My Statement...

This is all I'm going to say about Miley Cyrus:

The One Pisses Me Off, Part 827,395...

A few days ago, President Obama made some remarks on Syria that included these:

Now, I have not made a final decision about various actions that might be taken to help enforce that norm. But as I've already said, I have had my military and our team look at a wide range of options. We have consulted with allies. We've consulted with Congress. We've been in conversations with all the interested parties, and in no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground, that would involve a long-term campaign. But we are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act that would help make sure that not only Syria, but others around the world, understand that the international community cares about maintaining this chemical weapons ban and norm.

There's one part of the remarks above that really pisses me off.  It's this part:

...my military...

Last time I checked, that military belonged to the United States of America, not this president (or any other president).

I think that choice of words reveals an essential truth about Obama: his presumption of the status of a monarch.  This is no surprise, certainly – his behavior fairly screams that presumption.  But to have him actually say it in a public context is somehow especially infuriating.  He's openly flaunting his belief that he possesses the unlimited powers of a monarch.

And at the same time, he (lamely) punts the Syrian intervention decision to Congress.

William F. Buckley, Jr. famously said “I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”  I'll paraphrase that slightly and say I'd rather have a President randomly chosen from the Boston phone book than have Obama.

Hell, I'd rather have Biden than Obama...

Prince Rupert's Drop...

I have read about Prince Rupert's Drops, but I had never before seen one demonstrated – especially not at 130,000 frames per second!  If you're interested in science, you'll enjoy this 7 minute mini-documentary...

Life in Space...

We're Doing It Wrong...

Via reader Jim M., who thinks there might be a bit or two of wisdom in here:

I am over 60 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing ass-backwards.

Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 35.

For starters, researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a month, leaving us more than 280,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.

Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep, I'm tired and hungry.' We are bad-tempered and impatient, and maybe letting us kill some asshole that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for a while..

An 18-year-old doesn't even like to get up before 10am. Old guys always get up early to pee, so what the hell. Besides, like I said, I'm tired and can't sleep and since I'm already up, I may as well be up killing some fanatical son-of-a-bitch.

If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.

Boot camp would be easier for old guys.. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at and we're used to soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling.

They could lighten up on the obstacle course however... I've been in combat and never saw a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training.

Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too... I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet.

An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to start a conversation with a pretty girl. He still hasn't figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head.

These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way.

Let us old guys track down those terrorists. The last thing an enemy would want to see is a couple million pissed off old farts with bad attitudes and automatic weapons, who know that their best years are already behind them.

HEY!! How about recruiting Women over 50...in menopause!!! You think MEN have attitudes?? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my God!!! If nothing else, put them on border patrol. They'll have it secured the first night!