Robert A Heinlein

Would have been 100 today. Didn't make it. Of course, damn near nobody makes it to 100, so it's not like it's a big shock.

Heinlein, believe it or not, started out on the Left side of the political sphere, but drifted ever to the Right as he grew older. Proving the old adage "If you're 20 and a Conservative, you have no heart. If you're 40 and a Liberal, you have no brain." Me personally, I had a heart when I was 20, I just couldn't stand the rampant drug use, loose ethics, and questionable morals that Liberalism entailed.

Nothing will set you off from a political philosophy quicker than realizing that everyone who subscribes to it is either a disease-infested, drug smoking loser, or yearns to be one.

In any case, I've enjoyed reading Heinlein books for years, and I still haven't read them all. I'm working on that.

Anyways, it's a drill weekend, which means that I'm ass-deep in paperwork. See you all on Monday.

Two things today

that I wanted to post about. The first is this:

In San Francisco’s effort to pay the soaring cost for retiree health benefits, it’s $500,000 down, $4.9 billion to go.

The city, like most local governments and school districts in California, has put aside no money to cover the fast-growing cost of delivering on health care coverage promised to its workers once they hit retirement age.

But in San Francisco, the financial liability hanging over the city is one of the heaviest in the state, thanks in part to the generosity of its employee health care benefits.

“As this number keeps growing … it can cripple our budget,'’ said Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, who has taken the lead on trying to address the issue in the city’s legislative body. “This will eat up all our discretionary income, the money we use for street repairs, parks and programs for the people of San Francisco.'’

I've often said that if you want to see why Liberalism is such a bad idea, just watch San Francisco. The city is so full of hard Leftism that there's absolutely no conservative principals in play, unless they simply can't be avoided. "Free" healthcare is one of those Leftist ideals that has already failed the world around, and yet Leftists of all stripe have orgasms while advocating it.

Well, here's your result. San Fran tried it. And they'll go bankrupt funding it. Congrats! Universal healthcare gives you all the efficiency of the government, combined with the compassion of the IRS. And yet the Left thinks this is a great idea!

Here's why they think it's so great: It's not about healthcare, it's about control. If the government is in control of healthcare, then the gummint gets to tell you when and where you'll get treated. Once again, it's less about the actual subject of discussion, and more about the control they want you to give up.

Link found at RNS.

The second link is to Ann Coulter's latest column, which I found at Baby Troll Blog. There's not that much venom in this one, but I guarantee that people are still going to screech at it. Much as Alger says,

Yes. As usual, what she has to say in her column -- headline and all -- is spot-on. As per standard operating procedure, the usual leftist suspects will wet the bed. And a certain segment of the dextrosphere will get their panties in a wad because -- they think -- she's not fighting according to the Marquis of Queensbury rules. Without regard for her accuracy.

Everybody always flips out when Coulter unleashes on some idiot or another. "OHMYGAWD, why is she being so MEAN! Nobody cares about her message when she's that vitriolic! Why doesn't she tone it down!"

How about because if she wasn't that focused, nobody would listen to her? You want proof? Head on over to Townhall.com and see just how many writers there are. You doing that? Good. Now, tell me how many of them you read on a daily basis.

I'm guessing a few at most. Maybe half a dozen regularly. And everyone who writes over at Townhall is worthy of being read. But most people don't even know who half of those people are. But they know who Ann Coulter is.

People don't like how mean Coulter can be? Lemmee tell you a secret - I love it. Why? Because she says what I wish I could say in person to every worthless assnugget who insults conservatives, the military, and the American way of life. But I can't say it. Nobody on the national stage really gives a shit about me, because I'm just another Soldier that they can ignore. But Coulter doesn't get ignored.

So people don't like her because she's MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN! You know what? I love it. She's one of the very few people who is willing to toss all the bullshit right back in the Democrat American Communist Party's faces, and by the way they screech you know she's hit the mark.

There's been a few times that even I have wondered why she doesn't tone it down. But then I watch the feces flinging monkeys of the Left howl in outrage, working themselves into a foamy-mouthed fit, and I remember why I read her so often. If you don't like her, fine. Stop listening to her. Stop reading her. Turn the channel when she comes on the TV. But I'm still going to read her columns.

Light posting day

As if you couldn't tell that already. I have been dubbed the "Personnel NCO" at my unit, because there's no actual personnel person in the unit and I can type. That's it. That's the whole reason. "Oh, wow, you know how to use a computer! Here, do all this paperwork!" Gah. Anyways, there's a whole buttload of work to be done, and I get to figure out how to do it all.

So 'scuse me if I don't post too much right now.

The Fourth of July

So, two hundred and thirty-one years ago, we proclaimed our independence from Britain.

Actually, it's not quite so simple as that, is it?

In 1776, a group of patriots, people who dreamed of freedom, people who had an idea for a better country, got together and decided that against all odds, they were going to go up against the strongest, farthest reaching, most powerful empire in the world. They did it for an idea that perhaps somehow they could win and create a prosperous land for everyone.

And they won.

They did what people thought was impossible - the defeated Great Britain. Oh, they had some help, yes. But they did what nobody even thought possible at that time - they defeated the greatest Army in the world.



Since then, America has had her struggles, her problems to overcome, but we have become the living embodiment of freedom, hope, opportunity and liberty.

Now, I'm not going to stand here and tell you that America is perfect. But I will say this - despite our imperfections, we are still the best damn country on the face of this Earth. And to anyone who scoffs at that and calls me nationalistic, or simplistic, or any other names that "progressive" types like to sneer, I have just one question:

Which way are the people headed? In, or out?

This isn't just the nation I was born in, this is the nation that I choose to be a citizen of. This is the nation I choose to grow old in. This is the nation that I choose to defend, with my life if necessary.

I, David ******, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

I have represented America in foreign countries. I wear her flag on my right arm. I have sworn to defend her against all enemies. Today, I'm going to enjoy myself and remember all the reasons I have done so. I'll be grilling, and drinking beer, and hugging my wife, and watching the fireworks. But above all, I will be remembering exactly why I'm proud to be a citizen of this great country.

Happy Fourth of July, folks. I hope you enjoy it. And this last picture is just because I liked it so much.

The media even admits it.

Adding on to this post just a few posts down, there's an email at Instapundit that has to be read.

Yon's story doesn't get attention because it is humiliating.

It is humiliating because it is obvious that we media – and our allies in the state department, the legal trade, the NGOs, the Democratic Party, the UN, etc., - can’t do squat about such determined use of force.

Our words, images, arguments and skills can’t stop the killing. Only the rough soldiers and their guns can solve the problem, and we won’t admit that fact because the admission would weaken our influence and our claim to social status.

So we pretend Yon’s massacre – and the North Korean killing fields, the Arab treatment of women, the Arab hatred of Israel, etc. - doesn’t exist, and instead focus our emotions and attention on the somewhat-bad domestic things that we can ‘fix’ with our DC-based allies. Things such as Abu Ghraib, wiretapping, etc. When we ‘fix’ them, then we get status, applause, power, new jobs, ego, etc.

Please don’t be surprised. We media are an interest group not much different from the automakers, the unions, and the farmers.

The good news is that there is someone willing to admit it. The bad news is that it had to be admitted, and there's still not enough people willing to admit it.

OK, OK, OK.....

Alger (and Dolly) have finally won out. After a good long while, and way too many suggestions, I have made a small, very slight change to my name.

Gone is the underscore, and the somewhat unnecessary "g". New and improved is the apostrophe. With the combined effect of modernizing (since Blogger doesn't require the underscore anymore) and ties me in more with my Western roots.

Whaddya think?

Oh hell, who am I kidding? I'm doing this mostly so that I don't ever have to hear Dolly or Alger ever say "Get an apostrophe, Dave! Hey Dave, get an apostrophe! Why don't you just get an apostrophe, Dave?"

Hey, Alger.......

I GOT AN APOSTROPHE!

Oh damn.....

Awesome. Just flat out awesome.

As Galen’s dad, the scene that haunts me from the tragic life and criminal death of Liquarry Jefferson is this: It’s 11 o’clock on a Sunday night, and four children - ages 15, 8, 7 and 2 - gather around a loaded handgun without a parent in sight.

Forget the gun for a moment. What the heck is a 2-year-old doing up and about at 11 p.m.? My 7-year-old son wouldn’t be able to con himself into a round of Candyland at that hour, much less a game of “Give The Glock To The Unattended First Grader.”

Mayor Tom Menino’s reaction to Liquarry’s death has proven to every Boston parent that he just doesn’t get it. He comforted the so-called “family” and assaulted the National Rifle Association.

Blaming the NRA for the death of Liquarry Jefferson is like blaming the American Cutlery Institute for the O.J. Simpson murders. Even the most ardent gun control advocate must admit that, for most of little Liquarry’s life, the least of his worries was the state of America’s gun laws.

Liquarry’s world consisted of an unwed mother who is also a repeat, violent offender; a convicted killer for a father; a 15-year-old half-brother already busted for gun possession - the son of a convict who recently beat a murder rap; various siblings from sundry fathers; and a community that looked at this dysfunctional mess and thought nothing of it.

That’s the family Mayor Menino visited and offered comfort to. That’s the family that social worker Nia Sue Mitchum described as “beautiful - she’s a good mother.”

If that’s a good family, could someone in the mayor’s office please tell me what it takes to be a bad one?

Can I get a HELL YEAH!

+1

To this post by Ace of Spades, regarding Bush's communting of Scooter Libby's sentence. What I really agree with is this part:

Suggestion: Bush should have reduced the fine to a more reasonable $50,000, which just so happens to be how much Sandy Berger was fined for stealing and destroying classified documents and lying about it to investigators (he wasn't charged for the latter, but subsequent revelations has made it clear he did just that).

Making the fine $50,000 would have been more in line with Libby's transgressions, and it would have made it harder for Democrats to argue against it. The penalty -- no jail time, $50,000, probation -- would have been so similar to Berger's that one could scarcely mention it without also mentioning Berger.

Hell yeah. But that would never happen. It should, but it won't.

By the way, DANEgerus has an extensive list of links regarding the worthless, brain-dead Democrat American Communist Party members who are currently howling about this. As usual, their memory is selective, their actions belay their words, and their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

What did you expect? They're Leftists!

OK, let's try this again....

I've turned comment moderation off for a bit. Should we get an infestation of trolls, I'll turn it back on.

And once again

THE MEDIA IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! The media doesn't give a damn about those inconvenient facts. Hell, the media at this point doesn't give a shit that they're getting caught flat out lying to you. They're continuing to lie, and lie, and lie, all to push their political agenda. It's not about the news at all in their minds, it's about what they can do to recapture their Viet Nam glory days, where they took a war that we were winning and forced American to surrender.

One man with a camera captures the true story, and not one single Has-Been Media source bothers to get his story. Michael Yon is over in Iraq on his own dime, doing the reporting that the AP, NYT, and API will not do.

That's why I won't buy any newspapers. Looks like I won't be buying them any time soon. My money is better spent in Yon's tipjar.

I'm feeling a bit ill

Although not as ill as Michael Yon must have felt when he took these photos.

If we abandon Iraq, this is what will happen. If we run away, this is going to be the result. If we pull out and leave, this is what Iraq can look forward to.

We. Cannot. Leave. Not now, not until Iraq can withstand the flat out assault of barbarians that would follow our leaving.

It's actually kind of sad

You know, when two good bloggers go at each other, and you know that both of them are tilting at windmills? Yeah. That's happening right now. For those who don't know, Rachel Lucas and Sarah K. are having a blogfight over their dogs. "Oh, but my Sunny is cuter!" "No no, my Rowdy is cuter!" Blah blah blah. Two people fighting over something which is not even in doubt!


























My dog is the cutest. And that's the final word. FEAR THE ROXIE!

Better living through spicy food

So, I'm sick. And the wife, living with me as wives do, is also getting sick. Not from my looks, you weirdos, from the damn virus that's floating around.

Anyways, I'm a big fan of eating healthy in order to kill a cold. So's the Raging Mrs. In fact, she's the one who taught me about burning viruses out of my body with spicy food.

So tonight, I made a spicy peanut stir-fry, with enough onion, garlic and chili pepper to make normal people shriek and run away. Any virus that's floating around in my body is hopefully burning to death in a painful, horrible, demonic fashion. Burn, virus, burn. If I could find a way to cause a virus pain, I would do it. If there were scientific proof that dragging my ass over a mile of broken glass would cause the virus in my body to shriek in agony for hours on end, I would buy stock in bandages and drag my ass over that mile.

Yeah. I'd do the same for most congresscritters as well. Seriously. "Oh, what, smashing my fingers with that hammer causes Senator Feinstein to be knocked unconscious? Really? Pass me the ball-peen and the asprin!" ****WHACK**** "OWOWOWOWOW DIEYOUSTUPIDBITCH OWOWOWOW!"

Yeah. I'm sick like that. I also happen to believe that communists and socialists need to be publicly flogged as a lesson for everyone else.

Anyways, I'm still a snot factory, but I'm hoping to feel well enough tomorrow to go for a run. Or at least a walk, with the dog. I don't know. I'm tired of being sick. I hate being sick. Some people get their kicks off of sitting in their house all day. I can't stand it. I can't stand being on the couch for this long. I've been vegitating, trying to get healthy, eating good, taking my vitamins, doing what I can to kill the cold and get back to being my normal upright being.

Gah. I'll give you an update tomorrow. In the meantime, if someone could give me scientific proof that whipping my testicles with a wet noodle would drop an anvil on Senator Reid's head, please let me know, because that worthless sack of jelly needs it. I think that Reid is proof that even if you have no morals, no ethics, no spine, no integrity, no brain, and no real skills in life, you can still obtain a position of power and wealth. Leftists of the words, rejoice!

Or not.