COMensarations
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Christmas Day Live Blogging
Blow by blow of the day’s activities.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
2:40 am: The Episcopalian church down the block greeted the day with a tumult of bells. And I, lying in bed afterwards realized that if I wanted to have some extra time to prepare the days feast, I should start the ham at 2 am instead of 3. So I stayed up and now, the pig is in the oven at 450°F for 30 minutes. When that is done, I’ll turn down the heat to 325°F and go back to bed. That should be in another 5 minutes.
It should cook at the lower temp for another 7.5 hours. That’ll have it ready around 11:00 am. This will give me an hour to do the gravey and finish the side dishes.
The folks are due over around 9 am. We’ll open gifts, talk, eat and drink and enjoy ourselves. They’ll continue to do that with the distaff while I bury myself in the kitchen again.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Christmas Eve Day Live Blogging
What’s going on in this household on the day before Christmas.
The day started early; as in 4 am, for normal folk.
Woke up. Could not get back to sleep in 30 minutes. Got up. Checked out the sorry state of the world, via the web. Did some minor modifications/tweeks on code for an app I’ve been working on.
7:00 am: Worried the distaff into a state of wakefullness, commensurate with the tasks ahead of us this day.
8:00 am: Discussed, over coffee and some rather spicey breakfast burritos, what we needed to procure for tomorrow’s feast. These burritos, provided by a man who came to our door selling them, to order, in order to raise funds to buy his son a computer, were rather spicey. I had to eat some sour cream—straight—in order to tone down the fire. And these were only the X version. He offers XX and XXX as well. However, he suggests the XXX only for people you are trying to punish. I can believe it.
8:30 am: The menu is decided upon....
A Monty Python moment for the 21st Century
I don’t know who these guys are, but we need more of them.
Requires Windows Media Player.....
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Chieftain, My Chieftain III
Scrouge is getting upset.
Seems that some people have been boycotting some businesses of late. And Steve Henson, editor of the Pueblo Chieftain, thinks this is ‘unchristian’ of them....
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Pearl Harbor Day #64
What was good for the world (meaning Europe and part of Asia) during WWII, should be good for the whole world today.
Sixty-four years ago Japan did something appalling: they attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and killed hundreds of people and sank several ships. On September 11, 2001, some terrorists did something appalling: they hijacked four passenger airliners and succeeded in killing hundreds of people and destroyed four large airplanes.
Twenty-some years ago, on the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech at Pointe du Hoc in France. He said,
We’re here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For four long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.
And I wonder why the situation in Iraq: tyranny, oppression, genocide, is seen as somehow different, and less worthy, than the situation in Europe and Asia in during WWII. Later Reagan said,
The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.
You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.
Given the moral parallels between the situation during WWII and now, why is it that so many politicians and media people are trying to weaken the resolve of U.S. to complete its mission in Iraq? Especially since the cost of that mission seems to be comparatively much smaller than its mission during WWII.
The politicians and media have been pushing for a “timetable” as if the Iraq war is a new product launch or a scheduled airline flight. Believe it or not, there were timetables during WWII, also. The Allies believed it would be stupid to try to fight a war in Europe during the winter. In November and early December of 1944 they were preparing to ride out the winter right where they were located, and were expecting the Axis to do the same. But then the Belgian Breakthrough occurred: the Germans found a weakness in the Allied lines, broke through and spread behind the lines and, amongst other things, surrounded the town of Bastogne in what is called the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st Airborne was fighting in its summer-issue gear, since the “timetable” didn’t have them scheduled for a change-out before the unscheduled battle began. So much for timetables.
If people want a “timetable” for pulling out of Iraq, that schedule needs to be based on events, not dates. Several of these milestone events have already occurred: the Iraqis have had democratic elections and Saddam Hussein has been brought to trial. The U.S. has only embarassed itself when it has not stayed the course. We need to reinforce the message that when someone does something appalling to us, we will take action and see the mission through to its end. Then maybe we’ll see another sixty years of relative peace before something appalling happens again.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Homeland Security Relents on Small Screwdrivers
Gee....I feel so much safer, now.
The probability that a Boeing 737 will crash into my house on final approach is greatly reduced by the apparent order on the part of the vaunted Homeland Security department to disregard small metallic items of personal convenience and/or utility, e.g., finger-nail clippers and screw drivers, in their diligent screening of airport commerce. At least according to this report.
I always thought they had never really gone far enough to prevent a bunch of suicidal idiots from commandeering any large aircraft and flying it into some target of import.
Seriously. There are people who can make bombs out of Bisquick. If they can do that, there is little reason to discount the idea that there are people who can do a MacGiver with just about anything to turn it into a lethal weapon. As evidence of this, I offer the fact that the explosive of choice amongst the Islamo-Fascists is TATP; which involves Drano.
Heck, any Ranger can make a lethal garrote out of two good Bic pens and so much dental floss. Lacking sufficient Bics, they would use a bundle of the swizzle sticks that come with a good martini with olives. After enough of those, they wouldn’t care if they lived or died in the assault phase of the operation.
If the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and Department of Homeland Security were REALLY serious about enforcement of safety, all air passengers would be required to strip, change into utilitarian, disposable coveralls and deposit their thoroughly scanned/searched clothing in provided bags. All of which would be returned to them upon arrival at their final destination.
This will require signfiicant modification of all airports to include changing and shower rooms. But heck...that’s not too important, when you consider the possilbe loss of a joint session of Congress, with the President, Vice President, all the Supreme Court and the Joint Chiefs in attendance. Neh?
In the meantime, it looks like the lax attitude would provide a good opportunity to our enemies.
On the other hand....
....the distaff reminds me that EACH and everyone of US is responsible for our OWN safety.
It would be better to allow everyone to carry on whatever sort of weapon, less firearms and explosives, they wanted to and run the whole thing as sort of a democracy....
...if some bozo gets up and want to cut the throat of the attractive blonde stew, in order to get the pilots to allow him to fly everyone onboard to their doom, why not everyone who doesn’t agree with this ‘final approach’, get up and ‘get involved’, physically, I mean.
Isn’t that what democracy is all about? Majority rule?