In memoriam, 2009…

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
8:06 am

And then some tyrant comes along to destroy what they made the ultimate sacrifice for, our freedom, and bookman totally supports the socialism. In spades.

Which speaks for itself.

mike

May 25th, 2009
8:25 am

Whiner –

Way to inject your stupid partisanship into a nicely worded tribute to our heroes. You are pathetic.

Nicely said, Jay.

Redneck Convert

May 25th, 2009
8:32 am

Well, me and the missus are headed down to the American Legion this p.m. to have hot dogs and hamburgers and honor all the thousands that give up their life and give us a Monday off. I mean, that died so we could have Monday off to honor them. After that, we’re taking part in the Protect the Flag Ammendmint rally to try to put a stop to these radicals stepping on the flag and burning it and wearing it for clothes.

We’ll be hearing speeches mostly. Old Dennard will get up there and start railing about the Traders that dishonor the flag but pretty soon he’ll get into the gays marrying and how that’s ruining this country. Dennard got a plate in his head and I reckon it presses down on the part of the brain that lets you change to diffrent topics because sooner or later he gets right into the gays and can’t switch to something else.

Anyhow, we only needed one more vote for Congress to pass the Protect the Flag Ammendmint and then come last fall’s election and a whole bunch of Patriotic canadates got kicked out of Congress and we’re right back where we started. So some of us are talking about taking matters into our own hands. Just rip the shirts that look like the Flag right off of people. A few people are alright with that but some say we shouldn’t do it if it’s a woman on account of you can’t have half-nekkid women showing up anyplace except maybe on tape in your TV or something like that. Others say it’s OK with women too but only if they’re good-looking. You wouldn’t want some big fat ugly woman that’s mad as a wet hen stalking toward you nekkid from the waist up.

Anyhow, I hope you all have enough beer to take care of you today. I wouldn’t want to have to break off the honoring part and make a holiday run to stock some bar that’s got a bunch of customers with the DTs. Have a good day everybody.

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
8:32 am

Andy

You mentioned cap and trade last night. What was the point you were going to make?

clyde

May 25th, 2009
8:32 am

Thank you,Jay.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
8:38 am

mikey- Answer the question, which is more important, the country or the men who died defending it?

Simple two choice question, what are you skeered of, cry baby?

Upchuck- Cutting back emissions by 17% or even 14% will raise the cost of energy and lower productivity. The technological advances that we have seen emerge from this country the last two hundred years will suffer as a direct result. ~~~~~~~~~Our standard of living is under a direct assault by the left.~~~~~~~~~~ They say it to our faces. They do not hide their intentions. Do you agree that the founding fathers of this country were in favor of such tactics by the government they created?

The question was is Obozo destroying the United States or not.

Mrs. Godzilla

May 25th, 2009
8:42 am

With my humble thanks for all who served.

“Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0gQEymR9PQ&feature=related

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
8:46 am

Anybody who can’t see the stone simple fact that the left has created a couple of straw men called “global warming” and “affordable health care” and are using those straw men to totally reorganize and destroy the US economy, and with it the whole entire country and our way of life, like somebody told ya they would, is a blooming idiot.

Blooming idiot.

Like mikey for instance.

So what sacrifices are we honoring when we turn this country into some socialist s@#$ burg?

jt

May 25th, 2009
8:48 am

Whiner-”And then some tyrant comes along to destroy what they made the ultimate sacrifice for, our freedom,”

The ultimate sacrifice was made in defense of our constitution. This document enables everything else.America (The United at gun point States) is a country founded by some average people who developed an extraordinary vision of how to protect people from government. It is government that is often the source of greatest evil (“power corrupts”). By dividing the corrupting power of government among the states leaving a relatively weak national government and giving each major political division equal power regardless of population in one legislative house and by encouraging an armed population, they hoped to forestall an oppressive national government. Though the concept has been eroded by major wars, unconstitutional legislation and major errors in rulings by the judicial branch, the USA remains the greatest country that has ever existed.
Freedom and an unlawful Fed cannot nor will not coexist.

jt

May 25th, 2009
8:51 am

That was beutiful Mrs. G.

And one more time for all you squids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6gtISlR2dk

DB, Gwinnettian

May 25th, 2009
8:55 am

May we all afford the respect and solemnity due those who sacrificed their lives in our name.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
8:57 am

Enter your comments here

clyde

May 25th, 2009
8:58 am

I am not there.I do not sleep.

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
8:59 am

Getting in the head of our founding fathers seems to be the way to win debates these days. I don’t know that looking back 230 years ago for guidance is the right course. These guys weren’t perfect and The Industrial Revolution is still 100 in the future for them–no way they could see the results of burning hydro-carbons. Using our technological advances to reduce emissions while maintaining current costs and productivity could be our focus.

Mrs. Godzilla

May 25th, 2009
9:04 am

The Angels Of Sainte Mere Eglise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-kB–T12Y&feature=pyv&ad=4154531641&kw=memorial%20day

DB, Gwinnettian

May 25th, 2009
9:05 am

These guys weren’t perfect

You can never be a Supreme Court Justice now, you realize.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
9:08 am

These guys weren’t perfect and The Industrial Revolution is still 100 in the future for them–no way they could see the results of burning hydro-carbons.

UpChuck- Back in those days, people used to saw down whole entire forests and burn them to keep warm. A double whammy on the environment, releasing carbon and removing the plants that help cleanse it from the atmosphere.

But since the United States was a free and thriving industrial nation, technological advances have made the use of energy far more efficient, safer, cleaner and available than it was when wood burning was the sole source of heat.

Less harmful byproducts are released now and whole areas of the country have been reforested, and now the blooming idiot liberals who have no idea of history, no knowledge of science, want to return us to the glorious days when we sawed down all the trees around us to keep warm.

Try turning the thermostat down on my fireplace, nanny stater.

Donovan

May 25th, 2009
9:08 am

Give no quarter to the enemy. Bookman belongs to the fifth column that methodically weakens this country, supported an immoral president, supports a new socialist president, supports a left wing Congress, enables an exterior enemy, uses propaganda tactics through his newspaper, does not defend his country, and lives by the code of deceit. I have been to Normandy and I have visited the hallowed resting place of our fallen heros buried there. I preach patriotism and have an appreciation for their sacrifices. I will always defend our country in the struggle against evil. Bookman writes a predictable fleeting piece of patriotism when it suits him. He is the enemy within the gates. I am the gate keeper who will defend the walls of freedom until I die. We aren’t buying what you and your legions are selling.

GayGrayGeek

May 25th, 2009
9:09 am

It must be sadder-than-sad, living a life where you only get attention when you stomp into a place and poop in the middle of the room.

Lovely tribute, Jay. This is a day when politics should be left at the doorway. But, as we’ve already seen, won’t be by those who find it impossible to do so.

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
9:11 am

“You can never be a Supreme Court Justice now, you realize.”

LOL!!! If that statement was the only thing that disqualifies me, I would have fewer regrets about things I have said.

Mrs. Godzilla

May 25th, 2009
9:17 am

Loretta Young’s Woman at war speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gQ-iBEI27A

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
9:24 am

I’m not trying to pick a partisan fight here Andy. I disagree with you on most everything, but you do research what you are posting about. I don’t know much about this issue. In our colonial days there weren’t 300 million citizens from coast to coast with wood burning fireplaces, so emissions wasn’t an issue. Are there any tech advances in the pipeline (pun intended) that will address your concerns about energy costs/lowered productivity?

clyde

May 25th, 2009
9:33 am

We shall not sleep,though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields
John MacCrae

@@

May 25th, 2009
9:38 am

They talked a little bit Sunday about the wars of their generation, from the soldier casualties to the lengthy tours of duty during World War II to the ability of today’s servicemen and women to keep connected to home via e-mail.

There are a lot of differences.

O’Rourke remembered the bitterness toward American soldiers returning home from Vietnam. State, on the other hand, recalled how people clapped as he walked through airports in uniform.

“Completely different,” said State, an assistant in the state attorney general’s office in Buffalo. “We just got a great reception coming home, compared to the Vietnam era.”

But the Allenhurst vets notice similarities in U.S. veterans regardless of the era.

It’s their selfless service.

“That’s what I see,” State said, “especially in the World War II guys. They’re humble. They don’t want to talk about their service. They don’t want recognition for it.”

O.K. In the softest of whispers, I’ll say…

thank you

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
9:47 am

Thanks, Jay. Just that single photo is a stark reminder of what Memorial Day is really all about. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day ‘weekend’.

Michael H. Smith

May 25th, 2009
9:54 am

There has been a reported 11% increase in funding our national obligations to all the veterans who obligated themselves to serve the country in our military. Let us hope and furthermore do diligence to see that this 11% finds its’ way into serving our veterans needs if not put in their very pockets, rather than as too often is the usual, swallowed up by the all consuming bureaucracy.

DB, Gwinnettian

May 25th, 2009
9:56 am

Dear Lord,

Lest I continue
My complacent way,
Help me to remember that somewhere,
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war,
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?

AmVet

May 25th, 2009
10:03 am

It is the veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the veteran, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.

A veteran — whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve — is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for the amount of “up to and including my life.”

That is honor, and there are too many people in this country who no longer understand nor care.

Hug a veteran today. And honor those who fell for us.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
10:12 am

UpChuck-

Wood smoke contains large amounts of particulates, carbon monoxide and organic compounds. Other significant combustion products include nitrogen oxide, benzo(a)pyrene, napthalene, arthracene, phenanthrene, biphenyl, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzene, pyrelene, dioxin and heavy metals.

Yeah, it was no big deal for a family to sit in a confined space all day inhaling a toxic brew of chemicals, I doubt if that had anything to do with their shortened life span, you’re right, let’s overlook these trivial annoyances and discuss the good intentions of today’s liberals-

E85 or any mixture of ethanol is found to cause eye, nose, and skin irritations, as well as internal irritation in the respiratory system. Laboratory tests showed that exposure results in dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, stupor, and depression or mental excitement. Symptoms of vapor exposure include lowered inhibition, shallow respiration, flushing, vomiting, flushing, unconsciousness, coma, and death.

What do you know, right back to the stone age we go.

At the centre of the imminent food catastrophe is corn – the main staple of the ethanol industry. The price of corn has risen about 44% over the past 15 months, closing at US$4.66 a bushel on the CBOT yesterday – its best finish since June 1996.

This not only impacts the price of food products made using grains, but also the price of meat, with feed prices for livestock also increasing.

Raising the price of food, oh yeah, that will benefit the world’s poor, they don’t need to be eating anyway.

When liberals have a bright idea, people die.

getalife

May 25th, 2009
10:20 am

Our military is the best socialism in the world.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UQPUzwdX51o/ShqpH_aXSsI/AAAAAAAAAMs/2sde5P_NZ2g/s1600-h/6a00d83451b8c069e20115709d7be8970b.jpg

jt

May 25th, 2009
10:27 am

“When liberals have a bright idea, people die.”

I would amend–

When liberals or conservatives have a bright idea involving the unauthorized seizure of taxpayer funds, people die, the misery is increased, the state grows, and a well-connected few make millions.

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
10:43 am

Wood smoke contains large amounts of particulates, carbon monoxide and organic compounds. Other significant combustion products include nitrogen oxide, benzo(a)pyrene, napthalene, arthracene, phenanthrene, biphenyl, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzene, pyrelene, dioxin and heavy metals.

But, the same by-products from burning coal are good for us. And, smoking doesn’t affect one’s lifespan either.

Laboratory tests showed that exposure results in dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, stupor, and depression or mental excitement.

Also known as a drunken stupor when associated with E100. Now, remember folks, don’t drink and drive.

Symptoms of vapor exposure include lowered inhibition, shallow respiration, flushing, vomiting, flushing, unconsciousness, coma, and death.

Yes, it is true. Excess ethanol consumption can even kill.

We’re still waiting for a 20 percenter to have a bright idea but we’re smart enough to know better than to hold our breath while we wait.

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
10:48 am

Andy

It is my understanding that cap and trade applies to the large industrial emitters. From The National Academies Press:

“Total global emissions of species including NOx(nitrous oxide), VOCs(volatile organic compounds), and CO(carbon monoxide) may rise dramatically in the coming decades due to increasing population and industrialization, and in particular, the growth of ‘mega-cities’ in many regions of the world. The transport of pollutants such as ozone and PM(particulate matter) across national boundaries and between continents will increase in importance as total emissions rise. Such pollutant transport connects all the countries of the world to various degrees and can raise ‘background’ pollution levels over large regions of the globe.”

My concern is about Asian pollution coming this way. If we can develop clean technologies, perhaps this is something we can use to export to China, reducing our trade imbalance.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
11:02 am

We’re still waiting for a 20 percenter to have a bright idea but we’re smart enough to know better than to hold our breath while we wait.

Nuclear energy, TaxCheat, duh.

UpChuck- By taxing industry and taking away the very monetary capital that they need to innovate with?

We are installing state-of-the-art “scrubbers” and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, which will reduce Progress Energy Carolinas’ sulfur dioxide emissions by approximately 78 percent and nitrogen oxides emissions by approximately 50 percent from 2001 levels. The technologies we install will also help to significantly reduce mercury emissions in the state.

Technology advances daily, so yeah, let’s tax the hell out of them and take away their research and development budgets, and maybe they won’t pass those costs along to us.

Meanwhile, the know it all government pilfers and squanders money that could be put to better use.

Michael H. Smith

May 25th, 2009
11:04 am

Okay, Obumer Neo-Libs and Bush Neo-Cons

Centrism has emerged as a dominant factor in public opinion as the Obama era begins. The political values and core attitudes that the Pew Research Center has monitored since 1987 show little overall ideological movement. Republicans and Democrats are even more divided than in the past, while the growing political middle is steadfastly mixed in its beliefs about government, the free market and other values that underlie views on contemporary issues and policies. Nor are there indications of a continuation of the partisan realignment that began in the Bush years. Both political parties have lost adherents since the election and an increasing number of Americans identify as independents.

http://people-press.org/report/517/political-values-and-core-attitudes

Just wait till the Independents form a new party: That is, if we can ever agree on anything contrary to our independent opinions.

Heaven help us to never lose what they have died for to secure:

We have a Republic, if we can keep it. ~ Ben Franklin

Cuz

May 25th, 2009
11:05 am

A man I idolized as a child died late last year. He told me that he had served with Patton during WWII by driving a truck. At his funeral I found out he had started driving a truck and moved to tanks after a couple of months. During and directly after the Battle of the Bulge, he won three silver stars for heroism in three months. I knew him for forty-nine years and he never spoke of it. Many WWII veterans saw and did things they carried for their lives and never wanted to speak about it.

Thank a veteran if you see one today. Honour the memories of the one’s who gave all for their country.

Bosch

May 25th, 2009
11:17 am

I’ve been watching the ceremony at Arlington. If that ceremony doesn’t make you pause and reflect upon what this day means, you are one hard soul.

Cuz, I think many veterans who served in combat are like that, most that I’ve known were very humbled by their experiences and don’t want to talk about it. I was not in the military and I realize, especially on days like today, that I wasn’t good enough to be in the military.

My dad was in the Army when I was born, but didn’t see combat in Vietnam, but many of his friends went and died there. He never talks about his time in the military – I’ve never heard him talk about it once.

To all the veterans on this board, thanks for your service and the memories you hold of friends or fellow servicemen/women who died in service, to me at least, is how they live
on.

I have a question to any one here who can answer it: is the President considered in the military considering he is Commander in Chief? I was thinking about that this morning and I don’t know the answer to that question. I’m not trying to be disrespectful, I’m just curious. Say, now, is Bill Clinton considered to have a military record as Commander in Chief (and please, I’m serious, no Clinton jokes)?

eagle scout

May 25th, 2009
11:24 am

The simple answer to your question Bosch is…..No! No military record or claims to that affect.

Bosch

May 25th, 2009
11:27 am

eagle scout,

Thanks for the answer. I was just curious about that.

Brad Steel

May 25th, 2009
11:27 am

Whiner,
Your loud arrogance has ruined the reverence that should be observed on what should be a solemn respectful day.

You’re an oblivious dunce. You’re the worst.

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
11:30 am

“By taxing industry and taking away the very monetary capital that they need to innovate with?”

Fair enough question. Corporations are not necessarily good citizens when it comes to taxation. I remember one of the initial tax cuts during the RRR administration was ostensibly to re-tool U.S. factories and re-train the U.S. workers. Instead, junk-bonds were floated, leveraged buyouts proliferated and the rust belt was born. Getting corporate America to act responsibly is an issue come to the forefront recently. How about corporate America using large executive compensation to develop clean technologies (he asked naively)?

George American

May 25th, 2009
11:31 am

RIP, real Americans.

Your sacrifice may be squandered but the unAmerican communists who are not in charge. Lady Liberty is crying.

jt may be a genius

May 25th, 2009
11:35 am

jt @10:27 am
“When liberals have a bright idea, people die.”

Like when Bush/Cheney concocted lies about WMDs as the reason for invading Iraq and torture? Yeah that bright idea was certainly ginned up by liberals.

You’re an F’ing genius.

AmVet

May 25th, 2009
11:52 am

Bosch, scout is correct. Our government provides for civilian leadership over the military. Though some in the Pentagon probably hate it!

Brad Steel at 11:27, well said. Not even on this sacred day of remembrance, can the hateful and pitiful little people on this forum let go of their poison. And they remind us daily why the nation is beyond fed up with them.

Speaking of which, fantastic link Michael H. Smith.

It merely confirms what those with their eyes open already know. The hijacked GOP is imploding and its future looks very, very dismal. And it is losing supporters, many lifelong, faster than the Klan.

We can only hope that one day it will become a rational and viable option again. But given their repudiated core beliefs, it is for now a long shot.

And though the Democratic leadership may mistakenly believe they have the bull by the horns, many of us gave up on them long ago as well. And if I am correct, the Dem faithful are soon going to learn the hard way, that President Obama is no friend to those that have been disenfranchised and locked out by the utterly corrupt, monied and controlling interests in the plutocracy.

In the past five presidential elections, I have proudly voted for Independents four times.

For me, unlike many here who have recently found Independent “religion” but who will never really advocate against the status quo, this American Politburo must end. And I will continue to do my damnedest to fight against the entrenched and corrosive Republican/Democratic duopoly that is clearly failing we the people…

S GA dem

May 25th, 2009
12:00 pm

This weekend always reminds me of my grandfather, whose favorite American was Benjamin Franklin. As I’ve watched Dick Cheney squander what’s left of his respectability this week, I keep thinking about Ben Franklin’s words to the representatives that would make up our first continental congress.

” They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety ”

Dick Cheney has never sacrificed anything for the good of our country. How is this man a spokesman for the Republican party?? Can someone please give me an explanation for this?

lwwmm7

May 25th, 2009
12:01 pm

Thank a vet for the freedom to spew this garbage on such a meaningful day. Thamk a vet for the capability of speaking our minds (?) without fear of being beheaded or stoned to death. My dad served in WW II, limped the rest of his life, and never once complained or shared anything about his experiences except the funny ones concerning drunken leaves in faraway places. He refused to watch any sort of war movie, however, which hinted to me of the horrors he had seen. Even when John Wayne was kicking the hell out of the enemy, he couldn’t watch. God bless you, Dad, and all the other unsung heroes who are so sorely needed as character examples for us all today.

RW-(the original)

May 25th, 2009
12:10 pm

While I join in solemnly honoring our fallen war heroes on this Memorial Day I can’t help but also reflect on what they sacrificed for. I seriously doubt that many of them gave their lives so that they could be honored and having people use that honor to attempt to stifle someone speaking out about their views of the direction our country is going. In fact I think there would be a much larger percentage that would say they offered their lives on the field of battle to protect the rights of those that want to speak out.

When I read that someone has “had the day ruined” for them by someone speaking out or see someone parading their supposed veteran status as a bludgeon to try to usurp unearned respect, respect that should be reserved for the fallen, on this Memorial Day it disgusts me.

My prayers and sincere thanks go out to the fallen.

To the fallen, thank you and God bless you and your families.

To the rest of you, Happy Memorial Day. See you tomorrow.

Soothsayer

May 25th, 2009
12:40 pm

While we’re at it, how about an in memoriam for our economy?

Traditional methods of stimulating consumer demand are now less effective. They might cause a rebound in sales, but the follow- through to domestic employment is diluted as the response to demand is met by foreign labor. There is now a large new “leakage,” as increases in domestic demand are met by offshore production.

Ray

May 25th, 2009
12:45 pm

George America,

You’d be amazed at how easy it is to sign up for an online government course. Might want to give it a shot, unless sucking on the toe of your boot is a hobby.

Soothsayer

May 25th, 2009
12:51 pm

Many American software engineers and IT professionals have been forced by jobs offshoring to abandon their professions. The November 6, 2006, issue of Chemical & Engineering News reports that “the percentage of American Chemical Society member chemists in the domestic workforce who did not have full-time jobs as of March of this year was 8.7 percent.” There is no reason for Americans to pursue education in science and technology when career opportunities in those fields are declining due to offshoring.

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
12:54 pm

Ray@12:45 That was very tactful. Good job!

Soothsayer

May 25th, 2009
12:57 pm

This is what is wrong with today’s debate about outsourcing and offshore production. It’s not really about trade but about labor arbitrage. Companies producing for U.S. markets are substituting cheap labor for expensive U.S. labor. The U.S. loses jobs and also the capital and technology that move offshore to employ the cheaper foreign labor. Economists argue that this loss of capital does not result in unemployment but rather a reduction in wages. The remaining capital is spread more thinly among workers, while the foreign workers whose country gains the money become more productive and are better paid.

Economists call this wrenching adjustment “short-run friction.” But when the loss of jobs leaves people with less income but the same mortgages and debts, upward mobility collapses. Income distribution becomes more polarized, the tax base is lost, and the ability to maintain infrastructure, entitlements, and public commitments is reduced. Nor is this adjustment just short-run. The huge excess supplies of labor in India and China mean that American wages will fall a lot faster than Asian wages will rise for a long time.

Those who are looking for a quick end to this recession are going to be sorely disappointed.

jt

May 25th, 2009
12:58 pm

jt may be a genius -

I didn’t write that S for brains. I amended it. Pay attention to detail.

“You’re an F’ing genius.”

I know.

TW

May 25th, 2009
1:02 pm

Have not found a greater statement for this day than RW’s words at 12:10.

God Bless.

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
1:06 pm

Mrs. Godzilla

May 25th, 2009
8:42 am

Great tribute.

Harland Smith
1921-1945
KIA France

A true Tennessee Volunteer.

I Rule You / You Whine

May 25th, 2009
8:06 am

They died liberating Europe. Many sent to an early grave on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Soothsayer

May 25th, 2009
1:09 pm

The advent of offshoring has made it possible for U.S. firms using first world capital and technology to produce goods and services for the U.S. market with foreign labor.—-The result is to separate Americans’ incomes from the production of the goods and services that they consume.—-This new development, often called “globalization,” allows cheap foreign labor to work with the same capital, technology and business know-how as U.S. workers. The foreign workers are now as productive as Americans, with the difference being that the large excess supply of labor that overhangs labor markets in China and India keeps wages low. Labor that is equally productive but paid a fraction of the wage is a magnet for Western capital and technology.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Treasury Secretary under Ronald Reagan.

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
1:12 pm

Dusting off an oldie:

Oh Lord, when will our leaders learn
Tho they be mortal sinners
No matter how great the victory
In war there are no winners

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
1:13 pm

“Nuclear Energy!” How many more times do we have to hear that dead-ender. Duh! How about we store the waste in Andy’s back yard.

catlady

May 25th, 2009
1:19 pm

My dad, captured in the Battle of the Bulge, never talked about his service, either, at least to me. Till the day he died (I was in my late 40s) I was “too young” to hear about it. I got bits from my mother and saw the way he suffered. He was in an offlag (like a stalag but for officers) and the skin on his feet froze, among other problems. He suffered for the rest of his life. He DID, however, watch and read all the things about the Battle, to see if anyone got it right, I guess. He escaped in the spring and 2 days later Patton came though and liberated the camp.

His group built bridges for Patton. He told my mom, after they saw the movie “Patton” and she was appalled at the language, that Patton did not talk like that. He was much filthier.

I asked him how he could be in the engineering corps since he did not go to college until after the war. Didn’t they have any standards for who could be an engineer? He said, “no”, to which I asked, “Well, why didn’t they get Georgia Tech graduates if there were no real standards?” Hehahe. He loved it because after the war he went to Duke and got a BSEE in 3 years. They had quite a rivalry with Tech. I have letters the family sent him that were returned where they enclosed shaving razors for him–the only kind of care package possible, I guess.

The family had been told he was MIA, presumed dead, and got a telegraph a few days after Christmas saying he was alive but captured and my grandmother said, “Thank God.”

I think of my granddad, who was in France in WWI when my dad was born. In fact, I have a fill in the blank army postcard, stamped 1919, that he wrote my grandma the day my dad was born (of course he didn’t know). It is a treasure to me.

I am glad someone noted “Flanders Fields”. My dad used to recite it to me.

How many times must a cannonball fly, before they’re forever banned?

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
1:31 pm

catlady

May 25th, 2009
1:19 pm

Great sentiment. Thanks for sharing.

Good job Susan Boyle, but…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyx2n_p9OZ8

George American

May 25th, 2009
1:43 pm

Scooter and Ray,
Good job of a attacking this vet. Perfect day for it.

Why don’t you anti-American hippy-types go sign Kunbyyah while the Real Americans take care of our heros and protect your cowardly butts.

Ray

May 25th, 2009
2:11 pm

George American,

Vermin like you join the military not for service to country, but rather in search of the pair you were obviously born without. Of course you failed, the result being the lonesome prick we find here today.

George American

May 25th, 2009
2:22 pm

Ray,
Thank you for another slight to a veteran on this special day.

Your mean-spirited comments mean a lot to those who have fallen and served. It just goes to show that our enemies are not only outside the US but right here in out midst.

My brothers in arms hope to make your acquaintance some day – wink.

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
2:23 pm

George @ 1:43 I am also a vet. Save your ammo for a different day. You will need it on this blog site! Sorry I did not agree with your post.

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
2:27 pm

The big Corporations make more tax-free money off the little people by moving operations to countries that pay workers the least amount of money and that’s what is needed to get the trickles drizzling down on the rest of us. At least, that’s the 20 percenter’s story and they’re STILL sticking to it even after it has been shown to be an outright fallacy repeatedly. Those 20 percenters sure are slow.

getalife

May 25th, 2009
2:47 pm

conservatism is a mental disorder that eliminates reasoning from right to wrong.

Case in point:

“Conservatives Claim: Jesus Would Have Approved Waterboarding”:

http://www.librarygrape.com/2009/05/red-state-jesus-would-have-approved.html

I rest my case.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
2:49 pm

“Nuclear Energy!” How many more times do we have to hear that dead-ender. Duh! How about we store the waste in Andy’s back yard.

I thought you libs wanted to be more like the rest of the world?

In France, as of 2002[update], Électricité de France (EDF) — the country’s main electricity generation and distribution company — manages the country’s 59 nuclear power plants. As of 2008[update], these plants produce 87.5% of both EDF’s and France’s electrical power production (of which much is exported),[1] making EDF the world leader in production of nuclear power by percentage.

mouth breather

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
2:53 pm

getalife @ 2:47 Get a life!

Midori

May 25th, 2009
2:57 pm

I would like to, if I may, wish each and every one of you a Happy Memorial Day.

now Andy can go back to flinging his feces.

catlady

May 25th, 2009
3:03 pm

Y’know, we’d better not let Cheney et al realize that these American cemeteries sitting on French soil are prime real estate. Halliburton might want to plow them up and redevelop them for condos or something. Or rent them back to the US for a small profit, compounded semi-annually.

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
3:13 pm

Midori @2:57
Same to ya!

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
3:13 pm

diM- I’m not so sure you are supposed to be “happy” about Memorial Day but whatever.

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
3:22 pm

I thought you libs wanted to be more like the rest of the world?

Riiight. Just like Iran — no nukes.

Actually, I am in favor of producing power that is, first and foremost, safe for we the people to live with. No more putting profits ahead of people’s health.

Midori

May 25th, 2009
3:39 pm

Fling, Andy, Fling!

you’re just so very good at it!!

N.J,

May 25th, 2009
3:42 pm

Fortunately, the export of American manufacturing to places where there is cheap labor will disappear as the means of transporting manufactured goods half way around the world becomes more expensive than labor. With some items, like cheap toys, this will not be a problem,for a long time, but with other items, like a ton a steel, the cost of moving it currently costs 90 dollars for a ton that costs 700 dollars. Four dollar a gallon gasoline and 200 dollar a barrel oil is an inevitability. In the end, it will become cheaper to produce what we need closer to home, rather than ship it 1l,000 miles. Unless we come up with some alternative fuel to petroleum.

Of course, what is often forgotten about D-Day, was its many postponements. The U.S. allowed the Soviets to bear the brunt of the cost of capturing all of Europe to the east of Germany, and that was where its future and ability to keep the war going was. In the oil fields of Romania and those that surrounded Stalingrad. With those oil fields, the Germans could have kept the war going indefinitely. Without them they were finished,ccompletely.

We had agreed to invade France in 1942, and kept stalling until it became obvious that the Soviets were sitting on the border of Germany 4 months before D Day, and had they not decided to keep their agreement not to enter the reich until the western invasion, could have rolled over Germany and into France in a few more months, and certainly could have captured all of Germany before June 6th. One of the reasons that the invasion was launched in some of the worse weather possible was that had they waited until the next expected good weather in July, the Soviets could have chosen to simply invade Germany from the east, and roll clear to the French borders by July. The Russian were advancing towards the German border and towards Berlin moving the battle lines 40 miles westward per day, and the allies, who waited, because they thought the Russians and Germans would anihilate each other, were rather fearful that the Russians would not stop at Berlin, but simply keep going. Most of the German air force had been destroyed in battles with the Russians, as were their tanks and most of their equipment. The western allies fought a Nazi army that had been almost completely decimated on their eastern front and yet an undersupplied German army managed to pull a few surprises on the western front in places like the Ardennes. While at the Battle of the Bulge, the western allies were fighting basically green troops, losing 19,000 troops, 30,000 surrendered, at the Zeelow Heights at the entrance of Berlin the Russians faced crack German troops and in the battle that ensued, 400,000 soldiers on both sides dies in a few days of fighting. By D- Day, the Nazis had lost 3 million troops, about 90 percent of its total strength. All of Europe to the East of Austria ended up in Soviet hands for decades, simply because the ability of the Soviet forces were very much underestimated until the last months of the war

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
3:43 pm

George American

May 25th, 2009
11:31 am

Real as in dead from fighting someone else’s war? They were young and expendable. But at least they died in a real war, not some trumped-up exercise in chest-thumping by their strutter-in-chief.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/31/bush-wild-eyed/

D-Day, June 6, 1944
When so many of our brave young men (boys?) met death on a foreign shore

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
3:47 pm

N.J,

May 25th, 2009
3:42 pm

Are you saying D-Day was politically rather than militarily motivated? By the greatest country in the history of the world?

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
3:56 pm

TaxCheat- I am truly impressed by your thoughtful response at 3:22 but at the same time, and don’t misunderstand me, it leads to a few questions I must ask-

1) As a small child, were you dropped on your head?

2) Did you pay for your education?

3) Did your parents have any children that lived?

If you would be so gracious to respond at your convenience, thank you in advance.

eagle scout

May 25th, 2009
4:11 pm

Last year at this time I was in D.C. and spent a good part of the day at the Vietnam Veterans war memorial….There, I had an opportunity to visit with a multitude of fellow brothers who shared with me the nightmare that was Vietnam!

I salute all of those who have or now wear the uniform of a U.S. Serviceman/woman and especially those who never came home.

I’m going to end this now before I get all political….and, go ballistic!

And, for anyone who served in the central highlands this song should bring back some memories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVVZPefbR4

We have e

N.J,

May 25th, 2009
4:25 pm

Yeah, pretty much so. Very much political. When Stalin decided to join the allies, the original agreements had the allies invading France (or possibly the low countries) sometime in mid 1942. The western allies kept stalling Stalin in the hopes that his forces would be pinned down by the Germans. The underestimating of the Russian military might surprised the western allies, who continually expected that the Russian forward movement would be checked by the Nazis and that when the British, American and other allied forces finally invaded, the Russians would be powerless to stop them from moving into territoties captured and held by the Russians. Stunned the hell out of them when Thhe Soviet troops had rolled over the Nazis and were at the borders of Austria by late February, early March, 1945, and were at the German border by the end of March. This was rather amazing, as the Russians had only managed to push the Germans out of over their own borders by the end of 1944. They managed to take all of Europe to the borders of the reich, in less than three months. A lot of the world doesnt celebrate D-Day, largely because compared to the battles on the eastern front, most of the battles on the western front were comparable to skirmishes in the east. The largest celebrations in Europe occur on May 9th, the day that the Russians took most of Berlin, and Hitler was holed up in the last few square miles that was left of the third reich. The war probably could have been ended a year earlier, maybe 18 months, had the original dates for invasion been kept. Most of the American and British troops sat around, quite ready, and spoiling for a fight, for close to a year anyway, but the politics of the western allies kept this from occuring.

They knew that it was going to be tough getting territories taken by the Russians out of their hands, and the stalling was rather in the hopes that the Soviet army would be too weakened to put up much resistance or make good arguments at the final negotiations as to how Europe would be divided among the victors.

mm

May 25th, 2009
4:26 pm

On this day of honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, we have the Whiner blasting away with his usual hatred. Whiner, you are a tiny, hate filled man who has nothing better to offer your country but your trumped up garbage filled rants on a daily basis. No matter what you say or do, you cannot undo the harm done to this country by the GOP. Blaming someone else cannot cleanse you from voting for the wretched group of fools that put our country at the brink of ruin,

Ray

May 25th, 2009
4:29 pm

George American,

Your need to run to your buddies for this only further exposes your lack of a Y chromosome. If need someone to feel sorry for you on a day when we honor those who really served…try Wooten.

Yawn.

N.J,

May 25th, 2009
4:31 pm

Oh, yes the capitalist/socialist argument. As usual most Americans and many Europeans are kept rather ignorant of how poorly “free market capitalism” is working in the rest of the world. In the last 20 years, by and large more, rather than fewer people are living on less money per day, and a lot more people are starving, because of the requierments of the wealthier countries with regard to how much of the resources of the poorer countries we get to plunder in our trade agreements.

Africa, for example is perfectly capable and was perfectly capable of feeding every person on the continent at a level that would keep them perfectly healthy and well off. However, the deals made with the dictatorial leaders on that continent result in huge amounts of resources being diverted to both America and Europe so the standards of living can be maintained in both areas.

GayGrayGeek

May 25th, 2009
4:40 pm

On a solemn day such as this, it’s pitiful, as well as pitiable, to see the actions of some in these precincts.

A suggestion to the cohort – mayhaps a large dose of The Silent Treatment for our coprophiliac twins, the one known as Whiner/Andy and the other who calls himself George? Obviously, like a 3-year-old throwing the Mother Of All Temper Tantrums in the middle of a mall, they crave to be the center of everyone’s attentions. It would seem quite simple to deny them the only little bit of “enjoyment” they obviously get in their sad little lives.

After all, it’s not like either makes any posts of substance, beyond invective and childish name-calling. Why bother responding at all, at least presuming that Jay isn’t as disgusted as most of the rest of us and allows them to continue spewing their post-processed waste products at all and sundry.

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
4:42 pm

Andy,

If I thought that you were thoughtful in your self-proclaimed thoughtfulness, I might be thoughtful enough to reply thoughtfully.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
4:46 pm

Aahhh, yes, a round of applause for that lovely holiday diaper filling from mmoron.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
5:16 pm

This is completely preposterous, the idea that somehow what is happening at Guantanamo and other facilities, if we make nice with these fellows, they will suddenly start observing the rules of the Geneva Convention. No, if you’re the kind of target they’re looking for, and they capture you, they will saw your head off and release it as a snuff video on the internet. And nothing that Obama says is going to change that. Now as I said, either he’s a fool who simply cannot understand that not everybody sitting around the world looks at things the way an ACLU lawyer does sitting in Hyde Park, Chicago.-Mark Steyn

Obozo has foolish down to a science, hahahaha.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
5:17 pm

gaygrayfreak- What, the Urinal isn’t answering your whiny little telephone calls and letters anymore?

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
5:24 pm

I Rule You / You Whine

May 25th, 2009
5:16 pm

We pride ourselves on being better than they are. Why do you want to stoop to their level and destroy what little credibility we have left?

Could you at least say something nice about Obozo’s talented wife? What a breath of fresh air.

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
5:40 pm

TnGelding,
What makes Obama’s wife talented? ???

getalife

May 25th, 2009
5:40 pm

Told ya conservatism is a mental disorder.

Andy proves this fact everyday.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
5:49 pm

“It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,” Obozo said.

Oh no, mr bill, no international acceptance, oh, not that, what will we ever do!

Moron In Chief.

N.J,

May 25th, 2009
5:50 pm

I am amused at how Republicans have made this war into their very own, when they not only bitterly opposed it, they were putting forth neutrality amendments left and right, the most insidious being the “Ludlow Amendment” of 1934, which required a national voter referendum to go to war.

During the spring of 1934, Fortune magazine published an article connecting European politics with the armaments industry. Then it discussed the activity of the American steel companies and the political ties in America. This article prompted a Senate investigation headed by Senators Pittman and Nye, a very isolationist Republican of North Dakota. The (incorrect) results of this investigation were that “American entry into the war was the work of wicked Wall Street bankers” (Perkins 96). In response to this thesis, Congress quickly began work on “neutrality legislation” (96) to prevent the U.S. from being drawn into another war. These laws became known as the Neutrality Acts. They “forbade American ships to sail into war zones or ports of belligerent nations, citizens to travel on merchant vessels belonging to belligerents, banks to lend money to nations at war, manufacturers to sell any armaments or other specified war-related products to warring countries” (Cooper 6). The most amazing part of these acts, though, was the proposed “Ludlow Amendment”. This amendment would allow the United States to go to war only after a national referendum. “The American people, faced perhaps by some instant danger, were supposed to debate the issue in every part of the land, expose their divisions to the possible enemy, and fracture their national unity in time of peril by sharp and perhaps bitter discussion” (Perkins 101). This obviously opinionated idea of the Ludlow Amendment gives a worst-case scenario showing how very flawed such an idea would be. Although this extreme measure could put the country in grave danger, seventy-five percent of the public was in favor of such an idea in 1935, and still sixty-eight percent in 1938 (102). “When the issue was brought to the floor of the House in [1938], it was clear that a great parliamentary battle impended. The President spoke out against the proposal; so, too did the Secretary of State” (102). In the House there were 209 votes for the amendment, and 188 votes against, not enough for the two-thirds vote required (102). It is very serious, though, how very divided the House was on this outrageous matter. It reflects how extremely distrustful the American people were of the President and how intense the anti-war sentiment was during that time period. Dexter Perkins describes this:

The Ludlow amendment represents the isolationist sentiment in its most extreme form. It was based on distrust of the executive on a conception of foreign policy which would have accentuated internal division and made effective action impossible, on that kind of fear of war which encourages others to war. It was the high-water mark of the movement of American withdrawal.

http://harwich.edu/depts/history/HHJ/iso.htm

Even though a large part of the war there were still Republicans who opposed entering the war, even after Pearl Harbor. Some opposed going to war with Germany, even after Germany declared war against the United States in support of its ally Japan.

Of course we also have the bitter public pro Nazi Arguments of Charles Lindbergh against FDR’s cautioning that Hitler would not stop at England, but was seeking total World domination. Given the state of the American military before 1941, had the U.S stayed out of the war, and Hitler chose to consolidate his hold on Western Europe, and had Hitler kept his agreement with Stalin to divide the continent, the United States simply would have come under the German thumb in some way, as Germany was the world military superpower of the 1930’s. They had the ability to control the Atlantic up to our shorelines and could easily have dictated terms with regard to international trade, etc.

The only thing that overcame this isolationism was Roosevelts rather clever deal with “Lend Lease”. The U.S. not only made money out of this without directly entering the war, it also got a line of defense against a Nazi threat to the U.S. if it won the war, because the U.S. was given possession of many British military bases from Newfoundland down to Trinidad. Still many if not most Republicans opposed “lend lease” because American military ships would be requires to protect American commercial ships transporting materials to Britain. In the United States, the German Charge D’Affaires at their embassy,Hans Thomsen, was pumping every dollar he could find to isolationish groups and politicians he could. Nazi documents captured after their defeat showed that one Republican congressman was paid 3,000 dollars, a rather large sum at the time, to invite 50 Republican isolationists to come to the Republican convention to sway the ticket away from Wendell Wilkie, who decided to support Roosevelt’s Lend Lease program. They even started looking for the few Democratic isolationists in an attempt to prevent the renomination of Roosevelt as the Democratic nominee in 1940.
The same German official paid for 30,000 dollars worth of newspaper advertising nationwide, including one on June 25th, 1940 with many elected isolationist calling the interventionist policies of the United States, in particular Roosevelts ‘Quarantine” speech, in which Roosevelt calls for using force to quarantine the European fascists, preventing their spread as “treason”.

Republicans basically opposed WWII, many even after it had started, yet they now pretty much will support any war that is based on economic interests alone.

RB from Gwinnett

May 25th, 2009
6:39 pm

Ah yes… Memorial day, veterans day, and the 4th of July… Days the liberals pretend to support our troops and actally think the rest of us buy their crap.

Jay, don’t waste your breath trying to act like you support our troops or any man or woman who has ever died to give you the right to live as you do. NOBODY with a brain is buying it.

Jay, you just rest your head tonight on your soft cushy pillow knowing some 18 year old grunt is standing guard with a rifle somewhere in Afganistan or Iraq ready to pop a cap in the arse of the man who would rather be chopping your head off with a machette. And he doesn’t even mind that you don’t appreciate him being there, Jay. He knows why he’s there and has re-upped twice to be there for you. And his mom and dad who live next door.

Eddy

May 25th, 2009
6:40 pm

Our Heroes

To gaze upon the lush, emerald, green fields and see the columns and rows of alabaster
crosses perfectly aligned and standing at attention as if to guard those fallen warriors who
lie beneath brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. “No greater gift can
be given than to lay down your life for another.” These Gardens of Stone convey
a beauty unlike any other garden. No colorful plants or flowers grow here and yet
the beauty is breathtaking! The silence and quiet embrace the landscape. These are
sacred places worthy of reverence and remembrances.

The crosses are etched with names, dates, and services. There isn’t enough
room to capture the fallen’s life history. But at each cross when family members
stand to pay their respects, snippets and glimpses of their lives come cascading
out of the memory banks. Laughter and tears, joy and sadness and a longing..if
only.. fill the emotions. Prayers of peace, mercy, grace and forgiveness are
silently said with lips moving and quivering.

We honor those who served this country and served it well. They are not forgotten.

As the sun silently slips beneath the horizon, the mournful sound of a lone bugler
playing Taps echoes across the fields signaling that it is time to sleep, to rest
for you have given all you have to give.

danjonglee

May 25th, 2009
6:40 pm

I think I’ll go play a round of golf…..

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
6:53 pm

Great post Eddy!

Midori

May 25th, 2009
7:02 pm

wow.

look at what I just read about the leader of the republican party: http://pssht.com/biography/rush_limbaugh.html

AmVet

May 25th, 2009
7:04 pm

Eddy, thank you.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
7:07 pm

Aahhh, yes, the hate that diM reads is universal-

In May 2004 Rush’s third wife, Marta, grew tired of never
having sex with her allegedly closeted homosexual of a
husband, and so asked for a divorce. Limbaugh complied after his
desperate wife agreed to never reveal the true nature of Rush’s
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~sexual perversion.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Homosexuality is a perversion, hahahahahahahahaha, no kidding.

You little diM homophobe, eewwww

the evil rich

May 25th, 2009
7:08 pm

Admit it, if you libs had your way, there be no wars and we’d all be speaking german!

Cherokee

May 25th, 2009
7:10 pm

Jay thanks for a beautiful tribute. And isn’t it interesting that all the “libs” are able to honor our soldiers with classy posts of their own, while the usual suspects – whiner, RB, Donovan – can only spit out bile and slime and bitterness.

Keep up the good work.

the evil rich

May 25th, 2009
7:12 pm

Hey Cherokee, words are CHEAP, let’s see some action.

LeeH1

May 25th, 2009
7:21 pm

So, all you blacks who insist the Confederate flag is a symbol of slavery and racism- did you go out today and weed the grave of a dead Union soldier?

Or do you take the sacrifice of young white soldiers who died for your freedom for granted?

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
7:25 pm

I kid you not, a flock of geese just passed by heading south.

Even they are smart enough to know “global warming” is a hoax.

But the liberals……

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
7:33 pm

I Rule You / You Whine

May 25th, 2009
5:49 pm

But better than anything the opposition could find to oppose him. Live with it!

RB from Gwinnett

May 25th, 2009
7:37 pm

Very nice, Jay. You don’t have the honor to dispute what I wrote so you split hairs over whether or not the re-upped twice is 18 or 19 or 20 or whatever.

You’re a POS, Jay. You can pull this post if you want to, but I called you out and you don’t have the moral fortitude to defend yourself.

Move on, Jay. This city deserves better.

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
7:53 pm

Hey RB, you were the one who wrote “18 year old”. Calling our host a POS because you are too embarrassed to own up to your words is less than pathetic.

AmVet

May 25th, 2009
7:54 pm

In Ohio recently, a woman who had a son in Iraq was told by her condominium association that she couldn’t put a Blue Star service flag in her window, signifying that she had a loved one in harms’ way.

Congressman John Boccieri, an Iraq war veteran who VoteVets.org PAC supported in his election, has introduced legislation guaranteeing that Blue Star Families and Gold Star Families (those who lost a loved one) can put a service flag in their windows in any residential property, without limitation.

This bill just makes common sense.

http://ga3.org/campaign/starflagact

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
7:58 pm

Interesting reading on a slow sports day-

It seems that NASA’s James Hansen, head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), is at it again. He just can’t let the data speak for itself. In yet another egregious display of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) arrogance, he changed the temperature data from 1910-2008 to reflect what is clearly a cooling trend to reflect a warming trend.

Well, well, little did I know that Goddard was being run by the kook of all kooks, Hansen, and he concocts his hysteria how he sees fit-

These are the USHCN (United States Historical Climatology Network) “raw” and “homogenized” data plots from the GISTEMP (GISS Surface Temperature) website synthesized into one chart with polynomial fit trend lines. As seen in this comparison chart, the Blue Lines represent raw data — clearly indicating a cooling trend. Whereas the Red Lines are the adjusted trends after subjected to Hansen’s own curiously compensating algorithm. Junk in = Junk out.

Like I said, the algorithm is defective, purposefully so.

Not only that-

When you first glance at the chart from my last blog entry it sure looks like Global Warming is for real, after 1990 the bars never go into the blue zone. But how can this be when 1934 is still the hottest year on record, this chart makes it look like 1998 is the hottest?

If you look at the charts from Minnesota there is a lot of ups and downs but no clear warming trend.

The thing that these skewed charts never take into account is the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. This brought the number of reporting weather stations around the world down from a high of 15,000 in 1970 to 5,000 in 2000. This takes some of the coldest places on the planet out of the equation, like Siberia.

Faking our way to large government research grants, are we?

If the data shows cooling, just tweak it.

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
7:58 pm

Chill out everyone!
Today is not the day. Uninted we stand!

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
8:00 pm

Admit it, if you libs had your way, there be no wars and we’d all be speaking german!

Yes indeed. We would have no wars and we would be speaking German, English, Italian, French, Spanish, etc. After all, that is part of what makes the USA great.

Midori

May 25th, 2009
8:28 pm

Andy,

reading hate can’t be helped, no matter how fast I scroll past all the bitterness and venom you post.

RB from Gwinnett

May 25th, 2009
8:31 pm

Jay, an 18 year old can re-up twice. He might be 26 at the end of that time, but he can. Don’t challenge me to a battle of semantics, Jay. You will get your clock cleaned. Again. You aren’t that bright.

Why don’t you try challenging me on the substance of your post, Jay, instead of some trivial semantic detail? Your reply is a typical liberal attack ploy. You can’t dispute the challenge made so you attack the other party with stupid crap.

Bring on the debate, Jay. Do you have any substance or do you want to debate how old re-up soldiers are? You are no patriot, Jay. Never have been and probably never will be. No amount of empty crap posted on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Independance Day will change that. Why don’t you just man up and admit it?

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
8:36 pm

diM- So you are cool with the homosexuality is a sexual perversion, got it, welcome aboard.

Midori

May 25th, 2009
8:39 pm

Andy,

You are a perversion.

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
8:41 pm

“Some 18 year old grunt is standing guard….He knows why he’s there and has re-upped twice….

18-8=10

It’s not semantics, it’s mathematics. IS THERE A MATHEMATICIAN IN THE HOUSE?

Taxpayer

May 25th, 2009
8:41 pm

Wow, Jay. RB really is full of himself. Thanks for leaving his posts. They really are telling.

Midori

May 25th, 2009
8:46 pm

Tax,

he and Andy must share the same bloodline.

getalife

May 25th, 2009
8:59 pm

RB’s head exploded.

Yeah, leave that mess up.

Ew.

I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(

May 25th, 2009
9:19 pm

I tend to agree with RB, not about re upping but with the liberal’s tendency to attach themselves to nationalistic holidays like some common parasite, after all, tomorrow they will get right back to work trying to undermine, destroy and otherwise ruin the United States that they so “love” today.

eewwww

All weekend long, the question hangs; which is more important, the country or the soldiers who fought and died for it?

TnGelding

May 25th, 2009
9:24 pm

Scooter

May 25th, 2009
5:40 pm

She’s a member of the National Honor Society, graduated from Princeton cum laude (W/O legacy appointment), J.D. from Harrvarrd, attractive, athletic, articulate, charming, a loving wife and most of all an excellent mother and role model. Wonder how that garden is doing?

Midori

May 25th, 2009
9:26 pm

we knew you would, and do, Andy.

after all, it “is” your world.

N.J.

May 25th, 2009
9:26 pm

Yeah, it would be impossible for an 18 year old to have reupped twice today, but not necessarily during WWII. People as young as 16 could enlist as long as their parents signed for them, and there were kids as young as 14 who joined with fake ID who looked older, so in those cases, it would have been possible.

I went to visit my cousin’s(fathers cousin, actually) grave in Belgium, for those who died in the Ardenne. Its a 90 acre site with over 5000 graves. Not in Normandy. He was with Patton later in the war and burned to ashes inside his tank. Then I went to see my uncles grave. His plane was shot down over Italy as part of the air support for the landing at either Salerno or Anzio, and he is buried at the Sicily-Rome Memorial Cemetary for Americans. 77 acres, almost 8,000 graves and the monument has the names of over 3000 who were missing in action. The site lies a little to the east of Anzio. Really beautiful spot.My father was the only member of the family who joined up and returned from the war, and he was the only one to have fought in the Pacific campaign rather than Europe.

My home town has had its own version of the Vietnam Wall for years. A monument on a bluff that sits on a bluff over the city that had the names of everyone who died in WWI and WWII from the place.

There are gravesites like this all over Europe, and even in North Africa.

RB from Gwinnett

May 25th, 2009
9:37 pm

Jay, the substance is that 362 days a year you post crap that demeans our troops; accusing them of being savages on the battlefield (via your cohorts and your silence on the matter) and your kind is the same group of “better red than dead” protesters from every conflict this nation has engaged in from day 1, yet 3 days a year you want to post fluffy crap and act like you support our brave men and women and act like nobody noticed the other 362 days.

That is substance, Jay. Live with it. And keep chanting “better a prayer matt than dead” or whatever crap you people are chanting this time.

Or keep debating trivial semantics while your employer goes out of business.

getalife

May 25th, 2009
9:41 pm

“which is more important, the country or the soldiers who fought and died for it?”

Memorial Day is to honor the fallen but you go ahead and hope our President fails in a time of war.

cons,

Geez.

DB, Gwinnettian

May 25th, 2009
9:42 pm

the substance is that 362 days a year you post crap that demeans our troops

Cite, please.

(You can’t.)

N.J.

May 25th, 2009
9:52 pm

I also find the attempts to hijack what has probably is the last really just war that the U.S. was involved in. The Republicans largely extremely opposed going to war in World War II, have opposed almost every other military operation which was based on actually doing something for anything but an economic advantage. Of course they opposed the recent intervention in the Balkans. No oil there. But pretty much any reason to use military force in the Middle East for just about any reason is good enough these days.

RB from Gwinnett

May 25th, 2009
9:55 pm

Midori, it sure must take a lot of nerve to post that with the complete lack of support you gave Bush for his entire term of office while we were at war. You sure have a convenient short memory.

Pathetic.

DB, how about you show where Jay posted anything supporting our troops. Can you? How about something from you in support of them? You can’t. You likely hold the same contempt for them Jay does. Who is it you pathetic liberals think you’re fooling with this crap? Does it make you all feel better to act like patriots once a year? This isn’t a game, DB, these people died to give you the right to spit on their graves 362 days a year. At least have the common decency to be truthful about it.

jt

May 25th, 2009
10:00 pm

My one and only epiphany so far.

On a drunken road trip in the early 90’s, my mates and I stopped to urinate on a desolate dirt road in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE on the island of Sicily. Close by, was one of those weird Sicilian cemetaries that look like little cities. This one was surrounded by thousands of white crosses. I went for a closer look and read “WILLIAM,SGT,USArmy” on one.
“WTF” I thought. I read the rest as far as I could. HANES, STEIN, MURPHY,etc…….Thousands. Of Americans. In BumF Italy? Yes, they’re still laying in that lonely ass place.
That freaked me out. I think of them every memorial day.

N.J.

May 25th, 2009
10:02 pm

I have yet to see Jay demean the troops, merely the demeaning use of troops for wars whose sole purposes is to enrich a very small group of people. If Saddam had been ruler of some nation without resources, he would have remained in power for decades longer. All of the B.S. about his human rights violations was just that, and we have simply replaced Saddam with another pseudo democracy that violates the rights of as many. Women had considerably more rights under Saddam than they do now. Jews has constitutional protections under Saddams constitution. They were removed by the new Shi’ite majority (Jews are now forbidden to own property in Iraq) The Christian community of Iraq, once one of the largest in the Middle East, numbering 200,000 before this war, with full religious freedoms (that is to say, they were treated no better or worse than any other person in Iraq) now numbers in the few hundreds.

World War II was fought to end an extremely nasty set of fanatics. Most of the Wars fought since, were fought for American economic interests, and sometimes, against the will of the majority of the people in the nations we fought the war in, like Vietnam. Between 1949 and his death in 1969, Ho Chi Minh would have won any freely held election in both the north and south during all those years, and it was this that caused the American involvement. We could in no way brook a communist being elected in a fair election, and so had to deny them from occuring.

RB from Gwinnett

May 25th, 2009
10:09 pm

“All of the B.S. about his human rights violations was just that”

And the holicast never happened either, right N.J.?

Why don’t you ask the Kurds if any of that stuff happened? I think they’ll tell a different story from what you heard on MSNBC.

BTW, whose side are you on anyway?

Kamchak

May 25th, 2009
10:10 pm

I feel “better” because I can take this basic word problem (An 18 year old service man is standing guard. If he has re-upped twice at four years per term, at what age was his initial enlistment?), put it in a mathematical equation (18-(2×4)=x) and solve for x. x=10 years old.

RB from Gwinnett

May 25th, 2009
10:15 pm

Kam, try this multiple choice problem.

If a liberal has no leg to stand on in a debate of issues, does he:

A. Try to find a meaningless issue for which to attack his opponent to avoid debating the actual issue.

B. All of the above.

Good luck!

Cuz

May 25th, 2009
10:25 pm

NJ please stop. I don’t have the time nor the inclination on this day to counter your claims. I appreciate the fact that your relatives died in WWII fighting to keep the new Dark Ages from engulfing us all. I do question and refute many of your claims, but this should not be the time or place to do it. I took my nephews to the grave sites of their Great Uncle and Great Grandfather today to place flags on their headstones. I explained to them what they fought for and why they volunteered for those hardships. That was enough for one day. Politics can return on Tuesday. I thank God for the veterans who kept me free and allowed me to write on this blog.

Midori

May 25th, 2009
10:27 pm

RB,

let me put this in a way that only you (and perhaps Andy) can understand:

WAH!!!

WAHHH!!!!!!!

jt

May 25th, 2009
11:05 pm

Hey Jay- not to get picky, but you wrote-

“You will find extensive criticism of how those troops were used, of the political leadership that committed their lives to purposes beneath the sacrifice they were willing to offer.”

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP would be incorrect in the above sentence.

@@

May 25th, 2009
11:19 pm

jay, I could be wrong but did you not write a piece entitled “Morality Counts Amid Atrocities”? I’ve read it as numerous sites (mostly leftist). In it you started out talking about atrocities committed by insurgents against our troops and Iraqi citizens. But then…

To many Americans, outrage over such behavior is compounded by the fact that the rest of the world and much of the media won’t really pay much attention to the barbaric, intentional cruelty inflicted on Tucker and Menchaca, or on those 85 faceless Iraqis.

Instead, they’ll focus on the fact that murder charges were filed Sunday against three U.S. soldiers in Iraq; that murder charges were announced Wednesday against seven Marines and a sailor in a second incident; and that still more murder charges may be filed against Marines in an incident in Haditha, in which 24 Iraqi civilians had apparently been killed in cold blood.

And if we stoop to the level of terrorists, if we answer their brutality with our brutality, we in effect surrender our advantage to them. We disarm ourselves of a weapon more powerful in a war like this than F-16s or Abrams tanks or 500-pound bunker-busting bombs.

So, if U.S. soldiers have killed innocent Iraqi civilians out of misplaced rage or frustration, they have committed murder. They have also betrayed the courage and discipline of the vast majority of their fellow soldiers who, while equally tempted to vent their anger and grief on the innocent, have refused to surrender to that temptation.

Murderers do not deserve to wear an American uniform, and it is important that the world understands that.

It’s the nuances, jay!

“apparently”……”if”…….”murderers do not deserve to wear an American uniform”.

It’s unsettling to say the least.

eagle scout

May 25th, 2009
11:59 pm

RB as a vietnam vet, and one who served 6 years in the regular army, and 20 years in the guard and reserves I really take exception to your dumb ass statement.

“Ah yes… Memorial day, veterans day, and the 4th of July… Days the liberals pretend to support our troops and actally think the rest of us buy their crap.

I’ve never pretended anything you POS…I survived 1 year in purgatory (Vietnam) and emerged intact. Is that good enough for you?

Casey

May 26th, 2009
5:16 am

Why is there any political discussion here?

Look how some throw their sacrifice, or the sacrifice of a loved one, in the face of others who have different views. Look how some use nationalist pride and the intangible promise of supporting the troops to gain political capital, no matter the party.

If anybody is to make claims about another’s intentions in giving reverence to the armed forces, perhaps they should take care that they do not use our military as an argumentative cudgel themselves. It disgraces the people who you try to honor.

Bud Wiser

May 26th, 2009
6:44 am

When you look across those fields with those thousands of markers of the fallen, and the breeze whispering through nearby trees, you can almost hear it………………..the rolling in the graves of the dead in unison when a President bows and grovels before the rest of the world, apologizing for the sacrifices these braves ones made.

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:12 am

Here is what Bud claims is “apologizing for the sacrifices.”

It’s always harder to forge true partnerships and sturdy alliances than to act alone, or to wait for the action of somebody else. It’s more difficult to break down walls of division than to simply allow our differences to build and our resentments to fester. So we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years we’ve allowed our Alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there’s something more that has crept into our relationship. In America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.

But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what’s bad.

On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America.

This is what’s supposed to be causing the dead to roll in their graves in unison.

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:13 am

DB, how about you show where Jay posted anything supporting our troops.

How about you make accusations you can back up?

Bud Wiser

May 26th, 2009
7:14 am

Actions speak louder than any words fed automatically by a teleprompter.

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:15 am

Anyway, RB, I think this entry certainly supports our troops.

AmVet

May 26th, 2009
7:16 am

Revolting.

Petty little ideologues profaning the memory of those Americans who died for us and our freedom.

And who we ALL honor.

And for what? To belittle those they disagree with politically? To childishly portray that they are the true patriots while others are not? That because of their “pure” ideas they are the men of valor and everyone else a coward? That they are somehow above the rest of us in their self-proclaimed patriotism and love of country?

And the worst of those repulsive never-served, never-will frauds can never, ever let it go. Not even for one day.

Disgraceful, but given who these people are, not at all surprising…

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:19 am

Oh, and RB, if you want rah-rah cheerleading for the troops there’s always this.

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:20 am

That’s it, Bud? When called out on your lies about Obama “apologizing,” you reach for a platitude?

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:29 am

you blacks who insist the Confederate flag is a symbol of slavery and racism

Ain’t just blacks insisting that.

TnGelding

May 26th, 2009
7:35 am

@@

May 25th, 2009
11:19 pm

I think they’re called qualifiers.

Many conservatives worship all things military except liberals that served honorably, and especially those that served with distinction.

TnGelding

May 26th, 2009
7:38 am

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:29 am

It’s also a symbol of redneck ignorance

Normal

May 26th, 2009
7:40 am

“God bless us, everyone”. Tiny Tim, “A Christmas Carol.

I Rule You :-)/ You Whine :-(

May 26th, 2009
7:53 am

Besides being complex, the Waxman-Markey bill would be enormously expensive for both companies and workers. A recent Heritage Foundation study estimated it would destroy over 1.1 million jobs, hike electricity rates 90 percent, and reduce the U.S. gross domestic product by nearly $10 trillion over the next 25 years.

Freaking al Qaeda can’t even do this much damage to the United States.

But hey, the liberals paid reverence to our war dead on Memorial Day, so don’t question their patriotism!

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
7:57 am

A recent Heritage Foundation study estimated

See, a sane person reads those words, rolls his eyes, and moves on.

GOP is Gone

May 26th, 2009
8:05 am

I spent Memorial day getting together 4 packages for my Marine Corps neighbor kid, they will be in the mail later today.

AmVet

May 26th, 2009
8:05 am

“Many conservatives worship all things military except liberals that served honorably, and especially those that served with distinction.”

TnGelding, it is hard to explain and even harder to understand. And it often times even extends to non-liberals.

To wit, even now, the “faithful” and neo-conned adore the three lardasses Rove, Cheney and Limbaugh and apparently see them as the new (old?) trinity that is going to take them to the promised land. But it looks very much like a forty year stint in the wilderness is at hand.

And at the same time they absolutely abhor numerous men of valor and honor, including Colin Powell, Chuck Hagel and John McCain.

The trend is absolutely unmistakable.

Lip service to service. Dismissive of sacrifice. Lacking a code of honor, they have replaced it with a code of party purity.

And the chickenhawks still naively think their bloodlust and chest-pounding will fool those who at last see them for what they really are.

Bud Wiser

May 26th, 2009
8:23 am

Obviously some idiots slept through the “Apology Tour” by Obowo (my new nickname for the fool – O , first initial; bow – representing the bowing and groveling bendovers; 0 – representing the constant apologies for America’s existence — thus, Obowo) or just ignored it altogether.

Typical of the weak minded, mouth foaming knuckle-draggers of the left, who voted in lockstep for a socialist, praying that he would sow upon them freebies taken from the haves, and given to the have-nots/will-nots (as in will not work for food – ITS FREE, after all, we gots Obowo!)

William Casey

May 26th, 2009
8:34 am

My dad, William F. Casey, Jr. served with distinction in the 101rst airborne. I’m proud to have the “Screaming Eagle” patch. He was navigator and pilot early in the war. He was an infantryman at Bastonge. Armed with an M-1, he took on Col. General Hasso von Manteuffel’s Panzers at Bastogne. He fought long and hard so that Patton’s Third Army could save his unit. He finished his service as an MP in Bavaria.

I was studying to be a historian in the late 1960’s and questioned my dad about his experieces. It was like pulling teeth, but I finally got the D-Day and Bastogne stories. No dice on the MP part. Following his death in 1969, I researced the MP story. His unit escorted German civilians through concentration camps. He couldn’t stand to remember.

God bless my daddy.

DB, Gwinnettian

May 26th, 2009
8:44 am

Obviously some idiots slept through the “Apology Tour”

No, Bud, I have the speech you’re complaining about linked above, with the relevant paragraphs cited @ 7.12.

And this isn’t the first time I’ve asked conservatives to explain what, exactly, they find offensive about it. Still, I will ask again–what exactly is offensive about those paragraphs? With what do you take issue?

Bud Wiser

May 26th, 2009
8:46 am

Mr Casey, God bless your father as well.

My late father-in-law drove LST s for the landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He made six approaches and landings, and six return trips to the ship, all without receiving as much as a scratch.

The same could not be said however for the many troops that he delivered.

His wife, my mother-in-law, said that he only told her the story once, and would never speak of it again, taking it to his grave.

It makes one proud. And sad.

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In memoriam, 2009…

164 comments Add your comment

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