“…open war on black males”

Protesting the new “Castle Doctrine” Law. A day late and a dollar short.

Instead of slavery, the chains now come in the form of laws that are a threat to the black community, said a number of speakers at the two-hour rally Monday.

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Remember Our Rants…

…on parental responsibility, civilized behaviour, accountability at school, blah blah blah? Well, Mr. Beck has noted a doozy.

Ashcroft Turned Me Into A Newt!

…I got better.
I’m supposed to care that the bounties, in effect, worked?

With All These Rules…

I’d want to know what WHUDU was, before I made it. Schmaybe I’d choose not to.

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Sink Her, Already ! Part Trois

When last we left our heroine, she was moored at the Port Of Pensacola, waiting a move back to Texass. She’s not gone yet, you ask? Sigh. Nothing but nothing is as simple as it seems.

But, in the latest twist, it turns out that it’s going to take extra time to prepare the vessel for the trek to Texas.
The wooden flight deck, various hatches and doors were removed to ensure diver safety once the boat is sunk. But that work must be temporarily undone so the Mighty O does not become bogged down with rain on the way to Beaumont and during its stay there

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Friday at the Museum…

A gimpy veteran in a motorcycle vest with his wife on his arm strolled by, circled around one of the airplanes on display and came back towards Major Dad, Grinch and myself. They returned our smiles and nods as they passed, but I was too stunned by the blue ribbon around his neck to do more than that. None of us had ever seen a real Medal of Honor, less mind a recipient wearing one. What an incredible moment and I’ll never forget it, ever. The power of something so small and at once so indescribably beautiful and so terribly sad.
I saw that face again in the local fish wrap this morning, playing Shenandoah on his harmonica at The Wall South. I had a name now, so I looked for his story.
What a story it is. Sammy Davis, Private First Class.

We Can Never Say “Thanks” Enough

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

If you are a Star Wars fan…

watch this. I won’t egg you on any mooe than that, but it is in good taste.

If you have TCM on your cable/sat…

make sure and watch either 8:00 EST Saturday and/or 6:00 EST Sunday for one of my favorite WW II and John Wayne movies. The last scene, waiting for the last C-47, always chokes me up. What those servicemen who were left behind went through is to horrible for words. The title is fitting. Just wish they had some footage of Fort Drum.

Momma Told Me (Not to Come)

That ain’t the way to have fun, son. (Apologies to Randy Newman and Three Dog Night.)

In the ranks of death you’ll find him…

The Minstrel fell! But the foeman’s steel
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov’d ne’er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said “No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav’ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!

How Cool Is This?

Chris finds a GREAT story from the wilds of western NY:
League of her own
Brownell, 11, baffles boys with 18-strikeout perfecto

How dominant was she? She struck out all 18 batters she faced in the six-inning victory. She never got to a three-ball count on any of them.

That is just awesome.

Oh the shark babe, has such teeth, dear

And he shows them, pearly white
Just a jack knife, has all Mac Heath, babe
And he keeps it, out of sight

Though I don’t think jack knives are on the list,
I guess ‘Iron Chef U.K.’ is out of the question.

That Damn BushChimpHitler…

…and the tax cuts that are destroying this country…NOT.

States See Benefits, Challenges in Revenue Surpluses
Multibillion-Dollar Tax Windfall Allowing States to Slash Taxes, Improve Services
– A sweeping economic turnaround could mean tax cuts and better service for millions of Americans. For the first time since the year 2000, many states are finding that budget time isn’t all about belt-tightening and cost-cutting.
States collected a record $600 billion in taxes last year — an increase of 17.2 percent over 2003. Revenues are rising even faster this year, at a double-digit rate in some states.
Instead of fighting about how to cut their budgets, state lawmakers must decide how best to use the additional revenue.
Driven by higher consumer sales and personal incomes, tax revenues are up in states nationwide. Governments are using the money to improve roads, cut class sizes and give tax breaks to businesses.

‘Every Step With Caution Feeling’

We need a pet rock out front when Ebola comes skulking home at zero-dark-thirty.

The US military is developing miniature electronic sensors disguised as rocks that can be dropped from an aircraft and used to help detect the sound of approaching enemy combatants.
The devices, which would be no larger than a golf ball, could be ready for use in about 18 months. They use tiny silicon chips and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that is so sensitive that it can detect the sound of a human footfall at 20ft to 30ft.

No Speaka De Anglish?

Pravda** tweaka de anguish in a recent piece. Boldly titled ‘Language Barrier Called Health Hazard in E.R.‘, it starts out with a tragic story of communications gone wrong.

When a Spanish-speaking hospital receptionist refused to interpret during her lunch hour, doctors at St. Vincent’s Staten Island Hospital turned to a 7-year-old child to tell their patient, an injured construction worker, that he needed an emergency amputation.
With no one to bridge the language gap for another patient, a newly pregnant immigrant from Mexico with life-threatening complications, doctors pressed her to sign a consent form in English for emergency surgery. Understanding that the surgery was needed “to save the baby,” the young married woman awoke to learn that the operation had instead left her childless and sterile*.
Those cases were among dozens detailed in a civil rights complaint contending that the lack of basic translation services at St. Vincent’s and three other New York City hospitals endangers their immigrant patients and violates state and federal law.

*Emphasis mine and please to remember the sentence.

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Lt. Pantano Cleared of All Charges

Marine cleared in deaths of two Iraqis
‘Best interests’ served, Corps says of Wall Street trader turned soldier
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – A former Wall Street trader who rejoined the Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks will not be tried on murder charges for killing two suspected Iraqi insurgents, a Marine general decided Thursday.
“The best interests of 2nd Lt. Pantano and the government have been served by this process,” the Marine Corps said in a statement.

Read the rest.

Further proof that rock music does not kill brain cells…

Musician turned defense analyst, Jeff Baxter. Cool! Even though I hate Steely Dan…….

ACLU Asserts US Troops “Looked At Koran Wearing Groucho Mask”

Oh puh-lease…yawn.
Thousands killed in riots in Yomamabad.
“Not our fault” says ACLU.

Well, Rats

Sad to hear this. Filmmaker Ismail Merchant dies
With one notable, Gawdawful exception*, the quality was unsurpassed.
*Shall remain nameless to spare Bingley pain.

You’re Emo Kid

Take Bill’s Quiz.

Do They Ever Think…

…before crafting the headline.

For Venus, it’ s a question of desire

No. It’s ‘I’m your Venus, I’m your fire, at your desire‘. Duh.

Laugh Of The Day

Amnesty slams U.S. on human rights

Four years after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, human rights are in retreat worldwide and the United States bears most responsibility, rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Yes, human rights are in retreat around the world, chased back into their little holes by Roveing Jackbooted Minions!

Europe Bends Over To Extremists Yet Again

This is a very scary precedent, and I fully expect the US press to rise to her defense…not.
Have the Italian judges indicted everyone who has said unpleasant things about catholicism?

Bingley…

…offers moral support as DaveJ speaks earnestly of his love for merlots in this interview, taped yesterday at Dave’s dacha.