Sorry about the lack of posting in the past 24 hours...I'm afraid that I'm not my normal cheerful self right now.
Some kind of stomach bug has caused me to lay around doing nothing even more so than usual. I've not spent an hour on the web in the past 12 hours.
Feeling a little better now--after some sleep and possibly some food, I'll try to get my act together and rant about something.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
The “Myth-ing” Vacation
A.K.A. “the missing vacation”
I’ve about had it with people bitching about how much “vacation time” President Bush has taken.
Several times today I heard audio and watched video clips of the pitiful little grieving war-casualty mother Cindy Sheehan asking how the President couldn’t be bothered with taking one hour out of his FIVE WEEK vacation to meet with her.
What I suspect she really means by “meet with her” is “let her deliver a good tongue lashing.”
If Bush indulges her, will she come out saying that he treated the event “like a party” this time?
Who Knows…
Well, I’ve got a news flash for everyone…
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS NEVER, EVER, ACTUALLY ON VACATION!!
You got that?
At least not on vacation in the manner that you and I go on vacation. He and Laura are not sitting beside the ocean in a beach chair in the sand blowing notes on partially empty Corona beer bottles or running around a water park in Orlando and eating burgers at HardRock Café.
What has happened is that the president has moved most of his critical Whitehouse staff from Washington DC to his personal ranch in Crawford Texas.
President Bush apparently likes it better in Texas than in Washington. I can’t say that I blame him.
Besides, the Congress is on their own August recess and won’t resume the fall session in DC until after the Labor Day holidays. There is nobody left in Washington to play with or fight with—so why stay?
Think about this with me for a minute.
In Washington DC, if the president wants to walk outside with his dog(s), there is probably a TV camera looking up his butt and the dog’s butt the entire time.
And how far “outside” of the Whitehouse can the president actually go?
One hundred yards?
Two hundred yards?
Can he chop wood in Washington DC?
Can he drive a pickup truck or an ATV across the neatly manicured lawns on Pennsylvania Avenue?
No?
Now look at what he can do by temporarily shifting the operation of the US government from Washington DC to Crawford, Texas. You did know that President Bush has owned 1600 acres north of Crawford, Texas since 1999?
SIXTEEN HUNDRED ACRES.
My grandpa Rushing had 350 acres in south Alabama and I can tell you from experience that you couldn’t walk all over that property in two days.
Bush, accompanied by a few hand picked reporters and Secret Service Agents, can jump in a four wheel drive truck and head out for a day of “mud slinging.” He can fish in his stocked Bass lake. He can shoot skeet or trap or whatever game animals are in season, or just walk around and look at his cows.
And he can also walk out of HIS house and tell the damn reporters to get out of his face, and he can go out and pee behind a tree in the woods or scream and yell and take Ted Kennedy’s name in vain and no one would notice or care.
Can't do that in DC, can we?
But if the world blows up or Cheney has a heart attack or something else comes up, night or day, Monday through Sunday, he either has to handle the problem right then, right there, or jump on Air Force One and head back to DC.
Some vacation…
Finally, President Bush isn’t the first president to go somewhere other than the Camp David Retreat in Maryland when he wanted to kick up his heels and get away from the pomp and circumstance of the DC bullshit.
By the way, what is the difference between a “retreat” and a “vacation”? Does the ownership of the property make the difference?
Harry S. Truman Franklin D Roosevelt went to “The Little Whitehouse” in Warm Springs Georgia.
Richard M. Nixon went to “The Western Whitehouse” in San Clemente, California.
I say that the voters and the media let President Bush lay his head down in a familiar room on a familiar pillow once in a while, and understand the concept of ever actually being on “vacation” as President of the United States is a Myth,
Thus the “Myth-ing” vacation...
I’ve about had it with people bitching about how much “vacation time” President Bush has taken.
Several times today I heard audio and watched video clips of the pitiful little grieving war-casualty mother Cindy Sheehan asking how the President couldn’t be bothered with taking one hour out of his FIVE WEEK vacation to meet with her.
What I suspect she really means by “meet with her” is “let her deliver a good tongue lashing.”
If Bush indulges her, will she come out saying that he treated the event “like a party” this time?
Who Knows…
Well, I’ve got a news flash for everyone…
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS NEVER, EVER, ACTUALLY ON VACATION!!
You got that?
At least not on vacation in the manner that you and I go on vacation. He and Laura are not sitting beside the ocean in a beach chair in the sand blowing notes on partially empty Corona beer bottles or running around a water park in Orlando and eating burgers at HardRock Café.
What has happened is that the president has moved most of his critical Whitehouse staff from Washington DC to his personal ranch in Crawford Texas.
President Bush apparently likes it better in Texas than in Washington. I can’t say that I blame him.
Besides, the Congress is on their own August recess and won’t resume the fall session in DC until after the Labor Day holidays. There is nobody left in Washington to play with or fight with—so why stay?
Think about this with me for a minute.
In Washington DC, if the president wants to walk outside with his dog(s), there is probably a TV camera looking up his butt and the dog’s butt the entire time.
And how far “outside” of the Whitehouse can the president actually go?
One hundred yards?
Two hundred yards?
Can he chop wood in Washington DC?
Can he drive a pickup truck or an ATV across the neatly manicured lawns on Pennsylvania Avenue?
No?
Now look at what he can do by temporarily shifting the operation of the US government from Washington DC to Crawford, Texas. You did know that President Bush has owned 1600 acres north of Crawford, Texas since 1999?
SIXTEEN HUNDRED ACRES.
My grandpa Rushing had 350 acres in south Alabama and I can tell you from experience that you couldn’t walk all over that property in two days.
Bush, accompanied by a few hand picked reporters and Secret Service Agents, can jump in a four wheel drive truck and head out for a day of “mud slinging.” He can fish in his stocked Bass lake. He can shoot skeet or trap or whatever game animals are in season, or just walk around and look at his cows.
And he can also walk out of HIS house and tell the damn reporters to get out of his face, and he can go out and pee behind a tree in the woods or scream and yell and take Ted Kennedy’s name in vain and no one would notice or care.
Can't do that in DC, can we?
But if the world blows up or Cheney has a heart attack or something else comes up, night or day, Monday through Sunday, he either has to handle the problem right then, right there, or jump on Air Force One and head back to DC.
Some vacation…
Finally, President Bush isn’t the first president to go somewhere other than the Camp David Retreat in Maryland when he wanted to kick up his heels and get away from the pomp and circumstance of the DC bullshit.
By the way, what is the difference between a “retreat” and a “vacation”? Does the ownership of the property make the difference?
Richard M. Nixon went to “The Western Whitehouse” in San Clemente, California.
I say that the voters and the media let President Bush lay his head down in a familiar room on a familiar pillow once in a while, and understand the concept of ever actually being on “vacation” as President of the United States is a Myth,
Thus the “Myth-ing” vacation...
Gosh Darn It...
Just when I think that I have an original idea, I find someone has not only beat me to it, but did a much better job.
What do you think?
Peanut Sub
This image was shamelessly stolen from The Curt Jester.
I really did come up with the idea on my own, I just tripped over this new image doing some followup research and had to reference it.
Meanwhile, I'll keep working on being funny--I apparently have a very long way to go.
What do you think?
Peanut Sub
This image was shamelessly stolen from The Curt Jester.
I really did come up with the idea on my own, I just tripped over this new image doing some followup research and had to reference it.
Meanwhile, I'll keep working on being funny--I apparently have a very long way to go.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
More On Cindy Sheehan
I had hardly gotten my latest posting about Cindy Sheehan published when I received an E-mail from fellow blogger J. Marcus Xavier pointing out his definitive non-partisan timeline on the story that has more details of how Mrs. Sheehan got to where she is today.
If you are interested, stop over at his blog, Very Small Doses, and read it for yourself.
If you are interested, stop over at his blog, Very Small Doses, and read it for yourself.
Carter Visits Namesake Boat
Jimmy Carter and his lovely bride Rosalynn were seen wandering around in our area today—visiting the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base down in St. Mary's, Georgia.
In case you don't know or don't remember, former President Carter attended my alma mater, Georgia Tech, before receiving an appointment to the US naval academy and going on to be a submarine jockey until he left the navy in 1953.
The US Navy has seen fit to name SSN-23, a Seawolf class fast attack submarine, after former President Carter. He and his old lady (is that "first old lady" or "old first lady"?) got to take a ride in it today before it sails off toward its new home port out in Bangor, Washington.
Here’s a picture of the Navy’s newest boat:
USS Jimmy Carter
Notice the strong family resemblance…designed to put despots and dictators the world over at ease. Following Carter’s lifetime tradition of appeasement and pacifism, the sub has been especially fitted out with a special arsenal of weapons designed to ensure peace.
Instead of batteries of Harpoon and Tomahawk cruise missiles and eight MK-48 torpedos, the ship has a single giant set of lips mounted prominently on the front side of the hull designed to offer promises of additional American taxpayer funded foreign aid, prolific anti-war statements delivered from far flung ports around the world, and the capability to pucker up and plant a big old fat wet kiss on the ass of the dictator du jour.
This really makes me so darned proud that Carter is from Georgia.
(P.S.--This is an original picture that I did with Photoshop. Aren't I clever?)
In case you don't know or don't remember, former President Carter attended my alma mater, Georgia Tech, before receiving an appointment to the US naval academy and going on to be a submarine jockey until he left the navy in 1953.
The US Navy has seen fit to name SSN-23, a Seawolf class fast attack submarine, after former President Carter. He and his old lady (is that "first old lady" or "old first lady"?) got to take a ride in it today before it sails off toward its new home port out in Bangor, Washington.
Here’s a picture of the Navy’s newest boat:
USS Jimmy Carter
Notice the strong family resemblance…designed to put despots and dictators the world over at ease. Following Carter’s lifetime tradition of appeasement and pacifism, the sub has been especially fitted out with a special arsenal of weapons designed to ensure peace.
Instead of batteries of Harpoon and Tomahawk cruise missiles and eight MK-48 torpedos, the ship has a single giant set of lips mounted prominently on the front side of the hull designed to offer promises of additional American taxpayer funded foreign aid, prolific anti-war statements delivered from far flung ports around the world, and the capability to pucker up and plant a big old fat wet kiss on the ass of the dictator du jour.
This really makes me so darned proud that Carter is from Georgia.
(P.S.--This is an original picture that I did with Photoshop. Aren't I clever?)
Cindy Sheehan’s Family Speaks Out
I wrote earlier about the media circus surrounding Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war campaign and the discrepancies in her statements issued last summer and last week.
Matt Drudge’s “Drudge Report” website got this E-mail statement from the Sheehan family:
"The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect.
Sincerely,
Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins."
I think that about says it all.
As I said before: she should shut up, pack up, go home and start trying to get on with her life.
Matt Drudge’s “Drudge Report” website got this E-mail statement from the Sheehan family:
"The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect.
Sincerely,
Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins."
I think that about says it all.
As I said before: she should shut up, pack up, go home and start trying to get on with her life.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
And The Walls Came A Tumblin' Down...
I've been yelling out loud and ranting in writing (does that rhyme?) about the light touch investigators have apparently used in handling the UN "Oil For Food" scandal to date.
If you've been following the story with me, you have got to just love this development:
A KEY UN procurement officer could give prosecutors valuable evidence of wrongdoing at the organisation after becoming the first official to plead guilty to fraud in the Oil-for-Food scandal.
Alexander Yakovlev admitted three charges carrying 20 years each in New York on Monday, as a UN inquiry reported that he had taken almost a million dollars in bribes from companies that won more than $79 million (£44 million) in UN Business.
That he surrendered to the authorities in New York and immediately entered guilty pleas suggests that he may have struck a plea bargain to co-operate with prosecutors in return for a lighter sentence.
His lawyer, Arkady Bukh, told The Times that he could not comment because of a confidentiality agreement. “Normally, if you enter a guilty plea in an expedient manner, we expect from a judge quite a lenient sentence,” he said.
UN officials said that they believed Mr Yakovlev would become a co-operating government witness. “It’s obvious. He struck a deal. He’s going to testify,” one UN official said.
I hope that he truthfully tells EVERYTHING he knows about EVERYBODY involved.
It's time that the UN was cleaned up and held to it's theoretical standards and lofty mission, or closed down and replaced with an organization that isn't so useless and obviously anti-American.
One Year Ago Today
I was "Washing My Underwear In Public"
Last year at about this time I was returning from a ten day stay in Elgin, Illinois. Pat and I had traveled together to the area for her business and we coincidentally spent a long weekend in downtown Chicago doing "the tourist thing."
While Pat worked, I spent my time in the hotel room as I usually do—watching the news on TV and surfing the web. I also spontaneously began writing a series of essays that ultimately began my blog adventures.
I wasn’t that aware of the “blog experience” at that time other than some political web pages that could be considered blogs, but the citizen blog was really outside of my realm of experience.
Little did I know what I was missing…
When I returned to St. Simons, I took my friend Tripp’s advice and set up “What I’d liked to have said” on Blogger and made my first posting on August 10th, 2004.
The rest is, as they say, HISTORY.
In celebration of the occasion, I am re-posting one of my first writings. It’s called “Washing Your Underwear In Public.” I thought that it was rather funny at the time--but maybe you just had to be there...
Spending ten continuous days living out of suitcases in a hotel room brings me back to a reality that I have spent very little time with since college—the Public Laundry. That’s what the sign on the door says here at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Elgin, IL.
Laundromat, Wash-O-Matic, Rinse-and-Wring, call it what you may, each and every visit provides a wealth of entertainment opportunities and interesting insights into human nature, and invariably brings you into contact with persons and situations with which you could otherwise do without.
Of course I have had, through the years, intermittent opportunities to further develop and maintain my college developed skills in the public cleansing of my most personal clothing items. The issue of boxers or briefs become quite evident unless you properly sort, handle, and maintain control of your clothing items before and during your visit to the local “Palace of Clean Clothing” (POCC for short.)
For instance, there was that time when I ran away from home, after separating from my ex-wife, and I was forced to give her the old Kenmore washer and worse, the old Kenmore dryer I had recently, lovingly, totally rebuilt for a cost of a hundred thirty six dollars and fifty-five cents (or something like that.) The personal cost of a weekend of cursing and scraped knuckles was extra. I later learned that she promptly discarded both the washer and dryer in favor of brand new equipment once the divorce was final—she just didn’t want me to have them. She tried the same thing with the 30-year-old Snapper self-propelled mower I had also rebuilt, but you know how it is with a man and his lawnmower. I think that lawn mower cost me about five thousand dollars in the final settlement, but it was worth every damn penny.
Any way, back to the local POCC. I rode the elevator down to the second floor about one o’clock this afternoon, carrying our white clothes and my four-dollar mini-box of detergent, purchased from Rashee, the friendly Indian proprietor of the lobby gift shop. Somehow, I avoided buying a genuine imitation Rolex watch or a cigarette lighter that looks like a pistol (against FAA regulations, you know)--but I was awfully tempted.
Upon arrival in the POCC, I found one of the two washers filled with someone’s unwashed blue jeans and one of the two dryers in mid cycle. Undaunted, my heart full of hope, I launched the load of white clothes with $1.00 worth of quarters, $1.50 worth of detergent, and planned my return 20 minutes later with the colored clothes. Wrong you stupid, white, redneck man.
Upon my return twenty minutes later I found BOTH dryers in operation and the load of blue jeans mysteriously in mid-wash cycle. This was war. What (or whom) was in that second dryer? I again left the POCC briefly, planning to catch the one dryer at the end of its cycle and then load MY own second load into MY washer. Again, wrong, you paleface redneck. Another ten minutes and another three floor round trip on the elevator found me and a four foot tall middle eastern woman glancing furtively at each other as she partially unloaded both dryers and fumbled with clothing of all sizes from 6x to Jolly Green Giant. Was this woman running a laundry service out of the Holiday Inn POCC? Could be…
Another elevator trip up three floors, another ten minutes writing this story, and back to the POCC where I found both washers empty, one dryer available, and the little woman with the red dot on her forehead nowhere to be seen. I sprang into action, untieing the sleeves of my dress shirts from the knot they invariably form in the rinse cycle and gleefully launching another $2.50 worth of quarters and detergent into action. An additional dollar bought me the services of the available dryer. I was turning the corner, in the home stretch now, ladies and gentlemen.
Three floors down, and three floors back, and my heart is still singing the pleasures of clean, although slightly damp and wrinkled clothing. The aforementioned mysterious load of blue jeans was doing nicely in the dryer also.
Got to run, now…I have a dollar date with a lovely, appliance-white-colored clothes dryer. She’s mine, Mine, MINE I said, ALL MINE, get away, dammit… I THINK I NEED A DRINK.
Last year at about this time I was returning from a ten day stay in Elgin, Illinois. Pat and I had traveled together to the area for her business and we coincidentally spent a long weekend in downtown Chicago doing "the tourist thing."
While Pat worked, I spent my time in the hotel room as I usually do—watching the news on TV and surfing the web. I also spontaneously began writing a series of essays that ultimately began my blog adventures.
I wasn’t that aware of the “blog experience” at that time other than some political web pages that could be considered blogs, but the citizen blog was really outside of my realm of experience.
Little did I know what I was missing…
When I returned to St. Simons, I took my friend Tripp’s advice and set up “What I’d liked to have said” on Blogger and made my first posting on August 10th, 2004.
The rest is, as they say, HISTORY.
In celebration of the occasion, I am re-posting one of my first writings. It’s called “Washing Your Underwear In Public.” I thought that it was rather funny at the time--but maybe you just had to be there...
Spending ten continuous days living out of suitcases in a hotel room brings me back to a reality that I have spent very little time with since college—the Public Laundry. That’s what the sign on the door says here at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Elgin, IL.
Laundromat, Wash-O-Matic, Rinse-and-Wring, call it what you may, each and every visit provides a wealth of entertainment opportunities and interesting insights into human nature, and invariably brings you into contact with persons and situations with which you could otherwise do without.
Of course I have had, through the years, intermittent opportunities to further develop and maintain my college developed skills in the public cleansing of my most personal clothing items. The issue of boxers or briefs become quite evident unless you properly sort, handle, and maintain control of your clothing items before and during your visit to the local “Palace of Clean Clothing” (POCC for short.)
For instance, there was that time when I ran away from home, after separating from my ex-wife, and I was forced to give her the old Kenmore washer and worse, the old Kenmore dryer I had recently, lovingly, totally rebuilt for a cost of a hundred thirty six dollars and fifty-five cents (or something like that.) The personal cost of a weekend of cursing and scraped knuckles was extra. I later learned that she promptly discarded both the washer and dryer in favor of brand new equipment once the divorce was final—she just didn’t want me to have them. She tried the same thing with the 30-year-old Snapper self-propelled mower I had also rebuilt, but you know how it is with a man and his lawnmower. I think that lawn mower cost me about five thousand dollars in the final settlement, but it was worth every damn penny.
Any way, back to the local POCC. I rode the elevator down to the second floor about one o’clock this afternoon, carrying our white clothes and my four-dollar mini-box of detergent, purchased from Rashee, the friendly Indian proprietor of the lobby gift shop. Somehow, I avoided buying a genuine imitation Rolex watch or a cigarette lighter that looks like a pistol (against FAA regulations, you know)--but I was awfully tempted.
Upon arrival in the POCC, I found one of the two washers filled with someone’s unwashed blue jeans and one of the two dryers in mid cycle. Undaunted, my heart full of hope, I launched the load of white clothes with $1.00 worth of quarters, $1.50 worth of detergent, and planned my return 20 minutes later with the colored clothes. Wrong you stupid, white, redneck man.
Upon my return twenty minutes later I found BOTH dryers in operation and the load of blue jeans mysteriously in mid-wash cycle. This was war. What (or whom) was in that second dryer? I again left the POCC briefly, planning to catch the one dryer at the end of its cycle and then load MY own second load into MY washer. Again, wrong, you paleface redneck. Another ten minutes and another three floor round trip on the elevator found me and a four foot tall middle eastern woman glancing furtively at each other as she partially unloaded both dryers and fumbled with clothing of all sizes from 6x to Jolly Green Giant. Was this woman running a laundry service out of the Holiday Inn POCC? Could be…
Another elevator trip up three floors, another ten minutes writing this story, and back to the POCC where I found both washers empty, one dryer available, and the little woman with the red dot on her forehead nowhere to be seen. I sprang into action, untieing the sleeves of my dress shirts from the knot they invariably form in the rinse cycle and gleefully launching another $2.50 worth of quarters and detergent into action. An additional dollar bought me the services of the available dryer. I was turning the corner, in the home stretch now, ladies and gentlemen.
Three floors down, and three floors back, and my heart is still singing the pleasures of clean, although slightly damp and wrinkled clothing. The aforementioned mysterious load of blue jeans was doing nicely in the dryer also.
Got to run, now…I have a dollar date with a lovely, appliance-white-colored clothes dryer. She’s mine, Mine, MINE I said, ALL MINE, get away, dammit… I THINK I NEED A DRINK.
Why Does Government Fund The Arts?
After All, It's A Really, Really Bad Idea
I'm learning late in life that there has been an artist hiding inside my body. It must have been there all along because I haven’t had any surgery or an out of body experience or anything, but it’s rather surprising to me just the same.
I knew from a fairly young age that I liked music—learning to play at various ages and abilities the guitar, the piano, the trumpet and more recently taking to dragging a briefcase full of harmonicas around with me on the occasional musical evening out.
I actually like "blowin' the harp" the best because, although I have the least time and financial investment in the endeavor, I’m 200% better than I ever was on any of the other instruments. On the Harp I have the ability to improvise and “take a ride”—something I envied in a few trumpet players I knew back in high school and college.
I’ve also started working part time with water colors and acrylics and believe that I could really do some good, marketable work if I’d buckle down and stop wasting time blogging and watching the news.
My acting and theater adventures are pretty much over for the time being, not because I lacked the motivation and talent, but because of my inability to tolerate the petty politics and insufferable moronic ineptitude of the slovenly people that are currently posing as board members and individual show managers. Talk about EGOS…
Perhaps part of the problems I had with the “artsy theater crowd” here on the island was they were all flaming, bedwetting, sniveling LIBERALS and I’m such a blazing conservative LIBERTARIAN.
Just for fun I would go to rehearsals or to weekend set builds wearing my “Celebrate Diversity” T-shirt that features a dozen and a half different brands and calibers of handguns in a chart on the back.
My favorite Tee
Then again, it might have been my insistence to bringing MY radio into the theater during the week when I was working solo on the sets and listening to talk show hosts Neil Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity.
On a number of occasions people would come into the theater while I was working and out of the clear blue demand that they be allowed to change the station on MY RADIO to guess what—National Public Radio. I usually resorted to turning the radio off when someone else came in because I’d rather listen to “Nine Inch Nails” or “Tiny Tim’s Complete Greatest Hits” than listen to NPR for five minutes.
I think that it is a great idea for parents to encourage their kids to participate in the arts. Simple things like buying your kids a box of Crayola Crayons and a ream of plain office paper at a total cost of $5.00 is a great start. Buy your kid a cheep piano and make your boys learn to play like Billy Joel so they can date girls like Kristy Brinkley....er...um...any way...I think that it's great that our public schools have music class, art class, and drama classes for all ages of students and I’m completely behind the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for marching bands and class plays.
I guess what I’m saying is that I fully support government funding for the arts when it comes to ARTS EDUCATION, what burns my aching butt is other forms of government funding involving supporting unemployed, unemployable, idiots and morons that paint cows purple or put a Crucifix in a jar of human urine (brought to you with tax dollars by the National Endowment for the Arts), or guys like this that sew a dead fetus’ head on the body of a bird and display it as ART?!?!?!? WTF?
BEIJING --A Chinese artist who grafted the head of a human fetus onto the body of a bird has defended his work as art after a Swiss museum withdrew the piece from an exhibit.
"It's precisely because I respect all life that I did this," artist Xiao Yu said Tuesday. He said the bird and fetus "died because there was something wrong with them. ... I thought putting them together like this was a way for them to have another life."
Swiss museum visitor Adrien de Riedmatten, 29, filed a complaint on Monday with the district attorney of Bern, Switzerland, calling for an investigation into the piece, which was on display at the Bern Art Museum.
"I want to know where this baby comes from and if it was killed for this work," de Riedmatten said.
"We know about the problems of late-term abortions in China and we have the right to ask ourselves questions."
What was he thinking?
The work was removed, curator Bernhard Fibicher said Tuesday, because museum directors didn't want the controversy surrounding it to overshadow the rest of the "Mahjong" exhibit, which features avant-garde Chinese works from the last 25 years. The museum is planning an Aug. 22 symposium with artists, philosophers and ethics experts before deciding whether to re-exhibit the piece.
I know that I’m taking the story slightly out of context because it didn’t happen here in the United States—it happened in Switzerland—but I suspect that if the piece was offered for display in San Fransisco or NY City, the “usual suspects” and the rest of the “Artsy” crowd would somehow manage to crack open the government’s wallet and toss a few thousand dollars at the cost of the production of the show.
My question is, should the government be paying for the production, acquisition, or display of ANY ART unless the artist and the works have attained a status of bona fied historical value?
It seems quite acceptable to me for the Smithsonian Institution to attempt to acquire Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece “Starry Night” using government money (tax dollars) because the piece has historical significance and besides—it’s bound to go up in value.
Starry Night...
On the other hand, tossing my hard earned tax dollars at some starving asshole living in a sweltering Soho loft with his tie-dyed hairy legged girlfriend is NOT, in my considered Redneck opinion, making a good investment.
Just look at most crap they put on pedestals out in front of and hang on the walls of most public buildings. Most of this shit you’d have to pay someone to haul off after a yard sale, but the government and their “Artsy” consultants see fit to toss ridiculous sums of your and my money to support these struggling businessmen.
I have a message for all the little kids out there and their parents that think that they are raising the next Grandma Moses or Picasso—teach your offspring to read, write, and do math FIRST—then encourage them to draw, paint, etch, sing, act, sculpt, chisel, make wood chips in the floor, sew doll heads on stuffed animals, or whatever else you deem to be classified as ART.
What you don’t need to do is expect to raise an ignorant “Artsy” moron that can’t hold a job for two months waiting tables at a Pizza Hut and then expect to clamor and lobby the government to INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE ARTS.
OVER MY COLD, DEAD, DECOMPOSING BODY...
It’s just that simple...
I'm learning late in life that there has been an artist hiding inside my body. It must have been there all along because I haven’t had any surgery or an out of body experience or anything, but it’s rather surprising to me just the same.
I knew from a fairly young age that I liked music—learning to play at various ages and abilities the guitar, the piano, the trumpet and more recently taking to dragging a briefcase full of harmonicas around with me on the occasional musical evening out.
I actually like "blowin' the harp" the best because, although I have the least time and financial investment in the endeavor, I’m 200% better than I ever was on any of the other instruments. On the Harp I have the ability to improvise and “take a ride”—something I envied in a few trumpet players I knew back in high school and college.
I’ve also started working part time with water colors and acrylics and believe that I could really do some good, marketable work if I’d buckle down and stop wasting time blogging and watching the news.
My acting and theater adventures are pretty much over for the time being, not because I lacked the motivation and talent, but because of my inability to tolerate the petty politics and insufferable moronic ineptitude of the slovenly people that are currently posing as board members and individual show managers. Talk about EGOS…
Perhaps part of the problems I had with the “artsy theater crowd” here on the island was they were all flaming, bedwetting, sniveling LIBERALS and I’m such a blazing conservative LIBERTARIAN.
Just for fun I would go to rehearsals or to weekend set builds wearing my “Celebrate Diversity” T-shirt that features a dozen and a half different brands and calibers of handguns in a chart on the back.
My favorite Tee
Then again, it might have been my insistence to bringing MY radio into the theater during the week when I was working solo on the sets and listening to talk show hosts Neil Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity.
On a number of occasions people would come into the theater while I was working and out of the clear blue demand that they be allowed to change the station on MY RADIO to guess what—National Public Radio. I usually resorted to turning the radio off when someone else came in because I’d rather listen to “Nine Inch Nails” or “Tiny Tim’s Complete Greatest Hits” than listen to NPR for five minutes.
I think that it is a great idea for parents to encourage their kids to participate in the arts. Simple things like buying your kids a box of Crayola Crayons and a ream of plain office paper at a total cost of $5.00 is a great start. Buy your kid a cheep piano and make your boys learn to play like Billy Joel so they can date girls like Kristy Brinkley....er...um...any way...I think that it's great that our public schools have music class, art class, and drama classes for all ages of students and I’m completely behind the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for marching bands and class plays.
I guess what I’m saying is that I fully support government funding for the arts when it comes to ARTS EDUCATION, what burns my aching butt is other forms of government funding involving supporting unemployed, unemployable, idiots and morons that paint cows purple or put a Crucifix in a jar of human urine (brought to you with tax dollars by the National Endowment for the Arts), or guys like this that sew a dead fetus’ head on the body of a bird and display it as ART?!?!?!? WTF?
BEIJING --A Chinese artist who grafted the head of a human fetus onto the body of a bird has defended his work as art after a Swiss museum withdrew the piece from an exhibit.
"It's precisely because I respect all life that I did this," artist Xiao Yu said Tuesday. He said the bird and fetus "died because there was something wrong with them. ... I thought putting them together like this was a way for them to have another life."
Swiss museum visitor Adrien de Riedmatten, 29, filed a complaint on Monday with the district attorney of Bern, Switzerland, calling for an investigation into the piece, which was on display at the Bern Art Museum.
"I want to know where this baby comes from and if it was killed for this work," de Riedmatten said.
"We know about the problems of late-term abortions in China and we have the right to ask ourselves questions."
What was he thinking?
The work was removed, curator Bernhard Fibicher said Tuesday, because museum directors didn't want the controversy surrounding it to overshadow the rest of the "Mahjong" exhibit, which features avant-garde Chinese works from the last 25 years. The museum is planning an Aug. 22 symposium with artists, philosophers and ethics experts before deciding whether to re-exhibit the piece.
I know that I’m taking the story slightly out of context because it didn’t happen here in the United States—it happened in Switzerland—but I suspect that if the piece was offered for display in San Fransisco or NY City, the “usual suspects” and the rest of the “Artsy” crowd would somehow manage to crack open the government’s wallet and toss a few thousand dollars at the cost of the production of the show.
My question is, should the government be paying for the production, acquisition, or display of ANY ART unless the artist and the works have attained a status of bona fied historical value?
It seems quite acceptable to me for the Smithsonian Institution to attempt to acquire Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece “Starry Night” using government money (tax dollars) because the piece has historical significance and besides—it’s bound to go up in value.
Starry Night...
On the other hand, tossing my hard earned tax dollars at some starving asshole living in a sweltering Soho loft with his tie-dyed hairy legged girlfriend is NOT, in my considered Redneck opinion, making a good investment.
Just look at most crap they put on pedestals out in front of and hang on the walls of most public buildings. Most of this shit you’d have to pay someone to haul off after a yard sale, but the government and their “Artsy” consultants see fit to toss ridiculous sums of your and my money to support these struggling businessmen.
I have a message for all the little kids out there and their parents that think that they are raising the next Grandma Moses or Picasso—teach your offspring to read, write, and do math FIRST—then encourage them to draw, paint, etch, sing, act, sculpt, chisel, make wood chips in the floor, sew doll heads on stuffed animals, or whatever else you deem to be classified as ART.
What you don’t need to do is expect to raise an ignorant “Artsy” moron that can’t hold a job for two months waiting tables at a Pizza Hut and then expect to clamor and lobby the government to INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE ARTS.
OVER MY COLD, DEAD, DECOMPOSING BODY...
It’s just that simple...
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Russia Gets A Little Bit More Of The Old “Red White & Blue”
President Bush and the Republicans spend a good deal of time talking about exporting Democracy to the rest of the world.
I’m afraid that Democracy isn’t the only thing we’re exporting—ambulance chasing lawyers and frivolous lawsuits are also a product of the good old USA.
The headline reads:
Criminal Probe of Mini Sub Accident Begins
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) -- Russian prosecutors on Tuesday said they've opened a criminal investigation into the accident that left seven crew members trapped in a mini-submarine in the Pacific Ocean.
An initial investigation has established negligence by officials responsible for preparing and overseeing the AS-28 mini-submarine's mission, said Roman Kolbanov, the Pacific Fleet's deputy military prosecutor.
One of the submariners, Capt. Valery Lepetyukha, revealed Tuesday that the submarine had been sent to investigate an underwater surveillance antenna that had got entangled in fishing nets on Friday. He said the submarine then got trapped by thick undersea cables.
I have a question.
Why doesn’t everybody just quit work, put on their PJ's and slippers, and spend the rest of our lives sitting in front of the TV watching Green Acres reruns and Desperate Housewives?
According to the idiot lawyers, there should be no risk in any profession, no matter what the compensation level, and if there is an accident or unforeseen circumstance somebody has to pay or go to jail—usually both.
I thought about going to law school as an adult in the past ten years, but I just can’t stomach introducing myself as an attorney because the ranks of the profession are populated with some truly morally bankrupt, miserable souls.
Actually, I just didn't want to look at my face on the back of the phone book in order to make a living...
Know what I mean?
I’m afraid that Democracy isn’t the only thing we’re exporting—ambulance chasing lawyers and frivolous lawsuits are also a product of the good old USA.
The headline reads:
Criminal Probe of Mini Sub Accident Begins
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) -- Russian prosecutors on Tuesday said they've opened a criminal investigation into the accident that left seven crew members trapped in a mini-submarine in the Pacific Ocean.
An initial investigation has established negligence by officials responsible for preparing and overseeing the AS-28 mini-submarine's mission, said Roman Kolbanov, the Pacific Fleet's deputy military prosecutor.
One of the submariners, Capt. Valery Lepetyukha, revealed Tuesday that the submarine had been sent to investigate an underwater surveillance antenna that had got entangled in fishing nets on Friday. He said the submarine then got trapped by thick undersea cables.
I have a question.
Why doesn’t everybody just quit work, put on their PJ's and slippers, and spend the rest of our lives sitting in front of the TV watching Green Acres reruns and Desperate Housewives?
According to the idiot lawyers, there should be no risk in any profession, no matter what the compensation level, and if there is an accident or unforeseen circumstance somebody has to pay or go to jail—usually both.
I thought about going to law school as an adult in the past ten years, but I just can’t stomach introducing myself as an attorney because the ranks of the profession are populated with some truly morally bankrupt, miserable souls.
Actually, I just didn't want to look at my face on the back of the phone book in order to make a living...
Know what I mean?
More Media Stonewalling and Bias
One of my favorite reoccurring themes in my blogging is media inaccuracy and media bias in their reporting. In my opinion, it’s easier than shooting fish in a barrel to come up with ridiculous examples of each.
I’ve been following two stories with interest the past couple of weeks and have chosen to hold my comments in an effort to wait and see what happens and follow how the exempt mainstream media covers each situation.
Exhibit A--Air America
The first story is a developing scandal involving liberal radio network Air America receiving an inappropriate loan from the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club. The source of the funds, used as initial startup capital by Air America, was the federal government and the State of New York, funds earmarked for use to aid children and Alzheimers patents.
The NY Sun Newspaper had this to say in their August 5th edition:
"Gloria Wise is under investigation by the city's Department of Investigation for matters that include transferring $875,000 to Progress Media, former parent company of the Air America radio network, and to the club's director of development, Evan Montvel Cohen, who headed Progress Media…
Piquant LLC, which acquired Air America from Mr. Cohen's Progress Media in May 2004, has agreed to pay $875,000 to Gloria Wise, without interest, in installments over the next two years."
The NY Post adds:
August 3, 2005 -- Officials at the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club — under investigation for lending Air America radio nearly $900,000 — yesterday demanded that the left-wing network start repaying the money.
"Air America reached a legal agreement to have that loan repaid in full," beginning this summer, said Martta Rose, a spokeswoman for the Bronx-based Boys & Girls Club, which is the subject of a probe by the city Department of Investigation.
Air America had earlier said it put on hold plans to pay back the money because Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club was shut down by the city.
"We're waiting for direction from the investigators on how to proceed," a network official said.
While the city did pull millions of dollars in contracts from Gloria Wise, the club has continued to operate preschool and after-school programs and plans to restart its other programs.
"We are cooperating fully with the investigation and we hope to be up and running soon," said Rose. "We have a record of more than 20 years in this community."
I’m not going to beat a dead horse here other than to say this whole situation makes Air America look really bad. First they denied that the loans ever happened, then they denied that they were responsible for the money, then they said that they were paying it back, then they weren’t paying it back, and now they say that they will pay it back in installments—WITHOUT INTEREST.
Funny thing is that the loans were made as investments by the Boys & Girls Club.
Some investment—three years at 0% return. Where can I apply for that deal?
Liberals—you got to love how they are always looking out for the oppressed “little guy”…
What is important is that if you don’t watch FOX News or read internet blogs, you’ve probably not heard of the story outside of the smaller NY City newspapers. The so called “paper of record”, the NY Times, has avoided the story like the plague because the people at the Times LOVE Air America and refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing.
A Google search for “Air America Funding Scandal” yielded only 9 news results, almost all of them referencing Bloggers like Brian Maloney over at Radio Equalizer who is continuing to beat the drum. The good news is that even if the NY Times refuses to waste ink and paper on the story, and least Air America has been shamed into paying the money back rather than walking away in default.
I say that's a good thing...hurray for the power of bloggers.
Exhibit B--Cindy Sheehan
The second story involves the whacky anti-war protester mother Cindy Sheehan who is leading a small group camped outside President Bush’s Crawford, Texas ranch.
Oh is Ms. Sheehan ever the darling of the left and the media. A quick Google Search using the name Cindy Sheehan yielded 227,000 links and 738 news stories about her “valiant efforts” to get President Bush to talk to her, the grieving mother of another one of the casualties of Bush’s “unjust war.”
Here is what she said in a CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer on Sunday:
BLITZER: All right. So tell us a little bit about what you're doing now. You had a chance to meet with the president, we're told, last summer. Is that right?
SHEEHAN: I met with him, I think, about June 17th last year. It was about two and a half months after Casey had died. And it was me...
BLITZER: Was that a private meeting, just you and the president?
SHEEHAN: It was me and my family, my other three children and my husband.
BLITZER: What did you say...
SHEEHAN: And we met with about 15 other -- about 15 other families were there also. But we got to -- he came in individually and met with each one of us individually.
BLITZER: And so, what did you say to him then?
SHEEHAN: It was -- you know, there was a lot of things said. We wanted to use the time for him to know that he killed an indispensable part of our family and humanity. And we wanted him to look at the pictures of Casey. He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name. He came in the room and the very first thing he said is, "So who are we honoring here?" He didn't even know Casey's name. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear anything about Casey. He wouldn't even call him "him" or "he." He called him "your loved one." Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject. And he acted like it was a party.
BLITZER: Like a party? I mean...
SHEEHAN: Yes, he came in very jovial, and like we should be happy that he, our son, died for his misguided policies. He didn't even pretend like somebody...
BLITZER: So now you're trying to meet with him again. What's the point? What are you trying to achieve?
Funny how her story has changed, and CNN’s Blitzer didn’t even do what I, your dedicated Blogger amateur journalist did to find out what Cindy Sheehan said in an interview with her hometown newspaper on June 24, 2004:
"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us," Pat said.
Sincerity was something Cindy had hoped to find in the meeting.
Shortly after Casey died, Bush sent the family a form letter expressing his condolences, and Cindy said she felt it was an impersonal gesture.
"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting.
"I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."
The meeting didn't last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son's sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.
While meeting with Bush, as well as Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, was an honor, it was almost a tangent benefit of the trip. The Sheehans said they enjoyed meeting the other families of fallen soldiers, sharing stories, contact information, grief and support.
For some, grief was still visceral and raw, while for others it had melted into the background of their lives, the pain as common as breathing. Cindy said she saw her reflection in the troubled eyes of each.
"It's hard to lose a son," she said. "But we (all) lost a son in the Iraqi war."
The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected.
For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle.
For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.
"That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together," Cindy said.
So which way would you have it Cindy?
First of all, President Bush didn't sit at his desk and say "gee, I believe that I'll be really insensitive and mail this woman a form letter rather than a personal letter like every other president has done in the past." I'm sure the "form letter" was sent by the White House as a matter of standard procedure.
Next, she was free to jump the president's ASS during the first meeting if she wanted to, and most people would have understood her emotions and sentiments. But NO, she held her tongue--possibly because there were no TV cameras present, or possibly because she hadn't been drafted into the MoveON.org anti-war movement and hadn't started Gold Star Moms and published her son's memorial Casey's WebPage.
Hey Cindy, just because you decided to put on your patriotic face and go along with the pomp and circumstance of the presidential photo op LAST SUMMER doesn’t mean that you deserve equal time with the president wearing your “Jane Fonda” mask as an anti war activist THIS SUMMER.
What a pitiful, miserable little partisan fool you are Ms. Sheehan. In spite of your ignorance, America does appreciate your son's service and sacrifice.
Now shut up, pack up, and go back home...try to get on with your life...
I’ve been following two stories with interest the past couple of weeks and have chosen to hold my comments in an effort to wait and see what happens and follow how the exempt mainstream media covers each situation.
Exhibit A--Air America
The first story is a developing scandal involving liberal radio network Air America receiving an inappropriate loan from the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club. The source of the funds, used as initial startup capital by Air America, was the federal government and the State of New York, funds earmarked for use to aid children and Alzheimers patents.
The NY Sun Newspaper had this to say in their August 5th edition:
"Gloria Wise is under investigation by the city's Department of Investigation for matters that include transferring $875,000 to Progress Media, former parent company of the Air America radio network, and to the club's director of development, Evan Montvel Cohen, who headed Progress Media…
Piquant LLC, which acquired Air America from Mr. Cohen's Progress Media in May 2004, has agreed to pay $875,000 to Gloria Wise, without interest, in installments over the next two years."
The NY Post adds:
August 3, 2005 -- Officials at the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club — under investigation for lending Air America radio nearly $900,000 — yesterday demanded that the left-wing network start repaying the money.
"Air America reached a legal agreement to have that loan repaid in full," beginning this summer, said Martta Rose, a spokeswoman for the Bronx-based Boys & Girls Club, which is the subject of a probe by the city Department of Investigation.
Air America had earlier said it put on hold plans to pay back the money because Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club was shut down by the city.
"We're waiting for direction from the investigators on how to proceed," a network official said.
While the city did pull millions of dollars in contracts from Gloria Wise, the club has continued to operate preschool and after-school programs and plans to restart its other programs.
"We are cooperating fully with the investigation and we hope to be up and running soon," said Rose. "We have a record of more than 20 years in this community."
I’m not going to beat a dead horse here other than to say this whole situation makes Air America look really bad. First they denied that the loans ever happened, then they denied that they were responsible for the money, then they said that they were paying it back, then they weren’t paying it back, and now they say that they will pay it back in installments—WITHOUT INTEREST.
Funny thing is that the loans were made as investments by the Boys & Girls Club.
Some investment—three years at 0% return. Where can I apply for that deal?
Liberals—you got to love how they are always looking out for the oppressed “little guy”…
What is important is that if you don’t watch FOX News or read internet blogs, you’ve probably not heard of the story outside of the smaller NY City newspapers. The so called “paper of record”, the NY Times, has avoided the story like the plague because the people at the Times LOVE Air America and refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing.
A Google search for “Air America Funding Scandal” yielded only 9 news results, almost all of them referencing Bloggers like Brian Maloney over at Radio Equalizer who is continuing to beat the drum. The good news is that even if the NY Times refuses to waste ink and paper on the story, and least Air America has been shamed into paying the money back rather than walking away in default.
I say that's a good thing...hurray for the power of bloggers.
Exhibit B--Cindy Sheehan
The second story involves the whacky anti-war protester mother Cindy Sheehan who is leading a small group camped outside President Bush’s Crawford, Texas ranch.
Oh is Ms. Sheehan ever the darling of the left and the media. A quick Google Search using the name Cindy Sheehan yielded 227,000 links and 738 news stories about her “valiant efforts” to get President Bush to talk to her, the grieving mother of another one of the casualties of Bush’s “unjust war.”
Here is what she said in a CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer on Sunday:
BLITZER: All right. So tell us a little bit about what you're doing now. You had a chance to meet with the president, we're told, last summer. Is that right?
SHEEHAN: I met with him, I think, about June 17th last year. It was about two and a half months after Casey had died. And it was me...
BLITZER: Was that a private meeting, just you and the president?
SHEEHAN: It was me and my family, my other three children and my husband.
BLITZER: What did you say...
SHEEHAN: And we met with about 15 other -- about 15 other families were there also. But we got to -- he came in individually and met with each one of us individually.
BLITZER: And so, what did you say to him then?
SHEEHAN: It was -- you know, there was a lot of things said. We wanted to use the time for him to know that he killed an indispensable part of our family and humanity. And we wanted him to look at the pictures of Casey. He wouldn't look at the pictures of Casey. He didn't even know Casey's name. He came in the room and the very first thing he said is, "So who are we honoring here?" He didn't even know Casey's name. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear anything about Casey. He wouldn't even call him "him" or "he." He called him "your loved one." Every time we tried to talk about Casey and how much we missed him, he would change the subject. And he acted like it was a party.
BLITZER: Like a party? I mean...
SHEEHAN: Yes, he came in very jovial, and like we should be happy that he, our son, died for his misguided policies. He didn't even pretend like somebody...
BLITZER: So now you're trying to meet with him again. What's the point? What are you trying to achieve?
Funny how her story has changed, and CNN’s Blitzer didn’t even do what I, your dedicated Blogger amateur journalist did to find out what Cindy Sheehan said in an interview with her hometown newspaper on June 24, 2004:
"We have a lot of respect for the office of the president, and I have a new respect for him because he was sincere and he didn't have to take the time to meet with us," Pat said.
Sincerity was something Cindy had hoped to find in the meeting.
Shortly after Casey died, Bush sent the family a form letter expressing his condolences, and Cindy said she felt it was an impersonal gesture.
"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting.
"I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."
The meeting didn't last long, but in their time with Bush, Cindy spoke about Casey and asked the president to make her son's sacrifice count for something. They also spoke of their faith.
While meeting with Bush, as well as Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, was an honor, it was almost a tangent benefit of the trip. The Sheehans said they enjoyed meeting the other families of fallen soldiers, sharing stories, contact information, grief and support.
For some, grief was still visceral and raw, while for others it had melted into the background of their lives, the pain as common as breathing. Cindy said she saw her reflection in the troubled eyes of each.
"It's hard to lose a son," she said. "But we (all) lost a son in the Iraqi war."
The trip had one benefit that none of the Sheehans expected.
For a moment, life returned to the way it was before Casey died. They laughed, joked and bickered playfully as they briefly toured Seattle.
For the first time in 11 weeks, they felt whole again.
"That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together," Cindy said.
So which way would you have it Cindy?
First of all, President Bush didn't sit at his desk and say "gee, I believe that I'll be really insensitive and mail this woman a form letter rather than a personal letter like every other president has done in the past." I'm sure the "form letter" was sent by the White House as a matter of standard procedure.
Next, she was free to jump the president's ASS during the first meeting if she wanted to, and most people would have understood her emotions and sentiments. But NO, she held her tongue--possibly because there were no TV cameras present, or possibly because she hadn't been drafted into the MoveON.org anti-war movement and hadn't started Gold Star Moms and published her son's memorial Casey's WebPage.
Hey Cindy, just because you decided to put on your patriotic face and go along with the pomp and circumstance of the presidential photo op LAST SUMMER doesn’t mean that you deserve equal time with the president wearing your “Jane Fonda” mask as an anti war activist THIS SUMMER.
What a pitiful, miserable little partisan fool you are Ms. Sheehan. In spite of your ignorance, America does appreciate your son's service and sacrifice.
Now shut up, pack up, and go back home...try to get on with your life...
Monday, August 08, 2005
Good Call
I was sitting here sweating the idea of NASA trying to land the Space Shuttle in Florida--AT NIGHT--at least in the dark. Talk about trying to pass a camel through the eye of a needle...
They called off the first orbit try about 4:30 AM this morning because of weather, so I ran out to the pool for a little dip and returned just in time to find out that they were cancelling this try, again because of weather.
I have to admit that I don't blame them. We're less than 150 miles north of the Kennedy Space Center and we had little bands of clouds floating past obscuring my view of Mars and a few of the Persied Meteors that were blasting past this morning.
Speaking from experience, and I'm no test pilot or shuttle pilot, but it's hard enough to land a little Cessna going 80 knots in broad daylight--adding night, clouds, hundreds of thousands of pounds of weight, and a couple of hundred knots per hour of speed makes things way too exciting for most peoples blood.
Arrogance in the form of bad decision making has killed many, many more pilots than has bad weather and mechanical malfunctions combined.
I think that it was a good call.
They called off the first orbit try about 4:30 AM this morning because of weather, so I ran out to the pool for a little dip and returned just in time to find out that they were cancelling this try, again because of weather.
I have to admit that I don't blame them. We're less than 150 miles north of the Kennedy Space Center and we had little bands of clouds floating past obscuring my view of Mars and a few of the Persied Meteors that were blasting past this morning.
Speaking from experience, and I'm no test pilot or shuttle pilot, but it's hard enough to land a little Cessna going 80 knots in broad daylight--adding night, clouds, hundreds of thousands of pounds of weight, and a couple of hundred knots per hour of speed makes things way too exciting for most peoples blood.
Arrogance in the form of bad decision making has killed many, many more pilots than has bad weather and mechanical malfunctions combined.
I think that it was a good call.
Sir Winston Had It Right...
106 Years Ago...
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.
The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities - but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.”
—Sir Winston Churchill, from The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).
Hat tip to my blogidol over at Little Green Footballs.
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.
The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities - but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.”
—Sir Winston Churchill, from The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).
Hat tip to my blogidol over at Little Green Footballs.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
One Year Of Blogging
"A slow evolution..."
This week I'll be celebrating one year as a blogger.
It hardly seems that long to me…does it to you?
Although blogging was around alot longer than me, in this past year we've seen Blogs become an international phenomena--taking down major media figures Dan Rather and Eason Jordan and possibly influencing (or preventing major media from influencing) the outcome of the national election.
The members of the traditional "exempt" media (TV and newspapers) are quaking in their boots, and there is a national debate as to where blogs are going and what influence they will have on our nation and the world in the future.
I say A GREAT DEAL.
Blogging removes the barriers previously present that prevented average citizens from publishing. Heck, I had nearly 6,000 "hits" this past year, 4,000 of them since January--that would have been impossible twenty years ago.
In my efforts to look at my own statistics, the Blogger software is a bit overwhelmed with my prolific production, but it tells me that I've written over 370 posts since January 1st, and I suspect that I have somewhere near 600 total postings since last August 10th, the day I first posted to "What I'd Liked To Have Said." I also figure that I've written over 1000 pages total, not including all of the words, postings, and pages delivered over at my cooking Blog, The Redneck Gourmet.
When I was in high school or college and a teacher told me that I would be required to produce an average of three written pages each day in a class, I would have bitched and complained and ran far, far away from their supervision. I was gonna be an Engineer, and Engineers didn’t have to write. Of course my mother knew better when she insisted that I take a typing class in high school.
Thanks Mom.
The funny thing is that today I do it (my writing) voluntarily, without classroom credit or monetary compensation—because I like it, even if nobody else reads it. It does help the old ego to have readers, however.
I appreciate my regular readers, many of whom I know, and most of whom I don’t know, and I hope that you will keep coming back to read what is rattling around in my head and trying to come out of my mouth.
This next year will probably see a few changes, but the core ideas behind my blogging will be the same. There is pressure to add BlogAds and other commercial elements, but I really hate ads and as long as Blogger is free and I don’t mind my wallet being so empty I guess I’m going to avoid ads. If I do go commercial, it will only be after my traffic increases markedly and even then, it will have to have some class or I won’t do it.
Any way, I’ll be looking at my site design and possibly making a few changes to the appearance, but you can definitely look forward to choice commentary on whatever “crappola” comes my way and I promise to not pull any punches.
Hopefully you'll learn something you didn't already know, and I hope that my readers will teach me a thing or two also.
Thanks Y’all,
VRRIII
This week I'll be celebrating one year as a blogger.
It hardly seems that long to me…does it to you?
Although blogging was around alot longer than me, in this past year we've seen Blogs become an international phenomena--taking down major media figures Dan Rather and Eason Jordan and possibly influencing (or preventing major media from influencing) the outcome of the national election.
The members of the traditional "exempt" media (TV and newspapers) are quaking in their boots, and there is a national debate as to where blogs are going and what influence they will have on our nation and the world in the future.
I say A GREAT DEAL.
Blogging removes the barriers previously present that prevented average citizens from publishing. Heck, I had nearly 6,000 "hits" this past year, 4,000 of them since January--that would have been impossible twenty years ago.
In my efforts to look at my own statistics, the Blogger software is a bit overwhelmed with my prolific production, but it tells me that I've written over 370 posts since January 1st, and I suspect that I have somewhere near 600 total postings since last August 10th, the day I first posted to "What I'd Liked To Have Said." I also figure that I've written over 1000 pages total, not including all of the words, postings, and pages delivered over at my cooking Blog, The Redneck Gourmet.
When I was in high school or college and a teacher told me that I would be required to produce an average of three written pages each day in a class, I would have bitched and complained and ran far, far away from their supervision. I was gonna be an Engineer, and Engineers didn’t have to write. Of course my mother knew better when she insisted that I take a typing class in high school.
Thanks Mom.
The funny thing is that today I do it (my writing) voluntarily, without classroom credit or monetary compensation—because I like it, even if nobody else reads it. It does help the old ego to have readers, however.
I appreciate my regular readers, many of whom I know, and most of whom I don’t know, and I hope that you will keep coming back to read what is rattling around in my head and trying to come out of my mouth.
This next year will probably see a few changes, but the core ideas behind my blogging will be the same. There is pressure to add BlogAds and other commercial elements, but I really hate ads and as long as Blogger is free and I don’t mind my wallet being so empty I guess I’m going to avoid ads. If I do go commercial, it will only be after my traffic increases markedly and even then, it will have to have some class or I won’t do it.
Any way, I’ll be looking at my site design and possibly making a few changes to the appearance, but you can definitely look forward to choice commentary on whatever “crappola” comes my way and I promise to not pull any punches.
Hopefully you'll learn something you didn't already know, and I hope that my readers will teach me a thing or two also.
Thanks Y’all,
VRRIII
