Saturday, July 23, 2011

I am such a friggin' geek

I'm watching a movie about the Roman Legions in Britain, and I'm looking at the armor a character is wearing, and I notice that the leather straps on his armor are secured by snap rivets.  And I think to myself "Wait a second, those aren't authentic!  Those are a modern invention.  The Romans would have sewn that part together!"

Yeah.  I'm a geek.

Boehner stiffens his spine?

Well, good!  There is no reason that the Republicans need to play the games that Obama is playing.  Obama and the Left are dishonest hacks who don't give a shit about this country, and it shows in their actions.  The GOP needs to nail their ass to the wall on their inability to deal with reality.

Blah

Tired.  Have headache.  Sick of politics.  See you tomorrow.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dear Wisconsin Democrats

Take your public employee unions, your protests and your recall elections, and shove them right up your ass.  They'll fit up there if you tilt your head just so.  In the meantime, Gov. Walker is going to make sure that Wisconsin has a fighting chance at survival.

Earlier this month, analysts were dismayed by the nation’s anemic job creation numbers. On Thursday, state officials were pleased as they released data that showed more than half of the net new jobs added in the US in June came from Wisconsin.

Remember, if Walker and the Republican legislature had not pushed their bills and gotten the job done, Wisconsin would be sucking hind tit with a majority of the country.  Pass this along to your Democrat friends, if you have any.

Bachmann's migrains

OK, so let's say that everything is true, and Michelle Bachmann suffers from migraines.

She's been one of the most outspoken members of Congress for a few years now.  She's constantly out front, pushing for conservative ideals and starting the Tea Party Caucus in Congress.  She's been busier than almost anyone else in Congress in terms of bringing conservative arguments to America.

So what's the excuse for the other people?  If Michelle Bachmann has managed to separate herself from the crowd and be a front-runner for the 2012 nomination, as well as be a leader in the conservative movement, all while supposedly suffering from "debilitating" migraines......

THEN WHAT THE SAM HELL IS WRONG WITH THE REST OF THE GOP?  Debilitating SYPHILIS?  Intercranial Fecalstenosis?  Cranial-Rectal Impaction?  If Michelle Bachmann is so debilitated that she can't function, and she's managed to do everything she's done for the past couple of years, then that must mean that everybody else is so debilitated from whatever their disease de jour is that they can't manage to actually stand for the principals they claimed to hold while they were running for election!

Or......  Maybe this is just a partisan hit-piece on Bachmann, paid for by people who are more interested in getting invited to the right D.C. parties than what's good for this country.  Hmmmmmm.....  Gosh, it could just be that, couldn't it?

Oh, Day-um!

Ok, fine, yeah, correlation doesn't equal causation, but there's no other way to read this report about how Obamacare pretty much killed job creation in this country.

Business owners aren't stupid.  They have to make a profit, otherwise they go out of business.  Obamacare is going to kill their profit margin.  It's going to kill their budget.  And it's going to kill their business.  So they aren't hiring, because they cannot hire without the possibility of being run out of business thanks to Obamacare's regulation.

Read the whole thing.  Don't expect to see the economy rebound any time soon while Obama and the rest of the Marxist Morons are in charge.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Quote of the Day, Standing up to Bullies edition

From Phineas posting at Sister Toldjah:

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is nothing more than a race-baiting hyper-partisan tool and professional pol whose main goal is to serve the Democratic Party’s needs before her own country’s.

Some might argue that Rep. West should have held back, been a gentleman, generally “above it all” and “better than that.” Bunk. What that really means is that we should stand there and take the progressive Democrats’ churlish behavior on the chin, for they will never act with grace regardless of how restrained we are.

It's about damn time that people started hitting back when the worthless parasites of the Left get nasty.  The way to deal with bullies is to confront them.  If you let them get away with their abusive behavior, the behavior will only continue.

Liberals see Opportunities for big cuts in Defense

I bet they do.  And I'm with Mr. McGrath here, when he says:

Their collective desires to denude DoD of nearly $1 trillion spring not from a sense of what is best for the national defense of the US strategically, but primarily from the standpoint of how to find money within the existing discretionary budget to keep from making real choices on entitlements.

Here's the thing - a lot of the waste in the DoD stems from how money gets allocated in the first place.  If I want more money for my budget next year, I have to prove that I need it by spending ALL of my money this year, and then demanding more.

It's a flawed system from the get go.  If I actually cut back, trim my budget, and save the government money, then that's money that I WILL NOT GET NEXT YEAR no matter how much I need it.  No matter if my mission has gone from 30 events to 50 events.  "Well Dave, why do you need that much money?  You didn't spend what you had last year!"

And I don't know where all the money is going.  Most if it is likely going to personnel costs, and we're losing spots at an alarming rate.  The Army is doing everything it can to clamp down on money being spent for people, and it's already hit my office.  Out of a six man team, we lost two folks that we had on orders thanks to a change in rules.  So we're down a third, but our optempo hasn't slowed down one bit.

Yes, there are things that can be cut in the military.  Yes, we could save money by changing our practices.  But our practices are created by Congress, and I haven't seen any indication that things are going to change.

By the way - should the military get cut, I want to see commiserate cuts throughout the government.  There's more than enough fat, fraud and waste to go around, let's start cutting THAT!

House passes Cut Cap and Balance

Good.  At least one group of people is showing that they know how to do their job, rather than the Democrats who have failed to even bring up a budget for over 800 days.

Yeah, He Lied

It's what he does.  It's what all the Left does.  They can't enact their agenda without lying, because if they told the truth, sane people wouldn't allow them within a mile of Washington D.C.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Nature

Sitting out in the yard last night, reading a book and smoking my pipe, a flash of lighting caught my eye.  I hadn't seen any thunderclouds when I sat down, and looking to the Northwest which they normally come from I didn't see any clouds to speak of. 

Then I looked North and East. 

It's one thing to see a thunderhead at a distance, but to see one forming right above you, building as you watch, and to see lighting begin cracking as the cloud gets larger and larger...  it makes you realize how powerful nature is.

Went running this morning, through a thick cloud of fog.  As I jogged down the sidewalk, I saw round, white patches on the grass.  I slowed down and took a closer look, and realized that it was a spiderweb, and the fog had collected in tiny little droplets on the web so that I could see it.  First one, then another, then tens of them, and as I ran through the park I could see hundreds of little spider webs, spanning the top of the grass.  I could see the webs in the trees in the park, and coating the struts of the bridge that I run over. 

Normally, I don't see a single one.  Today I saw thousands.  It makes you realize how amazing nature is.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Heat and Humidity

I woke up to 80+ degrees and humidity that made me wish for gills when I let the dog out this morning. So naturally I went running.

I'm currently sitting on the edge of the couch to avoid soaking the cushions.  And it's not going to cool down for a few days.  I need to stock up on Gatorade.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Gloria

Not one of Vivaldi's best, but enjoyable none the less.



Enjoy!