Oh YES!!!!!
Chris Muir at Day by Day Cartoon hits the top today, on this
Memorial Day!Love his stuff all the time, but
The May 30th edition is his ultimate for me!Thanks Chris for the perspective!
"An Army of WON!" Too perfect!
Duke of DeLand
Thanks Omar for the Vote of Confidence!
Memorial Day!
We take it for granted....albeit a serious time of reflection.
What of those outside the USA?
Omar at "Iraq The Model" has a wonderful item on his recent acquaintance with the ideals of Memorial Day
here.
Thanks Omar for the explanation of your thoughts when you understood our Memorial Day concept.
It makes the losses a bit easier to accept!
Duke of DeLand
No Gold Star for you, MOM!
Happy Memorial Day!
Let us remember our veterans and those who gave their lives for our country. It is not a celebration....it is a memorialization!
Most of us recall our family members who gave so much for our freedom's continuation. Those soldiers giving continue to do so on the battlegrounds of Afghanistan and Iraq...plus many others.
Today I read with pain the story of the Mother of a US soldier killed in Afghan fighting who was DENIED admitance to the National Gold Star Mothers.
WHY? Well she is a permanent resident from the Phillipines....but NOT a citizen.
Her son, Anthony Lagman, 26 died last fall in battle. Lagaya Lagman, however, is just not good enough to be a Gold Star Mom. Apparently you are only a Gold Star Mom if you are a US citizen.
Let me get this straight....If your Mother is not a citizen and you die for your country, then they are less-than-a-part of the rights of any military widow/mother?
Who the hell do these elitist "Mothers" think they are?
The Gold Star Mothers have a site
here. Why not pay them a visit, and then....recall their wonderful motto....
"Perpetuating the Noble Principles for which they Fought and Died"
Then, if you feel the sting I feel for Lagman's Mom....drop by
and email here.
Ms. Lagman, tending to her seriously ill husband is dismayed by the publicity and has withdrawn her application for membership.
Meanwhile the Gold Star Mothers are building their National Monument in Putnam County, NY. (Only soldiers killed whose mother is a verifiable US Citizen need apply!)
Damn, but that pisses me off!
Duke of DeLand
Florida's Rush to Change Voting
Capt. Ed over at Captain's Quarters has given a nice look into problems with Florida voting....not state-wide, but in a few counties....as a result of the bruhaha in 2000. Check it
here.
However, Ed, you missed one major point in the entire display and millions spent. The actions/expenditures were in response to results in a few counties in 2000. Those counties were run by and their elections offices overseen by Democrats!
The complaints were largely by Democrats from Gore on down.
The alledged "issues" were all voter related based on denial of access, and ballots that were not easily interpreted. They were ALL in Democratically run voting areas!
Thus, the cause of the rush to disengage a long-standing tradition in voting methods was caused by and driven by Democrats....The only people who were complaining in the first place!
These facts should headline any story about the wasted dollars as they show just how responsible the Democratic machine is for voting problems.....you know, the ones they cry out so loudly about...
Thanks Ed for at least giving us some exposure for the millions wasted. You won't see that in the MSM of our Florida!
Duke of DeLand
Political note!
Still trying to digest the "comity" supposedly gained by the gang of 14 in the Senate. I agree with what appears the predominance of opinion on the blogs...it is no good deal. However, there is more going on and I am not sure what is involved.
Will reserve my final opinion until more has occurred!
Do feel there was a reason the GOP pushed Bolton forward before the rest of the judicial nominees. Probable going to be an attempt to show the "gang of 14" is not really driving anything. Got to discredit this motley crew before they actually begin to believe they can run the Senate!
I can hardly await the return after the Memorial Day break. Fireworks in the offing, and I believe the "comity" is already on life support.
Duke
On-The-Road VI
Some fine times on Sunday, May 22nd. Dutchess and I kept kids overnight at resort in Lake Geneva (Old Playboy Club) and took off Sunday for the Wisconsin Dells. It is a place, and a town.
The idea is a canyon of rock walls formed by glacial action. Water runs thru and it stays quite cool year round in the dells and its canyon contributaries. We did the Upper Dells (above the dam) boat trip and then took the grandkids on the famous "Ducks"...WWII military amphibious vehicles which grind thru the woods, and on to the Wisconsin River for a 6 mile ride.
That part was fun.
Gone was the sleepy little town of Wisconsin Dells. Today it is a tourist mecca complete with, for some unexplained reason, five or six wooden roller coasters, lots of race tracks for small cars, and more water rides than can be imagined. Much of the small town charm is gone.....some things, however, never change. There is still a restaurant, Paul Bunyan's" which serves supposed lumberjack meals at wooden tables. Much more costly today, but still there. The food is too abundant! Family style serving on platters. Pitchers of milk, coffee and juice for breakfast. Tons of eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, etc.
A return to a memory of youth. Some remains there to give stability. Much is modern, convenient and canned!
It was a fun day with the grandkids aged 12 & 9. Their first trip there despite living just a couple of hours away.
Dutchess and I love rides.....she all types...me all but roller coasters which happen to be her forte!
Duke
On-The-Road V
Back on the road again.......
Left Wisconsin/Illinois and enroute home. Lots more to tell about, but we were quite busy with three grandkids, daughter and son-in-law in Rockford.....plus a special lunch with 3 classmates from high school in Pekin. All now live in or near Rockford. That brings up another topic on communication I am going to write about soon. My high school email group has about 60 folks from Pekin Community High in Illinois. They are scattered from hometown to Russia to Texas to Hollywood, and of course Tampa. We communicate regularly and I'll give much more of a perspective on this in the next couple of days.
Spent the night again in Paducah.....will explore the "Land between the lakes" today. The large land chunk is located between Lakes Barkley and Kentucky and is home to several trails, viewpoints, etc.
Probably stay near Atlanta tonight....then on to Tampa Sunday morning. Will be good to be home and check my tomoto crop plus the eggplants and peppers.
Will bw even better to get back to our "sleep number" bed. It is truly a life saver for us and our older backs. When we buy the RV this year it will receive a sleep number bed too!
Later
Duke
A Slide Into Minority Status!
The GOP, despite an expanding endorsement in November 2004, and the coninuation of a Presidency, has managed to fritter away their majority status while their "leader" Bill Frist claims a win....Shall we rename Frist Baghdad Bill?
The message is all across the blogosphere.....
Here's
Michelle Malkin's response.
Then Captain Ed
deconstructs the deal over at Captain's Quarters.
John Hinderaker at
PowerLine calls it "some deal"!
and finally Hugh Hewitt vascilates among choices for how bad the deal
really is!
For my part, I am totally sick of the GOP and its completely absurd "whimpy" attitudes, and vacillating so-called centrist members who might as well be in the Demo party.
OFFICIAL END of the GOP Majority. May 23, 2005 R.I.P.
Duke of DeLand
On The Road IV
Well, a couple of days off as we celebrated our arrival in Illinois/Wisconsin.
Before I go there, let me give some observations of the trip here.
The states from Florida to Illinois and Wisconsin all seem to have distinct characteristics for the traveler.....
Florida: The highways are full, and the troopers plentiful. We live there, so it is only natural to us.
Georgia: Is it just me, or has I-75 been under construction for the past 27 years? Lots of slow places, and probably at least 3/4ths of the road work sections were completely devoid of any whiff of a worker! Georgia also has lots of troopers....each with an aparent quota. Plus, there are an inordinate number of county sheriff's deputies who find the attraction of Interstate travel and radar enforcement to be irresistible!
Tennessee: Love the mountains on I-24 as you head North out of Georgia. A great state to cross.
Kentucky: We cross the little-populated Western area on I-24 past the twin Lakes of Barkley and Kentucky. Always fascinated here as my maternal grandfather was head of Barkley Dam at one point in his career (later moving to Alabama and headed both Wilson and Joe Wheeler Dams of the TVA. My Mom and Dad met at Joe Wheeler as my dad led the detachment protecting the dam in 1941-2). This trip it was storming and really a bit scarey even in the Town Car. Lots of dark clouds and bold lightning strokes crossed the night sky. We spent that night in Paducah.
Illinois: Long, flat, and home to lots of farmland. We drove to Bloomington and lunched at the Steak & Shake restaurant just blocks from the famous 1st of the chain built in 1934. Great Chili! Illinois troopers are also numerous.
Wisconsin: We've traveled some of the roads here and visited a number of places. More on Wisconsin in chapter 4.
Duke
On the road III
Rockford, IL & Lake Genva, WI.....
Arrived Friday afternoon in Rockford, saw lovely little grandson Edward Jeffrey and his brother and sister. Plus, of course, Mom.....missed Son-In-Law.
On to Lake Geneva, WI & Check in at Grand Geneva Resort.
Cool, for us.....down to 55 overnight, stoked the fire in fireplace.
Lovely Wisconsin!
Green....we hate the fact they grow grass here so easily...
More later
Duke
On-The-Road II
1st Day complete......14 hours as we slept in and left Tampa at 8am instead of the planned 6:30...
Long drive, but quite nice in the TC.
Spent last night here in Paducah, Ky. Crossed the mountains between Chattanooga and Nashville and then over one of my favorite spots....Lake Skipajack.
Blogging on the free high speed at Country Suites. Not wifi, but just as good...plus one wire!
This afternoon we'll be in Rockford, IL seeing new grandson Edward Jeffrey for the 1st time. His Mom informs us he's "a pig"....at least eats like one. Gained back his birth weight plus a pound his 1st week! Takes after grandpa, I guess.
More later....pills to take, showers to enjoy and then a quick breakfast downstairs before we hit the road and I have to turn this over to the Dutchess for some serious DVD time on the drive today.
Short add-on note, the trip is convincing us of the need to move to an RV for space and availabilities such as restroom and our own cooking! (Make that the Dutchess' cooking!)
Caio!
Duke of DeLand
Wha???????
OK, I am a tolerant person, and I sometimes, as a former newsman try to avoid being judgemental....
HOWEVER!!!!!
Howard Dean, perhaps better known as "Screamin Dean".....has stepped beyond the boundary.....
His quote about...."I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found," Dean said during the 2004 Democratic primary campaign. "I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."
Stands completely outside his current statements about Tom DeLay.....
What happened, Howard.....too much DeLay?????
Heh?
Duke of DeLand
Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho....A Vacationing We Go!
The Dutchess joins the Duke in an auto sojourn (as opposed to most we love car travel...particularly in our "old guy's" TC...short for Town Car)....love to see the highways and byways.....
We are off in the morning from Tampa up to my old stamping grounds in Illinois and Wisconsin.
Will be staying at Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin....the former "Playboy Club, Lake Geneva"....home of some fond memories into which I shall not delve as they are pre-Dutchess!
We're actually visiting Daughter in Rockford, IL and also son-in-law, and as of two weeks ago today 3 grandchildren! Newest is young fella who is, according to his Mom, "a pig".....seems he is eating like one anyway.....gained back his lost weight and about half a pound more in 1st week home.....LOVE a healthy, happy baby!
We will have the chance to see him, and the family, and then off to the Dells of Wisconsin for some R & R with two eldest grandkids who are 12 & almost 9.
Will be hopefully blogging via wi-fi laptop from the area....some pics to follow.... both family and the lovely Dells area of white birch, and rock cliffs....
More later.....
Duke of DeLand
Give Me A (Hurricane) Break!!!!!!
The predictors.....sounds like a band of the 60s.....have now pronounced that the 2005 season will be BIG! Here is their prognistication....
via FOX.
I, as a certified Florida resident and survivor of MULTIPLE hurricanes in 2004, am less-than-assured that these folks are any where near reality!
My life of 1978-to-date has indicated the only thing less accurate than hurricane predicting is the prediction of where my cat Bandit will "hork up" a hairball....
You know it is going to happen...but not when, nor how often.....Just be assured it WILL happen sometime, somewhere, when you least expect it!
Hurricanes are like this. 20 plus years as a resident of the "Sunshine State" have given me assurance that predictors are all crazy, and without justification.
Check me at the end of this season, and see if I am wrong!
Duke of DeLand
An Interesting Jumping of the "Age Gap"!
As a person approaching retirement, I am finding that the blogosphere provides a wonderful opportunity to cross the borders of age!
In no other medium I can picture can a 20-something college conservative conversing, with meaning and understanding, with a 60-something conservative/libertarian...and have it become a friendship!
I would refer my readers to a new, and quite nicely-done conservative site from, of all places, Wisconsin! Take a gander
here!
My friend Lorenzo, whom I actually met when he and I exchanged sites as he was involved in another blog with friends from his student days, has become administrator of this new site.
Best of everything to you Lorenzo, and may you succeed....Thanks for the communication with "an old guy".....We find so much in common about life, liberty, and the pursuit of Liberal Democrats!
Duke of DeLand
Voinovich - The Jerk!
It just could be that Bush would have won Ohio by 240,000 votes instead of 120,000...
His less-than-maximum win was most likely attributable to the fact Bush and Senator Voinovich supposedly share the same party. There is some question about that in the case of the lunatic Ohioan!
I was astounded as I watched the Voinovich testimony yesterday. I was equally and smilingly wondering what actions will originate from Rove & Company in the direction of this clueless RINO once the Bolton vote, and the explosion of the New-clee-ur option has cleared the judicial nominees for launch!
I would expound more upon this, but as is usually the case,
Day-By-Day Cartoon nails the thing far better than my words ever could!Go Chris Muir!
Duke of DeLand
A New Ernie Pyle?
Finally, after what seems ten years (and is actually only the two since the Iraq war began), I find a reporter in Iraq who is not politically motivated. One who like the famous Ernie Pyle of WWII (thus many of you younger folks will not even remember the name) writes about PEOPLE and events.
How refreshing!
If you have not yet visited his blog, then you must.....today......it is
here.
Many kudos to Mr. Yon for the return to truth in reporting.
How very refreshing!!!!!
Duke of DeLand
L A - Cops are a Problem/Missing/Missing Shots...
The Best a writer seeking a new novel could do today would be to concentrate on the episodes of "L A Law"....No, not the Lawyer show....the Cop show!
The L A Police & Sheriff's Office have become a JOKE!
They are a joke to the residents, the gangs, and most of the rest of the US of A!
Currently stories out there indicate the depth of the disintegration...
1st - LA Cops short on Officers, and they are not "experienced"....according to no less than
My Gal, Michelle Malkin. Note the included comment that the average cop on patrol has less than 5 years experience.....almost a newbie by most descriptions.
2nd - The "newbies" have managed to contain an unarmed man in an SUV with a meager 120 shots fired and one officer hit by "friendly-fire" as they pulled the old circle-the-wagon and fire a lot trick as reported by the
Herald Sun. (OK, sue me, the report concerns LA Sheriff's Deputies...much the same from most reports from the area)
I guess I know why I don't want to visit LA any time soon.....
Duke of DeLand
Washington (The State) and a Collegial Statement!
My God!
Conservatives; or, perhaps even middle-of-the-roaders.....In Washington State????
Guess you have to read it to decide!
1st let me reiterate, the GOP candidate for Governor won two recounts....then, by some magic formula (read Demo cheating, voter fraud, illegal votes, etc.) The Demo candidate "won".....
It is still in the courts, and
criminal charges are in the offing.....However, in an even-more-interesting turn of events....graduates at A Washington University pulled a massive demonstration of the fact "Liberal education" is not all-consuming!
Check it out
right here!I LOVE IT!
Duke
A "Squeaker" in British Elections?
By whose definition was the returning for a third term of British PM Blair a close call?
Why by the MSM, of course.
The facts were laid out this morning quite clearly by Neal Boortz....
This completes the worldwide trifecta of leaders who supported the war in Iraq, then cruised to victory at the polls. The first was John Howard in Australia, then George Bush and now Tony Blair. Perhaps there is hope for the world and the fight against Islamic terror.
So how is the good news being greeted in this country? All of the headlines are seeking to minimize Blair's success. We're being reminded over and over again that the Labour party was re-elected with a reduced minority. They're making it sound like he just squeaked into office, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The House of Commons has 646 seats. 620 seats are reporting this morning, and Labour has won 353, Conservatives 195, Liberal Democrats 60 and other parties 12. Depending what the final tallies are, Blair will have around a 60-seat margin in the House of Commons. In the United States, we call that a landslide. m (My emphasis)
Congratulations this morning to the Right Honorable Prime Minister Blair.Somehow, the MSM had a different picture....
Their take, universally from FOX to ABC, NBC, and even the former major network CBS, all tied re-election to the terms "narrowly"(despite a huge margin), "in spite of Iraq War opposition" (just like the opposition to Howard in Australia and to Bush in the USA...a topic which quite apparently did not play in any of the three countries.)
But then we are talking about a MSM which is refusing to recognize the almost-assured charges of espionage on behalf of AIPAC by a US citizen. For whatever reason they might have.
Man, the blogosphere has its work cut out, but is making great progress.
I am proud to be a little bitty cog in the system!
Duke
Tit-for-Tat, But I Don't Like That!!!!
"Foist on me own pitard!"
Thus is the word from Shakespeare!
Thus is the word FOR Nancy Pelosi & her troops.....
Just how very stupid could they be? (Sorry, guess I already knew that answer!)
They scream about DeLay and his travel reimbursements.....Now the GOP has found that several Demos have the same situation!
Captain Ed has the story
right here!
Enjoy, and then ask your Demo friend about it.
I guess the next step, as Ed indicates, will be a general Demo avoidance of the topic in their true "fogidaboutit" attitude in all things in which they have been found W-R-O-N-G !!!
Duke
A Blessing on the DeLand Family!
Born this morning in Illinois;
Grandson Edward Michael.......who weighed in at 7 lb 11oz.....
Mother and Son doing nicely.
The Duke and The Dutchess now proud of their "team" of 9 healthy grandchildren!
Life is Good! Blessings from above!
Duke of DeLand
Why are the MSM "Blind" to the mass graves?
I wonder, as does Iraq The Model....
Here.
The question becomes more appealing as we consider why the MSM is so very, very off the point of these items of TRUTH!
My God!
How could they miss this......er, perhaps they did NOT miss them, but instead find them in opposition to their stories, and thus IGNORE them?????
NAW! Not our beloved "fact-checking, editorially verified" media....Ha Ha
Duke of DeLand
The Extreme Left has Created the Extreme Right!
...and MUCH more!
The loud raucous rhetoric and unseemly actions of an extreme left developed over the past 20-30 years. The idea of such an extreme, outspoken and active group espousing the removal of many standards of this nation which have been in place for decades...if not longer...would have been not only unheard of but not even on our radar when I was growing up in Middle America.
During my teen years in Central Illinois the idea of dissent was limited to perhaps making a small stand on the changing of our activities at school. There was little to no dissent in the public domain. Some few might form a picket for some union or another. Perhaps a lone figure tried to take on an auto dealership over a "lemon" he had purchased.
The causes were small, the demonstrations equal.
The consideration of such "politically correct" things as avoiding the mention of religion in school, or the removal of religious words from such buildings would have been unthinkable.
As the rebellions of the 60s developed and transcended into such rhetorical lying as the Kerry statements to Congress....now proven incorrect....and the Fonda actions of outrage which forever stamped her, and condemned her because of its blatant digression from the norms of that time, there was a shift.
For many years the origins there, and in less visible areas, of a rampant left, dedicated to every conceivable political correctness, and the removal of God from Country, grew and began to form a cacophony of dissention which impacted every part of our lives.
Don't pray in school!
Take down the religious symbols!
and, many more.
Now over the last few years...perhaps as few as 10...there has been a growing level of activity and political participation of the right! These formerly quiet, and fairly non-political citizens, became enraged at the continuing erosion of our country's base of beliefs. They began to speak at the ballot box. Several stood up and became open, often themselves nearly hostile, advocates of a return to our basics.
I truly believe the result is today's right. I believe the left created the right's popularity and the new voting level which has brought about a change in the Congress and before GWB's term is out, a change in the judiciary.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Though I am not so sure equal is always applicable!
Balance is being restored, and the long-loud and much-opinionated left seems completely unable to comprehend. After all, how could anyone oppose these modern advancements in politically correct actions!
They are opposed, my left friends, because you went too far and began an erosion of our very pillars of faith and family. You opposed our strengths...
Provide for yourself, and help others...NOT provide for others!An interesting time which may or may not continue past GWB's term. Much will be determined by the left....as has been the case all along! If they continue the drive to make the US look like the failed liberal governments in Europe, look for the right to continue to unite and keep control. If the left learns some moderation and acceptance of other's ideas for consideration...not for targeting...there may be a return of the left to more power.
I'd bet on a continued right leading us; I am for sure lacking in examples of the left moderating...except a Presidential candidate or two who suddenly find rightness to be much less wrong, temporarily any way.
Duke of DeLand
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