To those who point out that we in the US spend more on medical care
than other developed countries, I would like to say this. We also spend
more on education, charity, pet food, entertainment, and probably lots
of other things I don’t know about.
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BOOK LIST V
I've got six weeks to catch Karl Rove...I might make it, if I didn't exhaust my light reading during this batch.
50) The Road To Serfdom (F.A. Hayek) The previous nine books have been largely fluff, so I decided I needed to do some mental calisthenics of my own. I thought Capitalism and Freedom was an easier read, but this wasn't as dense as I'd been warned. And I'm glad I read it.
49) Everything Bad Is Good For You (Steven Johnson) This was an interesting book, the premise of which is that popular culture is making us smarter, not dumber. It's the reassurance I need after watching Idiocracy! Johnson argues that people are doing more mental calisthenics these days from playing Sim City vs playing checkers or watching complex shows like 24 compared to the old Dragnet. He argues that our leisure time is spent following more complex forms of media, which work to make us smarter, counter to popular wisdom.
My favorite anecdote was this:
Several years ago I found myself on a family vacation with my seven-year-old nephew, and on one rainy day I decided to introduce him to the wonders of Sim City 2000, the legendary city simulator that allows you to play Robert Moses to a growing virtual metropolis. For most of our session, I was controlling the game, pointing out landmarks as I scrolled around my little town. I suspect I was a somewhat condescending guide--treating the virtual world as more of a model train layout than a complex system. But he was picking up the game's inner logic nonetheless. After about an hour of tinkering, I was concentrating on trying to revive one particularly run-down manufacturing district. As I contemplated my options, my nephew piped up: "I think we need to lower industrial tax rates." He said it as naturally, and as confidently, as he might have said, "I think we need to shoot the bad guy."
48) The Apostle (Brad Thor) I think I might've liked this one better than The Last Patriot. Blasphemy! And now I'm out of Brad Thor.
47) The Last Patriot (Brad Thor) Like the Da Vinci Code, but for Islam. I think I may have built up the excitement too much over the past two years, but it was still enjoyable.
46) The First Commandment (Brad Thor) I'm on my way to The Patriot, finally. I liked this one, as usual. A very good use of Biblical plagues...
45) Glenn Beck's Common Sense (Glenn Beck) I enjoyed this book, but I am finding that right-wing nutjobbery just doesn't do the same thing for me that it used to do. Back when I read Larry Elder or Dinesh D'Souza for the first time, I had never been exposed to writers who said the things I was thinking. Now that I surround myself with likeminded people, these books aren't as shocking as they once were. Still worthwhile, but they don't pack the punch they once did.
43) Never Again (John Ashcroft) My aunt lent me this book while I was visiting my grandparents, and I read it in a day. I enjoyed reading about the rationale behind the PATRIOT Act and other aspects of 9/11 that I was too clueless to follow at the time.
42) Eaters of the Dead (Michael Crichton) I finished the previous book on my flight out to San Diego and started this one on the way home. It was unlike his other books, and not really my favorite, but it was OK.
41) Sphere (Michael Crichton) I needed a quick book to read on the airplane, so I always reach for Crichton. As usual, he didn't disappoint.
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Micheal Crichton wrote a book called Travels back in '88 that was a really good read. Apparently I've lost my copy... :-(
Posted by: Beth at November 20, 2009 10:25 AM (ZT9NN)
2
Are you excluding For the New Intellectual from your list because it's really only a new essay plus a lot of reprints from books you're already read? (I can't remember if you've read For the Living.)
I have not read Everything Bad Is Good for You, but if we assume its premise is correct, I must be one of the stupidest people in America, since I read zero popular fiction, have not seriously watched any TV other than V in years, have never played a video game designed after the mid-90s (and even that attempt lasted a few minutes in 1996 and was the first time I had played any video game since 1985), etc.
Seriously, I wonder, does this increased ability to deal with complexity have any sociopolitical consequences? I doubt it. Being able to follow a complex TV show makes you more ... able to follow a complex TV show. Millions of these modern media sophisticates voted for Obama, even though it does not take a genius to question his credentials.
Complexity is not intelligence. The former often entails a lot of brute force memory which may or may not be accompanied by analytical ability. Is a speaker of Sanskrit more 'intelligent' than us because his adjectives have 72 forms corresponding to a single form in English? There are perhaps a billion people who use Chinese characters, but how many of them understand how their writing system works?
I am finding that right-wing nutjobbery just doesn't do the same thing
for me that it used to do. Back when I read Larry Elder or Dinesh
D'Souza for the first time, I had never been exposed to writers who
said the things I was thinking. Now that I surround myself with
likeminded people, these books aren't as shocking as they once were.
Still worthwhile, but they don't pack the punch they once did.
I know what you mean. I thought Dinesh D'Souza was a big deal when I discovered him back in 1992 and I enjoyed Goldberg's Bias in 2002. But I now find most Rightist writing to be extremely boring. I pretty much know what they're going to say, and I don't need the reinforcement. But I can still be surprised ... e.g., by Lindsey Graham the other day.
Do you watch the movie adaptations of Crichton's books?
Posted by: Amritas at November 20, 2009 01:53 PM (+nV09)
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I didn't mean my first question to sound hostile. Sorry if I came off that way.
I was too harsh when I wrote,
"There are perhaps a billion people who use Chinese characters, but how many of them understand how their writing system works?"
The vast majority of users understand the basic principles, but the structure of many characters - including the most common - is probably opaque to most users. For instance, the standard Mandarin possessive marker 的 de - the most common character of all - is composed of 白 bai 'white' + 勺 shao 'ladle'. Why? (The answer is on my blog.)
Chinese writing is like English spelling - one uses it every day without thinking too much about it: e.g., why write words with silent gh? (Hint: compare such words with their German cognates containing nonsilent ch:night with Nacht,through with durch, etc.)
"But I can still be surprised ..."
It would have been better if I had ended that sentence with an example of a surprising passage in a Rightist book instead of Graham's behavior. But I can't remember a single passage in, say, Bias - I just remember thinking, I feel like this guy!
Posted by: Amritas at November 20, 2009 03:55 PM (+nV09)
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Sweetie (or in this trimester, sweaty may be more appropriate) did you know the movie "the 13th Warrior" is based off "Eaters?"
I could recommend a few really good history books, if you ever finish this list. They aren't texts, per se, but they are fascinating reads.
As for light reading, I am all into John Ringo for scifi--and believe it or not, got hooked by his "The Centurion" a non-scifi but very near future yarn. Excellent read. David Webber is another really good read--I am starting his second book in the Armageddon's Reef series. Horatio Hornblower meets LtCDR Data. Fun reads, and like the old masters, based on a view of what could happen in our own society.
And for chuckle till the bed shakes and read whole passages to the Mrs. reading, I totally recommend Tim Dorsey. His hero is a bipolar manic depressive serial killer, who uses really creative and interesting ways to kill people. But the real gem is the dialog and the way he absolutely NAILS Florida culture and inhabitants.
Amritas, You have a golden opportunity to start a blog based on pictures of Chinese character tattoos--what they say and what their wearers think they say. If you are ever bored, I could think up about a thousand sayings I would love translated into Chinese, Korean, whatever. The fact that you understand the language, beyond just the mechanics, fascinates me as much as it humbles me. I am a smart guy, but damn. Compared to you, on a scale between Smart and Dumb, I'm just above knowing better than to eat my own boogers and yet still doing it.
Posted by: Chuck Z at November 22, 2009 12:39 AM (bMH2g)
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Chuck Z, the Asian tattoo blog you described already exists. It's so painful to read that I only visit it about once a year. I could never write such a blog.
Posted by: Amritas at November 24, 2009 04:02 AM (ogTuw)
RIGGING THE GAME
So, I'm trying to understand this, really. The prison at Guantanamo is illegal and illegitimate, but Obama and Holder saying we'll try these men in NYC and, duh, of course they'll be convicted and will never be released...that's somehow more legitimate?
I heard someone on TV say, and I'm sorry I don't know who, that we all kinda thought OJ Simpson would be convicted too. Heh.
The whole point of a fair trial is that the person has a chance of being acquitted. If there is no chance of being acquitted, if the game is rigged from the outset, then there is no point in having a trial. So if you're going to guarantee that KSM will be convicted, you can't have a trial. It's simple. You cannot guarantee the outcome of a trial. If you do, it's a farce. And if we're setting all this up to be a farce, just leave them at Gitmo.
That's my major problem with this idea. But Lindsey Graham also brings up another facet of the issue that's just as troubling.
(And I agree with Goldberg that, "For those of us frustrated with Graham, this makes up for a lot." Heh.)
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Does it disturb anyone else that the AG is wholly unprepared to discuss this topic with any depth or clarity? And, this is the man we're trusting to craft the arguments that are going to 'guarantee' a conviction of KSM. I mean, KSM already has a nickname...that's bad.
Also bad? Providing him with Constitutional rights equal to our own.
Even more bad? Creating a situation where IF he were acquitted or so much evidence is suppressed b/c the threshold in military court for evidence is different than civilian court, he should, technically, walk. Holder seems to suggest he wouldn't walk. Well, if that's the case, then why even have the trial? If he could walk, where is he walking? Holder seems to suggest it wouldn't be in the USA, but that it would be somewhere. Sorry, but "failure is not an option" is not an answer to what do we do if the jury sets him loose? Even a brand new trial attorney knows that strange crap happens when a jury is involved. Have evidence problems and it gets even trickier.
It seems like someone wants to put the past on display, air our secrets and do further damage to our ability to prosecute this war.
NOT happy with this decision. But, what else is new?
Posted by: Guard Wife at November 19, 2009 07:44 PM (I6LTM)
2
Schwing! Thank so much for sharing that...I feel so much smarter now.
Posted by: Kate at November 19, 2009 07:45 PM (J1l7A)
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Um, my question was, where are they going to find a jury of his peers? And just by having the trial in the US, doesn't that almost automatically give them grounds for appeal, because it would be unfair...not to mention NY, near Ground Zero. Are they now going to decide that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is not going to be tried by a military tribunal (because he might claim that he is a military combattant or something)? And so let's say that the White House is going to strong arm the courts in NY to make sure a convinction happens, because failure isn't an option. It almost sounds like they aren't going to afford KSM due process, which nobody really cares about for that particular accused, but it perverts our legal system and creates a precedent for US citizens losing their rights as the accused. There is so much unbelievably wrong about this, that I hope they realize their mistake before it's too late. It is such a farce.
Posted by: Calivalleygirl at November 19, 2009 09:12 PM (irIko)
4
Day by Day showed us today where the jury of peers could be found, I thought that was a good idea, Chicago, of course. I almost came up with some respect for Graham over this, but still he has a LOT make up for.
Posted by: Ruth H at November 19, 2009 11:31 PM (WPw5a)
NOTHING GENTLE
A horrifying ad found by Mike Potemra:
Here’s a little something I noticed, while Googling an abortion-related issue. I file it away in a little time capsule for the writers of that 2049 show. An ad for an abortion clinic was headlined “Gentle Abortions 4-24 weeks.†And the ad promised: “No pain. No memory. Abortion $340. Pill $400.â€
I am 24 weeks right now. I feel the baby all the time. She wiggles, she kicks, she hops and jumps. And I'm getting big; I look like this:
There would be nothing "gentle" about aborting her now. Nothing at all.
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Um, yeah. Being pregnant, and having a better idea of what was going on development and feeling-wise really made me even more horrified about abortion.
Posted by: Calivalleygirl at November 17, 2009 03:31 PM (irIko)
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When I first scrolled across this entry, I saw the words "A horrifying ad" followed by your photo and wondered how you ended up in an advertisement. That picture is the opposite of horrible. It's beautiful.
Why 2049? Given that 2009 - 1963 = 46, I'd expect the Mad Men (Psychologically Diverse Persyns?) of the future to be aired in 2009 + 46 = 2055. I guess the author was adding a nice round figure to 2009.
A more important question is, why will the people of 2049 or 2055 be mocking us? Because we're too PC, or because we're not PC enough?
Posted by: Amritas at November 17, 2009 03:44 PM (+nV09)
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Amritas is right, it is a beautiful picture.
It is so ironic to advertise a gentle abortion. Not gentle for the woman and definitely not gentle for a baby. Truth in advertising? I think not. It is insulting to our intelligence.
Posted by: Ruth H at November 17, 2009 09:33 PM (WPw5a)
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You guys are too kind. I simply HATE taking these photos of myself...I can never get the camera aimed right while keeping my face from looking goofy.
Posted by: Sarah at November 17, 2009 09:59 PM (gWUle)
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You look great!!!!!!!!!!! Cute baby "bump". I read an article recently about a woman who worked at Planned Parenthood and after several years of working there, she finally watched a video of an abortion. She almost immediately quit her job and is now working for a prolife group. Honestly, for me, I cant imagine anything being "gentle" or "kind" at any time during pregnancy, but definitely not at 24 weeks...
Posted by: Keri at November 17, 2009 10:35 PM (dtvJC)
Posted by: Susan at November 17, 2009 10:40 PM (EU2Wl)
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Sarah ... I'm not sure if anyone told you yet ... but it looks like you are smuggling a BABY!! grats on that status ...
Posted by: Darla at November 18, 2009 12:56 AM (XvIN7)
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Can you use the time delay on your camera? I managed to figure mine out when I was finally brave enough to take pictures of myself (after 20 weeks, when I actually finally looked pregnant).
Stick it on a counter, or on a box on a counter, and play with it to get the right angles and stuff, and then use that every time you want to take a profile shot. Mine weren't always straight, but I got the cat in there a couple times.
That's what Photoshop is for, anyway.
Posted by: Deltasierra at November 19, 2009 02:25 PM (+Fbnb)
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I agree with everyone else! I wish I had looked that good at 24 weeks. I didn't want ANYONE near me with a camera. I have only one picture of myself pregnant with our first. I was wearing maternity BDUs and my husband's combat boots because my feet were too swollen to wear my own. I looked like Goofy. (My husband has hidden that picture for ransom)
You look like an advertisement for the best things about being pregnant.
Posted by: Lemon Stand at November 19, 2009 04:48 PM (a+4Ku)
POLITE SOCIETY
Related to the granting the premise idea, here's Roger Kimball on Lou Dobbs and what the media deems acceptable:
The English critic William Hazlitt once spoke disparagingly of "common
place critics" who pretend to put themselves "in the middle, between
the extremes of right and wrong." Something similar could be said of
the rancid, illiberal liberalism of commentators like Krugman and
Burns. They look upon their own opinions less as opinions than as
universally applicable observations that reflect the state of nature.
Their opinions are just what any enlightened, virtuous member of
"polite" society believes. Only those who disagree with them have
"fractious," line-crossing opinions unacceptable to such polite company
as represented by Krugman, The New York Times and Media
Matters. Here's what's really at stake in the controversy of Dobbs and
CNN. It's not only Dobbs who's been rusticated: It's also the robust
liberalism that thrived on disagreement, argument and polemic.
1
I hate it so much when people say use the term "the middle ground."
The Middle Ground is a stupid idea. The truth is never at either extreme, but never is it in the middle, either. The idea of that in order to be "fair" one must split the difference makes me want to hurl. It's just stupid and it exists only on the premise that the rest of us are stupid enough to fall for the idiotic premise that the truth is always at the 50/50 mark.
Well, that's crap.
We will always need to compromise and work together, because that's how life is. It's that way micro and macro (case in point - my house, which is neither the all-white-in-every-room preference of my husband, nor the bright-colors-everywhere that I would have chosen). But that does NOT mean that you abandon all premise but "being on the middle ground" as if that is some sort of moral victory.
If you ask me, that is the absence of morals and a vacuum of moral thought.
Either stick to straight news (which even the most PBS inclined among us has to admit gets very boring) or pepper your staff with both views and allow robust debate. Defending our positions is how we learn, not by being surrounded by people in an echo chamber.
CNN reminds me of that book by Judy Blume - Freckle Juice, where the boy is told in the end that all perfect people do is sit and drink weak tea all the time. BORING. And totally not worth emulating, either.
Posted by: airforcewife at November 17, 2009 09:33 AM (uE3SA)
The truth is never at either extreme, but never is it in the middle
I would say the truth is what it is. People think in terms of spectra. Suppose we define a spectrum in terms of 0 to 10. The truth could be at one extreme (0) or the other (10) or in the middle (5). Or the spectrum could be completely wrong, and the truth is really a negative number or infinity or A.
I do not rule out the extremes because existence is extreme. Either something exists or it does not. If "the truth is never at either extreme" and is never "in the middle," then something can never exist or not exist or be halfway between existence and nonexistence; it can only almost exist or almost non-exist. If nonexistence is 0 and existence is 1, then 0, 1, and .5 have to be ruled out, and the only possible values would roughly be 0.0001-0.4999 and 0.5001-0.9999. (The exact number of zeroes and nines after the decimal point would be infinite.) But some things are binary in the real world. Ayn Rand's John Galt either exists or does not exist in real life. (Bad news: he doesn't exist.)
I am not saying truth is whatever we want it to be. I am saying that truth is independent of our fantasies and our mental shortcuts like 'the truth is never X or Y'.
We can compromise on things in the future. We can decide to aim for 5 instead of 0 or 10. But the past and present are less subject to negotiation; we can change our minds about them, but they exist independently of our thinking. When someone says the truth is always/never X, they are trying to project their desires upon reality. And they may not realize what powerful words 'always' and 'never' are. They are not synonyms for 'usually' or 'rarely'.
I realize I have simplified a complex subject. Not all reality is binary. Before we can speak of whether X exists, we have to agree upon what counts as X. Semantics is fluid. Language is just labels; reality exists independent of it. We can abolish a word, but its referent won't vanish from history just because its tag is gone.
If you ask me, that is the absence of morals and a vacuum of moral thought.
The irony is that those who claim to be in the middle believe they are on the moral high ground. Quite the opposite. They are distorting reality. How can that be moral?
Defending our positions is how we learn, not by being surrounded by people in an echo chamber.
I strongly encourage people to listen to others who share some common ground with you but otherwise are diametrically opposed to what you stand for. Some degree of overlap is needed so you respect them and can keep listening to them. Otherwise you'll run away and won't be able to learn from them at all. I have rejected a lot of my old positions by leaving the echo chamber and reading blogs written by my partial opponents.
Posted by: Amritas at November 17, 2009 12:43 PM (+nV09)
Posted by: david foster at November 17, 2009 02:45 PM (uWlpq)
4I strongly encourage people to listen to others who share some common
ground with you but otherwise are diametrically opposed to what you
stand for. Some degree of overlap is needed so you respect them and can
keep listening to them. Otherwise you'll run away and won't be able to
learn from them at all. I have rejected a lot of my old positions by
leaving the echo chamber and reading blogs written by my partial
opponents.
Amritas, that is an excellent way to put it. You have to be willing to listen to someone to hear what they have to say, and you're far more likely to do so if you can see the complex person beyond that particular opinion. If someone is knee-jerkedly a "neocon" or what-have-you, you have made them into a caricature, which is easy to dismiss.
I think that I probably didn't explain myself very well about the scale, though. And I was thinking in terms of the linear scale you used, too! The truth is definitely the truth, but I think that there are truths and then there are truths. One thing that I find so interesting about studying the history of conflicts is the reasoning people use for their participation. There is truth, definitely, but there is also the greater good and the lesser evil. And all these things work together to make an answer that we may not like in any way, and yet understand to be the best solution that is possible. In the meantime, with each addition of a new aspect, the truth is sliding around on the 1 - 10 scale from one place to another, since very rarely are we analyzing things like "WWII happened", and more often we are analyzing things like, "We need additional troops in Afghanistan."
Yes, I think we do. Because I want to win the war and it seems to me that the analysis says those troops are necessary to smack the crap out of AQ and move forward to a holding pattern with fewer troops. Others might think we need NO troops, pull them all out, it's useless. Etc, ad infinitum.
That's what I meant by the fact that there's truth and then there's truth. And the scale never being at an extreme or the middle.
If that makes sense. I'm sure it's utterly boring - sorry for that.
Posted by: airforcewife at November 17, 2009 03:02 PM (uE3SA)
ZOD KNEELS
If there's a bad reference to Superman II, I haven't heard it:
Think of it as “Superman II,†if the main characters had landed on
Earth convinced that they had to “rebuild Krypton’s relationships†with
the universe. In that case, you don’t kneel before Zod; Zod kneels before you.
1
Dick had this posted on his FB, I thought it was funny. I asked about the arguement about Shakira, and Jessica Beal...he said it happens more often than you would imagine.
Posted by: awtm at November 15, 2009 09:53 AM (dxTUZ)
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I know, ha. Who else do you think ArmyHusbandPuppyDad is??
Posted by: Sarah at November 15, 2009 10:02 AM (gWUle)
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I saw this link a few days ago on my iPhone but was reluctant to play it, or to share it with you. I'm relieved that you and the ArmyCouplePuppyParents like it. Now that I've seen it, it's even funnier than I expected.
Posted by: Amritas at November 15, 2009 12:57 PM (G4Rx6)
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I about DIED watching this! I love it, and I can't wait to show AFG!
Posted by: airforcewife at November 15, 2009 07:15 PM (uE3SA)
TRUTHS OF A DIFFERENT HUMAN ORDER
I am closing in on the end of my 2009 Reading Challenge. Unfortunately, all I want to do is read Atlas Shrugged again, but I ain't tackling a 1200 page book when I'm up against Karl Rove. So I was happy to pick up For the New Intellectual, a gift from Amritas. I have long wished I had access to a searchable Atlas, but this has the next best thing: excerpts of some of the best monologues from the book. I read them on the plane and got all embiggened yesterday.
And also nervous:
And, paving the way for Attila, the intellectuals are still repeating, not by conviction any longer, but by rote, that the growth of government power is not an abridgment of freedom -- that the demand of one group for an unearned share of another group's income is not socialism -- that the destruction of property rights will not affect any other rights -- that man's mind, intelligence, creative ability are a "national resource" (like mines, forests, waterfalls, buffalo reserves, and national parks) to be taken over, subsidized, and disposed of by the government -- that businessmen are selfish autocrats because they are struggling to preserve freedom,while the "liberals" are the true champions of liberty because they are fighting for more government controls -- that the fact that we are sliding down a road that has destroyed every other country, does not prove that it will destroy ours -- that dictatorship is not dictatorship if nobody calls it by that abstract name – and that none of us can help it, anyway.
Do you wish to know whether that day is coming? Watch money. Money is the barometer of a society's virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion--when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing--when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors--when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you--when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice--you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that is does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality. It will not permit a country to survive as half-property, half-loot.
Reading Rand always reminds me of this Daniel Quinn quote: "We know that the pious don't go to church every Sunday because they've forgotten that Jesus loves them but rather because they've not forgotten that Jesus loves them. They want to hear it again and again and again and again. [...] there are truths, of a different human order, that must be enunciated again and again and again -- in the same words and in different words: again and again and again."
I like to be reminded that someone like Rand lived, and wrote, and thought.
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Thanks for mentioning me. I last reread For the New Intellectual on a plane almost exactly a year ago (26 November 200
. So it's neat that you also read it on a plane. At the time, Obama's election was still fresh on my mind and the book made me cry. I've had the book by my side for the last year, and I may reread it when I board a plane next month.
I come here for reinforcement. I like to be reminded that someone like you lives, writes, and thinks.
Posted by: Amritas at November 15, 2009 12:45 PM (G4Rx6)
I'm home. I missed a call from my husband today while I was on my flight. Two weeks and counting since we had a four-minute phone call. Oy. I am not a fan of this particular deployment.
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Yes, it must be the hormones. And I must have something in my eyes. Thanks for posting that. Glad you are home safe. Sorry you missed that call. Sometimes just hearing a voice is comfort enough.
Posted by: Mare at November 15, 2009 08:49 AM (HUa8I)
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Thanks for that link. The Bushes are special people. I was lucky to hear Barbara speak at a convention I attended several years ago. Maybe someday I'll be able to hear some others in this special family.
Posted by: Miss Ladybug at November 16, 2009 12:07 AM (YJ5uY)
VETERANS
I had dinner with a veteran last night. My father-in-law was an MP at Fort Hood in the 70's. I kept thinking about what it would have been like for him to be an MP there last week...
I also talked briefly on the phone to a veteran: my husband's brother. He's out of the Army now but he was deployed to Iraq in 2004 at the same time my husband was.
And I will eat dinner with another veteran tonight. Time spent with Chuck Z is always appreciated.
I did not get to hear from my favorite veteran of all yesterday...but hopefully soon.
Posted by: Sarah at
11:39 AM
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ONE MORE TRIP
Tomorrow I am headed on another trip, this time to visit my in-laws. It will be my first time visiting them by myself...at least since 2000 when I moved to my husband's hometown to be near him for the summer and he went to Airborne School for a few weeks. That was the last time I hung out with his parents without him. Funny, that seems like so long ago.
Since this will be the first grandchild on both sides of the family, I wanted to let my husband's parents get to be a part of the joys of pregnancy and grandparenthood too. They deserve to get to feel tummy kicks just like my mom did.
And my husband's grandmother will be a first time great-grandma too. Exciting milestones for everyone. It will be a fun trip.
So no blogging for the rest of the week. But since I'm apparently down to a mere 49 readers -- oy -- I guess it's not that big of a deal.
Posted by: Heather at November 10, 2009 10:08 AM (k4L7l)
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That's awful sweet of you. If I were going to be around this week I'd tell you I'd try to meet up with you somewhere. Maybe get a few of those maternity pictures in. :-) Safe travels
Posted by: Sara Vidotto at November 10, 2009 02:37 PM (dSx+u)
Posted by: Lucy at November 10, 2009 02:40 PM (YNvUz)
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Have a great trip. And I don't believe you could possibly be down to only 49 readers.
Posted by: Butterfly Wife at November 10, 2009 05:18 PM (iroE4)
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hey, it's quality not quantity that's important, right?
Posted by: sharona at November 10, 2009 09:37 PM (BeRta)
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That is so sweet for you to think to include them. My daughter was the first grandchild for my parents, but not my husband's. Sounds like there is going to be some serious spoiling going on soon.
Posted by: Lorie Byrd at November 11, 2009 01:21 AM (wcsec)
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My daughter in law and her family have been so good to me and my husband while he's been deployed. Our grand baby was the first on both sides too. I'm so glad you are doing this, your in laws are just as thrilled and excited as your parents. I am sure they will treasure the time they get to spend with you and the coming grandchild. Have fun! and bless you!
Posted by: tibby at November 11, 2009 11:18 AM (S/Fac)
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That is so sweet. I see my daughter has been here before me.'D She just became a grandmother and I a great grandmother 2 months ago tomorrow. It was a thrill to hold our little one only 15 minutes after his birth. And we are on the daddy side of the family, the mother's side could not have been more welcoming. Oh yes, we are a proud to know you 49!
Posted by: Ruth H at November 12, 2009 12:30 PM (JFseb)
Tell me something: in a moment of national tragedy, is it really too
much to expect that the President of the United States not give "shout
outs"? Is it too much ask that he understand the difference between the
Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Honor? What we require
from our leaders at times like this is not much. They don't have to
actually care. What we want is precisely the kind of thing that comes
easily to Barack Obama: honeyed words and a show of empathy from a man
who thinks that quality is the most important attribute a Supreme Court
judge can possess. But somehow, asking the Commander in Chief of our
armed forces to to give the appearance of empathy even if the actual
feeling was not there - was too much.
Americans expect something more from leaders in times of trouble.
Grace. Empathy. Inspiration. A sense of gravity. When the Space Shuttle
Challenger exploded killing 7 astronauts, Ronald Reagan postponed the State of the Union report to address and assuage the nation's shock and mourning.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, was giving shout outs.
And an absolute must-read from JR Salzman about true PTSD:
Sometimes I would just wake up screaming in
agony as I relived the moment where my right arm was ripped from my body by an
Iranian shape charge. (I may not know
what childbirth feels like, but I know what it's like to go an hour with my arm
ripped off without painkillers (I'm allergic to morphine).) [snip] That's what fucking PTSD is like.
At no point in time have I ever felt the desire or need to grab a weapon
and go shoot someone or something up. At
no point in time have I ever grabbed a weapon and broken a law because I felt
the need to protect myself. PTSD urges
you mitigate the risk of events that happened in your life. But if you've never had anything traumatic
happen in your life, you can't fucking have PTSD.
1
I hope and believe that his monumental faux pas was a real "shot out" to many of his true believers about how he really is. Cold, narcissistic (sp?) and totally out of touch with Americans. I cannot imagine any other president in my lifetime not addressing the massacre before any other thing.
As for the PTSD, shameful, shame on everyone who even thinks that would be his problem. My son-in-law was in Vietnam and he is totally disabled with PTSD and the whole family has been adversely affected by it.
And for TT who reads this too, you don't have to comment, Mama already did. ;D
Posted by: Ruth H at November 08, 2009 02:15 PM (CvvEA)
2
The "winner" thing about spun my head around again when I had recovered from my shock at his off-shrugging of the Ft Hood terrorist attack. Semantics? Not in this case, by any means. You win something you work hard for and towards, something you deliberately aim yourself at. You are awarded a MoH, and the fact that the President doesn't recognize this gives me chills. Cold chills.
But then, there's that whole Nobel Prize thing... I guess if you get a Nobel Prize for doing nothing, you view other things through that lens as well.
Posted by: airforcewife at November 08, 2009 04:05 PM (uE3SA)
3
I'm seriously dumbfounded at his lack of empathy. And absolutely disgusted that he doesn't even have the basic knowledge to know that the CMOH is usually awarded posthumously. Did the White House fire the protocal person to save money or something? I find it hard to believe he would purposely be this much of a dumbass.
Posted by: Mare at November 09, 2009 09:06 AM (HUa8I)
The medal is approved by the respective secretaries of the service that awards it, and it is awarded by the President. Congress only authorized the issuing of the medal in general. They passed a resolution creating the medal, and take no part in awarding it. Calling it "the congressional medal..." is only correct if every other medal awarded by the services is also called "the congressional medal of X" as in the congressional army achievement medal" as congress has to approve the creation of all awards.
It is the Medal of Honor, it is awarded, not won. It was awarded much more often prior to the Spanish American War, as it was then the ONLY medal the military had to recognize valor.
Posted by: Chuck Z at November 11, 2009 08:01 PM (bMH2g)
SPEAKING OF STEYN
Speaking of Mark Steyn (and I always like speaking of Mark Steyn):
And his superior officers and other authorities knew
about his beliefs but seemed to think it was just a bit of harmless
multicultural diversity — as if believing that “the Muslims should
stand up and fight against the aggressor†(i.e., his fellow American
soldiers) and writing Internet paeans to the “noble†“heroism†of
suicide bombers and, indeed, objectively supporting the other side in an active war is to be regarded as just some kind of alternative lifestyle that adds to the general vibrancy of the base.
Incredible, especially when you consider
that the only Muslims killed in the USA on 9/11 and in Britain on 7/7
were killed by Muslims.
Muslims may have as much to fear from
radical Muslims as any other American, Briton or Canadian... I'm rather
sick of the MSM interrupting our grieving to tell us that, to add
Muslims' insults to a Muslim's murderous injury, they suspect us of
wanting to attack their mosques now, even though we didn't the last ten
times a Muslim killed innocent people in the name of Islam. What are
they scared of? Grafitti?
That first sentence is worth bearing in mind when mendacious lobby
groups such as CAIR trot out their "fears" for Muslim safety. Muslims
died in the World Trade Center, the London Underground, the Bali
nightclub attacks, the Istanbul bank bombings, in Iraqi shopping
markets targeted by insurgents. The death toll of Muslims killed by
Muslims in any one year is staggering. Jihadists are very indifferent
to murdering their coreligionists and have been since the Grand Mufti
staged his uprising in Mandatory Palestine and wound up slaughtering
more Muslims than Jews or Britons.
After my comparative body count in my "fear for Muslims" post last
night - non-Muslims 13, Muslims 0 - a snotty liberal wrote to wonder
sneeringly how I knew the dead at Fort Hood were all non-Muslims. He
thinks he's refuting my point but in fact he's making it for me: The
soi-disant "moderate Muslim" has far more to fear from a coreligionist
boarding the subway train yelling "Allahu akbar!" than he does from the
allegedly "Islamophobic" Americans forever on the brink of
"backlash". That our media cannot see what the commenter above sees is,
even in a relativist age, a very advanced stage of decadence.
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LIVING THE HIGH LIFE, ON OUR DIME
Mark Steyn would be happy: Uighurs are back in the news! At Powerline:
It's hard to know what to make of this, apart from the fact that the
world is a weird place, and getting weirder all the time. I'm fine with
resettling the Uighurs, but is it really necessary for U.S. taxpayers
to fund "spotless hardwood floors, a fresh coat of paint, new furniture
and appliances, and a sweeping view of the ocean"? Not to mention
housing, job training, food, and all other living expenses, including
air conditioning, cable television and high-speed internet, which is a
"rarity" in Palau. If the administration is looking for volunteers to
live at government expense in an island paradise, count me in.
No doubt these expenses are a drop in the bucket compared to the
trillions that the Obama administration is wasting here at home. But
could it be any clearer that we are living under a government that
treats our tax money--which is to say, our work; our time; our
lives--with contempt?
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A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later.
"It provides coverage for 96 percent of Americans. It offers everyone,
regardless of health or income, the peace of mind that comes from
knowing they will have access to affordable health care when they need
it," said Rep. John Dingell
And like those other two things that passed, it will eventually end up costing far more money than ever expected and will be the downfall of the US.
1
Is there a black ribbon we can wear or something? I'm so disgusted with our gov't, and apparently a 'mean, uncaring person' according to at least one person for not thinking this is the best piece of legislation ever passed.
Posted by: Mare at November 08, 2009 08:55 AM (HUa8I)
YES, WE'RE SERIOUS
Nothing burns me up more than politicians' contempt for people who want to adhere to the original constraints of our founding document.
Her sneering at the question makes me so mad I could scream.
A comment at youtube:
It has literally never occurred to any true Liberal Democrat that their policies should be in any way constrained by the U.S. Constitution.
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TEASING IN THE MILITARY
I am not in the Army. You can take this post with a grain of salt if you like. Or correct me if you think I'm off base. But something about the Hasan shooting has been bugging me to no end.
[Question from] Rockville, Md.: Dear Mr. Kenniff, As the wife of a former
military officer, it strikes me as odd that the shooter, who was a
major in the Army, claimed that he was being harassed for his religious
beliefs. While some types of harassment and teasing (which could be
serious or not) are surely not uncommon among enlisted men and women,
it is harder to envision it happening in the officer ranks. Enlisted
soldiers would know not to harass an officer and it is difficult to
envision this individual being "made fun of" (the term I saw in the
newspaper) by other officers. This seems inconsistent with the norms in
that professional context. What is your sense of this claim? Thanks.
Thomas Kenniff: I couldn't agree more and that was one of the
points I tried to make on Larry King last night, as Dr. Phil dronned on
about PTSD. This is a person who out ranked 95% of the military, and
occupied a position of prestige both in the military and as a civilian.
Doctors are treated like gold in the Army.
My experience with this is limited, but it runs counter to these two people's experiences. I think perhaps it might have to do with the fact that JAG and the medical corps are a little different from, say, combat arms. I imagine there's less foul-mouthed insults being hurled in the hospital than there are in my husband's corridor.
Yes, I very seriously doubt that some PFC walked up to MAJ Hasan in the hospital and started ragging on him for being a Muslim. Not likely. But to say that officers are above teasing and making fun of folks? My husband apparently doesn't live on the same planet as this lady's husband did.
Officers are human beings. Human beings, in an in-group setting, tease each other. Especially males. About anything and everything that can be used for fodder. Off the top of my head, I know my husband has been made fun of for a variety of things: his beard, his car, his larger-than-average head, his use of big vocabulary words, his lack of tattoos, his never-heard-of-it alma mater, and yes, even just the mere fact of being an officer is grounds for teasing at times (because officers go home and roll around in their big money piles like Scrooge McDuck, you know). And in his current career field, where no one uses rank and everyone gets called by first names, the enlisted soldiers get plenty of cracks in at him. No one is exempt, not the First Sergeant, not the commander, no one. (And Lord help you if you are a female in this career field. You have to have very thick skin.)
I've seen officers tease on ethnicity. A few years ago, my husband invited some other lieutenants over to the house and then told a Chinese-American lieutenant, "But you can't come, you'll oppress my Tibetan dog." The guy laughed and thought that was pretty clever, saying that he usually just gets accused of wanting to eat people's dogs.
I really doubt that Hasan was directly teased about being a Muslim. He might've been if he had gotten close enough to other guys in his unit where they felt comfortable ribbing him, but my guess is that enough people felt Hasan was a bit off and didn't think it'd be wise to poke fun at him. My husband served with one such Muslim before, and everyone was careful to give this guy some space.
I think what's more likely is that Hasan heard indirect comments against Muslims in general and took it personally. In treating soldiers' mental states, he might've heard them say generic things about how they don't get Islam, or they don't like haji, or whatever. And Hasan took it personally. I would bet that a closeted homosexual deals with the same thing in the military. Same as a non-vocal atheist. They would be surrounded by casual conversation against their lifestyle, and I'm sure that's not easy to swallow over and over. I am guessing that's what Hasan meant by saying he felt harassed or made fun of. He heard anti-Muslim comments just by being in the military and took them to heart. Understandable, but quite different from being openly mocked for being a Muslim himself.
I think all this shock that an officer killed these people is a bit ridiculous. Officers are people too. Some of them are jerks. Some of them are ignorant or immature. Some of them are malicious and messed up in the head. They're not somehow above murder just because of their rank.
And they're not above joking and teasing either.
Come on, you really think Chuck Z conducts himself at all times like a complete gentleman? I bet he can let an off-color insult rip like no one's business...
1
I'm not in the military, but apparently I do live "on the same planet as this lady's husband did." It is possible for men to work together without resorting to "teasing." So I think
Human beings, in an in-group setting, tease each other. Especially males.
is too broad a generalization, though I believe you are accurately describing your husband's situation. Was it Hasan's situation? Is Kenniff just covering up the truth to preserve the military's image for a civilian audience?
Let's suppose the scenario you described is correct:
I think what's more likely is that Hasan heard indirect comments against Muslims in general and took it personally.
That does sound likely to me. My question is: How many nonwhites, women, homosexuals, et al. in the military hear such comments and react the way Hasan did? My guess is zero. If such people had gone berserk, the media would have lectured us about it. If the military is full of "teasing," how can it promote those who can't take it? Such sensitivity is anything but "Army Strong."
Posted by: Amritas at November 07, 2009 02:45 PM (G4Rx6)
2
I totally agree with this. I had a [short] conversation on Facebook with a friend and her sister (I think), because they were both expressing concern over the fact that "everyone" was making a big deal over his being a Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent, when it was the harassment that drove him to kill. Besides, there are "plenty" of Muslims in this country who don't kill people (like that matters, for some reason), and [apparently] the news media "never" makes a big deal when a "radical Christian" commits this kind of act (which, according to her, happens all the time).
I told her I didn't care if he was the freakin' Pope – he targeted innocent people and killed them in rage. In addition to that, he has a body of evidence pointing to the fact that he is, in fact, a radical Muslim who took very seriously the parts of the Koran that encourage jihad. It doesn't matter if other Muslims are denying having anything to do with him – he doesn't have to be part of a sleeper cell to commit jihad. Neither does "harassment" make a good excuse for mowing down forty people (whose lives he had supposedly sworn to protect, in more ways than one) – it doesn't make him a victim, it makes him a heinous murderer, and we shouldn't ignore that just because he had his feelings hurt.
I haven't gotten a reply yet.
It's really REALLY bugging the heck out of me that people are totally willing to forgive him, because "he's a VIIIIICTIM!"
Poor, poor terrorist. The evil Americans are SOOO mean to you. It doesn't matter that you're an adult with the choice to suck it up/grow a pair/turn the other cheek – OBVIOUSLY killing is the only solution, and we should feel sorry for you.
GRRR. >
Posted by: Deltasierra at November 07, 2009 02:57 PM (/Mv9b)
Very astute observation towards the end. Perhaps in other occupations the teasing isn't so intense. My personal experience being the only female in an entirely male, oil and gas company was that they interacted entirely on the basis of giving each other a hard time. Always.
Mark being infantry is always being teased. I don't need to go into details but it's over everything. And they like it. It's how they bond, I guess. And more so, the teasing gets bad if they don't respect or truely hate a fellow officer. If they outrank him, it happens behind the guy's back but it probably circles back to him anyhow.
What's astute is that as the listener, he probably heard the honest opinion of many soldiers regarding the muslim religion. And your comparisons are right on. I'm on your side with this.
Posted by: Sara at November 07, 2009 10:02 PM (MYUXb)
4
I hadn't read that sort of commentary, and I'm glad, although I think I'll pass it along for my husband the boat wardroom to read. If they're not supposed to be teasing and harassing each other, they missed that memo, bigtime. Of course, they're sub guys...
Posted by: Tara at November 07, 2009 10:07 PM (BuzKj)
I have never, ever, conducted myself otherwise, despite rumors of my wearing a banana hammock around the pool at the vegas hilton, or shouting "hooker" in a vegas bar until an "independent contractor" appeared, or calling her later with a group of other nefarious types and asking if she had a clown suit, or putting fly bait in my 1SGs HMMWV, or telling a buddy that the rattling sound his new mini van made was the sound of his nuts rolling around in the ash tray.
For that matter, I'd never sell a t-shirt that says "my imaginary friend can beat up your imaginary friend." I'd never tell the lab tech who commented on the color of my pee that "It tasted fine to me" or ask for a magazine when given a (urine) specimen cup, and mention it may take a while if they want it filled. I'd never say "the jews" every time someone asks who is responsible for anything. I'd never, ever make fun of someone for being retarded, but I might call someone a retard when they are acting retarded.
I would never make fun of someone because of their gender, or mention that female paratroopers should wear jockstraps so they don't whistle on the way down. I'd never say that female west pointers don't wear skirts because their balls hang out.
I would never make fun of someone for being a member of the religion of peas, because if they don't want to eat meat, that's their choice.
I would never make someone I didn't know feel uncomfortable by telling them racist jokes on an elevator, while they stood right next to a black friend of mine, who tried to look angry without cracking up.
Nope. Not me.
Posted by: Chuck Z at November 08, 2009 01:47 AM (bMH2g)
Posted by: Sarah at November 08, 2009 08:20 AM (gWUle)
7
Dick and I talked about this, he said... "I just made fun of 2 people yesterday for being from Iowa"...
My Husband also gets made fun of for having an abnormally large head...
Posted by: awtm at November 08, 2009 09:01 AM (ZU1VI)
8
It's not so much that I'm surprised that an officer is human. That teasing happens and that someone of that rank could be 'evil.' My surprise at hearing that he was a Major has more to do with the question: How did someone who seemed to have a vendetta against the nation he was serving fly under the radar that long? That is what shakes me and shocks me about his rank.
Posted by: Val at November 08, 2009 08:41 PM (5btL/)
I would have to disagree about the "Officers are people, too."
Yes, they are. But officers are in charge, and, as an enlisted, we take an oath to obey orders of officers appointed over us. Just as improper it is to cheat on your wife, it's that much MORE improper to have some oral sex in the oval office.
Definitely held to a higher standard. Sorry....
Posted by: allicadem at November 09, 2009 10:35 PM (Iu+5p)
10
Held to a higher accountability, yes; to a higher standard, shouldn't be. You wear a uniform just like I do and I have the same expectations of your actions as I do of my own and my peers.
Posted by: Tracy at November 11, 2009 12:58 AM (z1v+g)
11
Same difference, really. Accountability could equal Standard. Officers are saluted and we obey. I expect higher from my officers than I do from any dude off the street. Period.
Posted by: allicadem at November 14, 2009 10:30 AM (Iu+5p)
VALOUR-IT 2009
I haven't mentioned the Valour-IT fundraiser yet because I figured the big push would be at the beginning and I'd post a reminder more towards the end of the drive.
Read about the origins of Valour-IT, as written by Chuck Z's wife.
UNFATHOMABLE
All I keep imagining is my husband being murdered while preparing to deploy, either getting his power of attorney or his flu shot or whatever they do before they leave.
It makes me sick.
I have long been confused by the irony that military installations are gun-free zones. Every person in that readiness center could've shot back. Every soldier is trained, and I'd bet many of their wives are decent marksmen too. And yet Hasan was the only one with a gun.
Guns. And time to reload.
Awful.
And a mental health specialist. Unfathomable.
UPDATE:
It sounds like he's still alive. Good. He doesn't deserve to die before facing the horror he inflicted. Try him, and then fry him.
And I hope it hurts his feelings that he was shot by a girl.
1
It makes me sick too.
I said the same thing to my mother on the phone tonight--if any of the other people in that SRP center had been armed, you can bet Hasan wouldn't have been able to do as much damage as he did.
So. very. sad.
Posted by: Lucy at November 05, 2009 08:57 PM (YNvUz)
2
It's infuriating, but this will be used as a reason to keep them unarmed on bases.
Posted by: Mob at November 05, 2009 09:41 PM (e/sow)
3
IDF are always armed. And they live in the general population of the country.
Why are we different? I don't know. I just don't. It's a stupid, stupid rule.
Posted by: airforcewife at November 05, 2009 09:47 PM (uE3SA)
Continuing to pray and hold good thoughts for the families at Ft. Hood and those who love them.
Posted by: Guard Wife at November 05, 2009 11:25 PM (p4/8e)
5
I also hope it hurt his feelings that he was shot by a woman. My heart hurts for the Fort Hood family and all the relatives of the dead and wounded. My head hurts from trying to take in the reality of such actions.
Posted by: Pamela at November 06, 2009 12:42 AM (k95zf)
6
"I have long been confused by the irony that military installations are gun-free zones."
Me too. In Israel he never would have gotten that far; your weapon is considered part of your uniform. If you are caught in uniform without your weapon you go to jail.
Posted by: David Boxenhorn at November 06, 2009 06:34 AM (OE8Ib)
Yeah, it might just be the Texan in me coming out but I was happy that man didn't die. I want him to talk so we can end the speculation. And when they finally do fry him, I hope it hurts. An easy death was too good for the bastard.
One news article said he was "mortified that he had to deploy". Mortified huh? I have a couple of choice words for that.
Posted by: Sara at November 06, 2009 01:08 PM (vK+Aj)
8
The sorrow I feel for the friends, family and co-workers is too deep to put into words.
Posted by: Lemon Stand at November 06, 2009 01:57 PM (HvJdb)
9
A lot of the early radio commentary up here (Seattle area) was of the opinion that it couldn't possibly have been a terror plot because only a moron would attack a military base where everyone is driving around in armored vehicles and carrying machine guns.
To me, that's a big illustration that the general public just has no clue whatsoever about what we do and the conditions under which we do it. It just about takes an act of Congress to get a weapon, a soldier, and a bullet in the same room. Most bases are designated target zones. And given the security that I used to see every morning on the way in to Fort Lewis during peak PT hours (i.e. hold up an ID-card shaped object, get waved through the gate; this went on for months), I feel safer living in the community.
Sig
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There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of living. --The Count of Monte Cristo--
While our troops go out to defend our country, it is incumbent upon us to make the country worth defending. --Deskmerc--
Contrary to what you've just seen, war is neither glamorous nor fun. There are no winners, only losers. There are no good wars, with the following exceptions: The American Revolution, WWII, and the Star Wars Trilogy. --Bart Simpson--
If you want to be a peacemaker, you've gotta learn to kick ass. --Sheriff of East Houston, Superman II--
Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordion. You just leave a lot of useless noisy baggage behind. --Jed Babbin--
Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. --President John F. Kennedy--
War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. --General Patton--
We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over. --Full Metal Jacket--
Those who threaten us and kill innocents around the world do not need to be treated more sensitively. They need to be destroyed. --Dick Cheney--
The Flag has to come first if freedom is to survive. --Col Steven Arrington--
The purpose of diplomacy isn't to make us feel good about Eurocentric diplomatic skills, and having countries from the axis of chocolate tie our shoelaces together does nothing to advance our infantry. --Sir George--
I just don't care about the criticism I receive every day, because I know the cause I defend is right. --Oriol--
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Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life.
--John Galt--
First, go buy a six pack and swig it all down. Then, watch Ace Ventura. And after that, buy a Hard Rock Cafe shirt and come talk to me. You really need to lighten up, man.
--Sminklemeyer--
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If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained -- we must fight! --Patrick Henry--
America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American. --President George W. Bush--
are usually just cheerleading sessions, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing but a soothing reduction in blood pressure brought about by the narcotic high of being agreed with. --Bill Whittle
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Unless the price is too high, the burden too great, the hardship too hard, the friend acts disproportionately, and the foe fights back. In which case, we need a timetable.
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--Froggy--
You can say what you want about President Bush; but the truth is that he can take a punch. The man has taken a swift kick in the crotch for breakfast every day for 6 years and he keeps getting up with a smile in his heart and a sense of swift determination to see the job through to the best of his abilties.
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In a perfect world, We'd live in peace and love and harmony with each oither and the world, but then, in a perfect world, Yoko would have taken the bullet.
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Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. --Ronald Reagan--
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Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse. --Mark Twain--
The Enlightenment was followed by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, which touched every European state, sparked vicious guerrilla conflicts across the Continent and killed millions. Then, things really turned ugly after the invention of soccer. --Iowahawk--
Every time I meet an Iraqi Army Soldier or Policeman that I haven't met before, I shake his hand and thank him for his service. Many times I am thanked for being here and helping his country. I always tell them that free people help each other and that those that truly value freedom help those seeking it no matter the cost. --Jack Army--
Right, left - the terms are useless nowadays anyway. There are statists, and there are individualists. There are pessimists, and optimists. There are people who look backwards and trust in the West, and those who look forward and trust in The World. Those are the continuums that seem to matter the most right now. --Lileks--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
--Winston Churchill--
A man or a nation is not placed upon this earth to do merely what is pleasant and what is profitable. It is often called upon to carry out what is both unpleasant and unprofitable, but if it is obviously right it is mere shirking not to undertake it. --Arthur Conan Doyle--
A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the existing of better men than himself. --John Stuart Mill--
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." --Dave Grossman--
At heart I’m a cowboy; my attitude is if they’re not going to stand up and fight for what they believe in then they can go pound sand. --Bill Whittle--
A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. --Alexander Tyler--
By that time a village half-wit could see what generations of professors had pretended not to notice. --Atlas Shrugged--
I kept asking Clarence why our world seemed to be collapsing and everything seemed so shitty. And he'd say, "That's the way it goes, but don't forget, it goes the other way too." --Alabama Worley--
So Bush is history, and we have a new president who promises to heal the planet, and yet the jihadists don’t seem to have got the Obama message that there are no enemies, just friends we haven’t yet held talks without preconditions with.
--Mark Steyn--
"I had started alone in this journey called life, people started
gathering up on the way, and the caravan got bigger everyday." --Urdu couplet
The book and the sword are the two things that control the world. We either gonna control them through knowledge and influence their minds, or we gonna bring the sword and take their heads off. --RZA--
It's a daily game of public Frogger, hopping frantically to avoid being crushed under the weight of your own narcissism, banality, and plain old stupidity. --Mary Katharine Ham--
There are more instances of the abridgment of freedoms
of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. --James Madison--
It is in the heat of emotion that good people must remember to stand on principle. --Larry Elder--
Please show this to the president and ask him to remember the wishes of the forgotten man, that is, the one who dared to vote against him. We expect to be tramped on but we do wish the stepping would be a little less hard. --from a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt--
The world economy depends every day on some engineer, farmer, architect, radiator shop owner, truck driver or plumber getting up at 5AM, going to work, toiling hard, and producing real wealth so that an array of bureaucrats, regulators, and redistributors can manage the proper allotment of much of the natural largess produced. --VDH--
Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves. --Marcelene Cox--
. So it's neat that you also read it on a plane. At the time, Obama's election was still fresh on my mind and the book made me cry. I've had the book by my side for the last year, and I may reread it when I board a plane next month.
