2017

I have many contemporary writers that I look to for ideas, inspiration and focus.  One of those is Victor Davis Hanson.  This guy has a pretty impressive résumé.  The part I like best is that he's a Professor at Stanford, a prolific and award winning author, and a farmer in the Salinas valley.  Talk about perspective!

He wrote a piece this week for Real Clear Politics that seems to me to be a very insightful analysis of the Obama Presidency.  You can read it here.  He takes a look back at the legacy that Obama leaves from the perspective of 2017.  Like any prophesy, there is a bit of wishful thinking, a bit of guessing, and a healthy dose of projecting what is a disastrous Presidency into the future.

Of course, economics plays a big part of the prediction

There will be no more $1 trillion deficits. About $10 trillion will have been added to the national debt during the Obama administration, on top of the more than $4 trillion from the prior eight-year George W. Bush administration. That staggering bipartisan sum will force the next president to be a deficit hawk, both fiscally and politically

In addition, there will be no huge new federal spending programs -- no third or fourth stimulus, no vast new entitlements. The debt is so large and voters so tired of massive borrowing that the next president will talk not of "investments" but of balancing the budget. In 2016, President Hillary Clinton or President Marco Rubio will tell us that cutting spending and living within our means is the new cool.

President Clinton or President Rubio.  Hmmmmm...I'm sure there are miles to go before we get there.  But I have to admit (and I can't believe I admit this) I'd take Bubba's wife over the great divider that we have now.  But it's 3 years away...anything can happen.

I also have to admit that the prediction I really (and I think many people really) hope comes to fruition is this one

Obamacare may remain in name, but in fact most of its provisions will be discarded or amended. Its full implementation next year will result in almost everything that was not supposed to happen: higher health-care premiums, rationed care, scarcer doctors and fewer jobs. Obamacare will mostly go the way of the Defense of Marriage Act -- officially the law of the land, but its enforcement simply ignored by the powers that be

 And this one has to happen.  If it doesn't, well...then we're not only doomed, we're stupid.

Despite an increase in carbon emissions since 2000, the planet did not heat up in the last 15 years. Scientists will continue to argue over global warming, but politicians will not talk much more of implementing costly cap-and-trade policies. They will still praise green energy as the way of the future, but they will not continue the massive subsidies to substitute it for far cheaper fossil fuels.

Instead, expect a renewal of federal oil and natural gas leases on public lands. There is too much newly discovered recoverable energy on federal property to continue to delay its full production -- and too much of an upside in cheaper gas at the pump, more independence from Middle East autocracies, more jobs, more money and more economic growth.

And the absolute worst part of who Obama is will hopefully fade away without doing irreparable harm on the country...

The next president will jettison the sort of class warfare that has led only to short-term political gain and long-term polarization. Obama's "fat cats" and "one percenters" will disappear from the presidential vocabulary. We will hear no more accusations that the successful really did not build their own businesses, or that they should have known when it was time not to profit because they had made quite enough money. Expect just the opposite: a Bill Clinton-like schmoozing of small businesses to please start buying, hiring and expanding again.

And while I think this is true, I also think it's sad...just really sad

Barack Obama is a landmark figure: young, charismatic, seemingly post-national and supposedly post-racial. For those reasons alone, he enjoys a level of unshakeable political support not predicated on the actual record of his tenure as president -- in the manner most remember fondly that he won the Nobel Prize but don't quite know what he did to earn it.

Obama's economic record will be dispassionately acknowledged to be similar to that of Jimmy Carter. But, unlike Carter, Obama will remain a mythical figure in liberal circles.

To borrow a line from a classic Western, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And so we will do just that. 

Beaches

Saw this really cool list of "Spectacular Hidden Beaches" with some amazing photos.  You can see them here.  I like them all.  Would really like to visit all of them!  But I think I like this one best (I say think because I had to go through the list several times!)

Many know this poem by Kipling.  If you don't...you should.  I gave a copy to my son when he was about 16.  I'm pretty sure he still has it...

IF

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Source: A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943)

Mindboggling!

Great List

Saw this while doing some net surfing.  Most of it is spot on.  Good stuff to think about...

THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY FATHER.

Wednesdays With Jimmy

For a while I did a little ditty called "Pet Peeve Wednesday".  But the trouble is I just don't have that many pet peeves.  Guess I'm just at heart a positive kind of guy.

So I'm thinking of another weekly feature.  I'm a Parrot head from way back.  Can't get enough of Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers.  Been to the concerts.  Listen to Margaritaville on Sirius.  Love to fantasize about the lifestyle.  So featuring a different song every week seems like a fun idea.  And as I stated in the very first post...it's my blog, I can do what I want.

Soooo, let's go down to "One Particular Harbor"

Danger Is Brewing...

Lots of joking, amongst those who have never been there or never come close to combat, about the bluster of Kim Jung-un, the baby faced and drastically inexperienced, Supreme Leader of North Korea.  Seems like there are an increasing number of funny little cartoons and dismissive comments by the know-nothing's.  Here's a good example...

Now I've got as good a sense of humor as anyone...some might say better.  But here's the problem.  Although they have dated equipment, they are fanatics.  Although they can't inflict the damage that they say, they can still do huge damage.  They have a military of over 9 Million people, by far the largest military in the world.  The populace has been brainwashed.  They seem to be automatons.  They have nothing to lose.  As we used to like to say when planning alpha strikes, there is a quality in quantity.  In short, don't underestimate how heinous a war on the Korean peninsula would be.

The little blurb below gives a little taste of the heroic actions of MG O.P. Smith and his 1st Marine Division at Chosin Reservoir.  It is an unbelievable and harrowing story.  Well worth reading about and there are a lot of accounts.  One of the best is in Tom Rick's new book, "The Generals".  Check it out.

In October 1950, the 1st Marine Division landed at Wonsan on the eastern side of Korea under the command of the Army's X Corps commanded by Edward Almond. Almond and USMC MG O.P. Smith shared a mutual loathing that dated back to a meeting between the two in Japan before the landing at Inchon.  During the meeting Almond had spoken of how easy amphibious landings were although he had never planned or taken part in one and then referred to Smith as Son although he was only 10 months older than he was. Smith and the Marine command also felt Almond was overly aggressive and were sure that there were large numbers of Chinese Forces in North Korea when higher headquarters in Tokyo was telling them it was not the case.  Although ordered to go north to the Yalu River as fast as he could, Smith continuously slowed the division's march to the point of near insubordination. Also along the way he established supply points and an airfield.  In November 1950, with the 1st Marine Division surrounded at the Chosin Reservoir, he directed the breakout and subsequent 70 miles (110 km) march to the seaport of Hungnam. In the end his careful march north and ability to keep the division together saved it from total destruction and quite possibly the entire X Corps.

Korea is an interesting place.  They are a people ready for war.  The residents of that country have been on the edge of ready since 1951.  Think about that.  62 years! It's a harsh environment made harsher by the threat of war.  They have built a large, vibrant city in Seoul.  But it could all go up in smoke in a matter of weeks. And we have several thousand troops there.  They would be hard pressed to stop the hordes from the North in the first days of the war.   The casualties would be significant.  And this is without the use of nuclear weapons.  It's just through overwhelming numbers.  Oh don't get me wrong, we and the South Koreans would do tremendous harm and in the end prevail.  But it wouldn't be easy.  It wouldn't be clean.  It would be a long slog.  And after 12 years of war...I don't think the American people are remotely ready for that.  The evening news dutifully reports about the latest outrageous claim from North Korea most nights, but the stories are getting fewer and less detailed.  There is no awareness of the imminent danger.  Hope I'm wrong, but there is danger brewing on the Korean peninsula.  I think the military is doing what they can to prepare.  Not sure anyone else is...

Motivation Monday

Yep...

Friday Funnies

Not only funny but good advice!

Cool Pic

I bet it's a lot easier to get down than get back up...

DADT...DC...Evolving

If you've been paying attention you know I have a military background.  I'm also a "baby boomer".  So I should be defined in certain ways.  I should think certain things.  But...that's not always the case.

Today's big news is about the Supreme Court case regarding California's Proposition 8 and gay marriage.  I have to admit I'm conflicted.  I'm of an age to remember (and I guess it isn't that long ago) when there was a real stigma regarding homosexuality.  During most of my life that has been true.  Doesn't make it right, but that's the way it was.  Of course, history is replete with one class of people being discriminated against by another.  Pick any time, any era, any group.  Prejudice, discrimination...it's always been there.  Always will be there.  We all experience it.  And everyone has been on both the giving and getting end.  So maybe it's time to try and walk back from this one.

I have to admit that I voted for Proposition 8.  I thought, "why do they need marriage?".  We (straight people...and in other words normal people) have marriage.  Let them get something else.  It just didn't seem like that big of a deal to me.  But, after the dust died a bit, I heard someone I respect a lot say that whenever the majority gets to vote on removing rights from the minority, they will do it.  And it isn't right.  And upon reflection, I think he's right.  And I wouldn't vote the same way today.

When Bubba forced the military to agree to Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) in the 90's that seemed at the time to be a reasonable compromise.  But it was always an "uncomfortable truce".  My thinking evolved to Don't Care.  Maybe I'm older and wiser.  Maybe I see it as inevitable.  Maybe it's that I live in a pretty liberal part of the country in SoCal.  Maybe it's just not worth the fight.  But whatever the reason...I just see it as an equality thing.  if we truly believe in this grand experiment called America, everyone should have the same rights.  "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal".  Greatest line in the greatest governmental document ever written.  We either believe it or we don't.  Simple as that.

And then there is the religious argument.  Good quote from one of Jimmy Buffet's songs,
"Where's the church, who took the steeple
Religion's in the hands of some crazy ass people
Television preachers with bad hair and dimples
The God's honest truth is it's not that simple
It's the Buddhist in you, it's the pagan in me
It's the Muslim in him, she's Catholic ain't she?
It's that born again look, it's the wasp and the Jew
Tell me what's goin on, I ain't got a clue"
I think (and maybe it's just me) that when it comes to religion, it can cut a million different ways.  I'm no biblical scholar, I don't know the Koran, etc, etc, etc.  I've heard definitive religious arguments on this subject lots of different ways.  So my view when it comes to religion is...the Golden Rule...pretty simple.  "Do onto others as you would have them do onto you."

So I'm for equality.  I'm for treating people the same.  I'm for an even playing field.

But (and there is always a but) I can't bring myself to believe that homosexuality is just another state of being...that it's normal.  That it's just a another way a lot of people are wired.  I simply don't believe that.  I think it's abnormal.  As in different.  Not immoral.  Just different.  Most of us are normal.  Some aren't.  And I don't think 100% of gay people are intrinsically gay.  That they have no choice.  I think there are shades of grey.  But I happily admit to not being an expert.  Or even an amateur.  So if science proves me wrong some day, so be it.

And here's another thing.  No one likes gloating.  No one likes throwing it in one's face.  No one will be won over by rainbow flags and parades with weirdos in drag.  Or goofy little symbols to show just how enlightened you are.  If it goes the way most think, it will be a victory for those espousing gay rights.  We've all got battles to fight.  There will be more.

I guess at the end of the day, I'm a bit like Jerry.  There are two teams.  Both are good teams.  But there's not a lot of trading that goes on...

The Voice

It's back!  I discovered this show last year.  Surprisingly, I really like it.  No stupid pet tricks and obnoxious hosts/judges like on Idol which, by the way, is OVER!  Coaches are likable, contestants are all very good to start with, the format is enjoyable, and it's just eminently watchable.  Check it out!

Motivation Monday

March Madness

March Madness is here!  For my money it's one of the best events in sports.  64 teams vieing for the top spot.  Single elimination.  Anything can happen.  Cinderella teams (see Florida Gulf Coast University) spark the imagination of all who watch.  Like many, I created my picks in one of the many bracket contests.  Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, I didn't get very far.  Only good news is that I picked Indiana to go all the way.  Some of my other choices...not so good.  Georgetown...gone.  Gonzaga...gone.  My home team SDSU Aztecs...gone (embarrassed by this little team in Florida no one has ever heard of called Florida Gulf Coast University).  Oh well, it's not earth shattering.  But it sure is fun.

If you aren't attuned to the tournament and want to get a feel for it, look on ESPN for a showing of one of their 30 for 30 series episode "Survive and Advance".   It is well worth a few hours.  It's the story of Jim Valvano and the 1983 North Carolina State NCAA championship run.  It is very, very good.  And very inspiring!

 

One thing I can't figure out is why the NCAA doesn't turn to a similar format for football.  It makes no sense.  Oh, I know all the arguments.  Different sport.  Different culture.  Different time of year.  Football can't be decided in a tournament.  I think it's all BS.  Think of all the stupid stuff that happens around the BCS football national championship.  It's never clean.  There is always controversy.  If they came up with a tournament format, two things would happen.  They would have an undisputed national champion in football.  And they'd have the most popular, most watched sports event in the country!

Friday Funnies

This seems familiar

Cool Pic

I've seen this photo on several sites.  Pretty scary.  But...been there, done that, not fun!!

R&R

On vacation this week.  Recharging the batteries.  Using Mai-Tai's, fun in the sun, and relaxation as the fuel.  Here's the view from our balcony.  Aloha!

Funny...But Chillingly Familiar

I've seen this before but thought I'd post it to bring a smile (or grimace) to my Navy friends. If you haven't been there, it might not make sense. But if you have, we'll...I'm laughing with you...

1. Buy a dumpster, paint it gray inside and out, and live in it for six months. This will give you the feeling of space. (1a. Submariners - Black outside, Pea Green inside)

2. Run all the pipes and wires in your house exposed on the walls and ceilings.

3. Repaint your entire house every month.

4. Renovate your bathroom. Build a wall through the middle of the bathtub and move the shower head to chest level. When you take showers, make sure you turn off the water while you soap down. 

5. Put lube oil in your humidifier and set it on high.

6. Once a week, blow air up your chimney with a leaf blower and let the wind carry the soot onto your neighbor's house and yard.

7. Once a month, take all major appliances apart and reassemble them.

8. Raise the thresholds and lower the headers of your front and back doors so that you either trip, bruise your shins, or bang your head every time you pass through them.

9. Disassemble and inspect your lawnmower and snow blower every week.

10. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, turn your water heater temperature up to 200 degrees. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, turn the water heater off. On Saturdays and Sundays tell your family they use too much water, so no bathing will be allowed.

11. Raise your bed to within 6 inches of the ceiling so you can't turn over without getting out and then getting back in.

12. Sleep on the shelf in your closet. Replace the closet door with a curtain. Have your spouse whip open the curtain about 3 hours after you go to sleep, shine a flashlight in your eyes, and say "Sorry, wrong rack."

13. Make your family read the operating manuals qualify to operate each appliance in your house - dishwasher operator, blender technician, etc. Re-qualify every 6 months.

14. Have your neighbor come over each day at 0500, blow a whistle so loud Helen Keller could hear it, and shout "Reveille, reveille, all hands on deck, heave out and trice up!" 

15. Have your mother-in-law write down everything she's going to do the following day, then stand in ranks at attention in your back yard at 0600 while she reads it to you.

16. Submit a request chit - in triplicate - to your father-in-law asking permission to leave your house before 1600.

17. Empty all the garbage bins and GI cans in your house and sweep the driveway three times a day,
whether it needs it or not. Have your wife shout, "Now hear this! Sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms! Sweep down all decks, ladders and passageways! Clean sweep down fore and aft! Empty all butt kits and dump trash off the fantail!"

18. Have your neighbor collect all your mail for a month, read your magazines, and randomly lose every 5th item before delivering the rest.

19. Watch no TV except for movies played in the middle of the night Have your family vote on which movie to watch, then show a different one - followed by the same one every night.

20. When your children are asleep in bed, run into their rooms with a megaphone shouting "General quarters, general quarters! All hands man your battle stations!"

21. Make your family's menu a week ahead of time without consulting the pantry or refrigerator.

22. Post a memo on the hatch (doorway) to the kitchen informing your family that there's been a change to the menu - they are having steak for dinner. Then make them wait in line for an hour. When they finally get to the kitchen, tell them you are out of steak, but they can have dried ham or hot dogs. Repeat daily until they ignore the menu and just ask for hot dogs.

23. Bake a cake. Prop up one side of the pan so the cake bakes unevenly. Spread icing real thick to level it off.

24. Get up every night around midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on stale bread and a warm soda... (mid-rats)

25. Set your alarm clock to go off randomly during the night. At the alarm, jump up and dress as fast
as you can, making sure to button your top shirt button and tuck your trousers into your socks. Run out into the backyard, uncoil the garden hose and simulate putting out a fire.

26. Every week or two, throw your cat or dog into the pool and shout.... "Man overboard, port side!" Rate your family members on how fast they respond.

27. Put the headphones from your stereo on your head, but don't plug them in. Hang a paper cup around your neck on a string. Stand in front of the stove, and speak into the paper cup, "Stove manned and ready." After an hour or so, speak into the cup again "Aye! Stove secured." Roll up the headphones and paper cup and stow them in a shoe box.

28. Make your family turn out all the lights and go to bed at 10 p.m. Yell throughout the house, "Now taps, taps! Lights out! Maintain silence throughout the berthing quarters!" Then, for aircraft carrier sailors, immediately have an 18-wheeler crash into the roof of your house.

29. Build a fire in a trash can in your garage. Loudly announce to your family, "This is a drill, this is a drill! Fire in hangar bay one!"

30. Place a podium at the end of your driveway. Have your family stand in front of the podium for 4-hour intervals. (Best done when the weather is worst. January is a good time.)

31. Next time there's a bad thunderstorm in your area, find the biggest horse you can, strap a two-inch mattress on his back, lash yourself to it and turn him loose in the garage for six hours. Then get up and go to work.

32. For former engineers, boiler tenders, and machinist mates: bring your lawn mower into the living room and run it all day long.

33. Make coffee using eighteen scoops of budget-priced coffee grounds per pot, and let the pot simmer for 5 hours before drinking.

34. Have someone under the age of ten give you a haircut with sheep shears.

35. Sew the back pockets of your jeans onto the front. 

36. Add 1/3 cup of diesel fuel to the laundry.

37. Take hourly readings on your electric, gas and water meters.

38. Every couple of weeks, dress up in your best clothes and go to the scummiest part of town. Find the most run down, trashiest bar and drink beer until you are hammered. Walk all the way home.

39. Lock yourself and your family in the house for six weeks. Tell them that at the end of the 6th week you'll take them to Disney World for Liberty. At the end of the 6th week, inform them the trip to Disney World has been canceled because they need to get ready for an inspection by the IG Staff and it will be another week before they'll be allowed to leave the house, assuming the inspection is passed

Cool Pic

This is just plain nuts!

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