Are Forced To Re-live It.
I guess that I am frequently guilty of poking fun at Europe in general with some of my disingenuous, ill thought out rhetoric. One might also say that Great Britain in general, and England specifically, is included in my own Redneck description of what is embodied by the term Europe and the politicts thereof.
I would take exception to this characterization, however.
I was a big fan of Margaret Thatcher during her term as British Prime Minister, even though I didn’t see eye to eye with her on her domestic and social issues. Since I didn’t live in England, I guess that you could say that that was England’s business, but her position on the world stage and generous support of President Ronald Reagan more than made up for her liberal socialist leanings inside her own borders.
Likewise, Tony Blair’s support of the USA and President Bush’s international policies in the Middle East has yielded a firestorm of contempt from the British and world media, but Mr. Blair has stayed the course and recently won re-election.
The people have spoken.
My Blog Idols over at Powerline pointed out these amazingly prophetic words uttered by another beliegured Britton, Sir Winston Churchill just as Great Britain was being deluded into thinking that sympathy and consolation could prevent further conflict with the Germans.
Here is an excerpt prefacing Churchill’s statement, along with part of his speech:
On September 29, 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich, Bavaria, Germany, to meet the German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler. He returned to London on October 1st waving the famous piece of paper which he proudly claimed contained the agreement pledging that Germany and Britain would never go to war again, thus guaranteeing "peace with honour."
The public was overjoyed but Churchill, participating in the House of Commons debate on the resolution "that this house approves the policy of His Majesty's Government by which was averted in the recent crisis and supports their efforts to secure a lasting peace," charged that the Government had "sustained a total and unmitigated defeat," and that "a disaster of the first magnitude has befallen Great Britain and France."
"And do not suppose this is the end," he warned. "This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in olden time."
I wish I could write and speak like that…
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Chicken Shiite--Updated
I woke up this morning to find that the lovely Islamofascists are at it again in London:
"In the new statement, the group (The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe) said "the heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west."
"We warned the British government and the British people repeatedly. We have carried out our promise and carried out a military attack in Britain after great efforts by the heroic mujahedeen over a long period to ensure its success."
"We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all crusader governments that they will receive the same punishment if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan," the statement went on."
Tony Blair has headed back to London from the G-8 conference and will probably catch hell from some of his fellow Brits in Parliment, but I hope he hangs in there with us.
Fox News has spent the entire day showing photos of the city and is now reporting 37 dead and at least 700 injured. I expect the death toll to rise sharply in the next 24 hours.
I heard Rush Linbaugh say that yesterday the little ex California hippy chick turned House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi made the claim that terrorisim is a direct result of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan . She wants a policy change...
"In the new statement, the group (The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe) said "the heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west."
"We warned the British government and the British people repeatedly. We have carried out our promise and carried out a military attack in Britain after great efforts by the heroic mujahedeen over a long period to ensure its success."
"We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all crusader governments that they will receive the same punishment if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan," the statement went on."
Tony Blair has headed back to London from the G-8 conference and will probably catch hell from some of his fellow Brits in Parliment, but I hope he hangs in there with us.
Fox News has spent the entire day showing photos of the city and is now reporting 37 dead and at least 700 injured. I expect the death toll to rise sharply in the next 24 hours.
I heard Rush Linbaugh say that yesterday the little ex California hippy chick turned House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi made the claim that terrorisim is a direct result of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan . She wants a policy change...
Today she has this to say about the bombings:
“I extend my condolences to the victims and their families of the horrific and senseless terrorist attacks in London. The thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with the people of Great Britain.
“The actions of cowards against innocent people will not prevail; our resolve to fight terrorism around the world will not be deterred. We join President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and all the leaders of the G-8 Summit in fighting terrorism."
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
It's Their Job
I don’t have any links to embed in this blog posting because I have all I need buried right inside my ever aging, ever graying, ever balding head.
I would like to point out that the current bunch of pansy assed, cry-baby, whiners that we call the United States Senate have a job to do, and in my expert opinion they’re doing a damn poor job of it so far.
They went to the trouble to raise campaign funds, run for the office, and now they are getting paid nearly two hundred thousand dollars each just for sitting around Washington DC nine months out of the year drinking expensive whiskey, eating goose liver and fish eggs, and they have the audacity to try to conduct their business in public by bitching and complaining about what they do, rather than going behind closed doors like professionals and getting the job done.
IBM or Motorola would fire a board of directors that were paralyzed with stupidity like much of this bunch, Democrats AND Republicans.
Excuse me if I say it this way, but I think that they should shut the %$#&@ up and get on with the business of passing some laws and follow the rules and laws that already exist when it comes to president Bush’s judicial appointments.
Hey Nancy, Harry, and Teddy…KISS IT, BABY…
Does any one else know what I mean?
I would like to point out that the current bunch of pansy assed, cry-baby, whiners that we call the United States Senate have a job to do, and in my expert opinion they’re doing a damn poor job of it so far.
They went to the trouble to raise campaign funds, run for the office, and now they are getting paid nearly two hundred thousand dollars each just for sitting around Washington DC nine months out of the year drinking expensive whiskey, eating goose liver and fish eggs, and they have the audacity to try to conduct their business in public by bitching and complaining about what they do, rather than going behind closed doors like professionals and getting the job done.
IBM or Motorola would fire a board of directors that were paralyzed with stupidity like much of this bunch, Democrats AND Republicans.
Excuse me if I say it this way, but I think that they should shut the %$#&@ up and get on with the business of passing some laws and follow the rules and laws that already exist when it comes to president Bush’s judicial appointments.
Hey Nancy, Harry, and Teddy…KISS IT, BABY…
Does any one else know what I mean?
Shucking and Jiving with the Weather
Well, in case you live in a cave or otherwise don’t watch television, Hurricane Season is off to a roaring, early start this summer.
I ask that everyone that doesn’t enjoy our geographic proximity to the Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coasts wish us all good luck, if you will.
I, personally, have a broad range of interests in the goings-on in the southeastern tropical weather department.
We currently live one hundred yards from the salt marsh connected through rivers and creeks to the Atlantic Ocean less than two miles away, four feet below the official Army Corps of Engineers flood plain, and I have several rental properties situated below the flood plain in the nearby city of Brunswick, Georgia that could be at risk.
Likewise, my lovely mother resides in southern Alabama within one hundred miles of the Florida Gulf Coast and is at slightly less at risk from flooding, but she has way too much prior experience with high winds from Hurricane Eloise in the 1970’s (100 mph) and survived a solid pounding by Hurricane Opal (120 mph) in 1996. Most recently, hurricane Francis trashed her property last fall and left her running the generator a few hours each day for a week while the local electrical company repaired the power lines.
Having grown up with hurricanes as a yearly natural phenomena, I tend to look at them with a dispassionate attitude until the last minute when our modern weather forecasting can actually tell me where a given storm is going to make landfall. We had a total of FIVE storms pass within 100 miles of our home last August and September and I expect that this year is going to at least exciting—in a not so nice way.
In the words of Lieutenant Dan in the movie Forrest Gump…”is that all you got?”
I ask that everyone that doesn’t enjoy our geographic proximity to the Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coasts wish us all good luck, if you will.
I, personally, have a broad range of interests in the goings-on in the southeastern tropical weather department.
We currently live one hundred yards from the salt marsh connected through rivers and creeks to the Atlantic Ocean less than two miles away, four feet below the official Army Corps of Engineers flood plain, and I have several rental properties situated below the flood plain in the nearby city of Brunswick, Georgia that could be at risk.
Likewise, my lovely mother resides in southern Alabama within one hundred miles of the Florida Gulf Coast and is at slightly less at risk from flooding, but she has way too much prior experience with high winds from Hurricane Eloise in the 1970’s (100 mph) and survived a solid pounding by Hurricane Opal (120 mph) in 1996. Most recently, hurricane Francis trashed her property last fall and left her running the generator a few hours each day for a week while the local electrical company repaired the power lines.
Having grown up with hurricanes as a yearly natural phenomena, I tend to look at them with a dispassionate attitude until the last minute when our modern weather forecasting can actually tell me where a given storm is going to make landfall. We had a total of FIVE storms pass within 100 miles of our home last August and September and I expect that this year is going to at least exciting—in a not so nice way.
In the words of Lieutenant Dan in the movie Forrest Gump…”is that all you got?”
See What Things Are Coming To?
Think about this situation with me for a minute.
You are minding your own business after dinner in a local business district.
While walking along the shoreline of the adjacent river, you notice a person in obvious distress in the water.
You’re a strong, confident swimmer.
Do you:
A) Jump in the river and save the person’s life…or
B) Stand on the river bank with your thumb stuck in a bodily orifice, wringing your hands, saying “Oh My My” while waiting on the authorities to arrive.
According to this news story 48 year old Dave Newman chose option A and as a result saved Abed Duamni’s life, but the “authorities” arrested Mr. Newman afterwards for “interfering” with their rescue efforts.
Dave Newman, 48, disobeyed repeated orders by emergency personnel to leave the water, police said. He was charged with interfering with public duties.
"I was amazed," Newman said Monday after his release on $2,000 bail. "I had a very uncomfortable night after saving that guy's life. He thanked me for it in front of the police, and then they took me to jail."
I think that this might just give new meaning to the old 60’s term referring to police officers as “PIGS.”
You are minding your own business after dinner in a local business district.
While walking along the shoreline of the adjacent river, you notice a person in obvious distress in the water.
You’re a strong, confident swimmer.
Do you:
A) Jump in the river and save the person’s life…or
B) Stand on the river bank with your thumb stuck in a bodily orifice, wringing your hands, saying “Oh My My” while waiting on the authorities to arrive.
According to this news story 48 year old Dave Newman chose option A and as a result saved Abed Duamni’s life, but the “authorities” arrested Mr. Newman afterwards for “interfering” with their rescue efforts.
Dave Newman, 48, disobeyed repeated orders by emergency personnel to leave the water, police said. He was charged with interfering with public duties.
"I was amazed," Newman said Monday after his release on $2,000 bail. "I had a very uncomfortable night after saving that guy's life. He thanked me for it in front of the police, and then they took me to jail."
I think that this might just give new meaning to the old 60’s term referring to police officers as “PIGS.”
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
There's A Fool Born Every Minute
Try to help me understand this story about a Russian Astrologer suing NASA.
“NASA’s mission that sent a space probe smashing into a comet raised more than cosmic dust — it also brought a lawsuit from a Russian astrologer.
Marina Bai has sued the U.S. space agency, claiming the Deep Impact probe that punched a crater into the comet Tempel 1 late Sunday "ruins the natural balance of forces in the universe," the newspaper Izvestia reported Tuesday. A Moscow court has postponed hearings on the case until late July, the paper said.
Scientists say the crash did not significantly alter the comet's orbit around the sun and said the experiment does not pose any danger to Earth.
The probe's comet crash sent up a cloud of debris that scientists hope to examine to learn how the solar system was formed.
Bai is seeking damages totaling $300 million — the approximate equivalent of the mission's cost — for her "moral sufferings," Izvestia said, citing her lawyer Alexander Molokhov. She earlier told the paper that the experiment would "deform her horoscope." "
At first I thought that the headline had a typo and that a Russian ASTRONOMER was suing NASA.
Nooooooooo sir, it’s an Astrologer—talk about a high degree of credibility.
The lawsuit raises a couple of important issues in my mind, stupid little things like "who owns Comets in the first place?"
Can I buy one (a comet) on E-Bay?
Next, who the hell here besides the Russians believes that they have the right to sue NASA in a Russian court. If the Russians want to look into issues involving NASA, why don't they look into the billions of dollars of our tax money that that have been embezzled and miss-spent by Russian Officials , dollars intended to be used in constructing modules for the International Space Station.
The only person more intellectually challenged than the “Astrologer” in this story is Alexander “Cocktail” Molokhov, the lawyer that is stupid enough to file this case in the first place.
“NASA’s mission that sent a space probe smashing into a comet raised more than cosmic dust — it also brought a lawsuit from a Russian astrologer.
Marina Bai has sued the U.S. space agency, claiming the Deep Impact probe that punched a crater into the comet Tempel 1 late Sunday "ruins the natural balance of forces in the universe," the newspaper Izvestia reported Tuesday. A Moscow court has postponed hearings on the case until late July, the paper said.
Scientists say the crash did not significantly alter the comet's orbit around the sun and said the experiment does not pose any danger to Earth.
The probe's comet crash sent up a cloud of debris that scientists hope to examine to learn how the solar system was formed.
Bai is seeking damages totaling $300 million — the approximate equivalent of the mission's cost — for her "moral sufferings," Izvestia said, citing her lawyer Alexander Molokhov. She earlier told the paper that the experiment would "deform her horoscope." "
At first I thought that the headline had a typo and that a Russian ASTRONOMER was suing NASA.
Nooooooooo sir, it’s an Astrologer—talk about a high degree of credibility.
The lawsuit raises a couple of important issues in my mind, stupid little things like "who owns Comets in the first place?"
Can I buy one (a comet) on E-Bay?
Next, who the hell here besides the Russians believes that they have the right to sue NASA in a Russian court. If the Russians want to look into issues involving NASA, why don't they look into the billions of dollars of our tax money that that have been embezzled and miss-spent by Russian Officials , dollars intended to be used in constructing modules for the International Space Station.
The only person more intellectually challenged than the “Astrologer” in this story is Alexander “Cocktail” Molokhov, the lawyer that is stupid enough to file this case in the first place.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Advice To The Filthy Rich
(And The Terminally Stupid)
I just got home from the grocery store, doing what was supposed to be a simple “fill in” trip like I do two or three days a week. My “big trips” usually involve driving all the way across the causeway from the island to the mainland to visit…gasp…WAL-MART—once every ten days or two weeks.
Oh my God what a freak show Wal-Mart can be much of the time. Does someone hand out the clothes and do the hair of these people and send them to the Jerry Springer Show if they win the wardrobe or hairdo prize at Wal-Mart? Maybe I’m just being snobbish myself, but it is all I can do to not laugh out loud at some of the circumstances and people I’ve seen wandering the isles at Wal-Mart.
Likewise, it seems that there is an equal proportion of snobby, self important people that live here around us on the island that have to put on a stupendous show when they arrive for the weekends and holidays and are forced to rub elbows with the great unwashed masses, including myself, in our local Harris Teeter.
They do things like insist on parking on the curb rather than waiting their turns for a parking space, and park their voluminous butts and carts in the middle of the isle and glare at you when you politely ask to pass by after 30 seconds of mindless dithering. I recently watched a woman pick up and carefully study the same dozen packs of chicken for at least eight or ten minutes while I spun around in circles and made side trips to pick up other items in an effort to avoid disturbing her ritual.
Today the tittering, ill mannered, older teenaged children of our seasonal visitors, complete with college fraternity T-shirts, got on my last nerve while in the grocery checkout line. There were five little college aged girls, each dressed like French Whores (or Brittany Spears) standing in front of the only self serve register terminal that is designed for people like me that are buying fifty dollars worth of stuff and actually KNOW how to operate a fly swatter, let alone a self serve register terminal.
These silly bitches were each buying 3 dollars worth of junk food and paying with a debit or credit card. They had obviously never operated anything nearly as complicated as the Harris Teeter equipment because the register attendant that was supposed to be overseeing the self-serve terminals basically held their lavishly painted hands and could hardly hold her tongue through the process.
This babbling group of five had already started checking out while I waited and I managed to move to the other smaller terminal and ring up $49 worth of stuff while they giggled and tittered and mindlessly wasted everyone’s time, instead of getting their frilly asses into the express line or the full serve registers where they belonged.
Excuse me while I go fix myself a stout drink and light the grill to cook dinner--
I think that my head might explode.
I just got home from the grocery store, doing what was supposed to be a simple “fill in” trip like I do two or three days a week. My “big trips” usually involve driving all the way across the causeway from the island to the mainland to visit…gasp…WAL-MART—once every ten days or two weeks.
Oh my God what a freak show Wal-Mart can be much of the time. Does someone hand out the clothes and do the hair of these people and send them to the Jerry Springer Show if they win the wardrobe or hairdo prize at Wal-Mart? Maybe I’m just being snobbish myself, but it is all I can do to not laugh out loud at some of the circumstances and people I’ve seen wandering the isles at Wal-Mart.
Likewise, it seems that there is an equal proportion of snobby, self important people that live here around us on the island that have to put on a stupendous show when they arrive for the weekends and holidays and are forced to rub elbows with the great unwashed masses, including myself, in our local Harris Teeter.
They do things like insist on parking on the curb rather than waiting their turns for a parking space, and park their voluminous butts and carts in the middle of the isle and glare at you when you politely ask to pass by after 30 seconds of mindless dithering. I recently watched a woman pick up and carefully study the same dozen packs of chicken for at least eight or ten minutes while I spun around in circles and made side trips to pick up other items in an effort to avoid disturbing her ritual.
Today the tittering, ill mannered, older teenaged children of our seasonal visitors, complete with college fraternity T-shirts, got on my last nerve while in the grocery checkout line. There were five little college aged girls, each dressed like French Whores (or Brittany Spears) standing in front of the only self serve register terminal that is designed for people like me that are buying fifty dollars worth of stuff and actually KNOW how to operate a fly swatter, let alone a self serve register terminal.
These silly bitches were each buying 3 dollars worth of junk food and paying with a debit or credit card. They had obviously never operated anything nearly as complicated as the Harris Teeter equipment because the register attendant that was supposed to be overseeing the self-serve terminals basically held their lavishly painted hands and could hardly hold her tongue through the process.
This babbling group of five had already started checking out while I waited and I managed to move to the other smaller terminal and ring up $49 worth of stuff while they giggled and tittered and mindlessly wasted everyone’s time, instead of getting their frilly asses into the express line or the full serve registers where they belonged.
Excuse me while I go fix myself a stout drink and light the grill to cook dinner--
I think that my head might explode.
F.Y.I.
Over the next few weeks there is going to be an extreme amount of yelling and screaming in the media about President Bush's nomination to replace US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Go take a read at this Slate story outlining some of the potential candidates qualifiactions and be prepared to intellectually slap the hell out of that liberal idiot bothering you at work or mindlessly blithering about the subject in the local bar or restaurant.
I enjoy winning intellectual arguments with facts, figures, and something that the left hates...
DETAILS.
What is your definition of "extreme circumstances?"
Go take a read at this Slate story outlining some of the potential candidates qualifiactions and be prepared to intellectually slap the hell out of that liberal idiot bothering you at work or mindlessly blithering about the subject in the local bar or restaurant.
I enjoy winning intellectual arguments with facts, figures, and something that the left hates...
DETAILS.
What is your definition of "extreme circumstances?"
In Honor Of Those Who Served
(and those whom abuse and refuse to recognize the privileges of freedom…and the responsibilities that go with it…)
July 4th, 1776…How things have changed here in North America since that time.
I don’t agree with everything that goes on in this country any more than I agree with everything our government does in my name or on my behalf, but I darned sure appreciate the sacrifice made by the 200,000 future Americans that fought in the Revolutionary War, the 4,435 that died and the 6,188 that were wounded in the fighting.
Then there are the other millions that have been drafted and volunteered for military service since that time, many of which were killed or wounded.
I don’t wear a uniform any more, but I’m still fighting for the cause that they fought for, and for other people’s right to be STUPID or IGNORANT or be COMMUNISTS or SOCIALISTS.
Just go do it some place else—far, far away from me…
And take Ted Kennedy and the UN with you if you will.
July 4th, 1776…How things have changed here in North America since that time.
I don’t agree with everything that goes on in this country any more than I agree with everything our government does in my name or on my behalf, but I darned sure appreciate the sacrifice made by the 200,000 future Americans that fought in the Revolutionary War, the 4,435 that died and the 6,188 that were wounded in the fighting.
Then there are the other millions that have been drafted and volunteered for military service since that time, many of which were killed or wounded.
I don’t wear a uniform any more, but I’m still fighting for the cause that they fought for, and for other people’s right to be STUPID or IGNORANT or be COMMUNISTS or SOCIALISTS.
Just go do it some place else—far, far away from me…
And take Ted Kennedy and the UN with you if you will.
Forget What The Truth Is…
“We Know Better”
I hate people that call themselves “advocates”, particularly “consumer” advocates.
Most ”consumer advocates” think that you are too stupid for your own good. Their often financially and politically driven, egotistical “advocacy positions” are fueled by emotion and hysteria rather than facts and competently interpreted statistics. Their positions are also funded by cash from well intended donors, those that they can dupe into giving money, and even the Government—both and local and national—pays for “advocates” and other professional busy bodies to meddle in our lives.
Take the 1960’s savior of auto owners everywhere, Ralph “the mouth” Nader, killer of the Chevy Corvair, for example. What a complete, total $#&@ moron Nader is (in my considered opinion.)
Nader wrote the 1965 book ”Unsafe at any speed” that tackled his and other “advocates” perceived “safety issues” with cars manufactured by American companies.
The Corvair was basically run out of the market by consumer reaction to Nader’s allegations, although most of his complaints were moot by the time the book was published in 1965, the year my own family adopted a new white four door Chevy Corvair with an automatic transmission.
We also at that time owned a bright red 1963 Volkswagon convertible, so our family was the poster child for Nader’s hysterical complaints about rear engine automobiles. Of course my mom and dad took a path to ensuring safety that Nader and his ilk always overlook—we obeyed the speed limits and otherwise didn’t operate our motor vehicles like complete ingrates and morons on the highways of south Alabama. In fact, neither car was ever involved in an accident. The Corvair even survived carrying us on a 6,000 plus mile four week adventure from south Alabama to southern California in 1968.
Furthering my theme of consumer "advocates," with the fourth of July upon us I did a Google search on Fireworks Safety and came upon the National Council of Fireworks Safety web site. There I found some interesting numbers, typical of what I find when I personally look into a subject rather than watching TV or reading the newspaper to fin out what I should be worrying about.
Their documents are in PDF format so I can’t accurately reproduce much of the text here without retyping, but essentially they say that fireworks use is up 661% (from 29,000,000 pounds to 221,000,000 pounds) since 1976, but injuries are down to 5 from almost 40 per 100,000 pounds of explosives.
Certainly fireworks safety should be everyone’s concern, but I would like to point out that, no matter what the "advocates" and your government tells you, it is probably more dangerous driving your car to the store to buy your fireworks than it is actually shooting them off on the 4th.
Know what I mean?
I hate people that call themselves “advocates”, particularly “consumer” advocates.
Most ”consumer advocates” think that you are too stupid for your own good. Their often financially and politically driven, egotistical “advocacy positions” are fueled by emotion and hysteria rather than facts and competently interpreted statistics. Their positions are also funded by cash from well intended donors, those that they can dupe into giving money, and even the Government—both and local and national—pays for “advocates” and other professional busy bodies to meddle in our lives.
Take the 1960’s savior of auto owners everywhere, Ralph “the mouth” Nader, killer of the Chevy Corvair, for example. What a complete, total $#&@ moron Nader is (in my considered opinion.)
Nader wrote the 1965 book ”Unsafe at any speed” that tackled his and other “advocates” perceived “safety issues” with cars manufactured by American companies.
The Corvair was basically run out of the market by consumer reaction to Nader’s allegations, although most of his complaints were moot by the time the book was published in 1965, the year my own family adopted a new white four door Chevy Corvair with an automatic transmission.
We also at that time owned a bright red 1963 Volkswagon convertible, so our family was the poster child for Nader’s hysterical complaints about rear engine automobiles. Of course my mom and dad took a path to ensuring safety that Nader and his ilk always overlook—we obeyed the speed limits and otherwise didn’t operate our motor vehicles like complete ingrates and morons on the highways of south Alabama. In fact, neither car was ever involved in an accident. The Corvair even survived carrying us on a 6,000 plus mile four week adventure from south Alabama to southern California in 1968.
Furthering my theme of consumer "advocates," with the fourth of July upon us I did a Google search on Fireworks Safety and came upon the National Council of Fireworks Safety web site. There I found some interesting numbers, typical of what I find when I personally look into a subject rather than watching TV or reading the newspaper to fin out what I should be worrying about.
Their documents are in PDF format so I can’t accurately reproduce much of the text here without retyping, but essentially they say that fireworks use is up 661% (from 29,000,000 pounds to 221,000,000 pounds) since 1976, but injuries are down to 5 from almost 40 per 100,000 pounds of explosives.
Certainly fireworks safety should be everyone’s concern, but I would like to point out that, no matter what the "advocates" and your government tells you, it is probably more dangerous driving your car to the store to buy your fireworks than it is actually shooting them off on the 4th.
Know what I mean?
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Train!
I’m hoping and wishing that everyone out there has a safe, but fun, 4th of July holiday weekend.
Sometimes the concepts of “safe” and “fun” are somewhat mutually exclusive, particularly when you are young.
Our visiting family members are back on the road toward Pennsylvania this afternoon, having survived the rainy weather earlier in the week, days and days of poolside sunshine, tons of my home cooking, and Vinny and Kris even successfully braved the evening rain, traffic, and crowds to attend the Pepsi 400 NASCAR race in Daytona on Saturday night.
Once again surrounded by silence and solitude, I was reading my blog-friend Beth’s blog, She Who Will Be Obeyed, this evening and learned about the Operation Lifesaver Website.
“Operation Lifesaver is a national, non-profit education and awareness program dedicated to ending tragic collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroad rights of way.”
Sounds like a good idea to me. It seems that trains cause more havoc than sharks each year:
According to preliminary Federal Railroad Administration statistics, in 2004 there were:
369 highway-rail grade crossing fatalities.
1,038 highway-rail grade crossing injuries.
480 pedestrian/trespass fatalities.
394 pedestrian/trespass injuries.
I’m embarrassed to report that my ignorant redneck neighbors in Georgia managed to make it into the top seven positions in all four of these categories.
And not to keep beating a dead horse, but isn’t it amazing that the TV and newspaper media have been freaking out and losing their minds over SHARK ATTACKS, when trains kill and injure on average ONE HUNDED TIMES as many people as sharks do each year.
And it’s not like sharks come flying out of crystal clear waters and kill or maim you at home while you are watching TV on your sofa. Likewise, trains rarely jump off of their tracks and run to places like St. Simons Island (where we have no railroad tracks) and cut your arms and head off.
Isn’t that a comforting concept?
Sometimes the concepts of “safe” and “fun” are somewhat mutually exclusive, particularly when you are young.
Our visiting family members are back on the road toward Pennsylvania this afternoon, having survived the rainy weather earlier in the week, days and days of poolside sunshine, tons of my home cooking, and Vinny and Kris even successfully braved the evening rain, traffic, and crowds to attend the Pepsi 400 NASCAR race in Daytona on Saturday night.
Once again surrounded by silence and solitude, I was reading my blog-friend Beth’s blog, She Who Will Be Obeyed, this evening and learned about the Operation Lifesaver Website.
“Operation Lifesaver is a national, non-profit education and awareness program dedicated to ending tragic collisions, fatalities and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and on railroad rights of way.”
Sounds like a good idea to me. It seems that trains cause more havoc than sharks each year:
According to preliminary Federal Railroad Administration statistics, in 2004 there were:
369 highway-rail grade crossing fatalities.
1,038 highway-rail grade crossing injuries.
480 pedestrian/trespass fatalities.
394 pedestrian/trespass injuries.
I’m embarrassed to report that my ignorant redneck neighbors in Georgia managed to make it into the top seven positions in all four of these categories.
And not to keep beating a dead horse, but isn’t it amazing that the TV and newspaper media have been freaking out and losing their minds over SHARK ATTACKS, when trains kill and injure on average ONE HUNDED TIMES as many people as sharks do each year.
And it’s not like sharks come flying out of crystal clear waters and kill or maim you at home while you are watching TV on your sofa. Likewise, trains rarely jump off of their tracks and run to places like St. Simons Island (where we have no railroad tracks) and cut your arms and head off.
Isn’t that a comforting concept?
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Jabba Speaks
Ted “Jabba the Hut” Kennedy issued these words of advice to President Bush with regard to his proposal for replacement of Sandra Day O’Connor :
"If the president abuses his power and nominates someone who threatens to roll back the rights and freedoms of the American people, then the American people will insist that we oppose that nominee -- and we intend to do so," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee, said.
Let me remind Senator Jabba of what is said in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, of the US Constitution regarding Federal Judicial Appointments:
“Clause 2: He (the President) shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. “
Further, let me remind old red nose that the American people have elected a conservative Republican Senate and given a Republican President a second term. I think that a majority of the American people are insisting THAT THEY DON'T GIVE A TINKER'S DAMN WHAT TED KENNEDY THINKS, except possibly in Boston and a few other radical liberal pockets in the state of Massachusetts.
Jabba, er…I mean Teddy…in my opinion you are a miserable shadow of your two brothers John and Robert, you are a murderer, a miserable drunken sot, and a total ignoramus when it comes to constitutional matters.
There is an old adage I’d like to remind Ted Kennedy of: Better to keep your mouth closed and let people think that you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
"If the president abuses his power and nominates someone who threatens to roll back the rights and freedoms of the American people, then the American people will insist that we oppose that nominee -- and we intend to do so," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee, said.
Let me remind Senator Jabba of what is said in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, of the US Constitution regarding Federal Judicial Appointments:
“Clause 2: He (the President) shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. “
Further, let me remind old red nose that the American people have elected a conservative Republican Senate and given a Republican President a second term. I think that a majority of the American people are insisting THAT THEY DON'T GIVE A TINKER'S DAMN WHAT TED KENNEDY THINKS, except possibly in Boston and a few other radical liberal pockets in the state of Massachusetts.
Jabba, er…I mean Teddy…in my opinion you are a miserable shadow of your two brothers John and Robert, you are a murderer, a miserable drunken sot, and a total ignoramus when it comes to constitutional matters.
There is an old adage I’d like to remind Ted Kennedy of: Better to keep your mouth closed and let people think that you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Uninvited Guests
We are fortunate to live in a fairly upscale neighborhood. There are no through streets so we have very little traffic, and our condo property has its own loop road that passes in front of all four buildings and the pool area.
We had a little trouble with some vandalism last summer in the pool deck area and, being the insomniac that I am, I got into the habit of taking a swim each night sometime around midnight. I caught the same carload of visitors whooping it up several nights in a row and the County Police department put the fear of God into them and things settled down nicely.
I’m not a militant pool police snob because I’ve crashed my fair share of swimming pools through the years. After I moved out of apartments and bought my first house back in 1985, the first thing we did was find a nearby apartment complex and started using the pool.
The most important thing about pool crashing is to not call attention to yourself by acting like some kind of ape-shit Tarzan idiot, don’t break things owned by other people, and don’t attempt to handle things like pool toys or the wives/girlfriends of the other pool guests that might actually belong there.
It also helps if you find a vacant apartment or condo and learn the number so if someone questions you about your residency status you can not look like a total moron. Saying you live in building 4 when the units are numbered A through D can cause problems if you are unfortunate enough to meet the local “Pool Nazi.”
The restrooms at our pool house were locked and out of service last spring when we arrived here. After some lobbying and campaigning efforts last winter, I managed to talk the Condo board into having the restrooms cleaned and the locks replaced (they had lost the keys to the doors) and I am now the only resident that has my own key to the restrooms. It’s an awesome responsibility—I hope that I’m up to the challenge.
You now have three choices: pee in the pool, walk dripping wet to your own condo to pee, or honor and obey ME—I am the keeper of the key!
Any, way…we’ve been using the pool for several days in a row this week and we got lazy and left the bathrooms unlocked and our pool toys and floats in the pool house. Yesterday Pat and the girls went to the pool while I did some shopping and hung out in the condo enjoying the silence and solitude for a few hours.
When I went down to the pool to check on everyone I learned that we had had some pool crashers that chose to enjoy our toys, and they split one of our expensive foam rafts in half—how we’ll never know because the thing was strong enough to support my massive girth. The suspects were still at the pool when our party arrived, and when casually questioned about their residency they gave us the old “we have friends that live out here” as an answer.
Why do people have to act like retards when they are uninvited guests?
We had a little trouble with some vandalism last summer in the pool deck area and, being the insomniac that I am, I got into the habit of taking a swim each night sometime around midnight. I caught the same carload of visitors whooping it up several nights in a row and the County Police department put the fear of God into them and things settled down nicely.
I’m not a militant pool police snob because I’ve crashed my fair share of swimming pools through the years. After I moved out of apartments and bought my first house back in 1985, the first thing we did was find a nearby apartment complex and started using the pool.
The most important thing about pool crashing is to not call attention to yourself by acting like some kind of ape-shit Tarzan idiot, don’t break things owned by other people, and don’t attempt to handle things like pool toys or the wives/girlfriends of the other pool guests that might actually belong there.
It also helps if you find a vacant apartment or condo and learn the number so if someone questions you about your residency status you can not look like a total moron. Saying you live in building 4 when the units are numbered A through D can cause problems if you are unfortunate enough to meet the local “Pool Nazi.”
The restrooms at our pool house were locked and out of service last spring when we arrived here. After some lobbying and campaigning efforts last winter, I managed to talk the Condo board into having the restrooms cleaned and the locks replaced (they had lost the keys to the doors) and I am now the only resident that has my own key to the restrooms. It’s an awesome responsibility—I hope that I’m up to the challenge.
You now have three choices: pee in the pool, walk dripping wet to your own condo to pee, or honor and obey ME—I am the keeper of the key!
Any, way…we’ve been using the pool for several days in a row this week and we got lazy and left the bathrooms unlocked and our pool toys and floats in the pool house. Yesterday Pat and the girls went to the pool while I did some shopping and hung out in the condo enjoying the silence and solitude for a few hours.
When I went down to the pool to check on everyone I learned that we had had some pool crashers that chose to enjoy our toys, and they split one of our expensive foam rafts in half—how we’ll never know because the thing was strong enough to support my massive girth. The suspects were still at the pool when our party arrived, and when casually questioned about their residency they gave us the old “we have friends that live out here” as an answer.
Why do people have to act like retards when they are uninvited guests?
Friday, July 01, 2005
Nuke 'Em
One of the more important jobs that you get to do when you are elected President of the United States of America is that of appointing Federal judges.
Unlike issues like income tax rates and signing treaties with Mexico and Bora Bora, the Federal Judgeships are unelected LIFETIME appointments that can and do directly and indirectly shape important parts of our lives on an everyday basis.
The US Supreme Court’s recent rulings on the public display of the 10 Commandments and Eminent Domain easily come to mind here. My assertion that these positions are unelected is partially incorrect, in that the American people have in the past 11 years chosen to elect a conservative Republican House of Representatives, a US Senate Republican majority, and to give President Bush his own second 4-year term as our country’s CEO.
In my considered opinion, this indicates that the majority of Americans have given a conservative MANDATE that cannot be ignored when President Bush makes his appointment to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who has served as a Supreme Court justice since she was appointed by Ronald Regan in 1981.
Forget what the media and Ted “jabba the hut” Kennedy says, ignore that silly hippy chick from California that is the House Minority Leader, I want George Bush to appoint exactly who he damn well believes is qualified to fill this position, I want the Senate to follow the rules to the letter of the law, and if Harry Reid and the gang of fourteen lily livered activist Senators lead by John McCain want to screw around with the confirmation process, I want president Bush to get out his big hammer and…
Nuke ‘Em
We have 54 Republican Senators elected by the people (including me), I’m tired of screwing around with this process…
Its high time that we get down to business.
Unlike issues like income tax rates and signing treaties with Mexico and Bora Bora, the Federal Judgeships are unelected LIFETIME appointments that can and do directly and indirectly shape important parts of our lives on an everyday basis.
The US Supreme Court’s recent rulings on the public display of the 10 Commandments and Eminent Domain easily come to mind here. My assertion that these positions are unelected is partially incorrect, in that the American people have in the past 11 years chosen to elect a conservative Republican House of Representatives, a US Senate Republican majority, and to give President Bush his own second 4-year term as our country’s CEO.
In my considered opinion, this indicates that the majority of Americans have given a conservative MANDATE that cannot be ignored when President Bush makes his appointment to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who has served as a Supreme Court justice since she was appointed by Ronald Regan in 1981.
Forget what the media and Ted “jabba the hut” Kennedy says, ignore that silly hippy chick from California that is the House Minority Leader, I want George Bush to appoint exactly who he damn well believes is qualified to fill this position, I want the Senate to follow the rules to the letter of the law, and if Harry Reid and the gang of fourteen lily livered activist Senators lead by John McCain want to screw around with the confirmation process, I want president Bush to get out his big hammer and…
Nuke ‘Em
We have 54 Republican Senators elected by the people (including me), I’m tired of screwing around with this process…
Its high time that we get down to business.
Noodling
If you want a good example of how stupid the government can be when it comes to passing laws, take a look at the hideous crime of Noodling—catching catfish with your bare hands.
Here is what you do if you want to break Georgia law and “Noodle” for your dinner tonight:
You and your friends, Bubba and Earl, toss on your swimsuits (or some old cut off blue jeans shorts.) Next you drive Earl’s pickup to the lake (because your pickup has a dead battery and Bubba’s old lady has to use his truck to go to choir practice or the beauty parlor to get her roots done.)
While on the way to the lake, you and the boys get in a “noodling state of mind” by killing a twelve pack of Natural Light (fewer calories,) then upon arrival at the shore you strip off your tee shirts you got at last weekend’s “Monster Truck Rally,” jump in the lake, and proceed to stick your arms and legs into various holes that you find in the bank along the edge of the water.
If you can avoid the alligator snapping turtles and the cottonmouths, there is a good chance that you will find a few large catfish lurking in some of the holes.
The process sounds simple enough to me, although I prefer using a 47’ Hatteras Sportfishing Yacht and a couple of thousand gallons of diesel fuel to catch my dinner.
Are you excited about noodling yet?
You are?
Well, the good news is that as of today, Noodling is a legal form of fishing in the state of Georgia.
What will they think of next?
Here is what you do if you want to break Georgia law and “Noodle” for your dinner tonight:
You and your friends, Bubba and Earl, toss on your swimsuits (or some old cut off blue jeans shorts.) Next you drive Earl’s pickup to the lake (because your pickup has a dead battery and Bubba’s old lady has to use his truck to go to choir practice or the beauty parlor to get her roots done.)
While on the way to the lake, you and the boys get in a “noodling state of mind” by killing a twelve pack of Natural Light (fewer calories,) then upon arrival at the shore you strip off your tee shirts you got at last weekend’s “Monster Truck Rally,” jump in the lake, and proceed to stick your arms and legs into various holes that you find in the bank along the edge of the water.
If you can avoid the alligator snapping turtles and the cottonmouths, there is a good chance that you will find a few large catfish lurking in some of the holes.
The process sounds simple enough to me, although I prefer using a 47’ Hatteras Sportfishing Yacht and a couple of thousand gallons of diesel fuel to catch my dinner.
Are you excited about noodling yet?
You are?
Well, the good news is that as of today, Noodling is a legal form of fishing in the state of Georgia.
What will they think of next?
Beer Butt Chicken
I’m used to cooking for only two people most of the time—at most two couples. That isn’t my present circumstance, however.
I’m cooking for SEVEN—four adults and three hungry teen girls that seem to want a snack every hour, on the hour.
While a couple pounds of lunch meat and cheese and a few loaves of bread can take care of lunch, dinner is another matter entirely. My solution, when the going gets tough, the tough crack out…
THE CHARCOAL GRILL
I’m what you call a Grill Snob. A so called purist…I’m a charcoal man through and through, and I absolutely refuse to use any petroleum products in association with my grilling. No Propane. No lighter fluid. I have an electric resistance starter for my charcoal. It takes a little longer, but your food doesn’t smell like a diesel truck transmission when you get through cooking it.
There is usually some beer involved in the process, however, and yesterday I found a new use for beer in association with grilling. I cooked something called beer butt chicken—two four pounders—for dinner.
Did I mention that they were delicious?
And really moist?
Well they were.
That is the point in cooking beer butts. You pour ¼ of the beer in each can out into an aluminum pan, stick the beer can with the rest of the beer into the cavity in the chicken, and sit the whole shebang on the grill. The beer in the can boils out while you are cooking and keeps the bird nice and juicy, while the beer in the pan evaporates and keeps the outside wet.
My chickens spent the night before cooking in a nice brine solution, then I did my spicy BBQ rub on one and cooked the other plain (other than a little salt and pepper.) I served my home made Kansas City style BBQ sauce on the side, along with a fancy Asian cold slaw and Red Potato salad.
Don't you wish you were hanging out on St. Simons Island with me this weekend?
Check out my The Redneck Gormet blog later today for the intimate details on how you too can cook such simple, delicious fare yourself.
I’m cooking for SEVEN—four adults and three hungry teen girls that seem to want a snack every hour, on the hour.
While a couple pounds of lunch meat and cheese and a few loaves of bread can take care of lunch, dinner is another matter entirely. My solution, when the going gets tough, the tough crack out…
THE CHARCOAL GRILL
I’m what you call a Grill Snob. A so called purist…I’m a charcoal man through and through, and I absolutely refuse to use any petroleum products in association with my grilling. No Propane. No lighter fluid. I have an electric resistance starter for my charcoal. It takes a little longer, but your food doesn’t smell like a diesel truck transmission when you get through cooking it.
There is usually some beer involved in the process, however, and yesterday I found a new use for beer in association with grilling. I cooked something called beer butt chicken—two four pounders—for dinner.
Did I mention that they were delicious?
And really moist?
Well they were.
That is the point in cooking beer butts. You pour ¼ of the beer in each can out into an aluminum pan, stick the beer can with the rest of the beer into the cavity in the chicken, and sit the whole shebang on the grill. The beer in the can boils out while you are cooking and keeps the bird nice and juicy, while the beer in the pan evaporates and keeps the outside wet.
My chickens spent the night before cooking in a nice brine solution, then I did my spicy BBQ rub on one and cooked the other plain (other than a little salt and pepper.) I served my home made Kansas City style BBQ sauce on the side, along with a fancy Asian cold slaw and Red Potato salad.
Don't you wish you were hanging out on St. Simons Island with me this weekend?
Check out my The Redneck Gormet blog later today for the intimate details on how you too can cook such simple, delicious fare yourself.
