A finger for Iraq

What a great idea. A little bit of ink and the ability to vote twice is taken away. I bet this idea would never fly in Chicago.

In my time on this earth I've seen alot. As far as the world goes I've been witness to some wonderful events. The Berlin Wall coming down, the crumling of the former USSR, and now an Arab nation taking the first step towards self determination.

To the people of Iraq: the journey that you have undertaken is not an easy one. America has been on a similar journey for over 225 years. There will be struggles, conflict, and even war. However, if you decide this should be, your future is up to you. You can elect a representative goverment that will participate in the affairs of the world. You can use the riches of your nation to grow an economy that benefits all of Iraq. Your time under the oppression of Saddam should be remembered but, with any luck, as something that no one aspires a return to. If all Iraqi's work together for Iraq - there is no limit to how great your country can be.

Many have sacrificed for your freedom. Please don't let them down.

The Party of the Minority?

Thats what I always hear from the mouth of the Democratic Party. They are the only ones who support minorities. Yet when there are two extremely qualified minority canidates for the Cabinet of the President of the United States - they falter. They attack, they fail to walk the talk.

Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) these folks are going to wake up and tell the Democrats to take a hike.

A Sea Story

Watching the Food Channel right now. They are having a 'Chefs Challenge' on the USS John C. Stennis which is on a 7 day tiger cruise. Three teams of 5 Culinary Specialists making the best food they can with what is available on a carrier. The CSes get on ship training from the top chefs in the industry while on a cruise. The food looks awesome! Grilling on the flight deck while the pilots get to show their stuff for for the 1100 guests. The CSes are competing for an extra 4 days leave.

Sounds like excellent motivation to me.

Birds in my Belfry

For most people it's bats. Tonight, for us, it was birds. Well one bird. Came home to a noise in the furnace room. Tracked it down to a little bird coming out the vent pipe above the hot water heater. The wife and I caught him and set him free. 20 minutes later the same noise was coming out of the same area. A few minutes later the little bird appeared. We caught him again and put him in a box. Hopped in the car and drove a few miles before letting him go. With any luck we won't see(hear) him again.

A cool place to visit

Not far from where I live is one of the neatest places I've ever visited. From buffalo to red tail hawk to acres of restored prairie to the worlds most powerful collider Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is a wonderful place. The Lederman Education Center brings the science of high energy physics to kids. Dozens of American Bison roam hundreds of acres. If you're lucky one of the many deer, hawks, coyote, or foxes will appear and pose for a picture. Even in the winter there is plenty of activity. In the summer the birds and butterflies appear. Those who look for them are treated to a wonderful display of color.

Since 9/11 access has been severely restricted. Recently it's been opened up for visitors again. If you're in the area take some time and visit. It's worth the time.

Nice people everywhere

My father-in-law was at the grocery store the other day. As he and his wife got out to the car he noticed one of the tires was flat. At 80 he's not really up to changing the tire by himself. His wife went back into the store to call the auto club as he started getting the spare out. Just then a 'young man' came up and offered his assistance. The 'young man' change the tire and put the flat back in the trunk. He even told my father-in-law the best place to get the tire fixed. My father-in-law then attempted to pay him for his time and effort. The 'young man' refused the money and told him that changing the tire was "his good deed for the day".

I wonder if this fine young man was a Boy Scout at one time? He certainly sounds like one. Whoever you are - thanks! You made a old mans day.

Still some honest people

The wife went to the local Sams Club to pick up some groceries. On the way out she managed to leave 10 pounds of ground beef in the bottom of the cart as she drove away. After getting a few items at Cub Foods she noticed the ground beef wasn't there. Back to Sams to see if the cart was still there. Nope. Into the store to see if an employee had brought it in. Nope. Another customer had.

Whoever you are - thanks!

A Liberal Media

The MSM claims no bias. Hmmm - Dan Rather?

For a short time today ABC News has a post on their web site looking for a funeral to cover. A funeral of a US Soldier or Marine killed in Iraq. Not Afghanistan or anywhere else in the global war on terror but Iraq. I guess they were looking for balance with the inauguration going on today...

While the orginal has been pulled Captain Ed has it archived.

How low can you go?

Update: Looks like they can go pretty low. They found the funeral they were looking for. See the Mudville Gazette for details.

I've never been a fan of the three 'major' networks news programs. CBS lost my trust years ago. Same with NBC. ABC was on the fence. It's totally gone now.

A Wonderful Day

W's day. The weather clears for the ceremony. A nice start to another 4 years.

I know a number of folks had a problem with the day. From the weanies promoting "Not another dime day" (I have to wonder if they sat in the dark and didn't turn on the water all day) to the the folks at DU comparing today to 9/11. (Care to guess which was worse in their shallow minds?) I think back to 92 and 96 and, while Republicans were down, they were looking forward to the next election with a positive attitude. That is missing in the Democratic Party. They only thing they are positive about is Iraq is a quagmire and Bush stole Ohio. Since neither is true I guess they'll be pretty sad the next few years.

Cool!

A Warrior Speaks

about the Main Stream Media. And its not good. Blackfive (who else?) has the letter.

Go towards the light

Last time at the range Thing1 and I were looking at SureFire lights. We both have a selection of MagLights but, well, we're looking for something better. I liked the 6P, Thing1 was leaning towards the Aviator. Then there were the lights meant to be mounted on the rail on my Glock. Or maybe on one of the rifles? Buy one and soon I'll need a AR15 to attach it to!

It's strange. Flashlights are a common household item and here I am thinking about how many I can fit into my (limited) toy budget. Add the guns and knives I'd like to have as well as upgrade the computers at home. Oh well - the budget for the rest of the decade is now spent. :-(

So what appears in the mail today? A SureFire catalog. Thing1 requested it and had it sent home rather than to his school address. Will he ever see it? Ha! Well yeah he'll see it. Once I figure out which one to get first. The 6P is just about perfect but the G2 is the same performance at half the price. Maybe one of each and give the one I don't like to Thing1? He'd like that.

Ted

I'm a Ted Nugent fan. Not just the music but of him. From his support of 2nd ammendment rights to hunting and conservation education to his undying love of this great country he is just inspiring.

While watching Tony Snow on Fox News this morning he had Ted on from his farm in Crawford, Texas talking about a fund raiser his band was doing to help pay for a high school bands trip to the inauguration. Ted, being Ted, was talking about his band practicing. From barbeque to music to firing machine guns to playing music - just another day in the life of the Nuge.

Ted's best line - "I'm going to teach Toby Keith how to be a redneck"

Muzik Mafia

While I'm not a country music fan (the wife is) I watched Muzik Mafia on CMT with her tonight. The energy of Big Kenny and John Rich is infectious. Reminds me of how rock was in the late seventies. And Gretchen Wilson is just nice to look at.

The show was just fun. From playing before 20 people in a bar in Nashville to small arenas in college towns these folks are just having fun. Hopefully they'll keep it that way and keep the fans happy.

How do you know?

That the toothbrush was invented in Arkansas?

If it had been invented anywhere else it would have been called a teethbrush. :-)

This was a joke at a variety show at church tonight. Kind of like a run-on joke from Cub Scouts. The show was a fund raiser put on by our high school youth as part of a county wide effort to raise money to support the fight against AIDS in Africa. The amount of talent in our church was amazing. From a 10 year old drummer to a 50ish guitar player to a 5 year old singer - the talent poured out. And the money poured in.

P.S. No offense to anyone in Arkansas intended.

I'm LOST

More like really upset. Set the VCR to tape LOST last night. Even added a extra 2 minutes as ABC seems to have gotten in the habit of running certain shows 61 to 62 minutes rather than 60. LOST went at least 63 so I don't know how it ended! Hopefully the episode will show up on BitTorrent soon so I can see what happened in the last minute. PITA networks.

A pair of hawks

My office at work overlooks a small grove of trees. While watching the snow fall today I noticed a red tail hawk sitting in a tree facing me. A coworker stopped by to see him as she couldn't see the tree from her office and she noticed a second one on the branch above the first. And my camera is at home... :-(

No Prodding Necessary

My oldest sister gave the wife and I a gift subscription to Newsweek. I know she meant well and I do read it but their slant on everything is so far away from mine that I sometimes want to take it to the range with me. One of the more clueless writers is Eleanor Clift. Her piece on MSNBC.COM calls President Bush late to the game with support to the tsunami victims in South East Aisa. She then defines the military as follows: The military doesn’t like to get involved in humanitarian missions, and needed prodding. It’s no small thing to divert an aircraft carrier. Lots of mil-bloggers have responded but the best I've come across was by a former SEAL named Froggy. Smash has a good response too.


Lets see. There are two battle groups there. Thousands of Marines helping. SEAL and Special Forces teams on the ground giving aid. I'll bet not a single one of them needed prodding. America's best never do when a helping hand is needed somewhere.

Something new to do

Where I work we get the opportunity to work with new technology. Well - at least fairly new. On the Windows platform we're a bit behind the times(finally turned off our Windows NT domain this month) and now we need to catch up. License agreements need to be abided by, systems need to be kept secure, and we get less people to do it with. Management finally decided to implement Microsoft System Management Server last year. Progress has been slow as it probably should have been a project for a team rather than something assigned to an individual. Today the boss tripled the amount of people involved. Now if we just all get along and communicate we just might achieve the goals.

Good Dogs

I'm a dog person. I truly believe that there isn't such a thing as a bad dog - just bad owners (they usually have the collars on the dog with the spikes that go into the neck). I also believe that dogs are a gift from God as there is nothing more relaxing than your dog sitting next to you on the couch just wanting to be petted. In return your pulse and blood pressure both go down. Now my sisters Doberman Gracie, well, she'll sit on your foot and lean into you till you're at her level and paying attention to her. Still - it's quite relaxing.


While listening to Kevin McCulloch on the radio today he and blogger Jordan Golson discussed a story that appeared on Jordan's blog about the war dogs of the Iraqi army. Apparently there was a shortage of food for the dogs. Short story - Hill's Pet Nutrition will be sending as much Science Diet as the puppies need. Hill's Pet Nutrition is worthy of your support. While we are an Iam's family I'll be sending them a note of thanks for this wonderful gesture.

Update: I used the comments page on the Hill's Pet Nutrition site and send them a thank you. The next day a response was in my Inbox.

Thank you for visiting HillsPet.com and taking the time to contact us to share your kind comments regarding our donations of food to the soldier's dogs. We along with other Americans are concerned with the health and well being and the efforts that these pets are putting forth to support our troops.

Nicely put.

The whole story starts here

Back to school

Thing1 headed back to school for day for Interim. Nine days of classes worth 2 credits. Students use this time to take fun classes. Thing1 will be learning how to run a school science fair. Seems like a good idea for someone who wants to be a teacher! The wife is doing much better this time. No tears at all. Even the dog seems to be ok.

24

In episode 1 there was the best line I've heard on TV in a while. William Devane's character is talking to his son - "spare me your sixth grade Michael Moore logic".

Personally I would have put MMs logic level at the 1^st or 2^nd grade

The first two hours of Jacks bad day were excellent. The stage is set for a bloody fight to stop terrorists. And unlike some in Hollywood the terrorists are (or at least appear to be) Muslims. I can understand how the Muslim community might see this as insulting or a sterotype but... lets look at the the bad guys in the world right now. Middle East, Afghanistan, etc, the bad guys are Muslims. Am I saying that all Muslims are bad? No. Like any other faith there are those that pervert the teachings to justify their actions.

If 24 stays like this then its going to be a wild day. I can't wait!

Quality Time

Thing1 and I hit the range last night. He wanted to try out my Christmas present and get whatever stress was in his system out before heading back to school on Monday. I picked up 250 rounds of 9mm at Gander Mountain beforehand and some .22 at Wal-Mart. Printed out some targets and we were set.

Signed in and setup. Thing1 put a couple of mags through the Glock and decided he'd rather shoot the .22s. I spent the next hour putting the rest of the 9mm ammo through my Glock. Tried 5 different loads in 3 different weights. The lighter weights seem to work best for me. Thing1 alternated between a Ruger MarkII, 10/22, and a old H&R 865. The 865 was my Dads. He gave it to me after I turned 21 and it'll become Thing1s when he turns 21. With any luck he'll have a kid he can pass it on too. After I finished with the Glock I put a 100 rounds through the MarkII. It was like shooting a cap gun.

An hour and half later we were done. The tension of the week was gone. Cleaned up, stowed the guns and did some browsing. The Surefire lights are starting to say 'buy me'. Just need to decide which one.

Talked about all kinds of things on the way home. School, guns, life, movies, whatever. Thing1 is a great kid. I wish I would have been as together then as he is now.

Time together is time well spent.

A smear in the making?

Just saw an ad for Sunday's 60 Minutes. One of the subjects is the recent ban of .50 caliber weapons in California (while video of a Barrett M82A1 semi-auto being fired one handed is shown) and how they are 'available' in the other 49 states. Oh, and this is allowing terrorists to buy them.

You'd think CBS would have learned from the RatherGate incident.

After the good comes the bad

Thing1 got a letter from school the other day. It was his first semester grades. Six A's. Well two were A minuses. (We grounded him for that :-) )

The next day another letter from school shows up. It's the bill for the next semester... Nice setup.

Today we switch back to the good stuff. A letter from the school provost announcing that Thing1 was named to the Deans List. I know that all semesters won't be this good (then again Thing1 has been full of surprises his whole life) but it is a good start.

Sydney's back!

And Wednesday will never be the same. First there is the excellent LOST and now Alias. The first episode was slow at times but, in the Alias tradition, made sense at the end.

Nice thing about Jennifer Garner: (ok - there are a lot of nice things) she is fit but not ultra thin. I can't understand why the women in Hollywood want to be stick figures. Ms Garner just looks right. She is often described as the "girl next door". Thing1 wants to know what neighborhood she lives in. :-)

Reach out

and touch someone. Maybe touch two.

I go shooting on a regular basis. I shoot fairly good out to 100 yards or so. On a quiet range - not in heavy combat. I can't even see someone at 1000 yards much less hit them.

Snipers rule!

Brain Freeze

One way to go for a slurpie. For some reason I was thinking of Michael Gross from Tremors. Thanks to TSM for the link

The kids are alright

LGF brings forth a story about an Iraqi child leading coalition forces to a large weapons cache.

The (Iraqi) kids are the future. And it looks good!

The Navy in Action

Here!

'Stingy Americans' strike again

One of my favorite actresses is Sanda Bullock. She quietly gave a cool million to the American Red Cross to support their work in bringing aid to the victims of the South-East Aisa tsunami. No press release, no media package, nothing. Just gave. Awesome!

Always Giving

Amazon shoppers - 11.5 Million dollars. As always America gives. Nice work everyone!

No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy

Fallujah found out about the latter a few weeks back. Now they are finding out about the former. Go get em Marines!

Feminine Products

Help save a Marine

Movies

 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Watched this tonight with the wife and Thing1. It's not really something for kids the age of Thing2. Anyways - it's not a bad movie. Not great either. At the end they are giving a status of each character. The weatherman, who's IQ was given as 48, was stated to be a senior advisor to the Bush administration. Guess I shouldn't expect much from a Kerry fan like Ferrell.

Dodgeball

Ben Stiller vs Vince Vaugn. 1.5 hours of sillyness. Fun for all.