that by attempting to do so, we only invite more attacks. This is counterintuitive to those on the left, but obvious to the rest of us.
2) Politics used to stop at "the waters edge" and once upon a time, so did Terrorism. Welcome to the new world.
3) If Terrorists think nothing of taking on an armed camp like Fort Dix, then what makes people think they wont attack try to mall or some other large venue with the same objective? Oh, you think they have morals and guidelines that would obligate them into not attacking innocent civilians, right?
4) Watch as the day goes on as people on the left try to rationalize this effort as legitimate. Take notes.
5) Just a quick note to Osama "worst military commander in history, and thats including General Santa Ana and Saddam Hussien" Bin Laden. Dude, I really think you aught to not try attacking people in New Jersey and New York. Let's just say those folks who live there tend to hold a grudge when they feel slighted in some way and tend to react, you know "physically" when threatened. God help you if one of those people ever catch you, because if they do, I think there's going to be a return to "Free Beer and Baseball Bat" night at Yankee Stadium. You get my drift there, dontcha skinny?
Posted @ May 08, 2007 11:18 AM | Current Affairs | Comments (0)
So what did I think of the debates?
Well that picture of Tony Blair just about wraps up my approach to these attention getting, time wasting exercises in wonkery. I dont want to discuss an election thats going to happen in 2008 in 2007. I just dont.
On top of that, I really dont think this is much of a race. As a Republican, I have to say that its teriffic to watch the candidates we have on our side, because I really dont care who wins the Primary to get the nomination. For once and probably for the first time I can say that any one of them will do nicely. I prefer Guiliani, but if I had to take Romney or McCain, I'd be fine with that. Really I would.
Oh, and shut the hell up about the 'Fred Thompson' thing already. That just annoys the hell out of me. Either he's in the race or not, you can't be both. I don't buy this line of "Conservatives are looking for another candidate in the race" as evidence of a Fred Thompson line of support, because conservatives are always generally dissatisfied with the candidates no matter who they are. Yes Reagan fans, way back in the 80's, even "The Great Renaldo" was derided as "not good enough" for the rock ribbed members of our tribe.
That's what it means to be conservative, to be generally dissatisfied, cranky and wishing for a return to that golden age of the past( which never really did exist in the first place...). Conservatives pull this kind of crap every election and they are pulling it this time too, and it wont mean a thing when it comes down to the wire. He who has the most votes in the primary will get the party, lock, stock and barrel. No one is sitting this one out in 2008 saying "Democrats aren't any worse than Republicans", weve all had a pitcher of water thrown in our faces with the 2006 election, and now we know that no matter how bad it was then(and it was), that this Democrat Congress is truly - worse than anyone could have possibly imagined.
It's my guess that if the Democrats continue to "out-French the French" by spending ever minute of camera time that they've had since they regained power looking for someone, anyone to surrender to, thereby reminding everyone in the world what a bunch of feckless yellow cowards they really are; that a good portion of that party will go for whomever the Republicans put on the table.
Remember kids, the way you win elections is to get your party solidly behind you and to take a good percentage of the other guys party too. Name me a single Democrat who will get a sizeable portion of Republicans in this election? Wesley Clark? oh, sorry hes not running this time. It's Hillary or Obama, and kids, I want you to look really, really close here, because there isn't so much as a fleck of 'conservative values' what-so-ever on either of their platforms that would make even the most foppish, blue blooded country club Republican switch for either of those two. These guys arent banking on taking away votes from Republicans, they are working hard to get their own voters lined up behind them, and they are working real hard at it too.
I would say if a country wide Republican primary were held today, that Guiliani would take New York, California, Florida and yes, even Texas with a sizable lead.
I dont expect that to change. I suspect that in each of those states a large number of formerly Democrat voters, disgusted by their parties continued collaboration with the enemies of this country, will also vote for Mr. Guiliani out of utter disgust. Those states make one big pile of votes to set up as a base. This is not to say that the rest of the Republicans are bad candidates, or that they won't or cant win, its just that the one candidate on either side of the fence who can get the biggest pile of all the voters,Democrat or Republican, is and continues to be - Rudy Guiliani.
But like I said, I don't really care who it is, because I know who it's not going to be. It's just not even close. Weve never been presented with clearer choices between the two parties or the two potential candidates.
All I really ask for in this election, is two things.
First - Please, oh dear Sweet God in heaven, stop us all from making Presidential politics into the equivalent of the World Wide Wrestling Federation Championships. I know, even I stoop to accasionally poking fun at one candidate or another, but the never ending pointless speculation and babble and has just got to stop. It's just not that interesting folks, go back to sports, go flyfishing, take up bowling, ok? You'll thank me for it later.
Take a little time and pick a candidate, read their material, go work their campaign if you think that will make you feel better, but for gods sake, shut up and go get a hobby, make model airplanes, plant a garden or something until about July 2008, will ya? Sheesh.
Second - I pray deeply that whomever wins, and I mean this sincerely for both of the candidates who end up running either as a Democrat and Republican, I hope and pray deeply for a landslide, a sizeable landslide for whomever wins. No one deserves to be an a position where they have to try to motivate and manage the shipping crate full of flesh eating,blood crazed gerbils (also known as the "People of the United States") with just a 300 vote margin out of 350 million people. Bush didn't design it that way, it just happened, and to me it always seemed to be the cruelest thing that was ever done to him in his life.
Roosevelt fought a war overseas, and so did Wilson, but neither of them did it with almost a full blown state of Civil War going on here at home at the same time. Bush has had to fight a war like no other war before, all around the world, while also trying to keep the economy from falling into a depression, but he's always been under the burden of doing it in a near state of seige here at home since before he took the oath.
The Honeymoon for this President occured from Tuesday September 11th 2001, until Wednesday September 12th 2001, when he was accused of cowardace by the Democrats, because he didnt immediately return to New York City after the attacks. For 12 hours he had peace. I doubt he noticed,since at the time we were still under attack.
I hope no one is ever saddled with that burden ever again. A lesser man or woman would have folded up like a wet paper sack under the never ending pressures of that job, but through it all, this man has stood tall. Forget Reagan, get me someone who can talk like Tony Blair and stand tall like Bush, and I'm happy. I'm satisifed that in our current candidate ranks that the bill can be filled for that order.
Now you'll excuse me, I've got a garden to till...
Posted @ May 03, 2007 09:20 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (2)
And then there were two - Wally Schirra Dies
Walter Schirra (March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007)
One of the last remaining original Mercury 7 astronauts, leaving only Scott Carpenter and John Glenn behind.
Favorite Quote:
Schirra and his Gemini flights involved the process of rendezvous of manned spacecraft. Schirra and Stafford, attempted to launch aboard Gemini 6 mission on October 25, 1965, and rendezvous with an unmanned Agena rocket. However the Agena exploded, and the launch was scrubbed. The bold decision was made to launch Gemini 7 first, quickly refurbish the pad, and launch Schirra and Stafford in Gemini 6 for a rendezvous of both manned spacecraft.
At the time, rendezvous was considered any approach within 3 miles. Schirra however begged to differ with that assessment, He said:
" I'll tell you what a rendezvous is. When a man looks across a street and sees a pretty girl, and waves at her, that's not a rendezvous, that's a passing acquaintance. When he walks across the street through the traffic and nibbles on her ear, that's a rendezvous!"
Gemini 6 and 7 maintained station just 30 centimeters from each other and were able to vary the distance regularly through the mission.
The rendezvous of Gemini 6 and 7 spacecraft in 1965 represented the largest number of US Astronauts in space at the same time, until the use of the Space Shuttle during the 1980's.
Posted @ May 03, 2007 04:51 PM | Aviation | Comments (0)
Mission Accomplished
Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower (right) smiles as he holds the two pens used by German representatives to sign the unconditional surrender document ending World War II in Europe in the early morning of May 7, 1945. His chief of staff, Lt. General Walter Bedell Smith, looks on, left in the picture. A jubilant staff surrounds both of the men.
There was no exchange of salutes. German Generals, Jodl, Friedeburg and Oxenius stood at attention before Eisenhower as he sternly asked them:
"Do you understand the terms of this unconditional surrender and are you ready to comply with them?"
General Jodl-*, in the center of the German trio, clicked his heels and bowed his head in the affirmative after Strong interpreted the Supreme Commander's question.
The Germans left the General at 02:57, after a two minute audience.
General Suslaparov led the Russian officers into the Supreme Commander's office and firmly grasped Eisenhower's hand. The Supreme Commander beamed and said, "This is a great moment for all of us."
General Suslaparov spoke and when his words were interpreted Eisenhower replied: "You said it."
While the surrender of German Armed Forces was accepted by the Allies in May of 1945, fighting would continue in the European theatre of war for the next two years in the form of guerrilla and German partisan activity, known today as an "insurgency", but know at the time was "Werewolves". US Military Deaths from accidents and from partisan activity from 1945 until 1949 are estimated to be roughly 4,000 deaths, excluding the period of time known as the 'Berlin blockade', which would increase the number to 6,000. Civilian deaths in the same period resulting from starvation, harsh imprisonment, civil reprisal and the displacement of large numbers of people as refugees were numbered in the tens of thousands. General starvation for the civilian populace remained a serious issue to be solved until the early 1950's.
U.S. Army uses tanks to supress a riot at a Yugoslavian DP(Displaced Persons- 'Refugee') camp
By agreement of the Allies, at the end of the military phase of the war, Germany was partitioned and would retain elements of this partitioning until 1989. West Germany was formed out of the partitions controlled by France, Great Britain and the United States, East Germany out of the Russian partition. A wall, with barbwire, machine guns,minefields and the reality of many civilian deaths and divided families, would split the country in two and would exist from 1960 until 1989. While West Germany and East Germany eventually became sovereign nations, they would both live under large scale military occupation by the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 until 1989.
To this day, a military presence by the United States can still be found on German territory-**.
While Americans have maintained a standing army and air force in the almost 60 year occupation of Germany, Germany and Europe have enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity unequaled since any time before the advent of the Roman Empire.
During the late 1970's, Germany enjoyed a brief period where manufacturing productivity was greater than that of the United States. Several prominent economists predicted that Germany and her one time Allies in Japan would soon return to manufacturing superiority over the western world, leaving the United States behind in the dust.
While Americans and Germans still have differences in politics and values, no one of any side of the political scale believes that war will come to Europe from any other European or American government, ever again. While the price was high in both lives and treasure and the task took a great long time to accomplish, the mission of ending 'war in Europe' has been accomplished. There is hardly any miltary force in even the largest of the European countries, there is certainly no 'martial will' in the armed forces that still exist there, or any public support or desire for war anywhere in the european continent.
But it was not always so. The history of Europe of the past 1000 years is a wall to wall history of the horrors of war. Roughly ever 20 years until the end of World War II, Continental Europe suffered from a major war or plague.
Now, it is among the most peaceful places on the planet, rivalling only the United States, Mexico and Canada for large populations at real peace with one another.
Years after the end of the war, American G.I.'s were often asked why they fought so hard in the Second World War and the answer was almost always the same:
"So my kids don't have to come over here and do this again"
Americans of that war and that generation, knew the high cost that comes from an incomplete victory and a policy of isolation because they had learned the lesson of 1919. The American nation was shocked at the cost of the First World War and chose to enter a period of isolation afterwards but the result was not peace, but the rise of Hitler and the Japanese Empire. The cost of the 'peace movement' that formed at the end of the First World War could be measured in real terms of the 52 million people world wide who died in the second period of conflict.
It was a conflict that could've been avoided. The conflict of the Second World War and its horrid cost in lives is what inspired a generation to do what it could to ensure that the lives spent in that conflict would not be wasted by the nation being forced in the next generation of American soldiers being sent to the soil of Europe to fight yet another war.
It should always be remembered in veiwing history, that what has happened is not a guarantee of how things would turn out without any uncertainty. History is a series of plans, accidents and miracles that have occured in just the right order to the make the reality that we now read about in 'full view' with a clear head in the safety of our homes, but at the time that history is in the process of being made, the future is always uncertain, but people living it at the time made the choices they made, based on what they knew about the past and more importantly what they learned from the lessons of the past.
In 1946, there were two plans for the future of Europe. One was the Morgenthau Plan, the other is the one we all know about, the Marshall Plan.
The potential value of a single child. A German family in post-war eating a meal of mostly potatoes.
Here's what you need to know about 'The Morgenthau Plan':
- Germany was to be partitioned into two independent states.
- Germany's main centers of mining and industry, including the Saar area, the Ruhr area and Upper Silesia were to be Internationalized or annexed by neighboring nations.
- All heavy industry was to be dismantled or otherwise destroyed.
Sound familar? It should. This isnt far removed from the plan that the Allies forced onto Germany at the end of World War I.
Yet, knowing this President Roosevelt supported the plan. In fact, many of the worlds influentual people believed it to be the way go. Germany was to be no more. Germans would pay a price for the crimes of war. This is exactly what was tried in 1919, and that idea was, as evidenced by the very existence of Second World War, a disaster.
The actions of a few contrarian individuals, heroes in my mind, would see to it that 'The Morgenthau Plan' would not be the one enacted by the allies, but instead the Marshall Plan would form the core of American support for the rebuilding and reformation of Europe for the next 60 years.
History recognizes the Marshall Plan as one one the greatest acts in foreign policy of any nation,but its implementation was far from certain. Its implementation, while a tool for peace, required the use of military force and resolve to execute.
History recognizes many other opportunities over the 60 years of its involvement for Americans to decide to leave Europe behind and to not look back.
Berlin, May 1945. The war is over, but life goes on...
In 1948, The Blockade of Berlin by the Soviet Union nearly brought starvation to the civilian population of Berlin and brought the return of War to the world. The world today knows the event as the "Berlin Airlift", where American and British airmen risked their lives flying plane loads of food into the people living in the City of Berlin.
We could have left it all behind right there. If we had, what would have happened to us?
U.S. Army Tanks on alert while the Berlin Wall is being built in 1961.
In 1961, The Soviet Union and their client state in East Germany created a wall that divided the two countries, again taking the world to the brink of nuclear war. Units of the U.S Army based in Berlin defended Berlin against the Soviets with the potential use of tactial nuclear weapons. The Soviets backed down.
We could have left it all behind right there. If we had, what would have happened to us?
In 1976, the Soviet Union deployed Short Range Tactical Missiles(SS-20's) into Eastern Europe. The United States did not budge, but chose to deploy its own missiles, the Pershing II Missile to counter the threats.
Would the wall have come down as it did, peacefully in 1989? or would the wall come down in the treads of tanks deployed in a much bloodier and longer war? Would the cause of peace have been better served if our military had not remained so vigilant in defense against the real threats to peace?
Those who profess to be a part of the "peace movement" need to understand that the emotion of "wanting peace" alone is almost never enough to actually gain the peace they so desire. On occasion, you have to demonstrate that you are willing to fight to be able to maintain the peace that you have. A large number of military people for over 60 years dedicated their lives to the cause of maintaining peace in Europe. Lives were lost, large amounts treasure were expened, and it took three generations to fully accomplish the mission of peace in Europe, but the true price of peace is never cheap or easy or fast. The cost of failure to remain vigilent fills the graveyards of battlefield after battlefield all across the world.
Our mission in Europe is now truly 'mission accomplished', but our mission is the Middle East is just getting started. Let us all hope that we are able to learn the lessons given to us in the years 1919 and 1946 and apply them to what we need to do now in 2007. If we return to the policy of 1919, we will find our grandchildren in a war of untold horror on a world wide scale that will make the Second World War look small and insignificant by comparison. Unlike the Second World War, we here at home will be on the front lines of the next war. but if we can remember the lessons of diligence, patience and faith given to us by the experiences of the year 1946, the war, a war that need not happen, can be avoided.
The best way to fight a war is to ensure it never needs to be fought in the first place. History shows us that this can be accomplished only by showing resolve towards maintaining the peace, if need be, by preparing to fight for it.
Those who want to ensure only the very conditions that will surely lead to a larger and more deadly war, are not interested in peace and should not be given that honor in the debate of the direction of our future.
Because it must be remembered that the future, is always in motion.
German Children in Berlin after the lifting ofthe blockade.
These children now have had a lifetime of peace and a future of peace, freedom and wealth after a committment of 60 years by the United States.
Do these children deserve any less?
Iraqi Children and Marine. Globe, Anchor, Eagle and smiles.
Notes:
*- Interestingly enough, The German Air Force has maintained a squadron in New Mexico since the 1960's
**-General Jodl would later be tried and hanged as part of the Nuremburg War Crimes Trails. In 1953 a Munich court re-assessed the Nuremberg legal procedures and concluded Jodl was neither guilty of crimes of war punishable by death under international law, nor of other crimes which would have made him a criminal or abuser of military power. He was completely exonerated, though the Allied powers refused to comment further on the Jodl hanging and Nuremberg trial. History it seems, never lays down in a straight line..
Posted @ May 01, 2007 01:22 PM | Current Affairs | Comments (4)
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