Active Voice

A few posts before this one, I mentioned that I've got a medical issue going on.

Beginning last Saturday I experienced some symptoms that resulted in a visit with my GP. He decided that the best course of action, based on symptoms, his exam, my medical history, and my age, was that I undergo a colonoscopy exam as soon as possible.

That happens tomorrow. I am in the process of preparing for the appointment as I type this, fortified with the bottomless water cup at my side and having ensured that the bathroom door down the hall is open.

My doctor has rendered no diagnosis one way or the other. I feel fine, and the original symptoms have since substantially abated.

Looking back, my previous post was too clever by half. The reality is that my first inclination was to go with a butt joke angle and what I ended up with was instead just tepid and confusing.

I am humbled by the good wishes and concern I have received expressed by both friends and ... friends I just met. Thank you.

The procedure happens tomorrow morning. Afterward Mrs. Tmj will haul my tranquilized ass carcass to the airport, from where we will make our way to the environs of Pasadena, Maryland and the home of our in laws. There we will hook up with the goddesses, who went out there last week, and enjoy a relaxing weekend by the pool.

I get to bring home my present from last Christmas! We have to check it inside a locked hard side case, and also undergo a preflight inspection by TSA, as well.

Have a great weekend.

Local Primary *UPDATED*

Voters in the 3d Congressional District in Utah gave Chris Cannon his walking papers last night.

The morning radio news delivered the pronouncement that the Utah voters wanted a "more conservative" representative.

That's not quite accurate.

We want a conservative representative who gets the job done, and after six terms it was pretty clear that that wasn't going to happen. With the future in the hands of practically unassailable Democrat majorities in both houses we desperately need new voices not tied to the class of Republicans who squandered their mandate in favor of getting along with the opposition and the media.

Back when I was a Republican delegate I had the opportunity to observe, and speak directly with, Rep. Cannon at several different events. The moment that sticks in my mind was when he was questioned about the then - pending immigration amnesty and he interrupted the questioner with the words "We can't deport twelve million people!".

That's not the solution to the problem, and his obvious inability to see that is what compelled me to consider voting against him in that primary. His primary challenger at the time turned out to be an even worse choice than Cannon, so I ended up voting for him as a "lesser of two evils" choice.

Not again.

Thanks for your service, sir.

UPDATE: At 0740, Kelly Patterson of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at BYU was interviewed by KSL radio, and opined that Cannon fell primarily to a growing national anti-incumbent sentiment. First I've heard that it's national. It should be.

Dead Pool

1. How long does the energy supply deficit go ignored before the costs of feed, food, transport, critical fertilizers, asphalt, and the resultant cascade of retail profit loss go on before the argument gets away from blogs and pundits?

We're looking at a wholly avoidable catastrophe here. It is spectacularly crystal clear that nobody in any position of responsibility on any side is willing to stand up and point out that the cliff is probably behind us by now...

2. Will the Israelis use nukes or not when they go to Iran? I am out of the loop on their capabilities to project conventional power. I think that any IDF air operation will demand at least our cooperation if not our tangible support via tanker and reconnaissance assets.

I still believe that the US is going to do the job. Whether in July or after the election, I don't know. The longer time goes by, the less difference in outcome I see between Obama or McCain. Marxism or hubris, take your pick.

3. Is it possible for a political movement to get trapped in an orgasmic state? In my opinion the Dems' proposals to nationalize refining and the statement by the NASA Soros stooge Hansen that oil execs are guilty of "crimes against humanity" and should be prosecuted as such are strong evidence to support such a judgement.

Speak It, Brother!

I have no clue who Spengler is, but I've read and been impressed by his stuff for years:

"A religious leader must say, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," while a head of state must follow the maxim, "Do unto others before they do unto you." What divides the president and the pope is not so much their conflicting positions, but rather a difference in the existential vantage point from which each must respond to the great events of the world."

A very intriguing article on Bush, the Pope, and just how and why they have taken the paths they did. Well worth a read.



On a personal note, here at the Team HQ I've had some possibly unpleasant news of the medical kind. We were scheduled to do a runaway weekend to Maryland to hang with the in laws but I have to be at the hospital at 0830 Thursday for an unpleasant test that requires anesthesia. I have been assured they will fold in the mirrors before they park the bus, but even then the prospect of sitting in an airline seat for four hours later that day is a little daunting. Mrs. Tmj may be traveling alone after bringing me home.

I never turn down a prayer. Thanks.

Overheard

Youngest Princess is off to Maryland. We will join her next weekend for a "kick back weekend" with the in-laws, which we planned during our Christmas visit of this past year.

CNN has a "travellers network", I guess, and they pipe a Headline News - like product into every departure lounge in every airport on the planet.

It was all politics yesterday. One of the other passengers watched for a bit as a parade of congressmen weighed in on whether we should nationalize refineries or simply imprison anybody who works for an oil company. He remarked:

"Every time I see Joe Biden's face on TV I expect a commercial for a laxative to follow."

He pulled his smart phone out of his valise and dove back in for the noise cancelling headphones and paper back book.

"Expecting coherence from congress is like hiring the Taliban to judge a beauty pageant."

Just Saying

The following was posted as a comment here:


The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl is a useful metaphor for what is about to happen to our country.

The Sov engineers were so proud of their efficiency and competence that they ran the reactor above capacity to see what would happen.

Then they started disabling safety systems. To see what would happen.

Then there was an incident.

Our congress and courts are clearly disconnected from reality and have been for quite some time. Obama is poised to be the worst prepared president, philosophically and ideologically, we’ve ever inflicted upon ourselves.

We won’t name our enemies while spending a billion dollars a week, give or take, in combat. With somebody. We won’t name victory conditions. We tolerate opposition politicians consorting with the enemy and leaking anything and everything they think will garner them political points. Or that will hurt the country, which they do in the name of sabotaging the executive, which is the only branch still semi-interested in doing its duty under the Constitution.

We won’t teach our kids to read, write, or do math, or any history, lest they become “problem constituents” who decline to be victims or subsidy citizens. Our teachers UNIONS are a more clear and present danger than any bearded ass in a cave somewhere… but the guy in the cave knows it and uses that knowledge on a daily basis.

We won’t develop our own fuel sources. We won’t invest in infrastructure necessary to process and transport the coal, oil, and gas we have now. We won’t build efficient, safe, and carbon negative nuclear because of a combination of interests that profit from stressed, economically disadvantaged, non mobile populations. High on that list is, again, the vote farmers in the congress, but also independent social engineers along the lines of Soros, Chomsky, and others, who have worked hard to sabotage our free market economy in order that they can have one more run at the utopic marxist state.

They are willing to kill another few hundred million. This time they’ll get it right!

We are turning off the breakers and bridging the fuzes with gum wrappers. CFR, Kelo, Habeous for illegal combatants, socialized medicine, and we’ve got the Democrats slavering the tax the investment class, the middle class,, and the rich out of existence. All the while while emerging foreign economies teach their elementary school kids trig and enact flat income taxes and continue to lower corporate taxes.

We’re going to wake up a second tier country one day soon if we don’t change the agents that are killing our nation. Electing a hack like Obama will just accelerate the process but in all fairness he’s a very small fish in a huge pond full of obscenely bloated carp.

Have a nice day!

Eldest Godess

Found on her MySpace:

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Superman returns
Current mood: adored


You're the killer of spiders,

The catcher of moths

You scare away the monsters you created as a joke

You show us how we should be treated,

By the men we'll love someday.

If needed, it's not a question of when or where.

It won't matter because when we need you, you'll be there.

You'll put on your cape and fly to our rescue,

You're still our superman.

Always and forever.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad.


We love you so much!



And a happy Father's Day to all. I'm a lucky guy.

Bulletin

Oldest Goddess, on the cusp of graduating high school in less than a week:

"Dad, I interviewed for a job and got it!"

Tmj:

"Very good. They know that you can't start until after we get back from Maryland, right? Which eatery did you decide to interview with?"

OG - looking me in the eye:

"Victoria's Secret."

Tmj:

OG:

"The one in the University Mall."

Tmj:

"Well, you could pick up some underwear for me if you get a discount, right?"



Point dad.

Life is flying by, isn't it?

Decorum

I grew up in Texas, then spent some time in the Corps.

One residual effect common to both of those experiences was an appreciation for rules of good behavior.

When the fecal matter is well and truly impacting the oscillating air movement device, there is absolutely nothing improper about bitching about the situation.

Carp, complain, lay blame... just as long as you are moving in a positive direction, moving toward a solution or at least an improvement in the status quo.

Weather. Fiscal problems. Arterial bleeding. When men (and I'm sorry to say that almost all my situational anecdotes for this subject do not feature women) find themselves ass deep in bad news, whether alone or in a group, there are two positive signs to watch for:

1. Somebody bitches about the problem... but in doing so defines it in relation to his or the group's obvious first step toward a solution.

2. The lone victim of adverse circumstance puts aside the urge to complain and gets on with dealing with the situation OR a leader steps from the group and takes ownership of the problem and initiates the solution.

It's an amazing thing to watch people stop being individuals and consciously work toward a greater, common goal. I have swung a hammer alongside Jimmy Carter in his capacity as an officer for Habitat for Humanity. Most of the houses I helped build I thought were executed quite well; some of the later ones... well, that's why I stopped participating after our first few years in Utah. Way back in the mists of time I held on to my piece of the rope as a battalion landing team of Marines pulled a 15,000 lb howitzer up a slope, through head-high cactus, in a torrential, after midnight rain, and back onto a road on San Clemente Island. I've talked across the body of an accident victim we weren't going to be able to save, about kite flying, with a teenage girl.

She kept on saying, "I didn't want this", but she never stopped doing the right thing.

I wish I saw more of that.

But tonight, I need to apologize for indulging in whining when the time for that is long, long past. I see the light coming, yadda yadda yadda.... or maybe, more accurately, the darkness falling...

So tonight, I light a candle and bend to the task of getting ready.

No promises on content or regularity of posting, but I will try to keep the most ballistic flights of hyperbole off this blog.

You have a fine one. And get to work. There is much we must do.

Excitable Andy?

Nope, not Sully. Me. Here's where my head is at today; the following is a comment left on Belmont Club:

Our future?

Collapse.

Social and economic.

I am as depressed as I have ever, ever been.

I'm sitting here at my desk with the McCain campaign's latest missive open in front of me:

"Make no mistake: If the Democrats succeed in gaining total control fo Washington in November, they will instantly move to raise your taxes, expand the federal government, socialize medicine, appoint liberal judges and retreat from Iraq." *break* "As someone who has done so much in the past for our Party, we need your financial support at this crucial time to strengthen our Republican Party's efforts to regain control of Congress and win the White house in November."

Well, hell, Senator; just what have you done for my country?

Thanks for serving in Vietnam, and upholding the highest standards of the U.S. Navy. But as an elected politician, you've authored legislation that strikes a deep and bloody blow at freedom of speech. Your "Republican" credentials are at best asterisked. You are lined up solidly with the Democrats on the most important issue of our time - the AGW scam.

It won't matter how many Iraqis and other brown people die after November; our collapsed economy will probably not leave much room to report on stuff like that.

Mr. McCain, I say now that I will vote against Barak Obama, for the good of the nation.

But every time you open your gob about "cap and trade" I am forced to reexamine what exactly it is that makes you any less harmful than Obama will be.

Good day to you sir.

A. R. Jones
Orem, Utah

P.S. The impact of fuel and other petrochemical products' costs are moving into areas that will start impacting the economy in direct and catastrophic fashion very soon.

All that federal pork in highway bills is going to look pretty silly when it comes time to pay for all the asphalt they've scheduled to place this year. The cost will be DOUBLE if not more than was budgeted.

Gas at $4.00 a gallon today in central Utah; possibly .30 higher in a week.

Watch the markets. It's going to be one of the three stooges (regarding Clinton's "suspension" of her campaign - I saw no stake; she's waiting for a stumble and will be on the floor in Denver, make no mistake about it) in November and the ONLY certainty is that the federal government is measuring corporations, the middle class, and investors for castration.

I can't be expected to vote for the Republicans when their actions are indistinguishable from the Democrats.

Just damn.

Have a fine weekend. I'm unplugging from the grid.

Yah, just a bit over the top. I know just enough about history to be terrified of the likely paths we are about to stumble down. I fear for my country.

I fear for my family.

As I said, off the grid. Later.

Hudna

Curious.


"The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her."

No way the veep slot is even in the room, much less on the table. And this isn't about who gets to socialize healthcare.

Mr. Obama, I think you are in a bad place.