Taking a Break...

... from my busy day to go outside and sit under the awning in a rainstorm.

The view from under the awning.

Another view - that gray lump in the foreground is Miss Zukiko

This might seem oh-so-mundane to you, Gentle Reader, but let me assure you: it's NOT. It usually rains sideways here on the High Plains of New Mexico, which is to say our rain is almost ALWAYS accompanied by high winds. Not so today... the rain came straight down, at least at the beginning of the storm. There was no wind to speak of, and so my awning remained in the down position and I was able to sit outside with a cigar and a beer and enjoy the front end of the storm. That lasted all of about 15 minutes, until such time as the wind arrived and drove me inside.

Here's one of the first pics I took when I got outside:

You can plainly see that my sitting position is right on the edge of getting wet. And I DID get wet, once the wind came up. But it sure was nice while it lasted. There's something that's just so very clean and peaceful about sitting out in the rain... the air is fresh and cool, and the rain seems to wash away all but the most persistent of bad thoughts. In my case, anyway. YMMV.

And speaking of rain... we've had a lot of it (relatively speaking) the last three days. That's a Great Good Thing, Gentle Reader.

Obama and Iraq

So… Senator Obama publishes his “Plan for Iraq” as an op-ed in today’s New York Times. And, as might be expected, the ‘sphere erupts in comment. Here's some of the best I’ve read in this space today, beginning with Uncle Jimbo, writing at Blackfive:

(Ed: Quoting Obama’s Op-ed)

But this is not a strategy for success — it is a strategy for staying that runs contrary to the will of the Iraqi people, the American people and the security interests of the United States. That is why, on my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: ending this war.

And there you show why you are unfit to be Commander in Chief. You don't even understand the fundamental concept of war and you would give the military a mission that doesn't exist. You want them to "end" the war which to you means simply pack up our toys and come home so your kids don't have to see those awful stories on the news. Well let me make one thing perfectly clear to you Senator. You can't end wars, you either win them or lose them. Your shameful naivete would endanger the lives of every military member worldwide. Once oue enemies know we have a clueless muppet at the helm, they will be empowered to act without fear of retribution.

Hmm. That sounds a lil bit familiar, nu?

And then Captain Pete Hegseth, who served in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division from 2005 to 2006, and is the executive director of Vets for Freedom, weighs in at National Review Online:

As someone who monitors the Iraq-war-policy debate closely, I was puzzled to open the New York Times and see an oped authored by Sen. Barack Obama entitled “My Plan for Iraq.” Besides the seemingly moderate tone — and calling for an Afghanistan “surge” (an idea I agree, and one proposed by Sen. Joe Lieberman in March) — not much in the piece is new or newsworthy. In the final analysis, the oped is another dogmatic addendum to Obama’s “withdrawal at any cost” position.

In fact, just one question entered my head when I finished reading: Why now? Why would Sen. Obama — or any legislator, for that matter — write such a piece before visiting the country for himself, seeing the situation with his own eyes, and speaking with commanders and troops who actually know what’s going on?

It strikes me that only someone who is signaling no interest in consulting with commanders on the ground would spell out his “plan” for Iraq just one week before he visits the country for the first time in 918 days. Only someone who is arrogant enough to believe he always knows best would outline his Iraq policy before once meeting one-on-one with General David Petraeus.

The only conceivable answer to the question is that Sen. Obama believes he can capitalize on Prime Minister Maliki’s recent comments about a timeline for U.S. withdrawal. Maliki’s comments, important primarily because they demonstrate increased Iraqi strength and confidence, have been diluted by the fact that he didn’t actually call for a timeline after all. All withdrawal talks will be tied to conditions on the ground.

Yeah, the timing is strange, innit? Obama is going to Iraq this week, so why release an op-ed today, which amounts to nothing more than the “same ol’, same ol’”? Why not wait until next week… a mere eight or ten days… when the op-ed could have included the words “I’ve just returned from Iraq, where I consulted with General Petraeus and other commanders on the ground…”? Is there more here than meets the eye? Is this op-ed a way for Obama to re-focus the nutroots after his FISA vote? Or, are they (the Obama camp) just totally confused? Dean Barnett, writing in The Weekly Standard’s “The Blog:”

On Iraq, Team Obama has become stuck in a quagmire of confusion. On Meet the Press yesterday, leading Obama surrogate Claire McCaskill said that Obama’s 16 month surrender plan in Iraq is a “goal” and added it would be “irresponsible for a commander-in-chief to set a date in stone.”

And yet today, the titular head of Team Obama took to the pages of New York Times and declared:

We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal.

That sounds sort of “set in stone” to me. Meanwhile Obama is trotting off to Iraq this week with “Republican” Chuck Hagel in tow to lend the voyage some military bona fides. Hagel’s the guy who long ago called the surge, “The most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam." Then again, I guess Hagel still makes a far more credible traveling companion than Harry Reid would.

And what’s the purpose of this trip? Ostensibly to talk to the commanders so Obama can further refine his plan which isn’t set in stone. Unless you like it as is, in which case you may consider it set in stone. Until further notice.

There’s much more in the “Required Reading” entry linked above, including some comment on that Barry – Michelle New Yorker cover that’s causing a lot of buzz elsewhere today. Even though it’s off-topic for this post, I liked the following:

It (ed: the cover) doesn’t mock the Obamas – it mocks idiots who see the Obamas as the type of people who burn the American flag in their study while engaging in a terrorist fist-bump.

Not everyone has gotten the joke. My favorite reaction to date has come from Pandagon.net, the blogging home of Amanda Marcotte, the Edwards campaign’s controversial blogger that you may remember from last year. Pandagon is home to perhaps the shrillest version of feminism on the web, and yet the site’s Jesse Taylor responded to the cartoon with a lecture on humor. “The hallmark of good satire,” Taylor scolds, “is that it’s good enough to perhaps be taken credulously by those who aren’t too swift, but also ridiculous enough to show that whoever does take it seriously is a bit slow in the head. This is not good satire.” Strident and perennially outraged feminists posing as the arbiters of good humor? Take it from one who knows – if those comments were themselves intended as satire, they would be the equivalent of satire gold.

Going even further a field… Barnett’s comment about the oxymoron-ish nature of “feminist humor” struck me as particularly observant, if not unique. There are NO more humorless people on the face of God’s Green Earth than supposedly “radical” feminists. OTOH, Barnett makes a pretty convincing case that BHO is just as humorless. And that’s not a Good Thing in a leader, Gentle Reader. Particularly one who aspires to leading the entire Free World.

So… we end with a massive digression, eh? But… if you’re in need of more and better comment on The Obamanon and his “Iraq Plan,” there’s all these guys (via memeorandum, some of which already linked above):

Firedoglake, MoJoBlog, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Post, The Swamp, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The New Republic, Marc Ambinder, USA Today, Informed Comment, The Trail, The Moderate Voice, MSNBC, Taylor Marsh, TownHall Blog, Comedy Central, Think Progress, Newshoggers.com, Weekly Standard Blog, TalkLeft, Political Radar, Swampland, democracyarsenal.org, The Reaction, Pajamas Media, Commentary, Matthew Yglesias, The Corner, Hot Air, Riehl World View, Booman Tribune, All Spin Zone, protein wisdom, The Glittering Eye, Needlenose, BLACKFIVE, Democrats.com, The Strata-Sphere, Veterans For America, MyDD, GregsOpinion.com, The Washington Note, Gateway Pundit, Confederate Yankee and Political Machine

That ought to hold ya for an hour or ten.

Sunday's Small Stuff

Just one man’s opinion… but Joshua Khan at InventorSpot.com published a list of “The Top 10 Best Sports Logos” this past Thursday. Here’s Numero Uno:

Best Sports Logo #1. A Simple Design That Established A Team

Despite its prestige logo, the Detroit Red Wings were known as under other names, such as the Cougars and the Falcons. But in 1932, a millionaire named Jim Morris (sic) bought the team and decided to name it after another organization. Norris decided that the “winged logo” was perfect for Detroit as they are the Motor City.

The organization the turned around as the Detroit Red Wings made the playoffs for the first time a few years later and won the Stanley Cup in 1936.

As I said: “one man’s opinion.” Don’t shoot the messenger, even if said messenger agrees completely with Mr. Khan’s selection. The Winged Wheel: Best. Sports. Logo. Ever.

(h/t: Kukla's Korner)

―:☺:―

Ya know how I’m on about all that fruit salad that decorates the chests…to overflow… of our illustrious military members these days? Well, SN2 sends along a four-slide PowerPoint presentation with “Forgotten Navy Ribbons.” Here's the first slide:

(click for larger)

I’m thinking these ribbons haven’t been forgotten at all, they’re just “pending approval” by the Navy’s Uniform Board. I assume the Navy has such a board, but I really don’t know. The Air Force certainly does. In the interests of full disclosure, I don't think the AF Uniform Board is the approval authority for ribbons and medals... they're just the guys who tell ya how and how not to wear your decorations.

Just a quick note about this slide: Being the Language Nazi I am and will always be, I was appalled at the many usage and grammar errors on the four-slide presentation. Just because one is creating humor doesn’t mean one shouldn’t take the time to proofread their work. Or, if one has doubts about one’s expertise in this area, get someone else to proofread. It doesn’t take a whole Helluva lot of time, ya know. And yeah, I could have corrected the errors in the presentation before I posted this. I still have PowerPoint on my PeeSee, after all. That fact should make ya wonder, Gentle Reader.

We Are SO Deprived...

...when it comes to creative (and humorous) teevee advertising in this country. Via Blog-Bud Morgan, here's a lil over eight minutes of allegedly banned advertisements...



OK, some of the ads ARE American, and I've even seen a couple of 'em on teevee myownself. But the umbrella/condom and Ikea "new bed" ads simply cracked me up, and I've never seen those on MY teevee, and likely never will. Why can't we have humorous entertainment in our ads? Enquiring Minds wanna know...

USAF's Dark Clouds... and a Silver Lining

Both of you frequent readers know I’ve been saddened and chagrined by the negative press the Air Force has been getting in the last year or so, and a lot of that bad press was brought on by the Air Force itself. Things like mismanaging a multi-billion dollar tanker procurement, unknowingly flying “live” nuclear cruise missiles under the wings of a B-52 from North Dakota to Louisiana, and nuclear surety issues in Europe, all of which contributed to the recent firings of SecAF and USAF’s Chief of Staff. USAF is truly beginning to look like “The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight” if you believe everything you read, and most of what you read in this space is fact, not opinion. But USAF is doing some things right.

Enter Mike Dunn, President and CEO of the Air Force Association (and a retired USAF three-star). In a relatively short piece published by the AFA yesterday, Mr. Dunn takes on the Air Force’s critics. His lede:

When a company doesn’t meet its earning numbers, it is popular to look at management for someone to blame. Over the last few weeks numerous articles and editorials have been featured in the press about the “downfall” of the US Air Force – a Service besotted with so-called systemic, cultural, leadership, ... and even moral problems. The way this story line goes is the writer bundles every perceived “wrong-doing” – often over many years – into a big package and applauds DOD leadership for firing the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff. (“Everything” being tanker selection process, nuclear issues, lack of focus on today’s war, “next war-it is,” the number of UAVs deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, officer pilots versus enlisted pilots, etc. Some media even add in the tanker lease contract, proselytizing at the Air Force Academy, sexual assaults at USAFA, and a host of others). Usually the author throws so much mud on the wall, it is difficult to refute much of what is said … and trying to point out the many inaccuracies only brings more attention to pieces which have titles like: “Clean up the Air Force.” Also, most publications limit responses to 100 words or less. And with so many items to refute, it is impossible to do so.

What follows is a point-by-point refutation of some of the criticisms leveled at the Air Force…not all, but some. Two key accusations cited in almost every negative article I’ve read lately concerns the availability of UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the ever-popular whipping-boy, F-22 procurement. First, on UAVs:

Third, the supposed AF bias against UAVs is often cited as why the AF is not paying attention. Again, the facts don’t bear this out. It is important to remember that it was the AF which embraced the Predator … this after the Army refused to field it. It was the AF which modified it to add anti-icing capability so it could fly in the winter over Bosnia, the AF which modified it to carry Hellfire missiles; the AF which designed and built the distribution system to ensure the intelligence got to the warfighter; the AF which repeatedly called for increased production and a second line. Every Chief of Staff in the last 10 years has sought increased numbers of UAVs – and it was the AF which fielded both the Global Hawk and the Reaper. The AF has 88% of its UAVs deployed to the AOR … this as opposed to the Army, whose Ops concept is to organically assign them to its fighting units – only 30% of which are deployed. And … the AF has beat the DOD requirement for 21 CAPs. They now have 23 CAPs – two years ahead of schedule. [For more see: http://www.afa.org/EdOp/edop_5-6-08.asp]

And about the F-22:

Fourth, is the AF’s strong advocacy of the F-22. This is true. The Service believes that the tasks given to it by DOD requires this advanced technology. We’re heard lots about why the AF should stop buying F-22s, but nothing about DOD changing its defense strategy to reflect a different threat set in the future. In fact, an attempt to do so was non-concurred by every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [see: http://www.afa.org/GatesApproves.pdf]. Moreover the critics often cite the expense of the F-22 and compare the performance of the F-35 favorably against it. Both are factually inaccurate. The F-22 flyaway cost is about $130M and it has a much better capability than the F-35. The more relevant question is what is the cost of all the conventional systems required to penetrate denied airspace to accomplish what one F-22 can accomplish? The answer is the F-22 is a bargain in that regard. Most critics don’t know it has an air-to-ground and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability. Likewise most don’t realize the F-35 costs are likely to grow. [For a short tutorial on why we need the F-22, see the film at this site: http://www.afa.org/MPEG/Air_Supremacy.asp]. Secretary Gates says the AF has not even deployed the F-22 to Iraq with the implication that we don’t need it. The fact is that the theater commander has requested the F-22, the AF has agreed, and the Secretary has refused to send it forward … reportedly for fear of scaring Iran, but more likely because if he did approve that request, the value of the F-22 would become very obvious, validating the demand for the F-22. Further, this “test” of whether a weapon system is worthy is a false one. There are lots of systems which are not deployed in Iraq … e.g. nuclear subs, P-3s, ICBMs, etc etc. It is clear that the F-22 is needed for the future, and if we stop building it, we will wished we had not … much like we did when DOD made the AF stop buying the B-2. (Ed: links left as found)

There’s more at the original link in my second paragraph, above. There’s some stuff in Mr. Dunn’s piece I didn’t know, and I’m fairly well informed about things USAF (for a guy over 20 years removed from active duty, that is). Mr. Dunn points out that there are good things going on in the Air Force right now and the Air Force is indeed carrying its weight, perhaps more than its weight, in the nation’s current wars.

Even though “things” may not be as bad as they seem, my take-away from Mr. Dunn’s article is that the power struggles in the Pentagon are very intense at the moment, and are likely to get much MORE intense as time moves on. Perhaps not as intense as the Revolt of the Admirals, but pretty danged close. Except this time the shoe is on the other foot, and it ain’t all about one particular weapons system. There are serious “roles and missions” discussions going on right now in the Pentagon and amongst our most senior civilian leaders. These discussions will affect the shape and structure of our forces for the next 20 years and beyond. The Air Force’s most senior leaders need to make their case, both within and outside of the Department of Defense, for the importance and relevance of airpower in our present and future conflicts. I think Mr. Dunn’s piece is a good start.

Terrible News

Lin, the proprietress of Creek Journal, lost her life partner and best friend Terry (aka Mark, on Creek Journal) to a heart attack yesterday. I received the news this morning in an e-mail Lin sent late last night.

I'm simply stunned and overwhelmed. Life, and our relationships, are so very fragile and ultimately transitory. Say a prayer for Lin today and keep her in your thoughts, please.

(The characters are Japanese kanji for sadness; sorrow; grief. This post will remain "on top" for the day. Scroll down for updates.)

Yet Another Meme

Jim The Suldog tagged me with this one…

The meme has the following rules:

1 – Write the title to your own memoir using exactly six words.

2 – Post it on your blog.

3 – Link to the person who tagged you.

4 – Tag five other bloggers.

Hmmm. A memoir. Is that like an armoire, only smaller? Or bigger, as the case might be? So… after giving this much thought (really: ten minutes worth, at least) I came up with a few options. First:

Bikes. Broads. Beer. That was IT!

But that makes me sound like some sort of n’eer-do-well “Wild One” type. Which isn’t entirely true. Close, but not entirely true. A variation on that theme occurred to me:

Wine. Women. Song. Other stuff, too.

Nah. What about:

There and Back Again. Many Times.

Nah, again. I think Tolkien owns the copyright, anyway. So… there’s this:

A Life In Shades o’ Blue.

That’s getting closer! USAF blue, EDS blue (It’s a color. Really. I had a swatch pinned to my cube wall, once upon a time.), Da Blooze, and too MUCH blue in later life. But I think it's waaay too...ummm... cute. So, we finally came upon this:

Celebrating 60 Years of Absolute Mediocrity!

Hey! Does that work, or what? But I think it’s too self-deprecating. So… the winner is…

Bikes. Broads. Beer. That was IT!

Never second-guess inspiration.

Now for the five tag-ees…

Jenny

Jay

Doc

Susan

Phlegmmy

Feel free to play along, even if I didn’t tag ya! You know you want to...

Inverted... And Other Complaints

Yesterday was a total bust for me. Mind you, nothing bad happened… nothing happened at all, actually. I’m in yet another one of my circadian rhythm upside-down periods. As a matter of fact, I’d be the quintessential out-of-time, off-the-beat White Boy if you needed circadian rhythm to dance. Wait… I AM the quintessential White Boy when it comes to dancing, so…never mind. So, there I was yesterday morning, watching the sun come up after being awake all night and trying to decide whether to (a) put the coffee on and blow this sleep thingie off altogether or (b) go to bed. I opted for Plan B and slept until 1300 hrs. The upshot of all this is the day was truly GONE after I’d finished my “morning” coffee, which was just after 1600 hrs (it takes me at least three hours to drink that whole pot, ya know).

And today? Only slightly better…awake until 0300 (or so) and up at 1100 hrs. The Boys tell me not to worry about this because I’m retired, aren’t I? I have nowhere to be, nowhere to go, no one to answer to, and all that (TSMP’s final words of the day to me… more often than not… were almost always spoken as I laid asleep on the couch: “Come to bed, Buck”). But I DO worry. Being out of phase with the rest of the civilized world isn’t a Good Thing, in my book. And it’s definitely raised havoc with my blogging. Which, of course, begs the question: “Well, if you’re up all night, why not blog?” The answer is similar to what any whiny, petulant two-year old would give: “Because I don’t want to!” (You may add a couple of imaginary foot-stomps to increase the street-cred of that statement, if you like. I did.)

{sigh} This, too, shall pass. I think.

―:☺:―

The weather has been strange over the last 48 hours, as well. The sky has been cloudy all day for the last two days, and that’s very unusual for my home on the range. Cloudy… as in a continuous, horizon-to-horizon cover of dark gray, low-scudding clouds that threaten rain but never deliver. The radar picture around Portales these past two days has shown lots of precip all around us, but not ON us. The constant cloud cover has made it unseasonably cool, too. Our high yesterday was only 80; today it’s supposed to be 74. The average temp for this time of year is 91. So, it’s nice to get a break in one respect, but it would be nicer yet if the coolness was accompanied by rain. It would be perfect, as a matter of fact.

―:☺:―

We seem to be on something of a bitch-moan-complain roll here, so let’s add one more thing. I finally received my Detroit Red Wings 2008 Stanley Cup Champions Locker Room T-shirt (yep, that’s the full title) last week, which was ordered from NHL.com the day after the Wings won The Cup. I’m not complaining about how long it took the shirt to get here… I expected some sort of delay, as the shirt was back-ordered the day I bought it. Nope, it’s the quality of the shirt, or lack of same. First of all, Honduras (where the shirt was made) must be a veritable Land O’ Giants, coz I’m swimming in my Medium sized shirt, which appears to be half again as large as other “medium” tee shirts I’ve bought recently. That’s bad enough, but the neck hole is also waaay too large, resembling a woman’s scoop-necked blouse rather than a tee shirt. And the shirt hasn’t even made its first journey to the Laundromat yet.

I have a feeling this will be one souvenir tee shirt that will last, mainly because I won’t be wearing such a poorly-made garment much, if at all. I hate it, and I mean really HATE it, when this happens.

OTOH, SN1 has no complaints about his shirt… which is different than mine. Maybe I’ll buy one of those.

―:☺:―

OK, enough personal bitching. Let’s get on to some bitching, nation-wide. The Obamanon’s widely-commented on “move to the center” continues apace. Now that Barack has pissed off the loony-left with his apparent reversal on the FISA Bill (MFC Greenwald has a new rant on this subject today), he’s trying to make nice with the entire US military. That’s all well and good, I suppose, but Barack is gonna have a long, hard road gaining the trust he needs after making statements like this:

Obama says he’ll call the Joint Chiefs in once he’s inaugurated and give them a new mission: “End the war.” Not WIN the war, but end it. Words mean something, and Obama’s word choice on this subject doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Obama also says his position has remained consistent over the last few months (and years) and I believe him on this one point, at least. He’s been consistent and wrong on the subject of Iraq for as long as I’ve been paying attention to him and his speeches. And he’s certainly not above mischaracterizing Senator McCain’s position, either… when he uses words that accuse McCain of wanting to perpetuate the war. McCain is quite clear: he wants to WIN. Obama is much less clear, but “ending the war” without mentioning (or apparently even considering) the outcome…whether we win or lose… is shallow and irresponsible in the extreme.

Good luck gaining that “trust” thing with the military, Senator O. You’ll need lots of it. Luck, that is.

Boggled

So… in making the rounds today I went off to Photobucket to view the full size version of one of Abe’s fabulous photos and was startled to see Photobucket has over five and a half billion images hosted on its site. That’s billion! Think of the storage required to host that many photos, and Photobucket’s service is free… which boggles MY mind, if no one else’s. If one can believe the counter in the lower left of the screen, people are uploading over 1,000 photos per minute to Photobucket.

Simply amazing. One wonders how much disc space Google, Flickr, and other video/photo hosting sites use, eh? And how long can this sort of thing continue, free of charge? Dang, but these here inter-tubes are amazing, eh?

The pic is of a 1987-vintage IBM direct-access storage device (DASD), which could store 1.26 billion characters, and it was considered to be cost-effective at the time. I've been in data centers where there were literally row upon row upon row of these devices in a room that rivaled a football field in size. One wonders what disc farms look like these days.

Raptors Off to Ol' Blighty

U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Bill Wiseman

From the AFA’s Daily Report…

British Invasion: The F-22 fighter will be appearing in the skies over Britain for the first time later this month, demonstrating its prowess at two air international shows. Tomorrow, three Raptors from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., along with members of the F-22 demonstration team will make the trek across the Atlantic Ocean for a week-long stint. On July 12 and July 13, Maj. Paul Moga, USAF's first F-22 demonstration pilot, will treat visitors to a single-ship performance at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, wing spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Georganne Schultz, told the Daily Report. On the following day, Moga will perform at the Farnborough International Air Show outside of London, Schultz said. The F-22s will head back to Langley on July 15, she said. The F-22 Demonstration Team is in its first full season. Last year was its debut year, but not a full season. Normally two aircraft would be sent for such a demonstration, with one serving as a backup. Schultz said, in this case, the decision was made to send three.

And what will our Brit friends see? Well, since you asked, Gentle Reader, here’s Major Moga explaining the elements of the single-ship demonstration as he puts the F-22 through (some of) its paces…

Cool, eh? The photo (taken last month) shows an F-22 out of Langley AFB, VA in formation with members of the RAF's aerial demonstration team, the Red Arrows. The Arrows were in the US last month on a goodwill tour; you can see a two-minute video of them flying over NYC here.

Validation

I received a nice e-mail the other day from a woman named Deirdre Reilly, who’s a syndicated columnist in Boston. Deirdre went to school at ENMU and still has a warm place in her heart for Portales, which is how she came to e-mail me… she stumbled upon EIP while looking for stuff on the net about P-Ville. And she was kind enough to drop us a note that said very nice things about EIP.

Deirdre recently wrote a column about returning to P-Ville after 20 years (or so) had passed, and here’s an excerpt:

A few months ago I traveled from my home in Boston back to the town where I went to college: Portales, N.M. The college is Eastern New Mexico University, a jewel of southeast New Mexico and home of the Greyhounds sports teams. I was going to be in Phoenix for a few days and had decided to tack on an extra four nights – the plan was to stay two days in Sante Fe, doing the art galleries, and then head out in my rental car for Portales, which is about four hours southeast. I had not been to Portales for 25 years and had sometimes wondered if it even still existed.

[…]

As I drove my rental car (an enormous, silver Chrysler with the world’s coldest sir conditioning) away from Sante Fe, I felt a lightness and anticipation. The miles stretched out into endless ranch scenes and dazzling skies as the weather, which had been snowy, cleared, and the sun shone brightly. I listened to everything on satellite radio – politics, jazz, gospel, you name it. Not passing a car for about 40 miles, I called my 18-year-old and said, “Hey Matt – guess how fast I’m driving?” He laughed, miles away. He felt so close, though, his voice warm on the phone. How fast was I going, he wanted to know, and yelled, “All right!” when I told him 100 mph – and no one to stop me. I hated to let him go when we signed off.

Well, now! I can certainly relate to the 100 mph stuff…driving as fast as you want is one of the Great Good Things about living in the Great Wide-Open. I should probably knock on wood (you, too, Deirdre!), because while there aren’t many cops patrolling our back roads, there are a few. And they DO write tickets. Just ask SN1… But, I digress. There are any number of reasons to fall in love with The High Plains of New Mexico, and I’m glad to know there are other souls in this world that feel as I do about The High Plains and P-Ville. Or, in a single word: validation. Thanks, Dierdre!

Deirdre also has a web site, with links to her columns and other things. Go drop in!

Disappointment

I didn’t get the memo. So, there I was Thursday night, sitting here minding my own business, wondering just why it was all the yahoos in my general vicinity couldn’t wait until the Fourth to shoot off their damned fireworks. Nope, they couldn’t wait… they HAD to blow off the inventory a day early. And then… “Whoosh-ka-BOOM! Whooosh-ka-BOOM-BOOM!” “Hey!”... sez I to myself... “Those weren’t backyard fireworks I just heard, that’s the Real Deal!” A quick peek out the window revealed that, yes, those reports actually were part of the Big Civic Fireworks Production that takes place every year at Eastern NM U’s athletic fields, just behind El Casa Móvil De Pennington.

So, I grab the camera out of the camera bag, set the controls to aperture-priority shooting, open the lens as wide as it will go, and step outside to enjoy the fireworks and take some pics. I took a couple of shots and realized things would probably go a lot better if I set the camera to “continuous shooting” rather than single shot, which is the default. I stepped back inside (where there was light) and set the camera to “continuous shooting.” Once back outside I realized immediately things weren’t going smoothly. The camera’s electronics were apparently confused by the slow shutter speed and the demands of continuous shooting, because it (the camera) wouldn’t shoot consistently in continuous mode. I’d get a burst of two or three photos and then the camera would hang momentarily in the “mirror up” position. That’s pretty disconcerting, to say the very least. And then I must have inadvertently hit a button on the camera by accident, because I realized I’d somehow reverted to single-shot mode. Frustrating. And that's the way it went for the duration of the show.

So… we finally arrive at this post’s title: disappointment. I took 56 photos, 12 of which were totally black and were discarded right off the bat. I saved 42 of the remaining 44 photos I downloaded to the PeeSee but none were “keepers,” in truth. Most came out looking like this:

Which is interesting, I suppose, but it’s not what I wanted. I wanted stuff sorta like this:

And those two shots were as good as it got. Compare these two shots to the pics of the fireworks I took four years ago with my old G5; the G5 pics are much better. I think there are a few reasons for this. First, I was caught by surprise and was unprepared Thursday night. I didn’t do my homework, most especially by consulting my manual to see if there are any low-light limitations with continuous shooting. Second, the SLR’s lens is “longer” than the G5’s, which makes composing a little more difficult. Third, composing a rapidly moving subject through the camera’s viewfinder is considerably more difficult than composing on an LCD screen. The end result is lousy photos, thus: disappointment. Which says everything about the workman and little to nothing about his tools, eh?

The fireworks were good, though. Lotsa oohs, aahs, and applause could be heard throughout Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park, along with joyous shrieks from the very little kids. And all the local yahoos went back to shooting off their own stuff once The Big Show was over, even if it was a day early. Last night was pretty quiet by comparison, but not completely without the odd boom and whistle here and there... until well after midnight. It's a great good thing no one had to be at work today, eh?

Independence Day

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

"We Ain't Got No Badges..."

Well, yes. Yes, you do. (Rant alert!) From the Air Force Association’s Daily Report:

Brave New World: The Air Force's fledgling cyber force has developed a roadmap that proposes establishing new career fields for officer and enlisted airmen that would affect some 30,000 active and 2,000 reserve personnel currently working in the cyber realm. The head of Cyber Command (Provisional), Maj. Gen. William Lord, said the new roadmap "outlines our efforts to establish cyberspace operators, specialists, analysts, and developers who grow from a basic understanding of cyberspace doctrine to experts in their respective fields." Per the plan, operators would comprise officer and enlisted airmen who would plan, direct, and execute offensive and defensive actions; specialists would be enlisted communications and information cyber technicians; analysts would include both officer and enlisted intelligence personnel with expertise in cyberspace operations; and developers would also comprise both officers and enlisted members with advanced skills in designing and modifying software and hardware. AFCYBER's initial work focuses on operators and specialists, including two new officer air force specialty codes and 15 new enlisted AFSCs. Work is still ongoing to outline career paths for analysts and developers, expected later this year, and to define professional development for the service's civilian cyber force. "We have a lot of work ahead of us still, but we know the direction we're headed," said Maj. Timothy Franz, AFCYBER chief of force development. In the works, too, is a proposed cyberspace operator badge. Officials last month noted that the command is on track to stand up this fall, while still looking for a permanent location for the headquarters. (For details on the specific AFSC's being cut and created, see AFCYBER report by Karen Petitt.)

There have been more than a few changes in the Air Force since I traded in my gub’mint-issued Blue Suit for Brooks Bros. back in 1985. Some time a while back (five years? ten years?) USAF overhauled all of its Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs), changing the entire system into something unrecognizable to folks who’d served previously. As an example, my AFSC when I retired was 30372… which meant I was in the Communications-Electronics field (first two digits: 30), radar (third digit: 3), technician level (fourth digit: 7), aircraft control and warning (AC&W) radar (last digit: 2). This may sound and look complicated, but it’s not. The current structure for AFSCs looks like this:

EXAMPLE: 1N37 - Operations, Intelligence, Cryptologic Linguist, Craftsman

The whole explanation of AFSC numbering structure is here, if you’re curious and/or need a non-addictive sleep aid. But I digress... and mightily, at that. My whole point was going to be this: were I still on active duty I’d be qualified (by virtue of my job) to wear that spiffy new badge that accompanies this lil blurb.

Which, of course, brings up yet another change USAF has made since I retired… everyone is now authorized to wear steenkin’ badges of some sort. Back in my day only pilots, navigators, and aircrew wore badges, specifically “wings.” There were other badges, too, but they were limited to health care professionals (doctors, nurses), chaplains, lawyers, missileers (the famous “pocket rocket”), and skycops (who wore real badges, as known and understood by the civilian population). Nowadays it takes an entire page in the Air Force Almanac (BIG-ass pdf alert: jump to page 71 if ya go) to display all the various badges USAF has authorized for wear. I counted 32, and that’s not counting the various flavors of “wings” currently authorized. When you add in all the flippin’ ribbons and medals that are authorized these days (and handed out like candy, I might add) you get airmen who have more adornments on their uniforms than an Eagle Scout wearing all his merit badges.

That ain’t right. “Whatever Happened to the Plain Blue Suit?”, indeed.

Drilling

One of the things that bugs the Hell out of me about the current “energy debate” is how our loyal, patriotic, and oh-so-concerned-about-OUR-welfare Democrats distort… nay, totally misrepresent… the issue of domestic oil drilling. There IS a Democrat Party Line in this space and it goes something like this (from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, via The Obamanon’s web site):

Oil companies, he said, already have drilling rights to millions of acres of federal land, "and yet they haven't touched it," Obama said. "John McCain wants to give them more when they're not using what they already have."

The companies ought to pay a fine on drilling rights they're holding but not using, he said.

Well, now. That Las Vegas speech drew some attention from the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal Monday:

"I want you to think about this," Barack Obama said in Las Vegas last week. "The oil companies have already been given 68 million acres of federal land, both onshore and offshore, to drill. They're allowed to drill it, and yet they haven't touched it – 68 million acres that have the potential to nearly double America's total oil production."

Wow, how come the oil companies didn't think of that?

Perhaps because the notion is obviously false – at least to anyone who knows how oil and gas exploration actually works. Predictably, however, Mr. Obama's claim is also the mantra of Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Nick Rahall and others writing Congressional energy policy. As a public service, here's a remedial education.

[…]

To deflect the GOP effort to relax the offshore-drilling ban – and thus boost supply while demand will remain strong – Democrats also say that most of the current leases are "nonproducing." The idea comes from a "special report" prepared by the Democratic staff of the House Resources Committee, chaired by Mr. Rahall. "If we extrapolate from today's production rates on federal lands and waters," the authors write, the oil companies could "nearly double total U.S. oil production" (their emphasis).

In other words, these whiz kids assume that every acre of every lease holds the same amount of oil and gas. Yet the existence of a lease does not guarantee that the geology holds recoverable resources. Brian Kennedy of the Institute for Energy Research quips that, using the same extrapolation, the 9.4 billion acres of the currently nonproducing moon should yield 654 million barrels of oil per day.

There’s much more at the link, and it's all good. Whenever I see or hear the Democrats’ arguments against domestic drilling, I naturally assume they’re both arrogant and insulting. Arrogant because they truly believe they have the only answer(s) to our energy problems, and they most certainly don’t. And they (Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Emmanuel) are insulting because they obviously expect me to believe this shit. Why else would they repeat the same erroneous, discredited crap over and over and over again? And they know they’re wrong, too. Further from the WSJ:

Yet companies are not allowed to explore where the biggest prospects for oil and gas may exist – especially on the Outer Continental Shelf. Seven of the top 20 U.S. oil fields are now located in analogous deepwater areas (greater than 1,000 feet) in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2006, Chevron discovered what is likely to be the largest American oil find since Prudhoe, drilled in 7,000 feet of water and more than 20,000 feet under the sea floor. The Wilcox formation may have an upper end of 15 billion barrels of recoverable oil and should begin producing by 2014 – perhaps ushering in a new ultradeepwater frontier.

Likewise, in April, the U.S. Geological Survey revised its estimate for the Bakken Shale, underneath the badlands of North Dakota and Montana. The new assessment – as much as 4.3 billion barrels of oil – is a 25-fold increase over what the Survey believed in 1995. Such breakthroughs confirm that very large reserves exist, if only Congress would let business get at them.

All of which has Democrats sweating bullets. The leadership is desperate to avoid debating a Department of Interior spending bill, because they know Republicans will offer amendments lifting the drilling moratorium that may peel off some Democrats. Last week, Chairman David Obey shut down the Appropriations Committee rather than countenance more domestic energy production. Given Democratic energy illiteracy, this is a fight the GOP can win if it keeps up the pressure.

Sweating bullets, indeed. Some Blue Dog Dems are already raising red flags to the House leadership. Like this (from yesterday’s The Hill):

Lampson penned a letter to House Democratic leaders last week asking them to chart a completely new course.

“The rancor and incivility with which this debate has been waged thus far has overshadowed the true policy concerns we must address and is unacceptable to the American people who look to us for leadership and solutions,” Lampson wrote. “We will not be able to accomplish anything, let alone lead our nation to energy independence, if we are unable to have a civil debate and are unwilling to allow all options on the table.”

But Lampson’s plea may have — at least for the time being — fallen on deaf ears.

The same day Lampson issued his letter, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared her caucus united and ready to fight against Republican efforts to open up more coastal areas to exploration.

Representative Lampson is from Texas, by the way, a Big Oil state. And he is vulnerable this coming November, too. So…some Dems get it, especially when there’s “enlightened self-interest” at work, eh? I mean… look at the tea leaves. The puzzlement is in the Dems steadfast refusal to change their policies. OTOH, it’s just that ol’ Democrat arrogance, ain’t it? They’re right and damn the facts or what Americans think.

Business as usual.

Happy Birthday, Canada!

Our friends in The Great White Up get a three day jump on us when it comes to national celebrations. I don’t have a problem with that… none at all. I DO have a great admiration for Canada and things Canadian… most especially Labatt’s, Molson’s, and that greatest of ALL Canadian gifts to the world… hockey.

I want also want to thank Canada for their contributions to the fight in Afghanistan. The Canadians have fought valiantly and nearly unnoticed, for the most part, outside of their borders. And they have suffered casualties that, in proportion to their population, far outstrip the casualties American forces have taken. I shudder to think how we Americans would react if our casualties were proportionate to those of the Canadians.

Thank You, Canada. And Happy Birthday!

Girl image purloined from The Toque. The flag image was taken from a generic google search…

Why I Dislike Cats, Part I

Update, July 3 @ 1725 hrs: Doc, in comments, sez I need one of these:



Now that's a Capital Idea! Wouldn't work too well on a convertible, though.

Blocked

So…how was your weekend? Things were low and slow around El Casa Móvil De Pennington this weekend, but there’s absolutely nothing unusual about that. It’s always low and slow around these parts and it’s news when it isn’t. Low and slow.

I am experiencing something rather unusual, though… a massive case of writer’s block (WB). Every so often I’ll get a minor case of WB, events where my words just don’t look right to me, or instances where I’ll pound out three drafts of the same post and ultimately reject all three before moving on to something else. It happens to everybody, in greater or lesser degrees. But this case of WB is different, in that I look at my usual sources and don’t see a damned thing I think is worth commenting on, or posting about. Or, to be somewhat clearer, I don’t have anything to say about the things I see. There are alternatives to musing over the news and one of my alternatives is the usual, customary and (sometimes) reasonable re-telling of a war story. But that doesn’t seem to be working, either. My fickle Muse has apparently decamped and left me wondering what the Hell is going on here. Maybe she (my Muse) hooked up with Lin’s Muse and the two of them are out gallivanting around dusty northern New Mexico honky-tonks, flirting with the cowboys, showing a little leg, and getting said cowboys’ hopes up. But she sure as Hell has left ME high and dry… the bitch.

There were times past when that ol’ bugaboo WB would literally scare the livin’ BeJeezus out of me, times when writing was my rice-bowl, I was on deadline, it was 0230 hrs in the morning before a big piece was due and… nothing. That kinda thing is really scary, Gentle Reader, and the current case of WB is a nit by comparison. We’re not talking about continuing employment here, after all. It’s just a blog.

But I miss my Muse.

―:☺:―

Here’s one small item, just to save this post from being a pure whine. Today is June 30^th, and such is the title— “June 30^th, June 30^th” — of one of my favorite books of poetry by Richard Brautigan. Here are two examples of the 77 poems you'll find at the “June 30^th” link:

"Cat in Shinjuku"
A brown cat lies
in front of a Chinese restaurant
in a very narrow lane
in Shinjuku.*

The window of the restaurant is
filled with plastic models
of Chinese food that look good
enough to eat.

The afternoon sun is pleasantly
warm. The cat
is enjoying it.

People walk by, very close to the cat
but the cat shows absolutely no fear.
It does not move.
I find this unusual.
The cat is happy
in front of plastic Chinese
food with real food
waiting just inside the door.

Tokyo
The middle of May, 1976

*a large district in Tokyo

"Taking No Chances"
I am a part of it. No,
I am the total but there
is also a possibility
that I am only a fraction
of it.

I am that which begins
but has no beginning.
I am also full of shit
right up to my ears.

Tokyo
June 17, 1976

Brautigan wrote “June 30^th, June 30^th” while in Japan in 1976 and the book was published in 1978. There are multiple coincidences in play here… first of all, Brautigan and I shared the same geographical space (Japan generally, and Tokyo, specifically) when he wrote these poems. Second, The Second Mrs. Pennington and I met during this time frame, and Brautigan published this book the year we were married. Third, TSMP and I shared a love of most things Japanese, so Brautigan’s observations were of great interest and brought joy to both of us, even given the fact he was (still is) one of my favorites. And finally… Brautigan’s been dead for quite some time now… as has my love affair with Japan, among other things.

It’s still nice to remember, though.

―:☺:―

Today’s Pic: TSMP and I in a Tokyo sushi bar, December, 1991.