Note: Each block of text actually is a link to a story or a web page that I am commenting on. Click on that text and it will take you to the page being referred to.
It must be the calm before the storm, for it was apparently a “quiet” Sunday in the middle of a long holiday weekend (for federal workers) … despite the usual chaos and carnage in the Middle East, Israel, Afghanistan, various and sundry places in Africa and Central and South American, as well as a number of large urban areas in the United States. Having said that, there are a number of “lighter” pieces in today’s Random Thoughts I offer for your consideration.
Eh-yup ... definitely recognize this behavior pattern ... happens occasionally with a very smart member of our household.
Another example of political correctness, in my humble opinion, run amok by the current administration in Washington.
An example of the how our professional Army has been for a very long time ... makes me proud to say I once once a soldier ... and still soldier on as a retiree.
I would love to have a print of this painting, once it is restored ... it captures a poignant moment in American history.
It is unfortunately that divorced parents sometimes have to face this story of folly ... it really is.
Interesting counter-point to President Obama's visit to Oregon on Friday.
One of those things that we in media often were guilty of ... never following up.
It is interesting as the further we get from Ike, the more we appreciate him. He actually was a pretty good president, in retrospect - despite being pilloried in the 1960s (as I remember) with the joke: Get the Eisenhower Doll. You wind it up and it does nothing for eight years.
Ouch, for the Democrats ... but they will pay no price for this stuff ... I am convinced of that ... not sure why that happens, because it really is distressing and discouraging for someone - like me - who holds hopes that if government does get involved, it does so in an open and honest way that actually improves peoples' lives ... I know, silly me for being so stupid as to expect something like that.
Interesting point on the gun control debate ... not that anyone is listening anymore ... I am convinced of that.
These two reports are just not going to go down well with the progressive set and the Black Lives Matter crowd ... nothing short of lynching the officer involved will satisfy those people, along with lynching all police officers, especially those who were peripheral to shootings like this.
You know something, sometimes Mother Nature wins and conquers all ... and us mere humans are left to pick up what pieces are left. And sometimes all that is left are our memories ... and stories like this illustrate the pain. But the cynic in me points out that nothing government could do, or should do, would have prevented this catastrophic disaster from happening.
This story illustrates something I have known since my first wife and I graduated from college: Affordable quality child care is an oxymoron. It really is. Even back then, if you wanted quality child care outside the home, then the cost for two probably would run almost as much as a car payment or your month’s rent - depending on how poor you were. That was life. So child-care workers with associate's or bachelor's degrees were forced to work for basically minimum wage in order to keep it at least reasonably affordable. And those who worked in government run programs, like Head Start were inundated with mountains upon mountains of paperwork that took more time outside the classroom (for the conscientious child care worker) than the time the worker spent in the classroom. I am not sure of the solution, but I always am leery of having the government run things because they get to set the pay and I am not sure that always is equitable.
This story illustrates what I think are unrealistic expectations. First, if inflation is not going up ... why should entitlement rates go up? Just because? By the same token, if price indexes go down, then shouldn't entitlement rates go down? THAT is not going to happen. Secondly, focusing on Social Security, when will we get it through our collective heads that Social Security old age pensions were never designed to be the sole source of income for a retiree? If that is all you are living on as a retiree, then you made some really bad decisions during your life as a worker.
I don't know about this writer and where she buys her groceries ... but she obviously never has lived with the same class of people I do. I don't buy just about any of the brands she talks about ... because they are way above what I could have ever afforded.
This story is sad, because in a way, the author exemplifies what is wrong with modern baseball. If it ain't the long ball ... it ain't ... but baseball used to be about so much more ... and the bunt, the hit-and-run, the run-and-hit, the squeeze play and all sorts of other aspects were what made baseball baseball. I know that is a bit old fashioned, but there is something to be said about the old game.
Ok folks, let me preface this by saying it is sad the shortstop got his leg broken. Having said that, that's baseball folks. Utley didn't come in spikes high, but on his knees, and that is legitimate. and trying to mess up the throw to first to break up a double play is part of the game (as long as you stay in the basepath) I never liked the neighborhood rule, and still don't, so that made him safe ... even though he figured it counted, so he accepted that he was out. However, had he come in spikes high, that would have been a different story. But then that also used to be part of the game. I remember getting taken out at second by a runner sliding in spikes high and hit me in mid-calf. Sprained my ankle, but I accepted it as part of the game.
I have just a few words for this "cover-up" story about the JFK assassination investigation: JFK still is dead (as are most of the people who were suspects) ... so get over it.
I haven't a clue how the Supremes would rule in this case, but it would be interesting to see how they come up with a definition of "assault" weapon that fits the contexts of the Second Amendment.
Leave it to progressives in California to do this. Personally, my take on this and what I would say to Native Americans offended by teams calling themselves the Redskins is to get over it and understand that it really is in homage to Native Americans .... oh, and by the way ... I hate being called white ... it is demeaning and really doesn't describe me.
This is a progressive mantra - now being adopted by Bernie Sanders - that we should ban "assault" weapons ... the problem is that other than being fully automatic, I have yet to come of with a mechanical, objective, description of a semi-automatic rifle that makes weapons that look like some military weapons unique … oh, and military assault rifles are capable of automatic fire, versus semi-automatic fire of their civilian cousins.
I suspect that this is mainly because the Russians don't pussyfoot around worrying about collateral damage and non-combatant casualties. The Russian approach is more like bomb the heck out of them and let Allah sort it out.
Just a reminder that the Taliban are carrying on the fight in Afghanistan ... regardless of how much or little we hear about it back here in the US.
One would think Hamas would take its own advice, but it is pretty secure in the knowledge that its rockets and suicide bombers won't get the same headline status as Israeli strikes on Hamas rocketeers and bombmakers hiding among the civilians in Gaza.
This report is both spooky and interesting at the same time. If it helps rein in some of the depredations that always seem to accompany combat ... I guess it is a good thing ... I would just hate to think of being the soldier who gets wrongfully labeled.
As I have said earlier ... until the video tape surfaces - and one does exist - then reconstructions such as this only continue to muddle the waters. It seems that there are those who say the Taliban militants were there and those who say, yes, but they didn't bring their weapons and they didn't do anything but visit the wounded or be one of the wounded being treated.
Did I ever tell you that I think Debbie Wasserman-Shultz is an idiot ... well, here she is being one again. I sometimes wonder what world she lives on ... but then again, I never expect for someone on the talk show circuit to call her on her stupid comments and tell her she really is an idiot.
Unfortunately, if you hadn't already figured this one out ... then you really are slow on the uptake. Yes, the US - under the direction of Obama and lacking any action by Congress (which ain't gonna happen) - will be the ONLY party to the so-called Iranian nuclear deal to abide by any of its provisions. Heck, it ain't even signed, sealed and delivered yet, and everybody is acting like it is already a dead issue.
OH, and those ballistic missiles that Iran supposedly is not supposed to be working on ... ah ... I think they are ... by their own admission ... and what was it John Kerry said about this issue ... oh ... that statement is no longer operative ... to quote a Nixon era spokesman.
A very appropriate view - in my humble opinion - of the current leadership struggle in the U.S. House ... it is, as the man points out, actually democracy (small d) at its finest. Democracy, to paraphrase Churchill, is a very messy way to govern, but all the other ways, however more efficient, are so much worse.
I one is to believe this WaPo story, then here we have yet another case of the Obama Administration's minions engaging in selective prosecution that reflects a political bias ... ain't it fun when every one is not equal before the law.
I think, all too often, that the world has been turned upside down ... several times and inside out as well ... to the point that we no longer value lessons of history.
When their candidates even are crying foul, then it would seem that the Democratic party ... and CNN ... are having some pretty rough times ahead in the credibility department.
Actually, Ms. Rodham ... I think America's original sin was being human ... mainly because everybody, including African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic-Americans, European-Americans, Asian-Americans ... in all their various stripes and colors, are racists.
I know this technique is effective ... but then again, I think it is wrong. I think it is wrong to slice and dice Americans in to various ethnic and special interest groups. But then, I am a voice in the wilderness on this. Why is it wrong, because I think it is wrong to promise any special interest group (of any shape or form) special consideration from the federal government. I really, really, think that we need to revisit that concept and try to achieve the original goal of equality before the law and the federal government ... and nobody gets any special favors ... period.
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