Vets vs Pols

“When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state, while thousands note their passing, and proclaim that they were great. The papers tell of their life stories, from the time that they were young. But the passing of a Veteran goes unnoticed and unsung. Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of this land, Some jerk who breaks his promise and cons his fellow man? Or the ordinary fellow, who in time of war and strife, Goes off to serve his country and offers up his life?” A. Lawrence Vaincourt

Flag In A Pawn Shop

A nice Memorial Day tribute. Here

Reinvestment or Recovery?

I was in my car heading up the road to visit a neighbor this morning. And advertisem came on the radio suggesting the wisdom in keeping your gas tank above half full in case of emergency. Good advice I suppose if not obvious to most people. The gist was if the power went out or if there was some kind of emergency it would be advantageous to have gasoline in the car so one could move about if necessary. What really caught my attention was the ad was sponsored by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. I wondered if this was really something that needed to be invested in by the government and was it a worthy use of tax payers dollars? Someone obviously thought so, but it seemed to me an odd thing to be covered by that act which was supposed to do much more than buy radio ads and appears to have not happened the way it was designed, no matter the good intentions.

Oily Udders

I love Mark Steyn. He seldom lets me down. This is an utter delight.

Robin of Berkeley

I read Robin on the American Thinker fairly regularly. Yesterdays post can be found here. I have no disagreement with her premise.

How Many Guys Does It Take to Hang a TV On The Wall

I was in DC this past week for a conference. The main focus was political issues as they pertain to dentistry. During the conference we had a few speakers, some of whom were members of Congress. One of the speakers was Paul Gosar from Arizona. He was a practicing dentist who had to give up his practice when he ran for Congress. He told this story.

He had a TV that he wanted to have hung on the wall. He called the maintenance people in his office building. A guy showed up and asked him where he wanted it hung. He made a mark on the wall where the center of the TV would be. He left. A while later 2 other guys show up and measure from the mark to the point where the hanging brackets would be placed. They left. An hour later two different guys show up to put the brackets on the wall. He then offered to help them lift the TV in the brackets. They said, "No, that's not our job." Two other guys show up and set the TV in the brackets. He said to them, "Let's plug it in and see if it works." They declined indicating that wasn't their job. An electrician would come up to plug it in.

The electrician showed up and secured the power cord to the wall and plugged it in. Finally, the Congressman was able to turn it on to see if it worked. He said as a freshman Congressman it became readily apparent watching this process of what was wrong with Washington. It is obvious that it takes a lot of different people to hang up a TV.

The list:

1. A guy to do the mark

2. Guys to measure where the brackets will be

3. Guys to hang the brackets

4. Guys to put the TV in the brackets

5. A guy to plug it in.

Iowahawk

I don't get to read all of his stuff, but The Iowahawk has a fascinating sense of humor. His latest on the Bin Laden operation is PDG, pretty dang good. I know most of us are not shedding any tears for OBL, and probably not for his family either. But American Pride is at least coming back as described ably here.

The Man from Fargo

50 years ago on April 26, 1961 Roger Maris hit is first home run of a magical, yet tortuous baseball season. He hit 61 asteriskital (I made that word up I think) home runs that year. 30 of them were in Yankee Stadium and 31 were in the other ballparks in the American League. Now, this may not seem like a big deal in the steroidal age of baseball, but it was a big deal then. He was loved and hated by the fans and the baseball establishment. How dare someone approach the record of the beloved Babe Ruth. Well, Roger did it, and this past week marked the date of his first HR. He hit his next on May 3rd. I include some scans of a couple of the Maris cards I have and the back of the 1963 Topps card that has his stats. I also give you the 1963 card of Paul Foytack, who surrendered the first home run that year in the 5th inning at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Nobody had any idea what was going to happen the rest of the year, including me. I was in kindergarten, and Maris and Mantle were names I was just beginning to recognize. Here is a link with the complete list of his home runs during the season.

Mother's Day is Coming

I have been reading this book. I know I am not a mother but I am married to and live with one. I must say without apology that I have learned some things I did not know from this book. What are the 10 habits? Here are the chapter titles which explain a lot. Understand Your Value as a Mother. Maintain Key Friendships. Value and Practice Faith. Say No to Competition. Create a Healthier Relationship with Money. Make Time for Solitude. Give and Get Love in Healthy Ways. Find Ways to Live Simply. Let Go of Fear. Hope is a Decision--So Make It! Give it a shot and you may appreciate your wife and mother a little more. Life is not as easy for them as you would think.