I Wish He Was Right

It pains me to write this. Hell, it pains me to even think about it, or acknowledge it internally. That I would entertain such a notion saddens me profoundly. But the fact remains that my first thought upon hearing these remarks was "Who does he think he's kidding?"

I refer to Vice President Joe Biden's comments at a memorial service Saturday for the five military members killed in Chattanooga.

"We have a message for those perverted cowards around the world: America never yields, never bends, never cowers, never stands down. It endures responds and always overcomes. For we are Americans and never never underestimate us. It's always been a bad bad bet to do that..."

I used to believe that. I desperately want to believe that now. But based on the actions of obama and his administration over the past six years, along with the spineless weasels in congress and their enablers in the general population, I no longer believe that America as a whole has the backbone, the fortitude, and the cojones to respond to and overcome 'perverted cowards.'

Oh, sure, there are still plenty of Americans who are willing to stand up and do what is necessary. But our elected 'leaders,' along with a growing segment of the population, endorses grovelling and appeasement when confronted by evil doing its best to destroy this country and everything we stand for.

One only has to look at the barbaric acts committed by ISIS and other 'extremists' in the Middle East, Africa, and around the world. Rapes, beheadings, torture, slavery, genocide - all are endemic and epidemic. And what has America done about it?

Withdraw our forces from the Middle East. Ignore Boko Haram and other terrorists groups in Africa. Turn a blind eye to Russia's aggression in Eastern Europe. Make one-sided deals with Iran. Tiptoe around anything that might be perceived as offensive to muslims.

Why? Because we want to be politically correct? Because we want everyone to like us? Because we are afraid to act?

Or because we no longer have a moral compass that helps us determine right from wrong, and the national will to stand up and proclaim "This stops here!"?

Sadly, I fear it is the latter.

It is a heart-breaking commentary on the state of this once-great nation that such thoughts even cross my mind.

FOD 2015.08.17

Bear with me. This is a somewhat lengthy post, but IMO it covers a critical issue facing the world today.

barry has been running around touting his nuclear deal with Iran as the greatest thing since sliced bread. He employs a classic false dichotomy argument, claiming that the only two options are either accept his deal or go to war with Iran.

“No deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East,” President Obama says.

How is that argument flawed? Let's count the ways.

First, the Iran agreement does not stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. It may slow it down, but in 15 years Tehran is free to do what it wants. For the region, the signal couldn’t be clearer. Iran is going nuclear, if not soon, then at least in 15 years.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey are not going to sit on their hands waiting to see what happens. They will prepare not only for the worst but also the inevitable: a nuclear Iran. It will be only a matter of time before they start developing nuclear capabilities of their own, which will greatly enhance tensions in the region.

The result: More nuclear proliferation and a greater likelihood of war.

Second, the president doesn’t like to say it, but war as a post-deal option has not been taken off the table... Everyone knows the $150 billion windfall to Iran once the sanctions are lifted will be used to foment more terrorism and war.

Remember, it takes two to make peace, but only one to make war. Does anyone really believe that the Death to America crowd will suddenly turn into pacifists as a result of the agreement?

We actually do have fewer good options because of the deal, but that is only because Mr. Obama made it so. He allowed Russia and other countries to weaken the agreement. He failed to appreciate that their security and venal financial interests made them more willing to tolerate a nuclear Iran than we should be.

So when Secretary of State John F. Kerry says there is no good alternative to the deal, he is describing a predicament of his own making. He apparently wants the alternative to be as bad as possible in order to gain congressional approval.

But all he has really done is make it exceedingly difficult to keep sanctions on Iran, all the while unleashing a geopolitical nightmare on the Middle East. Not only is Iran practically guaranteed a nuclear weapon, it will be financially stronger as the new potential hegemon in the region.

The real choice is not between a weak deal and war, which is what Mr. Obama pretends. It is between a nuclear Iran and increased risks of war on one hand, and keeping the existing sanctions in place, which reduces the risk of war, on the other.

Maintaining a strong multilateral sanctions regime runs a far better chance of forcing change on Iran than lifting them. A top French official, Jacques Audibert, has told U.S. lawmakers that a congressional rejection of the deal would strengthen our negotiating position. He’s right.

Tehran ... was facing tremendous internal pressures because of the sanctions, which is why the mullahs wanted them lifted.

Now that pressure will be gone. The regime will be free to repress its people at will and use billions of dollars in sanctions-relief cash to spread mayhem across the Middle East. Worse than that, it can bide its time and break out of the agreement earlier if it wants. Or it can simply wait 15 years, long after Mr. Obama and Mr. Kerry are gone.

The choice between a bad deal and war is a false one. First, it presumes that the deal will stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. It will not. Second, it ignores the increased risk of war caused by the deal. And third, it disregards the importance of strategic patience in dealing with Iran.

There is another, less discussed aspect of the proposed arrangement. There is nothing in the deal to prevent, or even slow down, Iran's development of delivery platforms for their newly-acquired nukes.

Iran has sort-of promised it won’t build nuclear weapons, but even the promise has serious caveats: Iran can continue to build weapons platforms to deliver the non-existent weapons; it can cooperate with friendly countries to acquire enhancements to weapons delivery technology; and it can prevent entry to requested facilities by international inspectors for 24 days per request...

Based on the world’s experience with the efficacy of multinational inspection regimes and with Iran specifically, it would be wise to assume that the Islamic Republic will move (continue?) covertly to build nuclear warheads, perhaps just leaving out the nuclear fuel. Iran will likely begin testing rockets so that they will be able to release a future nuclear weapon securely at the right moment to get the right blast effect.

The rocket is as important as the nuclear weapon it carries.

Nuclear weapons don't go off if they plow into the ground, because as they disintegrate they can't achieve the necessary chain reaction; they must explode above ground at a fixed altitude

Allowing Iran to openly acquire ballistic missile technology can shorten the time from weapons acquisition to weapons use, increasing the relative nervousness of the neighbors -- not a recipe for stability. Israel will have to try to interdict and disrupt Iranian ballistic missile testing on an active and overt basis. Because Israeli is not a signatory to the Iran deal, it can expect to be censured by its allies and everyone else. But Israel will have no choice.

There are additional unintended consequences of the agreement.

The deal increases the chances of direct conventional warfare between Israel and an emboldened and wealthier Iran. It may come as a consequence of Israel’s “interdict and defeat” effort in Syria; too many Iranian missiles in the hands of Hizb’allah; the deployment of Iranian troops in Syria threatening Israel; a firefight in the Golan or southern Lebanon; or conflict on the high seas. The list is a long one.

And Israel is not the only country that views Iran with alarm. Egypt and Saudi Arabia will urgently step up their search for nuclear capability. Egypt has gone down this road before and the Saudis have been leaning on Pakistan for a bomb.  Neither Egypt nor Saudi Arabia is inherently stable, and instability runs different scenarios. Saudi Arabia has IRBM delivery systems and F-15s that can be used to deliver a nuclear weapon. Egypt does not presently have the rockets, but it has a good nuclear science base that it gained in cooperation with different international partners. How viable its nuclear science pool is today is unclear; but in the 1980s Egypt was working with Iraq on the creation of plutonium fuel for weapons (at the Osirak reactor, among other locales) and was partnered with Argentina and perhaps others in building a version of the American Pershing II mobile nuclear missile. It is not unreasonable to think these programs or variants of them will in some way be revived.

Just to make things more complicated, Russia and China have long desired to expand their influence in the region. It is frightfully easy to conjure up scenarios where one or both of them partner with one or more of the countries in the region, greatly enhancing the chances of war. 

In the short term, the Saudis and Egyptians will need to rely on under-the-table relationships with Israel to resist pressure from Iran... Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States will be heavily exposed and at risk for some time.

Unintended consequences threaten European stability as well.

The U.S.-led deal leaves the Islamic Republic on the road to nuclear weapons capability... The cost of this, which we already are seeing, is further diminution of American power and influence in the Middle East as neither our Arab allies nor Israel believe we can protect them. This fuels Russian as well as Iranian ambitions. Europe, which needs oil from the Middle East, can consequently be expected to back away from NATO, encouraging Russian nibbling on the margins of Europe -- Estonia is already panicked. The Atlantic Alliance system and Pax Americana that emerged from the ashes of WWII will collapse.

In the face of that possibility, the U.S. -- whether in this administration or the next -- will find that it cannot stand aside. In some manner, however halting, the United States will have to agree to do what Israel by circumstance is being forced to do, namely move militarily to truncate Iran's nuclear program.

If one subscribes to this view - and I do - then war with Iran is an unavoidable consequence of this flawed agreement, either now or in the future. I for one would rather do it now, while Iran is still weakened by the sanctions, than in the future, when it has had the opportunity to further foment terrorism, strengthen its conventional military power, and quite possibly acquire nuclear weapons.

Doing so would not only address the inevitable now rather than later, it would have the added benefit of restoring some of America's stature lost over the last six years.

Sunday Funnies 2015.08.16

Congress is not in session right now, but I'm still disgusted with it/them. And it's only going to get worse as election time gets closer.

Rules Of Congress

If it's worth fighting for, it's worth fighting dirty for.

Don't lie, cheat or steal...unnecessarily.

There is always one more son of a bitch than you counted on.

An honest answer can get you into a lot of trouble.

The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant.

"NO" is only an interim response.

You can't kill a bad idea.

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you ever tried.

The truth is a variable.

You can agree with any concept or notional future option, in principle, but fight implementation every step of the way.

A promise is not a guarantee.

A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the highway outside Washington, DC.

Nothing was moving.

Suddenly, a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down the window and asks, "What's going on?"

"Terrorists have kidnapped the entire US Congress, and they're asking for a $100 million dollar ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them all in gasoline and set them on fire.

We are going from car to car, collecting donations."

"How much is everyone giving, on an average?" the driver asks.

The man replies, "Roughly a gallon."

Here's a variation of the above joke.

Radio news report: " A group of as yet unidentified armed assailants have taken over the Capital building and are currently holding Congress hostage. The kidnappers are threatening to release congress members one by one until their demands are met."

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'not guilty.'" —Teddy Roosevelt

"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." —John Adams

Why Haven't We Exterminated These Animals?

The latest in a long list of barbaric acts committed by islamists:

Before her death earlier this year, American hostage Kayla Mueller was repeatedly raped by the top leader of ISIS...

Mueller's family confirmed to ABC News that government officials have told them that their daughter, who would have turned 27 today, was the victim of repeated sexual assaults by al-Baghdadi.

"We were told Kayla was tortured, that she was the property of al-Baghdadi. We were told that in June by the government," Kayla's parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, told ABC News today.

Kayla later died in captivity.

Her story, sad and tragic though it may be, is just one more example of the ongoing reign of terror directed by 'islamist extremists' against non-muslims, especially females.

In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.

He bound her hands and gagged her. Then he knelt beside the bed and prostrated himself in prayer before getting on top of her.

The systematic rape of women and girls ... has become deeply enmeshed in the organization and the radical theology of the Islamic State in the year since the group announced it was reviving slavery as an institution.

Gee, maybe if we ban the ISIS flag that will stop the rape and torture. And let's not overlook that slavery thing. Isn't that what triggered all the outrage over the Confederate flag? I don't see similar levels of outrage over the torture, rape, and enslavement of women and girls by ISIS.

Could it be that the PC crowd is fearful of offending muslims?

That seems to be the case, at least based on comments made by Chris Cuomo, CNN talking head.

CNN's Chris Cuomo on Friday fretted that a new report on ISIS and its rape culture would reinforce negative perceptions of Muslims...

Reacting to a front page story on the New York Times, Cuomo played a clip of a woman recounting brutal violence at the hands of ISIS. He then lectured, "This feeds the impression that these Muslims are animals, savages and their faith makes them that way..." (emphasis in original)

I don't know about you, Chris, but I had that impression long before this story.

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2015.08.14

Still hot here. Last night the weather dude said our average high temperature so far this month - AVERAGE - was 100 degrees.

Can't wait for the Godzilla El Nino to kick in...

Cry Havoc And Let Loose The Critters Of War

We may not think about it very often, but animals have long been used in warfare. Horses, of course, have a long and storied history of being used and abused, from medieval times through WWII. Draft animals such as mules and oxen have similarly been around since early man started thrusting pointed sticks into each other. The same goes for dogs.

...humans have been using dogs in warfare since the animals were first domesticated more than 15,000 years ago.

An ancient war dog in battle.

The first actual written record of war dogs comes to use from the ancient Kingdom of Lydia in modern day Turkey. The small empire’s first ruler, Alyattes, reportedly had his soldiers turn packs of dogs loose on Cimmerian troops in a battle sometime around 600 BCE. The Lydian attack dogs were particularly effective against enemy cavalry...

Today, of course, dogs are invaluable to our troops, particularly when it comes to detecting IEDs..

...dogs are far more than furry bomb detectors. They are force multipliers, fierce deterrents, loyal defenders... A dog's nose, which can have hundreds of millions more olfactory receptors than a human's, is so powerful it can distinguish between a wide range of different bomb-making materials and can find large quantities of explosives buried upwards of five feet underground. In 2010, after four years of failed attempts and $19 billion spent, the agency charged with the task of defeating the IED, JIEDDO, announced that the single greatest force in detecting IEDs was indisputably a dog and its handler.

But there have been other, less well known animals employed in times of war. Sticking with the middle east, camels immediately come to mind.

Camels have long taken part in combat operations, most notably in the Middle East and North Africa during both World Wars. They also took part in an improbable experiment that by all accounts failed miserably. In the mid-19th century, the U.S. Army faced the difficult task of hauling supplies across newly acquired lands in the Southwest, where the arid and inhospitable terrain proved too harsh for traditional beasts of burden such as horses and mules. Enter the U.S. Camel Corps, composed of 60-plus camels that were purchased and shipped to America in the 1850s. At first, the camels performed admirably on numerous surveying missions, impressing their military handlers with their strength and ability to survive on little food and water. But trouble soon arose when the dromedaries’ famously irritable and stubborn dispositions started spooking other army animals. Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the Camel Corps was discontinued entirely. Some of its members fell into the hands of private citizens, while others escaped into the wild and traveled as far as Canada—where residents reported seeing feral camels up until the 1930s.

An unlikely duo - elephants and pigs - also highlight an ancient military campaign.

Elephants regularly participated in military campaigns in ancient times, most famously during the Carthaginian general Hannibal’s legendary trek over the Alps in 218 B.C. According to Greek and Roman chroniclers, the giant creatures had one fatal flaw that enemy armies exploited as a countermeasure: The sound of a squealing pig could give even the largest trained elephant a debilitating fright. Pliny the Elder, Aelian and others describe battles in which pigs were lit on fire or swung from the walls of besieged cities, produce piercing cries that scattered advancing elephants.

World War One saw the use of a couple of different animals - one for illumination, one for communication.

One of the most unlikely nonhuman contributions to World War I was made by Lampyris noctiluca, more commonly known as the European glowworm, which emits light through bioluminescence. Huddled in dank, dark trenches, enlisted men and officers alike turned to the incandescent insects for help, collecting them in jars by the thousands. These instant but ephemeral lanterns allowed soldiers to examine intelligence reports, study battle maps or simply read comforting letters from home. According to a 2010 study, just 10 glowworms can provide the same amount of illumination as a modern-day roadway light.

The use of homing pigeons as military messengers dates back to the ancient Greeks and Persians, but it wasn’t until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that birds were used in large-scale intelligence efforts. During both World Wars, the United States and United Kingdom assembled special pigeon service units comprised of tens of thousands of birds. So important were pigeons to the British war effort during World War I that the army issued orders aimed at protecting them; intentionally killing or hurting a homing pigeon could land offenders in prison for six months. More than 16,000 homing pigeons were parachuted into Europe during World War II, including Gustav (formally known as bird NPS.42.31066), who flew more than 150 miles back to England on D-Day to deliver the first official word of the Normandy landings.

Not to be outdone, the U.S. Navy has trained dolphins and sea lions for a variety of tasks, from search and rescue to detecting underwater mines to (allegedly) attacking enemy swimmers.

The program first started in 1960 when the Navy studied Notty, a female Pacific white-sided dolphin. The Navy hoped to study the dolphin's biomechanics and then use its findings for developing faster torpedoes. "But quickly the focus changed to covert training," according to NBC.

Dolphins have seen occasional use during war. In 1970 and 1971, five of the cetaceans guarded an Army ammunition pier in Vietnam's Cam Ranh Bay, providing surveillance to thwart enemy swimmers.

Dolphins were also deployed from Bahrain during the Tanker War, a late phase of the Iran-Iraq war in which the warring neighbors targeted one another's oil vessels (the US got involved in 1987, to protect Kuwaiti oil exports). The dolphins were deployed "to protect the Third Fleet flagship anchored in Manama Harbor" in Bahrain, according to a SPAWAR document shared with Business Insider.

The animals even helped provide security for the Republican National Convention of 1996, which took place at the waterside San Diego Convention Center less than a month after a bombing at the summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Dolphins returned to the Persian Gulf in 2003, to clear mines ahead of coalition vessels during the US-led invasion of Iraq.

... dolphins can also be trained to kill, according to one persistent rumor surrounding the Navy's Marine Mammal Program.

In his memoir on life as a Navy SEAL, Brandon Webb writes about a training exercise in San Diego to evade enemy military dolphins. Trainers used the mammals "to track down enemy divers, outfitting them with a device strapped onto the head that contains a [simulated] compressed gas needle," Webb writes. "Once the dolphin has tracked you down, it butts you; the needle shoots out and pokes you, creating an embolism."

An air or gas bubble injected into a vein or artery can quickly travel into the organs, something that's potentially lethal. Webb sums it up: "Within moments, you're dead."

The US isn't alone in training military dolphins. Starting in 1965, the Soviet Union tried to develop its own dolphin force at a Black Sea port near Sevastopol, in Crimea.

When the USSR collapsed, "ownership was transferred to Ukraine, where it was kept afloat by switching to civilian tasks like working with disabled children," according to a Russian news agency

A bottlenose dolphin named K-Dog leaps out of the water in front of Sergeant Andrew Garrett while training near the USS Gunston Hall in the Persian Gulf on March 18, 2003.

Ukraine is also a leader in training a new war animal - raccoons.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces may soon have new soldiers, and those soldiers will be raccoons.

Reportedly, the animals will be used for combat engineering purposes. The work to train the animals look for mines are already being conducted in the Kharkov region of Ukraine.

In one of the military units of Kharkov, there is a raccoon named Hook. Dog handlers have picked a female for the raccoon - a female raccoon named Alice. After the animals produce offspring, they will be taught to search for explosives.

Goodness knows they are smart and dexterous enough. We have an ongoing battle protecting our birdfeeders, trash cans, gardens, and other items from those fury little bandits.

And let's not forget our ISIS friends. Not satisfied with employing men, women, and children as suicide bombers in their terror campaigns, there are now reports that islamist extremists are deploying jihad chickens.

Depraved jihadis fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq have started using chickens as mobile improvised explosive devices, it has been claimed.

Members of the terror group operating in and around the city of Fallujah are said to be strapping explosive belts to chickens, which are then encouraged to wander into enemy camps.

Once the chickens are successfully within striking distance without having aroused suspicion, the ISIS extremists apparently use remote controls to set off the devices, killing all those close by.

Image of the Islamic State's so-called 'suicide chicken'

It's bad enough that mankind has been waging war against itself since the dawn of time. But it's a downright shame that we have dragged innocent animals into our quarrels.

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Yesterday I asked God for some rain to help cool things off. It wasn't exactly a formal prayer - more along the lines of "Please God send us some rain."

Well, I guess He was in a good mood, because last evening we got a little rain. It wasn't a lot - just enough to settle the dust - but it did drop the temperature from the low 100s to the high 90s. That may not sound like much, but it made a noticeable difference.

Now please excuse me. As long as He is answering prayers I'm going to speak with him about the lottery...  :-)

Give The Devil His Due

Goodness knows I've been highly critical of obama over the years. So it's only fair that I give him an atta-boy when he finally does something right. Of course, in this case it was a no-brainer.

... a bill to name a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 10 after Medal of Honor recipient PFC Milton A. Lee passed the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent Wednesday and was signed into law by President Barack Obama...

The stretch of IH-10 so designated is just outside Boerne, Texas, a small town about 10 miles west of where I live. It will be named the “PFC Milton A. Lee Medal of Honor Memorial Highway.”

On April 26, 1968, PFC Milton A. Lee was killed in combat during the Vietnam War at the age of 19. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House on April 7, 1970, for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.” He is buried at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.  

Shortly after graduating from Harlandale High School, Lee enlisted in the Army in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War. After finishing basic training, Lee went to jump school before being deployed to Vietnam in December that year with the second battalion of the 502nd infantry in the 101st Airborne Division.

Lee served as a radiotelephone operator with the 3rd platoon, Company B. during an intense, surprise hostile attack by North Vietnamese Army fighters. The 3rd platoon maneuvered to a position of cover to treat their wounded and reorganize. Meanwhile, Lee moved through the heavy enemy fire to give lifesaving first aid to his wounded fellow soldiers.

Lee immediately and with great risk to his own personal safety, passed his radio to another soldier and charged through the barrage of fire. Without hesitation he continued his attack, and successfully overran the enemy position, killing all occupants and capturing four automatic weapons and a rocket launcher. Lee continued his one-man assault on another enemy position through a heavy barrage of enemy automatic weapons fire. 

Although wounded, Lee continued to press the attack and crawled forward into a firing position to deliver accurate cover fire for his platoon. This enabled his platoon to maneuver and destroy the position. Not until the position was overrun did Lee falter in his steady volume of fire and succumb to his wounds.

Thoughts, prayers, and gratitude to Milton Lee and his family.

And kudos to barry for doing the right thing. Of course, if PFC Lee had been killed fighting 'islamic extremists' it might have been a different story...

You Know It's Hot

Yesterday's high was 104. Please God send us rain - or at least clouds...

Keeping Up With The Kardashians

Will wonders never cease. A prominent liberal rag media outlet has recognized that hunting - including trophy hunting - actually benefits not only wildlife, but local communities as well.

Outcry for Cecil the Lion Could Undercut Conservation Efforts

Despite intensifying calls to ban or restrict trophy hunting in Africa after the killing of a lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe, most conservation groups, wildlife management experts and African governments support the practice as a way to maintain wildlife. Hunting, they contend, is part of a complex economy that has so far proven to be the most effective method of conservation, not only in Africa but around the world as well.

“There’s only two places on the earth where wildlife at a large scale has actually increased in the 20th century, and those are North America and southern Africa,” said Rosie Cooney, a zoologist who is the chairwoman of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Sustainable Use and Livelihoods Specialist Group. “Both of those models of conservation were built around hunting.”

Along those same lines, during our recent Wyoming trip we got into a 'discussion' about the death of Cecil the lion. The conversation grew a little heated, with the anti-hunting contingent focused on the barbaric and inhumane aspects of Cecil's death. This was early on, when details were still unclear. Suggestions that we wait for more information, or that hunting actually is a sound conservation practice, were met with scorn and derision. A local cowboy put an end to the discussion with the observation that there were other, more important problems in the world than what happened to Cecil.

I was reminded of that comment when I read the following story.

News anchor walks off-air during Kardashian segment

A Florida news anchor with zero interest in keeping up with the Kardashians stormed off the set during a live broadcast — rather than report that Kylie Jenner has a new bunny named Bruce.

“Nobody cares about this family anymore!” anchor John Brown can be heard screaming off camera in the “Good Day Orlando” clip, which aired last Friday.

“... I refuse to talk about the Kardashians!” the anchor seethed as he stood up and walked off set. “You are on your own, Amy. I can’t do it, I’ve had enough Kardashians! I can’t take any more Kardashian stories on this show!”

Kudos to him. With all the problems facing this country we need more people who are informed about the issues, not the antics of some worthless dysfunctional clan that is only famous for being famous.

Random Observations 2015.08.11

Following below, in no particular order, are several news stories that caught my eye today.

This is why I drink.

State of emergency called in Ferguson after gunfire mars protests

Protesters blocked rush-hour traffic in both directions on Interstate 70 near the Blanchette Bridge in Earth City Monday evening.

Aerial footage from a KTVI (Channel 2) helicopter showed lines of protesters joining hands to block the highway as drivers sat in their cars, or got out to watch and wait. Protesters also set out barricades to help block traffic. One driver nosed an SUV through the line of people, with a protester kicking at the vehicle's door as the SUV pushed against protesters.

"One driver nosed an SUV through the line of people..." - nosed, hell. I'd have put the pedal to the metal and run over the SOBs, then sued them for the damage to my vehicle. Protest all you want, but stay the f**k out of my way.

Meanwhile, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger has declared a state of emergency and turned oversight of the Ferguson situation over to County Police Chief Jon Belmar, in the wake of at least three shooting incidents overnight Sunday.

Tell me again about the 'peaceful protesters.'

Earlier in the day, police arrested 57 protesters in St. Louis who were demanding the dissolution of the Ferguson Police Department.

"demanding the dissolution of the Ferguson Police Department" - Drug dealers, muggers, and break-in artists, no doubt.

Shortly before 1 p.m., more than 50 protesters climbed over the barricades that had been set up outside of the courthouse and sat down, locked arms and began singing and chanting.

United States Attorney Richard Callahan said in a statement that 57 people were arrested. He estimated the total number of protesters as being between one and two hundred protesters...

All this crap and publicity for "between one and two hundred protesters"?!? Talk about blowing things out of proportion.

On the other hand, the next two stories downplay what should be trumpeted from the rooftops.

Clinton Signs Court Statement That She's Turned Over Emails

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says in a sworn statement submitted to a federal judge on Monday that she has turned over all emails reflecting official government business.

Like anyone should believe what hillary says, sworn statement or not.

The statement, which carries her signature and was signed under penalty of perjury, echoes past public statements that Clinton has made in the last few months regarding her private email account.

Clinton has said she exchanged about 60,000 emails in her four years in the Obama administration, about half of which were personal and were discarded. She has said she turned over the other half to the State Department.

She's putting a lot of faith into the belief that those deleted emails can't be recovered. Jeez, I hope the tech weenies prove her wrong.

Next is a great example of how the mainstream media spins news stories.

What The Colorado Waste Water Spill Tells Us About Mining Contamination

Scientists grappled with the consequences of a spill of toxic wastewater on Monday, one day after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that an accident had led to 3 million gallons of mining runoff flowing into a river in Colorado used for drinking water. But researchers who study water resources in the region say the spill, while significant on its own, is just the latest example of the much broader problem of water contamination from mining processes.

Personally, I think it's the latest example of how the feds mismanage things and then coverup the mismanagement (see: abuse, IRS; Benghazi, State Dept., etc.) but what do I know.

Finally, we have an ironic but feel-good story that highlights the good that America can, and often does, do.

Marines Help With Typhoon Relief in Saipan

U.S. Marines and sailors have been helping local and federal agencies in Saipan with relief efforts since Aug. 7, after Typhoon Soudelor struck the island Aug. 2-3...

More than 48,000 people live on Saipan, the largest island of the 300-mile archipelago that makes up the Northern Mariana Islands...

Marines and sailors from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the USS Ashland, a forward-deployed amphibious dock landing ship in the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group, have been working since they arrived in Saipan to distribute relief supplies there...

What makes this ironic is the history of the Marines and Saipan.

On June 15, 1944, during the Pacific Campaign of World War II (1939-45), U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of the strategically significant Japanese island of Saipan, with a goal of gaining a crucial air base from which the U.S. could launch its new long-range B-29 bombers directly at Japan’s home islands. Facing fierce Japanese resistance, Americans poured from their landing crafts to establish a beachhead, battle Japanese soldiers inland and force the Japanese army to retreat north. Fighting became especially brutal and prolonged around Mount Tapotchau, Saipan’s highest peak, and Marines gave battle sites in the area names such as “Death Valley” and “Purple Heart Ridge.” When the U.S. finally trapped the Japanese in the northern part of the island, Japanese soldiers launched a massive but futile banzai charge. On July 9, the U.S. flag was raised in victory over Saipan.

And that's just about the last time the U.S. flag was raised in victory.

Sigh...

FOD 2015.08.10

Granted, I just got back from 10 days of vacation. I really needed to get away from the stress of being retired, but then again, I'm not the alleged leader of the free world.

Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard Sojourn Four Times Longer Than Average American Vacation

President Obama will depart the White House with his family for a vacation on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard Friday afternoon, one day earlier than his original scheduled departure date.

The Associated Press reported that the Obama family moved up the date of departure, extending their summer vacation to 17 days, more than four times the length of the average American vacation. In fact, Obama’s summer break is one day longer than the total amount of vacation time the average American worker is allotted for an entire year.

Not only is his vacation longer than the average American, it's also spent in much more posh surroundings.

The first family will reside in the same $12 million mansion in Chilmark that they rented last year. Positioned on 10 acres of land, the 8,100-square-foot home houses seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The estate is enhanced by a dual basketball/tennis court and an infinity pool.

Obama has spent every summer vacation of his presidency on Martha’s Vineyard, save 2012 when he was running for reelection against Mitt Romney. His vacations are typically punctuated by multiple rounds of golf; last year, Obama embarked on a golf outing a mere half-hour after arriving to the island.

Why not? After all, it's not like there are any pressing issues he needs to address...

More Cecil

Here's a few more Cecil-themed images. Enjoy...

Photo Bombs

Still trying to catch up after our vacation, so in lieu of commentary here's a photo essay on miscellaneous topics.

Speaking of our vacation, her's what my wife's luggage looked like after she finished packing.

When we were on vacation we didn't have access to TV, cell phone service, or the Internet. However, we did hear about the controversy regarding the death of Cecil the Lion. Here's another perspective.

I'm sure the above picture will offend someone. After all, we've reached the point where just about anything you say or do is guaranteed to offend some overly sensitive group of thin skinned losers.

So let's just go whole hog and piss off everyone.

Welcome Home?

Got back from vacation in the wee hours of Thurs. night/Fri. morning. Immediately fell into bed and slept the sleep of the righteous until mid-morning Friday. Woke up, stretched, yawned, shuffled off to the kitchen and got the coffee going. Took a nice, leisurely shower and emerged ready to face the day. Little did I know...

Daughter yells downstairs: "Daaady - my sink isn't draining!"

Snaked the sink. Partial victory, but it was still draining slowly. Muttered something along the lines of "darn girls with their makeup and long hair." Told her to let it sit for a while.

Five minutes later: "Daaady - my toilet won't stop running!"

Took a look and discovered that the flapper valve was warped. Quick trip to Home Depot revealed that they don't make that kind of flapper valve anymore. Replacement valves are now bundled with the entire float kit.

Returned home. The wife yells: "Tiiim - the faucet outside is dripping."

Gave up and called a plumber. Turns out the sink is clogged because the air conditioning unit discharges its condensed water, which is full of slime and gunk, into the sink drain. He professionally snaked it and 'gave' us a product to pour down the drain once a month to dissolve the slime and gunk.

He also fixed the dripping faucet, and ordered a 'toilet rebuild' kit, to be installed Monday. I didn't know such a thing existed.

In the meantime, daughter dearest has to use the manual shutoff valve under the toilet every time she goes to stop it from running. Oh the hardship - you would have thought we took away her cell phone, credit card, and car all at once.

Speaking of her car, it had a flat...

... and the air conditioner is making a funny noise.

Sigh - welcome home my ass.

Back Home

We returned home late last night - or more accurately, early this morning - after a wonderful time spent in the Wyoming mountains with close friends and family. I don't know what was more enjoyable: the fresh air and great weather, the riding and outdoor activities, the time spent on cabin porches talking (and debating - invariably accompanied by several adult beverages)... but I guess my favorite memory of the trip is the ranch butt-darts (no, that is not us in the video - and it is SFW) championship held the night before we left.

To everyone's total chagrin, the title was captured by a lovely English lass who had never played before. She had a unique style of gliding across the floor with the quarter firmly clenched between her cheeks, while the rest of us waddled around like a group of inebriated penguins trying to hold back the runs.

The only negative of the entire trip was the presence of a large wildfire a short distance from where we were staying. The Sheep Creek Fire started in a national forest less than ten miles from the ranch. The terrain is extremely rugged, making it difficult for firefighters to access the blaze. Just about the only way to fight it is with airborne assets - helicopters and planes dropping water and retardants, and smokejumpers. Those assets are difficult to deploy quickly, especially when there are so many fires currently burning in CA and elsewhere.

The Sheep Creek Fire in Tongue River Canyon west of Dayton, Wyo., is estimated to be more than 1,000 acres based upon a reconnaissance flight on Monday evening.

Two helicopters, air tankers, smokejumpers, three hand crews, and county engines and dozers are among the resources on the fire.

When we left the fire was less than 10% contained. Flames from the fire were visible during our evening rides. Smoke drifted over the ranch the last few days we were there, making the sky quite hazy. Possible evacuation plans for properties near the fire were being discussed as we left. Hopefully they'll get it under control soon.

That notwithstanding, we had a great time. However, it was nice to sleep in my own bed for a change. Unfortunately, it's just a one night stand. I have to load up the truck this afternoon and help my son move into his new apartment in College Station. He'll be a junior this fall at Texas A&M. It's about a three hour trip there, but add in loading and unloading time, plus the fact that I'm still a little weary from the Wyoming trip, and the result is that I'll be spending the night there before retuning home tomorrow.

Love 'em or hate 'em, but you have to admit the Aggies do a great job of brainwashing indoctrinating instilling school spirit in their students. Both our son and our daughter will be counselors at Fish Camp this year. They have definitely drunk the Kool-Aid.

I'll get around to catching up on the news later. Right now I'm still savoring my vacation high, and I'm in no hurry to get dragged down into the cesspool of politics and current events...

Throw Back Thursday And Open Carry

The Texas state legislature recently passed a contentious bill "allowing Texans with licenses to openly tote their handguns in a hip or shoulder holster."

Needless to say, opponents predicted an immediate return to the days of the Wild Wild West. What they don't realize, however, is just how wild those days really were. Consider, for example, the case of Jack Slade and Jules Beni.

A terror to outlaws, Slade was, by all accounts, a loving husband and loyal friend. But when drunk, he became an uncontrollable, sadistic bully. Joseph Alfred (Jack) Slade came from a respected family in Clinton County, Illinois, served in the 1846-48 Mexican War and came to earn a reputation as a tough man on the frontier.

His story begins in 1858 when the Overland company hired Slade to superintend the Sweetwater Division of the mail line from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Salt Lake City. The division ran from the "Upper Crossing" of the South Platte River to Rocky Ridge on the east slope of the Continental Divide. Stationkeeper at the Upper Crossing was Jules Beni, a sullen bearlike French-Canadian also reputed to be the leader of a band of cutthroats in the vicinity.

The town of Julesburg at the Upper Crossing was founded by Beni, and it had become a rendezvous for traders, Indian-fighters, buffalo hunters, adventurers, bandits and desperadoes who rode into town to divide their loot and squander it riotously. It was Beni's high-handed acts with company livestock and constant feuds arising from them that brought Slade and Beni into open rupture. Jules would not submit to the authority of the division agent and Slade would not brook Jules' interference. Beni had "sequestered" some of the livestock, and Slade recovered it for the company. That brought matters to a crisis.

It was a day in the early spring of '59 when Slade chanced to be at the Upper Crossing station. He, the hired hands and Beni were all in the corral engaged in conversation. After a few moments, Jules walked away from the group and entered his adobe quarters. Slade meanwhile headed for the bunkhouse to get something to eat. As he was about to enter, one of the hands spotted Beni emerging from the adobe with a pistol. "Look out, he's going to shoot!"

Slade, unarmed, turned at the warning and was struck by three shots from Jules' revolver. He staggered but did not fall. With a curse, Beni reached within the open door for a double-barrel shotgun. He fired both charges into Slade's slumping body. "There's an empty crate in the barn. You can bury him in it," Beni said and walked away. But in the dramatic tradition of every Wild West yarn ever spun, witnesses that day claimed a bloody, bullet-torn Jack Slade, breathed through smashed lips and told would-be grave diggers not to bother, that he did not intend to die, but would live to even the score with Beni. And he did.

It came in August of 1861, two years after the shooting scrape. Slade was riding east on the stage from Rocky Ridge to his home at Horse Shoe, some forty miles west of Fort Laramie in present Wyoming. He had heard Jules Beni was driving stock out of Denver and would be crossing the Sweetwater Division. Slade had been told, too, that if Beni saw him first, he likely would be ambushed. So Slade and a small party of Overland hands waited for Beni and in running gunfight shot and wounded him.

...popular history holds that Slade ordered Beni tied to a corral fence and spent the better part of a day drinking and shooting the unfortunate captive to death by degrees. When he satisfied himself that Beni's murderous attack on him had been repaid, he put an end to it with a fatal shot, and in a final act of vengeance cut off the dead man's ears.

Legend has it that Slade strung one of Beni's ears on his watch fob and carried it as a souvenir of his revenge.

After Beni's death, Slade eventually ended up in Virginia City, Idaho Territory, in the spring of '63.

There were problems in that part of the country... A gang of desperadoes had been successful in robbing gold shipments with impunity in the region, and had reached a point at which a Vigilance Committee had been organized to deal with the situation.

They began hanging men suspected of being in league with the gang. And on January 14, 1864, strung up five at once. After the summary executions, the Vigilantes, considering their work accomplished; having freed the territory of highwaymen and murders, established a provisional court to try future offenders by judge and jury.

Jack Slade found himself high on the list of community undesirables. It had become a common occurrence for him to take Virginia City by storm; he and his friends would gallop through its main streets, "shooting and yelling like red devils, firing their revolvers, riding their horses into stores and destroying the goods within," while insulting all who stood in their way. Slade had never been accused of murder or even suspected of robbery in the territory. His lawlessness while drunk and his defiance of civil authority led to the belief that as he had killed men in other places, he would, unless he was checked in his wild career, commit the same deeds in Virginia City.

After one of his all-night carouses had made the town a pandemonium--and presumably he had displayed his now infamous shriveled "Jules' ear" to patrons of the saloons he frequented--a warrant was issued for his arrest on disturbing the peace charges. Slade reacted in expected fashion. He seized the writ, tore it into bits, stamped on it in fury, and set out with a loaded Derringer in search of the judge.

The Vigilance Committee went into emergency session. One of its principal men was John Xavier (X.) Beidler, who in his own career had been a store clerk, prospector, pack train operator, freighter, deputy U.S. marshal, and stagecoach shotgun guard, was known for having backbone, despite being scarcely taller than a rifle. On one occasion in Kansas, Beidler was with a party that chased a gang of border ruffians into a blacksmith shop. For want of lead, the posse loaded a small howitzer with printer's type and fired. Those not killed, he said, "had to pick the type from the bodies of their comrades, and that is the way they first learned to read."

Of Slade, Beidler said, "We communed on many occasions as friends. He was an honest man and did not like a thief, but he was a very dangerous man when drinking." And Slade had been drinking a great deal.

With him on the loose and threatening to shoot the deputy and the judge, Beidler made one last effort to avoid what he knew was coming. He asked Slade's friend, Jim Kiskadden, to take Slade home, that a party of miners was headed for town with the intention of carrying out the Vigilance Committee's order. Slade reluctantly turned his horse around and began riding out, when he spotted his quarry near a store. With a gun in each hand, he began an insulting tirade against the judge, the deputy and the storeowner, P.S. Pfouts, who also was the president of the Vigilantes.

At that moment, the miners hove into view with Captain James Williams, a vigilante, at their head. The sight sobered Slade immediately, his only response: "My god!" Williams informed him he had just one hour to live, and if he had any business to attend to, "he had better do it." Beidler later remarked that if Slade had ridden out when he was told, he would not have been hanged.

A group was sent to find a place of execution, and decided on an empty beef scaffold. A noose was thrown over it and. Beidler said, "When Slade's hour expired?he expired with it." Standing on the boxes beneath the scaffold with the rope around his neck, he pleaded for his life. The crowd responded, "Time's up."

Williams ordered, "Do your duty," and boxes were kicked away, plunging Slade into the abyss of death--for having disturbed the peace of Virginia City. When Virginia Slade, who had been summoned at the ranch some dozen miles distant, rode into the city she discovered to her horror she was too late. Her husband had been removed to a nearby store, his clothing arranged and prepared for burial.

The bereaved widow cursed the town, took her husband's body home in a tin-lined coffin filled, it was said, with a keg of whiskey. She swore he would never be buried in this "damned territory," and shipped the remains to Salt Lake City with instructions for the coffin to be transferred to an eastbound stage for Illinois. By the time the roads cleared and the stage reached Utah, it was mid-July, and Virginia Slade's instructions had become confused. Slade's body was transferred to the Salt Lake City Cemetery and buried in the Stranger's Lot, "to be removed to Illinois in the fall." But no one ever came for Jack Slade. And today his remains--and the whiskey that proved his undoing--still await the stage for Carlisle.

So there you have it. Shootouts (one with a howitzer, no less), lynchings, mutilations, and whiskey-filled caskets. Somehow I doubt that the passage of an open carry law will take us back to those days...

One For The Ladies

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house, and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her, bewildered, and asked, ‘What happened here today?’

She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what I do all day while you're at work?”

“Yes,” was his incredulous reply.

She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it."

Wyoming Trip Update

Just a short note, because the Internet connection is painfully slow.

The vacation is going amazingly well. The trip up here went unbelievably smooth. Both flights were on time. Our luggage arrived when we did. On both flights there was a single mom traveling with an infant seated near us, and both kids slept the entire flight. It's enough to make me worry about the trip home.

The weather has been fabulous - at least for us. The locals are complaining about the heat. Highs in the low 90s, but with low humidity and a pleasant breeze. That's a nice autumn day in Texas.

My only complaint is my horse. He's a big buckskin - well mannered, which is nice, but he has a very rough gait. I feel like someone worked me over with a baseball bat. Knees, hips, back, kidneys, and of course glutes are all sore. But a little ibuprofen and a few cold beers help.

In any event, that's a small price to pay for what has been, so far, a wonderful time. I hope things are going equally well in your lives.

Happy trails!

A Reminder

You wouldn't know it from mainstream media reports, but thousands of U.S. military members remain deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan - not to mention thousands of others stationed in the region to support them.

A friend of ours is a retired Air Force fighter pilot. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, he has three kids who also graduated from the Academy. Two of them are currently deployed to Afghanistan - a son, who is a Forward Air Controller, and a daughter, who is a squadron Maintenance Officer. His third child, a daughter (also a squadron Maintenance Officer), recently returned to the States from her Afghanistan deployment.

My wife and I periodically send care packages to his kids. Nothing fancy - just some snacks and a few books and magazines.

What the troops really appreciate more than the contents is the reminder that folks back home remember them, and support them.

So if you are so inclined, please consider sending your own care package to our servicemen and women.

Here's a couple of links for more information.

Link 1

Link 2

Here's a link to some ideas about what to send.