Memorial Day 2006

I remember.

I respect the service of all members of the armed forces.

I wish peace throughout the world was possible, but know it isn't.

I know we are safe in our nation because of the sacrifices of so many.

I remember.

Now I feel even better

Good opinion piece by William Kristol in the Weekly Standard, subtitled "George Bush had a pretty good month of May." Bottom line, the president has a pretty good May so far and has accomplished a lot of (good) things. Compelling...and made me feel better. But then theses days almost anything positive does.

Sometimes words can make you feel better

Visited another Florida blogger, The Black Republican, (listed on Doyle's webroll of Florida bloggers) and found a post that made me feel better this morning.

I've been increasingly ticked off at President Bush for a few weeks and been a little growl-y at Mrs. Right. You see, she supports the president much more than I (and I'm a pretty big supporter) but some issues just piss me off.

Well, Richard states the reasons he continues to support the president and his words are welcome and make good sense. And they sound just like my wife. (Now I have to go tell her that I'm sorry.) Anyway, thanks TBR. I needed to "hear" you this morning.

Florida leads the nation in gun common sense

The Ocala Star-Banner prints an AP article entitled: 'Shoot first' gun laws gain steam across U.S.Ten states have passed 'stand your ground' legislation this year.

The article then says:
A campaign by gun rights advocates to make it easier to use deadly force in self-defense is rapidly winning support across the country, as state after state makes it legal for people who feel their lives are in danger to shoot down an attacker - whether in a car-jacking or just on the street.
********************
Ten states so far this year have passed a version of the law, after Florida was the first last year. It's already being considered in Arizona in the case of a deadly shooting on a hiking trail.

I'm very proud that we here in Florida were the first to show common sense in the matter of personal safety.

Florida, the rules are different here. You gotta problem with that!

Religion of Peace, My Ass! (Part 10)

From Little Green Footballs, another heartwarming story brought to you by the Religion of Peace. A 14 year old girl is murdered by cousins as an "honor" killing. Why? She didn't want to marry either of them.

What I did on vacation (to date)

Dear diary,

Took this week off to be with the missus. Promised her I'd concentrate only on us.

So...

Hours on the phone and Blackberry on business projects

and

Hours just today at a professional organization meeting of which I'm an officer

and

Hours tomorrow performing activities for a charitable organization of which I'm a board member.

Vacations....how wonderful and relaxing.

Update (5/25/06)
What I haven't done is take that trip we've been planning for some time. Looks like it will be October. I intend to include that suggestion from Doyle.

Another Update
The Florida Masochist dropped by. In the contest for worst vacation ever...he wins. I'll take my working "vacations" anyday.

Air conditioning - gift from the gods

My central air conditioning has been out for several days. But this morning a very nice man came by and fixed it. Frankly I expected to be screwed and being told I had to replace something really expensive.

But no! Instead, part of my faith in my fellow man has been restored.

The kind, gentle, perfect speciman of a human being opened up the compressor and found...a bug had screwed up a connection. (Bugs in Florida...who knew?) That was it! Cleaned it right up, cranked up the ol' AC and checked out other components and said...that's all. Just a service call. I was expecting $2,400, was hit for less than $100.

The air is back on, I'm on vacation and I'm taking Mrs. Right out for a very late lunch.

Life is good and, right now, pretty damn cool.

Up to our asses in alligators

That was a favorite expression when I was growing up in Florida. It's funny because it's (still) true.

I was born in Ft. Lauderdale (well, actually Hollywood) and the place was much different that it is now. All of South Florida has changed, at least those parts on the east coast. But you still get a feel of old Florida when you go inland around Lake Okeechobee.

Anyway, my family moved to Palm Beach County when I was young. The west part of the county that is. I remember as a young boy watching dozens of gators floating in the canals and drainage ditches. They were many during the day, but at night a flashlight would show dozens more.

At one time the Florida alligator was supposedly near extinction, so it was put on the threatened list. Worked great...there are lots more now. And better yet there are lots, I mean LOTS, more people in the areas that gators inhabit.

The recent deadly attacks just show how difficult it is to live with nature, when you surround nature then invade. I love Florida and I understand why so many other people do. But more humans will be attacked and many will die. The price, or downside, of paradise.

Update (5/24/06)

And Florida Cracker over last couple of weeks posted a few times on the horrors of these attacks.

Florida Masochist has a post yesterday on an alligator causing a traffic jam in South Florida. I like his closing sentence: "Life in Florida, you got to love it." (He and his wife also had some great news!) Yes, sometimes alligators are just an inconvenience. Reminds me of a time several years ago when a gator shut down a runway at Orlando International Airport.

I know what you mean, TGC

A fellow Florida blogger I often visit, That Gay Conservative, feels what I too often feel lately about immigration.

I quote: " What's a Conservative to do when their representatives are beating each other up to see who can be the most liberal."

He was talking specifically about Sen. Mel Martinez and Rep. Adam Putnam, both from Florida, but this is true of other Republicans. TGC, I know what you mean.

Bill Clinton confirms that global warming is bogus

It's official. Bill Clinton has assured me that man-made global warming is mostly BS.

How? By insisting it's real.

Here's how it works.

Bill Clinton is an opportunist. He is also a liar. (He's also human excrement, but that's another issue.) Ergo, anything he says, you can be assured the opposite is true.

Here's how Reuters reports it: "Former President Bill Clinton said on Saturday global warming is a greater threat to the future than terrorism and that the United States and other countries must "get off our butts" and do something about it."

I feel better now.

Especially since Reuters also "objectively" states: "The United States is considered the largest emitter of the "greenhouse gases" blamed for global warming. President George W. Bush has said that global warming may be occurring but its cause is not clear. Generally, it is believed that the burning of fossil fuels is the primary cause of climate change."

You gotta love that last sentence. Yeah, those damn SUVs killed the dinosaurs, caused the little ice age and are responsible for melting the Martian polar ice caps. Hey, assholes! Maybe something larger and outside of our control, such as meteors or the Sun, is the real culprit. Spending ourselves into poverty to control that which can't be controlled is insane.

Do not take a vacation

Wow, I took 2 days off to make a long weekend to visit with my mother. I then had to make up 2 weeks of work in the past 4 days. Now how the hell does that happen? Vacation days are so much shorter than work days, I realize, but really, this is ridiculous!

But do I learn? Hell, no!

I'm taking off this next week to work on my "honey-do" list. I'm looking forward to it. Even though I know that there will be at least one month's worth of work waiting when I return.

But it will be worth it.

One problem...Mrs. Right wants me to stay off computer. She means for work purposes, but this will probably include blogging. Don't know if I can do that. But if I can keep from blogging, I will stay in touch with my favorite blog sites: Media Lies and Florida Cracker and Florida Masochist and A Cool Change.

Update 5/25/06
Doyle, from A Cool Change, dropped by with good advice on two matters: vacations and my blog sidebar. I'm great at taking advice, but just horrible with the follow through.

Armed Forces Day

Saturday is Armed Forces Day.

I thank all who are presently serving and all who have ever served.

Our country needs you now and needed you then.

Sacrifices are never cheap or easy.

Thank you for yours.

Now, where was I?

On vacation. Actually, visiting my mother for Mother's Day. Spent a few days since I hadn't visited her since last year. Will update my blog soon.

I once had a friend

I was listening to the radio today and had one hell of a flashback.

I had a friend once, in the early 1980s when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale. Actual when and where I lived has nothing to do with the story, but just establishes perspective.

This friend was highly critical of just about everyone and everything. We got along, but maybe because I was a good listener and mostly nodded and was not judgemental. Anything that went wrong in his business and personal lives was not his fault, as he would say repeatedly.

Now my friend has an explanation for everything and a solution for anything. Problem was, no one really listened to or followed his ideas, because they were idiots. And if they did listen and implemented his suggestions and problems were encountered, it was just because they did it wrong. And since he was mostly a second-guesser of those that tried to accomplish something, (unsurprisingly) people stopped listening to him and tried very hard not to have him around. He was fired a couple of times. He claims it was because his bosses were afraid he would take their jobs. In truth, the man had no vision or creativity, which was very much required of his profession. When I last spoke to him, it had been months with no employment prospects.

What does this have to do with today. Well, I was listening to the usual cabal of national Democrats salivating about what they will do when the win back the House this year. I heard not one original or sound idea about what they want to accomplish. Only that the problem has been Republicans and George Bush and they would fix both.

My friend was a devout Democrat. At the time, my political leanings were not fixed. But now I understand my friend better. It takes a certain type of person to be a Democrat. He was the epitome.

New Orleans not the only place with levee problems

New Orleans gets all the press and attention and money, but it's not the only place with levee issues. According to this Ocala Star-Banner story, "Herbert Hoover Dike has 50-50 chance of failing within 4 years, engineers' report."

But don't look for this to get national attention. This only affects the less than 100 thousand people that live around Lake Okeechobee in Florida. Who cares about them?

If fact, there was severe damage in that area during hurricane Wilma last year, as there was in other parts of South Florida, but who the hell heard of it. It wasn't New Orleans, or even Miami, after all. (I've posted about it here and here.)

I know people who live in and around Belle Glade who had horrendous damage and drastic changes to their lives, yet not a peep about it in the MSM.

This story won't get any real attention either. Yet peoples lives, property and history are in the balance.

Porter Goss resigns from the CIA

Now he can come home to Florida and run for Senate against the Democrat, ol' whatisname.

You heard it here first. (or maybe not)

Sorry Katherine. I like you, but I liked you better as a congresswoman.

Link from LGF who says "Lots of theories flying around (the Duke Cunningham scandal? hookers? space aliens?), but very few facts about why he quit, as of this writing."

Right in Florida knows!

UPDATE (5/10/06)

Okay, so maybe I don't know.

And in other Florida news

Florida's terrorist: "A lengthy terrorism conspiracy case in which the government failed to win a conviction is drawing to a close, with a former college professor likely to soon walk out of a jail cell - and straight into deportation. Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida computer engineering professor, is expected to be sentenced today for his April 14 guilty plea to one count of providing support to members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the terrorist group responsible for hundreds of deaths in Israel and the Palestinian territories."

Comment: We have such weak minded people on Florida juries (we import them from other states) that they couldn't convict this terrorist.

Rush walks: "After three years under suspicion, Rush Limbaugh can finally put behind him the investigation that exposed the conservative commentator's own drug problems, thrusting him into the spotlight for the very things he derided in others."

Comment: This is a good thing. A Democrat prosecutor tried to destroy an entertainer by using his high office for overt partisanship. Rush was guilty, but so what? And what was the crime?

UPDATE
LGF has a good post on Sami. I really like one poster's comment: "The jury may have been lost and befuddled, but the judge clearly was not." By the way, Sami was sentenced to 57 months, which means he'll be in the pen for another 19 months, then he'll be deported.

Quick thoughts - Immigration

Above post is from Orlando Sentinel. Frankly, I think the number that the organizers are so proud of (30,000) is a sign of how weak the "rally" really was. A lawyer is quoted as: "The Hispanic community is energized," he said. "I think it's important to show our support." Yeah, and American values and law are under attack, but don't dare do anything about it.

I still (mostly) support President Bush's plan, but it's getting harder.

However, it is still amnesty and it annoys me that my president wants me to pretend otherwise.

I'm still pissed that Bush called patriotic American citizens "vigilantes."

Legal immigration - good

Illegal immigration - bad

Logic exercise:
"Illegal Immigrant" is to "Guest Worker"
in same way as
"Burglar" is to "House Guest"

Employers who willfully employ illegal immigrants should be prosecuted
UNLESS
The feds will henceforth decline to prosecute business tax cheats