Monday, May 26, 2014
Patriotic bouquet for Memorial Day...
Dave Carter ...
There were those along the route who waved and shouted, and we waved back and obliged them with the airhorn. But there were those, like Sgt. Chambers and his comrade who understand what Rolling Thunder is about. With their discipline and endurance, their dedication and love for their brothers and sisters in arms, these men give the rest of us hope. Their solemn and silent vigil speaks more eloquently of sacrifice and devotion than all the combined windy speeches of all the silver-tongued jackasses seated at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.Amen, Dave. Amen...
Let me hear no more about the virtues of “public service” from people who enter office as meager citizens only to emerge years later rich as potentates. One doesn’t serve by enriching oneself while confiscating the citizen’s earnings and suffocating commerce in a regulatory chokehold. Those who didn’t come home and were abandoned by their nation, those who came home in flag-draped coffins, the hundreds of thousands who, each year “ride for those who can no longer speak for themselves,” they know more about real service than the pampered class of condescending elites will ever understand. As long as we have these vets, and like-minded men and women, we still have a fighting chance.
Jake Tapper's twitter feed...
Jake Tapper's twitter feed ... is all about remembering Memorial Day...
If this surprises you...
If this surprises you ... then you haven't been paying attention for, oh, the last 50 years or so. We can cut Zuck a little slack, as he's just over half that age – and probably didn't get much history in school.
The union/Democratic coalition is one of the most dangerous things that's happened to America since its founding. It replaces the Founder's idea of a citizen's government with a thugocratic segment of the economy whose power is very hard to check...
The union/Democratic coalition is one of the most dangerous things that's happened to America since its founding. It replaces the Founder's idea of a citizen's government with a thugocratic segment of the economy whose power is very hard to check...
As fine a Memorial Day poem as I've ever seen...
As fine a Memorial Day poem as I've ever seen... It was written a couple of years ago by Mark Steyn's daughter, then in fifth grade. It's very short, so I'll take the liberty of reproducing it in full:
Daughter Steyn, I suspect you've made your papa very proud...The stars and stripes, red, white, and blue
Wave above our heroes true
It makes us cry, it makes us weep
But in our hearts we will keep
The sacrifice our soldiers gave, they shall not die in vain
For they have given us the freedom they have fought to gain
You don't like it after all...
You don't like it after all... My mom, teary-eyed this Memorial Day morning, passed along this piece. She assumed I'd seen it before, but I haven't. As best I've been able to tell, this started as a letter to the editor of a paper, or was intended to look that way. It ends on a hopeful note, and an assertion of geezer power:
It's a fact that geezers are more likely to vote than any other age group, and it's also a fact that they are the most conservative age group. Let's hope the sentiment in this letter turns out to be for real!The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday. If all of us "old farts" have all of the money, then let us try to elect someone who might be near honest and not be after feathering their own nests.They like to refer to us as senior citizens, old fogies, geezers, and in some cases dinosaurs. Some of us are "Baby Boomers" getting ready to retire. Others have been retired for some time. We walk a little slower these days, and our eyes and hearing are not what they once were. We have worked hard, raised our children, worshipped our God and grown old together. Yes, we are the ones some refer to as being over the hill, and that is probably true. But before writing us off completely, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.In school we studied English, history, math, and science, which enabled us to lead America into the technological age.Most of us remember what outhouses were, many of us with firsthand experience.We remember the days of telephone party-lines, 25-cent gasoline, and milk and ice being delivered to our homes. For those of you who don't know what an icebox is, today they are electric and referred to as refrigerators.A few even remember when cars were started with a crank. Yes, we lived those days.We are probably considered old-fashioned and outdated by many. But there are a few things you need to remember before completely writing us off. We won World War II, fought in Korea and Vietnam. We can quote The Pledge of Allegiance, and know where to place our hand while doing so. We wore the uniform of our country with pride and lost many friends on the battlefield. We didn't fight for the Socialist States of America; we fought for the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." We wore different uniforms but carried the same flag. We know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, America, and America the Beautiful by heart, and you may even see some tears running down our cheeks as we sing. We have lived what many of you have only read in history books and we feel no obligation to apologize to anyone for America.Yes, we are old and slow these days but rest assured, we have at least one good fight left in us. We have loved this country, fought for it, and died for it, and now we are going to save it. It is our country, and nobody is going to take it away from us. We took oaths to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that is an oath we plan to keep. There are those who want to destroy this land we love, but, like our founders, there is no way we are going to remain silent.It was mostly the young people of this nation who elected Obama and the Democratic Congress. You fell for the "Hope and Change," which in reality was nothing but "Hype and Lies."You have tasted socialism and seen evil face to face and have found you don't like it after all. You make a lot of noise, but most are all too interested in their careers or "Climbing the Social Ladder" to be involved in such mundane things as patriotism and voting. Many of those who fell for the "Great Lie" in 2008 are now having buyer's remorse. With all the education we gave you, you didn't have sense enough to see through the lies and instead drank the "Kool-Aid." Now you're paying the price and complaining about it. No jobs, lost mortgages, higher taxes and less freedom.This is what you voted for and this is what you got. We entrusted you with the Torch of Liberty, and you traded it for a paycheck and a fancy house.Well, don't worry youngsters, the Gray-Haired Brigade is here, and in 2014 we are going to take back our nation. We may drive a little slower than you would like, but we get where we're going, and in 2014 we're going to the polls by the millions.This land does not belong to the man in the White House nor to the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It belongs to "We the People," and "We the People" plan to reclaim our land and our freedom. We hope this time you will do a better job of preserving it and passing it along to our grandchildren. So the next time you have the chance to say the Pledge of Allegiance, stand up, put your hand over your heart, honor our country, and thank God for the old geezers of the "Gray-Haired Brigade."
Australia going down the U.S. path?
Australia going down the U.S. path? Reader and friend Simon M. (himself a transplanted Aussie) sends along a link to this article, and some color of his own:
First thing I noticed is that it's well written which makes a nice change. Second thing I noticed is that this is just the kind of thinking that, in part, caused me to move to the U.S.The article is a classic progressive vs. conservative (in U.S. terms) world-view, told from a progressive perspective. In this case, the progressive is complaining about the new (relatively) conservative tilt to the Australian government after the recent elections – though by American standards, it's got a long way to go before they could call it either conservative or small government. But it's a move in the right direction. :)
"Hockey and Abbott have made their choice. They want us to follow further down the US path. They believe that if you want something, you should pay for it yourself. If you can’t afford it then you don’t deserve to have it because you haven’t worked hard enough or tried hard enough."I don't give any points for trying hard but other than that I'm with Hockey and Abbott.
Everything is broken...
Everything is broken... This post on the Internet security problem has been getting a lot of attention. I think it overstates the case just a bit – but only just a bit. The situation really is pretty bad.
On the other hand, one could write similar essays about the disaster that is our highway system (with over 40,000 people killed every year in the U.S. alone), or the union/criminal symbiosis in our big cities, or ... any number of other things. We live our lives surrounded by incipient disasters, and somehow we muddle through. The pattern that repeats across all these things is a simple one: things get worse and worse until it compels action, and then we take action to reduce the problem to a livable level. I'm confident the same thing will happen with Internet security one of these days. The precipitating events may be quite painful, though.
Bruce Schneier articulates the most plausible course to a solution that I've heard: to make the companies that keep our data financially liable for the consequences of the theft or misuse of that data. This is the same general system that makes products relatively safe: if you buy some shoes that cause your feet to turn permanently purple, the manufacturer (and likely the reseller) are liable for damages – you can sue them, and if your cause is just (and your feet a sufficiently bright purple), you'll likely win monetary compensation. That's not true today for security breaches – but if it were true, as Schneier eloquently argues, then we'd start seeing a lot better security being implemented...
On the other hand, one could write similar essays about the disaster that is our highway system (with over 40,000 people killed every year in the U.S. alone), or the union/criminal symbiosis in our big cities, or ... any number of other things. We live our lives surrounded by incipient disasters, and somehow we muddle through. The pattern that repeats across all these things is a simple one: things get worse and worse until it compels action, and then we take action to reduce the problem to a livable level. I'm confident the same thing will happen with Internet security one of these days. The precipitating events may be quite painful, though.
Bruce Schneier articulates the most plausible course to a solution that I've heard: to make the companies that keep our data financially liable for the consequences of the theft or misuse of that data. This is the same general system that makes products relatively safe: if you buy some shoes that cause your feet to turn permanently purple, the manufacturer (and likely the reseller) are liable for damages – you can sue them, and if your cause is just (and your feet a sufficiently bright purple), you'll likely win monetary compensation. That's not true today for security breaches – but if it were true, as Schneier eloquently argues, then we'd start seeing a lot better security being implemented...
Flickering lights on Saturn...
The debt ceiling...
The debt ceiling... Via my card-carrying, pissed-off, ancient-American (and crafty) mom...
The Tea Party candidates gave me some hope in that regard, but they don't seem to be making much progress. Certainly they have nothing even remotely resembling a majority.
This week's UKIP victory in the U.K. gives me some hope – hope that something similar might happen here if the existing situation gets any worse.
ObamaCare gives me some hope – it just might be the rallying cry that gets voters thinking a little more rationally.
But I'm probably just dreaming...
THE DEBT CEILINGThat last line is one that I use often with my apolitical friends. On this issue, as with so many others, the challenge for voters is that there is no realistic choice for a candidate who actually is committed to solving the problem. On this particular issue, the only real solution is to reduce government spending, as only when deficit spending is stopped can we hope to reduce the total debt. The Democrats and Republicans are both totally committed to bigger and bigger government – they know that government largesse is where the votes to elect (and re-elect) them actually come from. So real change is almost impossible to achieve.
Democrats don't understand THE DEBT CEILING.
Republicans don't understand THE DEBT CEILING.
Liberals don't understand THE DEBT CEILING.
NO ONE understands THE DEBT CEILING.
SO - Allow me to explain...
Let's say you come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood. Your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings. What do you think you should do? Raise the ceilings, or pump out the shit?
Your choice is coming in November. Don't miss the opportunity!
The Tea Party candidates gave me some hope in that regard, but they don't seem to be making much progress. Certainly they have nothing even remotely resembling a majority.
This week's UKIP victory in the U.K. gives me some hope – hope that something similar might happen here if the existing situation gets any worse.
ObamaCare gives me some hope – it just might be the rallying cry that gets voters thinking a little more rationally.
But I'm probably just dreaming...
Clever, sometimes disturbing images...
Sunset, just north of Paradise...
Sunset, just north of Paradise... Paradise, Utah, that is. My neighbor Alan L. captured these photos over the past few nights from his yard and gave me permission to share them. I was asleep by the time these glorious sunsets appeared – I'm sorry I missed them! Alan's an avid photographer, and it shows. As always, click to embiggen...
Inside a TL431...
If you're wondering what the “programmable” means, it doesn't mean that you can write code for it. You “program” this part for a particular voltage via external resistors...
Remember...
Some other Memorial Day thoughts:
The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree. — Thomas Campbell
The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem. — Aaron Kilbourn
We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. — Francis A. Walker
It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. — Norman Schwarzkopf
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. — John F. Kennedy
The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children. — William Havard
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time – and your government when it deserves it. — Mark Twain