Getting a little tired of those snowy woods. How about some snowy crocuses?
This time last year I had daffodils blooming. This year I have the leaves but no blooms so far.
Will it ever warm up? In 2014, spring begins with the vernal equinox on March 20 at 12:57 P.M. EDT. Note that day light saving time will have started (March 9). Spring is still a little more than a month away. Even then, we could still get a blizzard.
However, the end of the week supposedly will get up to 60 degrees. Call in sick early. Avoid the rush. Make a dentist appointment and cancel it. Do whatever you have to do to seize the day.
“God is playing comic to an audience that’s afraid to laugh.” – Voltaire
Virginia Republican Says A Pregnant Woman Is Just a “Host”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/24/steve-martin-virginia_n_4847959.html
What an outrageous thing to say about women. The republican war on women in Virginia continues.
Oh, Mr. Bentley, you make me laugh despite it all. “I consider the whole debate to be silly.” Ho, ho.
Mr. Bentley, I am here interfacing with you precisely because you seem unable to stop making caustic remarks about the religious beliefs of others. You, in fact, once said here that one of your favorite activities was making jokes about the faith of others. Mr. Bentley, I consider that to be an unacceptable attitude, especially since your special target appears to be Christian evangelical believers. Is it really necessary to try to demean those fellow Americans over their faith? Now, if you could see your way clear to refraining from the caustic remarks and jokes about someone else’s religion, you and I could live in peace and debate other subjects. That doesn’t sound too hard to do, does it?
“Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God.”
Heywood Broun
I do make the fun of the particular religious beliefs of others, yes, But the point I tried to make above is that I’m not an “atheist”. I don’t consider any argument about whether there is a “God” to be meaningful. There is an unknown; some people anthropomorphize it and call it “God”.
I usually only get mean or pointed about religious folly when it impacts political or social matters. I won’t apologize for that. We’re all entitled to make fun of religions that seem silly to us. No one mandates that you or anyone else maintain some respectful distance from fundamentalist Islam, or Scientology. We’re all free to point fingers. I understand that from a Christian perspective it makes me a heathen who is engaged in some fight against the one true God. But that’s not what’s happening here. I’m just a slightly educated guy who rambles on, repeating ideas he got 30 years ago from a Bertrand Russell book, who has a slight complex about trying to be the smartest guy in the room.
Rick, thinking about it from the perspective you just offered up, that seems more than fair.
I tend to try to be respectful of the religion of others, even when I think that religion is wacko.
I draw the line about the same place you do. When validation of public policy and law is linked to religion, I might start mocking, even though I don’t approve. I just can’t help myself.
Dallas is back with very little fanfare. TNT. The 3rd season opened last night.
There have been many articles and opinion pieces that have lamented the huge federal debt and the necessity of scaling back entitlements. Many on this blog have argued that the concern over funding for Medicare, social security and the other big-ticket items has been going on for years, yet the country manages to find a way to make everything work.
The announcement yesterday from the Secretary of Defense that the the number of active-duty troops in the army would be reduced to 440,000, and the A-10 and U-2 retired shows that the days of making everything work are over. These numbers represent a reduction to force levels not seen since 1940. The doctrine of two simultaneous engagements has been abandoned.
This force structure assumes that the threat of land warfare has disappeared. Gone are the investments in a modern troop carrier to replace the Bradley fighting vehicle that did not protect soldiers in Iraq. Gone is the Marine amphibious assault vehicle that was to replace the Vietnam era version.
Russia and China and Iran of course will take notice. This signals a withdrawal of the US from international leadership. The lesson of WWII was that military power is required to respond when a country like Nazi Germany starts annexing/invading its neighbors. Early action could have and should have been taken to prevent world war. The new force structure severely limits the threat of US action in the near future, which only increases the likelihood of war in the Middle East and Asia. Once again, the US would then be left hoping that the oceans would protect us from becoming embroiled in a nasty conflict or be forced to get involved only after the hegemons improved their positions strategically and militarily. For example, this strategic withdrawal will probably encourage Iran to expand its nuclear weapons program.
http://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-proposes-shrink-us-army-pre-wwii-level-183915098.html;_ylt=AwrTWf1X8gtTyCsAGVTQtDMD
I am happy that Defense is being cut. These cuts have been long overdue. Personnel costs are specially outta control. These include things like pay, housing, and health care for troops and their families. These are eating up the Defense budget. This kind of spending does not make us safer.
To me, the two best shows on TV right now both air on Sunday nights at 9:00 :
– The Walking Dead is pretty compelling right now
– “True Detective” on HBO is the best thing I’ve seen on TV in many years. It’s an interesting horrible creepy mystery story about dead women and molested children – creepy, claustrophobic. The acting takes it up to a level near-greatness – Matthew McConaughey, who is at a peak of his career and has become really great, is fantastic in this part. Jaw-dropping weird charisma. Then, the director of this series takes it up to a level near high art. He has made this thing really compelling. Every week it unfolds further and has me really into it. Again, this is the best show I’ve seen in about 10 years.
I just started watching Starcrossed on CW. My inner youth comes out.
Downton is over so maybe I can watch Detective. I don’t want to watch walking dead.
One trick I note that is working really well on “True Detective” is the soundtrack. The director seems to have made a study of the soundtracks of “2001 A Space odyssey” and “The Shining” and the way that atonal music can really help to create creepiness.
After I watch that show I sometimes feel the need to check the rooms in the house. It’s affecting. Two more episodes and then it’s done; I’m going to miss it.
I see Dick Cheney is running his mouth again.
There’s such a thing as a virulent person – a person so consumed with ego and self-image and self-concern that they can’t be counted on to maintain any civilized standard of decency. Cheney is such a person; somehow he became Vice-President, and in retrospect it’s fairly amazing. I wish that he would go shoot himself in the face.
LOL what did Cheney say?
I am laughing at you talking about him shooting himself in the face.
“I wish that he would go shoot himself in the face.”
Ummmm…yeah….right…er….ah…I mean….woooeee….wow….holy moley….yipes……can you believe?……..ye gods and all the little fishes……oh, my……uh……..goodness sakes….I declare…..By thunder….saints alive………holy toledo……gulp!
I often thought Cheny bought up all the concession franchises in airports justt prior to the security lockdown prohibiting drinks/water beyond checkpoints. He has an odd legacy in a lot of folks minds. But mostly taking advantage of taxpayers…o
Wolverine, the remark passes as civilized humor because Cheney famously shot another man in the face.
I remember well that hunting accident, Mr. Bentley. Lots of comedians, professional and otherwise, made hay out of it. Your humor about the occasion, however, seems to be a tad bitter. Are you always that angry?
The Chinese now have the Dong Feng 21D, and we do not. Ultra high-speed strike missile sometimes called the “supercarrier killer.” It can take out a carrier 900 miles from the Chinese coast. We are behind in that department. Game changer in the Western Pacific?
@Wolverine
The people that are really worried about that missile are the Indians. THEY are the nearest competitors in the “carrier task force” race and they are developing policy that will enable them to control the Indian Ocean.
We have the entire Pacific….the Indians will have limited range carriers.
I’m just starting a paper comparing both nations carrier development for my Asian Studies class.
@Wolverine
Oh….and to take out our carriers….gotta find it first. Harder than you think.
Have you ever been duck or pheasant hunting? Anyone who has would know that getting showered with shot is a fairly common occurrence.
The story of Cheney shooting a guy in the face always make me laugh. If you were really shot in the face with a 12 gauge you wouldn’t have a face.
Have you ever been pheasant or duck hunting? If so you would know that getting showered with shot from time to time happens fairly frequently. Happened to me pheasant hunting in SD. Getting showered by shot and getting shot in the face by a 12 gauge are two totally different things.
If he truly shot the guy in the face with a shotgun do you think that guy would have been able to give an interview about it the next day? No, he probably would be missing 1/2 his head and/or face.
That story always makes me laugh when ever someone is actually gullible enough to believe it.
Actually, Peterson, the guy who was shot almost died from a pellet lodged near his heart. And he had wounds to his face. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_incident
I read in the wikipedia entry that Cheney has not necessarily apologized to the guy. I’m imagining Cheney attacking the guy the way he attacks nearly every other individual in government …
“The problem here is that Harry walked between me and the quail. Now, you have to ask yourself what he was trying to do. If he were trying to save the quail, to implement a strategy where I couldn’t shoot it, well he couldn’t have done a better job.
Quail were made to be shot and eaten, point blank. To try to thwart or subvert it, well that’s beneth contempt in my opinion. We have a right to bear arms in this country, and a right to shot quail. If I had this all to do over again, I’d do it the same exact way. And my advice to Harry is to keep his weak-kneed pro-quail agenda to himself, and to stay the hell out of my way. “
Were your ears burning last night? I was speaking nicely of you.
Peterson — A member of our family was out hunting rabbits in the fields. He was trying to slip under a barbed wire fence, when the wire caught on his shotgun. The newspaper report said that the blast blew his head clean off. Young guy, former member of the Army National Guard, married with a small child. Same darn thing with the fence happened to another member of the family who was a farmer/rancher out in California. His son found him in the field. No jokes here.
Cargo — Don’t be so sure about those carriers. A USN admiral has said anonymously: “The Chinese now have a weapon that can potentially neutralize our 21st Century carrier fleet.”
Not joking at all… hunting accidents happen, watched my own father-in-law jog to get in place to take a shot at a group of pheasants about to break when his foot slipped into a ditch. He fell face first on his shotgun and it went off. He was about 1/2 an inch from losing the top of his head and I had a front row seat.
I had an elderly man trying to clear his gun after a hunt while I was in the process of getting back into the truck, he had a misfire and damn near blew my leg off. What I’m saying is if you, yourself, have never been hunting a day in your life and actually believe that someone shot someone in the face, and that guy lived… your gullible.
Exhibit A, “I read in the wikipedia entry”…. nuff said.
This kills me because I agree with Rick on a bunch of things…. this one I’ve got to call him out on though. Shoot a guy in the face with a shotgun, that guy isn’t going to live, period.
Also find it interesting that the guy was shot in the face yet, “almost died from a pellet lodged near his heart”. Trust me, I know the spread pattern of a shotgun especially with birdshot. If dude was ‘shot in the face’ yet had a pellet (one pellet, two, a grouping????) lodged near his heart that almost killed him then you have about a 2 1/2 to 3 foot spread pattern that would have to have the extreme edges have enough maximum velocity to break thru and penetrate into a chest cavity. Birdshot just isn’t going to do that unless your damn close, and if your that damn close his face is not going to be recognizable.
Can it happen? Sure. If it did, would I say that the victim was ‘shot in the face’, yet almost dies from a deep center mass penetration? Nope, unless you believe everything you read.
Having a deep enough, center mass injury, from birdshot, with layers of hunting gear on, to almost kill you…. and say it was a ‘shot in the face’ is like believing in the JFK magic bullet.
@Wolverine
Oh…I’m not sure….nothing is certain. It just won’t be as easy as they think.
As for Admirals and what they know…… some think that the LCS is actually sea worthy much less combat ready……
That Chinese missile IS most definitely a threat. Notice the wording….”potentially.”
Now….how vulnerable is the launcher of that missile to sub and B-2 launched countermeasures?
And if the USN HASN’T been planning for this type of threat for the last 15 years……what took them so long. This threat was speculated about in the 80’s. Everyone thought the USSR would field something like this….eventually.
@Wolverine
The Navy BLOGS were talking about this in 2008.
http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2008/08/ddg-1000-freak-show.html
It seems that the powers that be want a ballistic missile defense system armed ship…but Navy shipbuilding can’t find its ass with both hands. I mean…the LCS? Really? When CHINA is our own threat on the horizon?
Well, Peterson, all I really know about the shooting incident is what I read on wikipedia. Perhaps “shot in the face” is a misleading description. But the guy did get hit in the face, and did need a heart operation. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney_hunting_incident :
Whittington was injured in the face, neck, and upper torso. Whittington was reported to be in stable condition at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital and had been moved from intensive care to a “step-down unit” on Monday. Doctors had decided to leave up to 200 pieces of birdshot pellets lodged in his body rather than try to remove them. Each pellet is less than a tenth of an inch (2.5 mm) in diameter. Because of their small size, it is hard to pinpoint the precise location of each pellet with medical imaging.
On February 14, 2006, at 0630 hours, Whittington suffered a minor heart attack and atrial fibrillation due to the shot pellets lodged in or near his heart.[3] Additionally he experienced a collapsed lung.[14] He was immediately moved back to the intensive care unit. At about 0900 hours, Whittingon underwent a cardiac catheterization test to detect blocked or leaky arteries. From the test, doctors found a single lead pellet.[15][16]
On the larger issue of Cheney’s big mouth and lack of self-awareness, the Daily Show “crucified” (is that a loaded term?) him appropriately last night. Cheney was Defense Secretary when he implemented much larger cuts to military spending, citing the need to meet budget constraints. When someone else does the same thing 20+ years later, on a lesser scale, he throws his worthless and counterproductive 2 sents in.
It’s almost as if Cheney is a sad attention w*ore rather than a statesman. Wait, did I say almost? Actually, that’s the case.
Rick, it’s OK to say attention-whore here at Moonhowlings.
I would agree with you.
Oh, thanks. I’ll probably just keep astericking it though. It feels right …
Ha! Your sensibilities are indeed a mystery to me, Lord Bentley.
Aware of my tendancy towards unbecoming vulgarity, I make occasional attempts to mitigate it at least slightly.
Cargo —The things you cited may be the reason why that admiral chose to make an anonymous remark. A lot of flag officers have seen the door in the past couple of years. Some say it is because we are top heavy in the higher ranks, but others opine that it is reportedly because of differences with higher authority. Also some strong opinion out there that the Chinese are advancing faster than expected because of the sophisticated technology authorized to be sold to them during the Clinton administration. Water under the dam now, but I think we had better find a way to get cracking for real.
Hey Moon – I emailed u. Did u get it? Do I have the right address?
I just found it and answered you.