Here's some evidence to the contrary
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Here's Hannibal--Part II
Just in case my readers had gotten comfortable with the idea that I was...shall we say..."normal"...
Here's some evidence to the contrary
Here's some evidence to the contrary
Mr. T
As we prepared to move down here to St. Simons from Atlanta last year, we faced only one delimma. What to do with the stray tomcat, we called him Mr. T(abby), that was hanging around our house. About a month before we moved, he showed up with a brand new collar with a new vacinnation tag with the name "Desmond" on it. It broke our hearts and relieved us at the same time.
You see, he had been hanging around our place part time for six months or so, had his own food, and catnip and blanket, but we weren't sure if he actually belonged to anyone. The new tag told us all we needed to know...
Here he is outside hanging out, interrupted from doing a little belly fuzz housekeeping so I could take his picture:
My Favorite Cat...Mr. T
We sure miss that cat.
You see, he had been hanging around our place part time for six months or so, had his own food, and catnip and blanket, but we weren't sure if he actually belonged to anyone. The new tag told us all we needed to know...
Here he is outside hanging out, interrupted from doing a little belly fuzz housekeeping so I could take his picture:
My Favorite Cat...Mr. T
We sure miss that cat.
Beaver Photos
Being the rocket scientist that I am, I finally figured out how to install photos in the blog. I had done it once before and forgot how.
Here is my dad with the brand spanking new (3 months old) de Havilland Beaver in December 1957. The big round thing sticking out of the door is a CAMERA, a very large camera that my dad was testing for low altitude recon. Top secret stuff in its day...
Dad with the Beaver in 1957
And here she is in flight over south Alabama with dad at the controls. The tail number has changed from the Army designation 64419 to the civilian designation N67688, but the paperwork path is well documented.
64419 with Virgil Jr. at the controls
Here is the current owner, Gary "Butch" King, showing off a big king salmon in front her at his Alaska Wildman Lodge today:
N67688 today
Not bad for a 48 year old airplane...So how amazing is the internet anyway?
Here is my dad with the brand spanking new (3 months old) de Havilland Beaver in December 1957. The big round thing sticking out of the door is a CAMERA, a very large camera that my dad was testing for low altitude recon. Top secret stuff in its day...
Dad with the Beaver in 1957
And here she is in flight over south Alabama with dad at the controls. The tail number has changed from the Army designation 64419 to the civilian designation N67688, but the paperwork path is well documented.
64419 with Virgil Jr. at the controls
Here is the current owner, Gary "Butch" King, showing off a big king salmon in front her at his Alaska Wildman Lodge today:
N67688 today
Not bad for a 48 year old airplane...So how amazing is the internet anyway?
Friday, May 06, 2005
A Developing Trend
In spite of the media hype, yet another pro-war, Bush loving, islamo-fascist hating, hard headed foreign leader has been re-elected.
Let's hear it for Tony Blair's third term as British prime minister.
The liberal media and the intellectual left is yet again in a deep state of depression.
First Australia's John Howard survived John Kerry's loudmouthed sister's meddling and the eminent upheaval predicted by the media. It was a thin margin of victory...
Then George 43 got re-elected in spite of Dan Rather and the TAG scandal. No mandate here...
Now this thing with Tony Blair...how stupid can the world's citizens possibly be? Why won't they listen to reason??
Because I'm not as dumb as I look and act sometimes, and fortunately the world contains a number of people with similar attributes.
Thank goodness...
Let's hear it for Tony Blair's third term as British prime minister.
The liberal media and the intellectual left is yet again in a deep state of depression.
First Australia's John Howard survived John Kerry's loudmouthed sister's meddling and the eminent upheaval predicted by the media. It was a thin margin of victory...
Then George 43 got re-elected in spite of Dan Rather and the TAG scandal. No mandate here...
Now this thing with Tony Blair...how stupid can the world's citizens possibly be? Why won't they listen to reason??
Because I'm not as dumb as I look and act sometimes, and fortunately the world contains a number of people with similar attributes.
Thank goodness...
Thursday, May 05, 2005
An Amazing Day On The Internet--Part II
Just when I thought that my day couldn’t get much better, it did. My girl Pat called me after lunch and told me that I had successfully gotten the FAA to place our local airport, Brunswick Glynn County Regional (BQK), listed on the Air Traffic Control System Command Center Web Site.
Now before you say anything--yes, I admit that I have too much time on my hands and too little to worry about sometimes—but this is a big deal if you travel as often as we do here in our household. Pat jumps on an airplane to fly to Chicago almost once a week. Looking at the ATCSCC site gives you at least an idea of what kind of delays to expect when you are packing your luggage. It has saved us both some time in the past in spite of the omission of BQK.
I contacted the FAA over a year ago about the omission of our airport from their site. After all, they had two smaller airports in south Georgia—Valdosta and Albany—listed with their own green buttons on the map.
When they refused to respond or otherwise ignored my multiple requests for information, I called in the big guns. Our state senator, Saxby Chambliss, had his people get involved at my request in February and today I got a letter from his office and a copy of a letter from the FAA dated April 12th saying that they were taking care of things.
As Pat had already noted, they included us this week because it wasn’t on the site Tuesday morning when she left town.
I’m expecting her to return home this evening about midnight (flight delays due to weather) so I have to go get a late dinner ready and we'll quietly celebrate our victory.
Who says “you can’t fight city hall…”
Now before you say anything--yes, I admit that I have too much time on my hands and too little to worry about sometimes—but this is a big deal if you travel as often as we do here in our household. Pat jumps on an airplane to fly to Chicago almost once a week. Looking at the ATCSCC site gives you at least an idea of what kind of delays to expect when you are packing your luggage. It has saved us both some time in the past in spite of the omission of BQK.
I contacted the FAA over a year ago about the omission of our airport from their site. After all, they had two smaller airports in south Georgia—Valdosta and Albany—listed with their own green buttons on the map.
When they refused to respond or otherwise ignored my multiple requests for information, I called in the big guns. Our state senator, Saxby Chambliss, had his people get involved at my request in February and today I got a letter from his office and a copy of a letter from the FAA dated April 12th saying that they were taking care of things.
As Pat had already noted, they included us this week because it wasn’t on the site Tuesday morning when she left town.
I’m expecting her to return home this evening about midnight (flight delays due to weather) so I have to go get a late dinner ready and we'll quietly celebrate our victory.
Who says “you can’t fight city hall…”
An Amazing Day On The Internet
I started this morning dreading May 5th because, as I had posted earlier, today is the ninth anniversary of my family’s loss of my father.
By 10:15 AM, everything had changed. You see, last year I started an unusual search—a search for an old army airplane that my father had flown nearly fifty years ago. I had pictures of my father standing beside and flying the 3 month old de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver in December 1957, nearly two years before I was born.
I had earlier tripped over the Beaver Trails Web site, run by Mr. Neil Aird, which helped start my inquiry. Neil’s site tracks the disposition of the old US Army Beavers beginning in the late 1960’s into private use as bush aircraft in Canada and Alaska. Today the Beaver is perhaps the most sought after airplane capable of hauling people and supplies into remote areas near the artic circle, thus I was optimistic that I might find one of my father’s favorite airplanes still in operation today.
Currently registered as N67688, I tracked the old Beaver through the FAA database and found that it was registered to the Cinder River Lodge in Alaska. Luckily, the Cinder River Lodge’s sister lodge, Wild Man Lodge had a web site and guess what?
They still own the airplane. It’s shown on their web site here (the blue and white airplane.)
The owner, Butch “Wild Man” King sent me an E-mail this morning with six pictures attached showing that N67688 is still alive and well, living on the Alaskan peninsula. Butch’s father bought it in 1975, crash landed it on a mountain in 1988, and Butch took the damaged airplane apart and hauled it out of the wilderness in pieces and totally restored it in 1990 and still flies it several days each week.
I’m planning a trip to Alaska for her (the airplane’s) fiftieth birthday. In the mean time I hope to get some “tail-dragger” flying time here at the St. Simons airport because, come hell or high water, my butt will be in a seat in that airplane where my father sat before I draw my last breath.
Wish me luck…
By 10:15 AM, everything had changed. You see, last year I started an unusual search—a search for an old army airplane that my father had flown nearly fifty years ago. I had pictures of my father standing beside and flying the 3 month old de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver in December 1957, nearly two years before I was born.
I had earlier tripped over the Beaver Trails Web site, run by Mr. Neil Aird, which helped start my inquiry. Neil’s site tracks the disposition of the old US Army Beavers beginning in the late 1960’s into private use as bush aircraft in Canada and Alaska. Today the Beaver is perhaps the most sought after airplane capable of hauling people and supplies into remote areas near the artic circle, thus I was optimistic that I might find one of my father’s favorite airplanes still in operation today.
Currently registered as N67688, I tracked the old Beaver through the FAA database and found that it was registered to the Cinder River Lodge in Alaska. Luckily, the Cinder River Lodge’s sister lodge, Wild Man Lodge had a web site and guess what?
They still own the airplane. It’s shown on their web site here (the blue and white airplane.)
The owner, Butch “Wild Man” King sent me an E-mail this morning with six pictures attached showing that N67688 is still alive and well, living on the Alaskan peninsula. Butch’s father bought it in 1975, crash landed it on a mountain in 1988, and Butch took the damaged airplane apart and hauled it out of the wilderness in pieces and totally restored it in 1990 and still flies it several days each week.
I’m planning a trip to Alaska for her (the airplane’s) fiftieth birthday. In the mean time I hope to get some “tail-dragger” flying time here at the St. Simons airport because, come hell or high water, my butt will be in a seat in that airplane where my father sat before I draw my last breath.
Wish me luck…
Waging War Of Insanity On Wages
I don’t know why I bother reading the NY Times, other than every time I click my mouse and dive into their liberal, leftist drivel spewing pages I find something to write about here in my blog.
For instance, take a look at this story about the organized assault by “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions” designed to increase wages at Wal-Mart.
“BENTONVILLE, Ark. - With most of Wal-Mart's workers earning less than $19,000 a year, a number of community groups and lawmakers have recently teamed up with labor unions in mounting an intensive campaign aimed at prodding Wal-Mart into paying its 1.3 million employees higher wages.
A new group of Wal-Mart critics ran a full-page advertisement on April 20 contending that the company's low pay had forced tens of thousands of its workers to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, costing taxpayers billions of dollars. On April 26, as part of a campaign called "Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart," five members of Congress joined women's advocates and labor leaders to assail the company for not paying its female employees more.
And in a book to be published this fall, a group of scholars will argue that Wal-Mart Stores, having replaced General Motors as the nation's largest company, has an obligation to treat its employees better.”
Allow me to assist you in dissecting this situation in my normally calloused, insensitive, yet imminently accurate manner.
First I have to ask this little question: WHO THE HECK OWNS WAL-MART—“Community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions”, or the company’s stockholders?
How many of these “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions” have the physical and financial means to start a company providing 1.3 million jobs—jobs that manage to even pay minimum wage? Can you say ZERO?
And how about this gem—“the company's low pay had forced tens of thousands of its workers to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, costing taxpayers billions of dollars.”
So are we to believe that Wal-Mart managers in the store employment offices are forcing Americans to be employed and accept horribly low wages at gunpoint? I’d like to point out that if these people didn’t have these so-called “underpaid crappy” jobs forcing them to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, they could be out enjoying the good life living in public housing or residing in homeless shelters.
OH THE HUMANITY!
Finally, who says that “as the nation's largest company, (Wal-Mart) has an obligation to treat its employees better.”
I’ve got some news for the “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions”—there is no such “obligation” in our society or in published law. In fact, the Federal Government has become the nation’s largest company (employer) and is already doing a damn fine job of overpaying a lot of its employees.
Finally, the article lets the cat out of the bag as to the real reason that the “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions” have their boxers in a wad in the first place:
“Labor groups and their allies are focusing on Wal-Mart because they say that the campaign will not just benefit its workers but also reduce the existing pressure on unionized competitors to reduce their own wages and benefits.
"Wal-Mart should pay people at a minimum enough to go above the U.S. poverty line," said Andrew Grossman, executive director of Wal-Mart Watch, the coalition of community, environmental and labor groups running the series of ads criticizing Wal-Mart. "A company this big and this wealthy has the ability to pay higher wages."”
So the real problem here is that the labor unions are feeling the pressure of not being able to unionize Wal-mart and they can't justify their influence on wages elsewhere in the market.
Yes the Wal-Mart is big--$206.2 billion worth. But there are a little over 4.2 billion shares of stock outstanding. That means if you are a little investor like me and only own one share of stock, Wal-Mart is only worth $49.10.
I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to give my employees a raise.
CAN YOU?
For instance, take a look at this story about the organized assault by “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions” designed to increase wages at Wal-Mart.
“BENTONVILLE, Ark. - With most of Wal-Mart's workers earning less than $19,000 a year, a number of community groups and lawmakers have recently teamed up with labor unions in mounting an intensive campaign aimed at prodding Wal-Mart into paying its 1.3 million employees higher wages.
A new group of Wal-Mart critics ran a full-page advertisement on April 20 contending that the company's low pay had forced tens of thousands of its workers to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, costing taxpayers billions of dollars. On April 26, as part of a campaign called "Love Mom, Not Wal-Mart," five members of Congress joined women's advocates and labor leaders to assail the company for not paying its female employees more.
And in a book to be published this fall, a group of scholars will argue that Wal-Mart Stores, having replaced General Motors as the nation's largest company, has an obligation to treat its employees better.”
Allow me to assist you in dissecting this situation in my normally calloused, insensitive, yet imminently accurate manner.
First I have to ask this little question: WHO THE HECK OWNS WAL-MART—“Community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions”, or the company’s stockholders?
How many of these “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions” have the physical and financial means to start a company providing 1.3 million jobs—jobs that manage to even pay minimum wage? Can you say ZERO?
And how about this gem—“the company's low pay had forced tens of thousands of its workers to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, costing taxpayers billions of dollars.”
So are we to believe that Wal-Mart managers in the store employment offices are forcing Americans to be employed and accept horribly low wages at gunpoint? I’d like to point out that if these people didn’t have these so-called “underpaid crappy” jobs forcing them to resort to food stamps and Medicaid, they could be out enjoying the good life living in public housing or residing in homeless shelters.
OH THE HUMANITY!
Finally, who says that “as the nation's largest company, (Wal-Mart) has an obligation to treat its employees better.”
I’ve got some news for the “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions”—there is no such “obligation” in our society or in published law. In fact, the Federal Government has become the nation’s largest company (employer) and is already doing a damn fine job of overpaying a lot of its employees.
Finally, the article lets the cat out of the bag as to the real reason that the “community groups, lawmaker weasels, and labor unions” have their boxers in a wad in the first place:
“Labor groups and their allies are focusing on Wal-Mart because they say that the campaign will not just benefit its workers but also reduce the existing pressure on unionized competitors to reduce their own wages and benefits.
"Wal-Mart should pay people at a minimum enough to go above the U.S. poverty line," said Andrew Grossman, executive director of Wal-Mart Watch, the coalition of community, environmental and labor groups running the series of ads criticizing Wal-Mart. "A company this big and this wealthy has the ability to pay higher wages."”
So the real problem here is that the labor unions are feeling the pressure of not being able to unionize Wal-mart and they can't justify their influence on wages elsewhere in the market.
Yes the Wal-Mart is big--$206.2 billion worth. But there are a little over 4.2 billion shares of stock outstanding. That means if you are a little investor like me and only own one share of stock, Wal-Mart is only worth $49.10.
I’m sorry, but I can’t afford to give my employees a raise.
CAN YOU?
Nine Years Ago
There are two milestones this week in my life relating to my parents. The obvious one is that of Mother’s Day—a day that everyone should recognize, particularly if your mother is still alive. As the southern humorist Lewis Grizzard used to say: “Every son should call his mother—I wish I could…” Lewis said this because his mother had died years earlier. Lewis, like most men, was a self described mama’s boy. So am I…
The other milestone is that today is the ninth anniversary of my father’s sudden death in 1996. I found out the news by talking to my mother on my cell phone while floating on my boat in a cove in the middle of a lake in South Carolina. My friends Rusty and Sharon and I were embarking upon celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a day of water skiing and otherwise useless behavior as most Americans are prone to doing when you have no worries in life. I haven’t celebrated Cinco de Mayo ever since that year.
How things can change in a heartbeat. I had to store the boat, return to Atlanta to pick up clothes and secure my cats, and eleven hours after the fact I was standing in my parent’s home in south Alabama. Our preacher and some other friends had stayed up with my mother to await my arrival. That was the longest seven-hour car trip I ever made in my life.
It’s hard to believe that it has been nine years and a lot of things have changed. Some I am proud of, and several I’m glad my father never knew.
I wish that he could have seen me act on stage and that could have had the chance to read some of my writing. But then again, maybe he has…
The other milestone is that today is the ninth anniversary of my father’s sudden death in 1996. I found out the news by talking to my mother on my cell phone while floating on my boat in a cove in the middle of a lake in South Carolina. My friends Rusty and Sharon and I were embarking upon celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a day of water skiing and otherwise useless behavior as most Americans are prone to doing when you have no worries in life. I haven’t celebrated Cinco de Mayo ever since that year.
How things can change in a heartbeat. I had to store the boat, return to Atlanta to pick up clothes and secure my cats, and eleven hours after the fact I was standing in my parent’s home in south Alabama. Our preacher and some other friends had stayed up with my mother to await my arrival. That was the longest seven-hour car trip I ever made in my life.
It’s hard to believe that it has been nine years and a lot of things have changed. Some I am proud of, and several I’m glad my father never knew.
I wish that he could have seen me act on stage and that could have had the chance to read some of my writing. But then again, maybe he has…
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
LA Times Taking Their Medicine
You have no idea how happy I am when I see stories like this one about the decline in daily circulation at the LA Times.
"LOS ANGELES, May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- For the six months ended March 31, 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday-Saturday average daily circulation of 907,997, a decline of 6.5 percent compared with the prior year, and Sunday circulation of 1,253,849, a decline of 7.9 percent from the prior year, according to figures filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations, subject to audit."
I am elated that the readers of the crap that the major newspapers are trying to pass off as real news stories are finally recognizing it for what it is.
NEW YORK -- Circulation fell 1.9 percent at major U.S. newspapers in the six-month period ending in March, an industry group reported Monday, marking one of the worst declines in recent years.
Newspaper circulation has been on a general decline since 1984, and has suffered especially in the last several years as other forms of media compete for the attention of readers, including cable television and the Internet.
The Newspaper Association of America, a Vienna, Va.-based industry group, reported that average daily paid circulation declined 1.9 percent in the most recent reporting period for the 814 newspapers reporting comparable data to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
I wonder if the writers and editors will change their biased ways?
Probably not...
"LOS ANGELES, May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- For the six months ended March 31, 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday-Saturday average daily circulation of 907,997, a decline of 6.5 percent compared with the prior year, and Sunday circulation of 1,253,849, a decline of 7.9 percent from the prior year, according to figures filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations, subject to audit."
I am elated that the readers of the crap that the major newspapers are trying to pass off as real news stories are finally recognizing it for what it is.
NEW YORK -- Circulation fell 1.9 percent at major U.S. newspapers in the six-month period ending in March, an industry group reported Monday, marking one of the worst declines in recent years.
Newspaper circulation has been on a general decline since 1984, and has suffered especially in the last several years as other forms of media compete for the attention of readers, including cable television and the Internet.
The Newspaper Association of America, a Vienna, Va.-based industry group, reported that average daily paid circulation declined 1.9 percent in the most recent reporting period for the 814 newspapers reporting comparable data to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
I wonder if the writers and editors will change their biased ways?
Probably not...
More Academic Insanity
Over the past few years, I’ve thought a good deal about going back to college to pursue a Masters Degree in one of several areas of study that interest me. I’ve already had two college careers—one that began when I was only seventeen years old that resulted in less than spectacular grades, and a second effort ending when I was thirty, that placed me finishing number two in my class.
My academic performance could allow admission into practically any university of my choosing, as long as I can come up with the tuition—sometimes amounting to upwards of $50,000 per year. In return for such a large outlay, institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Columbia offer access to the world’s preeminent lecturers and educators. Earning top grades in these programs, in theory, opens the door to career opportunities not available anywhere else.
The only problem is that these famous institutions of higher learning are populated primarily by faculties of self identified leftist liberals. Some are outright communists and socialists. Ideology aside, the political climate on these campuses is such that conservative students like me risk being harassed by “speech codes” and discriminated against in grading policy because of their political believes. The more outspoken you are, the worse the problem becomes.
Imagine the loss of value that would result from receiving lower or even failing grades from your professors after paying $100,000 for the classroom experience. To make this financial cost and time expenditure justifiable, would you not expect to receive fair grades in return for your efforts?
Thus my continued absence from the Ivy covered storied halls of academia today. If only there weren’t more professors like Dr. Mike Adams.
Having said all of that, there is a showdown taking place in the US Supreme Court in the coming weeks over access to college campuses by military recruiters. That’s right, a number of colleges, particularly their law schools, are outright refusing or limiting access to their graduating students by representatives of the branches of the US military. Many of these same campuses have also eliminated their ROTC programs in the past twenty years.
And what is their problem with the military?
DISCRIMINATION.
Not racial discrimination, but discrimination against gays and lesbians.
In 1996 the federal government retaliated by passing The Solomon Amendment which denied federal funding to colleges and universities that refuse to allow recruiters to visit or otherwise prevent the formation of ROTC programs on their campuses. Of course the colleges screamed bloody murder and have gone to court to overturn the law.
"In September 2003, FAIR, along with other law teachers and students, sued to block enforcement of the amendment but lost in federal district court in New Jersey.
Last year, however, the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit granted FAIR an injunction against enforcement of the Solomon Amendment, saying it "requires law schools to express a message that is incompatible with their educational objectives, and no compelling governmental interest has been shown to deny this freedom."
That is the judgment the Bush administration seeks to reverse at the Supreme Court.
"Effective recruitment is essential to sustain an all-volunteer military, particularly in a time of war," Acting Solicitor General Paul D. Clement told the court in a brief. "The Solomon Amendment reflects Congress's judgment that a crucial component of an effective military recruitment program is equal access to college and university campuses.""
Can you believe that crap like this actually happens? These communists and leftist that call themselves "professors" are so afraid of the US military that they don't even want to allow them on campus. They apparently hate the very government that defends their rights to be STUPID and allows them a forum in which spew their HATRED for our country. If they are doing such a good job of indoctrination, wouldn't it seem that they would allow the military to visit and let their students make up their own minds about a potential military career?
I say that we should load the whole bunch up on a boat and ship them to Cuba.
My academic performance could allow admission into practically any university of my choosing, as long as I can come up with the tuition—sometimes amounting to upwards of $50,000 per year. In return for such a large outlay, institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Columbia offer access to the world’s preeminent lecturers and educators. Earning top grades in these programs, in theory, opens the door to career opportunities not available anywhere else.
The only problem is that these famous institutions of higher learning are populated primarily by faculties of self identified leftist liberals. Some are outright communists and socialists. Ideology aside, the political climate on these campuses is such that conservative students like me risk being harassed by “speech codes” and discriminated against in grading policy because of their political believes. The more outspoken you are, the worse the problem becomes.
Imagine the loss of value that would result from receiving lower or even failing grades from your professors after paying $100,000 for the classroom experience. To make this financial cost and time expenditure justifiable, would you not expect to receive fair grades in return for your efforts?
Thus my continued absence from the Ivy covered storied halls of academia today. If only there weren’t more professors like Dr. Mike Adams.
Having said all of that, there is a showdown taking place in the US Supreme Court in the coming weeks over access to college campuses by military recruiters. That’s right, a number of colleges, particularly their law schools, are outright refusing or limiting access to their graduating students by representatives of the branches of the US military. Many of these same campuses have also eliminated their ROTC programs in the past twenty years.
And what is their problem with the military?
DISCRIMINATION.
Not racial discrimination, but discrimination against gays and lesbians.
In 1996 the federal government retaliated by passing The Solomon Amendment which denied federal funding to colleges and universities that refuse to allow recruiters to visit or otherwise prevent the formation of ROTC programs on their campuses. Of course the colleges screamed bloody murder and have gone to court to overturn the law.
"In September 2003, FAIR, along with other law teachers and students, sued to block enforcement of the amendment but lost in federal district court in New Jersey.
Last year, however, the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit granted FAIR an injunction against enforcement of the Solomon Amendment, saying it "requires law schools to express a message that is incompatible with their educational objectives, and no compelling governmental interest has been shown to deny this freedom."
That is the judgment the Bush administration seeks to reverse at the Supreme Court.
"Effective recruitment is essential to sustain an all-volunteer military, particularly in a time of war," Acting Solicitor General Paul D. Clement told the court in a brief. "The Solomon Amendment reflects Congress's judgment that a crucial component of an effective military recruitment program is equal access to college and university campuses.""
Can you believe that crap like this actually happens? These communists and leftist that call themselves "professors" are so afraid of the US military that they don't even want to allow them on campus. They apparently hate the very government that defends their rights to be STUPID and allows them a forum in which spew their HATRED for our country. If they are doing such a good job of indoctrination, wouldn't it seem that they would allow the military to visit and let their students make up their own minds about a potential military career?
I say that we should load the whole bunch up on a boat and ship them to Cuba.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Biting The hand That Feeds You
Isn't it amazing what the passage of 60 or so years will do to the collective memory of the world's population--particularly the memory cells of the ungrateful, vocal assholes that reside in France, Germany, and most recently--ITALY.
People like Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin wanted to take over Europe during WWII, leaving a small corner of the world in Asia to the Russians and Japanese for the time being.
Instead of the UN and USA fighting and abandoning the Korean war in the late 40's and early 50's, the above parties would probably have fought it out among themselves at that time had Winston Churchill not persuaded the US to fire up our evil capitalistic right wing military machine and open a military/industrial strength can of whoop-ass and place it in the middle of the foreheads of the little communists, socialists and fascists leaders and their henchmen.
Today, basking in the glow of three generations of freedom and prosperity purchased by the taxpayers and solders of the USA, the Europeans love to publicly crap all over us anytime they possibly can. Our domestic leftists and Democrats love to cheer them on because they, like the Europeans, are suffering from a severe case of cranial-rectal inversion (heads up their butts.)
The investigation of the shooting of the speeding Datsun sedan (OK maybe it was a Ford Pinto) containing the Italian equivalent of Austin Powers--Nicola "yeah baby" Calpari--and Dorothy of The Wizard of Iraq--Guliani Sgrena--by the US forces this winter has ended in a tie.
The Italians say we killed their countryman and wounded the socialist bitch "news reporter" on purpose or at least without adequate warning/ We say that the James Bond wannabes drove headlong into a military roadblock at 60 MPH without notifying US authorities that they were out for a senic drive.
Now the Italians have "accidentally" released the PDF files of detailed copies of the official report that also "accidentally" happens to contain the names of the solders that did the shooting and outlines the standard operating procedures of the US military regarding checkpoint security and the movement of personnel in Iraq.
Blog diva Michelle Milking has the details and put the burr under my saddle tonight on this story. Please excuse my profanity, but I think that profanity is warranted in this instance.
We can't stop this kind of thing from happening--especially with dang foreigners. What we can do, as Americans, is vote with our wallets.
I haven't drunk a single bottle of French wine in several years. I'm adding Chianti and Asti Spumanti to my list of embargoed products in my household and on my menu dining out. (After all, the Australians can take their slack in the wine department any way...)
Everybody--repeat after me--ITALY SUCKS, ITALY SUCKS, ITALY SUCKS, ITALY TOALLY SUCKS.
People like Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin wanted to take over Europe during WWII, leaving a small corner of the world in Asia to the Russians and Japanese for the time being.
Instead of the UN and USA fighting and abandoning the Korean war in the late 40's and early 50's, the above parties would probably have fought it out among themselves at that time had Winston Churchill not persuaded the US to fire up our evil capitalistic right wing military machine and open a military/industrial strength can of whoop-ass and place it in the middle of the foreheads of the little communists, socialists and fascists leaders and their henchmen.
Today, basking in the glow of three generations of freedom and prosperity purchased by the taxpayers and solders of the USA, the Europeans love to publicly crap all over us anytime they possibly can. Our domestic leftists and Democrats love to cheer them on because they, like the Europeans, are suffering from a severe case of cranial-rectal inversion (heads up their butts.)
The investigation of the shooting of the speeding Datsun sedan (OK maybe it was a Ford Pinto) containing the Italian equivalent of Austin Powers--Nicola "yeah baby" Calpari--and Dorothy of The Wizard of Iraq--Guliani Sgrena--by the US forces this winter has ended in a tie.
The Italians say we killed their countryman and wounded the socialist bitch "news reporter" on purpose or at least without adequate warning/ We say that the James Bond wannabes drove headlong into a military roadblock at 60 MPH without notifying US authorities that they were out for a senic drive.
Now the Italians have "accidentally" released the PDF files of detailed copies of the official report that also "accidentally" happens to contain the names of the solders that did the shooting and outlines the standard operating procedures of the US military regarding checkpoint security and the movement of personnel in Iraq.
Blog diva Michelle Milking has the details and put the burr under my saddle tonight on this story. Please excuse my profanity, but I think that profanity is warranted in this instance.
We can't stop this kind of thing from happening--especially with dang foreigners. What we can do, as Americans, is vote with our wallets.
I haven't drunk a single bottle of French wine in several years. I'm adding Chianti and Asti Spumanti to my list of embargoed products in my household and on my menu dining out. (After all, the Australians can take their slack in the wine department any way...)
Everybody--repeat after me--ITALY SUCKS, ITALY SUCKS, ITALY SUCKS, ITALY TOALLY SUCKS.
