Holiday trees and candlesticks

The gang on Fox news made a very good point this morning that had me cheering. I think it was E.D. Hill that raised the brilliant idea, but I can't get any of their names straight. The point was this: how offensive would it be to call the Menorah a candlestick? Everyone agreed that to diminish the Menorah like that was indeed offensive. The point was then extended to cover Christmas trees.

This kind of thinking, I tell you! I not only don't like the term 'holiday tree', but what holiday other than Christmas has a tree anyway? Huh? Hmm? Speak up! I suppose you could make a connection to the winter solstice as the tree itself comes from, if I recall correctly, the druidic traditions in what is now Germany. It could also be a result of the temple decorations used in Saturnalia, but I don't think anyone still celebrates that. So... CHRISTMAS tree! Call it what it is. Christmas is not a hard word. Say it!

What I really can't wrap my brain around, more than those who will not name Christmas, are those offended by it. Come on! How could it possibly be offensive? First, from a religeous perspective, it marks the birth of Jesus. No matter who you are, you can agree that Jesus was born at some point and that he was a very upright and kind man. His Deity is between you and he for now, but I really wonder what kind of person finds Jesus to be offensive... I guess no good deed goes unpunished. Second, from a cultural perspective, Christmas is a time of giving, goodwill, and peace. It's a time of mending and of friendship. I DARE sombody to get offended by that, I DARE them. Also, as currently celebrated, Christmas combines the tradtions of many cultures into one giant celebration. Yep, real offensive, that. Further, I can find nothing offensive or exclusionary even in any of the roots of what is now Christmas. For crying out loud, it's the one holiday where master and servant sit and feast together! Nobody is left out, there is no celebration of any one racial group (HEH-HEM!)... how is this offensive?

A vast majority of the people of Europe, west Asia, Oceana, and the Americas celebrate Christmas in some way. To those that do not, let us do our thing! It will do no harm to you to let us celebrate. You don't have to join in, after all, nobody is forcing Jews to tear down or re-name their Menorah. In the same way, leave Christmas be. Let there be Crèches, let there be Christmas trees, let there be parades and carols and plays, let there be, for once, no squabbling! Or better yet, just stop being offended by Christmas! That's like getting offended by an act of kindness...

Lastly, you may have picked up on the fact that I am no fan of Kwanzaa. I find it offensive because of its racist and communist nature. I had originally thought that it was simply silly until I read Dr. Karenga's website on the subject. He, for the record, created the holiday in 1966. Now, though I may not like it, you will note that I am not now nor ever going to try to monkey with any part of Kwanzaa. I will not call for the celebrants to change anything as some have demanded of Christmas. I will not try to force them into subdued celebration as some have demanded of Christmas. I will leave those who celebrate that holday to their celebration... unless they get realy nasty and start, as part of their celebrations, activities that would judge people by the color of their skin or that advanced communism, but I don't see that happening. This is the last time that I will even mention it until that day.

I have a feeling, however, that this is not the last time that I will be defending Christmas, my favorite holiday, from deconstructionist snarks. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play some CHRISTMAS carols on my guitar, maybe put up some CHRISTMAS lights, eat a CHRISTMAS cookie, wrap some CHRISTMAS presents, and maybe try to hook up a CHRISTMAS play or even worse, a MANGER SCENE...

CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!

From the Great Frozen North

...and I mean that as a compliment.
The Canadian government is about to get reorganized, at least that's the plan as some seem to have doubts. The Bloc Québécois, the Conservatives, and the New Democratic parties got together to bring a vote of no confidence against the Liberals, upset at some of the recent shinanigans, lack of direction, and outright corruption. I for one, am happy to see this. I think that Canadians as a whole are some of the best people out there and they've had a pretty raw deal from their govenment as of late. Things like tax cuts will be a great thing. Tax cuts are always a great thing.

Speaking of shinanigans, checks this out. What a massive waste of time, both ideas. While I like the idea of banning space-based weapons, China will likely never sign it and if they do, they will ignore it. Why do I mention China? It is the only nation that has the militarization of space (read 'orbital weapons') as part of its stated doctrine. We Americans, on the other hand, confine our 'militarization' to information gathering and communications birds. I wish we would get going on some space weapons so the Chinese can't claim that ultimate high ground unchecked.

As scary as all that is, I can hope that we can all these new space weapons (the "laser") at our new moon base ("death star") to shoot up the Chinese weapons platforms... you know, right before we go start an intergalactic war.
I guess this also means that the cover on our Stargate project may be getting thin thanks to Mr. Hellyer's whistle blowing. Guess my job might be unclassified soon... On the upside, that might mean that we can relocate to a building that has windows. That would be sweet.

Oh, and 'I'm going to pistol whip the next person who says 'shinanigans'!'

Nobody bitched or moaned THEN...

IMAO had something serious... a link to a rather interesting pile of quotes... the website in question is Truth or Fiction.

So I guess it's totally cool to TALK about making the world safer and freer, but totally not cool to DO something to that end. I see how it is now. I now see that I could do a much better job in the Air Force by talking about what needs to be done instead of actually doing it. What a relief! My job is hard sometimes, but if all I need to do is talk about it, it will be so stinking easy! What a great idea!

I'm going in to my post and I'll tell my supervisor and my Commander all the things that I'll do and then take the month off. Oh, wait! I just told you, so I don't even need to go in!

Yep, that felt good. My job is now complete for the next month. Yay!

Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men

So goes the secular message of Christmas. This, we can all agree on... okay, I know there are some miscreants out there who won't... Islamofascists, for example, harbor no good will at all. Anyway, in this season, keep that in the back of your mind so hopefully you will have the fortitude to resist the urge to be a greedy little pig. Christmas is not about stuff. This is also a nation where there is more than enough for everyone. Whatever you want will still be there when you get to it. Slow down, chill out. Christmas is so much fun when you take the time to enjoy it... and you enjoy it by slowing down. Savor this.

On to happier thoughts, of which there are many as this is by far my favorite time of the year, I've been pulling out my paltry collection of Chrismas music. This mainly consists of Manheim Steamroller, but I have some other stuff from such odd corners as Joy Electric and Viva Voce. I remember that when I was kid, we had these tapes of some New England folk Chistmas music that were just out of this world, they were so beautiful. I think a pilgrimage to Amazon is in order. I miss that sound... Of course, I also miss snow.
This may be Colorado, but the only snow to be seen is seen in the distance to the west. Down here, it's still pretty much t-shirt weather. Ugh. I like it when it snows one day, and then there is snow until springtime. That is winter, and anything else just does noty feel quite right.
Still, the lights are out, the snow up in the mountains is downright dreamy, and this leaves me feeling like i might just be able to recharge. I'm pretty pleased with life.

I get some time soon to slow down and think of things other than my job, which as much as I love it, has been very tiring and wearing as of late. I look forward to the breather. I'll be snowboarding. I might even dust off my skiis and hit some moguls, but that's bridge not yet suitable for burning.

It's now Christmas time, so I no longer need to threaten bodily harm to store managers who play Christmas music or who set up Christmas displays. I thought that setting up Chistmas before Thanksgiving and even Halloween was so innapropriate. I like to take my holidays one at a time and savor them all. After all, one does not cram a peanutbutter eyeball, a bite of goose, and a candy cane into your mouth at once... okay, there's a guy in my unit that would, but let's just say that he passes PFT's by the grace of God and a good deal of motivation shouting and screaming from myself and our psychotic director of training.
Where was I...
I want some tea... peppermint... hot... Bye, y'all! I'd wish you a Merry Christmas, but it is not yet December. Say, where are the mint M&Ms?

DISCLAIMER: The author refuses to wish anyone 'happy holidays', insisting on specifying which one. The author will cheerfully wish anyone a Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, or whatever the appropriate greeting is for Epiphany. He will even go as far as to wish you whatever sort of tidings apply to the 21st of December as long as you are not too much of a hippy and will not get all up his face about not celebrating Christmas. Further, the author believes Kwanzaa is a crock of... um... yeah... and will under no circumstances wish its tidings to anyone.

woot?

Rumor has it (Jeruselem Post) that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (not his real name by the way) is dead. Supposedly, he was hiding in a house in Mosul when coaltion forces surrounded him. I guess he does not remember the time when Uday and Qusay tried to hide from a surrounding group: I seem to recall an AT-4 and some bodies. It seems that is this case, though, he was blown up by his own guys. This is not the first time that the man from Zarqa has been thought dead, however. Let's hope this one is real.

Anyway, we shall see.

EDIT: looks like we got the wanker, but We've no body yet. This leeads me, personally, to believe that he is still out there.

EDIT 2: Yeah, he's still out there. Damn.

Tales of the Ride

Snowboarding trip No. 2:
I hit a blue every trip down the mountain. I can turn fine, but straight lines still present something a problem. I have to overcome a mental block that keeps me from going fast enough, and thus far, it's the hardest part of the new sport.
Most of the Dercum Peak (Keystone) was open and it was all powder! However, I did this straight after work on about six hours sleep. I'm bushed, but very pleased. I still say I have the best instructor possible, too: the one and only Ghettorig.

Good Call

The Senate votes down a resolution calling for a definitive time for U.S. Forces to quit Iraq. Thinking like this could cause mass outbreaks of sensibility elsewhere (I hope... oh please oh please oh please...)!

It does not take a genius to figure out that a definitive date for pullout will drive the terrorists (note that I did not say 'insurgents') to ground where they will bide their time until the big dog goes away. At that point, the little dog will get the full fury unleashed all at once.

We stay until the little dog grows big enough to take care of itself. Now, that's some good thinking.

What still distresses me, though, is that call for Bush to explain his exit strategy. I guess the good Senator Frist and others were not in class that day... oh, I'm sorry, I meant days. How many times has the President stated the goals of security and sovereignty for Iraq or of the complete removal of the Baathist regime? How many times has he said that we will not leave until those are accomplished to some major degree? We are at one down, two to go, folks! We are well on our way to Iraqi sovereignty, but not there yet. The President has repeatedly and clearly stated our exit strategy and it's not his fault if nobody was paying attention.

When there is a job to done, you can't quit at 5PM because you got there at 9AM... you can only quit when you are finished with your assigned tasks. I'll beat this drum until everyone understands that.

GWOT Positive No.1

Okay, I've spouted enough about all the good that goes unsung in the Global War On Terror. Now, I will begin my feeble effort to tell these stories. It's not going to be impressive, but here I go.

First up, not really an effort on our part, but it's good none the less.

Crappy Bomb Making: Failed detonation of the bomb worn by Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi.
She tried to blow herself up in a hotel in Jordan. Her compadres did, sadly, succeed in sending themselves straight to hell and killing 57 people. Still, with one less bomb going off, we are better off.

Cools Stuff

Bruce Willis apparently made some awesome comments on Rita Cosby's show recently (third hand info, but this, this, and this seem to back it up). He is so absolutly right that more must be made of the overwhelming good that is taking place there. I gotta give the man a hand for being an actor willing to actually understand the situation when so many blindly spout negative rhetoric about how horrible America is and how we must leave Iraq now and (by default) hand victory to a bunch of terrorists.

In other cool happenings, Keystyone opened. I went. It was SWEET! It was also very cold, thanks to a chilling wind. The lines were long, I got frozen, but it was all worth it. What really made it awesome was the perfect powder, not too hard and not too soft, neither too deep nor too shallow... and the fact that I was not on skis. Some that know me will find this to be a shocker, but I took my first snowboarding lesson. I'm hooked. No more dowhill for me except on special occasions. Until i learn Telemark, it's boarding for me! I got a ways to go to match my skill on skiis, but I have a feeling that I will snowboard better than I can dream of ski alpine style.
So, although it was packed and there was one trail open, it was so much fun, true food for the soul. I'll be going back up as soon as I possibly can. This almost makes up for the pool closing...

Victories

Happy belated birthday to the United States Marine Corps, the finest fighting men on the planet! ... I mean that, too. I love the Air Force and what we do, but getting boots on ground and physically taking graound is not our bag. That's the Marine Corps' bag, and damn if they are not the best at it of anyone!

It's also Veteran's Day. Today is a time set aside to explicitly honor those who have fought for us in past and those who fight on now. The men of the past that we honor have set a very high standard, one that I pray I can live up to. However, I think it is important to realize that the fight never ends. We can never rest, never stand down. I'm okay with that, though. Everything that we have fought for has been worth the price and what we fight for now is worth it as well. Each of us can play a role, too. You don't have to be in the military to contribute to the fight for freedom. Find your niche, do what you can. It all adds up, because all it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. Today, we honor those who did something.

Odds

Funny thing about people: It's winter, okay, late fall... It's Colorado... Therefore, it must be cold... Since it's so cold, people are bundled up in coats.
Now, it's also 70 degrees... yes, the coats are still on... DOWN PARKAS!
Winter does not really exist here. People talk about winter, but you have go up to the mountains to see it. I spent most of the winter last year in a t-shirt... I have asked some of these bundled people why they are wearing coats, and sure enough, "It's November!" they say.

And now for something completely different: a man who's completely lost his mind.


Moving right along, how is this art? I may have completely lost my mind, but what is there about that... thing... that is even remotely artistic? What does it portray? It looks like nothing, like paint poured onto a canvas. I don't want to be spoon fed, but throw me a bone. By the way, look at how much it sold for... So tell me, what do I need to do to make pile of sheet metal into into an objet d'art that sells for oodles of cash? What separates that thing from, say, this:

(Props to Central Diesel Supply for the 'art')
Shall I stack it nicely, weld into a box form, and then attack it with a die grinder? Will it be worthy of art status then? Oh, wait... title... hmmmm... I got it! I shall call it 'I am curious: sorta greyish-silver with a green patina'.

I am pleased to see the launch of ESA's Venus Express probe... I can't wait to see the things it finds!

Funny thing about people II: folks who drive a four wheel drive SUV ('cause this is Colorado, and you never know what the weather will do) and run on bald tires...

PEW PEW PEW LASER GUNS!

I must give credit to the individual or individuals who doubtless spent an entire week coming up with a Star Trek acronym for this new gun. That was a real stretch, right there...

Incidentally, this comes on the heels of the Army canceling the XM-8 infantry rifle. Now that I look at that gun, I begin to think that the R&D folks have been watching Starship Troopers again. Where are the normal looking guns? There seems to be trend to make a shell that looks slick, stick a gun in it, and call it a new weapon. For example, the XM-8 looks like this:

This is, basically, what's inside:

Circa 1968... and it's the basis for all kinds of guns now called 'new'.
Of course, it might be nice to give some thought to looks, or you end up with this:

This would make the first time that the Swedes have not demonstrated a sense of style.

Now please excuse me, I'm going to try and come up with a weapon called by the acronm F.A.S.P.W.N... anything with P.W.N. in it, really... It's going to look like this:

The ultimate in close combat weaponry!

The Darwinator cometh!

Yes, here we go folks, another auto natural selection for intelligence. That's right kids, never play with UXO!

I'm still trying to fathom this: there is stupidity, and then there is playing catch with a hand grenade.

Not Just in Britain

As if soliders don't have enough to worry about...
It does not seem to be like that here too much, but I have seen all manner of absurdity including the Spanish goverment (may those responsible rot somewhere unpleasant for this) putting out arrest warrants for an American tank crew that happened to take out some reporters while returning fire at the enemy.
Not cool. Some people seem to be so scared of war crimes that they seem to assume that every soldier is a monster, forgetting that most of our guys are good, decent people and that the people we are fighting in this case are almost universally bad: they are terrorists. These enemies fight under no flag and for naught but enslavement and destruction. Not even the Germans in the 1940s were that bad: many of their soldiers were decent people.
Some people seem to forget that these soldiers are stopping crimes against humanity. There is no need to give genuinly evil soldiers a pass, but is not that. This is out of hand and it's interfering with the war effort, worse, needlessly interfeing with the lives of good men who have stepped up to the task of putting down bad men.

This bears watching

There is no joy in Mudville... I gotta say that I like this Msr. Sarkozy so far, though.
I thought that the explanation given by the siciologist was lame in the extreme: People died from their own stupidity, let's riot to protest the injustice of it all? Wheteher or not the non-stupidity realted deaths were injust though, I don't see how trashing one's own neiborhood helps anything. If these folks are disaffected and don't like cops, they might consider living peacefully as riots are a surefire way to attact cops en masse.
Sociology has become so worthless.

Ones to talk

Time to descend into partisanship for a sec...

A bunch of Democrats forced the Senate into a closed session to discuss the alleged intelligence failure that supposedly led us to war with Baathist Iraq. I wonder how many of them voted for the war... or supported our lobbing of Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq throughout the '90s... anyway...

The only intelligence failure was the (Democrat led) gutting and ignoring of American HUMINT (inteligence derived from feet-on-ground in the target area) in the '90s and the failure to predict where and when many of the WMD were going to move. Other than that, our intel did about as well as usual. Truth be told, covert intel didn't need to play a huge part in reasons to go to war: Saddam Hussein has been a sore on the face of this earth pretty much since he was 12.
The Baathists were supplying anyone who had money with weapons (read Al-Qaeda).
Saddam was hard at work developing a nuclear weapons program after the setsbacks he suffered at that hands of the Israelis in the early '80s and a multinational coalition led by the U.S. in the eraly '90s... oh, by the way, using funding meant for humanitarian aid...
Last but not least, we saw him use chemical/biological weapons on several occasions, listened to his threats to use such weapons on us should we invade, and people were showing up in Iraq to buy such weapons.

I guess you could say that the 'failure' was not something that caused us to go to war, but that delayed our success (many of the wapons we were after have been moved... but we did nail the factories) so why the federal case?

I think it has to to do with an odd definition of peace from those on the left. It seems to me that they define peace by the absence of war and only by the absence of war. This overlooks the ugly fact that a war is simply open hostilities between governments and that a tyrannical and/or terrorist regime tends to inflict more damage to people with its sphere of influence than any war. Without open war, it is easy to ignore such ugliness. I think that the reason that the left is trying so hard to stop this war is that they can't stand to see what exactly they have been ignoring for so long. We all long for peace, but just because we are not at war with somebody does not mean that we are at peace. The war in Iraq is only the most visible part of a war that has been waged upon us for over 30 years... Whether anybody likes this or not, we are at war. "Open war is upon you whether you would risk it or not."

Peace is not achieved by not fighting, nor is it achieved by negotiation (negotiation only works on people who's motive is something other than your destruction... also check out what 12 years of negotiation did in Iraq: jack.). Peace can only be achieved by struggle, by fighting and destroying those who would breach peace.

So, if this tactic by the Senate Democrats is an effort to bring about peace, it's pretty wide of the mark and won't work: we could impeach every last Republican and leave Iraq tomorrow and it would solve nothing. If it's a procedural charge that inteligence assets were mishandled, they need look only to themselves and what they have done to both the CIA and the military. This war was inevitable. Only the time and place were on the table. People in general should consider accepting this and get on with life. If anyone is to know peace, there are some groups of people that have to go. The Baathists were one of them.

The mighty can fall too

I never liked American cars anyway... I realize I do drive a Ford, but mostly because it was expedient at the time to get it... and it's not bad, but neither is it great in the face of a similar Toyota or Nissan. If I had my way and less limited funds, I'd be driving something German. I wish I'd never driven any of those foreign cars... then I might still like mine.

Anyway, this is the chickens coming home to roost for the American Big Three... I like it when a car sweeps me off my feet, as the British built Mini Cooper did, but I'd like to at least see American companies make something that doesn't suck. The only place they do that is in the truck segement, but now with even Honda making trucks... very good trucks (if butt ugly in the case of Honda), the Americans are getting eaten for lunch. Uninspired design and lackluster construction are only part of it, though.

I believe that the UAW is actually a large factor in the decline of the American auto. They have made it impossible for Americans to compete with foreign companies by demanding benefits that are not just unreasonable, but impossible to pay on. GM has something to the tune of 31 billion (31,000,000,000,000) in unfunded retirement benefits. Delphi, the largest maker of auto parts and significant contributor to American automotive industry, has about 4.3 billion (4,300,000,000,000) in unfunded retirement benefits... That's what happens when a retirement plan of a guaranteed sum as opposed to guaranteed contribution is implemented...

Now, I don't what all else is hamstringing American auto makers, but I suppose it does not matter. Between the high cost of doing work here and the eclipsing of the native product by ones engineered elsewhere, the Big Three, once considered immovable, are sinking. I hope they learn from this, recover, and get back on their feet.
However, I, for one, will never buy another American vehicle unless there are some pretty spectacular changes... I would hesitate even to buy one built here for a foreign company.

I guess some good new for the autophiles is that recently, GM sold its 20 percent share of Fuji Heavy Industries (makers of Subaru) to Toyota... hmmmmm... I think I like that.