In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields
--Lt. Col. John McCrae, M.D. (1872-1918)
Royal Canadian Army

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

It is now the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month, at Compiegne...

First, today is Veterans Day

In America, Memorial Day is for the dead, and Veterans Day is for the living. As such, first I wish to give thanks.

I thank all of you, still serving to defend out country; and those of our friends and allies; and those who are fighting to preserve freedom, liberty, justice, and humanity.

Thank you cousin Jesse (USN, '97 - present, UDT, BM1) - Only one thing he ever wanted in life, to be a SEAL. He got his wish, and he's off god knows where doing god knows what; and couldn't be happier.

Thank you cousin Johnathan (USN 2001 - present, AC1C) - dropped out of college after 9/11 to join the Navy, because in his own words, it was the right thing to do for his country.

Thank you cousin Robert (USAF 2004 - present, A1C, CCT) - Followed his brother down to Jax, and at 25, decided to follow me into the Air Force instead.

May god bless you and keep you.

I thank all of you who have served in the past; for the risks you have taken, and the sacrifices you have made.

Thank you Dad (USA '66-'74 SFC) - a 15 year old Irish immigrant with a forged birth certificate; grew up on the streets, but became both a citizen, and a man in the Army. Almost 9 years in, almost all of it in SF, and almost all of that in SEA. By the end he was broken, and he only recently put himself together again. I love you dad.

Thank you uncle Patrick (USN '68-72 GM3) - My fathers brother, who spent most of those years sending steel over the coast of VN.

Thank you uncle Brian (USMC, '79-87 SSgt. USANG '88-92 SFC) - My mothers brother, who fought the war we pretended didn't happen in the phillipines, and then again in the gulf.

Thank you Ben (USA '97 - 2001, Cpl, Inf, Rgr, 3rdBt. 75th rgt.) - Lead the way, then lead his family.

Thank you John, Troy, Tony and Z; Soldier, Sailor, Marine, and Airman respectively.

It was almost fifteen years ago that I first put on my countries uniform, and seven years ago I last took it off. Every day I miss it.

Second, today is Remembrance Day (sometimes known as Armistice day):

This day, we celebrate the moment that the first great war of the last century was ended; in the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, of the year of our lord nineteen hundred and eighteen.

On this day I also give thanks; for those who laid down their lives, and for those who lived; to keep Europe free.

90 years gone, and still every year we mark this day (though in America we reserve Memorial day for our dead, from all wars).

Remembrance day though; it still means something here as Armistice day; and it most certainly still means something around the world.. for now; for as long as the people remember... which I hope shall be always, but I fear shall be for not much longer.

Why is it called poppy day?

Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Russia... and on the other side Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary (and the remains of the holy roman empire), Turkey (and the other ottomans)... an entire generation of young men in Europe were lost to the most futile, worst run war, in modern history.

In four years, 18 million men died (or went missing, which is mostly the same thing), and 22 million men were wounded.

In fact, Europe has never recovered from this greatest of historical mistakes. It was the direct aftermath of world war one that lead to world war two; which created the postmodern European culture that is slowly being destroyed from without and within by self hatred, depression, defeatism, socialism, and Islamic fascism...

But I digress; I was talking about why it is called poppy day.

Flanders is a region of Belgium; where the fighting in the great war was at it's worst, along with Wallonia, and northern France. The worst battles of the war were at Ypres, the Marne, the Somme, and Verdun.

At the Somme alone, the British lost 20,000 dead in one single day; and the allied forces (mostly British) lost 120,000 dead, and over 375,000 wounded total; with 100,000 dead and 350,000 wounded on the German side. The battle lasted from July 1st , til November 18th, 1916. Almost five solid months of the most brutal trench warfare ever seen; and nothing to show for it but blood, and mud.

Perhaps 200,000 total dead at the Marne (1st and 2nd), perhaps 50,000 at Ypres, Perhaps 300,000 total dead at Verdun... (10 months, and the bloodiest battle of the war, though The Somme had the bloodiest day); and nothing to show for it but blood and mud.

There was an amazing thing though; that blood, and that mud... it became magnificently fertile soil; and soon after the fighting ended, all over these horrific battlefields, poppies began to bloom.

In the first great war, as had been tradition for most of western history; those killed in battle were buried in the fields where they fell. Their memorials were raised there; a tribute to those who fought and died, and a reminder to those who did not.

And there, in Flanders and Wallonia, and in France, and in Luxembourg; there lay an entire generation of men. Millions upon millions of white crosses, millions upon millions of unmarked graves in farmers fields; surrounded by millions upon millions of poppies.

A symbol of life, of blood, of the fight for liberty and freedom. The poppies among those men who died were taken up; first by the French and the Belgians, then the Canadians and British and Americans.

Today, the poppy is a symbol of remembrance.

Finally, today is my anniversary.

I said above that I miss serving. I miss the people I served with, and the sense of mission, and of accomplishment; but... today is my anniversary, and it would not be if I had not changed my course. I don't regret what has brought me here. I love my wife, and my children more than I can possibly imagine; or possibly express to you.

Mel, I love you.

Something to think about...

Courtesy of Oleg Volk, who has much more here.

A Conversation

LSE (larval stage engineer): Exactly what kind of job can you get with a degree in feminism?

Chris: Socialist Indoctrinator

LSE: You'd think the market demand for socialist indoctrinator would be rather small...

Chris: Sadly, no

A bit of advice for the Republican party

Fred Thompson for
RNC chair!

He may not have been able to win a primary, but he's the only Republican worth listening to, who might be willing to take the job.

Oh and if you think the problem is you're "too conservative" you haven't been paying attenti.... oh... wait... that's right.

Just Call Me Simplistic

This is what Congressman Jim Moran (formerly of Boston, currently of Virginia) thinks of us productive folks:

Next time someone tells you the democrats aren't redistributionists, smack them upside the head please.

Ha Ha Only Serious

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

"They've proven their minds can be taken over by empty rhetoric"... indeed.

Ok now that's funny right there

Is it just me...

Or does anyone else think the prospect of Al Franken as a senator is just embarrassing and ridiculous?

Demographics, Statistics, and Signs of Hope

Obviously, I disagree with the choice that 51% of Americans made last night, but in that choice, there are many aspects that I think are good things... perhaps great things.

The first point, is that although the democrats are already trying to spin this as a huge numeric victory, it is not. Though the electoral college totals are approximately 2 to 1 Obama, that is because of the math of the swing states in the electoral college. There are 8 states where Obamas margin of victory is 3% or under. A 1.5% swing one way or the other, and the results would be quite different.

I reported earlier this week that I believed the 10% support advantage polls showed for Obama was drastically inflated, and that any state within six percent would break for McCain.

It turns out I was half right. The real number was 3% not 10%. I thought that those six point states would swing all six points when it came down to actual voting. Instead they swung 3 or 4 points.

The polls however were very clearly wrong. The exit polls over indicated Obamas support by as much as 10% in some states. This is I think a long term problem that we need to address.

Now as to demographics, they interest me (of course they are also based on the flawed polling data, but the numbers are so large as to be at least indicitive).

McCain won about 60% of whites overall. This is a larger margin than expected. He won both white men, and white women, by a significant margin. It was expected that he would lose white women (and when race is taken out of the equation, McCain lost all women 45-55).

I don't want to speculate as to why here; I'll leave that to others. I'm sure they will do so, with great vitriol.

Obama won 95% of blacks, and this election featured the largest turnout of blacks in history. I think that's a great thing. I hope that a non-black candidate would have the same result.

Obama won 60% of hispanics, a suprising achievement; and more hispanics voted in this election than any other election in american history. Again I think this is great.

Obama won 70% of people under 30 and 70% of first time voters. More people under 30 voted in this election than ever before in American history. First time voters made up a larger percentage of the electorate than any other election in American history.

Collectively the four groups I mentioned, usually make up less than 10% of actual voters. This election they made up about 30% of voters, and that is absolutely INCREDIBLE.

Although all the votes have not yet been counted, if the polls are even close to right, more Americans voted in our election than have ever voted before.

That is even more incredible. We have recently been a country where 40% participation has been considered "good"; and yesterday, we had perhaps 60% of the eligible voting populace do so. I won't be happy until we get to over 80%, but I'm heartened.

In fact, I am heartened by all of this. I am given hope.

143 years ago, a black man in this country could not vote. 43 years ago, a black man in Mississippi may have even been killed for trying to. Next January, a black man is going to be president.

The cynic in me says that a fair portion of the reason his is president is because he IS black... but the idealist in me hopes this truly says that race is no longer relevant... or that at least we are walking down that road.

I hope these amazing changes continue, and grow. I hope that those people become fully engaged, and educate themselves, and perhaps commit themselves to liberty as they do.

I fear they will not, but I hope.

Credulous Fools

The financial crisis, caused by democrats, deepened by democrats, spun by democrats as the fault of republicans; and the credulous fools across our nation who believed them; lost this election for John McCain.

The momentum had shifted. Obamas support had peaked; and it was even looking like the democrats lead in the house and senate could be curtailed.

But the credulous fools have won.

The immature, petulant cretins; who neither knew nor understood the causes of their own outrage; directed that outrage improperly against the minority party, and their unpopular president; at the prompting of the outrageously biased media.

The media who were not only complicit in this fraud; but in fact initiated it, perpetuated it, accentuated it, and highlighted it at every opportunity.

They defrauded the people as to the cause of their problems. They defrauded the people on the polls (I was right on the polls, Obamas support levels were dramatically inflated; just not as much as I surmised). They defrauded the people as to who and what they were voting for.

Perhaps this is the inevitable consequence, when the party of the president abandons all principles; and abuses the public trust, as the republicans have done.

Now, we the people, will suffer. We will suffer under the one party rule of fanatics, zealots, and economic idiots; who believe that freedom and liberty are granted at the pleasure of government.

I fear for us all.

Think National, Vote Local

So, tomorrow, citizens of the 50 states will vote, not just for president; but also for their representatives at the federal, state, and local level.

Many will also be voting for judges, sheriffs, corporate commissioners, school board members, and the other elected offices of state. Let's not forget that they have as much ore more of a direct impact on your life, as the president does. These are choices that should not be ignored.

Not only that, but remember, the school board member today, could be the VP candidate 12 years from now.

Obviously, I can't vote in your races, only mine; and I've decided to talk about who I'm voting for (or sadly, more often, who I'm voting against), and why:

President: As I've made clear, I'm voting against Obama, with the only realistic choice, McCain. If I need to explain that any further here, you haven't been paying attention

Congress: I'm a resident of the Arizona 5th congressional district, and I'm voting against Harry Mitchell, for the only realistic choice, David Schweikert. My preferred candidate (Anderson) was not chosen in the primary; but I don't object to Schweikert. On the other hand I object to more democrats in congress in general, and Harry Mitchell specifically. The man is a liar and a lickspittly for Nancy Pelosi.

State Senate: I'm a resident of Arizona State District 17, and I'll be voting against Democrat Meg Burton-Cahill, for the only other choice (there are no third party candidates) Jesse Hernandez. In this case, I am voting this way because Burton-Cahill is an educational and healthcare socialist, and mildly negative on gun rights. She doesn't really do much, which I approve of, but what she does do is generally lefty in nature.

State Representative: I'm a resident of Arizona State District 17, and I'll be voting against Democrat Ed Ableser, because he is about two steps further to the left than Burton-Cahill, and is strongly anti-gun rights. He is a very strong eductaion and healthcare socialist, and supports illegal immigration.

I will also be voting against Democrat David Schapira; though I have far less of an issue with him politically than Ableser. He is more to the center on most issues, and I even agree with him (and disagree with the republicans) on many issues. Unfortunately, Schapira is against gun rights as well.

On our ballots we can make two choices, and there are two republicans and no third party choices. I will be casting my ballot for Republicans Mark Thompson, and Wes Waddle.

Sheriff: I especially want to note the race for Sherrif.

Joe Arpaio is wrong about almost everything, excepting that he believes in strongly enforcing criminal penalties, and opposes illegal immigration... Now. He didn't used to, because he wanted the feds to take care of it (a position I think is technically correct, but unrealistic for a Sherriff in Arizona). He is a self serving media hound, and places his own well being above that of his deputies; and of service to law and justice.

Unfortunately, his primary opponent the last three elections has been Dan Saban; who I once respected, but who has been shown to be just as opportunistic and dishonest as Arpaio.

I will be voting for the Libertarian candidate, Chris Will; in a futile gesture. I know that Arpaio will be re-elected until he decides to stop running, or until he is convicted of a crime and/or forced to resign in disgrace... both of which have a better than even chance of happening.

Other Notable Offices: I'm voting to give control of the Arizona Coporate Comission to the republicans, because I prefer the AZ Republican parties official positions on business regulation. I would vote for Libertarians here, but none are running.

I'll be voting for Libertatarian Rachel Kielsky for county assessor, and her husband Libertarian Michael Kielsky for county attorney; because I believe in their governmental and legal philosophies.

I'll also be voing of Libertarian Ernest Hancock for County Recorder, and David Hodges for Superintendant; simply becayse I want to see more libertarians in local elected office.

You'll note that whenever I didn't rank defeating the democrat a priority, I've chosen a Libertarian. In general, I beleieve the Libertarian party in Arizona best represents what we should do with government. Unfortunately, they have rarely produced viable candidates, in fact often running conspiracy theorist types.

Also they in general support open borders and a weak national defense. This makes them ideal for local offices in my mind, but unsuited to national offices.

I do have one problem with the AZ Libertarian party in general, and that is they support altering Arizona elections to a "reanked preference" votign system, which I believe is a bad idea (it's too long to go into why now). It WOULD result in more Libertarians being elected, at the expense of creating weak coalitions, and various negative incentives common to such systems (I've lived under one in Ireland, and it's a disaster).

Ballot Initiatives:

Also tomorrow most of us will be voting on a number of ballot propositions, which will generally have a greater impact on your life than the choice of president.

I'm going to go through the Arizona list here, and talk about how I've chosen to vote and why:

Proposition 100: "Protect Our Homes" - Constitutional amendment

Postion: Yes

Reasoning:

Although in general, I do not support amendment of the constitution for what should be legislative matters; the state legislature has proven several times that they are willing to go around rules and prior legislation to increase revenue collection.

This amendment would make it impossible for the state to add any new taxes to the sale or transfer of homes.

In general I support restricting the authority of government to tax; and specifically in this instance, I believe that transfer taxes are regressive, and detrimental to the market.

Proposition 101: "Medical Choice for Arizona" - Constitutional amendment

Postion: Yes

Reasoning:

This amendment would permanently prevent any form of socialized medicine from being made mandatory in Arizona, by preventing the legislature from passing any law denying someone the right to chose their own healthcare or health insurance provider.

In case you needed any more incentive; the only major group opposing this legislation, is the group that is pushing to establish nationalized or state sponsored socialized medicine in Arizona.

Proposition 102: "Marriage Protection Amendment" - Constitutional amendment

Postion: No

Reasoning:

I believe the government should not legislate marriage at all.

I specifically believe that even if the government does have a legitimate interest in legslating on marriage, that it is a legislative matter not a constitutional one, and should not be addressed as an amendment.

Proposition 105: "Majority Rules" - Constitutional amendment

Postion: Yes

Reasoning:

This amendment would require any ballot initiative which would require raising taxes, or which would raise taxes, to pass with a majority of registered voters, instead of just a majority of those who chose to vote on the initiative.

Importantly, it helps protect against the tyranny of the vocal minority in passing initiatives. As many voters are uneducated and unmotivated to vote for or against any particular initiative, this amendment would require that supporters of an initiative educate and motivate enough voters to actively support that initiative, rather than simply passively not vote.

This would make raising taxes and passing frivolous, wasteful, or confiscatory measures MUCH more difficult. A principle I always support.

Proposition 200: "Payday Loan Reform Act"

Postion: No

Reasoning:

Well, first, I don't think the payday loan industry needs to be reformed. I think market forces will do a fine job as it is; or would if they were allowed to do so.

However, even if that were not the case, this initiative is a fraud. Although written and described to seem as if the law would improve the terms of payday loans, and those that take them; in fact this legislation would result in WORSE conditions and standards. It was written by the industry themselves as a trojan horse.

Proposition 201: "Homeowners Bill of Rights"

Postion: No

Reasoning:

Again, the title of this initiative is misleading. They want to sell it as a "homeowners bill of rights", but what it really should be called is the "Trial lawyers association and construction unions wishlist against home builders and developers".

This initiative would for all intents and purposes put every independent home builder or general contractor in Arizona out of business.

The only way a builder or contractor could conduct business is with far more expensive and far higher limit liability insurance, and the backing of either a national union, or a large development corporation.

The immediate effect will also be to increase the cost of every new home in Arizona by $25,000 to $50,000.

This is one of the worst cases of rentseeking by attorneys that I have ever seen.

• Prop. 201 will prohibit two parties from agreeing to resolve their disputes without going to court and hiring attorneys.
• Prop 201 will forbid the defendants from recovering any attorney's fees, even if the case was frivolous or if they win.
• Prop. 201 will allow prospective buyers to file lawsuits. They will not even have to own the home to file a lawsuit.
• Prop 201 assures that all disputes, either large or small, go to court raising, costs for everyone.

This measure is supported by Arizona trail lawyers, and construction unions.

The bill is opposed by the national taxpayers union, the Arizona Citizens against Lawsuit Abuse, and the Arizona Builders Association.

That should be enough for anyone really.

Proposition 202: "Stop Illegal Hiring"

Postion: No

Reasoning:

While other ballot initiative names might be misleading; this name could best be described as outright fraud.

Although the supporters of this initiative are trying to sell it as strengthening penalties for illegal hiring, this is in fact entirely false.

The only element that would be strengthened would be the penalties for deliberate fraud, and identity theft.

Meanwhile, this legislation would exempt 2/3 of Arizona businesses, including almost all Arizona farms, and small businesses; from the existing (and very tough) employer sanctions laws.

Additionally, for those few businesses not exempted by this initiative, it would raise the burden of proof to apply those sanctions; requiring the state to prove deliberate fraud on the part of business owners to apply sanctions.

This is one of the worst pieces of legislation I have ever seen; and I believe that the people proposing it, and advertising it, should be prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud voters.

Proposition 300: "State Legislator Salaries"

Postion: Yes

Reasoning:

Although we have a part time legislature, and we want to keep it that way, I have no problem with our legislators being compensated better for their time. It will merely encourage those who do not want to be professional politicians, to consider running for our legislature, because they would not have to give up as much of their other potential income to do so.

Pulls the win, but doesn't cover the spread

So, it's time for some more electoral predictorization. Let's talk about the point spread on the election.

I think the worst case scenario looks like this:



and the best case looks like this:



That's a pretty wide point spread there, at 68 points; though not as wide as some of the liberal nutbars out there are thinking. They actually believe that half the south and midwest are going Obama... because they are deluded, and believe their own BS.

Significantly though, we're only talking about a 5 state spread here: Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Also significantly, all are within six points on polling; and if you believe DJ Drummond over at Wizbang (and I do. His analysis is spot on), all are actually within the margin of error on the most trustworthy polling data available... which is clearly not very trustworthy.

The polling companies have been making some arbitrary, and very unusual and ahistoric decisions on weighting factors; weighting democrats likely proportion of voters as 12% to 16% higher than republicans.

Historically speaking this is completely incorrect. Typically the actual spread is 3-4% and in the last 50 years has never been more than 7%.

So what it comes down to is, I think that anything in the 6 point range is currently a tossup, and anything 3 points or less for Obama is likely to break for McCain.

I made this prediction six weeks ago, and I'm sticking to it:

He's not. Google it

My god, I actually like Ben Afflecks acting in something...

Of course it's a parody sketch for SNL, so I don't know if it counts; but he's got a PERFECT skewer of Keith Olberman going on here:

After the first few minutes, just shut it off though. Like every remotely funny SNL sketch for the past five years, they beat it to death long past the point where funny turns to irritating.

If it weren't for Mike Huckabee...

Fred Thompson has a message about the real deal the democrats are offering this election:

UPDATE: For some reason the embeddable player is screwing up. Here's the link:

http://blog.fredpac.com/blog/2008/an-election-message-from-fred/

You Are Not Alone

I've talked to many, many people about the upcoming election in the past few weeks and I've heard many, many stories. We spend a fair bit of time writing about politics on this blog and, lets be honest, we spend a lot of time preaching to the choir.

We don't try to hide where we stand, nor do most of our readers. A lot of us are single, dual, or even triple issue voters and we can get a little passionate about the subject. We are bloggers after all; spreading our opinion far and wide from our respective soap boxes comes easily for us.

This post isn't for the bloggers, or most of our readers. This post is for the multitude of people I've talked to; cashiers, service people, other parents, grandparents, and random people met along the way. Almost everyone I've talked to has some things in common, and almost everyone I've talked to has felt absolutely alone.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

If you are afraid to talk about politics at work, school, home, or in public, you are not alone.

If you recognize how polarized about this election EVERYONE BUT YOU seems to be, you are not alone.

If you refrain from talking about politics because every time you open your undecided or wavering mouth you get pounced on like fresh meat, you are not alone.

If you are afraid to put a bumper sticker on your car or a sign in your yard because you don't want to file the soon-to-be-necessary insurance claim, you are not alone.

If you find yourself on the opposite side of the election from your spouse (and I feel for you, A's dad), you are not alone.

If you thank God (or whoever) for the anonymity of the voting booth because then you can just tell whoever is asking that you are voting for "their" candidate, you are not alone.

If you feel disgusted by the options put before you, you are not alone.

If you'd like to find information on a given candidate but all you find is info delivered with a heavy and obvious bias, you are not alone.

If you've compulsively turned off you tv or radio every time a political ad comes on, you are not alone.

If you've stopped reading the newspaper, news sites, or blogs because you're tired of the pandering or vitriol, you are not alone.

If you think the dictionary definition of politician should be changed to "compulsive liar with a hand on my wallet", you are not alone.

If you've noticed this year's crop of supposed voter initiatives seems to be overrun with wolves in sheep's clothing, you are not alone.

If the voter fraud makes you angry but doesn't surprise you, you are not alone.

If you've fantasized of a political system where we randomly pull a name from the jury duty pool for every public office, you are not alone.

If you then realized they'd still find a way to rig the process, you are not alone.

If you can't seem to choose who to vote for, you are not alone.

If you are undecided because all you want is for a candidate to keep their hands off your life and not change anything, you are not alone.

If you've looked at the third party candidates and realized they're just as bad, you are not alone.

If you've had to resign yourself to voting AGAINST a candidate, you are not alone.

If you are disappointed, despondent, or disillusioned, you are not alone.

From what I've seen, you are in the majority.

Vote your conscience, that is all you can do for now.

Mel

If this is true, Italy need to be expelled from NATO

Fox News is reporting that Libyan officials claim the socialist government in power in Italy at the time of the 1986 air strikes against Libya, warned Ghudaffi on the day before the strikes, that the U.S. would be attacking them.

Full article here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445450,00.html

The article has several details of the operation wrong, and of course the source is not necessarily the most reliable, so perhaps consideration should be given; however, if this story is true, Italy should be immediately expelled from NATO; the alliance under which this information was shared with them, and through which overflight permission was sought.

Win or lose, idiots like this are what makes me doubt the future of our country

Interesting uniform concept

Blackhawk has a new combat uniform concept out there; the biggest feature of which (at least the one they are touting heavily) is an integrated tourniquet system.

Now, I have reservations about this, because there are many situations where tourniquets are an inappropriate response to an injury; and they tend to be applied inappropriately by inexperienced responders; but this gives a very fast option when it's a matter of life and death.

Even better, it can be done one handed, by the injured party. That in and of itself is an invaluable option.

Plus lots of great pockets.

Check it out:

The Obama Informercial

Firstly, no, I didn't watch it; though I've certainly watched some fun clips circulating now.

I HAVE however been scanning the blogosphere, the media sites, and talking to some people this morning who did, and I have to say the reaction is fascinatingly mixed.

For the faithful, their reaction seems to be "Oh my god, he was so great. I felt connected to him" etc...

The MSM seem to be busy using it as material for, shall we be delicate and say "self gratification".

But my interest is in the unconverted. Those who don't care for McCain or who are democrats but not Obama acolytes; and those who are just barely on the McCain side.

Universally it seem like their reaction has bee "The gall and arrogance of that man. Buying a 30 minute infomercial, and then worshipping himself for that whole time?"

You see, so long as Obama can deflect the attention from his arrogance, his lack of experience, his frankly ridiculous economic ideas, and frankly toxic social ideas... so long as he can be a blank slate for others to pin either their aspirations, or their dislike for the current republican administration on; he does very well.

However, once the unconverted see him, just him, being who he is... well, the reaction is very different.

The campaign may have thought this would be a great deal for them; hugely boosting their support. I disagree. I think this infomercial only shored up what support he already had. It didn't convert anyone new, and probably pushed a away a lot of uncommitted rural voters, middle America voters, small business owners.. basically all the people that Obamas philosophy explicitly rejects, hurts, or disdains.

I sooo want to see this on national TV

Quote of the day

Clay: {punches the hell out of Darby}

Darby: Huh... how many punches you got left in that hand?

Clay: {punches the hell out of Darby... again}

Darby: Ok... stupid question...

I Love Pecan Pie

Now don't get me wrong, I love me some apple pie, chocolate mousse pie, silk pie, strawberry rhubarb pie, and cheesecake (which is really a custard pie); but for my money, pecan pie is the best of them.

Now, the problem is, most folks (and especially most restaurants) dont make good pecan pie.

I don't understand it. How much simpler can a pie get. It's just sugar, syrup (corn, cane, or maple) butter, eggs, vanilla, maybe a little seasoning (at least a pinch of salt anyway), and pecans.

The sad fact is though, simple it may be, but most places screw it up.

To my mind, the perfect pecan pie isn't at all crispy or sticky. The filling should be a gooey, but not runny, tasty custard. There should be nuts in every bite, but not so much that they overwhelm the custard; which should be about an inch thick. The crust can be whatever you like; a flaky butter crust, a butter cookie crust, or a graham cracker crust all work for me; so long as they're moist. I can't abide a dry crust.

Serve it hot, with ice cream or fresh whipped cream, and some cafe au lait... damn fine.

My wife is in the kitchen making pecan pie right now. This is her first try.

I've made it before, but I freely acknowledge I'm no master; so I'm lettin' her do her thing and figure out how best to go 'bout it on her own.

Mmmmmmmm.... pie

Capitalism DID NOT break. Capitalism DOES NOT break.

Capitalism has not broken, the market has not failed. Capitalism does not break, because it cannot.

Capitalism cannot fail, because it is not a philosophy or a construction, it is simply a systematization of reality.

Capitalism cannot break, because it is the fundamental mechanism by which things work. The universe would have to fundamentally change, for this fact to change.

Capitalism is a reflection of nature, and of human nature.

Capitalism can no more fail than gravity can fail. It can be temporarily resisted, it can be (and has been to a great degree) warped, but it cannot fail.

Just wondrin if anyone else noticed...

"Chuck" last night had a shout out to Freddy Mercury in it (this is aside from declaring Rush was the music of the universe of course).

Hell yes it is... what's he talking about.

Aw hell....

One of our cats needs to be put down.

She has a cystic growth that can't be controlled. The vet has excised it before, but it grew back, and there's really nothing for it. He didn't call it a tumor, but rapid uncontrolled tissue growth... the distinction is lost on me I suppose.

We've been hoping it would either stop growing, or slow down enough that excising it every few months would work (a few months back the vet suggested it may possible to do so); but it's just grown too far too fast. Two weeks ago she was OK, but as of today the cyst has completely filled her sinus passages and has grown out one ear canal.

She can no longer breath through her nose, or hear properly; and she's disoriented a lot, She's also constantly scratching at it, and opening it up to bleed. At this point it would be cruel not to put her down.

The thing is, Mac, our older dog, he's about to the point where we need to put him down too (arthritis, and yes we've been treating him, and it worked for a few months, but he's just old). And the girls only lost their grandmother a few months ago...

We were hoping it would at least be a few more months... past Christmas maybe, for the girls sake.

just damn... I hate this.

Blogger Chain Letters

It seems that a couple of folks have given me "Superior Scribbler Awards".

While I appreciate the regard, and I hope I'm worthy of it; I don't participate in such things.

These "awards" are essentially chain letters for a mutual admiration society, and I don't see the value in participating. That's what I have a blogroll for.

I'd love to say my blogroll is only people I read every day, and recommend to everyone; unfortunately that's not true at the moment because I've become lazy and haven't kept my blogroll maintained.

Then of course a few weeks ago blogrolling hosed itself, and is still hosed.

I have list of about 80 blogs... and not quite blogs (daily updated news/editorial sites etc...); that I open in a tabbed browser window every morning and work through during the day. Then I do it again in the evening.

I don't read anyone who doesn't update at least once a week; and generally prefer daily updaters, or thrice weekly updaters. There are a couple friends I keep on the blogroll who don't meet the criteria.

The only "linkers" I read regularly are Unc (Says Uncle), and the news sites. There are others who update less frequently that I check every week or two, or who I read whenever they are linked by someone else.

These are the cleaned up list of blogs I read, and would recommend to others; not including the blogs I keep because they are my friends etc...

There are a lot of others that I would include if they would just update more, or would update with more than just memes and filler more often (Geek with a .45, Heartless Libertarian, Speakertweaker, De Doc, I'm talking to YOU... and about 50 others... ).

I leave Ambulance driver and law dog on there because sometimes they update a ton, sometimes not for a week; but usually when they do, it's very good.

My blogroll "Recommendations"

The Liberty Papers

The Other Side of Kim

Mrs. du Toit - Personal Effects

Eternity Road

Hog on Ice

The Smallest Minority

No Looking Backwards

Irons in the Fire

Nom de guerre: Rivrdog

SayUncle

Neanderpundit

Whatever

Vodkapundit

LILEKS (James) :: Bleat

Hell in a Handbasket

The Countertop Chronicles

Mr. Completely

View From The Porch

the munchkin wrangler.

Xavier Thoughts

The LawDog Files

The View From North Central Idaho

Snowflakes in Hell - Where There's Snow, There's Firepower

A Day In the Life of An Ambulance Driver

Atomic Nerds

Call me Ahab

Monster Hunter Nation

Les Jones | A Bouquet of Weeds

MArooned

Coyote Blog

Random Nuclear Strikes

Scott Adams Blog

Stolen Thunder

American Farmer

Depleted Cranium

The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

Car Lust

Toolmonger

Make Use Of: Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips

Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done

The Consumerist: Shoppers Bite Back

Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide

Engadget

Engadget HD

Engadget Mobile

io9. Strung out on science fiction.

Jalopnik: Obsessed With The Cult Of Cars

And before someone makes anti-KimDuToit comments, yes I still read him, because his writing is still worth reading. Same with Rivrdog. We don't agree all the time, but why would that ever be a criteria for choosing what blogs I read?

Some might ask, "why don't I have Dr. Helen, Cranky prof, or Rachel Lucas, or Breda, or Sondrak, Agent Bedhead, LaShawn Barber, The Anchoress, etc... on there" .

Actually the only female bloggers I have up there are Tam, Connie, and LabRat from atomic nerds. Just a coincidence, nothing against women bloggers, or women who happen to be bloggers. I used to have all of those folks on my blogroll, but they didn't really capture my attention every day. I still read most of them all the time, but basically, every time they write something I want to read, someone else links it.

There's another big list of the occaisonal reads, like 10 ring, the Donovan (and his lovely wife Beth), Ace of Spades, Joe Merchant, Anthroblogogy, Dave Kopel, David Codrea, Gaypatriot, Jeff Soyer... yeah it's a big list. I check them once a week or so, so I don't recommend them to others as a whole (though on specific topics I do. Nobody better on gunrights than the Davids and Jeff Soyer for example).

Anybody have any recommendations for me? Or anyone who used to not update a lot, but has changed their habits so I can now blogroll them again? Let me know.

Oh and I have another list of about 30 news, editorial and opinion sites that I do the same with every day, and a third set of about 50 webcomics, and humor sites.

They would be the only ones

Biden Meltdown Continues

Found via Michelle Malkin

Best Biden Interview Ever

She actually asks the questions we want answered.

Found via Michelle Malkin

UPDATE: The campaign retaliates by denying the TV station access for the rest of the campaign.

WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think? West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment. "Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said. West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying America's days as the world's leading power were over. "I don't know who's writing your questions," Biden shot back. Biden so disliked West's line of questioning that the Obama campaign canceled a WFTV interview with Jill Biden, the candidate's wife. "This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign. McGinnis said the Biden cancellation was "a result of her husband's experience yesterday during the satellite interview with Barbara West." Here's a link to the interview: http://www.wftv.com/video/17790025/index.html. WFTV news director Bob Jordan said, "When you get a shot to ask these candidates, you want to make the most of it. They usually give you five minutes." Jordan said political campaigns in general pick and choose the stations they like. And stations often pose softball questions during the satellite interviews. "Mr. Biden didn't like the questions," Jordan said. "We choose not to ask softball questions." Jordan added, "I'm crying foul on this one." What did you think of the interview?

I think the news directors response was perfect.

Metallica - an illustration of shark jumping

A few weeks back someone asked "when did Metallica start to suck".

Good question.

First, I don't think Metallica sucks. They are still miles better than most of the so called metal out there today.

Unfortunately, their current state is so diminished from when they were the best metal band in the world; that they suck in comparison.

Metallica doesn't suck; they disappoint. They've long since jumped the shark.

Ok, but when, and why?

I'd say Metallica really jumped the shark in the long period between "Metallica" and "Load" (ReLoad is essentially the second half of the Load double album).

Although many hardcore metalheads hated Metallica Metallica (the black album), I think it remains today the single best example of metal crossing over to a wider audience; and that isn't a bad thing. Metallica was still hard and heavy, but made the music somewhat more accessible to those who were not into the hardcore classical music based speedmetal, or punk based thrashmetal that Metallica had blended so well in previous albums.

I would say that they peaked with "Master of Puppets", which I still consider the greatest metal album of all time. Other than Damage Inc. every single track on that album is brilliant; a perfect example of Metallicas thrash/speed metal fusion (Damage inc. isn't a bad song, but it is more appropriate to an earlier era of Metallicas music. It's a throwaway almost garageband thrash track, and the album would have been better closing with "Orion").

Metallica then plateaued with "And Justice for All" and "Metallica". They were both musically and artistically excellent, but they did not quite reach the height of "Master...", nor were they an artistic stretch for the band. Both were exercises in refining their sound, and their technical abilities rather than reaching for new heights or breaking new ground.

You may attribute this change to the loss of Cliff Burton, but I think it was simply that the band found the peak of their possible achievements in "Master" and simply could do no better. Every band finds their peak, and declines (or breaks up, or both) it's the nature of the beast.

Now that I've said that, I'm going to almost contradict myself, by saying that it WAS Cliffs death that changed the band irrevocably.

The first major consequence was that Cliffs loss initiated a MAJOR change in James Hetfield... simply put, he lost his art. He had his anger and his pain, but Cliffs death seemed to have take the artistic passion out of him, and replaced it with a towering resentment for Lars, who to this day seems oddly false when discussing how Cliffs death effected him.

In fact, if you look at everything since, it seems clear that Hetfield is happiest, when he's reliving the early days of the band, as in Garage Inc.

You have to remember that Metallica is essentially two bands. James Hetfield and then later Jason Newsted, are thrashmetal punks to their core; whereas Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett are quintessentially speed metal.

This tension between artistic elements is what made their music great, and Cliff Burton who was a punk at heart, but was also a great lover of Jazz and Classical music (and speedmetal, which grew out of classical influences); acted as the bridge between these two elements in tension (This can be best heard in "To live is to die" and "(Anastehsia) pulling teeth").

Without that bridge, the magic mix was lost, and it was simply a tug of war between James and Lars.

"Master..." was the last album where those elements of speed metal and thrash metal were truly blended properly. "Justice..." was an exploration of the excesses of speed metal; complicated by the gigantic ego of Lars Ulrich (and corresponding anger of Hetfield) making the production of the album a sloppy, poorly mixed nightmare.

Bringing in Bob Rock on "Metallica" was really an attempt by the band to put that bridge back in place, and restore some of that "mix" lost when Cliff died; and to an extent it worked. Combined with the far more professional production that Rock provided, and his ability to mediate between Hetfield and Ulrich (mostly by making them hate him wore than each other), "Metallica" was the most balanced production the band had yet made.

Of course, that's the problem with it.

Metallica wasn't great because they BALANCED thrash and speed metal, they were great because they wildly rollercoastered around the entirety of thrash and speedmetal, even within the same song.

Bob Rock gave them a better produced, better packaged, GOOD album, but he also muted the excesses.... the ups and downs that make great art. There was no more rollercoaster... more like a freight train, running down a straight line at 90mph.

Make no mistake "Metallica" is a very good album, and has a couple of really GREAT songs on it... but it is... unmagical? I don't want to say uninspired, because the very personal lyrical content that Hetfield included is in many ways beautiful, painful, and entirely revealing... but it just doesn't have the spark that the first three albums did.

"Metallica" also marks the last significant artistic contributions that Kirk Hammett or Lars Ulrich would make to the music of the band.

The entire post "Metallica" discography is essentially Hetfields artistic choice, fueled mostly by his anger, resentment, and disillusionment. It has also moved deeper and deeper into a grunge and groove metal mode, without the classical speedmetal influences; and only occasionally breaking out into the hardcore thrash that Hetfields artistry and passion is rooted in.

Honestly, I think the last time Metallica did something great, it was on "Garage Inc." where for a few minutes James clearly felt like he was expressing himself fully, even though it was through other peoples music; and he and Lars were able to actually ENJOY playing with each other again.

Load... well, there is some excellent songwriting in load, and a few quite good songs, but overall it's missing inspiration. There's a lot of anger there, but no genius, no life to it. In Load, Metallica essentially abandoned their roots in punk, thrash, and speedmetal; and moved into a more hard rock, blues oriented structure. It's a simpler, more accessible, easier to play, write, produce, and sell music... but it just isn't as good.

It isn't really Metallica, it's almost numetallica.

St. Anger is just more of the same, only... angrier.

I've heard death magnetic, and I agree it's heavier than Metallica has been in years, but again there's no feeling to it other than anger and resentment.

Honestly, I think Hetfield should break up the band and either form a new thrashmetal band, or do some solo work; because this stuff is obviously not satisfying him...

...though really Metallicas artistic output since 1991 can best be thought of as James Hetfield with the support of Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich, rather than as Metallica (Newsted was ignored entirely for Load, and Trujillo has very little artistic input at all, though he is certainly a very strong bassist, and writes his own parts).