Dirty Work... Second Try

Well… I’ve been wondering, ya know. I’ve asked the question from time to time and have never really gotten an answer. Why? Because there is no answer. Michael Kinsley, writing in the WaPo (“Let the Guy Smoke”):

Obama has never denied that he was a smoker for much of his adult life. He said as early as February 2007 that he had promised his wife he would quit in order to run for president. He also admitted as recently as this June -- when his presidential campaign was about three-quarters over -- that he hadn't done so. In May the Obama campaign released a carefully worded letter from his doctor, who wrote that Obama's "own history included intermittent cigarette smoking. He has quit this practice on several occasions and is currently using Nicorette gum with success." Obama has declined to amplify.

The instructions on Nicorette say to stop smoking before starting with the gum and to stop using the gum after 12 weeks. We know, because he has said as much, that Obama was still smoking the month after his doctor said he was using the gum. And even if he smoked his last cigarette on May 28, the day before his doctor said he was on gum therapy, the 12 weeks would have elapsed Aug. 20. Wouldn't you think that some reporter since then would have asked Obama whether the gum had worked? Yet no one seems to have asked.

“No one seems to have asked.” Dang, I may have heard that line before… somewhere. Ya think? This issue is a nit, to be sure, but it’s also symptomatic of the general lack of curiosity on the part of The Media where The One is concerned, innit? I’m also somewhat taken aback at Kinsley’s last word on this subject:

Obama's steely calm is now one of our country's major assets. If he needs an occasional cigarette to preserve it, let's hand him an ashtray, offer him a light and look the other way.

An Über-Lib offering apologies for the nasty habit, including a suggestion we just look the other way or even facilitate this deviant behavior? Well, now! Who’d a thunk it? No one gave ME that option back in the day when I still indulged. Nope… I had to go huddle in the doorway down on the street along with the rest of the degenerates to get my fix, all the while subjected to hard looks, glares, and the not-at-all-well-concealed opprobrium of passers by. One wonders if there will be ashtrays in the Oval Office or if Barack will have to step outside into the Rose Garden to quiet his Jones. Ditto for Air Force One, where I’m sure smoking is banned. Oh, well. We must be tolerant now, mustn’t we?

―:☺:―

Blown opportunity… That would be yesterday. I was up until the crack o’ dawn yesterday morning, going to bed somewhere around 0600 and staying that way until 1300 hrs. This sort of behavior always leaves me with something akin to a hangover, minus the throbbing pain. Nope… it’s just that left-of-center, out of sorts feeling that hangs on most of the day before we finally get back to what passes for “normal” here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington. So… why is this a blown opportunity, you ask? The weather, Gentle Reader… the weather. Yesterday was just flat frickin’ gorgeous. Bright sunshine, 72 degrees (at 1400 hrs, an hour after I woke up), and no wind. Perfect Happy Hour weather, in other words. I blew if off.

And I have regrets:

Today is NOT a nice day here on The High Plains of New Mexico. We will defer Happy Hour until sometime this weekend, as it were. More’s the pity.

―:☺:―

Finally… here’s some Steely Dan for ya. There’s no point at all to the Clintonista imagery, although it IS entertaining in a retro kinda way. Sorta. Nope… what we’re on about here is Dirty Work’s superb music and lyrics, as the song happens to be one of my all-time favorite Steely Dan tunes.

Good, innit? I'd tell ya why this song (ahem) strikes a lot of different chords with me... but I don't want to shatter any illusions you may hold about my...umm... moral values (and those of certain women in my past, as well). I leave you to wonder, Gentle Reader.

(You may ask what this "Second Try" is all about... I originally published this piece at 0942 hrs this morning. Blog-Bud Barry e-mailed me a few minutes ago to let me know the post was showing up in his RSS reader, but NOT in his browser. Sho 'nuff... IE couldn't see it, but all was well in FireFox. I cut and pasted the post into a NEW post, written in Blogger's "Compose" window, but the cut 'n' pasted bits didn't show up when I hit "publish." BOTH offending pieces have been removed... and I'm left looking a lil bit like the Verizon Guy... which is to say, wondering: "Can you see me NOW?")

Topical

We Get The Gub'mint We Deserve...

...and it makes me positively ill. Witness:

Sweet Jesus.

h/t: Lex.

This Just In... Literally

The Brown Truck of Happiness has come and gone... and one of my favorite ladies in all the world left me with yet another way to broaden my horizons. To wit:

And for those of you who may have noticed the rather cryptic comment exchange between Blog-Bud Mike and I about “Acids” in the Auto-industry post below… your explanation is in the second photo above. Further details are here, if’n you’re at all interested.
And now it’s time for Happy Hour! I believe we’ll begin with a “Liquid” and a 1554…

Update, 1540 hrs: Unaccustomed as I am to writing criticism… not to mention the fact that I don’t really speak “critic”… as in “hints of pistachio, with a light impact on the discerning palette” or some such drivel… I’ll attempt to give it a go. I had that Liquid and a 1554 on the verandah and it was over all too quickly. Primarily because the cigar was over right about the time I finished my first beer, and most of my regular smokes tend to last thru two beers, if not longer. The fact the Liquid went quickly wasn’t because the cigar was dry; on the contrary… the cigar was moist and eminently “smokable.” It just went quick. That said, the cigar was interesting. I use “interesting” advisedly, as most of us tend to use that word these days when we want to be polite and not call a spade a spade, most commonly in the sense that something… anything… might be piss-poor in our eyes but we don’t want to offend. Such is NOT the case here.
Nope… I enjoyed the Liquid. Here’s a review written by someone with more experience in the critic’s language:

Acid Liquid cigars are mild to medium bodied, Robusto-size cigars rolled inside a smooth-smoking Connecticut Shade wrapper. The smoke presents hints of cashew nuts, plus a virtual kaleidoscope of spices and botanicals. The cigar burns clean with a toasty, woody finish.

Another:

Acid has won my heart. The Acid liquid is apart of Acid's Red Line of cigars. The Cigar is short and fat. It is a mild to medium bodied cigar. It has a hint of cashew and other spices. This cigar had a minty taste and aroma. The spices appeared to be peppery and it had a nice draw. I really enjoyed this cigar. Way to go, Acid!

The last review is interesting, as it’s written by someone under the by-line of “Maduro Woman.” Which brings me to my next point… I see Acids (at least the two I’ve sampled) as a great introduction to the wide, wonderful world of cigars. They are most definitely different and most definitely unusual, as far as cigars go. Apropos of nothing… I detected a hint of patchouli in the Liquid, which isn’t an entirely BAD thing, Gentle Reader. I’ll also emphasize the word hint. The patchouli wasn’t overbearing… I sensed a hint of the aroma, and that’s all. And I like patchouli… the aroma brings back great and oh-so-stimulating memories, patchouli does. As it would to any (former) counter-culturist worth his or her salt, but we digress.
So. I’m taking the second (and perhaps more) beer inside El Casa Móvil De Pennington while enjoying a Kuba Kuba. It’s not my habit to smoke inside the house but I’ll make an exception in this case. I want to savor the aroma of the smoke, both directly and of a second-hand nature in the clouds of exhaled smoke that are wreathing around my head as I write. It’s a great good experience, Gentle Reader. I like the Kuba Kuba better than the Liquid, at first blush. That may change, but I think not. You’ll find some brief Kuba Kuba reviews here.
Bottom line: I’ll keep experimenting with the Acids, and I’ll keep a few of ‘em in the humidor, too. They’re pretty danged good.

Three Sure Signs Winter’s Fast Approaching

Bare trees.

Colder weather.

The appearance of the annual beard. Well, make that the biennial beard… coz I remained clean-shaven last year. And it was a goatee rather than a full-set beard the year before that… so perhaps the appropriate term is “biennial facial hair.” The beard may not last long this winter given all that damned gray light-blond hair. My best bearded days are far behind me… as in the days when my beard was red, red, red. Case in point:

Sigh. (SN1 on the left, SN2 on the right)

Something to Think About...

On letting the auto industry fail (approx four minutes):

Yeah... you could call it propaganda, given the source. But... there's truth herein, regardless of where the video was produced.

Baby Boom

This is surprising? “At Army Base, Stork Landed With the Airborne.” Excerpts:

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Joanne Chavonne saw pregnant women everywhere in town, shopping at Target for diapers or dining at a Mexican restaurant.

Then she heard that so many families were calling the medical clinic at nearby Fort Bragg for the results of pregnancy tests that the Army had to install an extra telephone line.

And finally, over the summer, an administrator told her that the hospital on base was overrun with women in labor, and was delivering nearly 300 babies a month. “I was shocked,” said Ms. Chavonne, whose husband, Anthony, is the mayor here. “That’s 10 a day.”

For the first time since the Gulf war, the entire 82nd Airborne division was deployed during the surge in 2007. Nearly 22,000 soldiers joyously reunited with their families when they began returning last October. The base is also host to 29,000 soldiers from other units, which all contributed to what by August was an estimated 50 percent surge in births at Womack Army Medical Center, the base hospital, compared with the previous year.

The community has turned this into a celebration. On Saturday, about 1,000 recent mothers and mothers-to-be gathered as guests of honor at Boots & Booties, billed as the largest military shower ever.

It’s been ever so and I suppose only the NYT would find this newsworthy… the phenomenon is common knowledge among military people. The article also reminds me of that ol’ joke we used to tell each other… ad nauseum… when we were deployed:

Q: You know what the second thing is I’m gonna do when I get home?

A: Put my B4 bag down.

Plus ça change…

"It's Bad You Know..."

Best reason I’ve heard for an auto industry bailout:

Pierre LeBrun mentioned during the Hot Stove on HNIC (ed: that’s Hockey Night In Canada for the uninitiated) tonight the Wings have had a few conversations with Zetterberg’s agent, The numbers being tossed around are 8-10 years and $7-8M a year.

The two parties have not found that “sweet-spot” or else a deal would have been announced.

Al Strachan chimed in with this- If General Motors goes bankrupt, and it could very well happen, the Wings would not survive in Detroit. The city would be a ghost town.

My tongue is only partly in my cheek, ya know. (a week-old item from Kukla’s Korner)

While we’re talking Wings… another lil item from KK:

This season- Johan Franzen- 11 games played, 8 goals, 4 game winning goals.

Last season, playoffs- 16 games played, 13 goals, 5 game winning goals.

Last 16 regular season games of 2007-08- 15 goals, 6 game winning goals.

Totals in that time period- 43 games, 36 goals, 15 game winning goals.

Most major hockey markets, he would be in super star status, in Detroit, still known as the Mule!

It ain’t the number of goals that’s notable (although that is impressive); it’s the number of game winning goals. Now that’s amazing.

―:☺:―

R.L.Burnside on the state of the economy… or the outcome of the election. Take your pick.

“It’s bad you know…” R.L. is bad in his own right. God, but I love the riffs… harp, organ, vocals, you name it… in this tune.

We Be Three Today

Baby it’s cold outside…

But it’s warm and toasty inside… and the coffee’s good, too!

―:☺:―

Today we celebrate three years of blogging mediocrity. 1,814 posts (not counting this one), an equal number of images (at the VERY least), half-baked opinions, and half-assed commentary on a wide range of subjects…most of which interest only me. Yet we continue.

Go figure.

(Image from FreeFoto.com)

―:☺:―

I’m having one of those petulant net-connection days wherein I can get to some sites just fine (The Times (UK), The Guardian (UK), memeorandum), can’t get others to load (The WaPo, CNET’S bandwidth monitor), and some load, albeit verrry slowly (The NYT). There’s no rhyme or reason to it at all… but it sure as Hell is frustrating! I suspect my ISP has domain name service (DNS) issues… as I’m getting “looking up/connecting to the.site.in.question” messages in FireFox’s status bar while the hour glass indicates we’re working… without result.

I just hate it when this happens… especially on the weekend… coz that means the problem will likely persist until sometime Monday morning. It’s always sumthin…

―:☺:―

Today’s Pic: Helmet Hair, X2. SN3 and YrHmblScrb just outside El Casa Móvil De Pennington, July 2004.

Nail. Head.

Blog-Bud Jim sends this along via e-mail:

As always... click for larger.

Insomnia Sucks

-->Life is getting busier for SN1 these days. A recent e-mail exchange (sanitized, as far as addresses go):

From: (SN1).af.mil

To: (SN2)
Felicity
Natasha
Sean
Erma
TFMP

cc: (YrHmblScrb)

Date: Thu, Nov 13, 2008 at 11:57 AM

Subject: FW: Interesting...

As dad pointed out…it is interesting. I’m on the initial investigation team…I’ve been at work for 16 hours today and am headed to the trailer to get some sleep.

I love you all!

Buck/Dad

Capt Ivan "Buck" Pennington

From: Buck Pennington [YrHmblScrb@His.E-Mail.Addy]
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2008 10:24 AM (Ed: AOR-Time; sent at 12:24 AM MST)
To: Pennington, Ivan A Capt
Subject: Interesting...

From the AFA Daily Report:

Viper Burned: US Air Forces Central announced that an F-16 fighter deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, caught fire Nov. 12 after its pilot aborted a takeoff around 5:40 a.m. local time. The pilot managed to get out of the aircraft on the ground, with no apparent injury, but the aircraft was destroyed in the fire. The Air Force planned to convene an accident investigation board.

I'll bet life's interesting for you right about now...

ily,
d
--
Be Well!
Buck
Exile in Portales

I’m pretty sure this is SN1’s third aircraft accident/incident investigation, but I’m not really keeping score in this space… it’s just something I’m aware of. SN1 is a graduate of a school the AF runs to train folks in the methods and procedures used to conduct these investigations, so I naturally assumed he just might be involved in this one. It turns out I was correct…
Photo credit: USAF photo from the Joint Base Balad web site.

―:☺:―

Our 15 seconds of fame, Blog Traffic Division:
The Seven-Day Moving Average graph (thin green line) looks like the python that ate the pig, don’t it? That traffic spike you see is a result of a hockey post I put up on November 3^rd. I had the great good luck to get noticed… and linked… by Greg Wyshynski (aka Puck Daddy at Yahoo! Sports) and the day’s traffic literally exploded. We’re back to normal now… toiling in obscurity as is our custom. Or fate. Whatever.
It was nice while it lasted (insert big ol’ grin here).

―:☺:―

Wanna see a COOL ad? Go to Cordura’s “Defend Your Base” for some interesting graphics and sounds… if you’re in to that military thang (it’s an ad for tee shirts). Don’t bother, otherwise.

―:☺:―

I’m suffering from insomnia yet again. I went to bed last evening at 2130 hrs and slept fairly well until 0030 hrs, at which time I began tossing and turning in an unsuccessful attempt to get back to sleep. I finally gave it up at 0200 hrs, rolled out, fired up the coffee pot and here I sit… Which kinda-sorta brings to mind the late and oh-so-lamented Dave Attell’s teevee show. You might remember Dave’s classic… “Insomniac” on Comedy Central. I sure do miss that show… but the web site survives!

Dave Attell suffers from insomnia, making him the true late night god. He roams the streets of our cities in search of a good time, heck, maybe you'll see him! Drunks and losers, Dwarves with limps, Flos and ho's and one-eyed pimps,down the alleyway they creep, they're all your friends when you can't sleep.

Come with me and you will see, a late-night-freak-show-Jubilee! Kick the Sandman in his sack; Stay up late - Insomniac!

Ah, well. Gone but certainly NOT forgotten.
I think I’ll go out for breakfast as soon as the rest of the world wakes up and then head over to Cannon Airplane Patch and get my annual flu shot. Big Day on tap, eh?

Of Little Import

A moonbat fantasy. A compendium of fantasies, actually… it’s the whole nine yards. I’ll hand it to ‘em: this parody is VERY good. The print edition had to be pretty slick if it was half as accurate in the “look and feel” department as the ersatz web site is. Even the real NYT took note. Refresh the page a couple of times when (if) you go and pay attention to the faux ads in the lower right column… they’re howlers. Unless you’re of the Leftish persuasion, of course. In which case… there’s nothing funny about ‘em at all… just truth, as you know would like it.

―:☺:―

Do you use SiteMeter? If so… do you remember the gnashing and thrashing when they cut over to the “new and improved” SiteMeter that WASN’T? Wanna have some input on their latest proposed updates? You can test drive mock-ups of various reports and provide feedback to the development team by taking their survey here (you’ll need your SiteMeter ID handy). I think I spent maybe 20 minutes taking the survey… and I’m happy to report the new stuff looks pretty good. Much better than the flaming pile o’ crap they tried to roll out last September. I could live with it.

―:☺:―

Today’s Pics… or Broadening Our Horizons, Part Deux. The pics above were taken just before I grabbed up all the important bits and hit the verandah for Happy Hour yesterday afternoon. The last pic is a close up of one of my favorite beer vessels... purloined from the quintessential dive bar... and the very act of drinking from it makes me think of many, many good times, Gentle Reader.

But we digress. Some time ago I said I wanted to try Budweiser’s new American Ale once it became available in this part o’ the world. Well… it’s here in P-Ville and a sixer of same resides in my fridge. Check that: four bottles remain in my fridge after yesterday’s Happy Hour. The verdict: it’s not bad. You’re an astute person, Gentle Reader, if you think “not bad” is damning American Ale with faint praise. American Ale earns a passing grade with me, but only just barely. The folks at Beer Advocate have a higher opinion of the brew (collectively and on average) than I do. Witness:

That’s a pretty high grade! I’d give the beer a grade of “C.” Average, in other words… nothing special and nothing to write home about, but most definitely better than run-of-the-mill Bud. (Ed: Nothing to write home about? So why are you writing?) The beer is lovely to look at (I love the red-copper color and the way it positively shines in strong light), has a great malty aroma, but lacks substance… at least as I define substance. Overall it seems a little watery on the palette, and I prefer stronger tasting ales. Trippel, 1554, and Fat Tire are in absolutely NO danger of being replaced as the Beers of Choice here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington.

While we're on the subject...

Cheers!

Pretty Cool

News you can use… from the NYT (“Google Uses Searches to Track Flu’s Spread”)…

SAN FRANCISCO — There is a new common symptom of the flu, in addition to the usual aches, coughs, fevers and sore throats. Turns out a lot of ailing Americans enter phrases like “flu symptoms” into Google and other search engines before they call their doctors.

That simple act, multiplied across millions of keyboards in homes around the country, has given rise to a new early warning system for fast-spreading flu outbreaks, called Google Flu Trends.

Tests of the new Web tool from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic unit, suggest that it may be able to detect regional outbreaks of the flu a week to 10 days before they are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In early February, for example, the C.D.C. reported that the flu cases had recently spiked in the mid-Atlantic states. But Google says its search data show a spike in queries about flu symptoms two weeks before that report was released. Its new service at google.org/flutrends analyzes those searches as they come in, creating graphs and maps of the country that, ideally, will show where the flu is spreading.

There are caveats and discussions/explanations on related issues (e.g., how Google addresses privacy concerns) at the link, but overall? “Flutrends” is an imaginative and useful application of technology.

(Flu virus image from National Geographic.com... where there's more great flu-related photography.)

More Pics From the AOR - Revised

(Ed note: Originally posted yesterday (11/11/2008)… but the post formatting was hosed and screwed up the blog for Internet Exploder users. Revised and reposted today; I removed yesterday's badly formatted post.

And Andy... I apologize, but your comments to yesterday's post are gone along with the offending post.)

An appropriate post for Veterans Day. Sent by SN1 this morning…more pics from the AOR. Captions as provided by SN1.

These are some of my troops…

MSgt Gena Harris on the right is the base engine manager, me, TSgt Jocelyn StDenis is the wing scheduler, TSgt Timmy Waters is a C-130 analyst, SMSgt Clark Sato is my superintendent, and TSgt Roger Perry is my wing analyst.

We’re in front of the Army “Hunter.” Crazy little airplane…toylike…

Buck in front of an MQ-9 Reaper.

A bunch of MRAPs… About which SN1 sez: “We had a Veteran’s Day “Capabilities Display” over here…it was fun to walk around and see a couple of the interesting things the Army has going on…” Note the “photography restrictions” poster in front of the MRAP on the left. I couldn’t read the print in the large version of this photo, but the restrictions look pretty extensive!

And finally... this pic was taken by one of Buck's co-workers: Sunrise at Balad. Pretty nice, innit?

Veterans Day 2008

October 31, 2008

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

On Veterans Day, we pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women who in defense of our freedom have bravely worn the uniform of the United States.

From the fields and forests of war-torn Europe to the jungles of Southeast Asia, from the deserts of Iraq to the mountains of Afghanistan, brave patriots have protected our Nation's ideals, rescued millions from tyranny, and helped spread freedom around the globe. America's veterans answered the call when asked to protect our Nation from some of the most brutal and ruthless tyrants, terrorists, and militaries the world has ever known. They stood tall in the face of grave danger and enabled our Nation to become the greatest force for freedom in human history. Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard have answered a high calling to serve and have helped secure America at every turn.

Our country is forever indebted to our veterans for their quiet courage and exemplary service. We also remember and honor those who laid down their lives in freedom's defense. These brave men and women made the ultimate sacrifice for our benefit. On Veterans Day, we remember these heroes for their valor, their loyalty, and their dedication. Their selfless sacrifices continue to inspire us today as we work to advance peace and extend freedom around the world.

With respect for and in recognition of the contributions our service members have made to the cause of peace and freedom around the world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a legal public holiday to honor America's veterans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2008, as Veterans Day and urge all Americans to observe November 9 through November 15, 2008, as National Veterans Awareness Week. I encourage all Americans to recognize the bravery and sacrifice of our veterans through ceremonies and prayers. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States and to support and participate in patriotic activities in their communities. I invite civic and fraternal organizations, places of worship, schools, businesses, unions, and the media to support this national observance with commemorative expressions and programs.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Note 1: You can read the original Veterans Day Proclamation issued by President Eisenhower in 1954 here.

Note 2: Downloadable files of the official 2008 Veterans Day poster are available at the Department of Veterans Affairs web site (in various resolutions, up to an image suitable for printing at 11 x 14 inches, 300dpi).

Note 3: Sticky post (remains on top all day)... scroll down for updates.