In my last post I thought I would take the weekend off, next thing you know its Friday.

We spent last weekend touring some of Iowas attractions. Friday we travelled to Des Moines and spent the day a the Living History Farm. The 500 acre working farm takes you back through farming history from the days of the Ioway Indians through the 1870s. The site includes the recreation of an 1875 farm town complete with live demonstrations of the various craft shops that a typical settler community would have. Turned out to be a nice way to spend a day. Arwen liked the animals, Amy wants to homestead, and I enjoyed the historical aspects.

As I mentioned this is a working farm and at one house there were chickens in the back yard. My daughter had wandered out on the back porch and I jokingly told her to be careful because those chickens liked to peck out the eyeballs of little girls. "Ya right dad!" A minute later a pair of roosters strutted out of the bushes, put their heads down, and made a bee line for the porch. Had they caught her it would have been easy to peck her eyes out because they were as big as saucers as she hightailed it through the kitchen door. She forgets that dads know everything.

Saturday we travelled to the "Field of Dreams" movie site.

Children of the Corn?

Then it was on to tour Dubuque, a ride up the bluff tram, and a ride on a Mississippi paddle wheeler.

Monday was first grade orientation for my little booger and then Tuesday was opening day for us both. The first few days are always a little hectic buying books and getting back into the swing of things which accounts for the lack of posting. I must mention however that there seems to more non traditional students like myself this semester, a sign of the times perhaps.

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During our travels I came across an antique table with an interesting variation of claw and ball feet. What caught my eye was the fact that the claws resemble a face with ram horns. Struck me as a little satanic. If anyone has any info on this style drop me a line.

Just a few things I threw together over breakfast. I will be spending some quality time with the girls the next few days before school starts next week. Have a great weekend!

Among the Cynics; When it comes to health care reform, Obama doesn't believe reasonable people can disagree.
From Reason

I do have all the hallmarks of the cynic. "In the coming weeks, the cynics and the naysayers will continue to exploit fear and concerns for political gain," President Barack Obama wrote in The New York Times on Sunday, after gazing into the near future of the health care debate and seeing a dystopia full of "scare tactics." And it's true. I am "exploiting" "concerns." By expressing them. In print. In conversation. My 30 to 60 percent fearmongering brethren and I, cynics that we are, just keep having concerns. We fearmongers and our "concerns" wield an unholy power over the political process. How else to explain what happened? A plan—noble in reason, infinite in faculties, in form admirable—was presented to the American people. The obvious genius of the plan failed to carry it through intact. As more details were revealed, more and more people got antsy about the whole endeavor. They mentioned their concerns to their congressmen, sometimes loudly. Congress got cold feet, and now everyone is sitting in time out, thinking about what they did wrong.

Obama finding no buyers for snake oil
From The Washington Times

Master politician that he is, Barack Obama is a lousy calculator. He spectacularly misjudged the American public's appetite for a government nanny. Or maybe he miscalculated the power of his slippery tongue to sell government snake oil...

Americans aren't as dumb as the politicians often think they are, and nothing educates politicians like a well-aimed two-by-four square across the noggin. That's the hard lesson of the summer of '09.

The Cult of Iconography
From Big Hollywood

You know, the one thing that I learned from this last election is that if you have a young, hip, likable, historic candidate, and you promote him through CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and all the rest, not to mention stand-up and late night comedy, the entire music industry, university, high school and even elementary school teachers, just about every major movie and television star… and run against the oldest candidate in the history of the Republic, despised by the base of his own party, a man unwilling to take the fight to the only fields in which he can win, and representing the incumbent party responsible for two unpopular wars, a two-term President with historic disapproval ratings, in the middle of the “worst economy since the Depression…”

…Well, you put all of those forces in harness and you, sir, will attain 53% of the vote!

Video Courtesy PJTV

Progressives, Intrinsically evil or just plain crazy?
From Andrew Briettbart

There is an extensive body of writing from both sides of the political aisle that has analyzed the extraordinary depths of hatred leveled at former President George W. Bush.

Now that Mr. Bush is quietly going about his retirement, this strain of rage - the GWB43 virus - has spread like wildfire, finding unsuspecting targets, each granting us greater perspective into what not long ago seemed like a mysterious phenomenon isolated only on our 43rd president...

The first person to catch the virus was Sarah Palin, whose family also was
infected, including, unforgivably, her children.
Then it was Joe the Plumber, for asking a question.
Next were the Mormons.
Then it was Rush Limbaugh - who hit back.
Next, tax-day "tea party" attendees were "tea bagged." ...

When put on the media stage, these individuals and groups have been isolated for destruction for standing in the way of a resurgent modern progressive movement and for challenging its charismatic once-in-a-lifetime standard-bearer, Barack Obama.

But the more the virus spreads, the more we study it and, perhaps, find the cure. The repetitive use of the same technique against anyone who would dare stand up and oppose the progressive movement and especially its leader has exposed the game and rendered its tactics less effective.

Airventure 2009

Excellent. Thx. Mr Tex

The Fight Continues

The Democrats see the imposition of government healthcare as the moral equivalant of war. War is a dirty buisness and requires direct assult and subterfuge. Direct assault has become bogged down by the unruly masses, it's time to switch to subterfuge. Beware of politicians bearing medical co-ops.

Via Hot Air

It’s not the means, it’s the goal. It’s a good reminder that even while the Left scoffs at the notion that the entire ObamaCare bill is a Trojan horse for single-payer, people like Barney Frank, Rahm Emanuel, Jan Schakowsky, and Anthony Weiner keep reminding us that they really do want a complete government takeover of the health-care system. ObamaCare is just the means by which they plan to accomplish it.

The News of Our Death had been Greatly Exagerated

Conservatives Now Outnumber Liberals in All 50 States, Says Gallup Poll
From CNS News

Self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals in all 50 states of the union, according to the Gallup Poll. At the same time, more Americans nationwide are saying this year that they are conservative than have made that claim in any of the last four years.

In 2009, 40% percent of respondents in Gallup surveys that have interviewed more than 160,000 Americans have said that they are either “conservative” (31%) or “very conservative” (9%). That is the highest percentage in any year since 2004.

Only 21% have told Gallup they are liberal, including 16% who say they are “liberal” and 5% who say they are “very liberal.”

In November 2008 Democrats were doing a victory dance on the grave of the Republican Party. They had reason to gloat, the map if not blue was a depressing hue of deep purple. Within a week bookstores were miraculously filled with titles declaring of the death of capitalism.

There were calls to moderate, move the party to the center, throw off the social conservatives or die. And those were Republicans talking. Democrats had already pronounced the party DOA. You would have sworn that we had entered into a new Era of Good Feelings with the shell of a party left whimpering in the margins.

The future certainly looked bleak, fortunately all bad things eventually come to an end especially in politics. As the Gallop poll indicates because of the "united government" drama now playing out in Washington the nation has regained its sense of direction. Now all we have to do is convert this sentiment into more than a few victories next year.

Flotsam and Jetsam

The Road to Recovery with Charts and Graphs
From Tigerhawk
Early indications are that the economy is improving, but even a dead cat will bounce.

USMC Rules for Gunfighting

From Geoff Metcalf.com Link to the entire list

1. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all your friends who have guns.

2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Your life is expensive.

11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a ".4"

The Kopp-Etchells Effect

From Michael Yon

It looks like the halo has slipped and taken on an angry shade of red.

Excerpts: Justice Clarence Thomas

I found it perplexing as a young man that so many of the people I
knew who never made it beyond being domestics and day laborers clung
tenaciously to the promises of this country. So no matter that they have been
denied opportunities because of race or lack of education or other difficult
circumstances, they passed on the hopes and the dreams that they once had,
or that they still have and equally important, they passed on that sense of
obligation that is necessary to see the dream become reality.
Today there's much focus on our rights, indeed I think there is a
proliferation of rights. I don't deny that these rights are important, they are.

But I am often surprised by the virtual nobility that seems to be accorded
those with grievances. At least it seems to me that more and more people are
celebrated for their litany of grievances about this or that. Shouldn't there at
least be equal time for our "bill of obligations" and our "bill of
responsibilities"? What is required of us? I think we have an idea...

When I begin to feel overburdened or put upon in Washington or in
my job, I often like to think of those who have made it possible for us to be
here tonight as a free people. People like my grandparents, people like the
man who thought it was important to clear the sewer so that houses wouldn't
flood. There are those close to us who've helped us and made it possible, our
parents, our teachers, and our friends and there are those who are in the not
so distant past who made this country safe and free or who changed it on so
many ways for the better. Those who fought and died and gave in the words
of President Lincoln "that last full measure of devotion."

Justice Thomas Speaking at Being an American

The Myth of the Obama Mandate

I was able to catch part of Iowa Senator Grassley’s town hall meetings and at one point a gray haired Grandmother type rose to speak and I was struck by the fear in her voice. President Obama won over voters from across the spectrum with promises of Hope and Change. I suspect this Grandma may have been one. However, in the course of six months, with the belief that he had an electoral mandate, he has managed to scare the pants off of Grandmas across the country.

In his book Interpreting Elections Stanley Kelly defines mandates:

Its first element is the belief that elections carry messages about problems and policies and programs; messages plain to all and specific enough to be directive...

Second the theory holds that certain of these messages must be treated as authoritative commands… To qualify as mandates messages about policies and programs must reflect the stable views both of the individual voters and of the electorate...

To suggest that a mandate exists for a particular policy is to suggest that more than a bare majority of those voting are agreed upon it.

It is safe to say that the Hope and Change that the electorate opted for was a repudiation of the Bush administration and Republican performance in general. This message was clear and specific, Obama's prime directive was to not be Bush.

Beyond that you cannot say that there were any authoritative commands. It became evident after the election that voters didn’t have a clue about Obama’s actual plans. He may have sent a thrill up their leg during the campaign but when it came to his agenda there was a disconnect between Obama as orator and Obama as President.

Kelly goes on to say, “Governments should not undertake major innovations on policy or procedure, except in emergencies, unless the electorate has had the opportunity to consider them in an election and thus to express its views."

Obama tried to frame healthcare as an emergency but the Chicken Little approach was worn thin on the heels of TARP and the Stimulus. Obama also ignored the fact that a majority of the electorate has never supported a shift to socialized medicine nor has there been a reasonable debate about the issue. Obama believed that under the mantle of electoral mandate he could, through sheer force of personality and a legislative blitzkrieg, ramrod healthcare past the American people.

Traditionally Americans reject this kind of hubris and we are seeing the beginning of mandate running headlong into political reality. Unfortunately, I don’t think this President is one to retire quietly to the Rose Garden. So hang on Grandma this is liable to be a long wild ride.

Sunday Service

I haled me a woman from the street,
Shameless, but, oh, so fair!
I bade her sit in the model's seat
I painted her sitting there.

I hid all trace of her heart unclean;
I painted a babe at her breast;
I painted her as she might have been
If the Worst had been the Best.

She laughed at my picture and went away.
Then came, with a knowing nod,
A connoisseur, and I heard him say;
"'Tis Mary, the Mother of God."

So I painted a halo round her hair,
And I sold her and took my fee,
And she hangs in the church of Saint Hillaire,
Where you and all may see.

Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine


5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
From Fortune

1. Freedom to choose what's in your plan
2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or pay your real costs
3. Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage
4. Freedom to keep your existing plan
5. Freedom to choose your doctors

Destination- Bizarro World

OMG I find myself agreeing with the ACLU.
Government Proposes Massive Shift In Online Privacy;Changes Would Pose Serious Threat To Americans’ Personal Information, Says ACLU
From the ACLU

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union submitted comments today to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) opposing its recent proposal to reverse current federal policy and allow the use of web tracking technologies, like cookies, on federal government websites. Cookies can be used to track an Internet user’s every click and are often linked across multiple websites; they frequently identify particular people.

Since 2000, it has been the policy of the federal government not to use such technology. But the OMB is now seeking to change that policy and is considering the use of cookies for tracking web visitors across multiple sessions and storing their unique preferences and surfing habits. Though this is a major shift in policy, the announcement of this program consists of only a single page from the federal register that contains almost no detail.

“This is a sea change in government privacy policy,” said Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “Without explaining this reversal of policy, the OMB is seeking to allow the mass collection of personal information of every user of a federal government website. Until the OMB answers the multitude of questions surrounding this policy shift, we will continue to raise our strenuous objections.”

And This: Pizza Delivery Under Obamacare


And this, George Clooney holding up an Obama Joker sign?



And this, what self respecting Neo Nazi would ever paint a swastika that looks soooo, pardon the expression, gay?

American Sign Language

Two years ago when I transferred to Iowa I found that the university has a 4 semester foreign language requirement. I certianlyhad no desire to learn a new language at my age. German, French and Chinese seemed like a monumental waste of time. Spanish which I know vaguely through Dora the Explorer was out on purely philosophical grounds.

I begged for a waiver of the requirement, but as I wrote at the time,

"When I was accepted to the U. I inquired about the foreign language requirement and was told by admissions that because I was an old fart (OF) that requirement would be waived. Woohoo cut the OF some slack.

Come to find out the University admissions requirement was waved but the College of Liberal Arts would never think of waiving their graduation requirement no matter how friking OF you are. “College of Liberal Arts” the name should have been a tip off. As I worked my way up the food chain seeking some sort of relief I plead my case to one coldhearted academic after another, I began feeling more and more like the convict in "The Shawshank Redemption" asking the warden to reopen his case to prove his innocense.

The last advisor stared at me dumbfounded and just couldn't comprehend the time restraints that an OF is working under or why I just didn't need this aggravation. All involved were every bit "Obtuse" as the warden."

Defeated by the system, I settled on American Sign Language. My wife had taken ASL in college so I figured I had a built in tutor, (wrong) plus as the name implies "American" meant that some English would probably be involved and I am somewhat fluent there. This morning I took the ASL 4 final exam to complete the requirement.

In retrospect this has turned out to be one of life's special experiences. I don't consider myself very fluent and I don't know how much I will actually use this skill in the future, but I have met many wonderful Deaf people over the last two years and have found that they have a very special and unique culture of which they were happily willing to open up to a stumbling inept signer such as myself. (Many Thanks)

In closing there is one facet of their culture that I have found fascinating and would like to share. That is signed music. There is a beautiful fluidity to the motions, and even though you might not understand the signs, it ads another dimension to the music that hearing music lacks.

Choose Your Apocalypse Game
Via Kingshamas and Slate

Ace of Spades Has the Best Headline Writer in da Bidness.
"IED Planting Terrorists Die Due To Lack Of Wellness Programs And Helicopter Delivered Munitions But Mostly Helicopter Delivered Munitions"
(I couldnt get Blogger to embed this video, you will have to link to Ace. Sorry)
While this video is obviously an impressive demonstration of the professionalism of our troops and the abilities of our equipment, at $70 Grand a pop someone should do a cost benefit analysis of using the Hellfire missile to light up a lone jihadi. Couldn't you have the same fun er effect with a 50 cal strafing run?

More fodder for the lunitic fringe. What is in Obama's background check that they are trying to hide? WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW, DAMN IT!
Officers Run Background Check On Obama; Placed On Leave
From WSBTV Atlanta

The Iowa edition of the Obamacare traveling salvation show is coming to a town near you. Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone goes. Cause everyone knows Obamacare blows. (Sorry Neil)

Our esteemed congressman Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Mount Vernon will be at Tall Corn College and Technical Institute aka Kirkwood Community College's Cedar Hall Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

BE THERE. BE THERE! But be on your best behavior. If you get the opportunity, politiely ask questions that highlight the folly of this legislation. Think about it, its not that hard. As mom used to say, "If you don't have anything intelligent to say, it's best not to say anything at all. Its better to keep you mouth shut and let people think your a loon than to scream your head off and prove it."

Complete list of Iowa Reps and their upcoming appearances HERE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- ------------------------------------

Remember when the left's motto was, 'dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Now they just say, "let them eat cake". Its becoming clearer that unless you toe the party line you will be spied upon by the EoP, run the risk of assault by Democratic party kneecappers from the SEIU, and get berated by the President himself. And you naively believed B.HO was the president of all the people, hopeychangey and all that.

This is not unprecedented in American History. President Wilson enacted the Alien and Sedition act to silence opposition and in the early days of the American Legion the Attorney General deputised its members to harass and assault dissenters in much the same way that the Democrats are using Acorn and the Unions today.

I hate to toss around the term fascist but the Presidents Agenda and the methods he is employing should give pause to all freedom loving Americans.

Sunday Service

The Premonition

'Twas a year ago and the moon was bright
(Oh, I remember so well, so well);
I walked with my love in a sea of light,
And the voice of my sweet was a silver bell.
And sudden the moon grew strangely dull,
And sudden my love had taken wing;
I looked on the face of a grinning skull,
I strained to my heart a ghastly thing.

'Twas but fantasy, for my love lay still
In my arms, with her tender eyes aglow,
And she wondered why my lips were chill,
Why I was silent and kissed her so.
A year has gone and the moon is bright,
A gibbous moon, like a ghost of woe;
I sit by a new-made grave to-night,
And my heart is broken -- it's strange, you know.

"We must always look to the future. Tomorrow--the time that gives a man just one more chance--is one of the many things that I feel are wonderful in life. So's a good horse under you. Or the only campfire for miles around. Or a quiet night and a nice soft hunk of ground to sleep on. A mother meeting her first-born. The sound of a kid calling you dad for the first time. There's a lot of things great about life. But I think tomorrow is the most important thing. Comes in to us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."

John Wayne

You know you lost the debate when you play the race card.
NYT's Paul Krugman writes;

But they’re probably reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing, or even to what they’ve heard about what he’s doing, than to who he is.

That is, the driving force behind the town hall mobs is probably the same cultural and racial anxiety that’s behind the “birther” movement, which denies Mr. Obama’s
citizenship.

53% Now Oppose Congressional Health Care Reform
From Rasmussen

Who We Are
From Hot Air

We don’t like having to fight desperate battles to save our freedom and future from socialist politicians every ten or twenty years. We don’t like having our time wasted with trillion-dollar statist fantasies, when our government is already trillions of dollars in the red. We’re tired of checking the papers each day, to see which group of us has been targeted as enemies of the State. We’re growing impatient waiting for the Democrats to come up with ideas that don’t require their supporters to hate someone. We’ve had our fill of “progressives” who act as if we’re living in 1909, and none of their diseased policies have ever been tried before.

Read it all

Wow, go Neil; Cavuto to Obama "Stop demagoging your critics, jackass"
Via Hotair

Know Your Town Hall Mob Agitators!
From IowaHawk

Greetings citizen! By now you may have heard scattered rumors of state and party officials encountering reactionary resistors at local health care reform information programs. Do not be alarmed, for our 5-year plan for citizen health proceeds without delay. Remain stalwart! The truth can be told at last, that these so-called "protests" are merely the desperate rear flank mob actions of dead-end bandits and saboteurs in the pay of enemy insurance agents.

Poll: Use of atomic bombs in WWII OK
From the Washington Times

A majority of Americans surveyed think dropping atomic bombs on Japan during World War II was the right thing to do, but support was weaker among Democrats, women, younger voters and minority voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.
The poll, released Tuesday, found 61 percent of the more than 2,400 American voters questioned think the U.S. did the right thing; 22 percent called it wrong, and 16 percent were undecided.

Why are we still polling this 60 year old issue. It has been firmly established that (A)Using nuclear weapons is a bad thing. (B.) World War II was an equally bad thing. (C) Using A. to finish B. was a good thing. The fact that democrats and younger people increasing doubt this is because while they can understand A. they don't know shit about B. So what is the point in asking?

I hear this lifestyle will soon be back in vogue, plan to attend:
Britt Iowa, National Hobo Convention -- August 6th-9th 2009

Ministry of Love

Due to the recent resistance to the healthcare legislation the Obama admistration is requesting that you report any seditious matierial, web sites, emails, or videos to the Ministry of Love at flag@whitehouse.gov.

Whats Next?

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled. That if any persons shall unlawfully combine or conspire together, with intent to oppose any measure or measures of the government of the United States, which are or shall be directed by proper authority, or to impede the operation of any law of the United States, or to intimidate or prevent any person holding a place or office in or under the government of the United States, from undertaking, performing, or executing his trust or duty: and if any person or persons, with intent as aforesaid, shall counsel, advise, or attempt to procure any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination, whether such conspiracy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall have the proposed effect or not, he or they shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanour, and on conviction before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and by imprisonment during a term of not less than six months, nor exceeding five years; and further, at the discretion of the court, may be holden to find sureties for his good behaviour, in such sum, and for such time, as the said court may direct.

SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall write, print, utter, or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or published, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering, or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either House of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either House of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States; or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the Constitution of the United States; or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act; or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Words of Wisdom

'Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.' Anon.

Stolen from Maggies Farm

Why Most Journalists Are Democrats.
From Psychology Today

Unsurprisingly, self-selection plays an important role in choosing a job. People choosing to do work related to prisons, for example, commonly show quite different characteristics than those who volunteer for work in helping disadvantaged youths. Academicians have very different characteristics than CEOs—or politicians, for that matter.

Harry Stein, former ethics editor of Esquire, once said: "Journalism, like social work, tends to attract individuals with a keen interest in bettering the world.” In other words, journalists self-select based on a desire to help others. Socialism, with its “spread the wealth” mentality intended to help society’s underdogs, sounds ideal.

Crisis of Confidence: America's Government Losing Faith in Out-of-Touch Constituents
From Iowa Hawk

...Unfortunately, recent evidence suggests that America's hard-working hometown legislators are feeling the pinch from a fickle and increasingly out-of-touch voter class who no longer serves our needs.

Nowhere has this disturbing trend been more evident than in the recent debate over health care reform. Like hundreds of our fellow legislators and government officials, we recently traveled to a town hall meeting to distribute a grassroots press release explaining why this critical legislation is a done deal. Our advance staffs said that should anticipate a respectful, positive hearing from local media and bused-in union members. Instead we were greeted by a rude howling mob of idiot "voters" who refused to listen to reason, and ruined what should have been a killer photo op for our re-election ad campaign.

A Salmon Apology; I would like to take this opportunity to say that I have been remiss in linking to the always funny IowaHawk lately despite the fact that 98% of my 3.5 daily readers find their way here from the IowaHawk site. I would like to suggest that the other 2%of my readers make the IowaHawk a regular stop.

And while I'm at it; I would also like to welcome Blog de KingShamus and ask that you click through and check it out.

On the Lighter Side

Ellen Degeneres; Commencement Address at Tulane University
Via The Anchoress

The Obligatory "Obama's Socialized Medicine Trojan Horse"


Meanwhile...the Peasants are Lighting the Torches and Sharpening the Pitchforks.
Philadelphia, Pa
St. Paul, Mn
Austin, Tx
Kansas City Ks
Asheville, NC

The Top Ten List of why "The system is collapsing" argument is a fallacy.
From: The Hoover Institution

Is Economic Equality Worth the Loss of Prosperity?
From: RCP

As our nation remakes itself into a European social democracy, bidding farewell to American Exceptionalism, we hear constant calls for "sacrifice." Have you wondered exactly what it is that we've been asked to give up?

What 'Right' to Health Care?
From: RCM

Those who want to see an end to spiraling medical costs should challenge the premises behind the government interventions.

The first premise is moral: that medical care is a right. It is not. There was no right to such care before doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies produced it. Health care is a service, which we all need, and none of us are better served by our
lives and our doctors under coercive bureaucratic control.

The second premise is economic: that the government can produce a positive result by redistributing thousands of billions of dollars from its most productive citizens. This is the road to stagnation and national bankruptcy, not universal prosperity.

Return from Airplane Heaven

We returned from Oshkosh Friday night and while I had intended to post a daily review of the event I was once again thwarted in my effort to blog the adventure due to poor wifi reception, sore feet and cold beers. So today I will give a short recap and time permitting post some photos on Flikr for my aviation friends.

Oshkosh is, in a word, Fantastic! Even though this is my third trip in four years it is never boring. We arrived Sunday afternoon set up camp and strolled to the field to get our tickets and take a look around.

At Camp Scholler there were tents, campers, and RVs for as far as the eyes could see, everyday the parking lots seemed to be filled to overflowing, and hundreds of participants pitched camp under the wing of their planes. Despite all that you never get the impression that the place is particularly crowded, unless you wanted to grab a burger or get on board the A380 then of course the lines resemble Disneyland

Monday we spent most of the day in Aero Shell Square and explored the four hangers that are filled with vendors of everything aircraft from avionics to tools. Late afternoon thunderstorms cut short the air show and cancelled the Doobie Brothers concert however.

Tuesdays highlight was the arrival of the The White Knight(photo above) accompanied by Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines fame. The plane is indeed an incredible piece of aviation engineering with it's twin fuselages joined together by a center wing. The rest of the day was spent walking the flightline and shopping at the Flymarket and rummaging through old airplane parts at the Aeromart.

Wednesday was spent mid field admiring the new aircraft on display as we wandered our way toward the north end of the field where the homebuilts were located. At 3:00 the Airbus A 380 made its US debut and performed a short airshow before landing. From the ground it appeared that someone had decided to mount wings to the hanger as it demonstrated a series of slow turns, climbs, and decents. The plane is three stories high and a max gross weight of 1.3 million pounds.

Thursday it was back to the main gate to see the new planes we missed on Wednesday. We walked the length of the flightline from the vintage aircraft area down through the aircraft camping area examining every type of airplane big and small occasionally stopping along the way to watch the arrival and departure of hundreds of aircraft from homebuilts to Russian Mig fighters. We had a radio along this year and were able to listen to the flight controllers keeping everyone sorted out. After lunch we hopped a ride to the other end of the field and spent the afternoon in the war birds area.
P51's, what a machine.

Friday we spent several hours at the float plane base on Lake Winnebago before packing up and heading home.

Wet and aerodynamic, hey how'd she get in there. (click to enlarge of course)

Hats off to the EAA, the controllers, and the hundreds of people that make this premier event possible. Most of all a big round of applause for the dedicated pilots (and their families) that spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to keep general aviation alive.

Sunday Service

The Heart of the Sourdough

There where the mighty mountains bare their fangs unto the moon,
There where the sullen sun-dogs glare in the snow-bright, bitter noon,
And the glacier-glutted streams sweep down at the clarion call of June.

There where the livid tundras keep their tryst with the tranquil snows;
There where the silences are spawned, and the light of hell-fire flows
Into the bowl of the midnight sky, violet, amber and rose.

There where the rapids churn and roar, and the ice-floes bellowing run;
Where the tortured, twisted rivers of blood rush to the setting sun --
I've packed my kit and I'm going, boys, ere another day is done.

I knew it would call, or soon or late, as it calls the whirring wings;
It's the olden lure, it's the golden lure, it's the lure of the timeless things,
And to-night, oh, God of the trails untrod, how it whines in my heart-strings!

I'm sick to death of your well-groomed gods, your make believe and your show;
I long for a whiff of bacon and beans, a snug shakedown in the snow;
A trail to break, and a life at stake, and another bout with the foe.

With the raw-ribbed Wild that abhors all life, the Wild that would crush and rend,
I have clinched and closed with the naked North, I have learned to defy and defend;
Shoulder to shoulder we have fought it out -- yet the Wild must win in the end.

I have flouted the Wild. I have followed its lure, fearless, familiar, alone;
By all that the battle means and makes I claim that land for mine own;
Yet the Wild must win, and a day will come when I shall be overthrown.

Then when as wolf-dogs fight we've fought, the lean wolf-land and I;
Fought and bled till the snows are red under the reeling sky;
Even as lean wolf-dog goes down will I go down and die.