116 Still Dead Today…
I’m sorry ladies and gentlemen, but the media’s fascination with the West Virginia Coal mine disaster that occurred this past week still causes me to twitch and spasm when I accidentally, yet incessantly run across some STUPID ASSED NEWS STORY lamenting the horrible last hours of these desperate men that had no choice but to risk their lives to earn a living because the Bush Administration and the Republicans and Libertarians like me want people to die so that WE don’t have to pay taxes and WE are otherwise just generally insensitive to the obvious suffering of our fellow men, women, and children…
…taking a big breath…(that was supposed to be a run-on sentence)
I have a news headline that I would like to announce:
LIFE (can be) A BITCH—THEN YOU (have the God given right to) DIE.
…inhaling again…
Based on the media’s take on this story, every single day I should write my final farewell to my dear Mother, my girlfriend Pat, and the world in general.
Here is what I would write.
Dear Mom, Pat, Friends, Benefactors, Fiduciaries, et. al.:
“Sorry folks, but today I have, with great consternation, to take my mortal life and spiritual soul into my own hands as I exit my domicile to operate a twenty five hundred pound collection of mechanical parts (all supplied by the low bidder to Ford Motor Company, Inc.—in other words...my automobile) on my way to purchase twenty dollars worth of groceries, including things like pre-processed cheese food products (Velveeta Cheese) and possibly some coagulated, industrially mutilated corn by-product, also know as “chips.”
Since the government, via the FDA, the FDIC, and the USDA have approved the food production process, and since Ralph Nader and the other self proclaimed “consumer busybodies” have declared my twenty five hundred pound collection of mechanical parts (my automobile) to be a safe conveyance,
AND...
IF I DIE BEFORE I RETURN HOME…
Please feel free to call FOX News and CNN, and ABC and CBS and NBC on my behalf and rattle and prattle endlessly on and on about the other so called “disasters” or “human tragedies” because, besides my own mortal fatality, another 115 Americans were probably killed this day in automobile accidents.
And By the Way...I Love you all.
Where is THAT headline--where is THAT situation mentioned in the news--every single day?
Nowhere? Never?
Well...It happens people, we will kill on average 116 people every day in this country in automobile accidients.
Please slow yourself and your conveyance down, turn on your turn signals, and stop being an asshole when you are behind the wheel.
(Those of you that are courteous drivers can ignore my last sentence.)
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Friday, January 06, 2006
Busy, Busy, Busy
I need to make a list or something
I have a full plate of activities for a change over the next couple of days, so my blogging might suffer a little as a result—but then again, maybe not, because I seem to be particularly agitated by world happenings these days (see my previous posting.)
First I have to finish the design of the set for our next dinner show at the C.A.P.E. Theater—“You’re a Good Man Charley Brown.” I attended a rehearsal last night to get a feel for the play in order to mentally complete the details of my set, and it ain’t gonna be easy.
I have to build a Doghouse for Snoopy, a “kite eating tree,” a school bus, Lucy’s psychiatric booth, Schroeder’s baby grand piano, and still have room for five adults and one teenager on a stage that is only 16’ wide. Even with the addition of two downstage 6’x8’ platforms of varying heights to increase the depth of the stage I think that things are going to be pretty tight.
The Piano and the Doghouse will probably take about 80% of my efforts. I have the piano structure figured out, but the Doghouse is kicking my butt because in spite of what the Peanuts cartoon shows, Snoopy cannot lie and sit and fight the Red Barron while perched precariously on the thin ridge line of a gable roofed doghouse.
Therein lies the problem, making a structure that looks like Snoopy’s doghouse to the audience and at the same time allows a grown woman actor that is playing the part of Snoopy to lie and sit on top. I hope that you’ll be impressed with my solution (once I come up with it.)
I had most of the materials delivered on Wednesday and got everything organized inside, but I have to work around a funeral this afternoon and the regular Sunday services (we use a church fellowship hall for rehearsals) and I’m afraid I’m going to spend as much time sweeping sawdust to clean up after myself as I will actually getting any work done.
On the home front, we are looking forward to the arrival of family tomorrow passing through on their move from Erie, PA to the Orlando area of Florida. I’m actually envious of their new residence location in St. Cloud because I think that the Orlando metro area is a pretty cool place to live.
Of course, like Atlanta did in the 1980’s, the fun down there may be wearing off shortly due to traffic clogs and general congestion that middle aged codgers like me tend to spend time and energy avoiding. Oh well, it will be fun to have three of Pat’s nine grandkids so close after years of using airline trips and rental cars to visit.
I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but if you want to go to Orlando and walk right into The Hard Rock Cafe or Sea World without standing in a line with 4,329 other tourists, fly or drive yourself into town on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, arriving about 8:00 AM.
Seriously…you can OWN the Orlando Airport, the rental car companies, and you can fire a cannon through the lobby of the resort hotels without hitting anyone anytime after noon on the Sunday after Thanksgiving because everyone’s kids have to be back in school and virtually no one does any business travel between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Actually, I should correct that statement to say that no one does business travel except for myself and the other members of the ASME STS-1 Steel Stack Subcommittee on any given Thanksgiving weekend. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers made me discover the above travel detail back in the mid and late 1990’s when they scheduled our annual meeting in Orlando starting on Monday morning after Thanksgiving. I snuck into town early on those Sunday morning because I was a sociopath and a cheapskate.
I think that most good travel destinations are easily accessible for childless curmudgeons like me whenever the kids go back to school. I spent several years making annual trips to Key West, arriving AFTER the Labor Day weekend. When we got there we found a huge traffic jam coming north on US 1 out of the Keys, and we ended up seeing about five other boats the entire time we were sailing up and down Florida Bay on a 45’ houseboat. The solitary experience was glorious when the mosquitoes weren’t eating us alive.
OK, time to decide between taking a nap or bitching some more about the West Virginia mine disaster and the NY Times and the new Congressional lobbying money scandal and the price of eggs or tea in China.
I decide, and you'll be the first to know... (snore)
I have a full plate of activities for a change over the next couple of days, so my blogging might suffer a little as a result—but then again, maybe not, because I seem to be particularly agitated by world happenings these days (see my previous posting.)
First I have to finish the design of the set for our next dinner show at the C.A.P.E. Theater—“You’re a Good Man Charley Brown.” I attended a rehearsal last night to get a feel for the play in order to mentally complete the details of my set, and it ain’t gonna be easy.
I have to build a Doghouse for Snoopy, a “kite eating tree,” a school bus, Lucy’s psychiatric booth, Schroeder’s baby grand piano, and still have room for five adults and one teenager on a stage that is only 16’ wide. Even with the addition of two downstage 6’x8’ platforms of varying heights to increase the depth of the stage I think that things are going to be pretty tight.
The Piano and the Doghouse will probably take about 80% of my efforts. I have the piano structure figured out, but the Doghouse is kicking my butt because in spite of what the Peanuts cartoon shows, Snoopy cannot lie and sit and fight the Red Barron while perched precariously on the thin ridge line of a gable roofed doghouse.
Therein lies the problem, making a structure that looks like Snoopy’s doghouse to the audience and at the same time allows a grown woman actor that is playing the part of Snoopy to lie and sit on top. I hope that you’ll be impressed with my solution (once I come up with it.)
I had most of the materials delivered on Wednesday and got everything organized inside, but I have to work around a funeral this afternoon and the regular Sunday services (we use a church fellowship hall for rehearsals) and I’m afraid I’m going to spend as much time sweeping sawdust to clean up after myself as I will actually getting any work done.
On the home front, we are looking forward to the arrival of family tomorrow passing through on their move from Erie, PA to the Orlando area of Florida. I’m actually envious of their new residence location in St. Cloud because I think that the Orlando metro area is a pretty cool place to live.
Of course, like Atlanta did in the 1980’s, the fun down there may be wearing off shortly due to traffic clogs and general congestion that middle aged codgers like me tend to spend time and energy avoiding. Oh well, it will be fun to have three of Pat’s nine grandkids so close after years of using airline trips and rental cars to visit.
I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but if you want to go to Orlando and walk right into The Hard Rock Cafe or Sea World without standing in a line with 4,329 other tourists, fly or drive yourself into town on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, arriving about 8:00 AM.
Seriously…you can OWN the Orlando Airport, the rental car companies, and you can fire a cannon through the lobby of the resort hotels without hitting anyone anytime after noon on the Sunday after Thanksgiving because everyone’s kids have to be back in school and virtually no one does any business travel between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Actually, I should correct that statement to say that no one does business travel except for myself and the other members of the ASME STS-1 Steel Stack Subcommittee on any given Thanksgiving weekend. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers made me discover the above travel detail back in the mid and late 1990’s when they scheduled our annual meeting in Orlando starting on Monday morning after Thanksgiving. I snuck into town early on those Sunday morning because I was a sociopath and a cheapskate.
I think that most good travel destinations are easily accessible for childless curmudgeons like me whenever the kids go back to school. I spent several years making annual trips to Key West, arriving AFTER the Labor Day weekend. When we got there we found a huge traffic jam coming north on US 1 out of the Keys, and we ended up seeing about five other boats the entire time we were sailing up and down Florida Bay on a 45’ houseboat. The solitary experience was glorious when the mosquitoes weren’t eating us alive.
OK, time to decide between taking a nap or bitching some more about the West Virginia mine disaster and the NY Times and the new Congressional lobbying money scandal and the price of eggs or tea in China.
I decide, and you'll be the first to know... (snore)
“Traumatizing The Inside Of The Prime Minister’s Head”
That’s the exact words I just heard on FOX News, regarding the deteriorating condition of Israel’s PM Sharon and the necessity of doing a THIRD brain surgery this morning.
What bothers me is that they said it like “traumatizing the inside of someone’s head” was a bad thing.
I HAVE A QUESTION…
What about the news people “traumatizing the inside” OF MY HEAD?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
What bothers me is that they said it like “traumatizing the inside of someone’s head” was a bad thing.
I HAVE A QUESTION…
What about the news people “traumatizing the inside” OF MY HEAD?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Thursday, January 05, 2006
A Darn Good Cause
I wish I Owned A Sewing Machine...
My blog Idols over at Power Line today pointed out the Sew much comfort website that coordinates the production of "adaptive clothing" that will fit over and around various casts and braces that soldiers wounded in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other fields of combat need once they return home.
Imagine spending weeks if not months in a hospital gown with your butt hanging out for everyone to see?
Imagine having your family and friends attend the ceremony where you receive your Metal of Honor or your Purple Heart sitting in a hospital gown?
We can't have that now, can we?
If you can sew or you know someone that can sew, how about pointing this site out and getting them to help out?
If I owned a sewing machine, I would be loading a bobbin right now...
My blog Idols over at Power Line today pointed out the Sew much comfort website that coordinates the production of "adaptive clothing" that will fit over and around various casts and braces that soldiers wounded in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other fields of combat need once they return home.
Imagine spending weeks if not months in a hospital gown with your butt hanging out for everyone to see?
Imagine having your family and friends attend the ceremony where you receive your Metal of Honor or your Purple Heart sitting in a hospital gown?
We can't have that now, can we?
If you can sew or you know someone that can sew, how about pointing this site out and getting them to help out?
If I owned a sewing machine, I would be loading a bobbin right now...
They’re Making Me Cranky
Saving Ourselves From Ourselves...
Remember that I consider myself—politically—to be a libertarian?
That said, then you probably won’t be surprised that I have more than a little problem with things like our ever expanding traffic laws.
Take seatbelt laws for instance.
Not for laws protecting kids here, I’m talking about laws that require that GROWN ADULTS protect their own lives else pay the government a fine—what I call a FEE FOR STUPIDITY.
I’m against it…I’m against them…seat belt laws…that is.
I think that seat belt laws force us all to continue to be assaulted by stupid, careless people that God would have otherwise eliminated from our population years ago.
For me personally, it is a no brainer that I should want to strap myself tightly inside when I am hurling down a ribbon of concrete or asphalt in a two or three ton wad of steel and plastic, surrounded by wild eyed morons that on a GOOD day can't do their multiplication tables past 7 x7=48. (hah... it really equals 49.)
These same people will get on a Delta jet and sit with their toddler unrestrained in their lap to save the price of an extra airline ticket, and their beloved government officials allow that practice to remain legal.
If these people were Zebras or Thompson’s Gazell, all of the smart lions and Hyenas would have chased them down (or waited for them to trip over their own hooves and fall down) and chewed up their miserable carcases at the first opportunity years ago.
Think of all of the extra oxygen and real estate that could be available here on the planet for the rest of us to use as a result when it was all said and done?
Any howwwww...
Out here on St. Simons we have an ongoing conflict relating to traffic accidents, and some of the solutions that are being proposed are absurd, actually bordering on rediculous.
You see, our island’s population is exploding, on an exponential basis, and all of the Yankees and many of the Rednecks that live here or visit here on vacation are starting to bitch and complain because we have…
Gasp…Traffic.
No, make that TRAFFIC!
On our little island where 20% of the roads are still dirt (what you call “unpaved” in NY City), our population bulges from about 16,000 in the “off season” to somewhere over 30,000 in the summer and on holiday weekends.
The roads that are paved are barely two lanes wide, the maximum speed limit is only 45 MPH, and most of the roads have giant live Oak trees situated two inches off the roadway.
These ancient Oaks bear the scars of the effects of morons driving into them, bouncing off of them, or attempting to slide their 50’ Winnebago past decapitating their mother-in-law in the process.
The only road connecting mainland Georgia with St. Simons is called the Torras Causeway, named for a prominent local engineer that surveyed the route for the road back in the 1930’s. Until the original two lane Torras Causeway was completed back in the dark ages, two Ferry Boats—The Emeline & Hessy—provided the service bringing visitors and supplies to and from the island.
Today the Torras Causeway is four lanes wide, and the speed limit has been raised to150 50 MPH. This approximately 5 mile long causeway does not have a center divider, but rather only has a narrow smooth concrete median and THEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM.
In the past 90 days there have been three head on collisions that completely closed down the Torras Causeway in both directions for several hours during the morning rush hour. Teachers were late for class, most of our legal and illegal Mexican construction workers were late to their job sites, and several city councilmen were tardy for important functions like pedicures and TV interviews.
So now our local rocket scientists, working in conjunction with state and Federal officials, have decided to invent a solution to our traffic problem on the Torras Causeway.
Are you ready?
Do you want to know their proposed solution to help improve driver safety on a road where the average driver exceeds the speed limit by 20 MPH and TWO of the three recent accidents were caused by illegal Mexican immigrants operating a company vehicle without a valid Georgia drivers license?
(May I have a drum roll here please?)
A BAN ON CELL PHONE USAGE.
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, if people will just stop talking on their cell phones while traversing the marsh on their way to and from St. Simons island, the motoring public of Georgia can rest better at home each evening knowing that their public officials are earning their pay.
Here's what they say:
Motorists crossing the F.J. Torras Causeway between St. Simons Island and the mainland could soon face new restrictions designed to improve traffic safety.
A group of city and county officials will meet Tuesday with Georgia Department of Transportation staff members in Atlanta and propose such measures as a prohibition on cell phone use and installation of rumble strips and video cameras to monitor traffic.
"This has been needed a long time," said David Carswell, a Brunswick police lieutenant who helped put together a plan of improvements.
He said the plan, which will be presented to the county commissioners at a regular commission meeting Thursday, would greatly reduce the number of accidents on the causeway. Last year there were 72.
County Commissioner Uli Keller said the restriction of cell phone use on the causeway would help drivers pay attention to the road.
"A majority of inattentive driving is due to cell phones," he said. "They're probably concentrating on the conversation more than the traffic."
Bull f**king Shit. (sorry Mom and Pat, but no other words adequately cover this situation…)
FIRST of all, if the Glynn county police department started busting ass, 24/7, enforcing the speed limit on the Torras Causeway, 99% of the problems would be eliminated. As I’ve said before, I used to be a wild eyed speeding moron with TWO radar detectors and a cinder block foot on my car’s throttle, but I’ve put that part of my motoring experience behind me.
Today I drive like my dad did in his day…speed limit...
cruise control...
no problem.
I spend my time here on St. Simons playing a game I call “Train.”
For my part, I’m the train's engine in my car, driving along EXACTLY at the speed limit, and ALL of the other idiots on the road behind me are train cars and the last one speeding along that comes roaring up on my ass gets to be “the Caboose.”
I have a great time because by thinking of this game I avoid bursting a blood vessel shouting at the asshole that is driving so close to my bumper that I can't see his/her grill and headlights.
Life might suck because of drivers like me for some people, but I didn’t leave the insanity of Atlanta, Georgia after 27 years of losing my mind in commuter traffic to come down here to the Georgia coast and be in a hurry.
I’M NOT IN A HURRY. You got that?
I...
AM...
NOT...
IN A....
HURRY...
This damn island is only 11 miles long and 4 miles wide, and by my calculations if I drive 20 miles an hour over the speed limit I can get home 15 seconds faster than if I obey the speed limit.
It's not worth it.
It’s a no brainer for me here people.
WE DO NOT NEED YET ANOTHER LAW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM.
DAMN THE GOVERNMENT, and Uli Keller is my County Commissioner and he will be hearing from me (again) this week.
Now what is that E-mail address???
Remember that I consider myself—politically—to be a libertarian?
That said, then you probably won’t be surprised that I have more than a little problem with things like our ever expanding traffic laws.
Take seatbelt laws for instance.
Not for laws protecting kids here, I’m talking about laws that require that GROWN ADULTS protect their own lives else pay the government a fine—what I call a FEE FOR STUPIDITY.
I’m against it…I’m against them…seat belt laws…that is.
I think that seat belt laws force us all to continue to be assaulted by stupid, careless people that God would have otherwise eliminated from our population years ago.
For me personally, it is a no brainer that I should want to strap myself tightly inside when I am hurling down a ribbon of concrete or asphalt in a two or three ton wad of steel and plastic, surrounded by wild eyed morons that on a GOOD day can't do their multiplication tables past 7 x7=48. (hah... it really equals 49.)
These same people will get on a Delta jet and sit with their toddler unrestrained in their lap to save the price of an extra airline ticket, and their beloved government officials allow that practice to remain legal.
If these people were Zebras or Thompson’s Gazell, all of the smart lions and Hyenas would have chased them down (or waited for them to trip over their own hooves and fall down) and chewed up their miserable carcases at the first opportunity years ago.
Think of all of the extra oxygen and real estate that could be available here on the planet for the rest of us to use as a result when it was all said and done?
Any howwwww...
Out here on St. Simons we have an ongoing conflict relating to traffic accidents, and some of the solutions that are being proposed are absurd, actually bordering on rediculous.
You see, our island’s population is exploding, on an exponential basis, and all of the Yankees and many of the Rednecks that live here or visit here on vacation are starting to bitch and complain because we have…
Gasp…Traffic.
No, make that TRAFFIC!
On our little island where 20% of the roads are still dirt (what you call “unpaved” in NY City), our population bulges from about 16,000 in the “off season” to somewhere over 30,000 in the summer and on holiday weekends.
The roads that are paved are barely two lanes wide, the maximum speed limit is only 45 MPH, and most of the roads have giant live Oak trees situated two inches off the roadway.
These ancient Oaks bear the scars of the effects of morons driving into them, bouncing off of them, or attempting to slide their 50’ Winnebago past decapitating their mother-in-law in the process.
The only road connecting mainland Georgia with St. Simons is called the Torras Causeway, named for a prominent local engineer that surveyed the route for the road back in the 1930’s. Until the original two lane Torras Causeway was completed back in the dark ages, two Ferry Boats—The Emeline & Hessy—provided the service bringing visitors and supplies to and from the island.
Today the Torras Causeway is four lanes wide, and the speed limit has been raised to
In the past 90 days there have been three head on collisions that completely closed down the Torras Causeway in both directions for several hours during the morning rush hour. Teachers were late for class, most of our legal and illegal Mexican construction workers were late to their job sites, and several city councilmen were tardy for important functions like pedicures and TV interviews.
So now our local rocket scientists, working in conjunction with state and Federal officials, have decided to invent a solution to our traffic problem on the Torras Causeway.
Are you ready?
Do you want to know their proposed solution to help improve driver safety on a road where the average driver exceeds the speed limit by 20 MPH and TWO of the three recent accidents were caused by illegal Mexican immigrants operating a company vehicle without a valid Georgia drivers license?
(May I have a drum roll here please?)
A BAN ON CELL PHONE USAGE.
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, if people will just stop talking on their cell phones while traversing the marsh on their way to and from St. Simons island, the motoring public of Georgia can rest better at home each evening knowing that their public officials are earning their pay.
Here's what they say:
Motorists crossing the F.J. Torras Causeway between St. Simons Island and the mainland could soon face new restrictions designed to improve traffic safety.
A group of city and county officials will meet Tuesday with Georgia Department of Transportation staff members in Atlanta and propose such measures as a prohibition on cell phone use and installation of rumble strips and video cameras to monitor traffic.
"This has been needed a long time," said David Carswell, a Brunswick police lieutenant who helped put together a plan of improvements.
He said the plan, which will be presented to the county commissioners at a regular commission meeting Thursday, would greatly reduce the number of accidents on the causeway. Last year there were 72.
County Commissioner Uli Keller said the restriction of cell phone use on the causeway would help drivers pay attention to the road.
"A majority of inattentive driving is due to cell phones," he said. "They're probably concentrating on the conversation more than the traffic."
Bull f**king Shit. (sorry Mom and Pat, but no other words adequately cover this situation…)
FIRST of all, if the Glynn county police department started busting ass, 24/7, enforcing the speed limit on the Torras Causeway, 99% of the problems would be eliminated. As I’ve said before, I used to be a wild eyed speeding moron with TWO radar detectors and a cinder block foot on my car’s throttle, but I’ve put that part of my motoring experience behind me.
Today I drive like my dad did in his day…speed limit...
cruise control...
no problem.
I spend my time here on St. Simons playing a game I call “Train.”
For my part, I’m the train's engine in my car, driving along EXACTLY at the speed limit, and ALL of the other idiots on the road behind me are train cars and the last one speeding along that comes roaring up on my ass gets to be “the Caboose.”
I have a great time because by thinking of this game I avoid bursting a blood vessel shouting at the asshole that is driving so close to my bumper that I can't see his/her grill and headlights.
Life might suck because of drivers like me for some people, but I didn’t leave the insanity of Atlanta, Georgia after 27 years of losing my mind in commuter traffic to come down here to the Georgia coast and be in a hurry.
I’M NOT IN A HURRY. You got that?
I...
AM...
NOT...
IN A....
HURRY...
This damn island is only 11 miles long and 4 miles wide, and by my calculations if I drive 20 miles an hour over the speed limit I can get home 15 seconds faster than if I obey the speed limit.
It's not worth it.
It’s a no brainer for me here people.
WE DO NOT NEED YET ANOTHER LAW TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM.
DAMN THE GOVERNMENT, and Uli Keller is my County Commissioner and he will be hearing from me (again) this week.
Now what is that E-mail address???
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Geraldo Disappears
Funny thing here...Geraldo Rivera was all over the West Virginia mining accident story at midnight--hooting and hollaring on a satellite phone as the word broke that 12 miners were still alive. He had supposedly just drove up near the church when the celebration broke out.
Then the story changed drastically, all but one of the miners were dead, and Geraldo just...
Disappeared. Poof, flash...gone...
What is up with that?
Did he too get trapped in a mineshaft?
Did he find Jimmy Hoffa's vault again?
Just wondering....
Then the story changed drastically, all but one of the miners were dead, and Geraldo just...
Disappeared. Poof, flash...gone...
What is up with that?
Did he too get trapped in a mineshaft?
Did he find Jimmy Hoffa's vault again?
Just wondering....
Things I Wish I'd Said
I was looking around the web and found these wonderful quotes from Mark Twain:
Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer
Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.
It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
First, God created idiots. That was just for practice. Then He created school boards.
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
Suppose you were an idiot... And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself
Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth.
If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything
Sacred cows make the best hamburger.
Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
When angry count four; when very angry, swear.
The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education
Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.
One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.
Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.
And Finally...
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer
Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.
It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.
Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
First, God created idiots. That was just for practice. Then He created school boards.
Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
Suppose you were an idiot... And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself
Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth.
If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything
Sacred cows make the best hamburger.
Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
When angry count four; when very angry, swear.
The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money.
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education
Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.
One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.
Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.
And Finally...
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
The Report Of My Death Was An Exaggeration
I love the work of Samuel Clemmons. You know…Mark Twain…the author of “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn.” He actually wrote several million more words than contained in those two books, but that is about as far as most people ever get into his repertoire.
I often wish that I could have lived in the earlier, easier times Mr. Clemmons lived in during the 1800’s. I think that I would have fit in better back then. Of course the idea of any time in history being “earlier” and “easier” is a matter of perspective—hindsight being 20/20 and all that…
My title of this posting comes from Mr. Twain’s words that are very popular but are often slightly misquoted. Here is the actual wording:
“James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
I’ve seen this quotation reproduced, mis-quoted, and otherwise mutilated many times before, but I believe that the above wording is accurate.
In addition to Clemmons being a well known writer, he was also a media critic in his day. He worked for newspapers, he knew news people, and, like me, he knew that many if not most “reporters” were idiots.
I’ve just spent another couple of hours watching the professional media “piranhas” attack West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin at his press conference following the statements of the Bennett K. Hatfield, CEO of International Coal group.
Twelve people are dead, but the reporters are circling the bloody water looking for who or what to blame for the mistaken news of survival reported earlier. All they have to do is look in the mirror to find the answer. I’m afraid that I fall into this same group since I jumped on this Blog at midnight and repeated the news that I had gotten—SECOND HAND.
This kind of thing would have probably never happened in Mark Twain’s day—a time before an instant, 24/7 news cycle.
Heck, it probably wouldn’t have happened in the 1970’s or 80’s.
Gosh do I ever long for the days before fax machines, Federal Express, and E-mail. Yes, sometimes it’s damn convientant to have instant gratification via electronics and technology, but often times it’s better to let things cool off a little, sleep on it overnight while you consider what you’re thinking and what you’re going to say as a result.
My heart goes out to the families of these twelve men that elected to make their living working underground. The media is going to spin in circles and flap their arms and raise general hell about the accident and the secondary story of the survivors that ended up being dead in the end.
Some poor woman stated in an interview that she intended to sue the mining company for the error? On what basis? She can certainly sue if the company is proven negligent, but can she sue simply because she spent an extra three hours believing that her husband was alive when he had actually succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning hours before?
They will probably assault the safety record of this mining company and portray the EVIL capitalists in the business of making money at the risk of life and limb of innocent Democrats that continue to elect Robert “Pretty Pretty” Byrd to the US Senate. Jay Rockefeller will probably have to convene a Congressional investigation as a result.
In the end, it will be much ado about nothing—except a tragic day in the mining business.
My Grandfather elected to go to work in the Red Parrot coal mine in Prenter, West Virginia in the 1920’s because it was the best paying job in his little part of the world. My relatives today choose to work underground in the mines or drive giant coal trucks down crappy, winding, twisting roads in Ohio and West Virginia because that job is better than no job and they think that the higher pay justifies the risks that they choose to take.
Where I come from, you make your choices, and you accept responsibility for the outcome.
We don’t need government and the media to insulate us from life’s realities.
I often wish that I could have lived in the earlier, easier times Mr. Clemmons lived in during the 1800’s. I think that I would have fit in better back then. Of course the idea of any time in history being “earlier” and “easier” is a matter of perspective—hindsight being 20/20 and all that…
My title of this posting comes from Mr. Twain’s words that are very popular but are often slightly misquoted. Here is the actual wording:
“James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
I’ve seen this quotation reproduced, mis-quoted, and otherwise mutilated many times before, but I believe that the above wording is accurate.
In addition to Clemmons being a well known writer, he was also a media critic in his day. He worked for newspapers, he knew news people, and, like me, he knew that many if not most “reporters” were idiots.
I’ve just spent another couple of hours watching the professional media “piranhas” attack West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin at his press conference following the statements of the Bennett K. Hatfield, CEO of International Coal group.
Twelve people are dead, but the reporters are circling the bloody water looking for who or what to blame for the mistaken news of survival reported earlier. All they have to do is look in the mirror to find the answer. I’m afraid that I fall into this same group since I jumped on this Blog at midnight and repeated the news that I had gotten—SECOND HAND.
This kind of thing would have probably never happened in Mark Twain’s day—a time before an instant, 24/7 news cycle.
Heck, it probably wouldn’t have happened in the 1970’s or 80’s.
Gosh do I ever long for the days before fax machines, Federal Express, and E-mail. Yes, sometimes it’s damn convientant to have instant gratification via electronics and technology, but often times it’s better to let things cool off a little, sleep on it overnight while you consider what you’re thinking and what you’re going to say as a result.
My heart goes out to the families of these twelve men that elected to make their living working underground. The media is going to spin in circles and flap their arms and raise general hell about the accident and the secondary story of the survivors that ended up being dead in the end.
Some poor woman stated in an interview that she intended to sue the mining company for the error? On what basis? She can certainly sue if the company is proven negligent, but can she sue simply because she spent an extra three hours believing that her husband was alive when he had actually succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning hours before?
They will probably assault the safety record of this mining company and portray the EVIL capitalists in the business of making money at the risk of life and limb of innocent Democrats that continue to elect Robert “Pretty Pretty” Byrd to the US Senate. Jay Rockefeller will probably have to convene a Congressional investigation as a result.
In the end, it will be much ado about nothing—except a tragic day in the mining business.
My Grandfather elected to go to work in the Red Parrot coal mine in Prenter, West Virginia in the 1920’s because it was the best paying job in his little part of the world. My relatives today choose to work underground in the mines or drive giant coal trucks down crappy, winding, twisting roads in Ohio and West Virginia because that job is better than no job and they think that the higher pay justifies the risks that they choose to take.
Where I come from, you make your choices, and you accept responsibility for the outcome.
We don’t need government and the media to insulate us from life’s realities.
Not ALIVE
I'm sitting here at 2:58 PM in disbelief.
FOX News now says that all but one of the WV coal miners are dead.
Even the Governor of West Virginia was wandering around about midnight saying that all but one had survived, and now he has to do a 180 and say that all but one is DEAD.
I'm as guilty as anybody in live blogging this story by passing on unverified information, but again I ask you:
PROFESSIONAL MEDIA?
Where?
ACCURATE INFORMATION?
When?
I WANT MY MONEY BACK...
FOX News now says that all but one of the WV coal miners are dead.
Even the Governor of West Virginia was wandering around about midnight saying that all but one had survived, and now he has to do a 180 and say that all but one is DEAD.
I'm as guilty as anybody in live blogging this story by passing on unverified information, but again I ask you:
PROFESSIONAL MEDIA?
Where?
ACCURATE INFORMATION?
When?
I WANT MY MONEY BACK...
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
ALIVE!
They just came on FOX News and reported that they found 12 of the 13 miners ALIVE after nearly two days trapped underground.
They had earlier found one of the miners dead about 2 miles into the entrance passage.
At first, rescue crews moved slowly through the mine shaft, because they had to stabilize it and repair the roof as they went along. But on Tuesday, officials said, the rescuers realized they had no time to waste and abandoned that approach.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration had rescue and safety specialists on the scene, set up a command center and brought in a robot capable of exploring areas too dangerous for humans. But the robot was abandoned after it became bogged down in the mud.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation. Coal mine explosions are typically caused by buildups of naturally occurring methane gas. Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said earlier that it may have been sparked by lightning.
I have to admit that I didn't personally hold out much hope as the clock ticked onward, but here is proof that self sufficent PEOPLE can take care of themselves, without GOVERNMENT intervention, given the opportunity and training.
I wish that the media would get the hell out and let the families celebrate and tell us all about it tomorrow after a good nights sleep.
Nope...Geraldo is already poised to get in their coal smudged faces...
They had earlier found one of the miners dead about 2 miles into the entrance passage.
At first, rescue crews moved slowly through the mine shaft, because they had to stabilize it and repair the roof as they went along. But on Tuesday, officials said, the rescuers realized they had no time to waste and abandoned that approach.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration had rescue and safety specialists on the scene, set up a command center and brought in a robot capable of exploring areas too dangerous for humans. But the robot was abandoned after it became bogged down in the mud.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation. Coal mine explosions are typically caused by buildups of naturally occurring methane gas. Manchin spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said earlier that it may have been sparked by lightning.
I have to admit that I didn't personally hold out much hope as the clock ticked onward, but here is proof that self sufficent PEOPLE can take care of themselves, without GOVERNMENT intervention, given the opportunity and training.
I wish that the media would get the hell out and let the families celebrate and tell us all about it tomorrow after a good nights sleep.
Nope...Geraldo is already poised to get in their coal smudged faces...
The Choice Before Us
Just in Case you refuse to look at my links...
This question of legal plunder must be settled once and for all, and there are only three ways to settle it:
1. The few plunder the many.
2. Everybody plunders everybody.
3. Nobody plunders anybody.
We must make our choice among limited plunder, universal plunder, and no plunder. The law can follow only one of these three.
Limited legal plunder: This system prevailed when the right to vote was restricted. One would turn back to this system to prevent the invasion of socialism.
Universal legal plunder: We have been threatened with this system since the franchise was made universal. The newly enfranchised majority has decided to formulate law on the same principle of legal plunder that was used by their predecessors when the vote was limited.
No legal plunder: This is the principle of justice, peace, order, stability, harmony, and logic. Until the day of my death, I shall proclaim this principle with all the force of my lungs (which alas! is all too inadequate).*
*Translator's note: At the time this was written, Mr. Bastiat knew that he was dying of tuberculosis. Within a year, he was dead.
This question of legal plunder must be settled once and for all, and there are only three ways to settle it:
1. The few plunder the many.
2. Everybody plunders everybody.
3. Nobody plunders anybody.
We must make our choice among limited plunder, universal plunder, and no plunder. The law can follow only one of these three.
Limited legal plunder: This system prevailed when the right to vote was restricted. One would turn back to this system to prevent the invasion of socialism.
Universal legal plunder: We have been threatened with this system since the franchise was made universal. The newly enfranchised majority has decided to formulate law on the same principle of legal plunder that was used by their predecessors when the vote was limited.
No legal plunder: This is the principle of justice, peace, order, stability, harmony, and logic. Until the day of my death, I shall proclaim this principle with all the force of my lungs (which alas! is all too inadequate).*
*Translator's note: At the time this was written, Mr. Bastiat knew that he was dying of tuberculosis. Within a year, he was dead.
I'm In Awe
I want to take this opportunity to point out a young woman that I added to my Blog roll last year. I'm sorry that I don’t know her name…on her Blog she goes by the name Capital Freedom.
She is a GREAT writer, and the intellectual development of her commentary is flawless. Miss Capital Freedom doesn’t have to resort to using profanity as I tend to do.
She, instead, lets the profanity of the concept speak the dirty words while she opines on top of the issue—directing your attention to the subtle nuances of the topic at hand.
If I were twenty years younger I might toss my hat into the ring…never mind…
Any way…read this if you have the time...It’s entitled "The Law", by Frederick Bastiat.
Fred wrote it amid the French Revolution in the1850’s.
Fred didn’t like socialism because he believed that it invaritably lead to (gasp) communism.
Fred was right, and I wish that every school kid could be compelled to read his work.
Hell, I wish that every American VOTER was forced to read, chew up, and digest a copy before we have our next general election.
No such luck…I'm afraid that we’re now a country completely dedicated to CLASS WARFARE and MOB RULE.
She is a GREAT writer, and the intellectual development of her commentary is flawless. Miss Capital Freedom doesn’t have to resort to using profanity as I tend to do.
She, instead, lets the profanity of the concept speak the dirty words while she opines on top of the issue—directing your attention to the subtle nuances of the topic at hand.
If I were twenty years younger I might toss my hat into the ring…never mind…
Any way…read this if you have the time...It’s entitled "The Law", by Frederick Bastiat.
Fred wrote it amid the French Revolution in the1850’s.
Fred didn’t like socialism because he believed that it invaritably lead to (gasp) communism.
Fred was right, and I wish that every school kid could be compelled to read his work.
Hell, I wish that every American VOTER was forced to read, chew up, and digest a copy before we have our next general election.
No such luck…I'm afraid that we’re now a country completely dedicated to CLASS WARFARE and MOB RULE.
Do You Have A “Self Contained Self Rescuer?”
Oh Boy…A Coal Mining Accident
This is almost as good as an Airliner Crash (for the media)
I’m sitting around this evening watching FOX News with one eye and reading and writing on the computer with my fingers and toes, and I guess that by now that everyone has heard about the thirteen men trapped in the coal mine up in West Virginia.
This situation strikes particularly close to home for me because my Grandfather didn’t want me to be a coal miner.
You see, my Father’s Father was a coal miner—he spent nearly fifty years working in the coal mines of Southern Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, and the "coal belt" of West Virginia. He actually worked his way up, without much of a formal education, to being one of the mine’s Superintendents when he finally retired in the 1970’s
He spent almost half of his life under ground…and the man couldn’t eat Christmas dinner or travel to Alabama or Florida on vacation without worrying about his equipment and personnel that performed, like our military, a necessary service to our country.
Papa Rogers was born in 1912 and was too young to serve in WWI, but he honorably received a deferment from military service in WWII because coal mining was considered a national priority just like tail gunning in a B-25 Bomber (my Uncle John did that) was in 1942.
He also made sure that my Father and his two brothers went to college, and that they had employment options outside of wearing a metal hardhat with a light on top. As a result, my sister and I have pursued careers occupying desks above ground rather than riding an electric cart under ground every day to work.
Mining is horrible, but dangerously necessary work. The technology employed over the last 100 years has greatly reduced the level of personal risk, but unlike workers in the World Trade Center on 9/11 or your co-workers in Boston or St. Simons or wherever else in the USA—if you work in an underground mine you go to work EVERY SINGLE DAY realizing that you might not come back home alive.
I can’t imagine facing that reality. I can’t imagine putting a mother and wife and children through that process every day.
But…the level of ineptitude of the reporters amazes me as I watch the live news conferences.
The media seems to be obsessing over whether or not the miners had a Self Contained Self Rescuer (click here) -- Also known as a "60 Minute Breathing Apparatus (click here)."
I found the above info on the internet in about two minutes of "research." The people at the news conference apparently have no internet skills and no staff support when it comes to doing background research.
Most of these people actually graduated from college?
After FOUR years of college, or did they get the "accelerated" degree from the University of Phoenix Online? Or maybe they went to Troy (State) University where most of the liberal scholars that were responsible for my primary and secondary school education got their Masters Degrees?
I say that we let the coal miners start doing news reporting and we put most of the professional “news reporters” on an electric cart, hand them a pick and shovel, and push them into the bowels of the earth so that they can actually serve some useful purpose.
Maybe a reporter could replace a little yellow Canary in the mine, "sniffing" for CO2 and Methane…
This is almost as good as an Airliner Crash (for the media)
I’m sitting around this evening watching FOX News with one eye and reading and writing on the computer with my fingers and toes, and I guess that by now that everyone has heard about the thirteen men trapped in the coal mine up in West Virginia.
This situation strikes particularly close to home for me because my Grandfather didn’t want me to be a coal miner.
You see, my Father’s Father was a coal miner—he spent nearly fifty years working in the coal mines of Southern Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, and the "coal belt" of West Virginia. He actually worked his way up, without much of a formal education, to being one of the mine’s Superintendents when he finally retired in the 1970’s
He spent almost half of his life under ground…and the man couldn’t eat Christmas dinner or travel to Alabama or Florida on vacation without worrying about his equipment and personnel that performed, like our military, a necessary service to our country.
Papa Rogers was born in 1912 and was too young to serve in WWI, but he honorably received a deferment from military service in WWII because coal mining was considered a national priority just like tail gunning in a B-25 Bomber (my Uncle John did that) was in 1942.
He also made sure that my Father and his two brothers went to college, and that they had employment options outside of wearing a metal hardhat with a light on top. As a result, my sister and I have pursued careers occupying desks above ground rather than riding an electric cart under ground every day to work.
Mining is horrible, but dangerously necessary work. The technology employed over the last 100 years has greatly reduced the level of personal risk, but unlike workers in the World Trade Center on 9/11 or your co-workers in Boston or St. Simons or wherever else in the USA—if you work in an underground mine you go to work EVERY SINGLE DAY realizing that you might not come back home alive.
I can’t imagine facing that reality. I can’t imagine putting a mother and wife and children through that process every day.
But…the level of ineptitude of the reporters amazes me as I watch the live news conferences.
The media seems to be obsessing over whether or not the miners had a Self Contained Self Rescuer (click here) -- Also known as a "60 Minute Breathing Apparatus (click here)."
I found the above info on the internet in about two minutes of "research." The people at the news conference apparently have no internet skills and no staff support when it comes to doing background research.
Most of these people actually graduated from college?
After FOUR years of college, or did they get the "accelerated" degree from the University of Phoenix Online? Or maybe they went to Troy (State) University where most of the liberal scholars that were responsible for my primary and secondary school education got their Masters Degrees?
I say that we let the coal miners start doing news reporting and we put most of the professional “news reporters” on an electric cart, hand them a pick and shovel, and push them into the bowels of the earth so that they can actually serve some useful purpose.
Maybe a reporter could replace a little yellow Canary in the mine, "sniffing" for CO2 and Methane…
Central Idiot Intelligence Agency
I told you that this story was coming...
Here is the first scent of blood in the water.
Watch with me as the story grows, if you will, because…
James Risen’s new book, “The State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration” comes out today.
The NY Times is hot on the trail of theliar author.
It’s a funny thing to me that government agencies like the FBI and the CIA are legacies that extend across various Presidencies, with only the very highest levels of management subject to review and replacement at the pleasure of our chief executive.
It is a well documented fact that President Bush, like most of his predecessors, elected to not change the personnel of the CIA upon his inauguration until he had time to evaluate his prospects.
But wait a minute...didn't Bush lie...and people die?
It is also well documented that the CIA is not a Red White and Blue patriotic organization.
The CIA are a bunch of inbred #$%@ heads, in my considered Redneck opinion.
The CIA doesn’t have to be elected every four or six years.
The CIA doesn’t have term limits or need to do things like worry about tort reform.
The CIA, by their actions (or inaction) can cost you your life.
I am personally very worried about the veracity of anything done on our behalf by the CIA and seriously doubt the international allegiances of the CIA personnel.
If you want to sit at home under your own personal rock and not worry about this issue, be assured that I’ll assume the responsibility of worrying about it for you.
I'll just add that charge to your tab...you're welcome...
Here is the first scent of blood in the water.
Watch with me as the story grows, if you will, because…
James Risen’s new book, “The State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration” comes out today.
The NY Times is hot on the trail of the
It’s a funny thing to me that government agencies like the FBI and the CIA are legacies that extend across various Presidencies, with only the very highest levels of management subject to review and replacement at the pleasure of our chief executive.
It is a well documented fact that President Bush, like most of his predecessors, elected to not change the personnel of the CIA upon his inauguration until he had time to evaluate his prospects.
But wait a minute...didn't Bush lie...and people die?
It is also well documented that the CIA is not a Red White and Blue patriotic organization.
The CIA are a bunch of inbred #$%@ heads, in my considered Redneck opinion.
The CIA doesn’t have to be elected every four or six years.
The CIA doesn’t have term limits or need to do things like worry about tort reform.
The CIA, by their actions (or inaction) can cost you your life.
I am personally very worried about the veracity of anything done on our behalf by the CIA and seriously doubt the international allegiances of the CIA personnel.
If you want to sit at home under your own personal rock and not worry about this issue, be assured that I’ll assume the responsibility of worrying about it for you.
I'll just add that charge to your tab...you're welcome...
Monday, January 02, 2006
Surrender Monkeys—Chapter 13
Or Would You Like To Have What Is Behind Door Number Two?
Help me understand this situation, if you will.
First of all, suppose that you’re a wealthy, “politically connected” citizen of a country in what we are all now supposed to call “The European Union.”
Say you’re from Italy, perhaps.
Being from Alabama, and currently residing in Georgia, I’ll take this opportunity to refer to you as a “Dang Foreigner” because I personally don’t give a shit what I’m supposed to think or do according to the UN and the “authorities.”
Any way…
Now suppose that you decide to take yourself and the other members of your highly educated, politically correct, elitist family on a vacation.
Somewhere special.
Somewhere exotic.
Let’s say…Yemen, perhaps?
That’s right…you’ve just won an all expense paid trip to the lovely country of Yemen.
You know… the Arab Republic of Yemen, where they just released the German diplomat and his family held hostage until this weekend.
So now you and your group of four fellow Italians have been kidnapped by the same Yemeni “Tribesmen” that have made a cottage industry of ransoming foreigners in the past.
SAN`A, Yemen - Tribesmen seized five Italian tourists Sunday, but released three female hostages after a government negotiator convinced the kidnappers that abducting women violated tribal values, Yemeni officials said.
Sheik Darham al-Damaa, secretary-general of a government council in Marib Province, said negotiations were continuing for the release of the two Italian men, according to the Web site of Yemen's ruling party.
The kidnapping came a day after the government negotiated the release of a family of five Germans who also were taken hostage while on vacation. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah
Saleh pledged Sunday to hunt down "outlaws" who kidnap foreigners.
Tribesmen frequently grab tourists in an attempt to force concessions from the government in this poor, mountainous nation on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Hostages are usually released unharmed, but several were killed in 2000 during a botched police raid to free them.
Security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with reporters, told The Associated Press that the Italians' kidnappers were members of a tribe responsible for past kidnappings of foreigners and Yemenis.
The kidnappers have demanded the release of eight fellow members of the al-Zaydi tribe, one of whom faces murder charges and was extradited to Yemen from the United Arab Emirates.
Yemen versus Paris?
Yemen versus Las Vegas?
Yemen versus Panama City Beach?
Yemen versus St. Simons Island?
Let the Italians and the Germans and the Yemenis kiss my redneck ass, because I’ll pick Panama City or St. Simons over Yemen any day of the week.
Call me biased, racist, bigoted, or whatever...I don't care.
Finally I ask you:
When you are on vacation, and you let the NY Times and the liberal media control your security from their beloved "minute men," otherwise called “insurgents”… you know...the "terrorists."
Who You Gonna Call?
Ghost Busters?
Help me understand this situation, if you will.
First of all, suppose that you’re a wealthy, “politically connected” citizen of a country in what we are all now supposed to call “The European Union.”
Say you’re from Italy, perhaps.
Being from Alabama, and currently residing in Georgia, I’ll take this opportunity to refer to you as a “Dang Foreigner” because I personally don’t give a shit what I’m supposed to think or do according to the UN and the “authorities.”
Any way…
Now suppose that you decide to take yourself and the other members of your highly educated, politically correct, elitist family on a vacation.
Somewhere special.
Somewhere exotic.
Let’s say…Yemen, perhaps?
That’s right…you’ve just won an all expense paid trip to the lovely country of Yemen.
You know… the Arab Republic of Yemen, where they just released the German diplomat and his family held hostage until this weekend.
So now you and your group of four fellow Italians have been kidnapped by the same Yemeni “Tribesmen” that have made a cottage industry of ransoming foreigners in the past.
SAN`A, Yemen - Tribesmen seized five Italian tourists Sunday, but released three female hostages after a government negotiator convinced the kidnappers that abducting women violated tribal values, Yemeni officials said.
Sheik Darham al-Damaa, secretary-general of a government council in Marib Province, said negotiations were continuing for the release of the two Italian men, according to the Web site of Yemen's ruling party.
The kidnapping came a day after the government negotiated the release of a family of five Germans who also were taken hostage while on vacation. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah
Saleh pledged Sunday to hunt down "outlaws" who kidnap foreigners.
Tribesmen frequently grab tourists in an attempt to force concessions from the government in this poor, mountainous nation on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Hostages are usually released unharmed, but several were killed in 2000 during a botched police raid to free them.
Security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with reporters, told The Associated Press that the Italians' kidnappers were members of a tribe responsible for past kidnappings of foreigners and Yemenis.
The kidnappers have demanded the release of eight fellow members of the al-Zaydi tribe, one of whom faces murder charges and was extradited to Yemen from the United Arab Emirates.
Yemen versus Paris?
Yemen versus Las Vegas?
Yemen versus Panama City Beach?
Yemen versus St. Simons Island?
Let the Italians and the Germans and the Yemenis kiss my redneck ass, because I’ll pick Panama City or St. Simons over Yemen any day of the week.
Call me biased, racist, bigoted, or whatever...I don't care.
Finally I ask you:
When you are on vacation, and you let the NY Times and the liberal media control your security from their beloved "minute men," otherwise called “insurgents”… you know...the "terrorists."
Who You Gonna Call?
Ghost Busters?
The NY Times Refuses To Speak
And Their Silence Is Deafening...
The total non-story that is behind the NY Times December 16th article claiming that the Bush administration is tapping everybody’s telephones without search warrants continues to break down, even as the Times keeps wasting new ink hyping the issue.
OK, their actual claim is that George Bush is personally allowing Attorney General Ashcroft to approve electronic eavesdropping (wiretaps and intercept of E-mails) of AMERICANS that are suspected of communicating with al Qaeda.
I first wrote about this story on December 21st in my posting called “The NY Times Keeps On Keeping On.”
One of the problems that the Times has is that even their own Public Editor, Byron Calame, is concerned about the veracity of their story and can’t seem to get a satisfactory answer from their management.
Is there really a problem here or isn't there?
THE New York Times's explanation of its decision to report, after what it said was a one-year delay, that the National Security Agency is eavesdropping domestically without court-approved warrants was woefully inadequate. And I have had unusual difficulty getting a better explanation for readers, despite the paper's repeated pledges of greater transparency.
For the first time since I became public editor, the executive editor and the publisher have declined to respond to my requests for information about news-related decision-making. My queries concerned the timing of the exclusive Dec. 16 article about President Bush's secret decision in the months after 9/11 to authorize the warrantless eavesdropping on Americans in the United States.
I e-mailed a list of 28 questions to Bill Keller, the executive editor, on Dec. 19, three days after the article appeared. He promptly declined to respond to them. I then sent the same questions to Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher, who also declined to respond. They held out no hope for a fuller explanation in the future.
The Times continues to rely on innuendo and breathless insinuation of wrongdoing, while at the same time failing to make a single direct allegation of criminal wrongdoing on the part of President Bush or anyone in his administration.
I, personally, have also issued a call for ONE SINGLE MEMBER of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate to exercise their power by demanding an end to this NSA surveillance program.
Twelve days have gone by and, in spite of the BS published in the media, my E-mails have gone unanswered and the program goes on unchallenged by any Democrat (or Republican.)
Where are Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid when you really, really need them?
Where is Ted (hic) Kennedy and John sKerry when the going gets tough?
How can all of you concerned, caring, liberals stand by while your adored politicians take a vacation and ignore our civil liberties being run over in such a roughshod manner?
As is typical of the New York Times and most of the overeducated idiots working in the “lamestream media,” they rely on the ignorance of their readers and/or the partisan bias of their subscribers to carry a story.
You can thank the Bloggers like me to help keep you informed in 2006.
And by the way...you’re quite welcome…I'll put this service on your tab.
The total non-story that is behind the NY Times December 16th article claiming that the Bush administration is tapping everybody’s telephones without search warrants continues to break down, even as the Times keeps wasting new ink hyping the issue.
OK, their actual claim is that George Bush is personally allowing Attorney General Ashcroft to approve electronic eavesdropping (wiretaps and intercept of E-mails) of AMERICANS that are suspected of communicating with al Qaeda.
I first wrote about this story on December 21st in my posting called “The NY Times Keeps On Keeping On.”
One of the problems that the Times has is that even their own Public Editor, Byron Calame, is concerned about the veracity of their story and can’t seem to get a satisfactory answer from their management.
Is there really a problem here or isn't there?
THE New York Times's explanation of its decision to report, after what it said was a one-year delay, that the National Security Agency is eavesdropping domestically without court-approved warrants was woefully inadequate. And I have had unusual difficulty getting a better explanation for readers, despite the paper's repeated pledges of greater transparency.
For the first time since I became public editor, the executive editor and the publisher have declined to respond to my requests for information about news-related decision-making. My queries concerned the timing of the exclusive Dec. 16 article about President Bush's secret decision in the months after 9/11 to authorize the warrantless eavesdropping on Americans in the United States.
I e-mailed a list of 28 questions to Bill Keller, the executive editor, on Dec. 19, three days after the article appeared. He promptly declined to respond to them. I then sent the same questions to Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the publisher, who also declined to respond. They held out no hope for a fuller explanation in the future.
The Times continues to rely on innuendo and breathless insinuation of wrongdoing, while at the same time failing to make a single direct allegation of criminal wrongdoing on the part of President Bush or anyone in his administration.
I, personally, have also issued a call for ONE SINGLE MEMBER of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate to exercise their power by demanding an end to this NSA surveillance program.
Twelve days have gone by and, in spite of the BS published in the media, my E-mails have gone unanswered and the program goes on unchallenged by any Democrat (or Republican.)
Where are Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid when you really, really need them?
Where is Ted (hic) Kennedy and John sKerry when the going gets tough?
How can all of you concerned, caring, liberals stand by while your adored politicians take a vacation and ignore our civil liberties being run over in such a roughshod manner?
As is typical of the New York Times and most of the overeducated idiots working in the “lamestream media,” they rely on the ignorance of their readers and/or the partisan bias of their subscribers to carry a story.
You can thank the Bloggers like me to help keep you informed in 2006.
And by the way...you’re quite welcome…I'll put this service on your tab.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Top Ten People and Things That I Think Sucked in 2005
Why Do We Have To Endure Crap Like This?
# 1 Cindy Sheehan—Her Soldier son is probably so proud…need I say more?
# 2 Michael Jackson—What a $%&* freak.
# 3 Terri Scheivo—Government meddling at it’s finest
# 4 Natalee Holloway—Will Greta Van Sustren EVER shut up about this story?
# 5 Ray Nagan—New Orleans Mayor and a truly incompetent human
# 6 Various Federal Court’s Decisions regarding separation of church and state…
# 7 The Supreme Court Eminent Domain Decision—my home is no longer MY castle…
# 8 The New Prescription Drug Plan—This will end up costing us Zillions…just watch…
# 9 Global Warming—there is no such thing, at least in a form that is human influenced.
#10 Hurricanes—the media’s latest proof of number nine (Global Warming.)
# 1 Cindy Sheehan—Her Soldier son is probably so proud…need I say more?
# 2 Michael Jackson—What a $%&* freak.
# 3 Terri Scheivo—Government meddling at it’s finest
# 4 Natalee Holloway—Will Greta Van Sustren EVER shut up about this story?
# 5 Ray Nagan—New Orleans Mayor and a truly incompetent human
# 6 Various Federal Court’s Decisions regarding separation of church and state…
# 7 The Supreme Court Eminent Domain Decision—my home is no longer MY castle…
# 8 The New Prescription Drug Plan—This will end up costing us Zillions…just watch…
# 9 Global Warming—there is no such thing, at least in a form that is human influenced.
#10 Hurricanes—the media’s latest proof of number nine (Global Warming.)
Meteorology Versus Astronomy
Well, ALMOST everything fell into place this evening, but the weather didn't agree with our plans.
Pat and I were comfortably standing on the side of the marsh with a camera and tripod at the appointed time, looking for a new crescent moon to set slightly behind the sunset last evening.
All we managed to see was a big bank of grey clouds hovering over the Sidney Lanier Bridge:
Pat and I were comfortably standing on the side of the marsh with a camera and tripod at the appointed time, looking for a new crescent moon to set slightly behind the sunset last evening.
All we managed to see was a big bank of grey clouds hovering over the Sidney Lanier Bridge:
Looks like I'll have to wait until this spring for another photo op.
