Blame This On Chris …

he started it. So I took the dag nab quiz and wahda ya know … this is what I came up with.

You are SPIKE – You’re just plain cool. There are

a few things that bother you, but you don’t

let anyone else in on it. You approach every

situation with a devil-may-care attitude that

borders on self-destructive. However, you

always seem to come out on top, and look damn

cool while doing it. You go, space cowboy.

What anime gun-toting hooligan are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
What is really interesting here is my better half has the complete set of Cowboy Be Bop (Spikes anime home) on DVD. We both enjoyed it, and not just for the anime, the music used through out the series is above par, with some selections solidly in the “just plain damn good” column.
Now if I can get Deb to look in here she’s gonna get a giggle outta this.

Twenty-Four Years Ago Today

Remembering the past here. Actually things which happened yesterday on the 24th.
I was managing a pizzeria in the backwaters of the metroplex (Okay, it was located in Grand Prairie, Tx … more correctly referred to as the armpit of the metroplex … but I digress.). And was a weekend warrior in the Naval Reserves. Owned a home, had a couple of cars, could walk to work … life was pretty good.
The wife, however, wasn’t feeling at all well that day. Indeed, she had been home from work the day before as well. But she was up and about and said she would give me a call, as I headed off to work that afternoon, if she needed anything. Got to work around 2pm (The manager didn’t have to be there for the lunch rush, but did have to close up each night, which was often past midnight.) and got busy with the prep for the evening to come. It was a Wednesday so we should have a good night, but not quite up to the madness one had to face on the weekend.
Howard, my boss and the owner of the pizzeria, was there and I let him know how my spouse was feeling. That there was a possibility I might have to address some medical concerns at home. We were good friends, he had been my supervisor while he was in the Navy, so was more then accommodating when family issues came up. And as fate would have it they did.
I was past the worst of the dinner rush, it was about 7:30, when the phone rang and I got the call to come home now!! Guess it was more then false cramping and spasms after all. This was serious. Howard told me to get my butt home and he would handle the rest of the night. I was off like a shot.
Arriving home, I was greeted by a highly agitated wife. Not being totally ignorant, it was readily apparent this was not going to be something treated by a few Tylenol and a hot soak. So off to the hospital (just a few minutes down the road) we went. The adrenals were pumping, having never seen anyone going through periods of intense pain and spasms with brief respites and the whole thing repeating. She was checked in while we were directed to a room so she could be monitored. The nurses checked her out, took her vitals and all I could do was stand by, watch and be as supportive as possible. We had been married for about four and a half years, but this … this was a first. Finally, the doctor showed up. He examined her with calm efficiency. But that was almost his undoing as he went to check on one thing or another, and must have hit a real sensitive spot. Now I am a retired Sailor, and can cuss with the best of them. But she let out with some language which caused the paint to start peeling. At that point the exam came to a speedy conclusion. It was about 9pm and the night was far from over.
The pain was getting worse, much worse. I was talking to her, trying to comfort in anyway I could. At one point because her back was hurting so bad she had me massaging it by rolling a frozen can of soda up and down her spine. That didn’t seem to help. So we dealt with her pain as best we could. The night moved on. The doc had been back a couple more times and after assessing the situation … said there wasn’t much more he could do we would just have to wait this thing out and see what happens. By this time I was getting frustrated, midnight had long since passed, as had one, two, three, four … she was not getting better. Finally, they had (the doctors) elected to give her some pain medication. There was not much else they could do. The monitors had shown elevated heart levels, respiration, but other vitals seemed ok. And still we waited.
It was now past 7am on the 25th. Things were reaching a climax. If her condition didn’t improve in the next hour radical steps were going to be taken. By 7:30 that morning it was all over …
February 25th 1982 was, if memory serves, not a terrifically cold or unpleasant day. Living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex winter’s hold is only tenuous at best. Internationally, the world was dealing with governments going through changes. Communism, as evidenced by the goings on in Poland, was heading into the twilight of it’s hold over the nations of Eastern Europe, and ultimately Russia. There was talk about the US Navy ships “monitoring” activities off the coast of El Salvador and Nicaragua. Later in the year Great Britain would send it’s ships, planes, and men to a small group of islands and turn the attention of the world to the south Atlantic and the Falkland Islands. But as February was coming to a close the world, for the most part, was clam.
The sporting news was of little interest as well. Just a month before, the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21 at the Silverdome in Michigan. And with that, we waited for the boys of summer to start their spring training.
We had seen On Golden Pond, and Stripes. Listened to Olivia Newton John, Hall & Oates, Kim Carnes.
It would never be the same, none of that would matter in the same ways it did just one day earlier. I had enough presence of mind to remember a phone call must be made. Got on the phone with my folks at sometime after 7:30 that morning, in tears.
Mom asked what was wrong … why was I calling … why was I in tears. I answered the only way I could.
“Mom, I have a son! You’re a grandma now. He’s got fingers and toes … and he is over eight pounds … and he is resting with his mother.”
Happy 24th birthday Stephen James Sochor.
You are my first born. That you have managed to survive all my mistakes, (not being half the man my father was) is much more a credit to you then it ever could be to me. May you have the wisdom to learn from the mistakes I made and take on board what ever may have been done right. May your next 24 years be full of life, and may you always rise to the top, a winner.

Are These Cartoon Wars Kosher?

Based on the responses of a number of leaders and thousands of followers of “The Religion of Peace” ™ (You know – the public burning of Denmark’s flag, embassy, riots in the streets, etc.) over the publication of the now infamous “12 cartoons”, it might be (correctly) assumed the followers of Mohamed do not have a sense of humor.
Yes, there is a *contest* being held by one of the leading newspapers in Iran, Hamshahri, as to who can produce the *best* cartoon about the Holocaust. Guess this is to counter the above claim of there is “No sense of humor in Islam-land”. And as a gauntlet of sorts being tossed at the Western media … “Does the West extend freedom of expression to the crimes committed by the United States and Israel, or an event such as the Holocaust? Or is its freedom only for insulting religious sanctities?”
Though perhaps the above falls under freedom of the press (and don’t you know the Western MSM will be printing at least some of the cartoons…after all they are not offending ISLAM) It doesn’t prove you have a sense of humor.
Obviously the owners, editors, and staff of Hamshahri have never been to an art event sponsored in whole or part by the National Endowment for the Arts.(does Andrew Serrano ring a bell?) Nor have they obtained a copy of Kevin Smith’s (very funny) movie, Dogma. The fact is, Christianity has been taking shots about their faith/religion/G-d on an ever increasing scale, for years now. And as of yet there has been no burning down of movie houses, art museums. No artists have been killed. And as for those who follow Judaism … there are more comics, writers, and filmmakers who are either practicing or come from families that do… who to some degree or another skewer their faith or foibles constantly. However, I still haven’t seen Mel Brooks being burned in effigy. (and btw, you don’t need to do a contest on political cartoons about the holocaust. Brooks trampled all over the perpetrators in one of his first film efforts The Producers. “Springtime For Hitler” anyone??) Sounds like the Christians, and Jews are able to deal with acts of defamation, commentary, and comedy about their respective faiths with out having to resort to acts of violence, terror, and childlike responses.
Now, comes a response from Israel. But wait, it isn’t some guilt ridden retort, “We are disheartened by your need to attack Israel and the Jewish people, with yet another attempt at spreading antisemitic material. Why can’t we just get along?”. Nor is it the rattling of sabers, “Go ahead and print your hate filled cartoons. And if … well, your newspaper has to move suddenly due to lack of an office … we don’t know anything about that.” (nudge nudge wink wink)
No, Eyal Zusman and Amiti Sandy are going to “out anti-semite the anti-semites”! They are holding an “Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoons Contest”. And the response so far has be one of resounding approval. If you are Jewish you can submit a cartoon. They are promising prizes, fame, and who knows what else.

“We’ll show the world we can do the best, sharpest, most offensive Jew hating cartoons ever published!” said Sandy “No Iranian will beat us on our home turf!”

I like it. Fighting hate with humor works for me. Now if I could draw worth a darn…

We Are The Folksong Army

“So join in the folk song army!
Guitars are the weapons we bring
To the fight against poverty, war, and injustice.
Ready, aim, sing!”
Tom Lehrer “That Was The Week That Was”

Why start a rant about basic training with a clip from a Tom Lehrer song? Well, in today’s Wall Street Journal, in their “Page One” section, or on the front page left hand column (if you happen to have access to the paper version), there is an article about the “kinder, gentler, Army”. After reading it, all I can say is, “May god have mercy on this country, cause if we get into a major scuffle….we are going to have some major concerns to work around.” These concerns would not have been there (or at least not to the same degree) had basic training been exactly what it was, say, 30 years ago.
My recruiter, to his credit, told me the main purpose of basic training was to see if I could handle the pressure, and physical stress the military (potentially) could demand. It (boot camp) was a weeding out process as much as it was a major learning experience. The benefit to (in my case, the Navy) the respective service was they got someone who would be able to handle themselves when it mattered. The benefit to the Airman, Soldier, Sailor, or Marine….was they got a *gut check* and once tested…knew more about themselves and their abilities then ever before…and could build upon that.

New recruits used to be welcomed to boot camp here with the “shark attack.” For decades, drill sergeants in wide-brim hats would swarm around the fresh-off-the-bus privates shouting orders. Some rattled recruits would make mistakes, A few would cry. Today, the Army is opting for a quieter approach. “I told my drill sergeants to stop the nonsense,”.

Nonsense?!?! I suppose this “nonsense”, which was nothing more than a tool used to start the weeding out process, to see how the new recruit would react to sudden change/stress, and give drill sergeant(s) a heads up as to which recruits may be potential concerns….was just a waste of time. Never mind it worked. And was a start to the process of changing individuals into becoming a member of a well trained fighting force. What appears to be more important, though the “Journal” did not come out and say it, is we have to preserve the individuals self esteem. Don’t raise their stress levels!! They might get too upset and want to go home to mommy! And though this may be part of the Army’s reasoning…it isn’t the real reason, that is brought to light a bit further down (it gets worse).

For most of it’s existence, boot camp was a place where drill sergeants would weed out the weak and turn psychologically soft civilians into hardened soldiers…….Once-feared drill sergeants have been ordered to yell less and mentor more. “Before, our drill sergeants’ attitude was ‘you better meet my standard or else.’ Now it’s I am going to do all I can to assist you in meeting the Army standard,'”

Funny, back in the day, my Company Commander (the Navy version of a Marine Drill Instructor or Army Drill Sergeant) was the standard to be met…period. He WAS the Navy in our eyes. He was GOD. The Alpha and Omega. Besides the fact all instruction(s) given by him or his fellow instructors were to be considered law, and followed to the letter, his “standard” and the Navy’s “standard” were one and the same. Sounds like a cop out on the Army’s part and a further erosion of the Drill Instructors authority. (To be fair…the other services seem to be heading in this same direction….people, we are all in trouble.)

Recruits still must meet the same basic standards and pass the same tests for physical fitness and marksmanship to graduate, say Army officials. But more variable criteria that in the past might get a recruit expelled-such as whether a Drill Sergeant thinks a recruit has the discipline and moral values to be a soldier-have been jettisoned. “Now it doesn’t matter what the Drill Sergeant thinks. We work off the written standard.”

Sheesh, forget about eroding of the Drill Sergeant’s authority….this sounds like an out and out mudslide!

Some Drill Sergeants worry that the “kinder and gentler approach”-as Drill Sergeants have dubbed the changes-is producing softer Soldiers. “If the privates can’t handle the stress of a Drill Sergeant yelling at them, how will they handle the stress of bullets flying over their head?” “War is stressful. I think we overcorrected.”

At least it appears there are some among the Senior NCO/NCO ranks who still understand what is (or should be) the end result of basic training.
So, what group of numb-nuts and fuzzy thinkers produced the current “kinder gentler” setting at basic??

A team of 20 officers from the Army’s training command was formed to figure out how the service could help more Soldiers survive the first six months. they consulted sociologists, and psychiatrists and even flew in MTV’s senior vice president of strategy and planning, in search of fresh ideas fro motivating today’s youth.

Hmmmmmm social engineering strikes again!! But why does the Army (the other services are going down this path as well….with the possible exception of the Marines…bless their hearts!) feel the need to, yet again, soften what is possibly the single most important environment a young man or woman will be immersed in….to produce an American service member second to none?
The WSJ alludes to the answer on the second page of this article.

The new approach is helping the Army graduate more of its recruits. Last month, only 23 recruits failed to make the cut at Fort Leonard Wood’s largest basic-training brigade, compared with 183 in January 2004. Army -wide about 11% of recruits currently flunk out in their first six months of training, down form 18% last May.

That’s just a tease…a hint at the real bottom line…which comes a paragraph or two later…

The Army’s decision to overhaul basic training came last spring. The service was having a hard time bringing in new recruits. It ultimately missed its 2005 recruiting goals for active-duty troops by 7,000 Soldiers, or 8%, and National Guard Soldiers by 13,000 or 20%. Meanwhile, boot-camp attrition was climbing. New Soldiers brought in to replace those who were tossed out weren’t much better. “We realize that the further you go into the barrel, the lower the quality”

Bingo!!!! There it is. The real reason for all this sweetness and light. Fact is, the Army couldn’t reach it’s target numbers. So instead of attacking the root causes of this. They (as have the schools, the colleges, and others) took the easy way out….THEY LOWERED THEIR STANDARDS
There is more in this outstanding article by Greg Jaffe at the WSJ, and it is worth reading and commenting on. But for two things, the web access to WSJ is a subscription site, and more importantly, after reading it my blood pressure has reached the danger zone.
We are, as a rule, always going to have excellent men and women in our Armed Forces. But when the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines who would have met the standard, regardless of where the bar was raised….now have to (at least subconsciously) worry about the ability of their fellow service member to be able to do whatever they are tasked with because they were not weeded out in the first place, then you’ve the potential for some serious problems.

Civil Discourse and Frothing Dogs

The good Baron Du Toit makes a heartfelt plea for the return of civility/manners in how folks deal with each other. He is correct in assuming if he gores a Christian ox, Moonbat donkey, or EU surrender monkey, the worst he can expect is a falling off of hits for his spot on the web along with a few spirited emails/comments. However, mess with Islam….and whoo boy, it’s time to watch out for IEDs and checking to see how high up you are on some Imam’s hit list.
Kim, you are right to long for the return of polite civil discourse. This should be true when dealing with either an individual or group who subscribes to our western ideals. They should at least be expected to pay lip service to civility or acceptable discourse when doing the point counter point thing.
Whether someone seeks to follow the “faith” of Islam (or “Bob The Builder” © , or nothing at all) as long as they do not seek to control my life or pose a direct threat to me or my family (and I refer to acts or potential acts of violence…as being “a threat”) then there is no problem. If they choose to draw and find a way to print defamatory cartoons about my particular *ox*, that is also their right (in this country, and most westernized countries) to do so. I may not like it….I may choose to break off any relations I have had with them…but they needn’t fear for their life…or property.
And there may be lines within the Koran which call for polite discourse or even acknowledgement of an opposing view and maybe even respect toward the one you are at odds with. But it’s a moot point. The followers, more importantly (with few exceptions) the leaders, of this belief/culture/philosophy repeatedly chose not to follow those guidelines if they exist at all.
Be polite, tolerant of other’s point of view/religion/lifestyle? Be civil to same? Yes, that would be and should be a cornerstone of our civilized society. In the West, you should be able to, reach for your dreams, speak your mind, and worship as you see fit… even draw cartoons…without fearing of a knock at the door and a bullet or blade dispatching you to the deity of your choice (or none, if that is your take). The Islamic state would not grant those choices to you. Though the more forward thinking of them *might* offer you a choice between bullet or blade after spending some time in prison.
And that is why this is not (just) a religious war. And why we all have a dog in this fight. Let’s take the dog analogy a bit further. All religions, or philosophy(s), or those professing to fall into those categories, have a particular breed/pack of dogs. Well, Allah’s pack of dogs had a pup or two which were frothing at the mouth, and have been allowed by chance (the current politically correct view), or design (read the Koran) to infect the whole pack. They are now running free and, if not at this very moment, soon will be, a threat to your family and way of life. That group of dogs has barked loud and long, howling far into the night as to what, if given half a chance, it is going to do. These frothing dogs don’t care if you are Catholic (like Fran), of some variety of unspecified belief (like Og and myself), or a canine who cares for no dogma what-so-ever (Kim). All this pack sees are legs to chew on and butts to bite. It wants to mark the whole world as it’s territory.
This is a situation where politeness, tolerance, and civility cease to be options. A time when other codes of conduct come to the fore. (The Geneva Convention comes to mind.) We are at war with that which seeks to utterly remove our culture, our way of government from the face of the earth. They seek to use any means to reach this objective. That this *collective they* has, as some would subscribe to, usurped the Islamic “faith” to better meet their goals, would be a valid argument, if a significant amount of said “faith” would rise up and denounce the raping of their religion. This hasn’t happened. Which logically must mean those who belong to said “faith”, at least tacitly, approve of what is being done in the name of their “faith”. Or they, because their “faith” is much more then “a religion”, it is their culture, their government, their law, must follow “party lines” at the risk of direct physical harm or death. I think this last part is much closer to the truth.
Yeah, I will be polite to your dog. I will respect your right to own the critter of your choice, or to own not at all. And if your dog is well mannered, there will be no problems. But if your dog shits in my yard, snaps at my family, or attacks my dog, we are going to have words (think civil discourse on one side of the scale, to sanctions on the other end). Then again, if the damn thing is rabid, the time for politeness, tolerance, and civility has past, it’s time to take it out back and put it down.

WaPo Weasels

Russ Vaughn’s writings are always welcome here. When the recent publishing of an editorial cartoon in the Washington Post, prompted all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to submit an official response, you know Russ would not be silent on this issue.
Normally, he sends his verse …and lets it do his “talking” for him. This time, owing to the passions raging within, there was a brief line or two of commentary before his offering.

This may be too strong for some tastes. My usual forum, the American Thinker turned it down because of the implied violence. I had actually gone to bed after a fine dinner at an Italian restaurant looking forward to sweet dreams; but the anger at Toles and WaPo had been simmering all day. So much to my wife’s dismay, I got up and started hammering the old keyboard. This is the result. Use your own judgment in deciding whether to post it or pass it on.

No, my friend, it won’t get passed on here. And even though I am a retired Navy Vet, who has never had a shot fired against him in anger, I fully agree, be it a political cartoon or not, the medium Toles used to produce his message went beyond the pale. He is welcome to argue the validity of the message all he wants…there is freedom of speech/thought in this country after all. But to so flippantly denigrate those who gave so much, so he and others would continue to HAVE the right to speak and draw…..shows just how much those who seek to protect your rights, and have sacrificed, are really regarded (by the folks on the left)

I remember being jeered an spit upon in San Fransisco International back in the mid 70’s (the war was long over…but the trash remained). It would seem today this trend still continues from those left of center. Only this time, they spit from their pens.
Your work is always welcome here Russ….and this one is no exception to that.
It’s been done up in “black and white” because frankly there are only two sides…you either honor those who are willing to answer the call or you do not…it’s as simple as that. To use their discomfort and pain for political punditry/point of view/more votes at the ballot box (and that last goes for both sides of aisle, btw) is the height of moral cowardice.