Miscellany

Good thing the Iranians don't know when we will be attacking...

The UAE says it will deny any use of it's territory to launch air or ground attacks against Iran. Thanks, but we have our own territory to launch air and ground attacks, if we need it.

Why does any one still care about the opinions of idiot celebs? If I wanted to hear from a flatuating buttcrack, I'd eat more beans.

When Republicans do something wrong, they get thrown under the bus by their colleagues. When Democrats do something wrong, they circle the wagons. Maybe Republicans can reconsider their take on that whole presumption of innocence thing.

Democrats claim the November elections gave them a mandate. Neither Republicans nor Democrats understand that the November elections was the American people's way of saying "If we wanted our politicians to be spineless spinning weasels we'd elect them that way".

And now for something totally different.

As I peruse my hitmeter results, I noticed that I have repeat visitors. As in, one or two misbegotten souls wander in here from time to time from the same address!

As it is highly unlikely that these poor darlings would make the same mistake more than, say, five or six times, that means we have a following. Dare we say it? We have regular readers! And you know who you are! Worse than that, WE know who you are!

This, of course, puts us out of sorts concerning this humble space. Since we have people who apparently check up on us once in a while, we feel as if we owe it to them to occasionally have something new to read.

In that vein, I hereby promise to find something, anything, to write about at a minimum of once a week. Which means you will probably get more inane ramblings, much like what you see here.

Enjoy!
Totally unrelated photo of the East Broad Top Railroad courtesy of the Scoundrel, taken during Community Appreciation Weekend 2006.

Hero Remembered

I wrote here about a young Marine who gave his life to save his warrior brothers and was awarded the Medal of Honor. He and his squadmates had been discussing what they would do if they were faced with a grenade attack. CPL Dunham theorized that a Kevlar helmet placed over the grenade and held down with the body would allow the grenade to detonate without injuring anyone.

He got the chance soon after to test his theory. Unfortunately, his theory was wrong. He did not hesitate to try it out, however, and his actions saved the other men in his squad.

On March 23rd the Secretary of the Navy announced that the Navy would remember. The newest Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, DDG 109, will be named USS Jason Dunham.

The Navy considers the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be its most capable and survivable surface combatant. Originally designed to defend against Soviet aircraft, cruise missiles, and nuclear attack submarines, this high capability ship is used in high-threat areas to conduct antiair, antisubmarine, antisurface, and strike operations. The Burke class guided missile destroyers incorporate the Aegis air defense system and SPY-1 phased array radar. Flight IIA ships, of which Jason Dunham is one, also embark the LAMPS helicopter as part of it's anti-submarine warfare arsenal.

Rest well Marine. The ship that proudly bears your name will continue to serve the country you loved and defended with your life, carrying on the tradition that you established.

We remember.

Semper Fi.
US Navy photo, Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS O'Kane (DDG-77)

The Ragged Edge

I don't know if I am amused or annoyed at the antics of the political fringe, on the left and on the right. I do know that I am bemused that they don't realize they are on the fringe, most of the offenders think they are mainstream and are constantly amazed at the opposition to their sound logic.

On the one hand we have the Westboro Baptist Church. I suppose that given their stand on homosexuality and religion they would be considered right wing. I consider them nutcases. They go to soldier's funerals to hold signs and generally create a ruckus to draw attention to their belief that combat deaths are being caused by a God who is angry at America for allowing homosexuals to exist.

On the other hand, we have assorted lefties who believe they are "speaking truth to power" in this "facist dictatorship" by hurling invective and insult at the institutions of our society, and occasionally cans of paint at it's monuments. The fact they still draw breath outside of institutes of incarceration after doing so is proof that our society is neither facist, nor is it a dictatorship - a fact that is lost, I might add, on them.

In the middle are we, those of us who can disagree respectfully without resorting to violence or name-calling. I might disagree with you completely, but I won't scream "NAZI!" at you because you can't see my blinding brilliance. If you can do the same you will at least have my respect, if not my agreement.

The great thing about America is that we are allowed to have differing opinions. Even better, we have the right, written into our cornerstone document, to voice those differing opinions. As long as our disagreements don't escalate into violence, we are free to disagree with one another just as vocally as we want. Keep in mind, though, that if your vocalization becomes abusive and overly frantic most folks will stop paying attention to the message because they will judge the messenger to be a hopeless lunatic.

In this day and age of interwebtubiethingies our past can quickly catch up to us and smack us in the noggin. What we bloviate on today will be fodder for the cannons tomorrow, and if we can't support our opinions with fact and reason we will be judged on that. Every little rant will come back to haunt us, and every mistake will be thrown into the spotlight.

There are several sayings that apply here, but my favorite is one that I have repeated several times on this blog of late, one that I first heard from Pappy Cage.

Never miss a chance to shut the hell up.

Moonbat photo courtesy of the Barking Moonbat Early Warning System.

Government 101

There has been a lot of discussion in certain circles about gay marriage, and if we should have a Constitutional amendment on the subject.

I would say it's not a good idea, especially not in the Federal Constitution. Not a good idea in State constitutions either. It has nothing to do with marriage, gay or otherwise. It has to do with the purpose of a Constitution.

Standard disclaimer here, I am not now, nor have I ever been, a homosexual. I do not currently have close friends or family members that I know of that are homosexual. Therefore, I do not have a personal axe to grind, no dog in this fight.

The purpose of a Constitution is to set into the rule of law the limits of the government. A Constitution, be it state or federal, clearly defines the roles, powers and limitations of the several branches of government; they being the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

Notice the use of the word "limitations". Quite clearly, it defines what a government may and may not take upon itself to do.

One of the most important limitations on the powers of the government is it must not limit your personal freedoms except where the exercise thereof would put others into harm's way, that being defined as financial or physical injury.

Unfortunately we have allowed government to overstep it's bounds so often and so long that it now does so with impunity. It also does so with immunity, or so it seems.

Also unfortunately we have in this nation a particular version of native that I like to call homoirritatus uninterruptus, or Constantly Complaining Man. This species can be found just about anywhere, constantly bitching and whining that their rights (usually self defined and not written into any law anywhere) are being violated. Some common calls of the ConCom Man are "the government ought to do something" or "there ought to be a law". Subjects that they avoid are personal responsibility and self reliance. ConCom Man can often be found in the company of barkus moonbattus, the barking moonbat.

Marriage is at it's core a legal contract between two willing parties, which is why it takes an action of the courts to dissolve one. It may or may not be solemnized by a religious ceremony, this ceremony has no bearing on the legal aspect of the contract.

When you seek to limit, by law, the freedoms of another individual or individuals you start to tread on thin ice. The only justification of this limitation is to prevent physical or financial harm to a third party. This is why it is illegal to shout "FIRE" in a crowded theater, and not a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.

If we are to limit the freedoms of another, we must have justification. If we do not, the boundaries are erased and any action that ConCom Man deems objectionable may be limited. These actions may include activities that you find personally enjoyable, such as riding motorcycles or jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.

This is why I would object to any legislation outlawing gay marriage, even though I would not engage in such activities. If Adam and Steve want to tie the knot, it takes absolutely not a dime out of my pocket nor does it remove so much as a square centimeter of my skin.

I may not understand your compulsion to throw yourselves from perfectly good airplanes either, but I would never take away your right to do so.

Alterations to our cornerstone documents, the Constitution of the United States and the Constitutions of the several States, should always be carefully considered. Three questions that must be asked are, 1) Is the activity under consideration likely to cause physical harm to another person, 2) Is the activity under consideration likely to cause financial harm to another person, and 3) Will the legislation under consideration prevent the activity from causing physical or financial harm to another person? If the answers are not affirmative for either one or two, and is not affirmative for number three, the legislation must not be allowed to become law.

Law, like fire, is a fearful servant and a terrible master.

Doing My Part

The Iowahawk way!

Give That Man A Ceegar!

He gets it!

He gets it!

Jim Zumbo finally gets it!

Welcome back Jim. Glad to see you made it.

Word From The Front

From Confederate Yankee comes a link to this story from al'Reuters about an Iraqi town that successfully resisted Al Qaeda terrorists' attempts to overtake their city.

As CY points out, the significant part of this event is the fact that the townspeople turned to Iraqi police to accomplish the deed. US forces took absolutely no part in the operation.

So far the MSM has Cronkited* the story in Iraq, completely ignoring the fact that most of Iraq is relatively quiet now, with the notable exceptions of Sadr City in Bagdad and parts of the Anbar province.

The surge is taking care of Sadr City, and now it looks like the Iraqi people are finally getting the confidence they need in their own police and army to start taking care of Anbar.

In case you weren't paying attention, this is exactly the kind of thing we were hoping for. It means that even though there have been mistakes made along the way, the overall strategy in Iraq is working.

I mean to say, it's what some of us have been hoping for. Unfortunately it doesn't fit the outcome that the MSM and assorted Lefties have been hoping for.

But, as CY once more points out, as long as Americans are more concerned with the fate of Anna Nichole Smith's mortal remains than with issues that will have long term importance, the story will not likely be told.

I'm just trying to help get the word out.

*Meaning, they have interpreted American casualties as "we are getting our asses kicked" regardless of the outcome of the particular battle or skirmish the American troops were in at the time, reminiscent of Walter Cronkite's declaration that the result of the Tet Offensive was that we could not win in VietNam. The truth is that we won that one, and it was enough to break the back of the NVA if we had stuck to it.

Ironically, this is the only similarity between Iraq and VietNam that actually holds true; the American people are becoming disillusioned by the war in Iraq because of the view held by the MSM that we can't win.

Pappy Says

Some words of advice from a true Virginia gentleman, Tad (Pappy) Cage:

"If you aren't in bed by 9PM, you might as well go on home."

"Use your head for something more than a place to put your hat."

And my favorite, "Never miss a chance to shut the hell up."

I really miss that old man.

Rest in peace, Pappy.

Somali Wild Ass, photo by Robert Lawton

Know Your History

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

Quit'cher Snivelling!

I have some bad news for you.

If you are one of the people who look at Virginia's recent apology for slavery and expect the next thing we will be talking about is reparations, I'm talking to you.

If you wonder why the Islamists hate us, and think that if we can just open a dialog with them things will be happy joy joy in fuzzy bunny land, listen up.

If you think you deserve my money and attention because you aren't as "lucky" as me, perk up your ears.

I'm your worst nightmare. I am a man without guilt.

I never owned any slaves, and you were never owned as a slave, so I owe you nothing. Get used to that idea.

Islamists hate us because we have what they want, and if they can't have it then they are determined that we shan't have it either. While you are listening to them with your eyes closed, they are slitting your throat. And you deserve it.

They can't have it. I'll die first. But I won't die alone. My prayer will be "Lord, let them come at me in large bunches so that I can kill more of them at a time, Amen."

Luck is something you make, not something that happens. Luck is a combination of opportunity, preparation and timing. Every second there's an opportunity. If you aren't prepared for it you aren't unlucky, you are stupid.

Want an example?

If you are pregnant with your third child and you aren't real sure who the baby daddy is for the first two, much less the current one, you aren't unlucky. You are stupid.

If you never finished high school, and now you can't figure out why you can't get a job paying more than minimum wage (especially since you don't keep it for more than a couple of weeks), you aren't unlucky. You are stupid. (This is where the preparation comes into play.)

OK, that's two examples. Another opportunity.

I don't feel sorry for your poor choices and bad decisions. More importantly, I don't feel responsible for them. You have no right to welfare and SSID in my world. In my world, stupidity is not only painful, it's fatal.

I have no use for those of you who will "yeah but" my country's history. We are the greatest nation in all the world, period.

"Yeah but" what about all the things we have done on our way to becoming what we are? Can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. That's the way things work. If you aren't strong enough to hold, you get swept away by the tides of history. It's neither right nor wrong, it just is.

So might makes right? Yep. Cause that's the way it is. And if you don't believe it, stand on the tracks. Right here. Don't worry about that noise.

Fair? You want fair? Sorry, can't help you. Children's games have rules to make sure everything is fair. Life doesn't.

Did I hurt your feelings? Get over it. Nobody cares. I'm not your priest, and you aren't paying me nearly enough to be your shrink. I'm not interested in your pathetic problems, I have troubles of my own that I'm dealing with.

We have become a pansified shadow of an excuse of what we were. We are afraid of making people angry, the law is now our master instead of our servant, and we have gotten to the tipping over point where most of the voters have figured out they can vote themselves treasures out of the nation's coffers.

We have created our own group of masters, called politicians, who think they are above us, and we are letting them get away with anything.

Meanwhile, someone somewhere is going to be the world's biggest dog. Count on it. Nature and politics both abhor a vacuum.

The big dog that is currently the USA is acting more like a lap puppy. Somewhere out there is a bad-tempered junkyard mongrel who is going to rip out the soft underbelly we are showing them as we lay on our backs.

I have my lifeboat picked out.

The rest of you can go straight to hell.

No Cigar Yet

By way of PawPaw's House, Jim Zumbo has offered yet another apology on Ted Nugent's site.

In doing so, he demonstrates that he still does not fully understand the problem.

He has been fired from Outdoor Life. He has lost sponsorships and his television program. He says he can't understand how he could have been "so ignorant and out of touch with reality in the world of hunting and shooting".

He then goes on to say he didn't realize how many people used "black rifles" for hunting.

Large sigh.

Jim, Jim, Jim. It's not about hunting. There are many "black rifle" owners who have never, ever, so much as pointed their evil bad guns at any living thing.

It's about shooting, Jim.

It's about putting a large amount of lead a couple of hundred yards from where you are currently standing. It's about spending quality time with your 14 year old daughter, while incidentally teaching her a skill that may one day save her life. It's about getting together with your buds and swapping a few lies and making some noise.

It's about taking some time to hone a skill that may one day be of vital importance. It's about relieving the stress of a normal ordinary life. It's about the smell of cordite and the feel of a well balanced machine.

It's about competition. It's about cameraderie. It's about doing something that you enjoy, for no other reason than you enjoy it.

It's about spending some time with the Marine in your life doing something that you are both familiar with, and being able to say "I love you, son, and I'm proud of you" without speaking a single word at all.

It's about the Second Amendment to the Constitution of these United States.

It's about shooting, Jim.

The Hits Keep Rolling

I am really enjoying this counter. I get more visits than I ever imagined.

I have hits from Texas and California, Ohio and Florida, from all across these great United States. Welcome one and all, thanks for stopping in!

No offshore visitors so far, but hope springs eternal.

One of my visitors hails from "deep in the heart of" Waldorf, Maryland. I am familiar with Waldorf from time (mis)spent at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Lexington Park MD in the early 90's.

Another comes by way of friend (smile when you say that) James's website. Since the visitor is from Louisiana, I know it's not James himself visiting from the link on his own site.

And he thinks no one is paying attention.

UPDATE: As of 24 February I have had visitors from the UK and NZ, so paragraph 3 above no longer applies. Welcome to all my visitors! Does this mean I've gone international?

Hail To The Chief

I just found out on the news last night that the President is coming to town. It's probably the most exciting thing to happen to little Franklinton NC in it's entire history.

The President will be visiting Novozymes, a biotech firm that is involved in making, among other things, the enzymes to produce ethanol out of renewable energy sources from cellulose, found in such things as cornstalks and switchgrass. President Bush is visiting to support these efforts, since one of the goals he has set forth is weaning the nation from it's dependence on foreign sources of oil.

I think that ethanol mixed with gasoline will yield small benefits, if any. Ethanol doesn't have the energy content to directly compete with fossil fuels in our current internal combustion engines. Where I think ethanol, and other similar biofuels, will come into their own is with fuel cells, when that technology matures. One hundred years from now I see our primary energy source to be fuel cells, powered by synthetic fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

But back to the Presidential visit for a moment.

Of course you can't have a visit of the VIPs without having the usual collection of nitwits. One of my recent visitors came by way of a Google search for "protest march in franklinton nc". I hope he left disappointed. And I am happy to say that my own search came up with negative results as well.

The President's policies and politics are probably not much appreciated in heavily Democratic Franklin County NC, but I could wish that people would put aside politics long enough to appreciate the fact that he is visiting to support the reduction in dependency on foreign oil.

Unfortunately there are people who are professional bitchers, and to them this man can never do anything that will be right. If God himself came down out of His heaven and placed His hand on George W. Bush's shoulder and proclaimed him to be the right man at the right time, there are those who would not be able to see past the separation of church and state.

I was not a big fan of the last President, but I was always willing to give the man credit when it was due him. It's a crying shame that the "loyal" opposition cannot bring themselves to do the same for President Bush.

I hope he has a good visit.

What's That Smell?

By way of the Lawdog Files, it appears as if some fellow named Zumbo has stepped in it.

I must admit that it's been forever and a day since I've looked at an Outdoor Life magazine. I am a member of the North American Hunting Club, but the last time I went hunting was at least 15 years ago. For one reason or another I just haven't been.

That being said, it's not my place to say what type of gun you own or what you should use it for as long as you are not robbing banks or doing something just as stupid with it. If it pleases you to own an AK or an AR, I see nothing wrong with it. If you want to own a Howitzer, I see nothing wrong with that, either.

Much has been said against the Second Amendment regarding private firearms ownership, everything from "It's not an individual right, it's so the state can have a National Guard" (established about 140 years after the Second Amendment was ratified into law) to "You can't use one of those to hunt ducks". Every one of those arguements are disingeneous at best.

The attitude of the founders where private weapons ownership is concerned comes, as did many other views, from England where it was once the law for every household to own a longbow and a collection of arrows for it. This is the equivelent of owning a .50 cal BMG with 5000 rounds. The English longbow was the premier weapon of it's day, and it was not a suggestion that every household own one...it was the law.

Not only was it law to own one, one also had to maintain proficiency with it. The reason for this is simple, in a time of war a decent army of archers could be assembled in short order.

Fast forward to the present day, many libs will say that there is no longer any need for such a requirement (which gives you the "can't hunt ducks" anti gun school of thought). The founders intended us to be a nation of riflemen, and for good reason. I'll just leave it there.

As for Zumbo, others have taken him to task and he has issued an apology. Methinks he will have a way to go before he can work his way back into Lawdog's good graces.

But the Brady campaign seems to be happy with him. Nice work there.

Pappy used to tell me "Never miss a chance to shut the hell up."

Good advice from a true Virginia gentleman.

Photo from the North American Hunting Club

A New Toy

I have a new toy, a site meter from sitemeter.com.

Looking at my sitemeter I see that I have bugs. It's counting as visits the times I log in from my own computer. I had selected the option to not have it do that, but it doesn't seem to be working.

I have 3 hits from people doing websearches for Ron Paul. I'm humbled and honored that you took the time to stop in.

One of my visitors is from Bellevue, NE. Bellevue is just a bit south of Omaha and is the home of Offutt Air Force Base. I grew up in a little Iowa town about 70 miles east of there.

One of the tenant commands onboard Offutt AFB is Strategic Air Command, now called U.S. Strategic Command, or STRATCOM in MILSPEAK. SAC had clouds of B-52's at Offutt at one time. Not so much now. It was conventional wisdom in my neck of the woods that if the Rooskies ever launched their missiles we had just as well see if we could reach our lips to our backsides to kiss our butts goodbye.

When I joined the Navy I used to drive up to the recruiting station for the Delayed Entry Program meetings. I would cross the old one lane toll bridge and go through Bellevue to get there. Pretty little town.

Ah, the good old days.

Gen. Curtis LeMay building, US STRATCOM headquarters, Offutt AFB, Bellevue NE

Another One Down

Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, is running for President.

Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, doesn't get the Global War On Terror.

Ron Paul, Congressman from Texas, who's otherwise Libertarian stand on the issues I appreciate, has just demonstrated why he will remain a Congressman from Texas. If that.

Congressman Paul, if I can't count on you to fund the troops that are doing the President's bidding and killing terrorists, how could I count on you as President to protect my interests overseas?

Ron Paul will not be getting my vote. Duncan Hunter still looks pretty good though.

The Joys Of Socialism

Bill Lumaye, local radio personality, had a bit on his show a couple of days ago about a magazine that is being distributed by Wake County schools. In this magazine was an article about Hugo Chavez, current strong-arm dictator to be in Venezuela.

The article was a touchy-feely feel-good about Chavez's efforts to socialize the economy there. It talked about socialism being based on cooperation rather than competition. However, it failed to mention that this cooperation is coerced. This is the point at which Bill took offense.

Now I must admit that I have not read the article in question. I can't even recall the name of the magazine, for what that is worth. Everything I am saying here is based on Bill's paraphrasing of the article in question, so don't ask for exact quotes.

Along these same lines is a posting by His Imperial Rottiness about the predictable results of price fixing. It seems that as soon as Senor Chavez fixed meat prices, meat started disappearing from supermarket shelves. For those of you who don't understand why, go read the article. I found that it explained things quite well.

As I was discussing the issue with my associate, he came up with a good question. Since price controls inevitably cause the dearth of the product being price controlled, and given that the same people that try price controls also vehemently oppose private ownership of firearms, why don't they try price controls on firearms?

The answer (and of course he understood this when he asked the question) is that the same fuzzy heads that like price controls and dislike firearms don't understand the effects of price controls. They want to fix prices so that everyone can afford to buy the product, damn the manufacturers who unfairly expect to make a bit of filthy lucre off of their labors. Since they don't like guns, they don't want anyone to be able to afford them, therefore they would never institute price controls on them.

In Venezuela some sort of compromise seems to have been reached, as supermarkets promise to have meats back on the shelves within a few days. It appears as if Hugo is going to subsidize with oil dollars.

That will work for a little while, I guess, but things are not looking good for Venezuela's oil industry, either. It seems as if there's a brain drain going on as the smart people that run the oil company in Venezuela are looking for more posh (and less restrictive) digs elsewhere...like Mexico or Canada. Details on Tom Delay's blog.

What I just can't figure out is why these people have so much influence.

Dragonwatch link

Just took a look at Dragonwatch and found this little gem.

My favorite parts of the post would be the Navy's gunfighting rules.

1. Go to Sea
2. Send the Marines
3. Drink Coffee

Oooh. Rah.

That's gooooood coffee.

Dragon picture shamelessly stolen from Dragonwatch.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I have switched (under protest) to the new blogger, at the insistance of Google who now refuses to let me sign in under the old blogger.

They say I'll like it better.

Their bat, their ball. We will see, and if I like it I'll stay.

That's the beauty of a capitalist system. If I like what a company or organization has to offer, I'll join; if not, not.

At first I must admit that I was disgruntled, equating the forced switch to helmet and seat belt laws. Maybe it's a good idea, but I don't like being told to do it.

Unlike helmet and seat belt laws however, it's much easier to get out of the Google/blogspot arena. If I don't like it, I quit.

One thing I think I will like is the ability to label posts, and this will assumedly lead to the ability to link like posts under easy to find tabs, so to speak.

One thing I already dislike is the need to constantly "accept the terms of service" whenever I try to do things. Hopefully once I get everything set I'll no longer have to go through the hassles.

Change is the only constant.

That Was Fun

You Are 37% Misanthropic

You're a little misanthropic - but who isn't? Your reactions to other people are pretty normal. You enjoy being friendly with people you encounter, but if you're having a rough day, watch out!

How Misanthropic Are You?