Eddie Worries About His Investments

I couldn't post
Friday, seein' as how I'm not a pirate and I know of no pirates with my accent. The big news is still the economy. As anyone can plainly see, Eddie T. Dog is worried about his investments. Poor Eddie, look at all those wrinkles.

I am gradually getting somewhat of a handle on this financial mess. Seems that there are two major components of this. The first components is, of course, the insistence that lenders loan large amounts of money to people who had no chance of paying it back. Otherwise it would be racist. Even though most who were caught up in this are white. The main problem seems to be that folks thought that the astronomical housing prices would keep going up, forever. So folks kept borrowing more against their houses. Unfortunately, bubbles burst. When the housing prices started falling those big loans remained. This does not count those who bought houses to flip. Those folks didn't help but there weren't enough of them to cause this mess.

So, that started it. Worse came the idea that they could bunch up millions of dollars of these shaky mortgages and sell them like stock. Now that is not so bad but then other geniuses got the brilliant idea idea of doing this on credit. There is a major difference between FDIC regulated banks and the other entities buying these "investments" on credit.

Now those are things I know. Here is something I wonder. We know that there are a LOT of bazillionaires who are Democrats. We also know that George Soros, one of those bazillionaires, hates Republicans and has no problem hurting people to make money, see his raid on the British Pound. We also know that the Democrats in Congress laughed at that "incompetent" Bush when he tried, through both of his terms, to get Congress to fix Fannie and Freddie.

We know the Donks hate Bush. How much of this mess would have been prevented if the Democrats were not fighting fixing Bush? I suspect a lot, just reading what the Donks are saying in blog comments.

So, is it stupidity or malevolence? Or some combination? The hard thing is convincing Eddie that we will keep buying Milk Bones and Beggin' Strips.

Must Be Nice

I must confess, I am no economic guru, never having much in the way of money to practice on. I mean when I got the only windfall of my life, my family inheritance, I paid off the mortgage and had a rifle rebuilt for accuracy. So, I'm no genius, I admit it.

Still, I seem to be smarter than the big time Democrats. Why did they put Jamie Gorelick up as vice chair of Fannie Mae? Just what made her worth twenty-six million dollars in bonuses?

Let's look,she set up "the wall" that made it much more difficult to figure out that a bunch of Arabs who wanted to learn to fly, but not land, were up to no good. Great, lets give her authority over a trillion dollar industry! This is, it seems, smart when you are a big time Democrat.

It's not that I don't believe in second chances but still, this is a little much. Screw up law enforcement, then get put on the commission studying the results of that screw up as happened to our Jamie. Set up "the wall". Then when we got the 9/11 attacks she gets put on the commission asking how that happened. Um, shouldn't she have been in front of that commission, under oath? Oh, right, she is a Democrat.

I am counting the days before Gorelick is on the commission studying what went wrong with Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. Just wait. This whole stinking Democrat mess will be found to be all the fault of George Bush. After all, it was Democrats writing the rules to say lend a bazillion dollars to folks with no possible way to pay back those loans. Stupid Republicans like me paid off our mortages.

Still, somebody tell me, using small words please because I'm not smart enough to be a Democrat, just what did Gorelick do to earn those twenty-six million dollars in bonuses? Or did she learn something about a lot of big time politicians while working in the Justice Department, ensuring vast riches for the rest of her life?

From here it looks like a pretty good deal. Anything you mess up, blame on Bush. Meanwhile take your millions and bleat loudly about the little people. After all, the little people get to pay for it all.

Missed Me

The big storm of '08 missed me, for which I am thankful. We got some heavy rain, the wind blew some and then it was over. No damage, the trees didn't lose limbs and I did not get to see Oz. Or even Oklahoma. My community is still not organized, though. My cheap plastic deck furniture didn't even blow away. I wonder how that .is possible, I would think that without a community organizer sitting on it, it'd be gone.

Speaking of needing to be organized, the people who ignored the mandatory evacuation order down in Galveston are complaining that government isn't helping them enough. Seems to me that they ought to get a big fat bill for every drop of water, every bite of food they get. Then a big ol' "in the way" bill for slowing down the actual recovery effort. It just stands to reason that every man-hour spent on taking care of those yahoos is a man-hour that could be spent on clearing roads, restoring power, etc.

I wonder how many votes McCain got by showing up at the NASCAR race in Louden, New Hampshire today? I wonder how all those people managed to get to the track without being organized?


I have a question. Folks keep talking about the Bradley Effect. Seems there was a Democrat named Bradley who was ahead in the polls for an election for Governor out in California. He lost. Ever since then we have been plagued with The Bradley Effect. Trouble is, there hasn't been an election since Truman where the polls did not overcount the Democrats in their samples. My lord, they had Mondale ahead of Reagan at one point! And there has never been a candidate whiter than Mondale. So, why is there a Bradley Effect and not a more general "we overcounted the Donks" effect? Remember Kerry? The polls had him beating Bush.

How come there was no Steele Effect? I reckon that these "effect" things are only for Democrats. So, if we don't vote for the Democrat we are racists. Democrats, though, they get to call black Republicans vile names.

Oh well, time to start mowing.

So Far, So Good

So I got up and the weather hadn't really hit, I'd woke up a couple of times after daylight to some light rain but nothing important. So I got up and had a cup of coffee, Linda Lou was on the intertubes downloading dog pictures so I turned on the weather channel. Bemember now, I live in northeast Texas where Ike was barrelin' up the road with me right in his sights. So, the Weather Channel was talking about Ike all right, about the horrible danger that Chicago was facing.

Now I realize that eventually the weather will get to Chicago but I was kind of hoping that I would get something about whether I should run from the weather. No, they were worried because there are some 184 basements flooded a thousand miles from the storm. So, I had recorded Open Range on the DVR a while back and haven't watched it because it's a three hour movie. So I watched Duval and Costner shoot up a bunch of bad guys.

The weather finally hit, during the movie and it got real rainy and windy. I haven't turned the weather channel back on, though. I'm not worried about Chicaco, they are organized up there. After all, they had Obama. How could anything bad happen to Chicago, after all, Jesus was a community organizer, just like Obama. So, how come the weather channel had to tell me about flooded basements up there instead of the storm right here? And I haven't studied on it too hard but there are no community organizers in the Wills Point or Quinlan phone books. I'm pretty sure that Jesus still cares though. Of course we have very few basements down here for the weather channel folks to worry about.

The bad news is that the dogs really want out, even with the weather. Well, that and the sorry fact that we have no community organizers.

Still Waiting

Ike has hit the coast now, I'm waiting for some reports, we probably won't have real news until morning.

I'm also waiting on something else. For most of the last eight years I've been told how much smarter Democrats are than us dumb Republicans. After all, Gore was, on no evidence at all, smarter than Bush. I know this because Democrats told me, several times a day. Then John "can I get me a huntin' license here" Kerry was so much smarter than Bush. I know this because Democrats told me, several times a day.

Now I'm told how smart Obambi is. More than smart, he is a community organizer, just like Jesus! I do wonder, though, how come there are no tales of how much better off the citizens he organized are. I am a fairly engaged guy, I don't watch much television because of my hearing but it is a very rare day when I'm not on the Internet for at least six or eight hours. Somehow, though, there are no reports of Chicago being so wonderful.

I hear various numbers for that Annenberg Challenge thing, mostly in the range of a hundred and fifty million dollars spent to improve education in Chicago. Now I am, apparently, not smart enough to be a Democrat but that seems to be a lot of money. Yet there are no reports of any improvement. Down here in Texas we didn't get that sort of money but our schools have improved a little, with the Teachers Unions fighting it every step of the way.

The latest thing proving how smart Democrats are is this ad by Obambi stating that McCain can't use E-mail because he is old and all. Obambi is just so smart! Why he's so smart he can't be bothered looking at Google for a few minutes and seeing the news articles from back in 2000 that McCain can't work a keyboard because of the way he North Vietnamese broke him up.

This is the smart guy. This is the guy that says that running his campaign proves he has the experience to lead the free world. The same guy that wants to get Hillary to attack Governor Palin because she is mean to him. After all,she is only a Governor, like Pontius Pilate while he was a community organizer like Jesus.

These are the smart people, just ask them. Just don't ask for proof. They'll just tell you how stupid you are.

Batten Down The Hatches

The storm is coming, seems it will get here Saturday. Not that Ike will be a hurricane by the time it gets here, they're forecasting winds of 40m to 50 mph and maybe six-eight inches of rain. We have lots of food, a brand new 50 pound sack of dog food, the gas tank is full and I just filled the propane tank.

Reckon I'm about ready. My only fear is losing the electricity. I wouldn't care, normally, but the freezer is full. Ah well, we lose the power and I'll buy some dry ice at Wally World and fill the ice chest, eat what won't fit. I'm pretty sure my biggest danger is a muddy dog. But, just in case a tornado gets me, somebody tell Army Wife, Toddler Mom to wave at me as I fly over Nebraska.

I was plotting on going to the Shoot this Sunday but it's canceled. The range that Tenhorn Town is built on is that black dirt that is so slick whenever there is so much as a cloud in Oklahoma. Too bad, shooting real black is spectacular in cloudy, rainy weather. Oh well, I'll go the last Saturday of the month, instead. That is a couple more weeks of recovery, anyhow. I'm a little nervous about the shotgun, the revolvers will be fine and the rifle is heavy enough to absorb the recoil of the black powder .45 loads. The shotgun, though, does have a tad of kick, seeing as how I'm shooting an ounce and a quarter of shot and three drams of real black powder. If I would have had a brain in my head I would have loaded up a couple of boxes of lighter loads, say 7/8 of an ounce of shot and two-two and a half drams of powder. Unfortunately all my brass 12 gauge cases were already loaded.

I have nothing to say about 9/11. Everyone else already said it.

I Wish I Could Keep Up.

I cannot keep up with the Left. It is totally against the rules to even talk dirty to a coworker but it is okay for Bill Clinton to have an intern on her knees in the Oval office.

Politician's families are completely off limits, that is why Gore's kid got almost no publicity for that reckless driving thing while the Bush twins got microscopic scrutiny for having a drink.

Now the feminists, who have been screaming for years that ANY choice a women makes with regards to family and career is only the woman's choice, suddenly decide that a woman's place is in the home.

Here is another thing I don't understand. For a long time now the Left has been talking about how Republicans are crooks. So, here is Palin who has actually sent big time Republican politicians to jail. The Left trots out other Republican allies of those in jail to say that they don't like Palin.

One thing for sure, no crooked Democrat will ever complain about Obambi who has never in his life gone against the corruption in Chicago's machine politics. I wonder why the Left doesn't ever think of that when they say how corrupt Palin might be?

Now Obambi is trying to flex his muscles because big bully Palin is being mean to him. What is he going to do? Why he's sending out the sisterhood to attack Palin. Poor obambi, hiding behind Hillary's pantsuit. He's so brave.

Grandchildren, Ours and Political

We spent yesterday at our daughter and son-in-law;s at Josiah's birthday party. Him being two he didn't quite understand, but he liked the cake and presents. Exactly half (by number, not weight) of our grandkids were there, four boys and the only girl.

There were a couple-three other kids and some parents, mainly it was a mass of kids, maybe nine or ten in all. It gets hard to count kids, unless they're tied down. None of the kids was over six at the most so the energy level was way up there. If we could have hooked them up to some kind of generator we could power a medium sized city.

The top picture is the birthday boy, Josiah. Next down is his big brother, William. The next two down are Michael and Jeniffer's two, MJ and Alexandra. The bottom two pics are granny and gramps with our newest grandchild, Karson.

We may not have much money but we've got handsome grandchildren.

There is another grandchild in the news today, Sarah Palin's daughter seems to be pregnant. The Left is ecstatic, they just KNOW that all the Christians will turn against the McCain/Palin ticket. Just exactly like everyone was going to vote against the Bush/Cheney ticket because one of Cheney's kids is a thespian or something.

The Left must know no Christians. So, Bristol Palin seems to be pregnant and will get married. We are all supposed to reject the ticket because a teenager made a mistake. Sorry. We'd rather it didn't happen but it isn't our business. Bristol isn't running for anything. The family seems to be doing the right thing.

The gleeful Left should look at those bumper stickers we see, the ones that say: "Christians Aren't Perfect, Just Forgiven." The Left would have us believe that if a Christian sins they put them in front of the congregation, tear the cover off the Bible and drum them out of the church. Sorry, that's not how it works, even the Catholics hardly ever excommunicate anyone anymore. Lucky for Ted Kennedy.

Oddly, the only big Lefty with any sense in this is Obama. Perhaps because his mother got pregnant early, perhaps because he is the father of daughters or maybe he's just smarter that the folks at Daily Koz and DU.

It wasn't very long ago that 17 was a common age for a young women to be married and a mother. Look at some of those old family Bibles, look at some old genealogy records. In the 1800s lots of girls got married at fourteen. We marry later now, young people's hormones haven't changed.

More Thoughts On Palin

I have been thinking about the Palin pick for VP. We know that the left is hysterical about it. Since they have been hysterical for nearly eight years I'm not too worried about that. Still, it is amusing to see the depths to which they've sunk. To assert, with no evidence at all, that the youngest child belongs instead to her daughter. Fine if there were ANY evidence. Without, though, simply disgusting.

The frantic searching for a pic of Governor Palin in a bikini? OMG! Republicans won't vote for someone who swims! Yeah, right. But Peter, it's the taking off of some clothes! Earth to the left. Just how do y'all think we manage to have so many more children than you? Just because we mostly prefer that we get naked without a huge audience doesn't mean we don't LIKE naked.

The latest is some kind of rumor that their oldest child was conceived before they were married. Um, if true, even the most ardent Christian will say they might have made a mistake but they did the right thing afterward. And very well. The left is grasping at straws.

Thing is, I'm not much interested in the left. They're like seagulls, they fly in, make a lot of noise, flap their wings and poop all over everything and then leave.

I'm watching certain people in the conservative movement. Krauthammer hates the pick. I wonder how many elections Krauthammer has won? I have yet to see anyone important who has actually worked in elections in the Republican Party who isn't cheering. Well, except Hagel.

The Republican Party is a collection of factions, just as are the Democrats. There were a lot of those factions that flat out do not like the McCain pick. John McCain had a lot of people voting for him in the Primaries that will never vote for him in the general. He had the media tooting his horn only to turn on him the minute he clinched the nomination.

Let's look at some of the major factions in the Republican Party and how they look at McCain and now Palin. The country club Republicans like McCain. This is important because they have the money. Not as much as the Democrats but enough to where they are important. Without money nobody wins. This crowd either doesn't care about Palin or likes or dislikes her mildly, her effect is fairly neutral.

The Christian or Religious Right that everyone in the media loves to hate so much is a very important faction, they are the ones that work the phone banks and walk the precincts. They were lukewarm on McCain. The media were, as usual, saying that the Christians were going to vote for the Democrat this time. Fat chance but they were NOT going to be out walking precincts and manning phones. The RR crowd is REALLY excited about Palin. Unless one has actually won a few elections on the Republican side one has no idea how important this is.

The Paleoconservatives aren't happy about McCain. I don't know how they feel about Palin. I don't think there are enough of them to matter much, anymore. Pat Buchanan was their high water mark in the last fifty years and he never won an election to dogcatcher.

The Second Amendment crowd just barely tolerates McCain. That is another bunch that simply will not vote for Obambi but weren't going to get out and work for McCain. The 2A bunch lurves them some Palin, though. What's not to like, a moose huntin', commercial fishing Alaskan life member of the NRA? Governor Palin will not be saying, in front of reporters "can I get me a huntin' license here?" A la John Kerry.

The fiscal conservatives already liked McCain, Palin is just more for them.

The clean government types? They already like McCain, Palin is even better. Palin has a record of fighting corruption in her own Party.

The hawks? McCain has a son serving in Iraq, Palin's oldest is on his way there next month.

The last major faction is the (small l) libertarian wing of the Party. Now nobody with any libertarian leanings at all really trusts McCain. Alaska politics is libertarian. People in Alaska mostly want to be left alone. Otherwise why live where there are two seasons, winter and mosquito?

Personally I believe McCain just won the election. He pulled almost all of the competing factions of the Party with this choice. Not only that, she isn't a lawyer!

This Election Might Just Be Fun, After All

It is no secret that I haven't been real revved up about this election. I won't vote the Donk ticket for a full up Brinks Truck. Nor does it help them that the only reason I won't vote for that ticket is my racism. Um, that isn't it and them saying so just angers me. Nor have I not forgotten how the left treats people like Clarence Thomas, Michael Steele and Michelle Malkin. Just who, exactly, told the left that they are the only ones who are allowed to tell folks how to think? Most of us think on our own quite nicely, thank you.

I am also tired of the left constantly saying that I'm stupid just because I don't agree with them. Um, I may not always be the smartest guy in the county but I remember the scores I got on the tests when I enlisted, as a matter of fact they made me take them twice because they thought I might have cheated. So they put me in a room with nobody but an NCO and I took the tests again. Scored two points higher, too. So, stop telling me I'm stupid because I don't agree with you, chances are I'm a bit smarter. Not that how smart I am is a big issue but from what I've seen, you guys aren't real bright. I mean Al Gore? You guys take advice from Al Gore and say that WE are dumb?

I am not real happy with the way you guys are trying to bully folks like that radio guy, Milt Rosenberg, up in Chicago. You lefties might not understand this but Americans don't like bullies. So,you don't like Stanley Kurtz. Try refuting his points, don't try shutting down the station.

Oh, and whats with this "Accountable America" outfit sending threatening letters to Republican donors? Every election there are Democrats caught breaking election laws and every election Democrats say that the Republicans are stealing the election.

Still, I was thinking about leaving the top spot on my ballot blank. I simply didn't know if I had a clothespin large enough to hold my nose closed while voting for McCain. I just still am not happy that Democrats and independents got to pick my Party's nominee.

Palin is a great choice. The Donks are bleating that she has no executive experience. Her experience as a small town mayor beats both Obama and Biden hollow. Much less Governor. Obama has done what, exactly? What ARE his accomplishments? Well, he got Tony Rezko a bunch of government money. Attaboy, Barry!

Palin is what the Donks want us to think they are. A working class women who did good and didn't forget where she came from.

Time For More Dawg Pictures.

There isn't much going on down here this week, the good news is that I haven't seen one minute of whatever they're doing in Denver this week. I did see something interesting, though, in a supermarket parking lot today, my first Obama sticker on a car. It was parked next to an older model small pickup with a McCain sticker. The Obama sticker was on a new-looking Lexus.

The dogs have had no new adventures this week, just the same old thing of eating and sleeping with periodic frenzied barking. The biggest dog news was the spanking Eddie got when he leaped into the back of the van while I was unloading the groceries and marked his territory on the sack with the meat. Thank the Lord that meat is now wrapped in plastic instead of that old fashioned butcher paper. Has there ever been a dog more stubborn than a Pug?

Cochise' Apache Princess Loves Skidboot

I mentioned a while back that I am in Physical Therapy with a sort of famous guy, David. He gave me a DVD of his dog Skidboot and their tricks. This DVD had mostly scenes from David and Skidboot's appearances on Texas Country Reporter, Letterman, Leno and Oprah, as well as the State Fair of Texas and some smaller and foreign shows.

I was surprised that CAP watched Skidboot and Davis so raptly, she has very little interest in TV or critters on TV. She was fascinated in this, though, I think she is in doggie love with Skidboot. I'm not going to say much about the show except that I've never seen a dog that could learn what he did. Take a look at www.skidboot.com for a quick sample. Most of us parents can only wish that our kids behave that well.

I never ask for donations but if any readers have a little something extra, David is a self employed rancher/farrier, in other words he shoes horses. Until his physical therapy is complete his income is pert near nil. If I asked for folks to donate money he'd probably hurt both of us, him hurting himself beating me before he is recovered, and me with his cowboy boots. So, if you have a little something, buy his DVD. It's really worth it.

Update: I do not know why I cannot make this contraption let me do the push the word and get the link, just type in www.skidboot.com into your search engine of choice.

An origional thought and a cold cup of water.

Is the American Left capable of an original thought? I am begining to wonder. I realise that they are smarter than everyone else, they keep telling me that, though I see no evidence.

They certainly seem incapable of differing from each other. We see that thy are unable to defend John Edwards except to bleat, in unison, McCain cheated on his first wife about thirty years ago. Well, yeah, he did. McCain, however admits it and takes full responsibility. The Silky Pony? Not so much.

The latest thing to sweep the Left, though, is this drubbing that Uhbama got handed on Saturday night. First it was "McCain was in his comfort zone" in a church! As if his wing of the Republican Party hasn't been trying to kill off the influence of Christians since Reagan.

Now it's McCain cheated!!!!111!!! It doesn't matter that they were both given the first couple of questions before the shindig at the Brokeback Church, McCain was driving in a Limo instead of being in the "cone of silence". First of all, there was no cone, there was a room with no TV. Cone of silence my tired gray as, er foot. Everyone involved say that McCain and company did not listen to Uhbama's answers, I believe them. If McCain HAD listened, then what? He would have said uh a lot. Can't they just say something like "our guy was tired from his vacation" or "he hit his head body surfing" or something. No, it's all McCain cheated!!!11!!!

The Left is saying that McCain is attacking Uhbama's race. When? The Left had better understand that the vast majority of the Right does not care about Uhbama's skin, we disagree with him politically and we suspect he is none too bright, this has nothing to do with skin color. The attacks on Senator Uhbama on race and religion com from the Left, specifically, Camp Hillary.

Speaking of no original thoughts, why does the whole left constantly harp on McCain's class standing at Annapolis? McCain graduated from the Naval Academy before the Left took over college education. Before any sign of affirmative action, too. Yes, McCain probably would not have got into Canoe U without his Daddy and Granddaddy being Admirals. So, has anyone EVER, before or since, been editor of the Harvard Law Review without publishing a single law article? Has anyone managed to stay and Adjunct Professor without publishing? I don't pay a lot of attention to university politics but last I heard it was still "publish or perish". Funny how that works, I hardly SAW professors in class, they were writing or researching, the classes were mostly grad students. I would submit that a class ranking of 894 of 899 in the class of '57 at Canoe U is probably brighter than wherever Uhbama stood in Harvard "90. After all, you don't get to say uh uh uh in the Naval Academy, you must learn to talk.

What evidence is there that Uhbama is smarter than McCain? While I don't agree with much of McCain's record in Congress, at least he HAS one. Uhbama? So, before the Senate, what did Uhbama do? Well, he didn't seem to do much in the State Legislature. Voted present a lot. Oh, I know! He was a community activist in Chicago! What is the Chicago crime rate again? What is the housing like? It seem the only people Uhbama helped in Chicago were named Obama and Rezko.

I could go on but I do think an original thought and a cold cup of water would kill most Leftists. Besides, I have other things to do. All I know is that as soon as one influential lefty posits a position it becomes against the rules to think differently. Lefties still think that Bush stole Florida, no matter how many times we bring up the truth. Even the New York Times finally had to admit that no matter how the votes were counted, Bush won. But still, Bush stole it. Right, that is why Acorn keeps getting caught trying to fudge voter rolls. Because Acorn is a Republican front group. Everybody knows that!

Thinking About Georgia

I have been casually following this invasion of Georgia. My first question is how on earth we got taken by surprise, again. Let's see, we have the CIA, the DIA, Army Intelligence, Navy Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and yet the Russians moved and prepared two divisions, a bunch of airplanes and a fleet. And we are surprised. Again. Someone tell me again why I pay taxes. We are supposed to have satellites that can tell a women's cup size, they say they can read a license plate. Perhaps the intel pukes could stop looking at cup sizes and notice that TWO DIVISIONS worth of armored vehicles and other rolling stock were prepared and then moved to their jumping off points. Ah well, the Intelligence biz, motto, we bet your life.

I am also sort of curious how long the Russkies can keep all that gear working. Last I looked the Russians could break an iron ball with a rubber mallet. And that is before the Georgians start potting them with some antitank missiles and IEDs. Bear in mind that Georgia's Army probably has some small experience with IEDs, seeing as how they have been serving alongside of us in Iraq.

I also suspect that we can send quite a few ex special ops types, a la Blackwater or one of the other private security firms over there, I'd be surprised if some aren't already there. We probably have a bunch of vets that know a lot about IEDs that bear no love for the Russian Army. With Russia's shrinking population, the raging alcoholism and various other problems, how long can Putin last once the body count goes up?

For that matter, how does Putin plan on supplying that Army once the passes over the Caucasus Mountains get snowed in? Russians can't supply those Divisions by air, again, they aren't that competent. Any bets on how long before the aircraft mechanics show up full of Vodka? How long before the tanks and APCs start breaking from poor maintenance? Again, the average Russian can break an anvil with a feather duster. Why? They don't care. Look at the buildings built after the October Revolution.

And now Putin is talking about nuking Poland. As if. We have a pretty fair amount of people over here with family in Poland, notice all those folks with last names ending in "ski" or "wiscz". I don't care who is President, who controls Congress, America will not allow the Russkies to nuke Poland. Politicians care about being in power, and no American politician could survive allowing the Russians to nuke Poland. Russia's only chance is Democrats preventing us from stopping them.

More Scattershooting.

So, I'm looking through the news and I see where Uh-uh-Uhbama is going to create five million "green" jobs. I reckon he is planning on losing the election then because politicians do not create jobs. Businessmen create jobs and Uhbama wouldn't know a businessman if one bit him on the backside.

I went and had my next follow-up visit with my Ortho Doc today. He claims I am slightly ahead of schedule on my recovery and that I should be shooting within four to six weeks. Good, I'm bored. It isn't just the shoot, one or two days a month although that is something. In addition to the seeing my Pards, there is also the several hours messing with the shootin' irons and the more hours loading the black powder cartridges. Linda Lou will be glad to see me busy.

Speaking of shooting, the Cowboy Action Shooting game lost a champion the other day. China Camp has died. In the world where everyone isn't wearing boots and sixguns he was known as Dennis Ming. A great shot and, more importantly, a genuine nice guy. I only knew him through the CAS websites although he was one of the guys I would have loved to meet in person. My condolences to his family.

I was shopping last payday and was looking in the Brit section of a supermarket at their types of tea, etc. I decided to try a jar of Marmite, I have read of it all my life but had never tried it. The stuff is odd, I do not know how to describe the taste but I kind of like it. It is yeast extract, whatever that is, it's served on buttered toast. I understand there are other things to be done with the stuff, I'm not sure I have that much courage. Next payday I'm going to try something else, either Ty-Phoo tea or maybe some Bovril, whatever that is. Please do not ask why, I am not British-extraction that I know of.

I made a batch of Hummus from Steve H's recipe over at Hog On Ice. I read his recipes and just wish... My Docs beat me with shoes just for reading the recipes. Since I'm well over two hundred pounds now I need to do something and Hummus is supposed to be healthy. The trouble is, we don't have a blender. So I mashed two cans of chickpeas with a fork and then mixed all the other ingredients in with a spoon. It was a pain but the stuff is tasty. Someday I'll get a blender.

No new dog pictures this week. No new grandchildren pics, either.

The Summertime Blues, Ming The Merciless turns Eleven

I haven't been posting much, there is only so much to say about physical therapy and y'all see the same news I do. The bad news about the physical therapy is that it takes our disposable income away. Our insurance takes care of the bill, unfortunately it does not cover the gas. Remember when we drove for pleasure trips? This year we couldn't even drive to see the wildflowers.

So, gas prices have started to inch down since Dubya's repeal of the offshore drilling ban. Naturally then, the Democrats voted to go home for the rest of the summer rather than allowing a vote to agree or disagree with the President. I suspect that prices will increase. Thanks, Pelosi. The Democrats know that there is no way that this "new technology" (that has yet to be invented) will replace oil, coal and nuclear for years. They know they are killing the economy, and probably more than a few Americans. How many poor folks are unable to afford air conditioning right now. We live in a small house and last months electric bill was over three hundred dollars. Lucky thing we have one room closed.

If we had an honest news media ordinary people would know who to blame here. Instead the Democrats will blame Republicans and the media will slavishly repeat those accusations. According to the Donks there are warehouses full of new technology that Republicans won't allow. That is the whisper, anyhow. Funny thing is, if the Donks would only allow nukes there would be a big jump toward solving the problem. Plug in hybrids? With nukes, sure. Hydrogen power? With nukes to provide the power to make the hydrogen the other problems are far more solvable. Most, if not all, of these new "miracle energy sources" require more energy to make than they provide. That is fine, really, the real electric cars are a way off, trucks even further off. Seems the trouble is building batteries strong enough and long lasting enough to move a semi-load of goods around. So far every battery that looks like it can be scaled up is poisonous to us or the environment.

Someone will eventually solve this, until then it's not like they can put a big ol' windmill on top of a truck. Meanwhile that insufferable as, um pr, um person, yeah that is close, person proposes this humongous bill without one drop of new energy and then has the gall to say that Republicans are preventing the poor from gertting power and fuel. If we only had an honest media.

In real news, Ming had her eleventh birthday. I baked the usual corn muffins with lots of cheese and bacon. The dogs pugged out. Ming is the classic Pug. She eats and sleeps and lays on the deck barking at the dogs 'cross thew street. When she can't see them she barks at the air. Then she gets worn out and needs a nap.

There are a couple of interesting things about my physical therapy. One of the other people in therapy with me is kind of famous, he has been on several TV shows with his very well trained dog. This feller really looks like a cowboy, perhaps because he is. Ropin' and everything. There is another gentleman, somewhat older than I, recovering from a serious stroke. Very serious, they are having to teach him how to walk again. I am keeping my big mouth shut about how, in my stroke I never lost walking and the physical terrorists are using me as an example for recovering from a stroke. I hope it's helping, the guy is in quite a bit of pain trying to teach those muscles how to work again.

I don't like to think about how frightening a stroke is. I have been in a few scary situations in my day, nothing was as frightening as not being able to control my body. The PT types are welcome to exaggerate my stroke as needed if it helps this other guy work through this.

Ain't No Cure

Well, we're in high summer now, we are actually getting hundred degree days out here sometimes, in the big city-blob that is the DFW Metroplex, every day. Please don't blame global warming for this, we had these temps when the nutbags were screeching about the coming ice age. The man made climate change idiots still have not explained the vineyards and farms buried under Greenland's glaciers. It must have been Leif Ericsson's SUV. Or the coal fired electric plants that covered the Earth in 1400 AD.


Meanwhile Algore's Lincoln Town Car Limo sits outside the "all you peasants quit using fossil fuels sppech", idling to keep the air conditioner going for the wife and daughter. Thank you Algore. It costs eighty dollars to fill up the tank on our asexual grandparentmobile (thanks, Bou!) but Algore takes two limos and an SUV to lecture me about saving gas. You may insert the long string of invectives here.

I simply am unable to understand these "scientists" being unable to understand that we have been cycling through changes in the climate since before humans learned to walk upright. I mean if I, who got his education, such as it is, courtesy of the Public Library can see this, why can't they? Nor can I understand why politicians have jumped on this bandwagon. This nonsense is destroying our economy. What do Hairy Reid and SanFran Nan think the great unwashed will do when we've lost our homes and jobs and none of those dire predictions have come true? Rope, lamp post, politician. Some assembly required. Can these morons not see that?

I was wandering teh intertubes and saw where Obambi is now going to give his big Berlin speech at the Seigessaule Monument. This thing was built to commemorate the German victories over American allies, Denmark, Austria and France, then moved and made bigger by Adolf Hitler.


I realise that Obambi badly needs to visit with foreign leaders, his foreign policy chops are sadly lacking, I do not understand why he needs to make speeches to huge crowds of people who cannot vote. I don't really think that American voters will be enthused by someone who can get thousands of Germans wetting their pants at once. My father's generation went through that, it turned out rather badly for tens of millions as I recall. Someone should tell Obambi to stay away from Nazi sites. He COULD have scheduled his speech at the Berlin Airlift Monument, a real symbol of American-German friendship. That would have put too much empathise on people who actually have done something in their lives I suppose.

What about Obambi's new civilian national defense corps? Let's see, I keep my Model '92 Winchester clone loaded and ready here at home. I bring it back from a Cowboy Action Shoot and clean the black powder residue off, adjust the sights and load it with my hot smokeless powder, jacketed hollowpoint ammo. So, everything I can see within two hundred odd yards from me is in my control* if it comes to that. Given Obambi's record I am not sure that is what he means, though.

If anyone cares my physical therapy is progressing. I am starting on the strength exercises, as well as the range of motion exercises, now. I am amazed at how weak I've become. I keep having to remind myself that I am no longer nineteen years old.



* Or will be back in my control when my shoulder heals the rest of the way.

Teapots, Torture and Lazy Pugs

I started work with the physical terrorists this week. Three days a week for the next couple of months, plus home exercises. For now I'm spending about an hour and a half, that should increase as the muscles that got cut up heal. Today I'm still only doing range of motion exercises, eventually I'll be going to the strength ones, too. I'm hoping to get back to shooting cowboy action matches by late September or early October.

The work with the PT folks is mostly just boring. They try their best to avoid pain, the only thing is that there is an ache involved afterwards. Ah well, I'm done until Monday so that should fade.

I finally got my teapot, an original Brown Betty. They come in two, four, six and eight cup versions, I chose the six cup in the original brown color. Or, since it's British, colour. I had read some revies and it seems that the eight cup model tends to chip because it is so heavy when full. People tend to bonk it around.

Anyhow, the thing works as advertised, they claim that the shape makes the water swirl around, helping to steep the tea. I must say that I use less tea for the same amount of water to get the same strength. This versus the teabags in the Mister Coffee.

While I was taking those pics I took a couple of pitures of the world's laziest Pug, Eddie. When he was a puppy he like to be rocket dog. Now he seldom runs.

Can We Win A Major War?

Note: I Shall have to use a little mild profanity in this post. If you can not stand that, move on to the dog pictures.

I am wondering if we can win a war. Oh, I know that military for military we are un matched in the world. Trouble is, the political will is no longer there. My father's generation, now called "The Greatest Generation, fought, and won, the war against The Axis. Oddly, the people calling them The Greatest Generation would put them in prison, today.

In the ETO SS troops were seldom taken prisoners. Instead they were shot. Our Army Air Corps, along with the British Royal Air Force, destroyed whole cities. Our B-17s and B-24s flew by day, dropping high explosives, turning buildings into rubble and destroying the water mains. Then came the Brits, by night, dropping incendiary bombs. So may of the water mains were broken that the Fire Departments were helpless and the cities burned.

On the other side of the world the war was even meaner. Once we got word of how the Japanese were treating our POWs we got ugly. In Guadalcanal we managed to kill one of Admiral Tojo's sons. The Marines and Seabees buried him, of course. Then they put a shell casing partially into his grave with a large funnel. Then they put up a sign. "Take a piss on Tojo's Son!" Companies of replacements were marched there and the company would, in turn, piss down the tube.

I wonder what the penalty for that would be today? Since the Marines quit taking prisoners after the Japanese sent word that a group of them wanted to surrender and then ambushed the patrol that went to take that surrender, how many Marines would escape court martial?

It was more than just the Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors, too. The FDR Administration did not fool around with civilians they thought might be disloyal. We all know about the Japanese internment camps. Few, however, know of the hundreds of civilians locked up in mental wards "for the duration". Seems that FDR's Attorney General had discovered that there was no Habeous Corpus for mental patients. That law has since changed, of course. But back then, there was no appeal.

Today, of course, we don't do such things. At this point I am not sure that we should. Thing is, we may need to in the future and I do not think we can.

I also wonder how it is that the alQueda bigwigs can sit in Pakistan and how scumbags can cross borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan to kill our troops. How is it that Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia can send scumbags to kill our troops, plus thousands of civilians in Iraq. Yet we do nothing. Let's step back again to the WW2 generation.

Just before WW2 was the Spanish Civil War. Franco won that war, in no small part because of the help from Germany and Italy. Franco actually sent a small amount of troops to the Russian Front once WW2 started. Hitler and Il Duce wanted more, though. They wanted Franco to close the Straits of Gibraltar. Franco refused for fear of what the Allies would do, and the Allies would have. Does anyone believe than Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill would have allowed such things as we do today? Would one brick stand on another in Tehran or Damascus? Would the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia not be causing a world wide rope shortage as they hanged? Ah, we'd probably have shot them due to the shortage of wood to build gallows. Would not Islamabad be a smoking hole?

I did believe that George Bush was right to try to let Iraq become a democracy. I still believe that. What I do not believe is allowing those other clowns to interfere. Pakistan has nukes but no quick way to get them here. Iran does not have nukes, yet. Syria has nothing but a bunch of ill-armed clowns that cannot stop the Israelis, much less us. Why did we not send a few cruise missiles to the larger cities in those countries in 2004? We could have loaded the first salvo with stink bombs and itching powder with a sweet note about what the next batch would carry. This short guy in Tehran with the ugly suit may be eager to become a martyr. I do not think his bosses are. What would happen over there if they were all scratching and holding their noses while reading about the next time they glow in the dark?

I am not an expert on international relations. I have dealt with my share of bullies. The bosses of these Jihadis make a lot of noise about loving death. Then they dress like women when the US Marine Corps of Army get close. Why is that? Why do they have to find the mentally retarded, the Down's Syndrome patients, children to wear those bomb belts? If they love death so much, why are they hiding?

The military has the courage to end this fight. They certainly have the weapons. We can destroy anyone and anything in this world. What is lacking is the political will. Too many in our political and chattering class (but I repeat myself) care far more about what "the world" thinks of them than about the safety of my grandchildren.

An entire political party has swung to that way of thinking. I do not know why. The Democrats of my parent's generation elected FDR. He was ruthless enough to do whatever it took to achieve victory. The Democrats of my generation elected Jack Murtha, a man ruthless enough to tell any lie to achieve defeat.

Harry Truman dropped the bomb. Bill Clinton dropped his trousers. Today no one seems to remember that the "extraordinary rendition" programs started well before the 2000 election. Everyone has forgotten the Clinton appointee CIA Director that said Saddam's WMD were a slam dunk.

My war was the first one we lost. We did not lose it on the ground. The North Vietnamese were ready to give up after Tet of '68. Then the American Left called that massive defeat they gained a "victory". The American Left is doing the same thing today.

The question is why. Why have so many become willing to accept defeat? My father's generation was much smaller. I believe the total population was less than 140 million. We put 16 million men (and some women) into uniform. We rationed meat and sugar. We rationed gasoline. We didn't need to ration gas, trouble was the Japanese had taken the rubber plantations of Indonesia and Indochina. FDR rationed gas so so many people wouldn't steal tires. We had plenty of gas, we could not make nearly enough tires and fan belts.

Boy Scouts went from house to house collecting aluminum pots and pans for aircraft production. Women painted black lines down the backs of their legs, all the silk was going into parachutes. This in the age where no woman went out of the house without stockings. There were no new cars made, the auto companies were making tanks and airplanes. The Singer Sewing Machine Company and many others were making rifles and pistols.

What has happened?

The most important difference is a loss of cultural confidence. Too many of us simply do not think our culture and country are worth defending. We see oddities like gays at pro Palestinian rallies. It is odd to see them supporting a crowd that takes gay men to the top of tall (for there) buildings and throw them off. We see feminists supporting the culture of "honor killing". Meanwhile these feminists revile those of us who see no honor in the murder of one's daughter or sister.

We have lost control over our education system. Our children are not taught to honor our past. When I was a boy I was certainly taught of the horror of slavery but I was also taught of the fight against it.

Today our children are taught, and rightfully so, of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott. Why are they not also taught of the thousands of white people driving their friends, co-workers and employees to and from work and home that made that boycott work? Why?

Today our children are only taught of the peaceful Native Americans beset by the rapacious white man. No child is taught that many tribes held slaves, that there were inter-tribal wars long before the coming of the white man and that rape, murder and theft between tribes was as common here as in Europe? Why?

Today our children are taught of the horror of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are not taught of the number of deaths, both American and Japanese, avoided by the fact that we did not have to invade. Why? Today, every August we see American Mayors apologising for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. How come we never hear of Japan apologising for the Death March of Bataan? I remember the veterans who were training for the invasion thanking God for the Atomic Bomb.

In this war we harp on every mistake. In my father's war mistakes happened, the survivors buried their dead and went on. No one fired George Marshall, Ike or Omar Bradley after the breakout at St. Lo was delayed by our bombers getting confused and bombing our own troops in the dust and smoke of the first wave of bombers. No one demanded the resignation of Admiral Nimitz after the planners misjudged the tides at Tarawa leaving Marines to wade a mile through high water. Many of those Marines drowned just by stepping into holes and not being able to get out of their gear quick enough. Many more drowned after getting survivable wounds.

Yet today we have United States Congressmen demanding our Soldiers and Marines be jailed for hoax atrocities. We have Soldiers and Marines with their military careers over after being acquitted of imaginary war crimes.

I do not believe we can win a major war anymore. Too many of us have already surrendered. Nor can I think of what to do. We could hang the faculties of the Universities and most of Hollywood, I suppose, most of one Party and some of the other in Washington. Then, instead of being killed by the Islamists, we could die in prison. What to do? We could not even put a piss tube into Osama's grave anymore.

Bones

It was hot so the dogs got their bones inside. Funny, though, we have yet to hit one hundred degrees F out here this year. I understand Dallas has had a couple of hundred degree days but that is to be expected. All that concrete and asphalt plus a bazillion air conditioners spewing out heat. Thousands of cars stuck in traffic because the Democrats hate roads.

At any rate we usually get into the triple digits in late May or early June. Here it is July. Algore must be flying over in his private jet every day or so, everyplace he goes to warn against global warming gets cold weather, maybe his flyinf over cools things down, too.

Anyhow, the dogs can't read a thermometer, once it's over ninety or so, they want in.

Over the weekend I'll be working on a longish post about today versus the WW2 generation and whether we can actually win a wholesale war.