Happy Father's Day, Fathers...

I can't be with my father today, and even if I was with him, most likely he wouldn't know me.  He's suffering from age-related memory loss, and only occasionally recognizes even close family members.

But my memory is still working well, and today I'm remembering some of the many trips he and I took together.  Our destination was always some beautiful part of the U.S.: Mt. Lassen National Park, the Big Sur coastline, the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, Hawai'i, etc.  Searching for interesting and beautiful plants and wildflowers was always part of the plan.  Those trips, usually a week or two long, were nonstop father/son talkathons.  Subjects ranged all over the map, but the ones that I found most interesting were recollections of his WWII experiences, the history of our family, and his perceptions of how the world worked (very different than mine!). 

I cherish those trips, and I am oh so grateful that I was able to find the time and money to take them while he still could.  Through them, I was able to spend many weeks of quality time with my dad while we were both adults, even though we live over 2,000 miles apart.  I've made many bad choices in my life, but the choice to make those trips wasn't one of them...

I know you can't read this, dad, nor would it make sense to you even if you could.  But “Happy Father's Day!” anyway.  Your son is thinking of you today...

Et Tu, West Virginia?

Jared Marcum is a 14 year old eighth grader from West Virginia.  In April, he wore the T-shirt at right to school.  It's an NRA shirt promoting gun rights protection.

He got into an argument with a teacher who didn't like the shirt, was charged with obstructing the education process and obstructing an officer, was arrested and suspended.  That's bad enough, especially when you find out that the officer doesn't even allege that any threats were made.

But now it gets even worse: Jared is facing prosecution, with the possibility of a $500 fine and a year in jail.

This is just plain crazy.  A kid wears a perfectly legal, non-obscene T-shirt to school – and he could end up in jail?  What the hell is happening to my country?!?!  Jared should be celebrated for his willingness to stand up for his beliefs – a quintessentially American behavior – not persecuted.

Suddenly, I hear drums in the distance.  The drums of doom...

Best Two-Word Description of the Federal Government Evah!!

Via the inimitable Mark Steyn, in an excellent post:

Bozo Leviathan

Excellent, Mr. Steyn.  Just...excellent.

On The Iranian Presidential Election...

Paul Mirengoff (at PowerLine) has a very short post that sums up my reaction very nicely:

THE LESSER OF SEVERAL EXCREMENTS

The AP reports that Hasan Rowhani has declared the winner of Iran’s presidential vote. Rowhani reportedly gained 50.7 percent of the vote, thereby avoiding a run-off.

AP describes Rowhani as a “moderate cleric.” But I prefer the description provided by an Iranian friend of my wife. She calls Rowhani “shit, power two” (i.e. squared) as opposed to his opponents who are shit, power three or four.

Perfect.

Just When You Think We Must Have Reached Peak Scandal...

...another scandalous shoe drops.  Usually on a Friday afternoon, too, so the media won't pay so much attention.

This Friday's bombshell: the NSA admits that it can listen to phone calls of U.S. citizens without a warrant.  Furthermore, it's easy to arrange: any authorized NSA agent (of which there are thousands) simply decides he or she wants to listen to a call, and they do it.  That's it.

Somewhere, George Orwell is smirking...

Dear NSA...

Zombie sends the NSA an email:

To: doesn’t_matter@you’ll_read_this_regardless_of_the_address.com

From: zombie@z0mbietime.com


Dear NSA,

Constitution Allah Ackbar Tea Party bomb abortion patriot gun IRS Islam dog whistle Obama prayer tax surveillance.

There. Now that I’ve gotten your attention, can we have a chat?

If you have any pull with the American Psychiatric Association, could you please recommend to them that the psychological state formerly known as “paranoia” should be no longer defined as a mental illness? Asylums all across the country are filled with people whose only neurosis is the vague feeling that they are being spied on or followed by unseen powerful enemies. But now we know that everyone is being spied on every time they pick up the phone, buy something, use the Internet, or walk around in public — so it turns out that these “paranoid” patients aren’t delusional after all. It seems rather unfair to lock us them up and classify us them as crazy if our vague feelings of being stalked by the government turned out to be true.

To make sure you get this message, may I also say 9/11 Eric Holder birth certificate Bill Ayers drone Orwell Anonymous leak.

And in conclusion, just in case your algorithm has gotten overloaded, I’d like to not mention my private, personal opinions about the Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Ninth Amendment (and you really don’t want to know what I think about the Sixteenth Amendment). For more information, please read the Fifth Amendment.

Thank you.

— zombie

PS — Tell the IRS that the best times for for my upcoming audit are Tuesdays and Thursdays, but unannounced visits from the EPA, FBI, OSHA or ATF would be more convenient on Monday afternoons or Wednesday mornings. And, needless to say, you can eavesdrop any ol’ time.

I hope the Zombie doesn't mind the copy - no excerpt made any sense.

Quote of the Day...

Sarah Palin, on the U.S. getting involved in the Syrian civil war:

Let Allah sort it out.

Oh, Sarah, please run for some national office. Please?