Never Forget

A friend sent me an email with this picture. This is Baker Company of the 1st Marine Division in Iraq. It refreshes our memory with regard to why we are there. Was Iraq involved in 9-11? Maybe. The point is invading Iraq is drying up the swamp so that the rat bastards who attacked us on 9-11 are kept off balance and eventually hunted down and eradicated from the earth with extreme prejudice. Another website that makes the point very well is Remember the Blood of Heroes. Like Darrell Worrly said in his song:

"The took the footage from my T.V.
They said it was too disturbing, for you and me
It'll just breed anger
That's what the experts say
If it were up to me I'd show it every day".

RHAPSODY Link

RHAPSODY Link - Something new I found - being able to link songs. This is one of my favorite texas blues examples from Stevie Ray Vaughn. Hope this works!

Cuban Cigars - The Holy Grail?

In my recent trip to Mexico I had the opportunity to sample - at length - cuban cigars. I had smoked what someone told me was a cuban a couple of years ago. I highly doubt that it was cuban, as you couldn't read the label, and it was by far one of the worst cigars that I had ever had. It tasted like dried horse shit, and drew like a broomstick. To say that it was rope would be a complement. Cuban cigars have been a hot topic by American cigar smokers - since they're outlawed here. I would submit that they are not all that they are cracked up to be.

The cubans that I had in Mexico were definitely good cigars - but I've had better from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Honduras - even the good ol' U S of A. They had a strong flavor that was very good, but they weren't worth the 110 pesos (about 10 bucks) that I paid for them.

As I puffed on these products of Latin - American - Castro - Marxist- Leninism, I recalled a box of cigars that I bought a few years back - La Gloria Cubana. Literally - "The Glory of Cuba", there is a communist version on the Island of Palms, but don't confuse these with the new ones. This brand was started in Miami by a group of Cuban refugees that came across the water on the hood of a '54 Buick, so they know what they're doing. The started a factory in Miami, and recently opened a new one in Dominica. If you have a jones for a cuban, don't waste your money or risk breaking the law. In my humble opinion, a Gloria Cubana will be your smart choice.

Some Things That You're Happy to Do.

I received a phone call late last night from my North Dakota counterpart (FOP National Trustee). One of his members had been severely burned and was being airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. His wife was at work when they were putting him on the airplane - she had just enough time to grab her purse, so she basically had the clothes on her back. Another State Board member and I called the burn unit, told the charge nurse that we would be over in the morning and gave all of our phone numbers.

She called at 8:00 AM this morning - a little distraught and not sure what to do. My fellow board member's wife (and active auxiliary member) went over right away, and took her to Target to get a weeks worth of clothes, tioletries and luggage. I caught up to the two ladies later in the morning - I figured that our North Dakota wife may become a little tired of hospital chow, so I took her to the St. Paul Grill for lunch. During lunch she mentioned that she was a religious Catholic - so we also stopped at the St. Paul Cathedral and lit a couple of candles.

I was actually able to talk to the North Dakota brother - he was conscious and aware - but he was so swollen up that he couldn't speak or even open his eyes...but he could hear me. I told him who I was and that his wife was being taken care of. I told him that the only thing that he needed to worry about was getting better. He gave me a thumbs up.

I'm not talking about this to blow my own horn - actually, it was my brother from North Dakota that gave me the gift. I will never forget that hand wrapped in gauze giving me the thumbs up.

I'm Offended

I am sick to death of people being "offended". One of the true joys of retirement is going to be when I am able to tell someone "you're offended? Well, good". As it is now, I have to mollycoddle these big babies. Dennis Prager wrote a great article about this, where he atributes this easily offended problem to liberalism. I'll take it a step further - it's opportunism...people know what buzz words to use and buttons to push.

My last stretch of days working was particularly brutal. I must confess that I am keeping a little black book - the day after I retire I am going to call all of these people and say "hey - remember me? WELL KISS MY ASS

Blog Announcement

It occured to me that no one is going to want to visit a web page if there isn't something new to see. For that reason, I will be posting something every day. It may be, as Likeks describes, dashed - off tripe, but bygod, it'll be new.

This was my pet ???? in Mexico. I called him Alvin. I caught holy hell from Cassie for feeding him her granola bars. Does anyone know exactly what Alvin is - or who I could ask? 

The Pope has died. I'm not Catholic, but I had (and still have) a great deal of respect for him. He left an indelible stamp of good on the world. I am certain that he will hear "well done, good and faithful servant".

The Holy Father

Once again, our favorite communist rag gives a backhanded compliment (or slam) to Pope John Paul:

Ordaining women was not to be debated. Euthanasia, sex outside of marriage, marriage for priests, homosexuality, contraception and certain kinds of genetic research were taken off the table.
While liberals abhorred these trends, conservatives warmly welcomed the pope's clarity and discipline in a world that, to them, seemed in desperate need of old-time religion.

Once again our friends preach the gospel of moral relativism. The "taking off of the table" of the above things is dictated by absolute truth. And, just for the record, the world is in desperate need of old time religion.

Betrayal

Even with the flood of news and target rich stories this week, I thought that I would reflect on a personal issue - and try my best to not lose faith in humanity.

It was last year at the FOP State Conference. One of our members got absolutely pie - eyed one night, and started ranting at another member - accusing him of torpedoing him in his quest for a promotion. That wasn't all - glasses were broke, and the guy just flat out made a flaming ass out of himself. Like any textbook drunk, he continued to repeat the same twisted logic over and over and over. Now keep in mind that this was a state meeting. As the National Trustee, I try to keep in touch with what's going on around the state. I had every intention of talking to a lot of people that night. What did I end up doing? Babysitting Bluto.

The next year was a continuation of that night. Bluto continued to be a royal shooting pain in the ass. His conspiracy theories would make Art Bell proud. I have continued to cover his mistakes and protect him from various attempts at discrediting him.

He's the type of person that we have all experienced...usually in a romantic context in junior high school. You have to continually kiss his butt, or he thinks that you're mad at him. I am not one to kiss ass, and the older I get, I am not inclined to suffer fools. I guess that he may be interpreting this as not liking him - but I really didn't care.

About 2 months ago, the local lodge president and vice - president told me that they had decided that Bluto shouldn't go to the state conference based on his stellar performance of last year. Being the gutless wonders that they are, they neglected to inform Bluto of this. A couple of weeks ago, Bluto was looking at the schedule and was contemplating putting in for vacation to attend the conference. I called the lodge VP, and told him to get off of his ass and break the bad news to Bluto. Well, he did - and it sounds like he blamed me.

Bluto called another sergeant on a different shift and told that sergeant that he had to "get away " from me and that he was "tired of (my) attitude". In 10 years as a sergeant I have never had an officer tell someone else that they had to "get away from me".

Leo Duroucher was the manager of the New York Giants in 1961. His famous quote was "nice guys finish last". I'm not going to quit being a nice guy - but I guess that I had better get a brown helmet.

Back Again

It's been nuts since my return from The Estados Unitos de Mexico - I will start posting in earnest tomorrow. Until then, this copy of John Hinderaker's post on powerline:

I had been scheduled to appear on CNN's "Reliable Sources" with Howard Kurtz Sunday morning to talk about the Schiavo "talking points memo" and press coverage thereof, but I've been bumped by the Pope's apparently impending demise.
Well, it's hard to argue with CNN's priorities. People who missed the 1980s, for whatever reason, may not realize what an important figure the Pope has been in the secular as well as the religious world. As a champion of Polish and, more broadly, Eastern European freedom, he was one of the most important adversaries of the Soviet Empire. They knew it, too; many seem to have forgotten that the Russians once tried to assassinate him. With the death of Pope John Paul II, only Margaret Thatcher will remain of the great triumvirate that brought Communism to its knees.