Take This Hope & Shove It!

Obama's recent flip flops have me remembering a line from Lonesome Dove where Robert Duvall's character, Gus McCrae, tells Diane Lane's character, Lorena, that Jake Spoon, her new boyfriend "is too leaky a vessel to put much hope in."

Someone should tell Obama's devotees the same thing.

There's Something About Hillary

This Social Security Baby Name chart shows the popularity of the name "Hillary" since 1992, the year Bill & Hillary Clinton entered the national limelight.

Popularity of the female name Hillary

Year of birth	Rank
2007	960
2006	979
2005	883
2004	810
2003	a
2002	a
2001	887
2000	876
1999	856
1998	868
1997	725
1996	693
1995	684
1994	566
1993	261
1992	131
a Not in top 1,000 names for indicated year of birth
Note: Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth. Name data are from Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

As a baby name, "Hillary" went from #131 in popularity to #684 within three years, paralleling Hillary's healthcare debacle. It kept dropping until it fell below 1000 in 2002 & 2003--years marked by the Monica scandal and Bill's post-Presidential pardon scandal. The name made a slight comeback in 2004 but has again fallen in popularity since Senator Clinton started campaigning for the presidency.

By comparison, "Leslie", which was number 133 in 1992, is now #127. "Sierra", number 130 in 1992, is now at #168. Only "Katrina", #132 in 1992, dropped significantly--to #598 in 2007, perhaps due to a devastating hurricane by the same name.

Every Silver Lining Has An AP Reporter

This story about how amazed people are that no one was killed by six Virginia tornadoes didn't make it past the second sentence without the AP reporter raising the specter of doom.

Who wants to read this crap on a constant basis? No wonder they are losing readers by the thousands.

Why Even Hold An Election?

I got this e-mail that originally came from Holland...

Why hold an election? On one side you have: 1) A bitch who is a lawyer and married to a lawyer; 2) A lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer.

On the other side you have a true war hero married to a blond with huge breasts who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there really a contest here?

Good question.

Princesses Eventually Accept Reality

Los Angeles Times columnists, on the other hand, have a hard time accepting that small children enjoy pretending to be something special.

Personally I enjoy how angry the phenomena makes feminists. Having a granddaughter and two grandnieces, I estimate Disney's Princess business makes up about 20% of the US economy.

Could Be Casino Night...

...but it's probably the "suicide-is-a-sin, love-your-neighbor" doctrine that attracts them by the millions.

"I told you not to call me here"

If Hillary is in the White House and the phone rings at 3am, it's probably for Bill.

When Something Works Like It Is Supposed To...

...Maybe there is no "Emergency".

A Marine Officer Reports...

28 December 2007

To all my friends and family,

I am at the end of a seven month deployment in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. I have been working on a military transition team with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Division Iraqi Army.

I have received many questions from people back home, wondering how things are going over here. Most reference the negative messages they have heard from the media and some politicians. Some people I have spoken to assume that I hate being deployed, and spend all my time praying to come home. In the past two and a half years I have spent eighteen months away from home. As a husband and father, I do miss my family, and want to get home to them, and while I certainly have not "enjoyed" my time here, I do not regret it. What has surprised me most was how shocked many people were when I expressed excitement over the progress the Iraqis have been making these past months. I cannot speak for all of Iraq; however I can speak to the progress made in our area of operations, which spans from just North of Hit, to just south of Haditha.

When I arrived in July, there were three American Battalions that spanned from Hit to Haditha. Currently there are only two, and very soon there will be only one. In July, the Iraqis did not have their own battle space. They operated in American battle space and took all their orders from American Commanders. In the past seven months the Battalion, Brigade, and Division all underwent validation operations. These were a series of operational tests designed to confirm or deny the Iraqi Army's ability to operate on their own. They passed all these tests, and have been operating in their own battle space for several months now. Since then, I have witnessed Iraqi Army commanders plan large scale operations which involved not only Iraqi soldiers, but Iraqi police, and United Sates Marines. These Iraqi commanders planned and briefed every facet of the operations, to include how they wanted the Americans to support them.

I have had the privilege to work with some outstanding Iraqi officers. One Company Commander comes from a military family. His father was a Colonel. A month before I arrived in Iraq his father was murdered while home on leave by a religious fanatic. This young officer still came back to the unit, fully committed to fighting and defeating the insurgency. One of our interpreters had a family member murdered because the wrong people found he was working with the Americans. Still he comes to work more committed than ever to help us in our mission.

I have also met several truly courageous Iraqi civilians. In one village I worked in, the local Sheik, committed to kicking the insurgents out, started the local police station on his own. He engaged Americans to facilitate basic training and supplies for the police officers. He went to all the families in the area and convinced them that if they wanted safety for their families, they would have to fight for it. Seventy five young men, including all four of the Sheiks sons volunteered to serve as policemen. As I write this, they have been serving for over seven months and have not received a single pay check. The Sheik invests what money he can, but they continue to work without pay in order to keep their town safe. In another village, a Marine foot patrol was moving down a dirt road. One of the village elders suddenly ran from his house and stood in front of the patrol, shouting, and refused to let them pass. Once an interpreter was brought up, the Marines learned that a pressure plate IED was buried in the road just one block up. The town's people had been threatened with death if any of them warned the Americans. The village elder later told us, that if it is God's will, he will die, but he will not allow such an attack to happen in his town, after the Marines had been so good to the people. In the same area, several months later, in the middle of the night, we heard shouting and saw lights flashing on and off in the houses. A patrol of Iraqi soldiers was sent out to investigate. When they arrived they were greeted by several of the local men. The soldiers learned that two men not from the area had come into town that night. They were later seen attempting to emplace an IED along a dirt path regularly patrolled by Marines and Iraqi Army. When the people saw this they began shouting at the men, warning that if they emplaced the IED they would shoot them themselves. The flashing lights were in order to signal us. The men picked up the IED and ran. The men were not caught, but they were also never seen again. As I patrol different villages, it is always the same; the people are friendly and glad to see us. This summer, where the day's temperatures regularly went above 120 degrees, the people would come out of their houses to greet us with ice water to drink and refill our canteens, shake our hands, and thank us for the work we are doing. I have been invited inside homes for tea, cigarettes, and full meals.

No one says Iraq is not dangerous. However, to say, that this is not a winnable situation is simply not true. Iraq is still a dangerous place; however we are finally reaching a point where the Iraqi military and police forces are able to deal with the dangers of the insurgency on their own. When speaking with Iraqi civilians, to include the local elders and Sheiks, they are very positive about the future. They understand that for all our mistakes, Americans are in Iraq to help. However they know there is no quick solution to the problems Iraq faces. We as Americans must understand this as well. The Iraqi Army still has a long way to go. For example, they currently rely on American helicopters to provide support and casualty evacuation to seriously wounded soldiers, but I have met Air Force transition teams working with Iraqi pilots. It is only a matter of time before Iraqi helicopters pick up these missions on their own.

As the Iraqis continue to improve, there will be a draw down in forces, but it will be a gradual process. If we rush to pull all our troops from Iraq, leaving the Iraqis to operate on their own, before they are truly ready, the insurgency will reemerge and the lives we have spent up to this point will have all been for nothing. On the whole, the Marines I serve with feel similar to me. If we are going to risk our lives and spend years away from our loved ones, we want it to mean something. We have come here with a job to do, and we do not plan on leaving until that job is done. My hope is that the American public remains patient and gives the military, both American and Iraqi, enough time to finish the job properly.

Semper Fi.

Edward Gonzalez

1st Lieutenant USMC

Advisor 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Division Iraqi Army

Thanksgiving 1947: $6.50 A Pound!

James Lileks' blog shows a 1947 grocery ad featuring turkeys for 63 cents/pound. That's $6.51 in today's dollars.

Last Saturday I brought our Thanksgiving bird for 37 cents/pound (3 cents in 1947 dollars).

Few Americans under 70 remember that turkeys were eaten only on Thanksgiving because they were the most expensive meat in the store. Now they are the least expensive, something else to give thanks for.

A Question For...

Restaurant owners: Why do you blow cold air on your customers?

When The Government Runs Health Care...

Paramedics won't miss a meal.

A little translation is required: In Scotland "Tea" is a meal and "999 Men" are paramedics.

If there was a government-run health care system anywhere in the world that functioned well, the NYT and the rest of the mainstream media would be praising it on a daily basis.

Buy Gold! Or Not

Gold reached a 27-year high today.

Of course $748 in today's dollars equal only $270 1980 dollars. Gold has a long way to go to "reach a new high", which would actually be $2078 per ounce today.

So if you had bought gold in 1980 you have lost only $1330 per ounce.

If Momma Is Not Happy...

...War is a viable option.

Despite what Sally Fields believes, mothers do go to war. In fact the first two female leaders of major countries waged wars. Successfully I might add.

Indira Ghandi defeated Pakistan in a border war. In 1982 Margaret Thatcher defeated Argentina after it invaded the Falkland Islands.

Cheering Karl Rove's...

...departure doesn't bother me as much as the deathly silence that will accompany the capture of Osama bin Laden.

Note: I subscribed to the the Seattle Times while we lived in Washington State and actually it wasn't much more biased than most big city newspapers. Of course it has probably gotten worse since we moved in '02.

The moonbats had their own daily, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (motto: Intelligent As A Post") which leaned to the left of Pravda.

Question for Michael Moore...

Why does this 107-year-old woman need money for medical care in Fidel's paradise?

Or Change His Name

A HuffPo article says "strategists agree" that McCain's only hope for nomination is to turn his back on Bush and Iraq.

How that would endear him to Republicans (who actually select the nominee) is a little fuzzy.

What "strategists" don't realize is that Senator McCain is not a Republican and never has been. He is a McCainian, a political party made up of people who think John McCain knows everything there is to know, who think John McCain is the only person qualified to be the President of the United States, and who think anyone who disagrees with John McCain should be silenced and sentenced.

So Abu, How Was Your Day?

Not so good.

If the precision-guided artillery shells didn't get him, and the Apache helicopter didn't get him, the 500 pound bombs from the F-16 definitely ruined his day.

And made my day.

Absolutely, Positively....

...NO COMMENT!

Cold Ketchup

Yesterday Rush Limbaugh was trying to convince someone that high gas prices aren't the result of an oil company conspiracy (I suppose low gas prices are the result of oil industry benevolence).

Good luck Rush. It is like trying to convince someone that they don't need to keep ketchup in the refrigerator.

Behind You!!!

2007 will be a record year for snakebites. Which means snakes are doing OK these days.

Remember the disappearing frogs? Funny how you never read about how well we are taking care of the planet for animals in abundance.

Whitetail deer, for instance, are at record numbers thanks to humans providing feed, water and free health care (look up Screwworm Eradication Program).

The only good news to a tree hugger is bad news.

Overestimating American Knowledge

Stop the presses. Iran is mad at America. This time for the movie "300" which makes Persians look bad (really, really bad).

The Iranian official is blaming Hollywood for attacking Iranian culture, as if your average American knew that Iranians consider themselves Persians (so they can look down on Arabs).

What I find amusing is Iran actually thinks Hollywood would deliberately make one of America's enemies look bad. Or that Iran needs anyone's help to look bad.

Too Funny

And work safe.

I Blame Global Warming, For Idiots Like You

My son works in downtown Seattle, which is a haven for moonbats of all persuasions. Yesterday he was chatting with a colleague on a sidewalk close to where a couple of activists were asking passersby, "How do you feel about global warming?".

In the course of two minutes he heard the following answers...

"I'm all for it."
"I think it's God's plan."
"Don't care."

And my favorite: "Get a life."

If you can't sell global warming in Seattle, you can't sell it anywhere.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Feng. Shui. For. Freakin'. Monkeys!!!!

Political Courage, At Last

Czech President Vaclav Klaus finally said it: Global Warming is a myth.

Klaus, talking about man-made warming, also implied that Al Gore is insane. I'll go so far as to call Gore a fanatic, which Winston Churchill said is someone who, "Won't change the subject and can't change their mind."

I'm sure political leaders all over the world silently agree with what he said. I just wish they had the courage to say it.

OST (on second thought): A lot of politicians love Global Warming because it allows them to advance their socialist agenda.

100% Dumb Idea

In his State of the Union address, President Bush called for a 20% reduction in gasoline use.

While I admire his willingness to pursue terrorists, I cringe when I hear the President say stuff like that. If the US, the world's biggest user of gasoline, reduced consumption by as little as 5% the price of oil would collapse, perhaps to $15/barrel or less. Gasoline prices would fall to below $1 and consumption would of increase dramatically.

At the same time ethanol and other alternative fuels would become comparatively more expensive, which would reduce demand significantly.

The only way to reduce gasoline consumption is to slap a huge tax on it, like the Europeans do. Oh crap! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Why 1946?

Rod Dreher writes for the Dallas Morning News. He calls himself a crunchy conservative and even wrote a book about how he shops at cooperatives, recycles as much as possible and does all the other feel-good stuff that make environmentalists feel superior to everyone else. As far as I can tell he's just another elitist scold on a major guilt trip who wants everyone to like him.

L