Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Here She Comes, Ms Proud of Her Country
Seems that Eglin AFB is to be graced by Mrs Community Organizer in Chief during a whistlestop appearance tomorrow. Although it's pretty obvious that I'm not the type who'd go see her speak, I have a bone to pick with one or two of the folks interviewed for the nwfdailynews.com article. Let's take this appearance for what it's advertised to be - a chance for Mrs Obama to meet with some real-life military members and their families (I suspect it's just part of the Holy O's Eternal Campaign, but for now let's let that be).
If Mrs Obama is wanting to meet with military members and their families, what the hell are Okaloosa County Democrats like Judy Byrne Riley doing trying to "finagle" (the article's word, not mine) their way onto Eglin? The article does not state if Ms Riley has an official connection to Eglin, but I suspect she doesn't - she wouldn't need to finagle anything if she did. Every ass-kissing local Dem operative who wants to get in on what they think will be a great photo op will be taking a space that could have gone to a military member or someone in his or her family. The article doesn't state how many people Mrs Obama will contact during her meeting "with base leaders and military families," but it's probably not a huge number, and the speech at the hangar will be more of a crowd exercise. Some of those in attendance will probably get a grip-n-grin, but not all, and for any local officials who aren't part of the target audience of military members and their families to try to horn in on this activity is shameful. Of course, as commenter "ronaldpaul" so wonderfully states, "You lost, get over it". Being on the "winning" side allows the Dems to do as they please - they have no shame.
Seems that Eglin AFB is to be graced by Mrs Community Organizer in Chief during a whistlestop appearance tomorrow. Although it's pretty obvious that I'm not the type who'd go see her speak, I have a bone to pick with one or two of the folks interviewed for the nwfdailynews.com article. Let's take this appearance for what it's advertised to be - a chance for Mrs Obama to meet with some real-life military members and their families (I suspect it's just part of the Holy O's Eternal Campaign, but for now let's let that be).
If Mrs Obama is wanting to meet with military members and their families, what the hell are Okaloosa County Democrats like Judy Byrne Riley doing trying to "finagle" (the article's word, not mine) their way onto Eglin? The article does not state if Ms Riley has an official connection to Eglin, but I suspect she doesn't - she wouldn't need to finagle anything if she did. Every ass-kissing local Dem operative who wants to get in on what they think will be a great photo op will be taking a space that could have gone to a military member or someone in his or her family. The article doesn't state how many people Mrs Obama will contact during her meeting "with base leaders and military families," but it's probably not a huge number, and the speech at the hangar will be more of a crowd exercise. Some of those in attendance will probably get a grip-n-grin, but not all, and for any local officials who aren't part of the target audience of military members and their families to try to horn in on this activity is shameful. Of course, as commenter "ronaldpaul" so wonderfully states, "You lost, get over it". Being on the "winning" side allows the Dems to do as they please - they have no shame.
Labels: Eglin, Obama, Okaloosa
Thursday, September 10, 2009
We Remember
Eight years ago, on the morning of 11 September 2001, Patrick Quigley of Wellesley, Massachusetts, boarded United Airlines Flight 175 at Boston’s Logan International Airport. He was killed when the Boeing 767 was flown into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
At forty years old, Patrick was pretty squarely in the middle of the age range of those killed by Islamist terrorists that fateful day. He was taken from his wife and two daughters, one not yet born. Patrick was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, but "dreamed of maybe, one day, opening his own wine store."
It is my honor to remember Mr Patrick Quigley IV, along with the others killed in the 11 Sept attack. I feel I should write more about Patrick, but I am not sure I can add to what others have already written. It is, perhaps, my duty simply to post, to remember, to say "We will not forget."
You may read other tributes to Patrick at 9-11 Heroes, and here is a link to Gregor's 2006 Project 2,996 tribute to Patrick.
Eight years ago, on the morning of 11 September 2001, Patrick Quigley of Wellesley, Massachusetts, boarded United Airlines Flight 175 at Boston’s Logan International Airport. He was killed when the Boeing 767 was flown into the south tower of the World Trade Center.
At forty years old, Patrick was pretty squarely in the middle of the age range of those killed by Islamist terrorists that fateful day. He was taken from his wife and two daughters, one not yet born. Patrick was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, but "dreamed of maybe, one day, opening his own wine store."
It is my honor to remember Mr Patrick Quigley IV, along with the others killed in the 11 Sept attack. I feel I should write more about Patrick, but I am not sure I can add to what others have already written. It is, perhaps, my duty simply to post, to remember, to say "We will not forget."
You may read other tributes to Patrick at 9-11 Heroes, and here is a link to Gregor's 2006 Project 2,996 tribute to Patrick.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Ding Dong...
Not exactly "the witch is dead," but the result is good, very good indeed. George Tiller is dead, after far too many years walking this earth and far too many babies dead by his hand. His death should have no more impact than that of a roach, as his life was worth far less. I had thought at first that maybe it was a bad thing that it happened in a church, with probably a fair number of people who'd be scarred by his termination (I find it very hard to call someone dispatching of this man's life "murder"), but they had to have known what his trade was, and if they couldn't be repulsed by his commission of late-term abortions, then they deserve to be scarred by seeing his life extinguished. May George Tiller burn in hell.
Not exactly "the witch is dead," but the result is good, very good indeed. George Tiller is dead, after far too many years walking this earth and far too many babies dead by his hand. His death should have no more impact than that of a roach, as his life was worth far less. I had thought at first that maybe it was a bad thing that it happened in a church, with probably a fair number of people who'd be scarred by his termination (I find it very hard to call someone dispatching of this man's life "murder"), but they had to have known what his trade was, and if they couldn't be repulsed by his commission of late-term abortions, then they deserve to be scarred by seeing his life extinguished. May George Tiller burn in hell.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Earth Day 2009
So how did you commemorate Earth Day? Since I never got around to ordering that ton of high-sulfur coal I was going to burn in the back yard just for the hell of it, I figured a next-best would be to turn on a bunch of those oil-filled heaters in the house, set 'em to "max," turn the AC down to 60, turn on all the lights, leave the faucets running, and then go to work. Nah, I didn't really do that, but it would've been a good "up yours" to all the sanctimony surrounding all this Earth Day/Earth Month hoohah. I'm in favor of conservation, reduce/reuse/recycle, and all the rest, but damn, folks - give it a break already.
So how did you commemorate Earth Day? Since I never got around to ordering that ton of high-sulfur coal I was going to burn in the back yard just for the hell of it, I figured a next-best would be to turn on a bunch of those oil-filled heaters in the house, set 'em to "max," turn the AC down to 60, turn on all the lights, leave the faucets running, and then go to work. Nah, I didn't really do that, but it would've been a good "up yours" to all the sanctimony surrounding all this Earth Day/Earth Month hoohah. I'm in favor of conservation, reduce/reuse/recycle, and all the rest, but damn, folks - give it a break already.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Not to Make Light ...
Not to make light of this child's serious medical condition, but I had two thoughts after reading this. The first was "Wow, I hope she'll be OK." The second was, "I'm thinking of Chris Matthews and Barack Obama."
From http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481866,00.html: "A 9-month old girl in Zambia is set to undergo a potentially lifesaving operation to remove the feet of a parasitic twin protruding from her buttocks."
Not to make light of this child's serious medical condition, but I had two thoughts after reading this. The first was "Wow, I hope she'll be OK." The second was, "I'm thinking of Chris Matthews and Barack Obama."
From http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481866,00.html: "A 9-month old girl in Zambia is set to undergo a potentially lifesaving operation to remove the feet of a parasitic twin protruding from her buttocks."
Friday, November 07, 2008
When circulation fails...
In people, when circulation fails bad stuff happens - gangrene, amputation, death. It's not too different in the newspaper world. We don't take the local paper (heck, we don't subscribe to any newspaper), but this morning we had a freebie in the driveway, and in the plastic sleeve was a note from our friendly local paper carrier. In big letters across the top it says "CARRIER'S SPECIAL," and below that is "I'm [name deleted to protect the innocent], your local carrier for the Northwest Florida Daily News. I NEED your business, and in an effort to earn it, I hope you enjoy this sample newspaper with my compliments." There's more, concerning a great deal on home delivery, but doesn't this sound just a touch, well, desperate (yes, the NEED is in caps in the original)? We're considering taking them up on the offer, actually - my wife's hooked on Sudoku, and she's been buying a copy of the paper each day, at 50 cents a pop. This "special offer" would be less on a per-copy basis, but then our address will be associated with this puppy-training fodder. The news content is nothing special, except for the local coverage, but still - I despise the idea of supporting this rag. Maybe we'll take the offer, but when I call, I'll make sure they know that it's for the puzzle
In people, when circulation fails bad stuff happens - gangrene, amputation, death. It's not too different in the newspaper world. We don't take the local paper (heck, we don't subscribe to any newspaper), but this morning we had a freebie in the driveway, and in the plastic sleeve was a note from our friendly local paper carrier. In big letters across the top it says "CARRIER'S SPECIAL," and below that is "I'm [name deleted to protect the innocent], your local carrier for the Northwest Florida Daily News. I NEED your business, and in an effort to earn it, I hope you enjoy this sample newspaper with my compliments." There's more, concerning a great deal on home delivery, but doesn't this sound just a touch, well, desperate (yes, the NEED is in caps in the original)? We're considering taking them up on the offer, actually - my wife's hooked on Sudoku, and she's been buying a copy of the paper each day, at 50 cents a pop. This "special offer" would be less on a per-copy basis, but then our address will be associated with this puppy-training fodder. The news content is nothing special, except for the local coverage, but still - I despise the idea of supporting this rag. Maybe we'll take the offer, but when I call, I'll make sure they know that it's for the puzzle
Monday, November 03, 2008
In the course of human events...
This election season has brought me back to thinking about something I first considered some time ago. America has long been drifting toward becoming a nanny state, one where the government takes care of all of the peoples' needs. Or at least it tries to, usually with all the efficiency associated with large cumbersome bureaucracies. Not all of us, though, want the government doing so much. Every four years we get a choice of who can pander more to the "take care of me" crowd, and usually it's not a huge difference between the Democrat and the Republican candidates - a prescription drug program here, more-frequent free cheese distributions there - but this year is different. Obama's "spread the wealth" socialism should bring into stark relief the proposition that we are, fundamentally, two Americas. One is self-reliant, willing to work hard and risk failure for the chance at great reward, and the other eternally asking "Where's my check?" As Kevin Williamson points out:
I propose that we revisit the first words of the Declaration of Independence, and assess whether we have reached a point where the only thing we have in common with the "take care of me" voters is the "political bands" that connect us. I think a good argument could be made that today's Self-Reliants, who I think may tend toward the conservative or libertarian, have more in common with Self-Reliants in England, Norway, or Hong Kong than with the members of the city council of Berkeley. I think the people of Berkeley would shape a government that those of us in the gun 'n' Bible clinging territories would find distasteful, and vice-versa, so I think it is time we allow the nanny-staters to go their own way.
As a starting point, sometime after tomorrow let's look at the results of this election, county by county, and compare the map to, oh, 2004's. Those areas that have went blue in both elections can, I think, be considered as nanny-state strongholds. Let's allow them - no, let's be a little stronger about it - let's force them to form their own government. Consider them as exile city-states. The 2004 post-election map shows a far greater area that went red, so I think this is not an unreasonable proposition. The Self-Reliants will keep DC, on the idea that it's the seat of government for the current nation, and, since the nanny-staters are going to form their own government, they can choose where it will be based. There are a lot of details that still need to be worked out, but I think 5 Nov 2008 is a good day to start the revolution.
This may be an alternative for the folks who are considering "going John Galt" (how about we call that gojoga?) - instead of the Self-Reliant producers going on strike, reducing the GNP as they do, we kick out the parasites.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
This election season has brought me back to thinking about something I first considered some time ago. America has long been drifting toward becoming a nanny state, one where the government takes care of all of the peoples' needs. Or at least it tries to, usually with all the efficiency associated with large cumbersome bureaucracies. Not all of us, though, want the government doing so much. Every four years we get a choice of who can pander more to the "take care of me" crowd, and usually it's not a huge difference between the Democrat and the Republican candidates - a prescription drug program here, more-frequent free cheese distributions there - but this year is different. Obama's "spread the wealth" socialism should bring into stark relief the proposition that we are, fundamentally, two Americas. One is self-reliant, willing to work hard and risk failure for the chance at great reward, and the other eternally asking "Where's my check?" As Kevin Williamson points out:
At some point, it became obvious to these young people that the chief administrative officer of the federal government is ex officio responsible for loaning them grad-school money and overseeing their moms’ health-insurance plans. Jonah Goldberg didn’t call his book Liberal Fascism for nothing; they demand a totalitarian government because they suffer from totalitarian narcissism. Ask what your country can do for you? They’ve got a list worthy of Santa’s in-box.
I propose that we revisit the first words of the Declaration of Independence, and assess whether we have reached a point where the only thing we have in common with the "take care of me" voters is the "political bands" that connect us. I think a good argument could be made that today's Self-Reliants, who I think may tend toward the conservative or libertarian, have more in common with Self-Reliants in England, Norway, or Hong Kong than with the members of the city council of Berkeley. I think the people of Berkeley would shape a government that those of us in the gun 'n' Bible clinging territories would find distasteful, and vice-versa, so I think it is time we allow the nanny-staters to go their own way.
As a starting point, sometime after tomorrow let's look at the results of this election, county by county, and compare the map to, oh, 2004's. Those areas that have went blue in both elections can, I think, be considered as nanny-state strongholds. Let's allow them - no, let's be a little stronger about it - let's force them to form their own government. Consider them as exile city-states. The 2004 post-election map shows a far greater area that went red, so I think this is not an unreasonable proposition. The Self-Reliants will keep DC, on the idea that it's the seat of government for the current nation, and, since the nanny-staters are going to form their own government, they can choose where it will be based. There are a lot of details that still need to be worked out, but I think 5 Nov 2008 is a good day to start the revolution.
This may be an alternative for the folks who are considering "going John Galt" (how about we call that gojoga?) - instead of the Self-Reliant producers going on strike, reducing the GNP as they do, we kick out the parasites.
