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Ever since I signed up for an account on Facebook, I have more or less forgotten about this weblog - I wonder if others are having the same experience?

Disappointment in a former American Hero

Once upon a time, I greatly admired Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State. However, I feel like the kid who asked "Shoeless" Joe Jackson "say it ain't so." He has recently proclaimed that "Americans are looking for more government in their lives" and that we would love nothing more than the pay more taxes in order to pay for that privilege. He is trying to convey a message that the Republican Party is out of touch, but that argument is hogwash! There is a sector of our population, legal and otherwise, that enjoys limited benefit from the public coffers, but I firmly believe that a vast majority of Americans want the government to stay out of our business and out of our way while we try to be the best that we can be.

Replacement of Justice Souter

In the Washington Times this morning, there is an article that reports that President Obama wants a judge who has empathy and will use that as one of the criterion he uses for selecting a replacement for Justice David Souter (who has announced that he will retire from the court at the end of this session). It is a foregone conclusion that he will be selecting someone with a liberal tilt, but if the justices of our U.S. Supreme Court can not or will not interpret and apply the law as written and, instead, make rulings based on how or what they feel about a particular case, then it may very likely be the end of days for America!

Carrie Prejean - American Hero

Let's all give a cheer for Carrie Prejean, runner-up in the 2009 Miss USA Pageant, for standing up for what she believes in and not capitulating to political correctness run amok! I agree with her about constitutes a marriage. In fact, I think that marriage should be universally defined and recognized as a union between an adult male and an adult female. Any civil union that may be defined between two people of the same gender should have another term. Since the earliest days of recorded history, that is what marriage has been and IMHO it should not be eroded by modern activism.

PETA = People Exposing Their Absurdity

Just when you might have thought that PETA could not get any more ridiculous, now they are pressuring the Guiness records people to ignore an attempt to set a new record for the chicken dance at a NASCAR event recently. Apparently, since KFC was sponsoring the event, PETA thinks that the attempt by about 125,000 NASCAR fans to all strut their stuff in a stupid dance violates an anti-cruelty policy of Guiness. That's just another example of moral relativity run completely amok.

The End Of Days

The end of days, brought about by the worldwide financial crisis, is truly upon us. There is another drought in Ethiopia and it is one of biblical proportion.

More Change You Can Believe In

I think that I have discovered where Barama got his campaign platform from! He stole it from Dogbert!

Dogbert for President

Let's Play AIG Bonus Bonanza

The current chief executive of AIG, Edward M. Liddy, will be testifying in a congressional hearing today to defend the retention bonuses paid out to current and former employees. Mr. Liddy will not be receiving a bonus himself. The bonuses were negotiated prior to his taking over the reins of the troubled organization and he finds them to be "distasteful". All told, there are or were $220 million paid out in bonus - that sure sounds like a LOT of money to me. But, when that amount is compared to the entire value of the bailout funds, a truly staggering sum of $170 billion so far, the bonuses are just a nit - approximately .13% - that's point one three percent - not even a drop in the bucket! This is starting to look like a whole lot of political bluster and posturing that obscures the more important issues of where is the money going and when will it be repaid?

Bailout Fakeout

Don't let the indignation that President Obama has recently expressed about the enormous bonuses that AIG doled out to executives using bailout funds get you all riled up. It is just another example that illustrates that His Highness Barama and his Court of Fools do not have a clue about the forces that drive our economy and now (thankfully) others from the Democrat leadership are beginning to see the light.
AIG ought to have known better to distribute bonuses of such a magnitude as they have, but the bailout funds were provided to them (and other financial institutions that were deemed to be in jeopardy of collapse) with little or no strings attached. Now, the Barama administration is learning damage control on a scale they may never have imagined necessary considering the president's presumed popularity.
The poorly considered bonuses are not the only problem regarding AIG and their allotment of bailout funds. AIG used much more of those funds to fulfill their contractual obligations to other banks and financial institutions. Recognizing that the U.S. Government now has a majority ownership stake in AIG, the administration is now in the position of trying to determine how much, if any, of the bailout funds they may hope to recoup in the future. Considering what has happened to this point, I do not have much faith that any appreciable amounts will be repaid soon (if ever).

Another Episode Of Political Correctness Run Amok

Apparently, the European Union has more important issues than the global financial crisis to tackle. As a recent article in the Daily Mail discusses, the EU has tackled the critical issue of honorifics that perpetuate nasty sexist views. Therefore, it is henceforth illegal to address someone of the fairer gender as either Miss. or Mrs. (or any of the appropriate terms in the representative languages of Europe) and a bunch of other historically familiar honorific terms. Before long, the only EU authorized term they will permit will be "Citizen" - scary!

Online Recovery Monitoring Resources

A news article I read today mentioned a couple of web sites for monitoring the impact of the variety and array of federal stimulus programs (read: Socialism in the name of Bailout) that we should all consult to keep an eye on its value, good or bad.

• Recovery.gov
• Stimulus Watch
  

Let us all check them out frequently and see where our money is going!

Louis CK

The comedian, Louis CK, is amazing! I have not heard of him before, but the insight that he shared with Conan O'Brien is brilliant. Perhaps we should all reflect that the world we live in now is far better and we are more comfortable than any previous generation and it is only going to get better and easier for future generations.

Broken Obligations

Along his way back and forth across America on his path to the White House, President Barack Obama made several key promises to the voters. He promised to bring change to Washington - no more business as usual. However, as Karl Rove points out in a recent Wall Street Journal article, it is a long way from promises made to plans executed, particularly for a politician with no appreciable resume who has been successful in hoodwinking the American masses. From my upbringing and experience as a role model for young people in youth sports and scouting, a promise is an obligation. The initials for Barack Obama are "BO" - the initials for Broken Obligations are "BO" - coincidence? I think not!

Lent for Protestants

Even though I am not a Catholic, I have decided to give up something for Lent. No more sodas (even though I usually only have a diet coke at lunch) for 40 days (without replacing it with ice tea - just water). We will see how that goes and how I feel after Easter.

Shameless Plug For My Son's High School Band

On Tuesday evening, February 24, 2009, the Brentsville District High School Concert (intermediate) and Symphonic (advanced) bands gave a performance in order to practice for an upcoming music festival competition. The first three songs were performed by the combined Concert and Symphonic bands (the 8th grade band from Marstellar Middle School also performed three songs in the middle of the concert) and the last three songs were performed by the Symphonic band alone.
My son plays trombone - he's the second from the end, back row, right side of the stage (who does not sit up straight so you would otherwise see him better!)
The first (combined) piece was "Peace March Jubilee" by Karl Kung (arranged by Swearingen)

The second (combined) piece was "Prelude and Dance" by Elliot Del Borgo

The third (combined) piece was "Decennium" by John Edmondson

The first (advanced) piece was "Medal of Valor" by Steve Hodges

The second (advanced) piece was "Chant and Jubilo" by Francis McBeth

The third and final (advanced) piece was "The Gathering of the Ranks at Hebron" by David Holsinger

State Schools for Students from the State

When my daughter, now a freshman at George Mason University, was considering her options for colleges, we were surprised to learn that outstanding students from our own state (Virginia) might have a tough time getting accepted into its premier four-year institutions, in particular the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, and Virginia Tech. As a recent Washington Post article points out, our state representatives have finally noticed and are considering what they can do to improve the opportunities for Virginia high school students with exceptional academic credentials for acceptance in public colleges and universities closer to home.
It is hard for anyone to justify to me how, when all things being equal between two applicants, one from in-state and one from out-of-state, to UVA that the student from out-of-state would get the nod simply because they would provide the school with more income due to the higher tuition rates.

"We are opposed to a specific hard cap, particularly when the budget is the way it is," said Fran Bradford, associate vice president for government relations at William and Mary. "To take away that source of revenue and, frankly, to take away some of our finest students is a little bit of a challenge."

Now, I know that the schools have to be concerned with ensuring they have sufficient funds to operate, but the above comment clearly indicates that the school administration is more concerned with revenues - the schools are turning away some of their finest students for the sake of cash flow. Hopefully, the Virginia legislature will be able to level the playing field in order to permit Virginia's finest students the opportunity to benefit from the exceptional educational institutions in their home state.

Dr. Anne Wortham - Great American

I received an email copy of a brilliant essay by Dr. Anne Wortham that I am compelled to share with whomever may trip across my rants. (I was able to quickly google it!) Titled "No He Can't," Dr. Wortham's open letter to America is both brilliant and sobering and should be widely read by one and all. What I take away from her essay is that it does not and should not matter what skin color our president has; what matters is his vision for our country and his plans to achieve that vision and she does not support him (neither do I). The beauty of the American Experience and Experiment is the opportunity to succeed and liberals are clueless and are recklessly destroying our way of life.
By the way, Dr. Wortham is a self-described liberal and she's black too (obviously a women too - my proper use of the pronoun "she" ought to be a good indicator).

Media Bias Plus Racial Bias Equals Crap

The Reverend Al Sharpton ought to have a nice steaming cup of "shut the fuck up" and shame on the New York Times for apologizing for a political cartoon that no more equated President Obama to a monkey than there is a man in the moon. Where was the uproar when artist Chris Savido parodied President Bush in a painting that was later reproduced above the Holland Tunnel for all to see? In my opinion, it is Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and the rest of the "black leadership" that sustains the notion that racial problems continue to be widespread and national devisive. Without the continued misconception that we are a nation that is racial divided, they are out of business and out of their positions of power and influence. I say it is about time!

Hillary Scores One For The Home Team

Those who know me know that there is no way in heaven or hell I could even remotely be considered a Clintonista, but at least this Reuters article suggests that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is willing to be direct in attending to the problems that persist between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). It is about time we told Pyongyang to quit behaving like a petulant child and grow up.

"North Korea is not going to get a different relationship with the United States while insulting and refusing dialogue with (South Korea)," Clinton said in Seoul, the third stop of her Asia tour.

New Joke - Londoners

Here's a link to the latest joke I posted on my web site. Particularly funny (to me, at least) because of my wife's passion for her red rocket Porsche.

It Pays To Pay Attention

When I first heard of the proposal to implement a limit on the salary paid to an executive of a company that received federal assistance (bailout money), my immediate thought was "good idea." The version that I heard indicated that direct compensation would be limited to an annual salary of $500,000 (quite a bit more than I make!) and any additional compensation would have to be in the form of shares of company stock. Since there would be restrictions on the shares regarding value and when they could be sold (hopefully for a profit), there would be considerable incentive to improve the performance of the company thereby increasing the value of the stock - for the executive as well as the average shareholder.
But then the specifics have begun to come to light, where it is harder to withstand the proper scrutiny it deserves, and it is apparent to me, at least, that the whole proposal is just more grandstand politics. As Jim Jubak aptly explains, the salary cap is a joke! That horse has already left the barn! The cap will not be applied retroactively thus having little to no actual value to the shareholders of these companies let alone the taxpayer. Pay attention people, there is going to be a quiz and you will need your wallet instead of a number two pencil!

Shame on you, Michael Phelps

I know that there are a few potentially embarrassing episodes from my past that might cause me to blush now, but then again I have never had nor will likely have the level of opportunity, fame, and income as Olympic Champion Michael Phelps. What a knucklehead! Even though he is technically an adult according to the law, where are his parents and why are they not keeping a closer eye on the obviously still maturing swimming prodigee? Thank goodness there are at least a few of us out in the mass of (formerly) adoring fans that are not willing to give him a pass. Simply expressing a heartfelt mea culpa is not enough, as this Washington Post article by Michael Wilbon so succinctly explains. Don't forget - he made the same sort of prostration for mercy after his DUI four years ago!

Pearl Harbor Redux - Part II

Thank goodness that there are still some reasonably sane people in charge of part of our military. At least the current Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughhead, recognizes the importance of deploying our aircraft carrier forces in order to reduce the probability of catastrophe of keeping all of them in one location (Norfolk Naval Station) and is willing to fight for moving at least one carrier to Mayport Naval Station in Florida.

Where's The Change We Can Believe In?

There's already one cabinet level position that has been filed in the new Obama administration wherein the nominee, Timothy Geithner, somehow got a pass on failure to pay taxes and was confirmed to be Treasury Secretary. But that pales in comparison to what is going on now with former Senator Tom Daschle, Obama's nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary. IMHO, So far, the only thing that has changed is the Obama family mailing address. Apparently, the Democrats do not see a problem with raising taxes since they do not pay them anyway.

Macho Sauce Productions

You know you go to YouTube for all sort of reasons. Please take about ten minutes to listen to this guy and subscribe to his rants. He really tells it like it is (or should be IMHO).

Theism, Deism, Whateverism

The American Humanist Association has recently issued a press release asking the President-elect Barrack Obama to decline any offer from the Boy Scouts of America to be the honorary president of their organization. Their argument is, essentially, that since the BSA openly promotes theistic principals and values, the President of the United States should refuse to be associated with them. What a load of crap! Perhaps the AHA should also issue a press release asking the incoming president to refuse to attend church since whatever church the Obama family decides to attend would not be welcoming to non-believers. Rather than suggesting that the President decline to be the titular head of an organization that the AHA disagrees with, perhaps they should request that he also accept an honorary leader position in their organization as well. That would show just how inclusive and accepting President-elect Obama really is.

Rah Rah Rah - Go Sea Kittens!

From the category of "never underestimate the power of human stupidity" comes another ridiculous article about PETA making a request to a high school principal in the city of Spearfish, South Dakota (pop. 9500-10000) to change the name of the school from (DUH!) Spearfish High School to Sea Kitten High School (I am not making this up!). I can only imagine the reception that the PETA representatives would get from the boys football team (2008 season record = one win, seven losses) at SHS when they explained their rationale. Hopefully, their response would be something along the line of up yours with a red hot spear - fish, that is.

Pearl Harbor Redux

The military power that is present in any one of our U.S. Navy aircraft carriers is phenomenal. Even my first ship, USS Midway (CV-41), was quite a powerful package though it was the smallest carrier in our fleet at that time. During the period prior to, during, and after World War II, the arsenal of battleships we had represented a comparable collection of enormous firepower that could be quickly brought to bear in a crisis. The Japanese were keenly aware of this. So much so, that on December 7, 1941, they attempted to eliminate our fleet of dreadnoughts in one fell swoop. They almost succeeded due in large degree as a result of the strategic mistake of "putting all of our eggs in one basket" as it were - the stationing of the bulk of our battleship fleet in one port. I lived on O'ahu for 17 years and I saw evidence of the attack still to this day.

The junior U.S. Senator from my current home state of Virginia, the honorable Jim Webb, seems to have forgotten that little bit of military history of our country. Sen. Webb believes that the U.S. Navy has not made a compelling argument to justify relocating one aircraft carrier from Norfolk, Virginia to Mayport, Florida. Sen. Webb has compelling political interest in maintaining the status quo regarding the number of ships, particularly aircraft carriers, in the Tidewater area of Virginia, which includes not only Norfolk, but Portsmouth, Hampton, Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach as well. The "care and feeding" of the each ship and its crew has a tremendous economic impact in the immediate area of the homeport. Sen. Webb's reports says:

The Navy’s proposal is fiscally irresponsible. Estimates put the project’s cost at $600 million to $1 billion, while the Navy estimated that it had $4.6 billion in unfunded priorities for fiscal year 2009.

Imagine what would happen if a larger scale terrorist attack than those already inflicted upon our country, both here and around the world, were to target the ships, aircraft, and bases in the Tidewater area. If only one ship were destroyed, the cost to replace it would be at least $4.5 billion. That price tag does not include the cost in human lives and suffering that would be a tragic coincident. It makes too much sense to me that at least one, if not two or three, aircraft carrier should be moved from Naval Station Norfolk to some other homeport.

DCF = Don't Care Factor

My morning routine when I arrive at my desk each day is basically the same: fire up the computer, launch Outlook, check that Inbox and Calendar, sign-in to Messenger, check the Hotmail Inbox, and peruse the highlights that come up in the Windows Live Today panel, move on to more important things, etc.

Usually, I only briefly look at the items that appear under Hot Gossip on the "Celebs" panel, but this morning there where one that caught my eye:

"Lindsay Reportedly Rings in 2009 with Flip-Out, Fisticuffs"

After a quick read of this non-news, it dawned on me that my DCF Meter was almost pegged. Who gives a damn about LiLo and her latest escapade? On a scale of 1 to 10 ("only interested if there is nothing else on/to do" to "Please kill me now so that I do not have to endure any more of this"), LiLo's lastest tantrum scores around an 8.5. And while I'm at it - if she's going to be (or continue to play at being) a lesbian, couldn't she at least pick a prettier partner?

New Year Resolution

I hereby resolve to get out of the house and go hiking more often. I was reading my latest issue of Backpacker magazine and realized that I have not been out in the woods or on the trail nearly as much as I wish. Hopefully, my good friends, Kelly and Sue, will be able to come out and play with my wife and me too.