I'm Surprised

I'm not surprised it happened. I'm surprised it took this long. A teenager from Conneticut has managed to attach a semi automatic pistol to a radio controlled drone. He posted a video showing the gun firing four times from the hovering drone. Law enforcement officials have reviewed the video and at this time are unable to find any law the device or it's user has broken. The best any law enforcement person could suggest was that it might be "reckless conduct" if the drone was lost and someone found the gun and got hurt. So once again American innovator has gotten ahead of regulation. Think of the awesome possibilities this thing offers to trouble makers like terrorists. Hook a gun to your drone and fly up to take pot shots at commercial aircraft. Gun, drone, go pro camera and fly, aim and fire. Not satisfied with just spying on the neighbors? Barking dog keeping you up at night? This drone could be the answer to your prayers. Fuck that dog and those asshole neighbors. Boom, boom bitch.  I suspect we won't be stopping with just guns. Can't be too much tougher to attach a bomb of some sort and a device to release it from a small drone. Wouldn't take much to cause huge damage. Little incindery device dropped on a house, car, gas tanker truck and life gets exciting. Welcome to the brave new world where you lose your privacy and safety at the same time. 

Touring

We go to "Market" on Tybee Island every month when we are here. There are two crafts people we buy from almost every time we go. They are Angie Wallace and Robbie Hendley. Their business is called Moziacs on the Creek. They live on Colonel's Island near Midway, Georgia. They use broken dishes to create some art work we really enjoy. We brought an old table down with us and asked if they would decorate the top. They agreed and we delivered it to their shop today. They had questions about what we wanted and aside from paint color on the parts that won't be covered with broken dishes they got the following.  "Do that art thing you do." Here are some pictures of their work in our house. 

We will pick up the finished table when we come back here for the winter in October. We will post pictures of the finished project then. 

Pace yourself

One of the things that can frustrate you beyond your ability for rationale thought is the slow pace of southern life. Coming down here to Georgia from Illinois you expect things to operate at about the same pace. They don't. No amount of pushing, encouragement, complaining or any other action you can think of will speed things up in the least. It will happen when it happens. It will get done when it gets done. I've tried lots of things, even trying to help people who are delivering furniture or appliances to our house, in a hopeless attempt to speed up the process. The end result is me being tired and frustrated. You can't get angry at true southerners. They are just too damn polite. They just are going to do things at their pace. You have to adjust.

 I thought I was doing well until last week. I made an appointment with a national car service chain that sells tires as well. I'm not going to name them. I had an appointment to change the oil in our car. The appoinment was for 10:00 a.m.  I arrived about 10 minutes early and checked the car in so they could start on time. They got the car in and 90 minutes later I was done. Nothing else was done. No tire rotation. No tuneup. No wash or wax. Oil change. Simple, straightforward, common, oil change on an American made popular vehicle. I didn't complain to them. No point. Wouldn't have changed a thing. Didn't fuss about it till this post.

 We will head back to Illinois on Saturday. The pace of life will pick up. Things will go faster and the locals will be less civil. When we return to the south for the winter I will work on adjusting to their pace and enjoy their seemingly endless politeness. Maybe slower is better but it takes time to adjust. 

Liberal

I look at national politics and I get more and more disillusioned. When you get done reading this post you may feel I have become more and more delusional. I look at the current group of Republicans trying to get their party's nomination and cannot picture voting for any of them. I'm so tired of hearing them say: "I'm not a scientist, but...." Then say something stupid about climate change. I'm tired of inflexible positions on things like abortion, gun control and gay marriage. The Supreme Court is not too activist when they make a decision like the one involving Hobby Lobby's objection to birth control but the decision on gay marriage should be ignored. The gay marriage issue for me was one about equal protection. If a gay couple was married in Illinois then the marriage needed to be recognized as valid in every state. The mess created by varying state laws and federal rulings required a decision by the Supreme Court. We can argue if they were right or wrong but in the end nine people has an opinion that mattered. It's like the O.J. Simpson murder trial jury decision. Twelve jurors had an opinion that mattered. The rest of us can argue but what we think won't change the outcome. When I look at the folks who want to be president I find myself starting by eliminating those I would never vote to elect. Donald Trump. I cannot picture Scott Walker because of his anti Union positions. Lindsey Graham is just too willing to solve all the world's issue with military force. I don't want another Bush or Clinton. Mike Huckabee is too busy claiming Christians are being persecuted. Being denied special privileges is not persecution. No one is forcing churches to perform gay marriages. Businesses are not persons and don't have "closely held beliefs" that allow them to discriminate. So far the guy below is making the most sense. 

Military

The news the last few days has been full of military issues. I want to cover a few of them. 

Let's start with Donald Trump. He questioned the status of Senator John McClain as a war hero stating he was more impressed with those who aren't captured. Senator McClain was a prisoner of war held by the North Vietnamese for about 6 years. He was severely injured and was tortured during his captivity. No one, and I sincerely mean, NO ONE, can or should question Senator McClain's service to his country. While I often disagree with his position on issues I never question his service or patriotism. If Mr. Trump wants to continue in the Presidential race his next public statement should begin with "I want to sincerely apologize to Senator McClain for my stupid and insensitive comments about his military service." No excuses like, "I misspoke." No qualifications about what he intended to say. Stupid and insensitive should cover it combined with a sincere apology. I doubt it will happen. 

Next, the shooting in Chattanooga which resulted in the death of five members of the armed forces. There has been some comments regarding members of the military not being armed while on duty. Military policy even prior to the directive issued during the term former President George H.W. Bush was, that outside of combat operation areas only certain persons were authorized to carry sidearms. Those were generally assigned and trained as military police. They are only authorized to carry when on assigned duty. I have, in several previous posts, expressed a need for reasonable gun control. I would like to think I am a reasonable person. Military personnel are subject to rigorous and ongoing training and qualification with firearms. The nature of war and the tactics of our opponents have changed. It was necessary in the past to be on the battlefront to fight. That is no longer the case. Drones are at least partially operated out of facilities near Las Vegas, Nevada. Those service members are involved in combat operations even though they are thousands of miles away from where they are firing missiles and dropping bombs. I think it is reasonable to have a conversation about, and possibly make adjustments to, the current policy regarding weapon possession by military personnel. 

Finally, veterans and veteran care. We, as citizens, from time to time ask members of our armed forces to leave their homes and families to go to war. I am not a veteran. I do not know what it is like to be in the military. I don't know the fear, pain and sheer horror that must exist in combat. What I do know is that every, and I do mean EVERY, combat veteran I have ever met has been profoundly and permanently impacted by the experience. We, who did not serve, owe them a debt we can never repay. Anyone who serves in Congress who feels it necessary to send troops into harms way MUST be willing to provide funds for medical, mental health, vocational and educational training for those soldiers, their widows and surviving children. It is part of the cost of war. If that means raising taxes then it needs to be done. I may not agree with everything Bernie Sanders advocates but he has said my position clearly and without qualification. 

Test Run

I normally compose my blog posts on the laptop. I have attempted from time to time composing on the iPad. I downloaded the blogger app today and this is my attempt to see if it will work. The problem in the past has been adding pictures. Since many are stored on my iPad I've had to email them to myself, download them and then add them yo the blog. If I can cut some of that nonsense out it will make blogging easier. I personally prefer Apple products and was an Apple user before I got my first iPad. Enough about that. The test will be adding pictures, so here we go. 

Well there is my answer. It works! I give a rat's ass, do you? 

Just How Goddamn Stupid Are You? Part 2

This may end up being a multi part series as the amount of material in my head continues to grow. I can't help it, after all, it is election season.

Let's start with my current second favorite idiot. My first is and always will be that fat retarded kid who runs North Korea. My daughter in law says that the term "retard" is as offensive as the word "fuck". I don't completely agree unless I refer to the fat North Korea douche bag as a fucking retard. However, in the interest of not offending mentally disadvantaged folks by associating them with that dumbass I will, in the future, refer to him as that fat dumbass North Korean douchebag. On to my second favorite. That would be Donald Trump. It is more than just his unenlightened comments about Latinos in the United States. If that were it he might not even make the top ten dumbasses. Today I listened to him bloviate about what a great businessman and negotiator he is. That the Iran deal done by President Obama is a horrible deal and he would have done so much better. He would be respected by the Iranian leadership like President Reagan. Mr. Trump stated that the day Ronald Reagan took office the Iranian leadership returned the hostages because they respected and feared Mr. Reagan. Well Donald I have one question? Just how goddamn stupid are you? Ronald Reagan conspired with the Iranians to delay release of the hostages until after the election in which he defeated Jimmy Carter. The price was weapons Iran needed to continue the war they were involved in with Iraq. In addition Trump carries on about how he would not abide by the deal if it is approved when he becomes president. This is a claim made by another candidate Scott Walker currently the governor of Wisconsin. He also makes my top ten list of dumbasses. They both claim they would place "crippling economic sanctions" on Iran. First, since there were other countries involved in the current agreement unilateral sanctions by the United States would be completely ineffective. The current sanctions worked only because we were able to convince other counties that it was necessary and appropriate. If China and Russia don't agree especially it the Iranian government is complying with the terms of the current agreement what does Mr. Trump propose to do? He'd use his persuasive powers to get them to follow his lead? I find that unlikely. It's easy to talk tough when the results of your talk is simply meaningless vibrations of molecules in the atmosphere. It like his claim he will charge Mexico $100,000 for each person who crosses over illegally after he is sworn into office. Not going to happen. Most importantly since Mr. Trump will never be elected president. If you believe he is you move ahead of the North Korean dumbass at the top of my list. If he is such a great businessman perhaps these failures paint a less flattering picture of his business acumen. Remember any of these? Trump Shuttle, Trump: The Game, Trump Magazine, GoTrump.com, Trump Casinos, Trump Mortgage, Trump Steaks, and Trump Vodka. In addition Trump business ventures have sought Chapter 11 protection in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009. Savvy businessman. Says a lot about his money management and deal making skills.

Let's finish up with another group of idiots. They would be the Republicans in Congress. They decided, before even seeing the current deal with Iran, that they didn't like it at all. They carry on and complain about how they want to stop the deal. They have, through their own actions, made that impossible. The sanctions Congress passed even during the Obama administration allow them to be lifted at the direction of the President. Congress would have to pass legislation by a veto proof majority to revoke that authority and prevent President Obama from lifting the sanctions. The public does not want a war with Iran and there will never be enough Democratic support to remove the President's authority to cancel the sanctions. Congress agreed they had the ability to review any deal but the bill does not require or allow them to approve of reject the deal. The deal prevents Iran from producing or obtaining enough nuclear material to make a bomb. It allows sanctions to be immediately implemented if Iran fails to comply with the agreement. It limits their ability to obtain conventional weapons. The important thing is that it encourages them to rejoin the community of nations. It is also vital to keep in mind that Iran would not be such a large player in the region if President George W Bush had not destabilized the region with his ill advised war in Iraq.

So, if you are stupid enough to believe Donald Trump has the answers and should be president, then there is nothing in this blog for you. Move along. Drag your knuckles on the pavement, grunt and scratch your miniscule balls and tune into Rush Limbaugh. If you think war is the answer then vote for Lindsey Graham.

"Just How Goddamn Stupid Are You?"

This will be a two part post. Yes, it will take two posts to examine the depths of stupidity in this country. We will begin at the beginning. The line above will forever be etched in my memory. It was a quote from my father. One of my favorite things about him was that you never had to wonder too long about what he was thinking. Somehow, in some appropriate or inappropriate manner, his thoughts were going to be expressed verbally. This line happened in the 1990's. I couldn't tell you the exact month or year other than the fact it was winter.

It was one of those days in west central Illinois that you wanted to stay inside. It was snowing and/or blowing snow and the temperature was around zero without the wind chill. When you factored that in it felt like 20 or 30 below zero. We lived out in BFE on the flat prairie ground where the wind has 2 or three miles to gather up snow and push it into the road. Generally the snowplow comes by late after the wind dies down so the good working folks of the world can get home for the night. We were relaxing in the house watching TV when we looked to the north up the road and saw a car that appeared to be stuck. We waited a couple of minutes to make sure it wasn't moving and then put on our cold weather gear. When it is that cold and you have to walk about a half mile round trip you get prepared. John, our youngest son, was home and went with me. We walked down to the car and there was a teenaged girl sitting in it on the passenger side. She was dressed in a light jacket or hoodie. It was clearly not heavy enough for the weather. The car was stuck and we were not going to get it loose. She explained her "Uncle" had walked to get help. We told her to sit tight and we would get some additional clothing for her to put on to walk to the house. We got that stuff and walked back to her and had her put on a heavy coat, gloves and hat. We started walking for the house and decided to stop at my Mom and Dad's since they lived across the road from us. I wanted to see if her "Uncle" had stopped there for help. We went in and determined that he had not stopped there or at our house. The next house is a half mile away and he had gone there. Why you walk past two occupied houses will never make any sense to me. About that time we heard the township snowplow out front and her "Uncle" came to the door. The conversation with him went as follows.

Dad: "What are you doing out driving in weather like this?"
"Uncle": "I was out delivering the newspapers."
Dad: "Just how goddamn stupid are you? No one is going to go a half mile down the road to the box to get the fucking paper."

The newspaper was never delivered to our house. There were four boxes on the corner for the subscribers and you had to go to the box and pick up your copy. Dad was right. No one was going to go down there and get their paper that day. It would have sat in the box until sometime the next morning or afternoon depending on when the road was cleared.

There are many times in my life since that day that I have wondered in my head about someone I was talking to or reading about or listening to on television. Just how goddamn stupid are you? I have, for better or worse, often chosen to be more careful with my words than my father was with his. This does not mean I feel his approach was in any way wrong, it is just not something I am comfortable with in many cases. Tomorrow I will attempt to examine the level of stupidity in the United States that my father so clearly and concisely confronted on that cold winter day.

This is a picture of my Dad clearing snow with an Allis Chalmers dozer in the late 1950's or early 1960's. Yes, sometimes the snow was bad enough to require this kind of equipment.

Grand

Last week I didn't blog because the John, Mandie and their three daughters were here for the week. So we spent the week enjoying Tybee Island with our granddaughters. It got me thinking about what that means. Granddaughters. According to the dictionary the definition when used in a combined form with kinship terms means "one generation more remote" than the relation denoted by the base word: granddaughter. The other definitions of "grand" seem to me to be more appropriate than "one generation more remote". Those definitions are:

"Sweeping in ambition or concept"
"very pleasing; wonderful; splendid"
"characterized by splendor or magnificence"
"having more importance than others; principal"
"dignified or noble,  as in appearance or effect"
"very good; wonderful"
"comprehensive; complete"
"worthy of respect"
"most important"

Is those respects and many others Vannessa, Audrey and Johnnie are indeed "grand". We had a wonderful time with them and with their impressive parents. After all you cannot have "grand" granddaughters without very impressive and devoted parents. We got to do a fair number of things here on the island and I wanted to share a few pictures of our adventures.

You can't be this close to the ocean and not spend time at the beach. The girls loved going and playing in the water. They loved riding in the golf cart to the beach and we enjoyed them using the cart as well. Especially after spending time today cleaning the sand out of the car.

The other thing you do when you are near the ocean is eat seafood. Well, if you like that kind of stuff. Some did, some did not. We took a few moments to take some pictures at A-J's Dockside.
Johnnie

 Audrey

 The entire crew with the exception of their parents. My mom is also down for a visit so she added an additional adjective. The girls, for her, are great granddaughters.

Johnnie and Audrey wanted one additional adventure with me. We climbed to the top of the Tybee Island Lighthouse. All 178 steps. The girls did very well. I got up there and back down but my legs were sore the next day.

Johnnie and Audrey part way up on one of the landings.

Audrey and Johnnie on the observation deck of the lighthouse. Johnnie was interested in staying close to the building.

Johnnie and Audrey out next to the railing. Johnnie wasn't too keen on the idea. It is clear she was not enjoying the picture taking from the look on her face to the death grip on the railing. After this picture she wanted to go back down. I tried to delay our return trip but she made it clear the time was "NOW PAPA!!!!"

The last picture was taken across the street from the top of Battery Garland from the old Fort Screven. It gives you an idea how high up we were.

So it was a grand and great week.

Those F-ing Kids

It would be easy to make this about Bristol Palin. You might remember her mother Sarah who was selected by John McCain to be his vice presidential candidate. She is pregnant for the second time out of wedlock. The fact that gets my interest is her and many on the political right who advocate sex education programs that focus mainly on abstinence. Nancy Reagan told us to fight the drug abuse problem in the United States by just saying "No!" The desire and need for illegal drugs is an easier battle than the one where we tell teenagers to ignore those raging hormones and abstain from sex. While I agree that no one who completely abstains from sexual intercourse will ever get pregnant (well there is one alleged notable exception- Jesus Christ- He is always messing up a good point) it seems unlikely that those f-ing kids will cooperate with the program. It isn't that they just want kids to abstain from regular penis-vagina sex. They want abstinence from any kind of sexual activity. They refer to anal sex as a "dangerous trend". They describe all the possible sexually transmitted diseases that can result from oral sex. How do they describe abstinence? "Abstinence is refraining from all sexual activity. Sexual activity refers to actions intended to result in sexual arousal or gratification. Sex includes penile-vaginal, anal and oral sex. Other actions intended to result in arousal or gratification, including but not limited to, masturbation, mutual masturbation, fondling, the use of sex toys, and the viewing of pornography." What's a kid to do?

In the big picture I don't worry about Bristol. She has a supportive family who will rally around her. They will see that she and her children are fed, clothed, housed, educated and all the other things children need in this world. Many single moms out there don't have those support systems. Many, who feel abstinence only education is best, also oppose welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, WIC, free early childhood education, affordable housing and abortion. You are important to them when you are a fetus but when you exit the womb you are not their problem.

Let's be realistic here. Kids will be kids. Teens will be teens. If you have an internet connection they will see porn. They are going to know about sex. Telling a teen they can't or shouldn't do something is like trying to tell the earth to stop spinning on its axis. You words will be out there but they will not change what is going to happen. You cannot and will not be with them every minute of every day. They will figure out how to get their sexy bits together as surely as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. If all you want them taught in school was abstinence then be prepared for a new phase in your life. You will be a grandparent. Soon.

What are the alternatives? Let's take a look at Colorado. You know the state that legalized pot. Seems to me that loaded folks would be less inhibited and more likely to involve themselves in risky behavior like unprotected sex. Colorado has expanded free and low cost birth control access. The Colorado Family Planning Initiative provided 68 clinics with 30,000 intrauterine devices for low income teens and college aged women at low cost or free. Between 2009 and 2013 the teen birth rate in Colorado dropped 40%. It seems unlikely to me that there was 40% more abstinence among teens during that time period. The program provided IUD's because it didn't require teens to remember to take a birth control pill every day. The teen abortion rate also fell by 35% and in just 2010 alone the state of Colorado saved 42 million dollars in health care costs the state would have paid for teen pregnancies under Medicaid. Explain to me why conservatives are opposed to a program that reduces abortions, saves money in government health care costs, allows young women to continue to work towards their dreams and achieve their educational goals that are so often derailed by unintended pregnancy. Oh, that's right, if we allow them birth control we are somehow giving them permission to have premarital sex. You might want to keep this in mind if that is your position on the issue.

THEY ARE GOING TO BE SEXING IT UP WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION GRANDPA AND GRANDMA.