The real Christmas buffet: laughter, thought, & tears

Goshamighty, it's great to get together with folks you love.  Here are some highlights from yesterday's gatherings, or at least that were relevant to those memories...

There were folks who could remember most of the words to the following commercial, but no one could recall ever eating the cereal.  While looking for this video, I found another (earlier) one that said, regarding the character Boss Moss: "He never has a solution, but he's always very understanding."  Then the Freakies emerge from the barren, spooky, foresty place to a flowery meadow with a Freakie-tree atop a hill in very hopey-changey colors.  Freakie, indeed.



Also, I got to meet up with four old friends and, among other things, raise a glass to our friend Terry, who's been gone over a year now.  It doesn't seem that long ago, but I know it was before the 2008 election... that would have killed him, too.  A great athlete, Terry also had a brilliant sense of humor.  One recollection that always gets told in this group refers to high school math class.  Whether it was Ms. Jetton or Ms. Swink, algebra, trigonometry, or calculus, when the teacher asked for the solution, Terry's big hand always went up first.  Regardless of the nature of the problem, Terry's answer was always the same, if she'd dare call on him.

"Cross-Multiply!"

To the absolute glee of his class-mates, and constant angst for those poor teachers.  I believe he actually used it in French class, too.

Terry would have been only 46 nowadays, but was ripped apart by cancer.  All through school, I referred to him as my best friend.  Even long after going our separate ways beyond high school, we still called each other every Christmas Day, and discussed our "gifts" (the physical ones and the important ones), and our families.  I wish I could get a call from him tomorrow.  I wish he'd have lived long enough to read my blog; I have every confidence he'd have been a frequent presence, and boldly supportive.

To you, my friend.

There was an equal contingent of Tar Heel and Wolfpack fans at the get-your-drink-on/high-school-reunion gathering, and some (mostly) good-natured banter.  It is a Wolfpack hero, though (and hero of mine also), who best sums up the sentiments I'm feeling here, now: Jim Valvano...



It is difficult for me to write this, because I've lost about as many as I've loved.  But then, we've all faced our own hardships, right?  Embrace every opportunity you have to embrace those you love.  And may you all be as lucky as I am this day.  Merry Christmas.

Perversions.

If you want one example of how deplorably sickening the consequences of your voting have been or could be, exhibit A:

Imagine a person having a job where he has the authority to teach your 7-year old son or daughter the "benefits" of activities like fellatio, fisting, cunnilingus, and sodomy.  Imagine also that this person fully advocates adult-on-child sexual relations (it's called pedophilia), or defends and supports those who do.  Imagine also that this person gets paid over $270,000 per year for helping lead the effort to pervert your children.

Who pays him?

You do.

Who hired him?

Barack Hussein Obama.

What's his name, title, and job description?

Kevin Jennings.  "Safe schools Czar."  His job description is to eradicate the stigma of being a homosexual, by legitimizing sexual deviance.  He, and his supporters, know that desensitizing your Kindergartener to the otherwise shocking idea of an adult inserting his entire fist in her rectum will make the perversion of homosexuality seem so much less-threatening by comparison.

I don't have kids, but I wouldn't leave this scum-sucking piece of shit alone with my dog.

At biggovernment.com, Jim Hoft reports that 12 national conservative groups co-endorsed a letter to BHO demanding that Jennings' employment be terminated.  A portion of that letter...

As head of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Mr. Jennings is on record as promoting liberal sex education and homosexual themes to children as early as Kindergarten.

Now, additional information comes to light regarding Mr. Jenning’s association with GLSEN “Fistgate” Conferences, encouraging extreme sexual practices in children as young as 14. After objections were raised to that matter, Mr. Jennings announced that GLSEN presentations and presenters would be more closely monitored. But then, the following such conference included the handing out of “Fisting Kits” to children. The descriptions of the use of these kits are beyond imagination. To endorse this behavior, much less promote it, is unforgivable.

At the end of his post, Hoft also mentions (and links to) Congressman Michael Burgess' bill, HR 966, and I hope the bill at least gets through committee to the floor of the House.  But at the same time, I'd like to see the bill that similarly calls for the dismissal of the morally bankrupt bastard who hired Jennings, and who continues to defraud the American people: Barack Obama.

I promise you, fair reader, that if you witness the material this guy wants your children to be taught, not just given access to (which is abominable enough), but taught, you'll be as disgusted as I am.

This ain't leadership...this is an eradication of decency.  And it's not an accident.

It's bad enough that unredeemable scum like Jennings is allowed to breathe the air in this country, but it's absolutely gut-wrenching that a United States President could look objectively at someone like this and consider him even remotely qualified to earn a paycheck at the taxpayers' expense...

...much less, much, much, much less than hold any kind of leadership role over the educational fate of children.

Roughing the Puss-Puss...Fifteen yards from the spot of the foul

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, NCSU coach Tom O'Brien publicly took exception to UNC head coach Butch Davis' account of the postgame misbehavior of UNC's Dante Paige-Moss.  The Obscurer's Ken Tysiac claimed that O'Brien telephoned "a reporter" to voice his umbrage.  At the N&O today, there's a video of the incident.  Yep, I watched it.

Davis had said that Paige-Moss shoved a player who was taunting him.  In the video, it does appear that the Wusspack players might have been barking and taunting, but certainly none of it specifically in Moss-Paige's face.  It is clear, however, that DPM (that's much better than typing out all that hyphen-stuff) took a swipe at the NCSU player.  And I'm not talking about the kind of "Oh yeah, well here's something for you to yap about about" cold-cock, knuckle-sammich-shot to the mouth.  No.  DPM, still wearing his brain-bucket, took a half-ass slap at the (helmetless) State player while ducking away.  Three words:

PAN. SEE. FIED.

I still say that you can't take any man seriously who has a hyphenated last name.  Maybe that's part of DPM's problem.  Maybe, having a hyphenated name makes you a sort-of-hyphenated man.  Note to American men: Do not let your son grow up with a hyphenated last name.  Pick a fuckin' name.  If your wife is manly enough to demand that her name is worth keeping, and if you can't squelch the hyphen nonsense, rather than permanently display your lack of man-card, just go ahead and acquiesce completely to her name.  At least do your kid that favor.  Seriously, he'd be better off with a name like "Sue."  And if you're that kid, who might someday have his name written on the back of his jersey in front a gazillion people, it's time for you to man up, too.  Once you turn 18, go on down to the courthouse, and get yourself undashed.

How wormy do your have to be, as a man, to let that happen?  What's next...your name is Smith, and her name is Smith, so in deference to both your families you decide to name your little demon spawn Smith-Smith?  Or, how about this: Both of you might change your names to Smuh-to-the-ith.  Spelled out and super-hyphenated, just like that.  Puh-to-thuh-thetic, I say.

O'Brien's motivation is clear: Keep controversy stirred up, because without a bowl of their own, there's not really anything for him do regarding his current players.  But the implication that his players were blameless in the whole episode is pretty much just as pansyfied as DPM's slappy-run play.  And not a single ounce more justifiable.  If you believe Tommy O-to-the-B, his little angel was just mindin' his own bidness.  But if you look at his quote a bit skeptically, you figure (like I do) that it's just more taunting.  Which is fine by me, so long as you stand up there and do it, instead of pretending it ain't what it is.

I wish Davis had said, "In addition to suspending him for our bowl game, I showed Dante Puss-Puss a video of (Carolina Hurricanes defenseman) Tim Gleason as an example of how to fight like a man.  Further, we've instructed him that if he can't win on the football field, he'd better get used to some taunting, and that slappy-run plays are the modus operandi of O'Brien's gang, not ours."

One small victory in that whole mess?  Could be that this guy, Marvin (unhyphenated) Austin, who doesn't seem to like the 'Pack' so much and plays his best games against them, might decide that beating those taunters is reason enough to stick around Chapel Hill another year, instead of going to the NFL.

This just in...my good friend Kurt (unhyphenated, but a State fan) just called to say he's pretty sure that this post constitutes yet another pass-interference penalty, which will be assessed on the Tar Heels' first play from scrimmage in the Meineke Bowl.

Keef Undermann Comments!

Or perhaps this is from Chris "You've lost that tingly feeling" Matthews, or Allahpunted, or the O!Bummer himself.  They are all lurkers here at the House of Livermush, and are the suspected authors of frequent anonymous comments to older posts.  This one was received this most-recent Friday but in response to the BLOGBURST of Oct. 23rd.  As if they can vandal-tag my posts when my back is turned and I wouldn't notice.  Don't think I don't recognize the poor command of spelling and syntax you learned from the Cornell Tractor College, Keith.

Nice research but please let me asure you that its not what you think. The Arc is so big that a person would struggle to find the exact centre that they would have to face for prayers. Also you are right that most older Mihrabs are not exactly correct and the intension is what counts, but as a land surveyor myself Obviosuly in this day and age with acurate survey & GPS the norm there is no excuss for new constructions having the direction wrong, the intention would then be false and it would not be a mehrab for prayer to mecca. Either way, you dont have a mehrab without a mosque and its not Islamic custom to make a house of worship to God out of trees.

I say this as a Muslim who strongly opposis any act of terrorism and belives in the True teachings of Islam, not the misinterprated and twisted to suit their objectives religion of terrorists.

Let me just say I ain't buying your "I say this as a Muslim" bit, any more than your half-hearted claim to be a surveyor. If you were a surveyor on the ground there in Shanksville, you'd point your wing-stretched fingertips at the ends of the crescent and slap a 90 (real surveyor's field technique for establishing a surprisingly accurate perpendicular bisector). The architect could have been trying to incorporate an adjustment for magnetic declination, but I don't think so, and I bet you know better, too. His intention is called "plausible deniability." He needs to be able to tell one story ( I didn't design any real Islamic symbolism into it, because if I had, I'd have made it more precise) to the National Parks Service, and the opposite story (This is a Mosque, wherein the greater orientation is slightly off, but with enough interior elements to help you fine tune your direction) to those Muslims he wishes to appeal.

For anyone to suggest that this architect has benign intentions (don't forget that the focus of his grad school thesis was Middle Eastern influence in architecture), is an insult to anyone paying attention.

Also don't discount the presumed "value" for the architect later claiming that the "3-degree error" is reflective of his presumed American inferiority. His intent is to memorialize the terrorists, to symbolically complete their mission by martyring them on the ground in Shanksville. Anyone who claims otherwise is a fool. Anyone who vandalizes my blog posts with anonymous comments on old posts is a coward.

And if you really think you've "asured" me: Uh, no. Dipshit.

My assurance will come with the widespread exposure of this dispicable design and the project's cancellation.

Y'all that twitter and facebook...

I did that whole myspace thing for a while.  But my distaste for it has made me want to keep the lure of all the other "social media" functions, 'specially Facebook, fended off.  Here's something worthwhile, though, for those of you who do enjoy that business.

If you go become one of their followers on Facebook, or fans on Twitter (or is that fan on FB, and follower on Twitter?), Rudy's Country Store & Bar-B-Q will donate $0.50 to the families of the victims of the Ft. Hood shootings Islamic terrorist attack.

You could drive by a thousand Rudy's across Texas, and never give them much thought, so unassuming are their stores, and see their slogan, "Worst Bar-B-Q in Texas" and maybe be able to keep your mouth from watering.  All you're doing is delaying the inevitable: Eat at Rudy's...fall in love with Rudy's.

Don't let it trouble you too hard that your heap of Q is served on a sheet of wax paper for a "plate".  Stand in line; it's not a long wait, but well worth every second.  When your turn comes, you sidle up to the counter and tell them you're new to Rudy's, and they'll have you sample good eats until you're satisfied with your potential order.  "Extra Moist" brisket comes highly recommended from the Livermush guy.

Thanks and hat-tip to BLACKFIVE for the heads-up.

Befriend those fine folks at Rudy's and help them do something good in the process.  And invite your friends, followers, and tweeting minions to do the same.  Plus, next time you're hungry, stop in a Rudy's.

Please.

Music Appreciation

I've recently been introduced, by a new friend, to some very cool music blogs.  And like most things, you don't know what you've been missing, until you get some.  Music, that is.  Careful, y'all...

Anyhoo, I've found some music blogs/sites that interest me.  Linked forthwith:

Americana Roots and its sister site, wherefrom their playlist emanates, Americana Rock Mix.

Lots of very good downloads at A Truer Sound.

Front Porch Musings

Nine Bullets

I'm also looking at Alt-512, We Own This Town, and I'm also really liking Twang Nation.

Can't say that a whole 'nuther blogroll category would be forthcoming, but you never know.  Any of y'all currently reference these same sites for seasoning to your musical tastebuds?

Tom Burnett, Sr regarding civilian trial for KSM

Flight 93 father denounces civilian trial for 9/11 terrorists



Tom Burnett Sr:

A military trial will do the same thing--give them justice, give them a chance to talk--but not out, you know, in the public.

Nicely framed and edited by KSTP Minneapolis:


Update, note from the Livermush Command Center: if the video doesn't open as it should, follow this link.

Second Burnett interview here. If only our government, with all its resources, could make 1/100th the sense of this honest patriot, but honesty and patriotism seem to be completely absent from the Obama/Holder makeup. Mr. Burnett says he will fight.


Mr. Burnett is also trying to stop the Park Service from planting a giant Mecca-oriented crescent atop his son's grave

Video expose of what was originally called the Crescent of Embrace design, contains footage of Mr. Burnett and Alec Rawls (author of this blogburst post) at last year's Memorial Project meeting:


Again, if the video malfunctions, follow to the source...

After the jump, you can see the list of those in the Blogburst.  There are about a dozen of my fellow bloggers from whom I've directly requested their support/allegiance in opposition of the project, but are mysteriously (still) absent from this list.  As before, I want to hear of any rationale for your tolerance of this "memorial" as it is designed, if you have knowledge that I've not heard.


Or tell me you think I'm wrong.  I can take it.- Jeff

Cavewoman poll

I went by imdb.com (the Internet Movie Database) this morning to check on something.  When I got there, I forgot what it was I went looking for.  Perhaps that's an early indicator of senility, but whatchagonna do?  Anyways, toward the bottom of the page, there was a link to their "daily poll."  The poll question was/is:

 

Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story didn't make this year's Best Documentary Oscar shortlist; are you surprised?

 

And the possible responses were limited to these:

• Definitely-I thought it was a guaranteed nominee.
• I'm surprised- I thought it would win the Oscar.
• I'm not surprised at all since I don't think it was a good film.
• I'm not surprised because it sounds more like a publicity move on the part of the Academy.
• I'm more surprised that Anvil! The Story of Anvil, Crude, or another movie didn't make the shortlist.
• I'll be surprised if it isn't nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

I am personally disappointed that the following responses didn't occur to the pollsters at imdb:

• Is Michael Moore still breathing our air?
• The number of people who consider Michael Moore relevant, including even those in the Academy, could sit comfortably in a one-seat outhouse.  He is so three years ago.
• You couldn't pay me to sit through 5 minutes of his America-hating propaganda, unless of course the feature ended with his disembowelment...like Braveheart, except for real, y'know?
• Seriously, is Michael Moore still breathing our air?

Conversely though, they did give me an idea for today's blog-effort.  A poll, kiddoes!

I'll be mounting (good choice of words, considering the possible responses) a poll in the sidebar with the following query: I've written a screenplay to remake my favorite dinosaur movie "1 Million Years B.C."  If you were hired as the casting agent, who would you have play Raquel Welch's part?

Bonus question for extra credit!  I will be gratuitously including the cat-fight scene in my version, so feel free to nominate your "runner-up" or a write-in candidate in the comments section for this role.

Imperative that all recommendations maintain a respectful nod to Ms. Welch!

Thanks.

Here's a very cool way to say thank you to our men & women in harm's way.  Send them a card.  It can take as little as ten seconds to send.  You won't know the name (or anything else) about the recipient, but you are allowed to endorse the card with your name and hometown, and add a brief message of thanks, support, or encouragement.

http://www.letssaythanks.com/

The program is sponsored by Xerox, and the designs on the cards are from those created by American schoolchildren.  It took me a bit longer to select a card, because I looked at every single one before picking one from (I think) a ten-year-old from Jacksonville, NC.

It's free.  I did it.  I believe you should, too.

Pinin' 4 Austex...UPDATED!

Kinda wishin' I could teleport myself straight back to the Broken Spoke.



You ain't lived until you've played (or at least witnessed) some Chicken Shit Bingo at Ginny's.  Tip o' the cap to the FCB and the FFC.

The KSM madness regenerates itself

It seems that the more indefensible an action is by this administration, the faster the loony left moves to actually defend it.  Proof that no matter how wrong and potentially disastrous putting KSM in a federal courtroom is, there are people out there insane enough (or intoxicated enough on the fumes of their "movement"), that they'll still carry O!Bummer's water.  I really expected them be sitting this argument out, as if saying, "Okaaaayyyy, you're on your own here, dipshit."

But, as Sister Toldjah reports, AG Holder has the nerve to call those of us who oppose this foolishness "cowards."  As does perpetual leg-tingler Moulitsas.  The Sister, quoting Andrew McCarthy's rebuke (National Review Online), however...

That is, Pres. Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, experienced litigators, fully realize that in civilian court, the Qaeda quintet can and will demand discovery of mountains of government intelligence. They will demand disclosures about investigative tactics; the methods and sources by which intelligence has been obtained; the witnesses from the intelligence community, the military, and law enforcement who interrogated witnesses, conducted searches, secretly intercepted enemy communications, and employed other investigative techniques. They will attempt to compel testimony from officials who formulated U.S. counterterrorism strategy, in addition to U.S. and foreign intelligence officers. As civilian “defendants,” these war criminals will put Bush-era counterterrorism tactics under the brightest public spotlight in American legal history.


This is exactly what President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder know will happen. And because it is unnecessary to have this civilian trial at all, one must conclude that this is exactly what Obama and Holder want to see happen.

This post of hers is far better and more thorough than anything I could submit on the subject.  So please swing by her place (and the link to the National Review article) and read the rest.  Obama's base is composed of those who salivate over a weakened America.  This is Obama playing to his base.

Note To Self

Use in correct proportions: (2) ears + (2) eyes + (1) mouth.

Just for the fun of it.

Less talk, more Gourds.

"...was in danger of being trampled by a dwarf"- Nigel Tufnel

I usually just let my voice in this forum substitute for any "petition" that I'd consider signing, and have seldom included my name on such. The following represents a rare exception. In fact, since I am pretty sure my name and the product of this blog are already on the snitch-list in the White House, signing a petition is certainly redundant. I done it anyhow.

The Coward-In-Chief has seen fit to bring Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the admitted architect of the 9/11 attacks, to New York...to be tried in Federal Court. There is absolutely zero logical justification for this. No legal justification, either. The bad outweighs the good in this decision so disproportionately, it's insulting.

Tim Sumner and Debra Burlingame (siblings of two 9/11 victims) wrote this petition, and I encourage you to add your name. It's a relatively long letter, so you'll have to read the rest after the jump. But consider the fact that it isn't nearly as long as that 1900 page "healthcare" nonsense that your representatives won't read. I read it and signed it (the petition, dummy, not the socialized medicine moonbattery). You should do so as well.

November 9, 2009

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear
President Obama:

On September 11, 2001, the entire world watched as 19 men hijacked four commercial airliners, attacking passengers and killing crew members, and then turned the fully-fueled planes into missiles, flying them into the World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 3,000 of our fellow human beings died in two hours. The nation’s commercial aviation system ground to a halt. Lower Manhattan was turned into a war zone, shutting down the New York Stock Exchange for days and causing tens of thousands of residents and workers to be displaced. In nine months, an estimated 50,000 rescue and recovery workers willingly exposed themselves to toxic conditions to dig out the ravaged remains of their fellow citizens buried in 1.8 million tons of twisted steel and concrete.

The American people were rightly outraged by this act of war. Whether the cause was retribution or simple recognition of our common humanity, the words “Never Forget” were invoked in tearful or angry rectitude, defiantly written in the dust of Ground Zero or humbly penned on makeshift memorials erected all across the land. The country was united in its determination that these acts should not go unmarked and unpunished.

"We're not just going to shoot the bastards...

...we're going to cut out their living guts. And use them to grease the treads of our tanks." -General George Patton

In an update to the previous, but which deserves its own space, allow me to present The Warrior Song.

Y'all no doubt recall how supportive I am of the Warrior Legacy Foundation.



It's a video-heavy kinda day at the Livermush Command Center! Happy Veterans' Day!

Hoo-ahh, indeed!

Thanks to my friends at Blackfive.

"Pour it on 'em, men! Let 'em have it!"

Even if it's only lip-service coming from the political left, or a photo-op for the ditherer-in-chief, we still have a day set aside for saying thanks to our Veterans. And that's a good thing.

And we still have brave men and women placing themselves in harm's way for our benefit. We can watch ball-games, and hug up on our honeys and go on unsuccessful grouse-hunts and ride horses and send out marketing emails (to companies that went bankrupt weeks ago) and rake leaves and write in our usually irrelevant (in my case) blog and think ahead to who's coming for Christmas, all because of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen fighting and winning scrapes, battles, wars, and police-actions. And that's a good thing.

This morning, I signed in to my blog and noticed I had a new "follower": The Unclogged Blog. She posted the following on her blog, and I pilfered it shamelessly. To Lakota: Tell your Gunney to keep his head down, and that the Livermush guy says "thanks."

It is the
VETERAN,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.


It is the
VETERAN who
salutes the Flag,


It is
the
VETERAN
who serves
under the Flag,


I thank God for each and every United States Veteran. Their sacrifice for freedom is more than I deserve.

I swear to God, and to all who may read this, my children are being raised to hold Veterans in the places of highest honor and respect.

It makes me ashamed to see lazy people who don't have the fortitude to stand and salute those who made it possible for them to be apathetic & disrespectful.

I have seen men like the gentleman in the wheelchair cry at the sight of fellow servicemen. They weep for reasons most of us cannot understand or fathom, yet there are too many who don't even care to imagine the costs of sacrifice.

Please take time to thank a Veteran! Go visit a Veteran or even send them a card if you can't make it. Show them you are proud to be an American and thankful for the freedom their service protected!

To all Veterans: my eternal, humble, solemn and devoted gratitude.

30 YEARS(!) of appeasement still doesn't work

My first thought on seeing the Youtube video box below with the heading "Obama admits he is a Muslim" was that among the 9:57 worth of recording, there would be one short quip that could be taken a number of ways. I figured it'd be one ten-minute speech that contained a minor mis-phrasing.

Au contraire, mon frere.

And, although I was pretty critical regarding most of his campaign rhetoric (Afghanistan, economy, Gitmo, his proximity to Ayers/Wright/Soros/Dorhn/ad infinitum, his questionable allegiance), I pretty much accepted his assertion that he was a Christian. Having watched the evidence collected in this 10min video montage, there is no question now that every claim that he is, or ever was, anything but a Muslim, is a facade.

For those friends, neighbors, and relatives of mine who've chosen to give him a pass on so many of the cringe-worthy things I've written and spoken about, how do you watch the words come out of this man's mouth and then stick your heads back in the sand?



Wednesday sadly marked the 30-year anniversary of the first Islamic terror attack on US soil: Iranian Muslims stormed the American embassy, and held American diplomats hostage for 444 days. The central point in Thursday's shooting spree at Ft. Hood was not that the shooter was a psychiatrist, but that he is a Muslim. He didn't go nuts; he was making a religious and political statement. He's a terrorist. If you're a terrorist sympathizer (or apologist), you are a terrorist.

Again to my friends, neighbors, and relatives: Watch the video and please tell me what part of you still endorses this bastard. At what point does campaign rhetoric, and the veracity therein, or lack thereof, cross a line with you? Methinks that a man's faith has got to be an unwavering constant, and that misrepresentation on that point, for the sake of political expediance must, absolutely must, be a last straw for you, finally.

Hat-tip to Robert at American & Proud.

UPDATE: Read about other radical militant muslims who were enlisted soldiers in our own military from Michelle Malkin, and notably the following quotes from this terrorist:

There was a grenade thrown amongs a group of American soldiers. One of the soldiers, feeling that it was to late for everyone to flee jumped on the grave with the intention of saving his comrades. Indeed he saved them. He inentionally took his life (suicide) for a noble cause i.e. saving the lives of his soldier. To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate. Its more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause. Scholars have paralled this to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory. Their intention is not to die because of some despair. The same can be said for the Kamikazees in Japan. They died (via crashing their planes into ships) to kill the enemies for the homeland. You can call them crazy i you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. So the scholars main point is that “IT SEEMS AS THOUGH YOUR INTENTION IS THE MAIN ISSUE” and Allah (SWT) knows best.

"Revenge of the normal"

Let's check the score. In New Jersey, with a knee-jerk-to-the-Left populace, and the Ostrich Media firmly in the tank for the Democratic candidate, and O!Bummer campaigning ardently, no not just campaigning, but campaigning so hard that some folks thought that Obama himself was the incumbent Governor ...for the Democrat, and the Donkey outspending the Elephant 3 to 1, conservative Republican Chris Christy thumped Liberal Democrat Jon Corzine. Christy not only beat Corzine, but did so in spite of an Independent third candidate (that touted himself as conservative) bleeding off some Christy votes. Christy beat Corzine in every demographic.

If you've long since grown sick and tired of the Big Zero's (Obama's) endless campaigning, are you as happy as me this A.M. that he's finally getting the "referendum" he's been looking for?

If 8% of NY-23's voters hadn't pulled the lever for Scuzzy (who refused to drop out of the race) just because she still had the "R" after her name, not to mention the misinformed of her supporters who were duped into voting for Owens based on her endorsement, Hoffman would have trounced Owens. And the Virginia Governor's race decided by nearly 20%? In spite of more Obama campaigning?

Okay, okay, okay. This is your messiah...this is your messiah's big-government schemes...(SPLAT!)...Any questions?

I am so doing the ridiculously embarrassing happy dance this morning.

And, oh yeah...Hey, O!Bummer. I've read where someone suggested that you were waiting on these elections to play out before making a decision to follow Gen. McCrystal's request for more troops. Can you please now man-up, get the fuck out of the way, endorse the troop surge, and let better men than you go finish the job in Afghanistan?

You need a win, dipshit.

And speaking of RINOs: Allahpundit

Not "Johnny come lately" actually, but Johnny won't STFU.

I've been following the Scozzafava/Hoffman/RNC wrangling and mostly just trying to maintain a sense of objectivity. It rankles me that folks out there could even elect the Snowes and Specters of the world, even simply knowing that they pose as one thing and behave as the opposite of that thing (and once we've witnessed any one person doing this, to any extent in our own lives, don't we stop trusting them?). But it troubles me far more that the Republican party continues to rhetorically and financially support these RINOs, based only upon the value of an "R" after their names.

I dropped in over at Hot Air this morning, to see if I could figure out what measure of justification Allahpundit had found for his support of the giant Mosque that desecrates the memory of the Flight 93 heroes. I didn't get that far, but I did read his report that Newt has decided to back Hoffman.

Newt.

It might have been a real story, Allahpundit, if Newt had said, "I've finally come to the realization that Dem-Lite, in the hearts and minds of honest Constitution-loving Americans, doesn't really mean Republican." Instead, bandwagon-Newt only wants to be on the winning side, pretending that anyone would even consider letting him drive the wagon. I won't call him a Johnny come lately, I call him irrelevant. And by your excuses for him, you appear to A) fail to recognize that fleeting relevance, and B) prove your own diminishing significance (or worse, your complicity).

Contrary to what Newt thinks (and what you think he thinks, Allahpundit), the strategic value of electing, or backing for election, a rabidly liberty-eating RINO like Scozzafava does nothing to help retake America from the Socialists and apologists and appeasers.

I didn't find anything that told me why you smeared Alec Rawls in support of the terrorists' memorial, but I found enough to show me which side you're not on. When Newt laid down with Gore and Sharpton and Scozzafava, I knew wherein his sympathies aligned. And with your defense of him, your inclinations are now abundantly clear, too. What troubles me, now, is what rationalization does MM have for for a continued association with you?

In a world where liberty and freedom are threatened on every side, a policy of going along to get along is akin to arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

You called Newt her "most prominent Republican supporter." You should print a retraction/correction that clarifies thusly: Newt and Allahpundit are Scozzofava's biggest co-losers, and no repositioning at this point can't change that. To be sure, there was a prominent Republican who weighed in from Alaska, but the force of her stalwart support wasn't as laudable as Newt-come-lately's? Scozzofava quickly climbed into bed with her opponent(!) Owens, and you snuggle up with Newt. Birds of a feather.

News flash: Newt wasn't, and isn't, either prominent or Republican.

'splorin the 'hood

Since I found myself in a picture-posting mood, thought I'd share these from riding near the house last week. This would be my idea of a good homesite
These next two are of the remains of an old house near Barrett's.

Mizzuz Johnson's husband and his horse simply make this scene.

Eh, or not. You be the judge.

Worth noting: Such images would not be possible aboard such a fidgety horse (Nockahoma), were it not for Canon's IS (image stabilization) lens. Thank you Canon for including that in an affordable 10MP digital camera. If the folks at Canon are reading this, I'm ready to talk sponsorship arrangement.

Apologies

If you've ever heard me apologize, and your sarcasm meter didn't peg in the red, you should have immediately taken your sarcasm meter in for a tune-up. That said, I apologize to all the NCSU fans for my lack of humility when it comes to Tar Heel superiority over your tractor college. For the record, I love tractors. I just don't think a tractor-school diploma is anything to get all puffy-chested about.

And for those Duke fans, I could feel sympathy for you that your institution hasn't yet fully acknowledged the time you spent practicing your "floor-slap" technique in Shushevskiville as a credit-worthy elective, but I don't.

I also want to apologize that y'all weren't allowed to appreciate the world of Carolina goodness, as I was, those many years ago...

Puttin' the biscuit in the basket

If you've been doing as you were told, you've been coming here on a daily basis and checking through my blogroll for updated nuggets, and at least clicking the Ann Coulter link on a weekly basis so some of her brilliance might rub off on you. Something tells me, though, you've been remiss. This is me...telling you. Consider this blog your vital FAVORITES FILE for kick-starting your websurfing. Don't make me come down there.

Case in point, if you haven't visited Miss Coulter's site recently, here's your chance to catch up. Last week, she tried to help the Obamination fit a difficult decision over troop-strength (and honoring the input of his chosen military expert) between rounds of golf:

The question of whether President Obama should send more troops to Afghanistan misses the point.

What Obama really needs to do is: Invent a time machine, go back to the 2008 presidential campaign and not say, over and over and over again, that Afghanistan was a "war of necessity" while the war in Iraq was a "war of choice." (Oh, and as long as you're back there, ditch Van Jones, Valerie Jarrett and that gay "school safety" czar.)

The most important part of warfare is picking your battlefield, and President Bush picked Iraq for a reason.

Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan attacked us on 9/11 -- or the dozen other times American embassies, barracks and buildings came under jihadist onslaught since Jimmy Carter presided over "regime change" in Iran in 1979. Both countries -- and others -- gave succor to terrorists who had attacked the U.S. repeatedly, and would do so again.

As liberals endlessly reminded us during the three weeks of war in Afghanistan before the U.S. military swept into Kabul, Afghanistan has all the makings of a military disaster. It is mountainous, cave-pocked, tribal, has no resources worth fighting for and a populace that makes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed look like Alistair Cooke.

By contrast, Iraq had a relatively educated, pro-Western populace, but was ruled by a brutal third-world despot.

It's always something with the Muslims. You either have mostly sane people governed by a crazy dictator -- Iraq, Iran and Syria (also California and Michigan) -- or a crazy people governed by relatively sane leaders -- Pakistan and Afghanistan, post-U.S. invasion (also Vermont and Minnesota). There are also insane people ruled by insane leaders (but enough about the House Democratic Caucus). Sane people with sane rulers has not been fully tried yet.

And this week, she (once again) takes Matthews and (my favorite whipping-boy of hers) Olbermann out behind the woodshed. This is Ann going five-hole on Keitheepoo:

Every informed student of the 1988 campaign knows that the Bush ad didn't show Horton's picture. And yet in Keith's discussion of Bush's allegedly vile, racist use of Willie Horton, he used a phony version of the ad, doctored to include a photo of Horton.

I don't blame Keith personally for this blatant distortion: He gets all his research material from Markos Moulitsas and other left-wing bloggers, so he can't be held responsible for the content of his show. Keith's principal contribution to the program is his nightly display of self-congratulation and pompous douche-baggery.

Remember, Keith, like his MSNBC colleague Contessa Brewer, majored in "communications" in college, not a research-related field, such as political science. In his coursework, he learned such skills as: Dramatically Turning to Camera, Hysterical Self-Righteousness, Pausing Portentously and Gravely Demanding Apologies/Resignations From Various Public Figures.

Given this background, it's understandable that Keith will make errors. As viewers witnessed recently, he can't even pronounce the name of prominent American economist and philosopher, Thomas Sowell. (Although he did spend three weeks at a Berlitz course in Arabic honing his pronunciation of "Abu Ghraib" to razor-sharp prissiness.)

The bloggers and Keith bring different skill sets to the game. They provide the tendentious half-truths, phony opinion polls and spurious social science, while Keith provides his booming baritone, gigantic "Guys and Dolls" suits and gift for ridiculous, fustian grandiloquence. Keith is far better equipped than, say, the pint-sized, girly-voiced, Frito Bandito-accented Markos Moulitsas to deliver the party line.

But here's the fly in the ointment: Keith has once again been victimized by left-wing blogs into thinking that the 1988 Bush ad showed Willie Horton's picture, when in fact, Horton's race was deliberately scrubbed from the ad.

Again, in fairness to Keith, he's never been a "content guy." He was a communications major. (The agriculture school Keith attended offered a degree in this field.) He lifts the material for his show from liberal blogs, overwrites it, and throws in his trademark smirking and snorts. But that's all he does because, again, he was a communications major.

When you read Ann Coulter's work (and why don't you have Godless on your nightstand?) you can't help but be better-informed. You'll get a chuckle out of how masterfully she beats down the Ostrich Media, but you'll also glean wisdom worthy of Krauthammer, and likely be a better person for it. The text above represents only a portion of her those weekly essays. Click the respective links for the full articles. Yes, reading is not as effortless as listening to Oprah or The View. But, your time will be much, much more well-spent.

The Sports Report

I'm just now getting around to this. What a tough week it was, through Sunday, for sports teams who were unlucky enough to have me rooting for them!

A short sequence that included a holding call that negated a touchdown pass, an interception that crushed another promising drive and the ensuing play where a defender inexplicably slipped, all conspired to upend the Tar Heel football squad's fortunes. A third-quarter, 18-point advantage vaporized, and perhaps with it any confident hopes for bowl eligibility. This one will sting for a long time.

The Hockey-Hurricanes lost two overtime games on the road. Fantastic that they picked up a couple of points for the regulation ties, but both games could have been victories. Those two points that went unearned will prove regrettable come playoff-race time. I can't quite put my finger on it with these guys. Doesn't seem like they're all pulling together, or in the same direction, every night. Not sure if that's coaching or rather a question of all those guys having the same level of want-to each night.

The game that kicked my ass, though, was the Panthers on Sunday. Joke DelHominy just ain't got the grits. He is, by himself, responsible for two losses. Before that game his QB rating was 33rd in the league. Think about that. There were 32 starting QB's better than him and one scrub better than him. If there has ever been the epitome of one game being the proverbial last straw, the scenario Delhomme found himself in Sunday just had to be it: Before this game, he's the worst there is...and he gets even worse by throwing 3 interceptions.

Jake is probably the most likeable guy on the team, and the fact that his teammates rise to his defense is admirable. But, he can't play the position because A) he can't throw the football, and B) he won't throw the ball where only his receiver can catch it (or away).

If he had four wide-receivers named Steve Smith, he'd still manage to screw the pooch at least twice a game. The nuances of being on the same cerebral plane (and how did those two disparate personalities ever acheive that?) are fickle. The ad-libbing that they were sometimes memerizingly great at, just isn't dependable enough to win with any consistancy.

Of course, that makes you wonder what the hell is going on with the coaching staff. Am I the only one that slings the remote across the room after...?

• Possession One: 3 running plays earn a first down, followed by 2 running plays, then an incomplete pass on third and two, followed by a punt
• Possession Two: Incomplete pass, incomplete pass, incomplete pass. Punt.

Fox and Davidson have to know this guy is incapable of playing the position. Every defensive coordinator that has ever coached a game is telling his team, "the thing that will win us this game is if we get the Panthers to put the ball in Delhomme's hands. Even if they're successful in their running game, some force of idiocy will inspire them to actually want to throw the ball." Fox/Davidson abandoning the running game (the one thing they're good at) isn't a matter of if, but when.

The O-line is great at run-blocking, but look like the Keystone Kops every pass play. For the love of George Halas, Fox, let them numbnuts do what they're good at! Quit trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

For the past two years, the best quarterback in the state of North Carolina has been Armanti Edwards at Appalachian. That includes all the D-1 schools and the Panthers' entire roster. Here's a revolutionary idea for you: Cut Delhomme immediately (so there's no temptation to revisit that failed experiment) and run the Wildcat exclusively. Take turns letting DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith, and Julius Peppers receive the snap. They may not win any games, but they'd be a lot of fun to watch, contrary to what we're getting now. And before you whine, "...Oh but, once you remove the receiving threat of Steve Smith, defenses will put 10 in the box, and you'll never get anywhere...blah, blah, blah"...consider the fact that Travelle Wharton has a QB-rating roughly the same as Delhomme's. That is, anybody on the team is more threatening to a defense, throwing-arm-wise, that the Bum from Beaux Bridge. Cut him and draft Edwards.

Want one more very good reason to shit-can Jake? Here 'tis: In today's Observer, Tom (worst sportswriter ever) Sorensen offers the headline : Let's give Jake one more shot (I try to never read past his headlines any more, thanks to lots of, ahem, "teachable moments"). Okay Sorensen, but only if that shot is in a 1.5oz glass, in a bar on the way outta town.

My new Panthers cheer: Geaux Jake! And take Sorensen with you!

The only thing I enjoyed for having wasted that much time in front of the TV? Ford Trucks' new commercial that tries to rag on Chevy and Dodge trucks. "Our Ford trucks have Smart Truck technology...they'll help you if you get lost or lose your tools, and they'll provide voice-recognition that helps you play all your favorite lite-rock hits from the 80's. Don't forget our man-step, too!" I'll bet they dump the King Ranch version in favor of a sponsorship arrangement with a beer company that markets their products in cans that change color when the contents are at the appropriate temperature.

A feller you'd like to know

I was immediately convinced post-9/11, that winning a war in Afghanistan was a necessity. And that fighting and winning in Iraq would undoubtedly be necessary, eventually, too. And I also, very quickly, considered the same might hold true for Pakistan and Iran and Yemen and Somalia, because there are people in those places who've been taught the value of blaming and hating us for decades, specifically those young men from the Madrassas. I knew then, and have not changed my thinking since, that our war against terrorism will be an unflinching battle that will take decades, itself. And if we mistakenly elect so-called leaders who vacillate on that point, the real fighting will take that much longer to bear fruit.

And I know how unpopular that notion is: a war on many fronts that lasts longer than a Pocket Fisherman infomercial, and longer than a season of American Idol, and a Presidential term, and a new car, and the birth-to-adulthood generation of your children. But, like it or not, I accepted the truth of the matter. There is a religious war. It was (un)declared on my country and my culture and everyone else who refuses to acknowledge and accept Islam. And, any Muslims who have not yet distanced themselves from their radical brethren aren't just peaceful bystanders. They're along for the ride, and will happily stake a land-claim on your vacated country after you've been routed on your own trail of tears to an infidel's reservation.

I didn't know Uncle Jimbo back then, and have only enjoyed the benefit of his work since launching my own blog (and the ensuing search for like-minded people). He just reposted this video. I like it so well, I'm posting it also.



Here's a hypothetical scenario. Let's say you're a Dakota Sioux American Indian, and people who practice the Religion Of Peace, Christianity, have started murdering other tribes over their unwillingness to conform or assimilate to Christianity. Would you not want to be forewarned of that impending danger? How loudly or authoritatively would you, Miss Dakota Sioux American Indian lady, need to be shaken from your stupor, to pull you away from the Oprah channel long enough to read the smoke signals? Would you suggest that there's plenty of time for someone else to do something to stop those Christians' schemes? Would you just pretend it's just a matter of extending them more tolerance and understanding?

Consider yourself warned.

Sorry

Get well soon, Darcy Tucker.

It's war, candy-ass, not tiddlywinks

Very briefly, because I'm busy with trying to shake some new clients off the new-client tree, I'd like to relay a measure of rememberance. Today is the 26th Anniversary of those terrorist murders of 241 of our Marines and Sailors in Beirut. To those who gave their lives that day, and those friends and family members who grieve, my eternal gratitude for your willingness to stand in the way of those who wish harm upon my country.

I'm feeling a sadness today, brought on by that memory and the very real fear that our country is being led down a path of vulnerability from which we will not return, or even survive.

For those who would like a photo essay on the difference between a Commander in Chief and a Coward in Chief, please see my friends at Flopping Aces. If you've come to grasp the concept of cause and effect, that is, that leadership (and of course, the lack thereof) has its rewards and consequences, then you'll join me in a prayer of thanks for those in our Military and for effective leadership like President Bush, and another prayer that we survive the current state of our exposed underbelly. Very enlightening, and poignant. It'd be funny if it weren't so sad.

Anybody else sick of the fact that the current adminstration can orchestrate an effective war on Fox News, but can't man up on the job for which they were elected?

BLOGBURST: Regarding the official construction documents

Construction drawings released: Flight 93 crescent now points less than 3° from Mecca



From Error Theory:

The original Crescent of Embrace memorial to Flight 93 faced less than 2° from Mecca. That made it a mihrab, the Mecca-direction indicator around which every mosque is built. (Some mihrabs are pointed-arch shaped, but the classic mihrab is crescent shaped.)

The Park Service dismissed concern about the Mecca-oriented crescent on grounds that the construction drawings had not yet been finalized. “Those trees could move fifty feet, or three hundred feet,” said Project Manager Jeff Reinbold in the Spring of 2006, as if this kind of "tweaking" would make any difference (Crescent of Betrayal Ch.8 p.145-6).

The construction drawings have now been released, and yes, they moved the lower tip of the half-mile wide crescent about 300 feet, enough to change the orientation of the crescent by about 4.5°. Instead of pointing less than 2° north of Mecca, the giant Islamic-shaped crescent now points less than 3° south of Mecca.

Here is the original Crescent of Embrace:


"Qibla" is the direction to Mecca, which you can verify using any online Mecca-direction calculator (just type in Somerset PA). A person standing between the tips of the giant crescent and facing into the center of the crescent (red arrow) would be facing 1.8° north of Mecca, ± 0.1°.

Here is one of the new construction drawings:


Instead of facing a titch north of Mecca, the giant crescent now faces a titch south of Mecca (2.7° south ± 0.1°).

As with the original Crescent design, the upper crescent tip is the end of the 50’ tall Entry Portal Wall and the lower crescent tip is the last of the 50’ tall Maple trees on the bottom. The landscape overlays make the details hard to see in the thumbnail image above, but at full resolution they are fully legible. (Copy of source PDF, without the superimposed orientations lines here. Large file warning. Graphic is on p. 30 of 233.)


The Park Service was SUPPOSED to remove the Islamic symbol shapes

When architect Paul Murdoch’s winning Crescent of Embrace design was announced in September 2005, it appeared to show a bare naked Islamic crescent and star-flag planted atop the crash site:



Burned by the resulting firestorm of protest, the Park Service to agreed to get rid of the Islamic symbol shapes, but they never did. They added an extra arc of trees, and they call it a broken circle now, but the unbroken part of the circle, what symbolically remains standing in the wake of 9/11, is still a giant Islamic shaped crescent.

This is explained on the Park Service's own website, where the extra arc of trees is explicitly described as a broken off part of the circle:

In summary, the memorial is shaped in a circular fashion, and the circle is symbolically "broken" or missing trees in two places, depicting the flight path of the plane, and the crash site.

Those two breaks are the two ends of the extra arc of trees:


The extra arc of trees extends from blue circle to blue circle, marking the two “breaks” in the circle referred to in the Park Service’s official explanation of the broken-circle design. One is where the flight path breaks the circle (left), the other is near the crash site (center).

What is symbolically left standing (the unbroken part of the circle) is just this:


Remove the symbolically broken off parts, and you get the original Crescent of Embrace design.

The only change is that the crescent has now been rotated clockwise a few degrees. In the construction plans it faces slightly south of Mecca instead of slightly north of Mecca. For a parallel, imagine airline security discovering a terror bomber, then playing with the fit his suicide vest before escorting him to his plane.

They said they were going to remove the giant crescent. They claim they HAVE removed it, but they haven't. Symbolically, the design remains completely unchanged. The terrorists are still depicted as smashing our peaceful circle and turning it into a giant Islamic-shaped crescent, still pointing to Mecca.


The giant crescent is actually a mihrab

Here is the mihrab at the Great Mosque in Cordoba Spain. Face into the crescent to face Mecca, just like the crescent memorial to Flight 93:



Confronted with evidence that the Crescent of Embrace is actually designed to be the world's largest mosque, the Park Service sought advice from a pair of Muslim scholars. Both acknowledged the almost exact Mecca-orientation of the giant crescent and both offered overtly dishonest excuses for it. One said not to worry about the likeness to an Islamic mihrab because no one has ever seen a mihrab this BIG before:

...most mihrabs are small, rarely larger than the figure of a man, although some of the more ornamental ones can be larger, but nothing as large at the crescent found in the site design. It is unlikely that most Muslims would walk into the area of the circle/crescent and see a mihrab because it is well beyond their limit of experience.

Right. That's why everybody scratches their head at Mt. Rushmore. No one has ever seen Abraham Lincoln so BIG before. They just can't figure it out.

To be fooled by this excuse, you have to really really want to be fooled. The other Muslim scholar said not to worry, the crescent cannot be seen as mihrab unless it points exactly at the Kaaba:

Mihrab orientation is either correct or not. It cannot be off by some degrees.

In fact, a mihrab does NOT have to point exactly at Mecca, for the simple reason that, throughout most of Islamic history, Muslims in far-flung parts of the world had no accurate way to determine the direction to Mecca. As a result, it was established as a matter of religious principle that what matters is intent to face Mecca. This was recently affirmed by Saudi religious authorities, after Meccans realized that even most of their local mosques do not face directly towards the Kaaba. “It does not affect the prayers” assured the Islamic Affairs Ministry.

Faced with evidence of an Islamic plot, why would the Park Service send this evidence exclusively to Muslims for appraisal? Have they forgotten who attacked us on 9/11?

The Service has long since been apprised of the patent dishonesties retailed by its two Muslim advisors but they don't care. They wanted to be lied to, they knew where to go to be lied to, and they got what they wanted.

Proud infidel refuses to submit to allah

The Crescent of Insult Project Marches On

Can you imagine the justifiable horror if 19 Baptists plotted against and killed 2996 citizens of, say, Yemen?

And, how much worse would it be if somehow some radical Baptist-sympathying element in Yemen then also tried to commission a structure to memorialize the victims and the killers, and submitted a design resembling a giant baptismal font? Yemeni-friendly folks the world over (not to mention more than a few non-Baptists) would have a colossal bug up their collective butt. And every (ahem!) journalist from Taterhill to Timbuktu would be climbing over each other for their own version of the "local angle."

Paul Murdoch, architect from Beverly Hills, CA was responsible for the design of the Flight 93 Memorial project, originally named "The Crescent of Embrace." His unadmitted goal is to complete the mission of those four terrorists, which would have been otherwise thwarted by the efforts by the passengers aboard Flight 93: a victory for islamic terrorism.

On September 11, 2001, United Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field, after some of its passengers, who had been in cell-phone communication with loved ones on the ground and being informed of the recently attacked World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, decided to die fighting, if necessary, trying to divert this plane from the fourth target.

Paul Murdoch received his Master's Degree in Architecture from UCLA specializing in Middle Eastern subjects. His website has this to say regarding their philosophy:

As architects, we are uniquely qualified to help formulate and translate policy into tangible form; mitigating pressures of urbanity with the need to heal the natural environment. Each design solution is seen as a contribution to the human condition; as it exists today and evolves into future generations.

What a steaming pile of runny post-TexMex! "Uniquely qualified to formulate and translate policy"? "Heal the natural environment"? As if the natural environment is flawed, or sick? You're a doctor for the blighted land, or maybe a faith healer? This all sounds way too self-important to me. They're also self-affirmed LEED professionals, which stands for "forced subjugation to climate-warming-hoax mania as a method to justify our inflated fees under the guise of a perceived 'greater collective good'" Murdoch and his gang are a bunch or modern-day Ellsworth Tooheys.

If the memorial gets built as it is currently designed, and you go visit there someday to pay your respects to those 40 heroes, you will be standing in a Mosque. Your intention may be to honor the Americans who died in the first battle against islamic terrorism, but you would be unwittingly paying homage to the murderers.



At right, you'll see a picture of the Tower Of Voices, which is also in the shape of a crescent, and which is also a sundial that accurately marks the time for a muslim's afternoon prayers.

The forty chimes in the tower are representative of 40 damned souls suspended in mockery from Heaven. After all, those 40 passengers kept the terrorists from becoming martyrs and are infidels to Murdoch and other muslim sympathizers.


The best way to make sure that the worst that can happen does happen, is to sit there and do nothing to stop it. For my part, I will speak out in opposition, and encourage others to do likewise.

You can't eat your principles

I declined the biggest project I've ever been offered.

Tuesday, October 6

I suspect that this post may evolve into a small series of essays, as it takes shape...so here would be the first installment...

Today, I sent an email to a potential client, declining work whereupon he'd asked me to quote my services. I've never turned down work, so this was a first.

Since shortly before the 2008 election, the trickle of work to my business had dried up. I had a little ray of sunshine in March, which I'd hoped was a trend of better days to come, but proved to be only a blip on the radar screen. In about a three-week span this March, I got 5 projects to work on. I performed the work on all of them, and all but one of those clients paid me. Since that time, however, and until the last week of August, there was nothing.

Then, some of my tireless marketing efforts began to bear fruit. I got a project in NH (which I'm still fighting to get paid for), then two more in PA, then two in TX, and two more in Texas...and then I got a reply from another company in PA, to which I had sent a request that they consider my company to fill a void in their estimating workforce. They'd like me to look at a job called "The Flight 93 Memorial."

On my blogger profile, I say that my profession is "Dirt Counter", but more specifically, I perform quantities analysis on construction projects, some of them very large. A client sends me the paper plans and/or an AutoCAD file, and I analyze the proposed finished product versus the existing "lay-of-the-land" and calculate the amount of earthwork involved. Those people I work for, then apply their own costs and profit margins to the amount of work required, and bid (or negotiate) the construction contract. I invested thousands of dollars on the software to process these calculations, and thousands of hours making individual contact with potential clients. I've helped my clients win projects in New York, Delaware, Florida, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and New Hampshire. I've introduced over 4000 different companies (one at a time) to my services and abilities.

This year, I've barely fended off the collections and foreclosures, and lived mostly on favors from family. So, it is particularly hard to reject work, any work, for any reason. For most of my projects, the invoices range from $450 -$1,000, but for this one, as I looked it over (238 plans sheets) my proposal would have been $5800. But this morning, I sent the following note to my would-be client declining to perform the work. Names changed for the purpose of guarding their anonymity...

["Steve"],

I truly wanted to win your company's takeoff business, but I think I should politely decline this project. Based on what I had read before Mr. ["Smith"] asked me to consider doing this work, and the research I've done in the brief time since, the nature of the memorial's design is a personal affront to me as a patriotic American.

I view those people who died trying to retake control of Flight 93 as heroes for having diverted the plane from a fourth symbolic target. And I suspect that the symbolic weight of the memorial's resemblance to an islamic mosque is the architect's complicity in finishing that mission.

It is fair to say that, "if I do not do this work, someone else will..." But, I do not accept that as validation for contributing to what I feel is a heinous perversion. Perhaps that is your company's rationale for bidding the work. Or perhaps, without the architect's proven or confessed intent, someone involved in the execution of the work (like you or me) can always claim ignorance regarding the design's symbolism. Apparently you and your company have found some justification for proceeding, but I can't square it in my own heart. If the symbolism were reflective of the Jewish Star of David or even the Dallas Cowboys' star, I'd have no reservations at all. I've read that unprompted muslims viewing the artistic rendering immediately identify the drawing as a mosque. That's enough for me.

And for me, it is no less sinister than the notion of chiseling out Teddy Roosevelt's face on Mt. Rushmore to be replaced by Bin Laden's, in an effort to appease the terrorists and those who would do harm to me and my countrymen.

Please, if you have better information than I do, I urge you to share it. The project is more grand in scope than any on which I've worked before, and I'd cherish the opportunity to contribute to something worthy of the victims' sacrifice.

Lastly, I apologize for dragging my feet on this response. I wrestled with my conscience over the decision, and finally came to the conclusion that I'd rather go hungry than abandon my principles. I would say good luck on the job, but if I'm right, I hope your company similarly walks away from it, and it doesn't get built according to it's current design. Personally, if it only takes one person saying "No!" to keep it from happening, then I'll be proud to make that financial sacrifice.

Witness photos of the plans on my digitizing table...

There were a number of articles I had read before being asked to help with the project, but I hadn't exactly bookmarked any of them, and had to try and retrace my steps from memory. Like so many things we read, my initial reaction on reading them was that there was no way such a design would pass scrutiny through to the implementation stage. But it looks like I was as naive as everyone else on this point.

My research on this included the National Parks website, CNN's reportage (sorely uncritical, as you might imagine), and fellow bloggers:

• Flopping Aces
• Michelle Malkin
• Error Theory

The offensively named "Crescent" has been re-labeled "Allee" and the original design, reported to have included 44 glass blocks (40 of them for the passengers plus four for the terrorists!) has evolved into forty "STONE SLABS WITH NAME INSCRIPTIONS" instead.

More on this soon. Construction is slated to begin within one month...

Weekend adventures

I awoke Friday morning with the first symptoms of what I'll call the Flying Pig Flu. So named because I never get sick...as often as pigs fly...and reminiscent of the recent health scares they've been warning you about: the bird flu and then the swine flu. In spite of a sore throat, I finished a new project for a new client (woo-hoo!) then got out and did a very pleasant trail ride from near the house.These first three pix are a semi-panorama from above and behind (about 700 yards) mi casa. Click for enlargement.

The leaf colors are just beginning to change, and should really be popping into all their fall glory in the next 3-4 weeks.

Our ride was to Barrett's Mountain, which is about 90 degrees clockwise from this view. My grandfather used to take his family, which included my Dad's family of six and my aunt's family of six for a tractor ride (pulling a flatbed sled for all of us to ride on) every summer...before there was any pavement on the mountian. Actually, I'm not sure the youngest of my siblings and cousins ever got to make this ride, since Pa passed away when I was about 9. I barely remember it, myself.

I'm pretty sure we took a watermelon or three. I definitely remember Pa, though, and how much he loved it. I can see his big smile now, like it was yesterday.

Speaking of family, on Saturday we got to spend the day helping to make molasses. On the trailer there, you'll see some very juicy sugar-cane. So juicy, in fact, that we had a hefty surplus after getting the boiler full. See if you can identify the "Cane Boss" in the above photo.

The molasses as it begins cooking.

Cane Boss-in-training studies the nuances of cane-steam...mesmorized by their hypnotic dance. Photographer mesmorized by cane-boss-in-training.

Dont' ask when it's ready. The cane will tell you when it's ready.

The dinner-bell rang for some venison-shoulder stew. Best ever. The cook is an absolute master.

It's been said that unless you spill some (over-heat and boil it over the top), that it won't be any good. Well, we had a tiny amount of spillage, but no over-boil. Gas heat is the way to go. Used to be, cooking with a wood fire below the vat, if you got it too hot and it boiled over, you'd have to "pull the fire out", and in a by-god hurry. Many a caner got scorched by the overflowing lava of molasses.

One-quart jar of the finished product...talk about a cure for what ails ya...