Cut the crap about Iraq

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

WASHINGTON — The argument for going to war in Iraq was clearly made. Over and over again, Saddam Hussein was said to be a turn-of-the-millennium Hitler, a madman bent on destroying America with his stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Of course, that turned out to be false, but at the time, the justification was no mystery. The word “weapons” shows up 1,107 times in the Congressional Record during the period when the House and Senate were voting to grant President George W. Bush the authority to use force against Iraq. The more specific “weapons of mass [destruction or murder]” comes up 368 times.

 
Read More

When college costs just get too high….work at Starbucks

MoonHowler

starbucks

College is becoming unaffordable for many in the middle class.  The average student graduates  with nearly $30,000 dollars in debt after obtaining a bachelors degree.  That’s a pretty steep price tag and hardly a good way to begin one’s adult life.  It makes living at home until you are 40 more and more of  not just a possibility but a fact of life.  Congress, to date, has refused to pass legislation that improves the college loan situation.  Enter Starbucks to the rescue, according to  Politico:

Starbucks soon will be helping college kids with more than pulling all-nighters.

The company best known for its pricey java chip frappuccinos said Sunday it will pay a huge chunk of college tuition for its baristas and the rest of its 135,000 U.S. employees through a new partnership with Arizona State University.

Many companies reimburse students for a portion of the undergraduate or graduate school tuition, but fewer go this far — and the coffee chain won’t require employees who use the benefit to continue working at one of its 8,000 stores past graduation.

 
Read More

A delayed homecoming: SOP

MoonHowler

Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas is home to the military reintegration center for those who have been held captive. It is good to know that the military doesn’t just pat you on the ass and tell you to run along home to your family. All sorts of emotional issues must be on the front burner and need attention. Not to sound too much like the Showtime blockbuster, Homeland, but the issues are many, part due to treatment by captors and the other part, the human condition.

Read More

Islamic factions 101: Why they fight?

MoonHowler

Surely there is more to it than this. More people have been killed in the name of God or whatever people choose to call their supreme being deity than for any other reason. This one seems stranger than all the others. It is all over the successors to Allah. Surely all the conflict can’t be over this?

Where do riches, water rights in a desert country, haves over have-nots come in to play? Afraid I will never understand the stupidity of all this killing, regardless of what is written. I don’t understand the extremism or the willingness to annihilate.

I expect western culture probably is the real cause.  Had we left things alone and not tried to carve up the middle east after WWI, perhaps things would be different and that includes Palestine and Israel.

Then there is the notion, as far as Iraq is concerned, that if you go in and bust up someone else’s country over something that isn’t really there, then you reap what you sow.  Yea, Saddam Hussein was a brutal monster.  So was Tito.  However, there is something to be said for someone who goes in and says, if you fight, I will kill you.  They do, he does, and point made.

Virginia: no medicaid expansion

MoonHowler

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Senate Republicans on Thursday night used their new majority to pass a two-year budget that eliminates any opportunity for Gov. Terry McAuliffe or a year-old legislative commission to expand Medicaid or a private insurance alternative.

They were backed by House Republicans who said they would not approve the budget — even though Senate Democrats and moderate Republicans had removed an insurance marketplace — unless it included language to prevent any expansion without the approval of the full General Assembly.

The Senate passed the budget on a 21-18 vote. Sen. Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. of Accomack County was the only Democrat who backed the spending plan.

Just before midnight the House of Delegates voted 69-31 to adopt the budget, as lawmakers sought to end a three-month stalemate and address a $1.55 billion revenue shortfall.

The blame for this partisan stupidity cannot even be placed on the Virginia GOP.  The blame clearly should be laid at the feet of Virginia’s own Benedict Arnold, Senator Phillip Puckett.  Puckett chose his own personal career advancement and that of his daughter over 400,000 Virginians.

Read More

Let the freak show begin…

MoonHowler

friday the 13th

Today should just be filled with surprises.  A little superstition along with moon exerting a little gravitational pull on our brains and things ought to be hopping by tomorrow night.  It will be interesting to see how many more people go to the emergency room all bloodied up.  How many more will be arrested or cause a problem somewhere.  Maybe I will just take my laptop and go to the local Starbucks to see who shows up.  Sometimes people watching is good.  I am skeered to go to the mall.  That’s some serious people watching.

Open carriers target Target

MoonHowler

TargetInterior

Supposedly a real gun was found in the toy section of a Target store that had recently had open carry demonstrators parading through the place with all weapons “exposed.”

www.PRNewswire.com:

INDIANAPOLIS, June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Responding to new reports that a loaded gun was found in the toy aisle of a Target in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is today reiterating its call on Target Corp. CEO John Mulligan to prohibit the open carry of guns in its stores. Yesterday Read More

Booing and hissing at the 7th district Republican Convention

MoonHowler

What is wrong with these people?  Do people really act that rudely in the 7th District?  I am appalled.

Common decency requires us to either listen politely or leave.  Maybe I am naïve but I came from an era where this booing and hissing is simply unacceptable.

Having said that, this response should have been a warning to Eric Cantor.  The rowdy rude crowd certainly made their feelings known.

In a state where Republicans send in a weak candidate like E. W. Jackson to be Lt. governor, I guess anything is possible.  It sounds to me like the far right GOP want to make more of a statement than they really want to win.

I hope the tea party understands that most of us are repelled by the rude behavior they display at public gatherings.  I suppose we will be treated to a summer of dangling tea bags, three-cornered hats, fife and drum parades, pocket Constitutions and impolite, threatening town hall meetings.

Let the side shows begin.

A Brat boots Cantor out

MoonHowler

Second in command in the House of Representative, Eric Cantor, lost his primary election to an unknown, David Brat.  The defeat was totally unexpected.  Voter turn out is the blame according to most pundits.  Additionally, Cantor was targeted because of his support of  Dream Act legislation.

No cheering here.  I couldn’t stand Eric Cantor but a tea party candidate is worse.   In addition, I am a strong supporter of the Dream Act.  I don’t like bricks that single out students and keep them from reaching their educational goals if they are good students.

Read More

Open Thread……………………………………………..Wednesday, May 29

MoonHowler

 

moonhowling beer

Time to kick back and enjoy the summer. Let’s hope we have a summer of low humidity and zero mosquitoes. Who knows how to cut down on the mosquito population? Any good tricks?

I found a couple of good brews to help make me less tasty to mosquitoes.  Notice the moonhowler to the left.  Then there is Raging Bitch.  I have a few of those in the refrigerator, just waiting for a summer Christening.  Then there is the old reliable, Blue Moon.

This weekend is supposed to be another great weekend.  Let’s use the open thread to share events and good recipes for the grill.

Colonel Morris Davis: The worst of the worst?

MoonHowler

Maybe the men traded for Bergdahl weren’t the worst of the worst.  Moe had never dealt with them which meant that they weren’t the worst of the worst or even on the list of 75 to be prosecuted for war crimes.   These men had been at Guantanamo for over 12 years.  They had never been charged.

No one is saying they are no longer a threat to the USA.  There are no guarantees.  However,   the risk will never be zero.

Moe did an excellent job of explaining the situation.  Thank goodness  Chris Matthews wasn’t around to interrupt and answer his own questions.  Alex Witt has far better manners and a more professional journalist.

School board considers scrapping 11th grade writing project

MoonHowler

Let’s see what Calvin has to say about writing:

calvin-writing2

Bristowbeat.com:

If the School Board approves, 11th grade students in Prince William County schools will no longer be required to submit and pass a formal research paper as a requirement for graduation.

School Board members heard arguments from teachers and administrators Wednesday night as to whether they should delete Regulation 600-1, which dictates the research paper requirement.

Supervisor of Language Arts Roberta Apostolakis said she believes deleting the graduation requirement and allowing for more writing within the curriculum would “absolutely strengthen” writing within language arts classes.

In her presentation, Roberta Apostolakis emphasized that the rigorous research-based writing, which is embedded throughout the K-12 curricula and the evidence collected throughout a student’s career, exceeds one “narrowly defined assignment.” She asked that the School Board approve making the English 11 research paper “an embedded part of the English curriculum rather than a separate graduation requirement.”

According to Apostolakis, the research paper took too much time out of the 11th grade curriculum, was weighted too heavily and did not vary the assignment to the level of the student.

No kidding.  From a parent point of view, this requirement is worse than a science fair project on steroids.  In fact, I would venture to say the graduation requirement is tantamount to child abuse.  Can we start with the notion that not everyone is going to college?

Read More

Full Victory–Nothing Else

MoonHowler

70 years since D-Day.  Amazing.  To many of those few still alive, it is probably like it was yesterday.

From www.army.mil:

June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded — but more than 100,000 Soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler.

I have a friend whose father was killed during the invasion of Normandy.  She was fortunate enough to go to France for the 60th anniversary to see his grave.  She and her daughter both stood there bawling.  She had never known her father.  How many children grew up without fathers because of WWII?

Read More