Gunfighter eyes

That is the description my wife gave to Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripkin, Jr. Watching Ryan, a fan several times would see the pitcher after striking out a batter, saunter off the mound like a sheriff who has just dispatched a gunslinger intent on harming peace and prosperity.

With Madison Bumgarner in the just concluded World Series, fans saw not so much a gunfighter as a man sitting across the poker table in a Dodge City saloon and his eyes and demeanor sending an unmistakable message: “Don’t do something stupid.”

Watching the World Series before TV

http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/10/how-did-baseball-fans-watch-the-world-series-before-tv/381863/

Link at maggiesfarm.

The (NY) natives are restless

Taylor Swift is NYC’s new tourism ambassador, and lots of natives are upset. The upsetters say the position should have gone to a native, or to someone who … No, to a native.

Here’s a take: Swift, who recently bought a $20 million apartment in NYC, is white as white, blonde, and a country music star. (She was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Nashville at age 14 to become a country music star, so it’s not like she’s a native Southerner or anything.) Mentioned as “real” New Yorkers and who maybe should have been named to the (unpaid) position were (indicted and self-confessed criminal) rapper Jay Z, diva J. Lo or not really funny comic Jerry Seinfeld.


http://m.lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2014-10-30/taylor-swift-gets-bronx-cheer-new-york-city-ambassador#gsc.tab=0

What the not-presidential candidate meant to say

On Friday, Hillary Clinton rather forcefully claimed, "Don't let anybody tell you that it's corporations and businesses that create jobs."

After someone told Clinton of the Baby Ruth in the swimming pool, the former First Lady and former senator from NY and former secretary of state changed her lyrics, somewhat, on Monday deciding, "Let me be absolutely clear about what I've been saying for a couple of decades: Our economy grows when businesses and entrepreneurs create good-paying jobs here in an America where workers and families are empowered to build from the bottom up and the middle out -- not when we hand out tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs or stash their profits overseas."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/27/politics/hillary-clinton-job-creation/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

The Friday statement is an in-your-face declaration that would make for good campaign debate, while the do-over … Blah, blah, yadda, etc.

When real campaign time rolls up, her comment will be, “What difference does it make now?”

Racist architecture?

This idiot is serious!

Situation: Denver’s Union Station is undergoing restoration. The “fine arts critic” of the Denver Post says the architecture of the station is racist.

“Union Station is a neo-classical mix of styles — European styles. The symmetry, arched windows, ornate cornice and stacked, stone walls have their roots in the glory days of France, England, Greece and Rome, in empires that were nearly absent of ethnic minorities and who felt fully at ease invading, exploiting and actually enslaving the people of Africa, subcontinent Asia and South America.

“Yes, that’s all in the past; things have changed. But the $54 million renovation of Union Station doesn’t take that into account. It restores the symbols of an old world with no updates. The gilded chandeliers have been rewired, the marble polished, but there’s no nod to the present, no interior walls in the bright colors of Mexico, no Asian simplicity is in the remix. There are no giant sculptures by African-American artists bonused into the lobby, no murals on the basement walls.”

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_26742711/did-diversity-miss-train-union-stations-architecture?source=infinite

Link at http://neveryetmelted.com/

Those 35,000 walruses on the beach because ice melted or something?

And that had never happened before and WE’RE DOOMED! DOOMED, I TELL YOU!

Well, maybe not.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/10/25/the-bogus-fuss-over-walrus-beach-parties-walrus-haulouts-are-nothing-new/

Link at www.maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com

A little research, please

In Summer of ’49, author David Halberstam makes this claim: “They were an odd mix, the players and writers. The players were more often than not rural Southern Protestants; the writers were urban Irish and Jews.” P. 95, Nookbook edition.

Common sense, and a little knowledge of population, says the statement cannot be accurate. In 1949, total population in the Southern states was far less than in the North, when one assigns all states outside the South in one group. Only if a far greater percentage of Southerners played baseball could Southern ballplayers could outnumber Northern players.

Since Halberstam’s book focuses on the Red Sox and Yankees, and on New York and Boston sportswriters, I accessed team rosters at www.baseball-almanac.com. Here are the number of ballplayers on both teams combined and states/provinces of birth:

California – 11; New York – 7; New Jersey – 4; Pennsylvania – 4; Washington – 4; Maryland – 3; Alabama – 3; Ohio – 3; two each from Georgia, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina; and one player each from Saskatchewan, Michigan,Virginia, Utah, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Nebraska, Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, Vermont, Oregon, New Mexico, Michigan and Kentucky.

When a writer of Halberstam’s reputation makes such an unsubstantiated, inaccurate statement, you have to wonder about his other writings.

USS Frank E. Evans

On June 3, 1969, the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans turned in front of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, resulting in the collision between small ship and a very big ship. Part of the Evans sank, and 74 sailors died.

There are calls now to place the names of the 74 on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The Evans and the Melbourne were on a training mission near the Spratly Islands, halfway between the Philippines and Vietnam. When the Evans sank, there was no contact with an enemy force; there was no hostile fire. Rather, the sinking was the result of at least two wrong orders given by an American officer on the bridge of the Evans.

I mentioned the facts to my wife and added that both ships were on a training mission.

“No,” she said when I told of the calls for inclusion of named in The Wall.

I agree. If those sailors are included on The Wall, who is to deny others killed in training accidents?

From a former naval officer, whose brother died in the collision, but his father survived.

http://jimsthreedot.wordpress.com/2013/06/08/lest-we-forget-uss-frank-e-evans-dd-754/

Unbelievable

On a Bing main page: “Were is the Yenisei River on the map.”

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Yenisei+River&FORM=IRTRRL&crslsl=0

(Waz it here? Waz it there? Were did it go?

(The downslope to oblivion becomes more slippery every day. Or, “everyday” for the grammatically unliterate.)

NY/CA/TX woman scared by DPS trooper

“’I’m well-traveled, I’m not easily intimidated,’ she said. ‘This guy scared the hell out of me. I can just imagine what other people – a little housewife or a Latino or whatever walks in there and this happens to them …’”

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/texas-woman-threatened-jail-after-applying-voter-id?adbid=758025077627080&adbpl=fb&adbpr=273864989376427&cid=sm_m_main_1_20141024_34396057

(She said she was trying to get a Texas ID so she could register to vote. One must suppose she is not “a little housewife.” And the “Latino or whatever” sounds just a bit racist or Progressive/Democratic.)

Max Steinberg

While some news and liberal anti-Israel folk are upset that a US-born teenager chose to be Palestinian, chose to confront IDF soldiers and got killed because of his decision, which of those people mentioned American-born Max Steinberg?

“American Jews aren’t sure of these shared values anymore, maybe because they don’t see America standing up for freedom and against evil—instead pulling out American troops as fast as they can, allowing atrocities in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. Young American Jews are also in a state of flux, to put it kindly, on Jewish values, siding with the left on most issues, including Israel.”

http://www.naomiragen.com/israel/max-steinberg-real-american-hero/

Twitter ‘evil,’ cause of ‘moral and social devastation’?

No more than general lack of saneness in societies that accept “social media.” Hey, I can sort-of agree with Sheik Abdul Aziz al-Sheik.

‘Saudi Grand Mufti Against Twitter as Source of All Evil and Lies’

Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Twitter is nothing more than "a source of lies" and evil, said Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's top Muslim cleric, on his popular 'Fatwa' (religious edict) television show, sparking a lively debate across the country between those his supporters and critics.

"If it were used correctly," the sheikh said, "it could be of real benefit, but unfortunately it's exploited for trivial matters".

Indeed, Twitter is "the source of all evil and devastation", the mufti said. "People are rushing to it thinking it's a source of credible information but it's a source of lies and falsehood."

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Saudi-grand-mufti-against-Twitter-as-source-of-all-evil-and-lies-32500.html

Link at www.gatesofvienna.net

Stupid TV ad for stupid people

Not five minutes ago a TV ad proclaimed: “You asked for gluten-free oatmeal, and here it is.”

My wife said, “Since when has oatmeal had gluten? Gluten is in wheat. Wheat. That’s the same as advertising fat-free sugar.”

She also noted, “Some scientists say there is no such thing as a gluten allergy.”

Search “gluten allergy fake” and see the results.

I dreamed I saw a peanut! Choke! Choke!

A guy on a camel

"Guerrilla warfare is the complete negation of air power." -- T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Lawrence said the Turks could have defeated the Arab revolt with a few chests of gold coins. Instead, trained in European ways of war, the Turks sent aircraft and soldiers and built more railroads.

Advedntures at WalMart

Cylla said, “Do the dogs need medicine cheese?”

“Yes, they do,” I said. Charlie has Addison’s disease and takes two steroid capsules daily, best done with one-quarter piece of American cheese.

“This is all real cheese,” Cylla said.

“Fake cheese is down here,” I said, and I drove my buggy to that section and got two packages of American cheese, $1.25 per for an off brand, as opposed to $3.98 for Kraft. I walked to Cylla’s buggy and put the packages in and then went back to my buggy and drove to a mop and broom aisle to maybe get something to wash the truck, which we hope to sell before going to Florida. I looked around but could not find anything acceptable.

I happened to look down at my buggy then, and I said, “Why are those two packages of pantyhose in my buggy? I did not get two packages of pantyhose. I haven’t even been in the pantyhose section. If Cylla got two packages of pantyhose, she would have put them in her buggy.”

And then: “This is not my buggy. I have someone else’s buggy. Perhaps while I carried the two packages of cheese to Cylla’s buggy, someone parked a buggy behind mine, and when I returned to get my buggy I took the first one, not seeing another, assuming no other buggy was there. But here it is, and it has two packages of pantyhose.”

I drove back to the fake cheese section. There was another buggy, empty except for a piece of paper that was in it when I got the buggy at the front of the store. I parked the pantyhose buggy behind the paper-in-it buggy and then got mine. I did not look around for anyone to apologize to. I mean, how weird would it be … “I apologize for taking your pantyhose.”

Another Canadian soldier killed

All kinds of stories on the web, out of date by now, as is this. A gunman shot a soldier near the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa and then went into Parliament where, news reports say, "shots rang out." As many as 35 shots were fired inside Parilament, some reports say. Reports say the soldier died in a hospital.

Yesterday, a Muslim ran over and killed a Canadian soldier. Police killed the Muslim.

A few years back, a Muslim shot and killed a soldier and wounded another at a recruiting station in Little Rock. The Muslim said he would have shot more soldiers, had he been able to find any.

US officials would not characterize terrorist this way, but would call it a ‘parking lot incident’

(CNN) -- Canadian authorities believe a man who allegedly struck two soldiers with his car Monday -- killing one of them -- may have been "radicalized."

A 25-year-old man allegedly struck two members of the Canadian Armed Forces who were walking in a strip mall parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, said David Falls, spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Police later shot and killed the suspect. Authorities have not named him, but CNN affiliate CTV identified him as Martin Rouleau.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/21/us/canada-soldiers-killed-officer-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_t2


(Since the terrorist "allegedly" struck two soldiers and killed one, how come he wasnt "allegedly" shot by police?)

Looks more like Planet of the Apes

UFO fans say rock on Mars is the same as some Egyptian skulls.

http://www.examiner.com/article/is-that-an-elongated-human-skull-on-mars

What the U.S. needs to (make Afghans) do

(According to this guy, anyway – former US ambassador to Afghanistan and to the UN.)

“The formation of a unity government is only the first step in a broader political process—one that requires the Afghans to deliver on reforms, and the United States to sustain its engagement.”

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/new-start-afghanistan-5-massive-challenges-will-decide-its-11501

(In other words, Afghans need to do things the American way. More than likely, Afghans will do things the Afghan way, with clans against clans and rural folk vs. city folk, and by the way, yes we want dollars with those fries. Billions of dollars.)

Link at http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/

As stated in the post below: In the Middle East, “words spoken by opponents are not important and promises not to be trusted, … you do not easily give up things that are yours, and that if you do, you should expect not a grateful and reconciled adversary but scorn and further exploitation.”

http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2014/06/mizrahi-nation/

Israel’s non-European, Middle Eastern Jews

“In all, there were nearly a million Jews living throughout the Middle East only 70 years ago, members of one of the region’s ancient native religious communities. Beginning in the mid-20th century they were forcibly displaced en masse, never to see their homes again. Most of them became concentrated in one minute slice of the region. There they developed the ability to defend themselves and have thus survived and thrived, unlike every other religious minority in this part of the world.”

…

“Today, these Jews and their descendants can be said to make up, according to the Israeli demographer Sergio DellaPergola, 50 percent of Israel’s total Jewish population of just over six million …”

…

“Zionism initially found relatively few adherents among Jews in Muslim lands. It was a European movement dominated by people who might have an ethnographic interest in eastern Jews but did not regard them seriously as political actors.”

http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2014/06/mizrahi-nation/

(European Jews developed political Zionism, while Middle Eastern Jews dreamed of the biblical return to Zion.)

And for Americans to understand: “(T)he way things work in the Middle East …tells you that words spoken by opponents are not important and promises not to be trusted, that you do not easily give up things that are yours, and that if you do, you should expect not a grateful and reconciled adversary but scorn and further exploitation.”

Words spoken by opponents are not important. Promises are not to be trusted.

He had to ask

I stood inside the empty Tire and Lube bay at WalMart, watching three associates butcher the simple act of taking information for an oil change. As my wife later said, “Do you wonder why you have no customers? Start with inept employees.”

Inept. That was the exact word I thought of as I held my temper in check and did not interrupt the incompetence, deciding immediate evaluation of ability might influence the associates’ performance of said oil change.

Then, two assistant managers walked in from outside, the man in the lead with a demeanor of “I am important,” and the trailing man with the look of “Yes, you are, and I am so lucky to be led by one like you.” The man in the lead walked past me, with no indication of my presence. The trailing assistant manager ruined my moment and his by asking, “How is everything going, sir?”

Aw, shoot. You had to ask, didn’t you?

By then both assistant managers had reached the door that led inside, but both stopped when I said, “Never have I seen three more incompetent people attempt to do a job.”

The senior of the two said, “What is the problem, sir?”

“First of all, we were not greeted. We had to find somebody to tell we wanted an oil change. Then, that man told us to go inside and give information to the man at the counter. We went inside. That man told us to go back outside and talk to the man who told us to go inside. The outside man took that device that enters information and fiddled with it and took out the battery pack and shoved the pack back and said, ‘Who used this last? I had to reset the batteries.’ Then he started poking at the device, but apparently nothing happened.”

Both assistant mangers by now had that blank look people get when they stop listening and just want you to go away.

I said, “Do not tell them now, because I do not want them to screw up the oil change.”

The senior man said, “Well, sir, we apologize for any inconvenience and we are sorry your experience was not better.”

I turned away then. The two men went somewhere.

When my wife joined me and we were inside the store, away from Tire and Lube ears, she said, “Umm, umm, umm.” (If you are not from the South, you might not recognize that as a lady keeping her cool and not uttering remarks on the parentage and intelligence of an inept person or persons.)

“I know,” I said. I then told her of my conversation with the two assistant managers.

That was when she said, “Do you wonder why you have no customers? Start with inept employees.”

Really? Tribbles?

A dream.

A young man and a young woman are police investigators. There were adventures before this, but my mind did not remember what those adventures were.

The two searched a man’s living quarters aboard an interstellar ship. The woman reached overhead and unlatched a storage bin. Fifty Tribbles fell out, bouncing from her shoulders and her chest.

“Really?” she said to the resident. “Tribbles?”

The resident had his back turned. “They are stuffed toys,” he said. Then, he turned. He shrieked when seeing the number of Tribbles. “Yesterday there were only two!”

I woke up.

Well, you know, the rules don’t really apply to me

“’While under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed,’ Snyderman, 62,said in a statement after being spotted in her car outside Peasant Grill in Hopewell, N.J. A man with her picked up a takeout order.”

Oh, I see. The quarantine was voluntary, so it was OK to disregard possible health problems to dozens of other people. Well, she is a doctor, and a TV reporter, so she knows best.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/dr-nancy-snyderman-deeply-breaking-ebola-quarantine-article-1.1973623

Best explanation ever

“My accomplishments as Secretary of State? Well, I'm glad you asked! My proudest accomplishment in which I take the most pride, mostly because of the opposition it faced early on, you know… the remnants of prior situations and mindsets that were too narrowly focused in a manner whereby they may have overlooked the bigger picture and we didn’t do that and I’m proud of that. Very proud. I would say that’s a major accomplishment.” – Hillary Clinton, 11 March 2014

In other words, she ain’t got the slightest idea, cause she ain’t done nothin.

http://www.theospark.net/2014/08/quote-of-day-no-of-week-make-that-month.html

They expected equal rights?

Or, Jihaddi girls find out reality sucks.

‘Pregnant Austrian teens in ISIS:
‘We’ve made a huge mistake’

“Girls aren’t there for combat, just for marriage and children. A reproduction machine.”

http://nypost.com/2014/10/10/pregnant-teen-girls-who-joined-isis-weve-made-a-huge-mistake/

Link at: http://politicalhat.com/2014/10/12/news20141014/

(The story might get a B in News Writing 101. Much speculation.)

A new word

Maybe you have heard it before. “Ableism.” It is not a disability; far from that. “Ableism” is the opposite of disability, and if you do not completely, wholeheartedly 100 percent support all aspects of The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, you are an ableist.

Many of us have disabilities of various kinds. We got those from: being soldiers; participating in war; and now becoming older. Non-military, non-war, non-older people have disabilities from birth defects, accidents or disease. All are kind of in the same pot, except … Not many of us go around saying, “By g-od, I am a disabled vet’run and you have to give me stuff.”

My rant of the day, so far.

(The expressions expressed herein in no way, shape or form are meant to degrade or denigrate those disabled persons who do not use their handicap as a means of purloining stuff.)

Researching a movie, finding SFC John T. Stone

Errol Flynn’s 1941 “Footsteps in the Dark” is not much of a movie, but has entertaining moments. The main character, played by Flynn, of course, is not much of a man, either, but he has his moments.

Flynn died in 1959, at age 50. He was not a nice man.

Communist guerrillas killed Flynn’s son, Sean, in 1970. Sean Flynn was a photographer who covered the Vietnam War and the invasion of Cambodia. Sean Flynn and photographer Dana Stone rode red rented Honda motorcycles into Cambodia. Locals told investigators the Americans were taken captive and later shot. The bodies have not been found.

Stone had a brother, John, who enlisted in the Army in 1971. John Thomas Stone served 35 years in uniform, on active duty and with the Army Reserves and Vermont Army National Guard. SFC Stone was killed March 28, 2006, in Lashkagar, Afghanistan, on his third tour.

http://projects.militarytimes.com/valor/soldier/1657655/

Still waiting

Although my call was "very important," neither Army Community Services nor ID and Pass has returned my call.

Yes, my wife got her dependant ID renewed, but both offices said a return call would be fothcoming.

Trafalgar revisited

Before the battle joined, the fleet PC/Diversity Officer ran to Nelson on the flag deck. As usual, the officer was in a state of excitement, due to realization of some non-PC event.

“Admiral Nelson!” the officer exclaimed. “I must protest!”

Nelson took the telescope from his good eye. “And what,” he said, “is your protest on this occasion?”

Opening a piece of paper, the enforcer of things correct stated, “I must protest this signal you ordered! ‘England expects that every man will do his duty.’”

Nelson’s stare was lost on the important PC officer. “You protest? Good heavens, man! We are about to engage the combined French and Spanish fleets!”

“But this signal! ‘England’ sounds so nationalistic! You must be more inclusive! Say, ‘The collective people of our geographical location’ or something similar. And this ‘expects!’ Do you not mean ‘hopes’ or ‘feels’ or an expression of the same intent? And, good lord, sir! This ‘every man!’ The gender-specific typing is so obvious! And ‘his duty?’ Again, the phrasing is far too gender-specific. You should signal ‘their.’ And as for ‘duty,’ perhaps you will consider suggesting that each sailor do as good a job as presentable, or to the best of their ability.”

“So,” Nelson said, “you want me to signal ‘The collective people of our geographical location feel that every person might do as good a job as they want?’ Or something similar?

“Oh, that will be a wonderful signal,” beamed the PC officer.

“Hunh,” Nelson said. He turned to another officer. “Signals!”

“Sir!” said the mentioned man.

“Please be so kind as to hoist my original signal to the fleet,” Nelson said. “And hoist this … this person immediately following the signal.”

ID’d

My wife and I drove the 20-plus miles to Pine Bluff Arsenal and had Priscilla’s ID renewed.

In the previous post, I mentioned calling Military ID and speaking with a young soldier. For accuracy, I must correct the “young soldier” part. The man who answered the phone was M. James Harvey, RAPIDS Site Security Manager, and former Air Force NCO. Mr. Harvey has not been yearwise “young” since I also was of that age. And, as Air Force, Mr. Harvey is not a former soldier. As I suspected, though, he is former military. Mr. Harvey also is quite professional in his duty performance as well as friendly in demeanor and manner.

And the other two offices who said my call was important? Neither has returned my call, although both said they would.

The difference between a former military person and a wholly civilian-types.

Nothing like civilian efficiency

My wife needed to renew her dependant ID card. The Pine Bluff Army Arsenal is the nearest military facility, about 20 miles from the house. I said, “Hey, I’ll go online and find out where we’re supposed to go.”

Search for “pine bluff army arsenal directory” returned many hits.

First site: No listing for ID card, but there was an Army Community Service number. I called at 0945. This is what I heard: “Hello. You have reached (Name) at Army Community Service. I am either not at my desk or I am on my cell phone. Please leave a short message and I will get back with you as soon as possible. Your call is very important to me.”

I left a short message, stating I needed to know where to go to get my wife’s dependant ID card renewed. The short message I wanted to leave was: “The Army Community Service line should not be answered by voice mail. How can you provide service if you are on your cell phone and not answering your official phone? And why are you using a personal phone on Army time anyway?”

OK, not so short.

I chose a second site and at 0949 found a number for “Pass and ID office.” Hey, that sounds good. I called, and I heard: “You have reached the pass and ID office. Our hours are seven-thirty until two-thirty, Monday through Thursday. We are closed on Friday. Please leave a short message and we will get back with you as soon as possible. If you need information on a military ID, please call (number).”

I left a short message, as in Paragraph 4. What I wanted to say was, “If your office hours are zero-seven-thirty until fourteen-thirty, why is there not a real, live human-type person answering the phone?”

I then called the referenced military ID number. A young soldier answered the phone. Yes, a real live human-type person! I explained what I needed, asking, “Where do we go to get that done?” The RLHTP said, “At this office.” I asked, “Where is your office located?” He replied, “At the Plainview gate.”

Why do bureaucrats in this Brave New World not realize the efficiency of person-to-person contact? Dumb question. If tax-payer-paid bureaucrats answered phones, they would not be able to pick and choose which areas of their jobs to (sort-of) perform.