Happy LDW

In spite of some people's negative perspective on Labor Day Weekend (LDW), I'd like to point out a positive aspect of it. (Nothing personal, WS. I agree with you on principle.)

Namely, I don't have to work.

While that's enough to satisfy me, I acknowledge that some of you, my loyal followers (both of you) may want a little more justification. So here 'tis:

My wife and I worked hard in our earlier years. We were fortunate enough - no, strike that - we were capable and dedicated and diligent enough to amass a reasonable amount of capital. Not enough to make us Snotty Rich Fucks a la Denny, but enough to make us Snotty Upper Middle Class Fucks.

We spent some of that capital on a weekend place on Lake Buchanan. Nothing fancy - just a 40+ year old dwelling that started out as a bungalow and has been added to over the years. But it is a nice, simple house on a quiet lake with little traffic.

Because it's an old house it requires a lot of maintenance. Not just your ordinary, everyday maintenance, but some specialized stuff. For example, it lacks a public sewer system. So we have a septic tank. However, because of the regulations regarding septic systems and the lake, our septic discharge zone must be a designated distance from the lake. In our case, that means the discharge zone must be uphill from our house.

I don't have a problem with that. But what I do have a problem with is our grinder pump.

The way things work is that we have a holding tank in the front yard. The tank is 3' X 3', and about 5' deep. That depth is enough to enable the wastewater from the house to flow 'uphill' to the bottom of the holding tank. From there, something called a grinder pump (it does what its name implies - grinds up solid waste and pumps it uphill) sends it several hundred yards uphill to a traditional septic tank discharge zone.

The regulatory intent is that sewage waste must be discharged a certain distance away from the lake. Otherwise some of the lake trash around here (pardon my elitism, but there's just not a more PC way to put it) would discharge their waste directly into the lake.

My tasks this weekend are to replace the grinder pump and the wooden cover over the holding tank. Replacing the cover is not fun, but doable. Replacing the pump, however, requires venturing down into the holding tank. 

I'll spare you the gory details, but suffice it to say that the wife and kids aren't coming up until late tomorrow afternoon.

Cowards...

In the meantime, I had the opportunity to spend tonight (Friday) up here by myself.

It was fabulous.

A cool front blew through, dropping the temperature into the low 70s. There was no moon and no clouds, meaning that the night sky was so clear I could see twinkling stars and the Milky Way. It was so quiet that the bird and insect noises overwhelmed the sound of the waves on the beach.

Tough life ... but tomorrow's going to suck big time.

Anyone want to join me?

Meanwhile, Back On The Surface

The saga of the trapped Chilean miners continues. Rescue efforts are underway, but in the meantime they have access to air, water, food, and communications. Their loved ones are providing support. That, however, may be problematic.  

One of the trapped Chilean miners is in no rush to be rescued -- because both his wife and his longtime mistress will be waiting for him when he finally sees the light of day.

Neither woman was aware of the other's existence until they met at a candlelight vigil for the miners, The Sun newspaper of Britain reported.

Yonni Barrios' wife, Marta Salinas, was shocked to hear another woman shouting her husband's name at the gathering held to support the 33 men who are trapped 2,300 feet underground, the paper said.

They compared notes and figured out that they both had been shafted.

Love that last line. (Rest of the story here.) 

Nothing gets a guy's attention like the possibility of a good cat fight, especially when it involves a couple of sultry Latin beauties.

Okay, I admit it - I'm a pig. I can't help it. It's hardwired in my jeans genes.  

obamamath

144,000 troops in Iraq when obama took office minus 50,000 remaining = 94,000 troops withdrawn (source)

98,000 troops in Afghanistan now minus 34,000 troops in Afghanistan when obama took office = 64,000 new troops in Afghanistan (source)

94,000 withdrawn from Iraq minus 64,000 added to Afghanistan = 30,000 net troop reduction

To be sure, 30,000 of our men and women back home is a good thing. However, it's a bit of a shell game to trumpet that the combat mission in Iraq is over (which isn't totally accurate - as far as I'm concerned, if people are getting shot at and blown up, it's a combat mission) while ramping up the mission in Afghanistan. 

And for what it's worth, the shooting stopped in Korea 57 years ago, yet we still have 30,000 troops stationed there.

In an instructive WSJ article, Noah Feldman points out that it took 35 years for democracy to take hold in South Korea. To fully complete the mission, U.S. troops could be in Iraq just as long. In other words, the latest Iraq troop withdrawal could very well be viewed as a beginning and not an end (or to borrow from Winston Churchill, the end of the beginning). "Iraq faces a raft of difficulties if it is to become an effective, self-governing nation, and all of them point to the need for a continuing U.S. role in security and beyond."

I hope that 35 years from now Iraq mirrors South Korea - a stable, prosperous democracy. That would be a worthy legacy for the men and women who have sacrificed so much there to date.

Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is legion

Hypocrisy: The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess

Part I

Education secretary urged his employees to attend Sharpton's rally

President Obama's top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall.

"ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the 'Reclaim the Dream' rally and march," began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.

The memo was sent by Dept. of Ed. head Arne Duncan, who was chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools for seven years before obama nominated him as Secretary of Education in December 2008.

[The memo] "sends a signal that activity on behalf of one side of a political debate is expected within a department. It's highly inappropriate ... even in the absence of a direct threat" ... "If we think of a Bush cabinet official sending an e-mail to civil servants asking them to attend a Glenn Beck rally, there would be a lot of outrage over that."

That last line is a strong contender for Understatement of the Year.

Of course, the Obama kids go to private school, both in D.C. and before that, in Chicago. Yes, obama shunned those very same Chicago public schools that his hand-picked Secretary of Education headed. During that time, "most of [the schools recorded] test scores in the bottom 20 to 40 percent compared to the national average."

Do as we say, not as we do...

Part II

Just about every major mainstream media outlet - newspapers, magazines, and television networks - described Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally as "overwhelmingly white."

The kicker is that those media outlets are the journalistic equivalent of white bread.

The media are notoriously "overwhelmingly white." The American Society of Newspaper Editors reported in April 2010 that minorities total only 13.26 percent of newsroom staff, a decline from the previous year. The report found 465 newspapers have no minorities on their full-time staffs, a number that "has been growing since 2006."  

Newspapers aren't alone. The third annual Television Newsroom Management Diversity Census found that "persons of color" only make up 12.6 percent of staff in TV newsrooms. A 2007 survey by the Radio Television Digital News Association found that minorities make up 21.5 percent of the television news workforce - higher than print but still short of the 34.5 percent of the population. Only 10.2 percent of broadcast news directors are minorities.

The pot calling the kettle black...

Hillary Strikes Again

The would-be president and rumored VP candidate in 2012 has snitched out Arizona to the U.N. Human Rights Council because of the controversial S.B. 1070, which allows LEOs to question a person's immigration status when there is reason to ask them about potential legal violations. That, according to Hillary, is equivalent to beating, imprisoning, beheading, and other similar human rights abuses.

What in the world was that dingbat thinking? The U.N. Human Rights Council includes such bastions of human rights as Cuba, Libya, and Red China. According to Hillary, this select group should pillory Arizona because it dares to ask for documentation of people suspected of breaking the law. This is a human rights violation? As opposed to what takes place in those enlightened countries? Oh my aching butt.

And where is obama on all this? Did he approve Hillary's action, or is she off the reservation on this one? Given his penchant for bowing and scraping to other countries, and kicking dirt on this one, I suspect he's (1) pleased with what she did, and (2) ecstatic that she's taking the heat for it.

Geez, I hope she mounts her broom and swoops into the democrap VP nomination in 2012. That would all but guarantee that whoever the republicans nominate would win in a landslide...

There Is A Connection

Paris Hilton Arrested on Drug Charges

Is anyone really surprised?

Does anyone really care?


Mexican Drug Cartel Violence Escalates

A car explodes outside a police station, another outside a television station. A gang is suspected of massacring 72 migrants. A prosecutor investigating those deaths suddenly disappears.

Kidnappings and attacks on government security patrols are rampant...

Drug gangs have terrorized news organizations in northern Mexico, and journalists have been killed and newspaper offices attacked to quiet coverage.

In Tamaulipas, many newspapers and television stations simply have stopped reporting on the violence. The day after the massacre was discovered, local newspapers carried headlines about the new school year.

Meanwhile, the bodies of 14 people were found dumped in various locations around the Pacific Coast resort of Acapulco, while the U.S. State Department issued a new warning for Americans living or traveling in Mexico — particularly in border cities.

The State Department told U.S. diplomats in the northern industrial city of Monterrey to remove their children from the area after a deadly shootout last week in front of the American Foundation School, where many American students are enrolled.

Is anyone really surprised?

Does anyone really care?

Life Was Good

Kid # 1 was at a sleepover.

Kid # 2 was at an out-of-town tennis tournament.

We caught a break from the weather. It went from 100+ degrees with high humidity to the high 80s with low humidity. So I opened a bottle of wine and talked my wife into joining me in the pool.

The sunset was beautiful, the wine was great, romantic music was pouring from the outdoor speakers, and things were progressing nicely.

Then the damn dogs decided it would be fun to join us in the pool. So much for the magic of the moment...

Count Your Blessings

At the beginning of a new school year, the university where I teach has a freshman convocation. It's a fairly typical academic ceremony - boring but sincere speeches exhorting the students to work hard, dare to try new things, spread their wings, blah blah blah. If you've ever sat through a high school or college graduation you've heard the same stuff.

But there is one thing different about these convocations. For the last two years we've had something called a 'common read'. Basically, each incoming freshman class is required to read a selected book. The book is then worked into the classes they take. For example, an English professor might discuss the prose and composition of the book. A history professor might place it into historical context. A sociology professor might talk about the norms and customs of the characters. And so on across all the freshman classes. It's one way to help ensure that all the freshmen share a common experience, and it gives them something to talk about with the new people they meet. All in all, it's worked out well so far, although care must be taken when selecting the book. For example, seveal schools picked obama's book Dreams from my Father (insert your own snarky comment here). 

At our school, the first common read in 2008 was "All But My Life," by Gerda Weissmann Klein. It's the story of a young girl in 1939 Poland who spends six years in a Nazi concentration camp, losing her home, parents, brother, and even the friends she made in the camp. It goes on to chronicle her liberation by American soldiers, including the one who became her husband of 50+ years.

As part of the common read experience, the freshmen were encouraged to write an essay about their response to the book. Based on the essays and subsequent interviews, fifteen were selected to go on an all-expense paid (thanks to the generosity of some fine donors and sponsors - no tax dollars were used) trip to Poland and Germany, visiting the sites mentioned in the book. They met and interviewed Mrs. Klein. At the following year's convocation, they made a slide, picture, and video presentation chronicling their trip and the effect it had on them. The photos of the concentration camp and the description of what took place there really hit home with the audience - the incoming freshmen. It brought home that there is more to life than cell phones and video games - that there is a nasty, brutal world out there. The fact that kids just one year ahead of them actually got to experience it, even if only second-hand, was a real eye-opener.
 
Last year's book was Ishmael Beah's "A Long Way Gone," the autobiographical story of a 12-year old boy from Sierra Leone who became a homeless, wandering refugee at age 12, and who was conscripted into the army at 13 and introduced to a drug-filled life of casual mass slaughter. He was repatriated by UNICEF at 16, engulfed in the war again a year later, and finally ended up in the U.S. It's a truly disturbing account of how easy it is for a normal boy to be transformed into someone addicted to cocaine and killing.

Again, fifteen of our students went to Africa to see things for themselves (they actually went to Ghana, which borders Sierra Leone, because Sierra Leone is still too violent). And again, they made a presentation at this year's convocation. The most touching part was when one student described their experiences at an orphanage. The students spent several days there helping to build a new school. During that time they met and formed attachments with many of the kids, most of them between 4 and 10 years old. As pictures of the orphanage and the kids flashed behind them, this one young man told how the kids clung to him when it was time to leave, crying and wailing. He broke down as he told his story. It's hard to imagine, but over 1000 18-year-olds sat there in total silence, many of them crying as well. There were even a few tears among the faculty.

This year's book is "The Road of Lost Innocence," by Somaly Mam. As a 9-year-old she was sold into sexual slavery in Cambodia. Fifteen freshmen will be selected to travel to Cambodia this year for a close-up (but hopefully not too close) view. I can hardly wait for next year's convocation. I think I'll pack two handkerchiefs instead of one.

The point of all this is not to traumatize the freshmen, but to make them aware of the wider world outside of their currently limited sphere of experience, and to help them realize just how truly blessed they are. Many of them have had a tough life already, but this helps them put that into perspective.

It also does the same for faculty members who think they have problems...

Let Them Eat Lobster

Millions of Americans are unemployed and/or getting by with help from food stamps. Meanwhile, the obamas are chowing down on lobster. (Source here.)

During their July vacation in Maine, obama beelined to "Stewman’s Downtown restaurant where he was served the “Lobster Experience dinner... – lobster, corn and slaw."

Michelle Obama was barely off the plane during her voyage early this month to the Spanish Riviera when, according to the Spanish press, she dived into a feast of sea bass tartare, strawberry gazpacho and sardines, and a main course of lobster with seaweed risotto.

Michelle enjoyed the repast so much that she was right back at it on  August 14 during the Obamas’ two-day Panama City, Fla photo-op vacation. There, at the Firefly restaurant, it was more lobster for Michelle.

During the current 10-day vacation in Martha's Vineyard:

Monday night at The Sweet Life Cafe in Oak Bluffs on the Vineyard it was the lobster pasta appetizer for the president and a surf and turf entrée – the “surf” being a lobster tail – for Mrs. Obama.

Wednesday evening "the president savored some lobster tempura at the trendy State Road Restaurant in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard."

The hypocrite-in-chief fiddles while America burns ...

Two Gems...

... from Patriot Humor

Building Permit

I recently submitted a building permit application for a new house.

It was going to be 100 ft. tall and 400 ft. wide with 9 gun turrets at various heights and windows all over the place and a loud outside entertainment sound system. It would have had parking for 200 cars and I was going to paint it snot green with pink trim.

The City Council told me to forget about it.

So, I sent the application in again, but this time I called it a mosque.

Work starts on Monday.

______________________________________________________


Why are terrorists suicidal?

Wondering why Muslim terrorists are so quick to commit suicide? No Jesus, no Christmas, no television, no cheerleaders, no car races, no football, no soccer, no pork BBQ, no hot dogs, no burgers, no chocolate chip cookies, no lobster, no nachos, no beer nuts, no alcoholic beverages!

Rags for clothes and towels for hats. Constant wailing from the guy next-door because he's sick and there are no doctors. Constant wailing from the guy in the tower. On your knees facing east most of the day. More than one wife. You can't shave. Your wives can't shave. You can't shower to wash off the smell of donkey cooked over burning camel dung. Your bride is picked by someone else. She smells just like your donkey. Then they tell you that when you die it all gets better!

I mean, really, is there a mystery here?

FUD

FUD = Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

FUD is the underlying reason for the economic doldrums we find ourselves in. As George Melloan pointed out in a WSJ editorial yesterday, individuals and businesses are focusing on paying off debt and building cash reserves, for the simple reason that the economic uncertainty level is high. Without the stimulus of business and consumer spending (not government spending - see the second paragraph below), the unemployment rate will remain high. The high unemployment rate serves as a brake on economic growth, which in turn constrains increased hiring. All this results in a vicious circle, or even worse, an economic death spiral.

The Obama administration and Congress have dumped a huge load of highly dubious new legislation on Americans, much of it unread even by the legislators who voted for it. ObamaCare is an attempted federal takeover of a vast and complex industry. No one really knows how much chaos the financial sector "reform" act will generate. Hyperactive zealots in federal bureaucracies such as the Environmental Protection Agency have been unleashed to do silly things like attempt to reduce the planet's supply of carbon dioxide.

A massively expensive federal "stimulus" program failed to stimulate for the easily predictable reason that the money the government spends on its political projects robs the rest of the economy of resources. 

State and local governments are, on the whole, in terrible financial shape, which means that they will likely be shedding employees and adding to the ranks of the unemployed. The only remedy the Democrats have for cutting the deficit is higher taxes, which in a weak economy likely would be counterproductive.

The prevailing sentiment among business leaders ... is that "the politicians and officials who craft and enforce the rules are doing so in a capricious manner that makes long-term planning difficult, if not impossible. They are increasingly distressed by the lack of consistent direction coming from Washington. . . . So they are calling time-outs and heading for the sidelines while they wait for the referees to settle the rules of the game."

In the late 1970s, the last time Americans suffered from manic interventionism from Washington, we had "stagflation," a combination of minimal economic growth and double-digit inflation. It wasn't pretty.

Stagflation was cured by a set of policies that reversed the Keynesian nostrums then in vogue and that are again the core basis for federal economic policy. In the early 1980s, the Fed tightened money, tax rates were cut, economic regulation was pared sharply and an effort was made to curb nondefense spending. It worked quite well, producing 25 years of economic growth. It will be much harder to repair today's damage, but the need to make another try is becoming urgent.

I remember the late '70s. Carter was president. The economy sucked, the Iranians were pushing the U.S. around, and the country's morale was pretty low. Sound familiar?

The cure was electing a president who believed in America, and who inspired the citizens to do the same. Reagan's greatest gift to this country was the elimination of FUD. His clear, simple, and consistent message was that government should get out of the way and let the free market work. While his actions didn't always match his words (he was, after all, a politician) regulations were loosened and taxes were cut. The economy grew and employment increased, a lesson that seems to be lost on the current administration. 

Much Better

The vacationer-in-chief has been forced indoors by the rain, curtailing his golf-outing-per-day plans. However, the Resourceful One lives to make lemonade out of lemons, so during his enforced hiatus from the links he has huddled with his Golf Czar to revise the rules of golf.

This is only a preview as the complete rule book is being rewritten now. Here are a few basic changes.

Golfers with handicaps:
- below 10 will have their green fees increased by 35%.
- between 11 and 18 will see no increase in green fees.
- above 18 will get a check each time they play.

The dollar amount placed in bets will be as follows:
-for handicaps below 10, an additional $10.
-between 11 and 18, no additional amount.
-above 18, you will receive the total amount in the pot even if you do not play.

The term "gimme" will be changed to "entitlement" and will be used as follows:
-handicaps below 10, no entitlements.
-handicaps between 11 and 18, entitlements for putter length putts inside the leather.
-handicaps above 18, if your ball is on green, no need to putt, just pick it up.

These entitlements are intended to bring about fairness and, most importantly, equality in scoring. In addition, a player will be limited to a maximum of one birdie or six pars in any given round. Any excess must be given to those fellow players who have not yet scored a birdie or par. Only after all players have received a birdie or par from the player actually making the birdie or par, can that player begin to count his pars and birdies again. This redistribution of strokes will help ensure equality of outcome.

These new rules are intended to get the game of golf out of the ditch that Bush and the Republicans drove it into.

Golf must be about Fairness. It should have nothing to do with Ability...

Salt in the Wound

My feelings about the Ground Zero mosque, put to music...

On The Road Again

With the start of the new semester I'm back to my weekly commute between Laredo and Boerne (north of San Antonio). Random impressions of the drive south:

The most dominating feature is the heat. It was bad enough in central Texas - around 100 when I left - but it steadily increased the further south I went. By the time I got to Laredo - 200 miles and 3 hours later - it was 106.

Closely allied with the heat was the sun. In central Texas you're aware of the sun. You can feel it when you step from shade to not-shade. But in south Texas the sun literally hits you. It's like a physical impact.

Taken together, it's amazing what a difference a couple of hundred miles makes in terms of heat and sun. It's a whole different environment down here. 

Manifestations of the sun and heat are scattered all over the highway. The most obvious is a profusion of road alligators - mean, ugly, dangerous hunks of rubber that come from shredded tires, mostly from big rigs. Between the economy and the high cost of large truck tires, more truckers are turning to retreads. The retread tire industry swears up and down that their product is not at fault, and that most blowouts occur because of improper tire maintenance. I suspect that it's a combination of retreads and high temperatures, but all I know for sure is that there's plenty of rubber on the road.

There's also a large number of charred spots along the median from small brush fires. I don't know what caused them, but they're plentiful. I feel sorry for the firefighters who have to gear up in this heat to extinguish them. Our local VFD has a brush fire truck - basically a dually pickup with a sprayer mounted on the bumper that is used to help control brush fires - but it still takes boots on the ground to take care of residual hot spots and make sure the fire is out.  

Finally, there are the inevitable overheated vehicles. I used to feel guilty about zooming past folks who needed help, but everyone I saw was talking on a cell phone, so I figured help was on the way.

On the bright side, I noticed a new cafe in the little town of Moore, just a few miles south of Devine (what, you don't know where Devine is?). It caught my eye because of the name - the 401 Kafe. I don't know if the owners used their 401(k) funds to open it, or if they opened it because their 401(k) funds have disappeared, but its a catchy name. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but I hope it works out for them.

Not exactly the thrill of the open road that songwriters are enamored with...

Once More Into The Breech

Once More Into The Breech - Meaning: Let us try again one more time.

This phrase has particular applicability for us teachers, who are beginning a new semester this Monday. It's similar to Samuel Johnson's statement that a second marriage is "a triumph of hope over experience."

As a serial husband, and a serial professor, I'm here to testify that Johnson's comment is true in both cases. But for now we'll constrain ourselves to the new semester.

At the beginning of every semester I think "This time it'll be different. This time students will come to class prepared. This time they'll be enthused about learning. This time no grandmothers will die during the semester."

And each time I'm bitterly disappointed.

Actually, that's a bit of an overstatement. For the most part the students I get at this particular university are pretty good kids. They're bright, they work hard, and they're excited about being in college. But they've been betrayed by a public school system that teaches them to regurgitate facts without understanding their meaning, that graduates students who are incapable of writing a complete sentence, and that utterly fails to teach them how to think. So I and the other faculty spend an inordinate amount of time teaching skills that, in my God-like opinion, the students should already know. It gets terribly frustrating, and we constantly have to battle the temptation to take it out on the kids.

Oh my, I've gone from being hopeful to clinically depressed. I guess I've better have my morning eye-opener before I wander off to class.

Cheers...

Possibly the greatest political ad of our time

.




I don't know much about Ben Quayle, other than he's the son of George H.W. Bush's former VP Dan Quayle, but I've got to give him props for this spot.

Who's In Charge Here?

It boggles the mind that whoever is in charge - obama, or his staffers - could be so, I don't know, incompetent? Naive? Clueless? All of the above? to have so mangled his image and message over the last couple of weeks.

It all began with Michelle "let 'em eat cake" Obama taking a lavish, $80,000 per day (taxpayer funded, of course) vacation in Spain. She even managed to piss off the Spaniards.

"In Spain too the anger was palpable as the US President's wife had a Spanish beach at the Villa Padierna Hotel in Marbella closed so that she, her daughter and their entourage could go for a swim." 

Then obama and his family jetted off to Florida for a quick dip in the almost-Gulf.

"Obama and his daughter Sasha took the plunge off Alligator Point in St Andrews Bay, next door to Panama City. It is primarily a freshwater bay, fed mostly by adjoining creeks and springs. It is more of a small lagoon, protected by sea beds and salt marshes, so it really isn't part of the Gulf..."

Shortly afterward, during a dinner celebrating the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, obama proclaimed his support for the abominable mosque at Ground Zero. His timing was perfect.

"The president's statement puts him once again at the center of a cultural clash just as his party enters the final stretch of a difficult congressional campaign." 

Following that masterful political move, obama and his clan skedaddled off to Martha's Vineyard for a well-earned ten day vacation.   

"In the first full day of a Martha's Vineyard vacation, President Barack Obama set aside some of the cares of office Friday...

Despite regular briefings on intelligence and other matters, the president was hoping for a stay dominated by downtime — from drowsing at the beach to stops at trademark ice cream shops.

And plenty of golf. Three hours after his bookstore visit, Obama was at Vineyard Golf Club, teeing off..."

As I mentioned before, I don't begrudge the prez a little R&R. It is, after all, a tough job. But this guy carries it to an extreme. And who's in charge of image management? All this is being played out against a backdrop of a stagnant (at best) economy and rising job losses. Other presidents at least pretended to share our pain.

During the first oil embargo Jimmy Carter donned a sweater and turned down the thermostat.

George Bush gave up golf while the troops were in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Granted, Carter's  and Bush's 'sacrifices' were mostly symbolic, but they at least showed some awareness of the value of symbolism. obama and his handlers seem totally oblivious to the chasm between the first family's carefree jaunts into various laps of luxury and the distressing economic reality in which many Americans are mired. Just a little sensitivity would go a long way. For example, obama could announce that he will forgo vacations until the unemployment rate drops below 8 %. (Not to worry, obama fans, he could still take extended weekends off. That wouldn't be a 'real' vacation. And it would only be for the next 2+ years, until the 2012 presidential election.)

I just don't get it. Has obama given up on a second term already? Is he throwing in the towel and just enjoying the perks while it lasts? Is he so egotistical as to believe he can get re-elected in spite of all these shenanigans? Or is it, as Ed Lasky suggests, simply hypocrisy?

"The hypocrisy is glaring and plays into the perception of the "Do As I Say, Not as I Do" problems that many liberals have (the Gore/Edwards addiction to big, energy absorbing and carbon spewing lifestyles; Nancy Pelosi's penchant for private planes, paid for by us, etc.)."

A President has his priorities, after all.

Que?

My family and I live in a small town in central Texas. I am a professor at Big State University (Satellite Campus) in a Texas-Mexico border town. During the regular school year (late Aug. - May) I teach three days a week in Border Town.

It's about a three hour drive (one way) between Small Town and Border Town. To make the commute manageable, I have a one-bedroom apartment in Border Town. During the summer, I stay in Small Town.

Over that period, I instruct the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to forward my mail from Border Town to Small Town (about the only mail I get is utility bills and rent reminders - for some unexplainable reason I can't get these sent to my permanent Small Town address).

Today I returned to Border Town to prepare for the Fall 2010 semester. As a matter of routine I checked my apartment mailbox. The USPS is usually pretty good about forwarding mail, so the only thing in the mailbox was a letter from - you guessed it - the USPS. It was a somewhat tardy confirmation of my forward-mail request.

Aside from it being somewhat late, the only other noteworthy aspect of the letter was the last paragraph:

"If you do not speak English ... please take (this letter) with you to your local post office for assistance."

Do I really need to elaborate...?

Short Takes on Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi's latest foray into never-never land brought to mind a short list of some of her most recent follies that exemplify her absurdity and hypocrisy. 

I refer, of course, to her statement that “there is no question there is a concerted effort to make this (the Ground Zero mosque) a political issue by some. I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded.”

At the same time, she also called for "transparency about who is funding the effort to build this Islamic center."

She went on to say that the mosque’s location is a zoning issue that New Yorkers should work out among themselves.

So if I understand her position(s), both the supporters and opponents of a local issue should be investigated by the federal government. What a masterful piece of leadership. And some people wonder why certain of us view politicians and the government with a jaundiced eye.


Next we have an article from that bastion of objective reporting, the New York Times. Published a few months ago, it praises Her Speakership for ratcheting up the level of ethics in the House. I had a hard time suppressing my gag reflex after the first line - "Let us sing a song about the wonderfulness of Nancy Pelosi" - but I held my nose and read on (pardon the mixed metaphor).

"Pelosi has actually been very good on ethics. Under her watch in the House, earmarks are fewer and more transparent. Travel rules are tighter. She fought for the creation of a new in-house watchdog, the Office of Congressional Ethics..."

Two points:

First, under the category of 'do as I say, not as I do' comes the information that Pelosi evidently doesn't believe the tighter travel rules apply to her.

"Pelosi incurred expenses of some $2.1 million for her use of Air Force jets for travel over a recent two-year period ... "in-flight services" for the House speaker included a list that looked like a dream order for a wild frat party: Maker's Mark whiskey, Courvoisier cognac, Johnny Walker Red scotch, Grey Goose vodka, E&J brandy, Bailey's Irish Crème, Bacardi Light rum, Jim Beam whiskey, Beefeater gin, Dewars scotch, Bombay Sapphire gin, Jack Daniels whiskey and Corona beer."

(Source here.) 


Second, Pelosi's new watchdog panel has been busy shooting democraps in the foot.

"The Office of Congressional Ethics, a new watchdog group set up by Ms. Pelosi in 2009, has eyed at least eight members of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose members have complained that some of those investigations are racially motivated."

Ah, the irony. Charges of racism are being leveled against the left. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Among the most prominent gooses and ganders are, of course, Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters.

"Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel and Maxine Waters, both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, are poised to have House trials on ethics charges right before midterm elections..." 

"If they come to fruition, the trial-like ethics hearings could also drive a dispiriting wedge between Democrats, including the Obama White House, and African-American supporters who, so far, have been the only voting bloc not to waver in their support for the first black president."

I'll pass on the obvious comment about unwavering black support for the first black president (that, of course, is not racist).

The sad part of the ethics charges against Rangel and Waters is that it has nothing to do with racism. There have been - and still are - plenty of crooked congresscritters of all races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Rangel and Waters are being investigated because there's ample evidence of wrongdoing, not because they're black.

Similarly, there have been plenty of incompetent bunglers in the White House. Obama is merely the latest. He's not incompetent because he's black, but because he's, well, incompetent.

In another ironic twist, the charges against Rangel and Waters came around the same time that charges against former Speaker of the House Tom Delay (R. - Tx.) were dropped. Some have speculated that the charges against Delay were politically motivated (gasp!) and played a key role in the Democrat takeover of the House in 2004. What goes around comes around.

Unfortunately, given their track record, I have a nagging suspicion that the Republicans will find a way to screw things up sometime between now and November. What's that old saying - something about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Finally, here's something I heard on Hannity the other day. To paraphrase, no matter how bad things seem, or how down you might get, keep in mind that it could be worse. Somewhere out there is a Mr. Pelosi...


UPDATE: By a happy coincidence, the following appeared in my in-box this morning (Thanks, Bots).

On a Saturday afternoon, in Washington , D. C., an aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the Bishop of the Catholic cathedral in D.C.

He told the Cardinal that Nancy Pelosi would be attending the next day's Mass, and he asked if the Cardinal would kindly point out Pelosi to the congregation and say a few words that would include calling Pelosi a saint.

The Cardinal replied, "No. There are issues of conflict with the Catholic Church over certain of Pelosi's views."

Pelosi's aide then said, "Look. I'll write a check here and now for a donation of $100,000 to your church if you'll just tell the congregation you see Pelosi as a saint."

The Cardinal thought about it and said, "Well, the church can use the money, so I'll work your request into tomorrow's sermon."

As Pelosi's aide promised, House Speaker Pelosi appeared for the Sunday worship and seated herself prominently at the forward left side of the center aisle.

As promised, at the start of his sermon, the Cardinal pointed out that Speaker Pelosi was present.

The Cardinal went on to explain to the congregation, "While Speaker Pelosi's presence is probably an honor to some, the woman is not numbered among my personal favorite personages."

"Some of her most egregious views are contrary to tenets of the Church, and she tends to flip-flop on many other issues.

Nancy Pelosi is a petty, self-absorbed hypocrite, a thumb sucker, and a nit-wit.

Nancy Pelosi is also a serial liar, a cheat, and a thief.

She married for money and is using her wealth to lie to the American people.

She also has a reputation for shirking her Representative obligations both in Washington , and in California.

The woman is simply not to be trusted.

I must say, Nancy Pelosi is the worst example of a Catholic I have ever personally witnessed."

The Cardinal concluded, "But, when compared with Obama and Senators Harry Reid and John Kerry, House Speaker Pelosi is a saint."

Happy Birthday Honey

My wife had a milestone birthday last week (her XXth - and no, that's not roman numerals for 20th). We've reached that point in our relationship where we tell each other what we want for presents, and then pretend to be surprised when we get it. For example, last year for my birthday she gave me a new rifle scope. I'm pretty particular about my scopes, so I gave her all the info and she toddled down to our local gun shop, picked one up, and had it mounted and bore-sighted. I was quite pleased.

I knew her birthday was coming up. I started asking her well in advance what she wanted. All during our vacation I kept pestering her for ideas. I never got a straight answer, so I was forced to take matters into my own hands.

Her birthday was the day after we got back from vacation. I had to go up to Burnet that day, about a two hour drive. On the way back I stopped at the Marble Falls Wal-Mart and got a card and their finest bouquet of roses (hey, nothing but the best for my woman).

A little further down the road in Johnson City I stopped at one of my favorite places - Whittington's General Store. They sell a variety of goodies. Nothing fancy, but a nice assortment of local specialties such as beauty products made from the lavender that's grown around there, salsa, preserves, gourmet coffee, a small selection of trinkets and jewelry, and of course their house specialty - beef jerky. I gathered together a hodgepodge of lotions, coffee, a picture frame, a nice little necklace, and a few packages of jerky. The pleasant saleslady put it all together in a gift bag along with some gaily colored tissue paper. I figured between all that stuff, plus the card and roses, plus a bottle of champagne I had chilling at home, I was golden.

All went well at first. She liked the card, oohed and aahed over the roses, sipped the champagne, and then started looking around expectantly. I brought out the gift bag and her eyes lit up. She liked the lotions and coffee, loved the necklace and picture frame, was okay with the coffee, and then pulled out the jerky. Things went rapidly downhill at that point.

"BEEF JERKY!?!?! It's my XXth birthday and you get me BEEF JERKY!?!?!"

"But honey, I kept asking you what you wanted, and you never told me."

"We've been married long enough that you're supposed to KNOW what I want without asking. And I don't want BEEF JERKY!

"But honey, what about all the other things I got you?"

"They're okay, but you spoiled it by adding BEEF JERKY! What makes you think I wanted BEEF JERKY? I don't even like BEEF FRIGGIN' JERKY!"

At that point I feel back on the advice my father gave me the day we got married. "Son, remember these four sentences. They'll save you a lot of grief."

1. You're absolutely right, dear.
2. It's all my fault.
3. How could I have been so thoughtless.
4. It'll never happen again.

So I dutifully grovelled and opened another bottle of champagne. That calmed her down enough that the dogs came out from behind the couch and the kids ventured back into the room.

Women. Can't live with 'em, and can't leave 'em on the curb when you're done.

* * * * * * * * * *

Actually, she wasn't mad. She was laughing while she ranted about the jerky. It just makes a better story when I tell it like she was upset.

BTW - Whittington's General Store has a program where they will send jerky to our troops. I usually buy a couple of packages for them every time I go there. Click here for more info.