Before I forget
About 30 minutes ago, the Iraqi government hanged Saddam Hussein by the neck until he died.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
Commenter “themack” said it best: “Adios mofo.”
I look forward to everything about Christmas–except getting my kids’ toys out of the boxes. It is inevitable that something will either be bleeding or broken by the time I’m finished. My thoughts while opening the packages are that the people/machines who boxed the toys in some factory in a communist Asian country represent the purest form of evil.
Evidently, I am not alone.
From a Good Morning America segment:
The hard-to-open plastic packaging that’s on everything from home appliances to children’s toys leads to more than 6,000 emergency-room visits per year.
There’s a name for the annoyance people feel when they try to open the packaging: wrap rage.
Hi. I am the Pine Blogger, and I have wrap rage.
Consumer Reports even has awards for the hardest packages to open. For goodness sakes, it takes 15 minutes and 10 seconds to unwrap American Idol Barbie. That’s 10 seconds more than Taylor Hicks‘ fame will last. Sadly, my son has spent less time playing with a “Pirate battles giant squid” toy than it took for me to get it out of the box.
For more of my post-Christmas, last vacation day whining, click here.
Smoke em if you got em
As a Civil War amateur historian, I cringe at the current movement of the politically-correct crowd to try and distance our nation from southern “heroes.” All over the south, Civil War memorials to Jefferson Davis and prominent southern generals have come under attack as being symbols of bigotry and hate. Perhaps they are, but they are also symbols of the legacy of this nation and its struggle for democracy.
Last year, the city of Memphis, TN considered renaming Forrest, Davis, and Confederate Parks. And now, the University of Texas will form a panel to consider the future of statues of Jefferson Davis and other southern generals on the Austin campus. The picture above is of Robert E. Lee from the UT campus, who most remember as one of America’s greatest generals. Ironically, he was also responsible for changing the college education system by providing college students with a “diverse” education.
The reasons for fighting the Civil War are many, ranging from preserving state’s rights to abolishing slavery. Whether or not you or I believe the war was fought for the wrong reasons does not matter. The fact is that almost 1,000,000 Americans died or were wounded fighting for their beliefs.
To remove these statues or rename these parks will not solve the racial problems in our country today. There will always be extremists (both black and white) who are haters no matter how many statues are removed or built. The leaders of tomorrow will not be cut from this cloth and should have the opportunity to look to the past to learn from our country’s history/mistakes in order to strengthen its future.
Heritage, not hate!
Cross-posted at The Pine Blog.
Thursday Open Comments Thread
by David Benzion · 12/28/2006 8:15 am
It seems that about 70 pieces of luggage turned up in a dumpster near a pet sop along Bammel Westfield near the North Freeway. The FBI has been called in because most of the luggage originated in the Middle East and arrived at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
An FBI spokesman said the bags did not pose a danger to the public.
Although the luggage found in the trash bin came from several air carriers, Continental Airlines officials took custody and transferred them to their baggage service center.
“We’re trying to reach whoever we need to let them know the bags are there,” said Mary Clark, a Continental spokeswoman.
Officials from other carriers identified on the luggage also are being notified, Clark said.
Because the luggage probably came from Bush airport, Houston police officers are leading the investigation. Clark said Continental was cooperating with authorities.
“Right now, we’re just trying to identify the customers and notify them (and) try to get their bags back to them,” Clark said.
I’m probably trying to put way too much together right now; in other words I am may be jumping to a lot of conclusions that have nothing to do with each other, but do you remember earlier this month there was fire at a pet store?
Some animals are in critical condition after a fire at a Houston pet store, but two birds died.
The fire broke out around 7 a.m. at the Pet City Discount Center on Bammel Westfield Road.
When two employees arrived to open the store, they saw the flames and called 911.
Ponderosa volunteer firefighters went from cage to cage to rescue 130 dogs after the flames were out.
“I am just thankful. I don’t care about the store. Just all the little animals,” said owner Sheri Stack. “I mean this is our family business.”
Yeah. Same pet store.
What’s going on in this area of town? Anybody know anything? Do the two incidents have anything to do with each other (such as hiding evidence), or is this just another “isolated incident”?
Via Power Line:
This was sent to Radio Talk Show Host Scott Hennen:
“This is a true story…..Check out this photo from our mess hall at the US Embassy yesterday morning. Sen. Kerry found himself all alone while he was over here. He cancelled his press conference because no one came, he worked out alone in the gym w/o any soldiers even going up to say hi or ask for an autograph (I was one of those who was in the gym at the same time), and he found himself eating breakfast with only a couple of folks who are obviously not troops.
What is amazing is Bill O’Reilly came to visit with us and the troops at the CSH the same day and the line for autographs extended through the palace and people waited for two hours to shake his hand. You decide who is more respected and loved by us servicemen and women!”
This is about as good as it gets…
By the way, what was Jon Carry doing in Iraq? Why did he go there? What could he possibly do or learn that he would have enough intestinal fortitude to admit to that is contrary to his own “world view”? (So why bother?)
The guy, contrary to all of the education that he may possess, lacks commen sense and has a tin ear when it comes to politics.
I wonder if he even realizes he is being dissed?
UPDATE: Sorry, I can’t resist this story.
Ben of Mesopotamia, a Mil Blogger currently on duty in Iraq (and a Ph.D. from Harvard), has more information on the good Senator’s visit.
This one little tidbit really caught my eye:
Before his arrival, rumors were already flowing that every FOB (Forward Operating Base) Commander told General Casey that they already had another “DV” (Distinguished Visitor) to support while Sen. Kerry was in country — or that they would be in the middle of ongoing operations — and hence were unable to support his visit.
Then there is this:
While in Iraq, things didn’t get much better for Senator Kerry. Rumor has it that somebody gave his helicopter flights the designation “Weasel 61.” (Legend has it that when Senator Clinton visited Afghanistan, her bird was assigned “Broomstick 11″ as its code name). Before taking off, supposedly the helicopter pilot jumped out of the front seat while the rotor was turning (an extremely rare event), approached the rear of the bird, and asked Senator Kerry to autograph a copy of the photograph below: (LST Note: the famous “Halp us Jon Carry” picture; LST emphasis added).
To his everlasting credit, Senator Kerry was a good sport and actually signed it!!!
You need to read the whole thing as well as Blackfive’s version of the events.
*Snort*: “Broomstick 11″; I am going to laugh about that all day!
Clean up!
Back to work!
Or maybe you are a lucky one and have this week off?
Oldest living President, Gerald R. Ford, has died. He turned 93 this past summer.
He became Richard Nixon’s Vice President after Sprio Agnew had to resign. When Nixon had to resign, he became President for 2 years; the only “un-elected” President. Jimmy Carter defeated him in the election of 1976.
He was a decent man and served his country well at a time it needed him the most. May he rest in peace.
More on President Gerald R Ford here (his Presidential Library website).
UPDATE: A Memorial website has been set-up here.
Bah humbug
“I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included.”
It’s almost here… are you almost done?
Even the shoppers in Kabul and trying to get everything accomplished.
You can thank me later.
Microsoft put out a new search system called, “Ms Dewey”. It is cute and definitely not a competitor to Google or any other major search system.
It has a “live” model/actress, portraying “Ms. Dewey” (Janina Gavankar). You ask a question (or put in a search term) and the response comes back with a smart-a$$ response of some sort, as well as some website hits.
I’ve used a few terms and the responses have been interesting. For instance, I search for the term, “Dan Patrick Senator” and get Ms. Dewey saying:
“With all due respect Senator, You are a moron.”
Hmmm. OK. How about “Rush Limbaugh”. I get:
“Remember, it is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt”, or something along those lines.
I tried “National Rifle Association” and got Ms. Dewey picking up a long rifle and lifting it over her head saying, “From my cold dead hands”.
If you don’t type something in for a few minutes, she will start to “tap” on the screen or yell our “hello” to remind you she is still around.
It is fun, but not serious.
It also assumes that the searcher is male (I was referred to as a “guy” several times. I guess it must be that “generic” Northern sense if you get my meaning…)
Some search suggestions:
- Frodo
- 2nd Amendment
- Houston
- Dallas
- border security
- crime
- boobs
- Iraq
You get the idea.
If you search anything, put your results in the comments. It will be interesting to see.
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