Friday night.
It is late again – 11:12 PM.
Here I go again.
The late news is on and as I listen to it in our camp, I am struck by the ‘news’ being covered by the news folks UP NORTH:
There is a report on pasties (the cooked ones, not the other ones); camping reservations; State Police radar speed monitoring; holiday weekend shopping expectations; hopes for more $$ for sheriff patrols; forest fires in the UP and forest fire danger elsewhere; a charity run of 5K; boater safety concerns; a plane crash on a car dealership; a US soldier in boxer shorts and flip flops fighting barbarians; weather news; and yes, two items on burglaries.
Two items!
Now, there was some other news before I started recording, but you get the idea.
There were no assaults; no murders; no rapes; no empty or occupied houses burning; no state takeovers of this or that; and so on.
Think about the news one gets ‘downstate’.
Sure, there are the bad things that happen UP HERE.
But the frequency is soooooooo different!
An attempt at French: viva la difference!!!!! (Sp???)
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
RAINY NIGHT IN THE NORTH
Thursday night in the North.
It is late. I’ve written that a lot lately.
We tell the truth, most of the time.
It is raining, gently.
We biked to town for sandwich lunch and coffee.
Weather then was windy, bright, and hot.
We smelled things, good things, that we had not smelled in a long time.
And we saw things that we haven’t seen in a while.
The wind blew one of my notepapers out of my bike basket up and away and down into a cow pasture, over an electric fence and in amongst a small herd of cows.
A muddy field.
Mary Kay would not go in and get it for me.
I wouldn’t either.
Now it is rainy, no wind, cold and damp.
Things change.
Before setting out this AM, we listened to the Cheney speech given at the AEI, the American Enterprise Institute.
A performance, quite a performance.
We missed the opening remarks. We were busy into the Northern routines: get up; walk Sophie; put on coffee; network with returning neighbors; plan for the day; etc.
And Mary Kay said, let’s check Fox News.
And there he was, saying it like it was/is.
Mary Kay has good ideas.
I will not rehearse the statements now, but we will get the text of the talk and use it when necessary – whenever we have to discuss the merits of the two Administrations with regard to safeguarding our Nation.
Get the text.
Too many folks will not ever see or hear of it.
And tell them what you take away from it.
I know it is out of order, but I wonder what was on the paper that flew in amongst the cow patties.
I hope I will never know – will never need to know.
The Cheney statements were easily understood. They were plainly stated.
They made sense.
Perhaps a growing number of folks will come to terms with their accuracy.
Perhaps not.
God did not promise a rose garden.
Anyway, we are in the North. God is in His Heaven. And if there are some things not right with this world, then somehow we will deal with them.
God willin’.
It is late. I’ve written that a lot lately.
We tell the truth, most of the time.
It is raining, gently.
We biked to town for sandwich lunch and coffee.
Weather then was windy, bright, and hot.
We smelled things, good things, that we had not smelled in a long time.
And we saw things that we haven’t seen in a while.
The wind blew one of my notepapers out of my bike basket up and away and down into a cow pasture, over an electric fence and in amongst a small herd of cows.
A muddy field.
Mary Kay would not go in and get it for me.
I wouldn’t either.
Now it is rainy, no wind, cold and damp.
Things change.
Before setting out this AM, we listened to the Cheney speech given at the AEI, the American Enterprise Institute.
A performance, quite a performance.
We missed the opening remarks. We were busy into the Northern routines: get up; walk Sophie; put on coffee; network with returning neighbors; plan for the day; etc.
And Mary Kay said, let’s check Fox News.
And there he was, saying it like it was/is.
Mary Kay has good ideas.
I will not rehearse the statements now, but we will get the text of the talk and use it when necessary – whenever we have to discuss the merits of the two Administrations with regard to safeguarding our Nation.
Get the text.
Too many folks will not ever see or hear of it.
And tell them what you take away from it.
I know it is out of order, but I wonder what was on the paper that flew in amongst the cow patties.
I hope I will never know – will never need to know.
The Cheney statements were easily understood. They were plainly stated.
They made sense.
Perhaps a growing number of folks will come to terms with their accuracy.
Perhaps not.
God did not promise a rose garden.
Anyway, we are in the North. God is in His Heaven. And if there are some things not right with this world, then somehow we will deal with them.
God willin’.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
GIVE THE DEVIL HIS DUE
On the one hand, you have to hand it to him.
He has changed his mind.
It is ok to change your mind when you find/see that you were not quite on the mark regarding whatever.
On the other hand, changing your mind means that you were wrong from the get go (sp?)
And it means that the person you disagreed with was right.
We are speaking here of b.o. on such matters as:
Closing Gitmo
The military commissions or tribunals
The necessity of wiretaps w/o warrants
Releasing the photos of EITs
The success of the Surge into Iraq
The extension of the Surge into Afghanistan
In these cases, b.o. reversing himself means that President Bush was right and that Dick Cheney was/is right.
And it is also true that b.o. has not had the whatevers to admit the fact.
He has not said, and never will, that President Bush was right and he himself was wrong.
So, it would appear that b.o. is again having it both ways, or at least trying to.
Is doing that….doing something that some of us refer to as being two-faced??
You think??
He has changed his mind.
It is ok to change your mind when you find/see that you were not quite on the mark regarding whatever.
On the other hand, changing your mind means that you were wrong from the get go (sp?)
And it means that the person you disagreed with was right.
We are speaking here of b.o. on such matters as:
Closing Gitmo
The military commissions or tribunals
The necessity of wiretaps w/o warrants
Releasing the photos of EITs
The success of the Surge into Iraq
The extension of the Surge into Afghanistan
In these cases, b.o. reversing himself means that President Bush was right and that Dick Cheney was/is right.
And it is also true that b.o. has not had the whatevers to admit the fact.
He has not said, and never will, that President Bush was right and he himself was wrong.
So, it would appear that b.o. is again having it both ways, or at least trying to.
Is doing that….doing something that some of us refer to as being two-faced??
You think??
Saturday, May 16, 2009
ARMED FORCES DAY – 16 MAY 2009
Saturday night and it is late and I have just remembered/found out/learned that it is once again Armed Forces Day, 2009.
We did know it was coming. There have been references here and there.
But it slipped our minds, even tho the military, things military, are often in our thoughts.
And so, at this late hour, the thought occurs, what to do, be it ever so humble and so inadequate? What to do to honor, in even a very small way, our Thin Red Line, if you will?
For those who may not know, Thin Red Line is a mid-19th Century reference to a thin line of British troops holding against Russian cavalry in the Crimean War. The phrase has become shorthand for a military formation holding back superior numbers of hostiles.
In the same way, Thin Blue Line has become synonymous for our police forces coping with the forces of anarchy in our society.
This is the spirit in which we refer to our American Military on this Armed Forces Day: our Thin Red Line v. the barbarians and hostiles to our nation and/or to civilization.
With this in mind, and thinking of the disregard and hostility with which our American Military is sometimes treated by certain segments of our society and our government, we at The Study offer a few lines of poetry, written a century ago to honor Tommy, representative of the military of Our Mother Country but used here to honor the Military of the United States:
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
- From Tommy by Rudyard Kipling.
When you see a Veteran, thank him or her for his or her service.
We owe our Veterans for what they have done for us in the past and for what they are doing for us today.
May they be wisely led and magnificently equipped.
Amen.
We did know it was coming. There have been references here and there.
But it slipped our minds, even tho the military, things military, are often in our thoughts.
And so, at this late hour, the thought occurs, what to do, be it ever so humble and so inadequate? What to do to honor, in even a very small way, our Thin Red Line, if you will?
For those who may not know, Thin Red Line is a mid-19th Century reference to a thin line of British troops holding against Russian cavalry in the Crimean War. The phrase has become shorthand for a military formation holding back superior numbers of hostiles.
In the same way, Thin Blue Line has become synonymous for our police forces coping with the forces of anarchy in our society.
This is the spirit in which we refer to our American Military on this Armed Forces Day: our Thin Red Line v. the barbarians and hostiles to our nation and/or to civilization.
With this in mind, and thinking of the disregard and hostility with which our American Military is sometimes treated by certain segments of our society and our government, we at The Study offer a few lines of poetry, written a century ago to honor Tommy, representative of the military of Our Mother Country but used here to honor the Military of the United States:
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
- From Tommy by Rudyard Kipling.
When you see a Veteran, thank him or her for his or her service.
We owe our Veterans for what they have done for us in the past and for what they are doing for us today.
May they be wisely led and magnificently equipped.
Amen.
WORDS TO THE WISE comment
Mike was kind enough to comment regarding WORDS TO THE WISE:
...the "Eagle" carrying the remnants of Isrial to safety means that ...the influence and power of America must certainly wane. I think it will happen quickly and in the next few years.
Mike, do you care to comment further??
Some might argue that the Eagle reference connotes, suggests the victory of the US rather than the decline.
Thanks for the otherwise encouraging words.
...the "Eagle" carrying the remnants of Isrial to safety means that ...the influence and power of America must certainly wane. I think it will happen quickly and in the next few years.
Mike, do you care to comment further??
Some might argue that the Eagle reference connotes, suggests the victory of the US rather than the decline.
Thanks for the otherwise encouraging words.
Friday, May 15, 2009
RONALD REAGAN AT NOTRE DAME
President Reagan spoke at N.D. a number of years ago.
An important part of the speech is found at the link below.
Check it out as b.o.'s appearance at the University nears.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/05/023561.php
An important part of the speech is found at the link below.
Check it out as b.o.'s appearance at the University nears.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/05/023561.php
WORDS TO THE WISE
A number of websites are saying it - and I cannot resist.
There is a Biblical lesson to be learned by b.o.'s election to the Presidency:
Beware what you pray for when you pray for something like change.
You just might get it.
There is a Biblical lesson to be learned by b.o.'s election to the Presidency:
Beware what you pray for when you pray for something like change.
You just might get it.
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