Rant – Page 11 – The Daily Brief

Random Rants from the Road

23. January 2006 · Comments Off · Categories: Ain't That America?, Memoir, Rant

So I went to see my Mom in Chicagoland this weekend, driving out Friday Morning and back today. I thought I’d share some of the random flotsam that goes through my brain when I’m running I-80 through the “scenic” Iowa and Illinos farmlands.

Attention Flatbed Drivers. For the love of GOD, please make sure that your load of empy 50 gallon drums are ALL secure before you head out on the hiway. I’m still pulling pieces of upolstery out of my ass. But ya know, thanks for the fact that it was empty, all that bouncing helped me miss it…I think…I’m still unsure of HOW I missed it.

Why is it every package of beef jerkey you can purchase in a truck stop is stale?

I have no idea why so many RVs were on the road. Isn’t it January? Who RVs in January?

Attention Country Radio. Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flats IS a killer song, but perhaps you should consider toning down how many times an hour your play it.

Attention all drivers on the hiway: 1) PICK. A. SPEED. 2) Slower drivers to the left, faster drivers to the right is NOT the recommended practice. 3) Merge does not mean I need to get the hell out of your way, it means you need to adjust your happy self into the flow of traffic. 4) 18-Wheelers are bigger than we are. That in itself deserves some respect. Considering the taxes that truckers pay compared to us, yes in fact they DO own the road, a couple times over I might add. Give them a freakin’ break. 5) PICK. A. SPEED. Yeah, one and five are the same, some folks need to be told twice.

Iowa rest stops are quite clean and well-kept, good on Iowa.

People in Iowa are very very very friendly to an old fart in an Air Force hoody. People in rural Illinois are also very friendly. This friendliness begins to fade as you get closer to Chicago.

Family members and friends who have lived in Chicagoland all their lives or most of their adult lives have NO idea what the hell is going on in the world other than Bush sucks and all our troops need to come home and lock down our borders.

Where Are We Headed?

19. January 2006 · Comments Off · Categories: Domestic, Home Front, Politics, Rant, Stupidity

Things are not right in the great country that we grew up in: Right on the heels of a Vermont case where a man was convicted of child rape and received only 60 days in jail, comes a case in Massachussetts where a man was convicted, and plead guilty of raping a 15 year-old boy, receiving no jail time at all, only probation. Details of the latest case are sketchy, however, in the earlier Vermont case, a former high school math and science teacher was convicted in January 2004 of child rape by Judge Delvecchio of the Vermont District Court.

The significance of these cases points out the desperate condition of the court system in this country and the quite valid reason for the President to appoint as many conservative judges (who apply, not make, law) as possible during his term in office. Before I start getting piles of howling protest comments from the moonbat left screaming about imperial US power and civil rights, let’s take a deep breath and demand that the government use some common sense. This kind of madness from our courts must stop or we are doomed as a nation. Or is it too late?

Arrrrgh – I’m Mad As Hell

05. January 2006 · Comments Off · Categories: My Head Hurts, Rant

In the spirit of Julia’s last post, just call me Howard Beale. But my current outrage is with software updates.

You’re totally happy – doing just fine with the old version. And the dialog box keeps popping up – “you need the newest bells and whistles” – and you finally say, “ok, I’ll do it.”

Well, it’s 3:40 in the morning; I said that about 5 hours ago. Now my PDF reader doesn’t work (the same 6.0.1 I had before – I guess the new one doesn’t run on 98SE), Trend Micro HouseCall makes my screen go blank when I try to delete infections, and I can no longer click File>>Internet Radio in Winamp and select Radio Paradise, KCRW, or the few other things I listen to, from a simple list.

Arrgh. I’m too tired and frustrated to deal with this any more. Manana.

Update: It seems that the Winamp thing is a known bug. You now also have to click on Online Media>>SHOUTcast Radio. I know… “why am I not asleep?” I was just drifting off when this hit me. 🙂

Nothing New Under the Sun

05. January 2006 · Comments Off · Categories: Domestic, General, Media Matters Not, Rant, That's Entertainment!

I really can’t think of anything more trenchant to add to the debate over the West Virginia mining disaster mass-media spazz-out than what Don Henley sang, some years ago.

“I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something, something I can use
People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry

Well, I could’ve been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I don’t have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear, give us dirty laundry

Kick ’em when they’re up, kick ’em when they’re down
Kick ’em when they’re up, kick ’em when they’re down
Kick ’em when they’re up, kick ’em when they’re down
Kick ’em when they’re up, kick ’em all around

We got the bubbleheaded bleach-blonde, comes on at 5
She can tell you about the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It’s interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation? Is the head dead yet?
You know the boys in the newsroom got a running bet
Get the widow on the set, we need dirty laundry

You don’t really need to find out what’s going on
You don’t really want to know just how far it’s gone
Just leave well enough alone, keep your dirty laundry

(chorus)

Dirty little secrets, dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybody’s pie
Love to cut you down to size, we love dirty laundry

We can do the innuendo, we can dance and sing
When it’s said and done, we haven’t told you a thing
We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry!”

Well, that and go watch “Network” one more time….

Attention Toy Companies

26. December 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant

Stryker mentioned it here, but I think it needs more discussion.

What in the name of holy HELL is with all the toy bondage? What could possess anyone to want to secure a toy to it’s container in a fashion that requires TOOLS in order to get them loose? Power Rangers. GI Joes. RC Cars. All of them! Bound to their containers using the nefarious wire surrounded by slickery, grey, flexible plastic that you simply can’t get a grip on. If that’s not enough, it’s supplemented with the invisible rubber bands that must have been created in the middle of the Nevada desert because those things are the stealthiet things I’ve come across in my entire life. You get done working on the twisty things with the wire cutters and you’re sure the toy is finally free and you practically take Duke’s head off because of the Rubber Bands of Satan.

“Some Assembly Required” I understand. Been doing that since my nephews were young. Did it for much of Boyo’s life.

“Batteries not included” I also understand. There’s not a Dad out there that has missed that little notice more than once. You try findng a pack of Triple A Batteries on Christmas Day in the middle of Europe only one time…your lesson is learned.

It’s not like we can stage a boycott or anything. For some reason, all the toys Boyo “must have” are subjected to a treatment out of The Story of O.

Do yourselves a favor. Earn yourselves a little goodwill. Stoppit.

Stop the toy bondage.

Stop the toy bondage.

STOP THE TOY BONDAGE!

I’ve Been Out of It Lately

20. December 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Ain't That America?, Allied Treachery, Iraq: The Good, Rant, Stupidity

…but I’ve had a little time to catch up on the news and I’m confused about something.

Taking off my glasses and pinching the bridge of my nose:

Another unknown scum-sucking traitorous bastard (or bitch, I want to be politically correct) turns over classified information to the press. The press holds onto this information until things are looking good, no, great in Iraq with an amazing turnout for the elections, something we should all be feeling good about and celebrating. The press then releases that classified information, embarassing the United States, completely destroying an ongoing intelligence operation, letting our enemies know that our civil liberties are no longer a cover for their operations.

The story from all the media outlets is that the President ordered the electronic surveillance of Americans (whispering) who are in contact with terrorists overseas?

The story isn’t the ongoing scum-sucking traitorous actions of people who believe that releasing classified information is okay and that our press continues to sell us out to our enemies?

And unless I’m mistaken, the same people who are currently beating up the President for being over-zealous about protecting our country are the exact same people who have been blaming him for not being zealous enough about protecting our country from the attacks on 9-11-01.

Do I have that right?

Because if I have that right, I think I’m going to get ready to retire soon. My country has gone batshit crazy.

And yes, IF the President acted illegally then the Senate should have exercised their powers of oversite and done THEIR FREAKING JOB and they should have done it quietly so as not to embarass the country and ruin the intelligence that may have been gathered. This was a bullshit hit job on the administration for purely political purposes and it didn’t do anyone any good what so ever.

Update: If you want to read and mess around with the various legal arguments, head over to Protein Wisdom. Goldstein has a real good wrap-up. Start at the top of the page and scroll down, because some of it’s just plain funny.

Fucking AOL!!!

05. December 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant, Technology

I pretty much had my fill of AOL just a few weeks after the first time I went online, about six years ago. And then I forswore them forever. But then, about three years ago, I acquired a couple of friends that use nothing but AIM, so I installed it.

And the mischief is incredible – it’s as if the have license to run roughshod over your computer! I finally all but uninstalled AIM about a month ago.

Well, having some wild hair up my ass, I decided to start AIM tonight – just to see if I had any messages. E – Freaking-Gad!. By no action of my own, I had two new things on my buddy list – “Shopping Buddy”, and “Some Sort Of Fucking ‘Bot'”. I am sure that the next time I do system maintenance (and I just spent three hours making it sparkling clean last night), I will find all sorts of shit related to this. And I will bet, the next time I restart my system, AIM comes up automatically.

If I had a Rocket Launcher…”

97 Channels…And Nothing On

01. December 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Ain't That America?, General, Media Matters Not, Rant, sarcasm, That's Entertainment!

How pathetic is this… with all the riches of the wealthiest nation on earth (supposedly) at our command, and our culture alleged to bestride the known world like a colossus… but there is still not much on the TV broadcast channels to amuse me on a regular basis. The weekly TV guide is beginning to depress me, almost as much as actually having to buckle down and watch the resulting many-times-digested-and-regurgitated pap, piddle and trivia. I am only grateful I don’t work as a TV reviewer, and would have to watch it all, as a condition of employment. But at least, I would be paid for having done so, which would take the edge off, somewhat. Having a lobotomy might also do the trick… might this be passed off as a business expense for TV reviewers?

My local TV listings in this year of our lord 2005 leaves me wondering of this operation has been performed on those who have a responsibility for the programs gracing (if that is the word that can be used) the broadcast channel schedule. It is almost immediately apparent that all originality, creativity, and genius has fled to the cable channels, the ones that are bundled into a package that I can’t … or won’t pay to get, not if they come at a premium. I just can’t justify to myself paying more than 45$ a month for fifty channels, not when I am interested in only watching two or three of them. I think I’ll just save the money, and buy an interesting series on DVD down the road a ways.

But I do have the basic minimum broadcast channels, and oh, what a depressing prospect that is: wall to wall doctors, lawyers and cops… lots and lots of cops. Whatever interesting concept there once existed about any of those has been wrung dry of originality by copy-catting years ago. Old doctors, young doctors… young lawyers, prosecutors (who the hell cast that woman on “Close to Home” as a prosecuting attorney— she looks like a particularly earnest Brownie Scout, not a law school graduate), defense lawyers, private investigators, military lawyers and psychic investigators, crime scene investigators, military investigators…I don’t wanna even think about the CSI episode which aired last week, about the guy who ate himself to death. Who the hell programmed that for Thanksgiving evening? I damn near barfed! Grossing out the audience is not a good long term strategy, although maybe a collection of CSI autopsy scenes might work as a diet aid.

I will give a tiny cheer to “Cold Case”, though… for the really quite expertly crafted excursions into the past. See, you can do different eras quite convincingly on a weekly TV series, how come we are all stuck in the present, which we know all too depressingly well!? And next season, according to Drudge, the flav of the upcoming broadcast TV year is post-apocalyptic America, after some unfortunate series of events. Gee, one wonders if that cheery and disastrous prospect—picturing Middle America all gone to chaos and anarchy—isn’t giving certain coastal elites a woody of sufficient strength and duration to support a couple of concrete blocks and an small anvil. (Note to the bicoastal cultural elites— Middle America is the place where they have guns and tend to know their neighbors. Word to the wise, ‘kay?)

Shit, doesn’t anyone else in TV land have an original, interesting, non-medical, non-legal, non-law-enforcement job? I can’t even bring myself to watch the reality shows: an assortment of people coping with a bizarre collection of real-world and artificial challenges, showing off for an audience and either allying with or backbiting each other— I thought that is what the blogosphere is for. As it is, about the only show where I can’t see plot developments coming a mile away is “Lost”. I just hope that the creators and writers for that show have a seriously planned and mapped story arc in mind, and that all these odd little incidents do have an eventual point, and aren’t just thrown in every week on a whim; weird for the sake of weird, as “Twin Peaks” eventually turned out to be. Like, why the heck does Jack have a seriously military appearing tat, and where is the tree-trampling, air-crew snatching monster these days? I eagerly await any explanation of these matters; secure in the confidence that it won’t be anything I would have worked out already… which is why I keep tuning in, every week.

To see something different, surprising, amusing, unexpected… entertaining, even. That’s what I watch TV for; to be entertained, and not to be bored, insulted or nauseated. And that I am bored, insulted and nauseated on such a regular basis… well, I can only think that perhaps the broadcast channels don’t really want me to watch. And I am happy to oblige. I have enough good stuff on tape or DVD to go for the next couple of seasons. Think on that, major media sources, when you are trying to sell advertising time.

Never, That’s Neh…VER

20. November 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant

With all the political thunder and blunder the past few days, I just wanted to make something extremely clear:

The United States of America should NEVER cut and run again. In case some of you missed the past 20 or 30 years, cutting and running did absolutely NOTHING good. IMO, we’re fighting this war on terror specifically BECAUSE we’ve cut and run in the past.

Maybe the moonbats are right; maybe we do deserve what we get. I mean look at our history since the end of hostilities in Korea. We bailed out of Viet Nam. We lose some Marines in Beirut and we leave Lebanon to the animals. We fail one rescue mission in the desert and then we negotiate with Iran for hostages. Desert Storm…we didn’t finish it back then. Somalia. We refuse to shut down the heroin coming out of Afghanistan. We go into Iraq and don’t secure the place after two, almost three years. We know Saudi Arabia has been breeding terrorists for decades and we still smile and shake their hands and hold hands with them as if they were our best buddies because we have to suck on their oil tit.

There are times when I’m glad my Dad and his brothers, all WWII Vets, are dead so they don’t have to watch this crap play out. Combat vets who ought to know better because of what they’ve gone through calling for withdrawal and putting in a skeletal force? How can a man with that background think that way? It’s beyond imagination.

And you on the right don’t get all smug either. When my Dad and Uncles were in uniform we knew how to occupy and secure a country…hell, a country on one side of a planet and then an entire continent on the other. Back then the folks at home sacrificed more than just us in uniform and some of their tax dollars. They knew that securing Europe from the Nazis and then from the Soviets was going to cost and they REALLY sacrificed.

We’ve become so much less somehow and the enemy knows it. And no, I don’t know what the answer is myself, but it’s NOT pulling out every time things seem hard. Every time we do that we look weaker and we’re the strongest damn nation on the planet and I think we ought to start acting like it.

Just Stop

16. November 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant

I just spent some time surfing around some of the “left of center” weblogs and came away shaking my head. I know better. They just give me a headache. So do many “right of center” blogs, only they don’t seem so keen on insulting the military by telling us that they support us so much they want us to turn tail and run the hell out of Iraq and abandon those folks to the Islamic Fascists who keep blowing up people. They support us by continuing to send us into Iraq until we can catch all of those murdering bastards who are blowing up people. I wish they’d send more of us at once, but I’ve always been one for overwhelming force so the bad guys have to just smile, put up their hands and say, “Oh, okay, you win…my bad.” Then again, I don’t think the threat of nuking Mecca ought to be off the table either so I KNOW I shouldn’t be in charge. That doesn’t make me a Republican, that makes me the definition of a Chicago Democrat, just watch Sean Connery in The Untouchables again.

Okay, you want to believe that the Republicans were the only ones who thought there was WMD on the ground when we went into Iraq, completely ignoring your own party’s leaders throughout the 1990s? Fine. Run with it.

You want to believe that all war is evil and if we’d simply try to negotiate with the folks who want to either convert or kill you things would get all rosy and we’d get everyone together for a big ol’ rousing chorus of Kumbaya? Have at it. Do your best. I’ll even do one chorus of “Michael rowed his boat ashore…” for practice.

But for the love of whatever it is you call holy, quit telling me how much you support me while giving our enemy more and more Public Relations and Psy-Ops fodder for their media to inhale and vomit to their masses. Just quit. I don’t want you “looking out for me” by telling me we can’t win. I don’t want you supporting me by trying to give the bad guys a time-line on when we’ll be leaving so they can time more things blowing up to make it look like they ran us out of there. Quit going on TV shaking your head woe-fully at the number of our dead, making us look like a bunch of whiny-assed pathetic losers. If that’s support, please-please-please, go back to throwing stuff at me and spitting on me at the airport, at least it’s honest.

Memo: To the Media, Re Katrina

19. September 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General, Home Front, Media Matters Not, Rant

To: Major Media—TV Division
From: Sgt Mom
Re: Katrina Koverage

I honestly wonder why I even bother with NPR any more, the odor of sour sanctimony emanating from such as Diane Rehm and Daniel Schorr is enough to make me gag, most days, but I can avoid the one, and yell through my radio at the other that he is a senile old idiot stuck in his Watergate glory days. Oh, yeah, now I remember: the alternatives are worse. Morning Edition and All Things Considered and the rest of the news programs do make an attempt to cover the news in depth, to examine the genuinely quirky and offbeat, to have sound-bites that are actually longer than 20 seconds, and on occasion to use words that contain three syllables. Also they gave a miss to covering the saga of the runaway bride, the missing student in Aruba, the trial of whatsisfern who murdered his pregnant wife, and other such sensational fare— for which I am profoundly grateful. (They found one, didn’t find the other, and convicted the third, just in case there is anyone else who cares.) Besides, it’s not good to live in an echo chamber, as far as news is concerned: I figure since I listen to NPR, I can give a miss to DU and the Kos Kiddies. (And I still think that would be a great name for a garage band.)

It actually wasn’t a guest interviewee on one of the news programs that set off this week’s Sgt. Mom rant, it was a guest on “Whadda Ya Know”, a sort of comic quiz and variety program, which is Prairie Home Companion’s poorer cousin. This week, the show was broadcast from Cleveland Ohio, and the first interviewed guest was one Connie Schultz, a Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I’d never heard of her, but then I’d never heard of James Lileks, either, before I took up blogging. She came off rather charming at first, with a good radio presence, and nice voice… but then she started talking about news coverage of Katrina, gloated over the horrible plight of those told to take refuge in the New Orleans Superdome and the Convention Center, noted even that the Fox news reporters came unglued over the horrible conditions there, and dumped responsibility for it all onto FEMA. She wound up with a note of pious self-satisfaction by noting that the news media had got their soul back, with the Katrina coverage. Never a mention of course, of the drowned school busses, the evacuation plan that was never followed, or the stunning contrast between the actions of local authorities in New Orleans, and those in Mississippi and Alabama. Of course not— it’s all Bush’s fault.

I hope that beautiful thought gives her some satisfaction— she apparently specializes in writing about the downtrodden and disenfranchised— but, no, I don’t think the news media has got their soul back. Maybe some of the print journalists have, with stories that go back and look at some of the existing issues and events that weren’t rushed in front of the cameras (like this, or this, or this *)but the majority of TV “journalists” have their souls right where they always were… that is, whoring after the bloody, the immediate dramatic image, the simplistic, the sheer drama of a large number of people descending straight into the lord of the flies mode, right in front of the camera. “Look at what Bush made us do!!!!!”, but never a word about the logistical challenges of getting effective help into a large area, when the infrastructure is wrecked, never a word about the absolutely stunning failure of the local and state government to even begin to live up to their commitments to local citizens, never even a bit of healthy skepticism about some of the more audacious claims of riot, rape and murder… Well, really, as commanding officers doing condolence letters were supposed to have written about personnel who managed to get themselves killed in unusually stupid ways, “They behaved in the manner which we had come to expect of them”.

There is a story, about a gossip who regretted spreading a story, and went to the local rabbi, who told her a parable about opening a feather pillow into the wind… and then trying to collect all the scattered feathers. Our TV news-people scatter the feathers, unthinkingly into the wind, and then try to justify their inability to collect them… and wonder why no one respects them any more. Perhaps Ms. Schultz will figure that out, but don’t ask me to hold my breath while she does.

Sincerely,
Sgt Mom

(* Sorry, can’t work out a link for this one that circumvents their registry. It’s the story that Instapundit linked late last week about Louisiana FEMA personnel being under investigation for misusing funds)

From The Stones to INXS in One Riff

13. September 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant, That's Entertainment!

Sometimes I don’t understand how my mind works and sometimes it makes all the sense in the world.

This morning I was checking out iTunes (it’s new music Tuesday) and nothing was standing out so I checked out the 30 second previews of the new Stones album, A Bigger Bang, and all of a sudden I wanted to go find some INXS. It’s simple really, there’s a riff on “Look What the Cat Dragged In” that’s a complete ripoff of “I Need You Tonight.” That bamp/bamp/bamp bam-diddy-bam-diddy-bamp…thing.

(Squeezing the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.) Okay, LOOK! If you’re “The World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” why the FUCK are you ripping off a 20 year old, highly recognizable INXS riff? (Pointing my fingers like Lewis Black)

Memo: The Day After

22. August 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General, GWOT, History, Rant, sarcasm

To: Ms Sheehan and Friends
From: Sgt Mom
Re: Thinking Ahead

1. It seems that there are a lot of you out there with an enormous, throbbing hard-on to recreate those golden days of yore, those glorious patchouli-scented, Ho-Ho-Ho-Chi-Min chanting, drug-addled, socially-conscious days of freewheeling protests, days of rage and nights of long-haired hippy chicks getting it on with equally long-haired, sensitive draft-dodging musicians. OK, fine, everyone needs a hobby, but most people that in love with the past eventually hook up with a re-enactors group.

2. I will, however, accept that you mean well, and are acting from the best of intentions, but cannot help recalling the proverbial paving materiel of the access route to the infernal regions.

3. Should you be successful in infantilizing our volunteer military, and returning them from Afghanistan and Iraq to the bosoms of their families, from whence they were ripped by the brutal, unfeeling minions of the BushhitlerchimpAshKKKroftEvilOverlordRove conspiracy, repercussions in Afghanistan and Iraq will in all likelihood mirror those events which followed upon withdrawal of American troops and American support from South Vietnam.

4. In the interests of effective long-term planning, I urge that consideration of a refugee resettlement project become part of your “bring the troops home” campaign.

5. A comprehensive listing of those Iraqi and Afghan citizens who would be most endangered by an American withdrawal should be drawn up, to include (but not limited to) members of the current government, members of the military and police, the intelligentsia, minority clergy, employees of the American military and civil establishment, and their families. While the actual evacuation plan would be contingent upon actual events, and would probably fall to our military in any case, consideration should be made of where to position the initial reception camp. Ideally, it should be in-theater, situated in the territory of a friendly country.

6. Your input is also solicited on where to site the main refugee camps within CONUS, and on the processes for resettling families permanently in cities and towns across the USA— ideally in locations which as of this date, do not have good Persian or Afghan restaurants. Volunteers will be needed both at the grass-roots level, and to lobby Congress to set aside the funds for a refugee resettlement effort. This is a responsibility which should not be shirked, although it probably will, if past performance is any indication. At least you can say afterward that you tried.

7. Finally, if it is all about the $#%*#@!! oil, why did I just pay 2.53 a gallon for mid-grade last week, when I filled the tank of the VEV?

Sincerely
Sgt Mom

On Cindy Sheehan

16. August 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant

Okay, look… I feel for her, I do. Can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child. I know I’d have a meltdown myself if anything happened to one of our kids. I’m not joining the anti-war movement because of her though…no matter how much she looks like Arlo Guthrie in that hat…even if she knows all the words to Alice’s Restaraunt…not going to happen…however, if she can follow up with the Pickle song, we might invite her over for a barbeque…as long as our Jewish friends aren’t coming ‘cuz…yeah, she crossed the line…big time.

On the other hand, the yahoos on the right who have decided that she’s the anti-Christ and must be crushed, including publishing facts about her personal life that I simply have no need to know about…bite me. Each and every one of you. You know who you are. Especially you self-righteous prigs who are always going off about how the left has no sense of decorum, no sense of proportion, or how Kid Rock isn’t conservative enough to play at your party. Lick me. I’m done giving you any support. I’m done reading you. You can’t be funny or witty enough for me to return to your site. You’ve proven yourselves to be so far gone that you’ve become everything you claim to ~~hate~~ be against.

You know what you do with crazy people? You leave them alone. That’s the best way to let them know that their behavior is unacceptable. You don’t give them MORE attention, that just feeds the fantasy that they’re more important than they are. I suppose that might apply to Mrs Sheehan too…don’t know…don’t know her.

What’s to Fight About?

14. August 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant

I know, ever since we got back from leave I just haven’t really picked any fights for the weekend. Sorry. It’s just that what’s been in the news has been so silly that I just can’t bring myself to take a serious side on anything without melting down into a complete case of the giggles and snickers. The extreme but vocal/verbose fringes of both sides are so far removed from where I stand these days, that I simply can’t pick a side and seriously make a case without rolling my eyes and doing Ctrl/A del. We’ve simply got too much real life going on to care about the lathering of others. Beautiful Wife’s Dad is not doing well and since we’ve just started to finish grieving over her Mom and Stepdad, it’s a very grey cloud over our heads. And we’ve just learned that an old friend from Germany has a very aggressive cancer and has just started chemo. So you’ll excuse me if I don’t give a rat’s ass about some lady’s meltdown at the President’s ranch or the “news” that liberal democrats have ripped off a charitable fund to support their radio station. I grew up in Chicago dammit, this has all been done before…and better I might add.

I would love to write more about really good new music…and as soon as I find some, I’ll write about it. But talk about a complete crap-alanche of summer music. Nothing stood out. The fact that “Holiday” off “American Idiot” has finally been released as a single ought to tell you something about the state or our music scene. It’s a great song, but it’s almost a year old. Come ON. Thanks to Gorgeous Daughter, I’ve at least had Bif Naked to break up the monotiny. I think I need to hang out with young people more often, they listen to stuff I like.

Movies? All the summer “hits” have come and gone and again, nothing really stood out. The anticipation and discussion of Star Wars Episode III was much, much bigger and better than the movie itself…which was actually better than I expected. “The Island” by all rights and expectation should have stood out as the thrill ride of the year, but the studio didn’t even try to sell it. What do I mean by that? I mean that if I don’t see a Sci-Fi movie advertised on Friday Night Sci-Fi, then the studio is either trying to have it tank, or they’re just clueless as to what the geeks are up to. And what do us geeks have to look forward to for the rest of the year. “Serenity” is coming but it simply won’t be enough. That’s just going to rustle up a new herd of Firefly fans and maybe get a series of movies going. Harry Potter? Okay, good stuff there, but after this one, there’s only three of them left. And it’s not new. It’s old…and most of us have read the books so we know how much of the story isn’t being told. That kind of bites in and of itself. King Kong is coming and looks great but this is version number three. Do we need a version number three? I’m just askin’.

Televison? Other than Friday Night Sci-Fi, is there anything to look forward to? Oh well, at least we have another season of “Survivor” and “American Idol” to look forward to. And here’s a confession, I watch them, but I don’t much like them, there’s just nothing much else on Tuesday or Thursday nights. Have I mentioned that I can’t wait to get back to the Pacific? Something about being able to just go snorkling again when I’m bored makes me happy. Nine months and counting.

Memo:Lamestream Media

08. August 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General, GWOT, Media Matters Not, Military, Rant, War

To: Damian Cave, @ The New York Times
From: Sgt Mom
Re: Some Cheese with that Whine

1. So you are baffled, baffled, I say by the lack of coverage in the major media, to the stories of heroism in Irag and Afghanistan, and wonder disingenuously as to why the names of SFC Paul Smith, Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester and Sgt. Rafael Peralta are not right up there in the consciousness of the nation as heroes, heroes on par with Audie Murphy and Alvin York. (My comparison, not yours. Audie Murphy and Alvin York were… oh, never mind. Use a search engine, or read some history books.) Such is your supple intellect and grasp of the obvious that you manage fix the blame anywhere but with your own media culture. “…The military, the White House and the culture at large have not publicized their actions with the zeal that was lavished on the heroes of World War I and World War II.”

2. Myself, I grasp the fact that the cluebirds are over your position, but at a very great height. I will do what I can, to bring certain realities within your reach. First, I suggest that you walk out of your office, leave the building, and stand on the sidewalk outside, and look back. (I assume of course, that you are a full-time employee of the paper of record. If you are a free-lancer, skip this paragraph.) Somewhere on the building you have just departed should be the inscription or legend, “New York Times.” Yes, Mr. Cave, you work for a newspaper, a fairly major national newspaper, as it turns out. I would suggest, if you wish an answer to your question as to why there is no attention paid to the heroes of this war, you first ask them of your co-workers at the Times.

3. And it’s not as if the stories have not been told: you know that mouse-clicky thing, to the side of the keyboard in front of the oddly-television appearing monitor on your desk? The stories are there, Mr. Cave, on the milblogs such as this, on Mudville Gazette (among hundreds of others), on various DOD websites, and at military press briefings. It’s called investigative reporting— remember when they covered that at j-school? Other newspapers can manage it, mostly papers in markets located close to military bases. Military bases… you know, those federal reserves, out in the sticks, full of noisy tanks and airplanes and things, and people with very short haircuts and a tendency to all wear the same sort of clothes? All these places have a little office on it someplace, called the Public Affairs office. They’d love to hear from you some time, tell you all about heroes and anything else about their personnel that you’d like to hear. Give them a jingle, they’re in the book.

4. And you expect to be spoon-fed by the White House, or the military, or whomever, about the heroes of this war? You want it tied up in a nice pink bow, or something, after three years of pretty much ignoring anything but the ever-floggable dead horse of Abu Ghraib/Guantanamo. Well, there is no contenting some people. Just do your job, instead of blaming everyone else. Pick up the phone, click on the mouse. I swear, when you go to the men’s room, do you have to have someone else hold your…. Oh, never mind, that’s a question to which I really don’t want an answer.

5. Just do your job. And stop whining.

Sincerely
Sgt Mom

(Correction pointed out by Byna… I should not do rants when I am cooking dinner at the same time, from an unfamiliar recipe!)

Update: Full-frontal evisceration of Mr. Cave is here, and a gallery of heroes here.

TIME TO GET TOUGH IN SUDAN

21. July 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Allied Treachery, General, Rant, Stupidity

Yesterday, our Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice, visited the nation of Sudan as part of her Africa tour. According to Fox News in this story, members of her entourage were roughed up, not once but several times, during a visit to the Sudanese President’s compound. This angered Ms. Rice, as it well should have, and I’m sure that Sudan will pay for this incident in many ways.

That whole African continent, for the most part, is ruled by thugs, criminals, and outright terrorists, not the sort of place that I want my tax dollars going. I would be much in favor of the US government doing a deep, healthy review of our giveaway policies. I’ve always favored holding onto our dollars until AMERICANS are fed, housed, and cared for. We seem to just give away money to anyone outside our own country with a hand outstretched, while we have homeless veterans, starving children whose single mothers have no education, no help, and no hope, as well as elderly folks who have to choose between food, medicine, or a roof over their heads! Come on, Mr. President, come on, congress! Let’s do something to help our own, and maybe then we can help those foreigners who want to share in our bounty. I have nothing at all against that kind of prioritization.

And we should squeeze extremely tightly on the nutz (if existant) of those idiots in Sudan who dared to insult our nation by putting their filthy hands on our SECSTATE’s staff and PA folks!

Marine not welcome at Georgia middle school

02. June 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Home Front, Military, Rant

I’ve written about this over at Ticklish Ears.

Don’t read go there if you have high blood pressure or if you are holding heavy objects that you might throw.

Religious Extremism

02. June 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant, Science!

You know, I get sick and tired of these religious extremists forcing their morality on us.

Oh? You thought I was talking about embryonic stem cells? Maybe abortion restrictions? Creationism? Or same-sex marriage?

No. I’m talking about those pesky Unitarians and their battle against global warming. Go read the column. You’ll learn of the great fight by Unitarians and folks like Emerson and Thoreau to end the scourge that was slavery (and you thought that maybe folks like William Wilberforce or Abraham Lincoln had something to do with it).

You’ll be treated to gems like this:

We eliminated the tyranny of slavery; now its time to eradicate the tyranny of fossil fuels.

These non-theist fundamentalists and their moral superiority! They think global warming is wrong. Don’t they know that only the Sith believe in absolutes?

Thanks to Marc at The Culture Wasteland for reminding me about this story in our local paper, and for his own insightful and charming commentary. He’s the smartest man in Asheville. And he makes reading the Citizen-Times so much more enjoyable.

It Makes No Sense

31. May 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense, Rant, Science!, The Funny

Sometime ago, I can’t get through the mess in the archives to find it, I wrote some kind of nonsense about some small unimportant thing that went wrong with my computer; I spent an inordinate amount of time fixing it, but was satisfied with the the result, so I forgot about it. Here we go again. I don’t know if it’s worth it this time, I’ve been sitting here trying to correct typing mistakes for the past 20 minutes, giggling about them, and trying to eat a port chip sandwich without choking on it.(OK, just one example. PORH CHOP, folks, PORK CHOP.) Nurse & chief inquisitor Jenny is asleep in the next room, and when she finds out about this post there’s gonna be hell to pay!!

What I’m mad about tonight though is the simplleat part of a computer, the thing that whould never fail, that one thing of perfection, the mouse! Now the durn thing is cowering over in the corner sniveling and shivering under the pork chop plate I threw at it, and I am about to go over and stomp the loiving (living, not loving) daylights out of the darned lthing. These things have only two finctions in life. They have an X axis and a Y axis, and they are supposed to run in those directions when the thing is moved that way. What in the heck is so hard about that? No one shoulfdhave to fire or kill louses – mouses – for being incompetent! Why, it’s no harder than getting the right lette3r on the slcreen when it isw typed! You don’t see keyboards always getting fired do you?

I’m gonna finish my sandwafch and go kill that dang mouse, then I can get my work done.

I HAVE LOST NO RIGHTS AND NEITHER HAVE YOU. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE, PROVE IT.

17. May 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Domestic, General, Good God, GWOT, Home Front, Media Matters Not, Rant

I do not wish to single out any one person in a post, ever. Nor do I wish to be mean-spirited to anyone here or anywhere else. Should you ask anyone who knows me, even anyone who was with us last Saturday at the 43rd reunion of our high school class, I’m sure the answer would be that I’m kind, fair, and that I love people. Also, I believe people would say that I live my life according to the Word of God in every way that I know how, that I love the Lord Jesus and that my love for people stems from that. But here on this one post I have to divert from my normal principles, I have to name someone, and I apologize ahead of time for having to do that, but I have been backed into a corner along with a lot of other folks and I’m coming out of this corner aggressively. Kayse, I’ve bent over backwards being nice to you, but your comment responding to Timmer’s query cannot go unchallenged. Before I give my response, let me state that I too recognize that you are entitled to your opinion no less than anyone else, and those of us who have spent time in the military were and are there for the purpose of defending your right to disagree with anyone you choose.

When you say that you don’t trust your government, it gets personal. Because I, and Timmer, and Sgt Mom, and all others who here on this site were in the military or worked for civil service, ARE that government. Remember, Abe Lincoln stated that our government was of, by, and for, the people. Be that the case, you as well, are part of that government. So, just which right have you lost? You said you had lost your right to privacy. Just who, and how, has your privacy been violated? Who in the Homeland Security Department has harrassed you? How have they punished you? What has anyone in this country, part of our government, done to punish you? If you think people who work for that dark, mysterious entity that you call the government are not accountable for their actions, then you are sadly, grossly, mistaken. Let me give you an example. I work for the Army as a paramedic. In my position I have the vital statistics, including SSAN’s, of my patients, in my hands. You think I’m not accountable for how I handle that information? Then you’re as full of sh** as a Christmas turkey!! If I were so much as to write that stuff down on the wrong piece of paper, much less take any of it home with me, I’d lose my job! And the same goes for anyone else who is employed by the government. I don’t care what department, or career path you mention, we are entrusted with protecting you and your information, in many cases, to the death. It’s insulting as hell to anyone in the military for you to casually make such an assinine statement.

And get this straight. It is not the fault of your government that you cannot “easily” fly from one destination to another. You need to get it straight in that red-haired head of yours, that it was n0t the government that flew four planes full of innocent passengers to their deaths, taking nearly 3,000 other innocent citizens to their deaths. DAMMIT, IT WAS ISLAMOFASCIST TERRORISTS! Your head is just not on straight, because it was the government that you hate that instituted safety measures to protect your hide. If I sound angry, you’re dang right I am. I am angry that you so easily insult those who are bound by honor and by law to protect you, and you whine and snivel because it’s not “easy” for you to fly. What in hell do you propose? That we just open up and let anyone who wants to, get on aircraft, even if they want to crash that plane into a building or a ball game? Dadburn, woman, you sound like you’re nuts! You’d better be thanking God that you have a government that wants to keep the idiot suicide bombers at bay elsewhere instead of downtown your town. You’d better be grateful that you are a citizen and CAN get a driver’s license, or an ID card, if and when it comes to that. BTW, they can’t get that ID system out fast enough for me. I don’t worry, I already have one, it’s called a military ID.

Your comment that government employees are compiling “dossiers” on all of us is another stupid, idiotic idea. That belongs with the Area 51 and other such conspiracy theories. Who killed JFK? Have you seen Elvis lately? AARRRRGGGHHH! No one in the government gives a rat’s behind about who you are, and they certainly don’t have time to compile a dossier on you. They’re too busy protecting your butt from another attack. You need to take a deep breath and sit back, enjoy the sunshine and the freedoms you have. We do not live in a Soviet-style country, you can relax and forget all this stuff.

Your comments about ministers was uncalled for as well. You don’t have to go to any church, listen to any minister, or subscribe to any faith that you don’t want to. So, leave ministers and churches out of it. No one there is bothering you. Your so-called “fundamentalist” preachers were here, preaching the very same message, long before President Bush came along, and they will still be there, preaching the same thing, long after he has passed into history.

To cap all this off, you say you are afraid to voice your concerns, fearing someone may put some hit team on you to erase you??? Come on, if you think that way, you need a psychiatrist! No such thing exists in this country, and we are here to insure that it never does happen. I’ve had enough of this. If you are not comfortable here, maybe you might feel more at home on DU, the Democrat Underground, or on Kos’s site. They seem to voice the same ideas that you appear to be comfortable with. However, if we don’t scare you too bad, you’re welcome to stay here and give us more of your ideas. Who knows, you may find others who agree with you! And I promise you, I’ll do my best, as will the others here, to keep the “hit squads” on other targets and away from you.

Unconstitutional my a$$

31. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Rant

WTF is she thinking?

The War on Terror “cannot negate the existence of the most basic fundamental rights for which the people of this country have fought and died for well over 200 years,” she wrote.

Since when do foreign fighters captured in a foreign country fighting un-uniformed against our uniformed troops have United States Constitutional rights???

Fox article here: “Judge: Gitmo Trials Are Unconstitutional”.

Memo for the “Honorable Gentleman” from Massachusetts*

28. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General, Rant

To: Senator Edward Kennedy
From: Sgt Mom
Re: Exit Strategy

1. Allow me to break it to you gently, Senator: there is an exit strategy in place for American troops in Iraq. It calls for leaving when Iraq is a democratic, stable and prosperous country, and the majority of bitter-end Baathists and traveling jihadi wanna-bees are either in the jug, in the grave or taking up more sedentary hobbies like needlepoint or building ships in bottles… and not one damned minute sooner.

2. Any publicized plan involving predetermined quantities of troops and calendar dates for withdrawing is an invitation to disaster…not for us, of course. For the Iraqis. Just like it was for the South Vietnamese. You remember South Vietnam, Senator Kennedy? Put down the whiskey bottle and concentrate, man. We had an exit strategy there, too… phased troop withdrawals, a set schedule, all that. It worked really, really well. Still can’t remember? Try the words “sell-out”, or “betrayal”, or even “left in the lurch”. Still can’t remember? Tell you what, there must be some nice Vietnamese restaurants in Boston or Washington… go get some pho or some spring rolls, and strike up a conversation with the owner or manager, I am sure they can fill you in, especially if they are about fifty or sixty or so.

3. Now that we have gotten that straight, it occurs to me that we could use an exit strategy for American troops in a couple of countries which are now democratic, stable and relatively prosperous: Germany and South Korea come to mind immediately. Please turn your piercing intellect and dazzling command of foreign policy matters towards an exit strategy from kasernes and camps there.

4. Oh, and while you are pondering, please come up with an exit strategy for departing the UN, too. With a little practice, this exit strategy stuff could really catch on, and we are relying on you to do your bit… just as long as someone else does the driving, mmmkay?

Sincerely,
Sgt. Mom

*Note: these are not “scare” quote marks. These are “viciously skeptical” quote marks.

I Don’t Need to See That

06. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Letters to the Editor, Rant

Attention Fox News and anyone else with this bit of footage:

I DO NOT need, want, or desire to see the child in the middle of the beach taken out by the tsunami.

And no, Shep’s concerned voice saying, “That child didn’t stand a chance.” doesn’t make me feel any better about it.

I think we understand how horrible this thing is without having THAT in our face.

Why don’t you just pull out the falling bodies from the WTC on 9/11 while you’re at it?

Is it sweeps week or what?

To The Trolls

04. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General, Rant

To: Trolls
From: Cpl. Blondie
Re: This Weblog

I’m going to take a chapter out of my mothers’ book and tell you something; you might not like very much, but if the troll boots don’t fit, don’t worry about it. If they do fit then this is for you!

1. This is a blog that features writers from diverse backgrounds who have one thing in common ,and that is the Military: past and present.

2. We write about our lives, our families, what makes us angry, what makes us happy, and what fills us with anguish, among other things.

3. I used the blog during the war (when I could access it) to keep up on what was going on with my family, what was going on in the world (yes were carrying news and links from all over the world in it), and what was going on at home.

4. I have made amazing friends and connections from it. If I were in trouble then I am secure in the knowledge that I would have support from my blog friends and the people who are fans of this site. Case in point when I was traveling from oneside of the country to the other, there was no end to the advice and offers of places to crash on my trip.

5. At this site WE ARE A FAMILY.

In conclusion : Trolls beware, we terminate them with extreme prejudice, and all before breakfast ***burp***

Sorry about that.

Sincerely
Cpl. Blondie

Okay…I’ve Slept on It…

16. November 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: Politics, Rant

Back in 2000 when I was still looking at Al Gore and George W. Bush and still wondering when this cosmic joke would end, I started to lean a little toward GW because, well, it sounded like he was putting a decent team together. I wound up voting Republican for only the second time in my life based on the concept of, “With a team like that, how bad can he do?” Okay…and the fact that Al Gore was the most condescending wanker to EVER appear on my television for a debate.

For this year it was pretty simple pretty early… The first time I saw Senator Kerry, my skin crawled, the hair on the back of my head stood up, my teeth itched. Although I strongly disagree with some of this administration’s policies, I have to say that I’m 100% behind The Bush Doctrine. I wish they’d follow it a little stronger in terms of ALL countries, but I know we can’t piss off the entire world all at once…wouldn’t be prudent. I also recognize that I’m one of the last people on earth who should be in charge of world decisions: My mind often sounds like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family screeching, “Shoot ’em in the back!” And don’t worry…I ignore my inner Uncle Fester…most of the time…as far as you know…

But that’s not what I had to sleep on. What I had to sleep on was the fact that while some pundits wondered out loud who would leave and who would stay we didn’t hear a thing from the administration about the changes that have been occuring in the past week. I’m not going to say if I like them or dislike them, that wouldn’t be prudent on my part since I’m still active duty, but I’m a little torqued in the jaw that there are so many changes and not a word was said about them before the election.

Would it have changed my vote? I doubt it. But now I have to wonder what else they didn’t talk about that they’re going to do to change things…and that bothers me. It’s like someone buying the 1985 Chicago Bears and finding out after that they weren’t going to get Sweetness and the Fridge and MacMahon, but oh…here’s Ditka… And while I love da Coach, he didn’t do it alone.

Update: Cox and Forkum’s current work kind of sums up part of my trepidation. I’m for The Bush Doctrine, but I like someone on the team who’s not all for it. Someone should play Devil’s Advocate.

Garrison Keillor — Ceasing to be funny

16. November 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense, Politics, Rant

I continue to be reminded of why I don’t support National Public Radio. Here’s a story about Prairie Home Companion’s Garrison Keillor:

Not one to shy away from speaking his mind, Keillor proposed a solution to what he deemed a fundamental problem with U.S. elections. “I’m trying to organize support for a constitutional amendment to deny voting rights to born-again Christians,” Keillor smirked. “I feel if your citizenship is in Heaven—like a born again Christian’s is—you should give up your citizenship. Sorry, but this is my new cause. If born again Christians are allowed to vote in this country, then why not Canadians?”

(Hat tip again to Instapundit)

How brave, Garry, to take on born-again Christians. I wonder if you’d get the same sort of laughs with a similar joke about another religious or ethnic group. All in jest, I’m sure. Right?

I used to be a big fan of PHC, but for the past few years, Keillor has been speaking out about his politics more and more, including on the show, so I don’t find it very interesting anymore. It’s hard to separate the two in my mind.

Like Laura Ingraham says, “Shut Up and Sing” .

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