Life of the party!

Whew! Went to Alison Morris' farewell (sob!) at the Wellesley Booksmith today. I wasn't sure whether I should attend, being a teeny bit concerned that I might take some of the spotlight from that wonderful creature.

Not to worry. There is no one who can outshine Alison! (Just in case, I entered before she did; then I went into the back room to bring out the guest of honor. It was the right thing to do.)

Alison was her usual witty self, telling a funny story about...well, never mind, because I am horrible at jokes. Her husband, the amazing illustrator Gareth Hinds, was there, as was the outstanding children's author Jacqueline Davies and children's book guru and former Weston library teacher Pat Keogh. Quite the erudite, literary crowd. I was in very good company.

And, I was the perfect party guest (everyone said so), letting out just a few guffaws at the appropriate moments, and signing Alison's guestbook with flair. Note to Biscuit: you've got a great mom in Kym. She helped me produce a pawprint without a bit of hesitation.

Only Lorna noticed me raid the trash bin in the back room. Honestly, why let a perfectly good tuna sandwich go to waste? It wasn't until I nearly upended the treats table that Mom decided it was time to go. But really, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't reach it with all my paws on the ground!

Best wishes to Alison and Gareth as they begin their new adventure!

Balance

...Balance is a combination of four things:1. Skill (that mix of talent and hard work).2. Confidence (that certainty that you can do exactly what you are trying to do).3. Focus (the ability to think only about what matters in the moment).4. Perspective (the capability to neither make the shot too important or not important enough)....balance can come crashing down if your skill fades, your

Amy's B-Day Bash

Babyheads, BBQ & Brian

June 27, 2010...

Forget about April, Mr. Eliot - June is the cruelest month, as least as far as my bank account is concerned. It's that time of year when I just fork over my paycheck to cover my annual big car insurance payment to Erie, Father's Day, and my Dad's birthday, followed immediately by...my girlfriend Amy's birthday!

Now, I know better than to pick out presents for women because they invariably want clothing, shoes, or jewelry - commodities that are clearly beyond my realm of expertise. So, I ask her simply what she wants and let her pick it out. Amy used to work at a jewelry store, so baubles, bangles, and bright shiny beads are never absent from her short list of conspicuous consumption...and at the recent Hampden Hon Fest she set her sights on the macabre, Goth-friendly trinkets of Martha Rotten (martharotten.com), whose wares are sold locally at Hampden's Paradiso on 36th Street an La Terra on Falls Road.


Martha Rotten

Martha Rotten claims her products will "make your living hell a better place." I'll say! Where else can you buy a Booji Boy mongoloid-sized babydoll head ring for your girlfriend that elicits such praise as "Tres Quay?"


Martha Rotten's Big Babyhead Doll Ring

Yes, babies are very creepy to begin with, but these Rottenesque rings make one think of the eerie dollhead inhabitants of the Quay Brothers' Street of Crocodiles.


Babydoll chic a la les bros Quay

Amy is also the quintessential Queen fanatic (she even has a Freddy Mercury doll at home!), so when she saw on Brian May's web site (brianmay.com) that the well-coiffed guitarist-astrophysicist and stereoscopy aficionado had co-written a 3-D book with Elena Vidal, A Village Lost and Found, I knew I had to get that as well.



Apparently, Brian May and Elena Vidal even serve as directors of a company devoted to the study and publishing of stereoscopic images, the London Stereoscopic Company (londonstereo.com), which published the book.

Cool logo too:


The Queen-approved London Stereoscopic Company

A Village Lost and Found is a completely annotated collection of the original 1850s stereoscopic photograph series Scenes in Our Village by T. R. Williams brought together for the first time in living memory. Described as the perfect antidote to the stress of life in the 21st Century, it portrays the idyll of life in an 1850s village that is "far from the sound of the train's whistle." Quite Village Green Preservation Society, as Ray Davies would say.


An original T. R. Williams postcard

So I ordered that from Amazon (the cheapest price I found - and fast!) and it even came with its own "OWL." Now, you ask, what in the world is an OWL? The OWL is a unique, high quality, stereo focussing viewer that was designed by Brian May himself!



Yes, not only is the brainy May an astrophysicist, but he's also a CAD designer! Unhappy with the 3-D stereoscopic viewers he had come across, May created his own prototype that he took to plastic injection moulding specialists S. B. Weston Ltd to put into production so that he could include them with his book. According to the specs, his OWL "packs into a space only 6mm thick, yet assembles in 15 seconds into a rigid precision instrument which is equally at home sitting on a page to view stereo illustrations in a book, or used in the hand as the perfect viewer for stereo cards - classic or modern."



Needless to say, Amy loved the book, quickly assembling the enclosed OWL viewer so that she could pore o'er T. R. Williams' village pics of yore (as shown below).


Amy sets her stereo sights on Brian May's book


"I wonder if I can get reading glasses in these frames?"

But while Amy enjoys reading and wearing babyhead jewelry, her favorite conspicuous consumption remains food. Specifically: charred animal flesh. Even more specifically: Korean barbecue. So it was no surprise when, sated from looking at 3-d pictures of a small, turn of the century English village, she asked, "Hey, can we go to that new 24-hour Korean barbecue place in Ellicott City?"

That would be Honey Pig 2, so named because there's already the original Honey Pig (1) in Los Angeles, not to mention one in Annandale, Virginia.


Honey Pig Lady: Modeled after Divine?


Honey Pig card, back

"Sure," I replied, because Korean barbecue is also one of my favorite things on earth. Plus, I was curious to see how the new BBQ kid in town compared with our favorite Baltimore Korean restaurant (in the wake of the post-fire closing of Famous Yakitori One), Nak Won (aka "Noc Won") on the corner of W. 20th Street and Charles.

To make the Honey Pig 2 trek to Ellicott City, we needed cool tunage, so I gave Amy my secret b-day stocking stuffer in the form of Devo's new "De-Evolution Focus Group-approved" CD, Something for Everybody. Devo's de-evolutionary ditties are the perfect soundtrack for driving through the urban commercial blight of Route 40 West and Amy particularly liked the new song "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)" with its chorus of "Don't tase me, bro!"


Devo's new CD: "Something for Everybody"

Don't know why, but we also took my GPS along for the ride, probably because we enjoy hearing the Australian woman's voice (you can adjust the voice to be a man or a woman, and choose different nationalities as well - and since I'm on a Kylie Minogue kick, I try and fantasize that Kylie's giving me directions...in her hot pants!) mispronouce American street names and refer to exits as "slip roads" and circles as "roundabouts." But my GPS directions were totally wrong and after a while I got sick of the annoying Sheila's voice chiming "Recalculating" and turned her off.

Little did we know how easy it was to find Honey Pig 2 because it's literally right across from our old bygone utopia of childhood, the Enchanted Forest!


The Enchanted Forest today on Route 40


The Enchanted Forest in its heyday

Not only that, but Old King Cole even points the way to the Honey Pig!


By Royal Decree: "This way to 24 Hour Korean BBQ!"

Naturally, we had to stop for shameless Baby Boomer photo ops standing next to the Enchanted Forest and jolly ole King Cole, who guards the entrance to an adjoining strip mall.


Amy sez: "Awl, I miss the Enchanted Forest!"


Tom sez: "I'm King of this Public Domain!"

Seeing King Cole made me think of local artist Charlene Clark (charleneclarkstudio.com) and her wonderfully nostalgic Enchanted Forest prints; I reminded Amy that she needed to frame the King Cole print we bought from Charlene at the Hampden Festival years ago.


Charlene Clark's King Cole

And then we crossed the street to visit Honey Pig, which is part of the Princess Shopping Center (named after King Cole's daughter, perhaps?).


"Yay, we're here!": Amy outside Honey Pig Restaurant

We glanced over the menu (shown below)...


Honey Pig menu, front


Honey Pig menu, back:
Note "Hangover Soup" under "Special Kitchen Order"

...but we already knew what we wanted: Amy ordered her beloved galbi short ribs (the most expensive thing on the menu at $22.99 - everything else was $12.99 - but hey, it was her birthday after all) and I, the cheapskate, got the Korean seafood pancake ($6.99), which I tried to order in Korean (Hae mul pa jun?), to which the waitress laughed and said, "Ah, yes, you like Korean pizza!"

For those new to Korean barbecue, Henry Hong had a nice article in this week's Baltimore City Paper that laid out the essentials: "Barbecue By Any Other Name" (6/30/10).

Needless to say, the service was snappy - and by committee (various servers poured us water, brought out the beef, plied us with side dishes - including the de facto kimchi - and stopped by to stir the beef).

As is the custom with Korean barbecue restaurants, there was a gas grill built into our table so that diners get that you-are-there feel for the cooking, with various attendants coming by to stir the beef and bring lettuce leaves for you to wrap it in. Some of the smaller adjoining tables that didn't have the luxury of the built-in gas grills featured little butane-powered hibachi grills sitting on top instead.

Amy's galbi was delish (yes, I stole some!), and she alternated wrapping it in lettuce and mixing it in with her rice bowl.


Amy savors some galbi beef ribs

The first thing I noticed about my seafod pancake was its thickness. As "Korean pizzas" go, this one was definitely deep-dish. In fact, it was so thick I saved a couple of slices to use for insulation in my attic next Winter. Gotta say, the best seafood pancakes I've had have been the thin-slice variety at Nak Won and, in a smaller version, at Geisha Sushi on Saratoga and Charles. Still, thick seafood pancake - on top of rice, galbi, kimchi and all those little assorted side dishes - is pretty filling. We did not go away hungry, that's for sure!


The chopsticks and the damage done

The Korean men at the table next to us were watching ESPN (the World Cup match had just ended) and doing shots of soju, the "Korean vodka" made from rice and/or other straches (barley, wheat, potato, tapioca) that packs a wallop way beyond it's stated 20% alcohol content. That wallop seems to turn all Korean men into Foster Brooks after a few glasses. The sight made me pine for the Korean liquor store down the street at Lotte Plaza, so that became our next stop.


Soju rice vodka

The nice guy at the Korean liquor store picked out his favorite brand of Jinro soju for me, a real bargain at $5.99 for a 300ML bottle, and he even threw in a shotglass 6-pack set at no charge!

The liquor store was next door to the famous Lotte supermarket, so of course we stopped in there - but not to get food, as I never cook (is microwaving considered cooking?), and Amy cooks only infrequently when she runs out of her mother's leftovers. No, we went right to the toy store in the back to look at cell phone charms and other non-essential tchotches like Domo-kun bags and Hello Kitty shower caps. Amy bought the latter two (essential, to her) items, while I bought a Pucca cell phone charm because, well, they're so damned masculine!


Domo-kun bag: essential


Pucca: too masculine?

And that was the end of the day's adventures. Back home I contemplated my bloated belly, emptied my empty wallet, and prepared to pay some bills. Oh brother...

Think I'll open that soju now!

Amy's Birthday-Related Links:
Martha Rotten Jewelry (martharotten.com)
London Stereoscopic Company (londonstereo.com)
A Village Lost and Found (Barnes & Noble)
Honey Pig 2 review (Baltimore Sun)
"The Two Koreas": Nak Won review (Accelerated Decrepitude)

Great Expectations

England's World Cup Flop: Much Ado About Nothing


Lampard's non-goal: convenient scapegoat for a nation's woes?

I'm always amused by England's love-hate relationship with its national football team, especially when the squad flounders against arch-rivals like Argentina and Germany. As you can imagine, the British press is calling for the heads of the players and their high-salaried Italian coach Fabio Capello in the wake of England's dreadful showing at the 2010 World Cup and especially after Sunday's humilating 4-1 trouncing at the hands of Die Mannschaft.

As always, Blimey must have controversy surrounding any defeat to their arch-rivals, be it Maradona's infamous "Hand of God" in 1986 or Frank Lampard's goal-that-wasn't-a-goal in this past Sunday's loss to a German team that keeper David "We're a better team than Germany" James famously described as being inferior to England (Ha! - Begs the question of many goals "Calamity" James would have let in against a "good" Deutschland squad!).

While the Limeys bemoan the fact that Lampard's disallowed goal (which bounced off the crossbar and was clearly two meters inside the goal), would have evened the score at 2-2 and changed the flow of the game, lost in the discussion is the fact that the Three (Cowardly) Lions dug themselves a 2-0 hole to start with, or the fact that Germany made the Lampard goal a moot point with two additional second half scores. As well as German defender Arne Freidrich's spot-on karmic connection when he said sometimes luck evens out, referring to England's lone World Cup triumph in 1966 at Wembley against West Germany when Geoff Hurst's crossbar shot was ruled to have crossed the line when many say it was far from conclusive. (And speaking of that game, how cool was it that West German goalie Hans Tilkowski was wearing one of those Benny Hill/Bon Scott/Andy Capp "old man" caps?) Paybacks are a bitch, no? (Alles klare, Herr Lampard?)


Hurst "caps" off a Blimey victory in the '66 World Cup

Watch Geoff Hurst's 1966 World Cup "goal" against West Germany:


A slight digression: Of course, the missed goal once again brought up the topic of FIFA adding "instant replay" video, but FIFA prez Sepp Blatter is a notorious Old School stick-in-the-mud fuck-mook traditionalist, so that's a non-starter issue (because it makes too much sense!)...in fact, FIFA has already taken down the official video of the goal, leaving it to fans to post low-quality viddy of it on the Internets (as shown below).



In his book Why England Lose (renamed Soccernomics in the US) author Simon Kuper categorizes the outcry over things like Maradona's handball or Lampard's nullified goal as "Phase 3" of "Why England Loses" or "The English Conclude That the Game Turned on One Freakish Bit of Bad Luck That Could Happen Only To Them."



The complete phases of English World Cup Delusion include:

1. Pretournament - Certainty That England Will Win the World Cup
2. During the Tournament England Meets a Wartime Foe
3. The English Conclude That the Game Turned on One Freakish Bit of Bad Luck That Could Happen Only To Them.
4. Moreover, Everyone Else Cheated

Bottom line: At the end of the day, this England squad just wasn't as good as it was hyped up to be. (They looked rather tired, as well.) And as far as their coach Fabio Capello? Despite his sparkling C.V., sartorial spiffyness, and Italian suaveness...color me unimpressed. He simply didn't field the best mix of players, he stubbornly stuck to a questionable 4-4-2 formation, and couldn't adapt when it was obvious that his approach and selections weren't working.

And what's with England's recent self-loathing when it comes to passing over British coaches in favor of European imports? I'm with Sky/Fox Sports analyst and former Scotland national striker Andy Gray when he points out that you never see the other traditional European football powers - France, Germany, Italy, Spain - importing foreign coaches to lead their national teams. After all, England always boast that the Barclay's English Premiere League is the world's best, so why is it that the world's best footballing nation can't find a native son to helm their squad, one that knows the players, speaks their language, perhaps even a former player like Alan Shearer who played with them? (And who cares about coaching pedigree - "genius" gaffers Capello and Sven Ericson have flopped at the national level while a borderline lunatic like Diego Maradona has his team through to the Quarterfinals; I mean, how hard can it be? I'm no genius, but even I figured out that defender Ledley King's knee was suspect - so why include him on the team when he's only going to contribute 45 minutes before hobbling out to see the physio???)

"Don't tell me that there are no Englishmen capable of going out there," Gray told Goal.com. "I think there are many out there: Glenn Hoddle, Alan Shearer, Roy Hodgson. Maybe Roy Hodgson with David Beckham as his number two to learn and four years from then, maybe, to take it on - that kind of thing. But if you want experience don't tell me Harry Redknapp couldn't do this job."

Hmmm, I think "Harry Houdini" is too smart to take the England job, especially when things are going so swimmingly at Champions League-qualifying Tottenham at the moment, but point taken. And in the heat of the moment, Harry Redknapp himself weighed in for a English manager of the national team. "Who wouldn't want to manage England?" Harry asked the UK's Daily Mail.

I think England's anti-homegrown bias stems from its failure to qualify for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship under former national gaffer Steve "Wally with a Brolly" McClaren. (Here's Andy Gray's full analysis from Goal.com: FA should sack Fabio Capello and appoint an Englishman.)

And I have to agree with Metro Sport's England player ratings for this campaign - England World Cup squad: Player ratings for the entire campaign - though I don't blame Wayne Rooney's poor performance entirely on him. Rooney was a goal-scoring machine for Manchester United this year playing as a lone striker, but 4-4-2 fanatic Fabio paired him with a past-it/paceless Emile Heskey (who was worthless throughout the four matches) until he finally tried a more effective Jermaine Defoe up top, but it was a case of like cancelliing out like (two small forwards)...why not the towering 6-7 Peter Crouch, who is a prolific goal-scorer at the national level, with Rooney playing just off/behind him (it's a total mystery why Capello only utilized Crouch for a scant six minutes against Algeria)(and for that matter, it's a total mystery why Man U midefielder Michael Carrick played a total of 0 minutes!)...why not captain Steven Gerrard in his more familiar central role instead of out of position on the left wing? Why an ineffective holding midfielder in Gareth Barry and why James Milner on the right wing? Why not more Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Aaron Lennon as wingers? Why start a still ill Milner in the USA game? And why, for that matter, start an inexperienced Robson Green in that game? Hard questions that Fabio will have to answer. (Not to mention his stripping Terry of the captaincy following his sex scandal - a scandal which forced Capello to choose between Terry and Wayne Bridge; given Terry's so-so performances since, maybe Bridge would have been the better choice?)

Real Insurance: The Right’s Insurance for your future and your family

In life we never know what will happen later. Would we be healthy or whether we will be so ill. Will we continue works or become unemployed. Do we have a long life or die sooner. Of course we do not want to get our families. Indeed, we must provide protection to the families so that they remain always in fine condition.

To deal with various emergency situations that might happen all of a sudden there was wonderful for us to start thinking about saving money through insurance. Because the insurance we can feel more calm about all kinds of risk that will happen in the future.

Number of insurance with the facilities offered to make us difficult to decide which one is best. One of the leading Insurances Companies as the named Real Insurance will provide solutions for you. A variety with the system of proposal payment is easy and cheap and you can select the period of payment by your self according to the needs and capabilities.

If you work in private firms after retirement you will not get severance pay like as the government officials. We suggest you start thinking about income insurance protection as collateral in the old days later. So each day we also have to drive on the road. It would be better if we protect ourselves by accident and illness insurance, so that in the event of accident or illness, we and the family were ready with all the risks and costs.

You really need your family for their future. Future education of children is in your hands, so you better when followed affordable life insurance. An insurance program that is able to provide full protection at a price affordable enough.

So what are you waiting, you should immediately rushed to think of health, safety and continuity of the future of your family. You should design your future with better and more regular. For any real insurance that will help you resolve problems you often disturbing thoughts about the future of you and family.

Warning: evacuate, evacuate! Or, the dog who cried wolf

Have you ever read The Dog Who Cried Wolf by Keiko Kasza? It's one of my favorites, about a dog who yearns to join the wolves, and when he does, is so darn scared that he can't wait to get home. He spends a lot of time howling, and so do I.

However, my howling, officially called baying, is  highly musical. On the other paw, our home's combined smoke/carbon monoxide alarm, is not. Ours is a supposedly highly evolved model, which actually speaks. Speaks, however, does not quite describe the combination of booming alarm and sharp-toned voice shouting "Evacuate! Evacuate! Smoke in the dining room!" Or, its variation, "Evacuate! Evacuate! Carbon monoxide in the basement!" The thing is so darn loud and scares me out of my skin, plus it always chooses to express itself at 2 a.m., just when I'm in my deepest sleep.

Of course, all of my sleeps are deep.

The thing is, after this outrageous brouhaha, while everyone runs frantically around trying to find out whether there actually is any cause for alarm, very quietly it will say, "carbon monoxide level 0 ppm."

In other words, never mind.

Here's the problem: this alarm is just like the boy who cried wolf. Remember that tale? Of course, when a wolf really appeared, no one cared. Here's an idea, First Alert: use a hound dog's bay for the real thing. I have two: one is the alarm I give when that awful Siberian Husky comes near; one's my plaintive, play with me wail. I suggest using the plaintive wail for the testing sound; the Husky warning for the real thing. That will shake things up. I can assure you: people will pay attention.

What's twitter?

What is Twitter? - Animated Explanations

Today's training - folding and orienting the map

If I were running along a trail like this in a race - going from the bottom of the map toward the top - I'd probably fold and orient the map once and then just turn the map a bit in my hand as I followed the trail bends.Today's training was a trail run. I decided to try to add some orienteering relevance by working on folding and orienting the map. I folded and oriented the map at each bend

Take your dog to work day?

You've got to be kidding. Why work when you can lounge?
Seriously, though, the concept behind Take Your Dog to Work Day is to promote shelter adoption. Yippee! I can't think of a better cause.
Buddy Dog Humane Society was my home for a few months, and it was great, but I like it when I'm the only one making all the noise.
Here's what I did instead of working: long walk, long sleep, breakfast, long sleep, maniacal activity, long sleep, lunch, long walk (with stops for naps), long sleep, maniacal activity, long sleep.
Whew! I'm pooped. I admire the pups who put in the hours today at the office. Of course, I'm a writer, so I'm always working. Even when I'm sleeping.

Goodbye, Alison Morris!

One of my greatest admirers (although they are legion) is leaving her post at the Wellesley Booksmith, where she has been the children's book buyer, and dog welcomer, for nine years. Alison is just the greatest, and I was so distraught on my last visit that the impossible occurred: I forgot to raid the biscuit bin!

Even though Margaret, Rebecca, Barry and Deb asked whether I had been proffered my entrance and exit extortion fee, I was just so scattered I could not collect. You would think she was moving to Timbuktu rather than Tribeca, but even though her able colleagues will pitch in to do her job, she has brought incredible energy, vision, good naturedness and intelligence to the post. Not to mention her writing those legendary captions to go with my photos of Big Stuffed Bear, with whom I love to cuddle.

Alison has transformed the Booksmith into a powerhouse of children's literature. Her judgment is excellent: lots of great dog books and an uncanny ability to match books to readers. Also, an uncanny ability to know when I am hungry. Which is always, except when I think of Wellesley without her.

By the way, Alison loves me so much she even mentioned me in her Publisher's Weekly blog, Shelf Talker, and included my photo! I love her! Will I ever recover?

Lappis terrain

From Mattias Muller's web page sprint courses from the World Cup in Stockholm:This was my home terrain when I lived in Stockholm and it is really fun to look at the maps and remember the place.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Obama, The Czars, The Minions & Gen. McChrystal

-
Roanoke Times, 6-23-10, Pg 1: McChrystal delivering resignation to Obama.
-
The Democrat and White House thrashing machines are in full gear.
How could General McChrystal be disrespectful to Obama, his crown of Chicago hoods and his army of Czars who have been injecting themselves into situations for which they have no Constitutional or Congressional authority or business?
The White House spin is how ungrateful he is! We gave him everything he asked for and made him chief and now he does this!
-
Over a year ago McChrystal asked for 60,000 troops ASAP.
After months of delay Obama agreed to 30,000. (The muller-in-chief)
The 30,000 still aren’t there!
Instead of getting the assets he requested, McChrystal has had to cow-tow to a steady stream of Czars, minions and political hacks who bounce around Kabul and kiss-up to Karzi’s tantrums and empower his corrupt crowd.
-
The height of Obama-team malfeasance is that US troops are directed not to disturb the poppy fields that supply millions of dollars of drug money to the enemy. Obama and Karzi don’t want to upset the farmers and they sure don’t want to stop all the corrupt payoffs going to Karzi and associates.
-
General McChrystal certainly did make one major error.
It was his obligation to resign before Blasting the Obama-team.
As a military General Officer that was his duty and obligation.
-
Prior Item:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-muller-in-chief.html
Obama The Muller-in-Chief October 4, 2009
Roanoke Times, 10/3/09, Pg 1, 3: White house considers narrower war effort.
Roanoke Times, 10/4/09, Pg 1, 10: US strategy at a crossroads in Afghanistan as Obama mulls what to do.
-
Apparently Obama is trying to vote “present” on his responsibilities as commander-in-chief as our troops fight and die in a war he declared is the “right war”.
In March Obama replaced the army commander in Afghanistan with his choice and declared that Bush had low-balled that war and his (Obama’s) new strategy would fix yet another Bush mess!
Now, six months later, he proclaims to our troops and the world that “we don’t have a strategy in Afghanistan” and he is trying to find one. His key in-putter is none other than Joe Biden. He’s the guy who demanded two years ago, that we break Iraq into three separate countries! Now he wants to fight the Afghanistan war with drone missiles and much fewer troops than Bush deployed!
This Biden brain-storm was publicly shot-down and discredited by Gen. McChrystal, Obama’s general choice, from whom Obama now refuses to accept his input for the requirements to fight Obama’s March-strategy War!
Can you imagine the Democrat and left-wing media rant if this mess were being done by Bush? Instead, the liberal media tells us this mulling-mess is a good thing! Good for who – our enemies?
What if your son were killed in Afghanistan in a war the president says has no strategy and “will not have a defined mission accomplished”; how would you feel then about our new: CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN!
-
Prior Items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/11/obama-nero.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-white-house-advisors-conclude.html
-
-

Soundtrack to my life: my little runaway?

Was visiting the Wellesley Booksmith the other day and my pal Lorna, musing over my awesome looks and personality, wondered if I had a song that encapsulated my life.

Mom thought. "Perhaps an ode would be more appropriate—something weightier than a popular song," she said.

Today she had second thoughts. Perhaps I'm not as professorial as she thought, but hey, a guy's gotta have fun, right? I was taking my morning constitutional around Lake Waban, where off leash dogs (not so legally) abound. One fetching pup (in appearance, not habit) took off toward the water. I did the same, wrenching my leash out of dad's grasp. Mom, natch, found me on a path we hadn't tried before, behind the old tennis courts, and snagged me.

First she sang the Del Shannon hit, but it didn't quite fit. She knew quite well why I ran away. Then, being the bookish and very mom-ish sort, intoned the lines from Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny: "If you run away, I will run after you. For you are my little bunny." Which is, when you think about it, kind of an ode.

I love Paris, I love France—ooh, la, la!

Man, am I exhausted! Not only did I use up my rather tiny store of French phrases during the lovely visit of Mademoiselle M—, I found it difficult to sleep.
As I suspected, I was kicked out of my boudoir well in advance, apparently so that it could be disinfected. Where, oh, where, should I sleep, I mused. On the beanbag? The chair? Mom and Dad's bed? The $100 avoidance chamber? I was so disoriented that I could not decide. Plus, one night fireworks kept me on alert; the next night, thunderstorms.

However, Mlle. M— was very charming. She didn't even mind when I breached the barricade and took possession of her (my) bed for un petit nap.

I could have pounced, all right

Someone needs to stand up for the basset hound, after the recent, snarky Times piece, "Putting the Pounce Back in Your Pup."

I suspect author Robbie Brown (who already must have had an epiphany about hounds, changing his pup's name from Flash to Elvis) is inordinately fond of Elvis, as evidenced by his taking Elvis to the office, providing him with as many comfy beds as possible to indulge his sleeping habit. It's a good habit, too.

As for me, I have plenty of pounce left. I just choose to use it when I want to, rather than acting like some hunting automaton. I mean, really! Have some pride in one's intelligence, rather than act blindly just because some human decides that's what one should do!

Lately, I've been discovering members of the avian genus, literally right under my nose. I've encountered several baby robins, a baby oriole, and a baby bluejay. I sometimes like to fly, so perhaps I feel kinship. I could have spread my wings, and done a thousand things I've never done before...

I could have pounced, all right, but I didn't.

Someday I'll get to the Norfolk Hunt  Club and see how it's really done, but for now, I'll be happy just going nose to nose with whatever creatures come my way.

Home field...and the prescient Aspleaf

The Nordic Tour continues tomorrow with races in Stockholm, including the qualification races on my old home field. I lived near the university in Stockholm and spent many hours running in the forest that will host the race. I'm looking forward to seeing the courses. Here's today's model event. The format for the races is a bit special (as described by WorldofO):The qualification race in the

Yet More Gross Roanoke Times & ACLU Hypocrisy

-
Roanoke Times, 6-19-10, Pg 14: Obama team monitoring the Internet.
Janet Napolitano says fighting homegrown terrorism by monitoring Internet communications is a civil liberties trade-off that the government must make to beef up national security.
-
This major item buried back in small print on Pg 14 on a weekend!
This monitoring is not just inter-country of suspected bad guys, it is intra-country!
During the Bush years the Roanoke Times and their associates in the liberal press put every Patriot Act activity on the front page in BIG letters bashing Bush for violating The Constitution and our Civil Rights and the ACLU was in court demanding this all be stopped. And Senate Democrats were filing bills of censure against the President.
-
Apparently now the Editors of the Roanoke Times and their associates at the ACLU aren’t concerned about monitoring internal US communications anymore! Apparently it’s not a civil rights or privacy issue if Obama does it! After all, what’s the chance that a bunch of guys from Chicago would use intercepts of private communications for other than legitimate national security protections?
-
The level of Hypocrisy by the Roanoke Times, their associates at the ACLU and the major media in general is very disturbing. There are no checks and balances for Obama; just a continual suckingup to their prince.
Apparently Pravda is alive and well in the US.
-
Just more hope and change we can believe in!
-
Prior Items:
-
How does this relate to Sen. Dem Leader Reid’s March 2006 proclamation that:
"The Patriot Act is Dead"
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/03/close-vote.html
-
Dem. Sen. Feingold’s formal motion in the US Senate to censure Pres. Bush for the NSA surveillance of terrorist communication into and out of the country
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/03/censure-bush_22.html
-
The RT Editors should have apologized to all Americans and our allies for their efforts to kill the Patriot Act,
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/08/roanoke-times-misdirected-hostility.html
-
The ACLU sought out Judge Taylor to "hear" the ACLU’s case that the interception of calls between suspected terrorists abroad with persons in the US to be unconstitutional.–The highlight of her learned legal opinion was that:"THERE ARE NO HEREDITARY KINGS IN AMERICA" and that these interceptions are unconstitutional.
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/08/wiretap-judge-continued.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2006/08/wiretap-judge.html
-

Heartland sprint

I ran a sprint at Heartland yesterday. Conditions were tough - warm and humid. At this time of the year the forest is essentially impenetrable. The course was designed to keep you out of the forest.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

It’s time of the War of Android versus Bada

After Android application released and received great enthusiasm from the fans of the mobile phone is now back in the latest application release called Bada

Bada, who claimed himself as a better application and complete than Android now beginning to penetrate the market and compete with Android

This is of course beneficial for mobile users of mobile phone users can choose the appropriate application of his choice.
Although devoid of mobile phone players, CommunicAsia 2010 is still a showcase event new product. At least for Samsung, this Korean based company launched seven new phones at once. Outside the CommunicAsia, Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson handed champion. Here are their stories.

* Samsung

At CommunicAsia 2010, Samsung exhibited seven phones. Samsung Wave 2 and Wave 2 Pro is a duet based mobile phone operating system Anyar Samsung Bada. In addition, Samsung presents three Android phone, which Beam Galaxy, Galaxy 3, Galaxy and S, as well as two phone Windows Mobile 6.5, namely Omnia Omnia Pro 4 and Pro 5.



Galaxy Beam is a phone that supports 8-megapixel camera and 3.7 inch screen with WVGA AMOLED Super technology.

The Galaxy S are wearing 4-inch screen (same as HTC Touch HD2) Super AMOLED with 1 GHz processor speed. The phone also uses a special interface called TouchWiz 3.0 and is already available in Singapore market.

Samsung Wave 2 (S5250) and Wave 2 Pro (S5330) is the successor Wave family introduced earlier this year. Both were wearing Bada and intended for fans of social networking sites, including games, digital books, as well as health and lifestyle applications. Â

* Nokia X5, X6 8 GB, and N8
Nokia X5 is a music phone berpapan type the full QWERTY. He is also equipped with the ability to reach social networking, mobile messaging, and music to support Comes with Music service, which has a collection of millions of tracks. This sliding phone is the form of a square so that users will be comfortable in enjoying its features.



Nokia X6 8 GB X6 is in addition to a family with connections to the store Store Ovi applications, including Ovi Maps for navigation and location sharing. The phone also supports the Comes with Music, a 5 megapixel camera.

While the Nokia N8 is a smart phone that supports social networking and music at the same time Internet TV program. Camera phones based on Symbian 3 has reached 12 megapixels and high definition video recording capability.

* LG

Although not having booths at CommunicAsia, LG phone launched Anyar remain in Singapore. That Optimus LG (LG GT540), with the support of the Android based phones to social networking through a feature called Social Network Client and the widget is called Social Networking System.



LG Optimus has a 3 megapixel camera, with geo-tagging technology support, auto face-tagging, and face-to-action. In addition, his video camera has a story board function to include music and text.

Some notes on map reading frequency

Samantha did some technique training yesterday that included some experimenting with different frequencies of looking at the map. Here's what she wrote:Ross set up a course at Franklin Park. The first park you tried not to look at your map much, and the second part you looked at it constantly. I found the first to be easier than the second, but I approached each exercise differently. When I had

Coming back soon!

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for my absence, I haven't really been entertaining lately at all. My attentions have been turned to crafting instead. But! I have had an entertaining re-awakening!

I have stumbled upon some adorable ideas online and I am fully inspired!

I would love to throw lots of casual shin digs this summer and I will be sure to include you guys in the fun!

I appreciate you all so much for reading and I plan to come back very soon!

(party scene from Breakfast at Tiffany's , image via weheartit)

Coming back soon!

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for my absence, I haven't really been entertaining lately at all. My attentions have been turned to crafting instead. But! I have had an entertaining re-awakening!

I have stumbled upon some adorable ideas online and I am fully inspired!

I would love to throw lots of casual shin digs this summer and I will be sure to include you guys in the fun!

I appreciate you all so much for reading and I plan to come back very soon!

(party scene from Breakfast at Tiffany's , image via weheartit)

Who’s Protecting Us From Our Government?

-
Roanoke Times, 6-16-10, Pg 10: Rules put new limits on card companies. The Federal Reserve adopted new rules aimed at protecting credit card customers from getting socked by lofty late payment charges (more than $25) and other penalty fees.
-
What an incredible and gross hypocritical pile of heifer-dust!
-
Want to see late charges, interest and penalties?
Just be late filing and paying your income taxes!
And we’re not talking about $25 !
-
And one of the biggest Government financial-atrocities of all:
The penalties for senior citizens who fail to take the Required Minimum Distribution from their 401’s or IRA’s.
-
THE PENALTY IS 50% (FIFTY PERCENT) !
This is without warning, without notice, without remorse!
-
These draconian and confiscatory penalties are extracted from senior citizens, many of whom may not even be aware or understand or comprehend the requirement to make yearly minimum withdrawals based on a federal table they may not even have.
-
Example: A senior has a $100,000 IRA that is the major asset to his/her retirement that they have accumulated over a life-time of work.
A typical distribution factor (divisor from an IRS table) would be 25.
-
$100,000 / 25 = $4000 the RMD (required minimum distribution)
50% penalty X $4000 = $2000 penalty for this senior citizen example
-
And these jerks in this news article are talking about a $25 penalty!
-
Just more hope and change and hypocrisy we can believe in!
-
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/06/obamanation-continues.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-obamacare-lies-and-deception.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/06/obama-farmer.html
-

Ashley Greene on Cover of Women’s Health Magazine and Kellan Lutz on Cover of Men’s Health Magazine On July 2010

The actress cast in the film The Twilight Saga Eclipse, Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz in the good fortune to cover the Women's Health Magazine and Men's Health Magazine for July 2010 edition.

In an interview with Ashley Green, he states that there’s a lot of pressure on vampires These Days. Scary flashes fang stares and just do not cut it anymore. Take the characters from Twilight, for example.

In the third installment of the blockbuster series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, undead These Creatures of the Night have to run, fly, and do battle with the forces of evil all while looking impossibly gorgeous.

Actress Ashley Greene was up to the challenge. To play the part of vampire kin to Alice Cullen Emmett Kellan Lutzs character and the Brooding Edward (Robert Pattinson), as well as loyal pal to the human object of Edward's desire, Bella (Kristen Stewart) She Had to sculpt her 5'5 " frame into a lean, mean bad-guy-fighting machine.




Her body really holds muscle easily, and I tend to bulk up weights, says the 23-year-old Jacksonville, Fla., native. So while Filming the movie in Vancouver, She focused on cardio, squats, and planks during her daily hour-long interval sessions. She did side planks for my oblique's, which are one of my trouble areas.

And the traditional tone planks her back so she does not have that little bit of fat hanging over her bra. Ashley even inspired squat Contests among her female costars That She feels she's a competitive little sucker. She did add in a couple of nontraditional weight moves: working with kettle bells and pushing a big box filled with weights across a room.

Had Lutz's workout regimen has been an unfocused mishmash for years until he filmed the HBO series Generation Kill in 2007. How do a bunch of guys stuck in the African desert kill time for seven months? They do exactly what you and your friends should do: challenge one another. In Lutz's case, that Involved pushup and sit-ups and lifting weights Contests in a makeshift gym.

To stay in shape after The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Lutz every workout starts with five minutes of cardio and Mutation it up with core work. After A Few sets of powerful full-body movements, Lutz and McDonald do That Simpler exercises target specific muscles, letting on their bodies recover a bit before another blast of energy and muscle-fiber recruitment.

If you want to get more info about Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz of course, you have to buy the magazine in next July

The Twilight Saga Eclipse Will Release On June 30, 2010

After the successes of two previous films are The Twilight and The Twilight Saga New Moon, is now returning the second sequel to the film The Twilight Saga Eclipse will soon release dated June 30, 2010.

In this Twilight sequel, movie actress Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison still was asked to be a major player. Was some auxiliary role in new faces appearing quite charming Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz.

The Twilight Saga Eclipse taken from a Novel "Eclipse". This Novel is the third novel in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. It continues the story of 18-year-old Bella Swan and her vampire love, Edward Cullen. Eclipse is preceded by New Moon and followed by Breaking Dawn. The book was released on August 7, 2007 with an initial print run of one million copies, and sold more than 150.000 copies in the first 24 hours alone.

Synopsis The Twilight Saga Eclipse :

The mainstream story with the Revelation That Seattle, Washington is being plagued by a string of murders, Edward suspects which is caused by a new vampire That Is Unable to control its Thirst for human blood. As Edward and Bella apply to colleges, Bella explains to Edward her desire to see her friend, Jacob Black, a werewolf.

Although Edward Fears for her safety, Bella insists Jacob Neither donor that his wolf pack would ever harm her, and She Begins visiting him "occasionally. Meanwhile, Alice Cullen has a vision That Victoria, a vampire who is hunting Bella for revenge, has returned to Forks. A Few Days later, Edward proposes to Bella and, despite harboring an aversion to marriage, she accepts.
Bella and the Cullens soon realize that the Seattle murders are being committed by an "army" of newborn vampires, controlled by Victoria.

The Cullens join forces with the wolf pack to combat this threat. As everyone else prepares for battle, Edward, Bella, and Jacob's camp in the mountains, hidden during the battle, Nowhere They are later joined by Seth Clearwater, a young wolf pack member, to wait out the fight.




In the morning, Jacob Becomes upset he overhears Edward and Bella discussing on their engagement and threatens to join the fight and get killed Himself. To stop him ", Bella kisses Jacob and comes to realize That She is in love with him" as well. During the battle, Victoria Edward's Scent tracks to Bella's forest hiding place, and Edward's is forced to fight.

Edward manages to decapitate a vampire Victoria and her army is destroyed. Afterwards, Jacob Bella explains to him "She Loves that while, her love for Edward is greater. After receiving a wedding invitation from Edward, Jacob runs away in his wolf form to escape his Heartbreak over Bella's decision changed from a vampire.

Create your infatuated with the handsome and beautiful players of the film The Twilight Saga Eclipse is patience to wait until the date of June 30, 2010.

O' video from Poland

Cool O' video from Poland. I especially like the beginning with the town map.Orientacja Sportowa from PZOS.tv on Vimeo.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Has laundry ever looked so Glamorous?


I did quite a bit of household duties the other day.  I was very satisfied with
all the bits of tidying and cleaning.  By evening, I noticed this pretty basket..
looks like a celebration waiting to happen!   Inside of a favorite Simply Shabby
Chic basket is a vintage table cloth... love that silver with the white!

I am happily busy with my VERY SPECIAL PROJECTS!  I love them! 
I can hardly wait until the time I can present them!!!

What are you working on?  A project, a vacation, celebrations!?  
Post a comment to let me know! :)

Hugs,

Mary

Has laundry ever looked so Glamorous?


I did quite a bit of household duties the other day.  I was very satisfied with
all the bits of tidying and cleaning.  By evening, I noticed this pretty basket..
looks like a celebration waiting to happen!   Inside of a favorite Simply Shabby
Chic basket is a vintage table cloth... love that silver with the white!

I am happily busy with my VERY SPECIAL PROJECTS!  I love them! 
I can hardly wait until the time I can present them!!!

What are you working on?  A project, a vacation, celebrations!?  
Post a comment to let me know! :)

Hugs,

Mary

Athletes and twitter

Jan at Worldofo commented on the European Champs and part of that commentary caught my eye:Is Twitter finally coming to elite orienteering?...I have tried to get the top runners to use Twitter before, but still only a very few have taken it up. During EOC, Eva Jurenikova (Czech Republic) and Christian Bobach (Denmark) gave us some insight into what was happening “behind the scenes”. I hope more

The Obamanation Continues

-
Roanoke Times, 6-13-10, Pg 1: At lease 18 dead from flood waters at Albert Pike Recreation Area in the Ouachita National Forest.
-
A nature induced disaster enabled by the National Forest Management who build rental cabins in a floodplain close to a river and who had no warning system to alert sleeping campers of the coming disaster.
-
Obama wanted to kick butt for the Katrina disaster.
Obama wants to kick butt for the West Va. mine disaster.
Obama wants to kick butt for the BP Gulf drilling disaster.
Don’t hold your breath for Obama to kick butt for the Albert Pike disaster.
After all, government is the answer to all problems and can do no wrong!
-
And what’s with Obama’s Politics over Science with the Gulf drilling moratorium?
Obama’s political hacks, Carol Browner and friends, added their own spin paragraph to a report written for the White House by a selected team of scientists.
The scientists are now being trashed by the White House because they have “gone public” with their rejection of the Browner addition to their report, which they reject and had not seen until after it was published.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/11/white-house-rejects-claim-skewed-expert-opinion-justify-drilling-ban/
-
The Gulf Oil spill is NOT Obama’s Katrina. At least for Katrina, Bush tried!
Obama dallied over a month before taking this problem seriously. After 8 weeks he still has not waived the Jones Act of 1920 that is prohibiting foreign-owned ships and skimmers from being employed to help clean-up the oil! Pres. Bush waived the Jones Act immediately during Katrina.
Obama doesn’t want to annoy the Maritime Unions! This is his idea of doing everything possible to address the problem?
-
http://cnmnewsnetwork.com/120212/jones-act-of-1920-barring-bp-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-2010-cleanup/
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/05/obamas-gulf-oil-actions-of-ill-repute.html
-
Bush 50% vs. Obama 35%:
-
-
Louisiana voters think President George W. Bush did a better job handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina than President Obama has done in the wake of the BP oil spill, according to a new poll.
The Public Policy Polling survey showed 50 percent of state voters rated Bush's performance in 2005 as better than Obama's. Just 35 percent picked Obama.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/16/louisiana-voters-obama-performance-oil-spill-worse-bush-katrina/?test=latestnews


-
Spirit Airline Union members walked off the job leaving 16,680 passengers per day stranded. Didn’t Obama just impose a $27,500 fine on the airlines per passengers who are delayed by more than 3 hours?
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/04/obamaairlines-snafu.html
No action now on behalf of the traveling public; it’s a union thing.
Obama is NOT going to court for an injunction against the unions no less fine them consistent with his draconian approach to the airlines. How pathetic & hypocritical!
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/12/discount-carrier-spirit-airlines-cancels-flights-pilots-strike/
-
Just more hope and change and hypocrisy we can depend on!
-

More ClimateGate Doublespeak

-
Roanoke Times, 6-10-10, Pg 13: Lies won’t set us free.
-
The RT article title is true – so why don’t you stop?
A convoluted paper by Ms. Oreskes of UC San Diego who’s claim to fame is “establishing a consensus” of global warming and climate change alarmists.
-
How do you establish a scientific consensus, and if you could, why would you?
Einstein, Galileo, Edison, Newton and the other outstanding scientific minds of history developed a hypothesis, developed the factual data to upgrade their hypothesis to a theory and where possible upgraded their theory to scientific fact.
They didn’t need snake-oil salesmen to sell their hypothesis, couched in a so-called consensus, and become personal millionaires by doing so.
-
If one were to go for consensus, why not go with the 30,000+ scientists and engineers who have signed the Petition Project and whose name and ID are identified on the web site. “The purpose of the Petition Project is to demonstrate that the claim of “settled science” and an overwhelming “consensus” in favor of the hypothesis of human-caused global warming and consequent climatological damage is wrong. No such consensus or settled science exists. As indicated by the petition text and signatory list, a very large number of American scientists reject this hypothesis.”
http://www.petitionproject.org/
-
Ms. Oreskes devotes much of her paper to cigarette smoking. I don’t remember 30,000 scientists and engineers signing a petition that smoking is OK. So what’s her point?
-
Of all the alarmist tripe and mis-&-disinformation the most egregious is the 1984 Doublespeak that “global warming” means temperature change that’s caused by mankind. For millions of years the earth’s climate has been changing and the temperature and atmospheric CO2 have gone through many large cycles.
At no time, including now, has CO2 or mankind caused significant temperature change or climate change!
-
It’s noteworthy that the Alarmists like Ms. Oreskes never participate in open debate with Skeptic scientists such as those at the Heartland Institute and at the recent
Fourth International Conference on Climate Change
Held May 16-18, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois
http://www.globalwarmingheartland.org/
Apparently it’s more comfortable to stay tucked away in their consensus groupie and have their liberal media peddle their elixir.
-
A commentary article by Cal Thomas, Roanoke Times, 6-9-10, Pg 17: Sinking climate change outlined the current demise of the “science behind manmade climate change” including the NY Times lamenting the lack of creditability of the alarmists and their misdirected consensus.
-
A little historical reflection: there was also a consensus among the crowd that yelled “give us Barabus”!
-
Some prior items:
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/05/hypocrisy-of-uva-faculty.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/05/challenging-global-warming-alarmists.html
-
http://www.roanokeslant.org/GlobalWarmingThoughts/
-

More ObamaCare Lies and Deception

-
Roanoke Times, 6-12-10, Pg 8: Maybe you can’t keep your current health plan (after all)! New requirements will affect insurance for more than half of US workers. In just three years 51% will be impacted by new federal requirements.
-
ObamaCare has become the old “Chinese water torture” method of incrementally driving the victim insane. Bit by bit, day by day we find out that the major claims and accolades were bogus and the reality is that ObamaCare will be disruptive, costly, rationed and policed by the IRS.
What could possibly go wrong with that picture?
-
That’s why Pelosi said “let’s pass it so we can then read it!”
-
There are ample and valid reasons why good taxpaying people are so upset!
And it’s not the racism – stupid!
-
Take the time to click-back through some of these items:

http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/06/obamacare-reality-starting-to-sink-in.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/04/obamacare-hows-it-working-out-for-you.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/04/obamacare-doctor-is-out-nurse-is-in.html
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/03/obamacare-vote-getting-panic-and.html
-

Blindly Buying the NoName Brand

-
Roanoke Times, 6-12-10, Pg 7: Alvin Greene wins South Carolina Democratic primary for US Senate.
-
Alvin Greene had: no campaign, no money, no visible experience or history and no one vetted him to determine his qualifications for US Senate or for any public office. However he did have a current sex related charge pending against him that no one saw.
-
This is the new norm. The Tea Party is backing candidates with just such a non-resume. Here in Franklin County, Va. there is a new PAC devoted to supporting just these type candidates.
“Our PAC will be seeking to find candidates who have never run for public office before, but who share our conservative values and desire to serve our country in its time of need.” Sounds just like an Alvin Greene type candidate, doesn’t it!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/09/alvin-greene-felony-charg_n_606599.html
-
http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=468878
-
This is all very interesting. During my professional life I hired a number of technicians, programmers and engineers. I never hired anyone whose claim to fame was that they had no education, experience, background or references that related to the job.
-
This is made even more problematic by an attitude that “the good guys” must avoid negative campaigning but there seems no bound on the “other guys” as was very evident in the recent 5th District Republican Primary in which six of the seven candidates were never vetted by anyone; we still don’t know who they really are!
-
Apparently the “good guys” have to adhere to The Socrates Test of Three:
-
In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?"
-
"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."
-
"Test of Three?"
-
"That's right,"Socrates continued "Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
-
No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"
-
"No, on the contrary..."
-
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"
-
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
-
Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"
-
"No, not really..."
-
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"
-
The man was defeated and ashamed.
This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.
It also explains why he never found out that Plato was sleeping with his wife.
-
-
In Reflection:
Isn't this exactly how we elected Obama and Perriello into office?
-
http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2010/05/panic-at-roanoke-times.html
-