This was an e-mail send to me by our local IT support person:
Read the BOLD response below. This response is to a Blackberry user down South who could NOT get emails to work on the Blackberry...
And this was the forwarded note from our internal help desk:
Aaron,
When sending an email from your handheld device you must first add the address of the addressee for the device to work properly.
Let me know if there is something else I can assist you with.
Appearently, Mr. Southern Woodchuck didn't realize that the blackberry didn't come with ESP and couldn't figure out on it's own who the 'tard was trying to e-mail. Technology these days...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Hey, let’s stop building subs too!
And now, a brief discussion on something that most of you aren’t even paying any attention to.
Recently, the Senate voted to stop funding for the purchase of any more F-22 fighter jets. Apparently, President Obama, SecDef Gates, the Pentagon and a bunch of other “really smart” people decided that we’re not going to need any more of these jets. Suddenly, in a temporary moment of “fiscal responsibility” they all want to save $1.75 billion and not purchase any more planes. One of the excuses that they are using is that since the F-22 “has not been used in Iraq or Afghanistan” it’s a weapon system that has outlived its usefulness.
So, uh, based upon this reasoning, should we stop building submarines? I mean, I’m pretty sure that we haven’t used any subs in Afghanistan, since it’s a completely land locked country. What about antimissile weapon systems? Or what about nuclear bombs, ICBMs, destroyers, cruisers and all of the other major weapons that we haven’t been able to “use” over the last 8 years? Should we scrap all of these weapon systems as well?
I mean, really, what a bunch of idiots.
It is said that the F-22 is the most advanced air to air superiority fighter ever built in the world. Period. The F-22 is so good, that it kicks our own planes asses every time. They’ve actually run war games where they completely stack the deck against the F-22, 10 to 1 odds, come up with crazy rules of engagement that would never happen in reality, and the F-22 has crushed the best that we can throw at it. It is so good, that in the war games, only one F-22 was ever “lost”, and that’s because the other plane ran away outside of the war game, snuck back in and “killed” the F-22.
The F-22 is so advanced, that we won’t even sell it to Japan or Israeli. Hello? We sell Israeli everything, but we’re not going to sell them this, because it would tip the balance of power in the Middle East. If Israeli had these planes, they could bomb Iran, and we might not be able to stop them. The planes are that good.
And what about that whole fiscal responsibility thing? Here’s what the Wall Street Journal has to say about that :
“Credit $1.75 billion in savings, or a third of a percentage point of the overall 2010 defense request. Only a couple of trillion more, and Mr. Obama will have a balanced budget.”
It is said that air superiority is what helped us win WWII. It’s also allowed us to operate at will in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, it’s said that you’re always fighting the last war. Hopefully, when the next war comes around, our enemies will be helpful enough and not try to challenge us for control of the sky.
Recently, the Senate voted to stop funding for the purchase of any more F-22 fighter jets. Apparently, President Obama, SecDef Gates, the Pentagon and a bunch of other “really smart” people decided that we’re not going to need any more of these jets. Suddenly, in a temporary moment of “fiscal responsibility” they all want to save $1.75 billion and not purchase any more planes. One of the excuses that they are using is that since the F-22 “has not been used in Iraq or Afghanistan” it’s a weapon system that has outlived its usefulness.
So, uh, based upon this reasoning, should we stop building submarines? I mean, I’m pretty sure that we haven’t used any subs in Afghanistan, since it’s a completely land locked country. What about antimissile weapon systems? Or what about nuclear bombs, ICBMs, destroyers, cruisers and all of the other major weapons that we haven’t been able to “use” over the last 8 years? Should we scrap all of these weapon systems as well?
I mean, really, what a bunch of idiots.
It is said that the F-22 is the most advanced air to air superiority fighter ever built in the world. Period. The F-22 is so good, that it kicks our own planes asses every time. They’ve actually run war games where they completely stack the deck against the F-22, 10 to 1 odds, come up with crazy rules of engagement that would never happen in reality, and the F-22 has crushed the best that we can throw at it. It is so good, that in the war games, only one F-22 was ever “lost”, and that’s because the other plane ran away outside of the war game, snuck back in and “killed” the F-22.
The F-22 is so advanced, that we won’t even sell it to Japan or Israeli. Hello? We sell Israeli everything, but we’re not going to sell them this, because it would tip the balance of power in the Middle East. If Israeli had these planes, they could bomb Iran, and we might not be able to stop them. The planes are that good.
And what about that whole fiscal responsibility thing? Here’s what the Wall Street Journal has to say about that :
“Credit $1.75 billion in savings, or a third of a percentage point of the overall 2010 defense request. Only a couple of trillion more, and Mr. Obama will have a balanced budget.”
It is said that air superiority is what helped us win WWII. It’s also allowed us to operate at will in Iraq and Afghanistan. But, it’s said that you’re always fighting the last war. Hopefully, when the next war comes around, our enemies will be helpful enough and not try to challenge us for control of the sky.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
What's for dinner?
At our daughter’s graduation party, one of our friends was doing the cooking for us. We’d asked him to, since he’s the only one that we know that has a $7,000 smoker that he trails around behind his truck. This smoker is crazy. He had it built in Texas, which, I guess, makes sense, because where else would you get a smoker that’s so large it needs it own trailer.
And the smoker is some weird sort of dude magnet as well. As people showed up for the party, inevitably, as guys walked in to the back yard, they’d look at the smoker and ask “Oh my god, what is that?”. Like clockwork, I’d have to walk them over, introduce them to our friend, Mr. Tucci, and they’d proceed to pester him like little kids for the next half hour. It was kind of the “ooooh-bright-shiny-object” thing that happens to guys, but in this case is was big, rusting, belching smoke and the smells coming out of it made your mouth water.
Mr. Tucci, who’s been a friend of ours for a few years, can cook. I mean, for Upstate NY, as far a barbeque goes, this shit was to die for. Now, Mr. Tucci lived in Texas for a few years, which is where I think he got his barbequing chops from. So, before any of you Southerners “git yer fur all up in a dander” and start mutter things like “y’all damn Yankees don’t know shit ‘bout barbeque”, settle down there Hoss. Tucci had come over to our house the day before, to start marinating all the meat. You know someone is serious about protecting his “recipe” when he takes all of the garbage back home with him, so no one can rummage through it and steal his secrets.
So anyway…
We’re in the back yard with Tucci, before we leave for the graduation ceremony. The dogs are running wild all over the place, the smell of the smoking ribs and chicken driving them crazy. We were telling Tucci that he could put the dogs in while we were gone, if they were too much of a problem. Tucci replied “No, I love animals. They won’t be a problem. Did I ever tell you that I’ve traveled to Korea?”
We looked at him, and the strange turn in the conversation. “No, you never did”
He says to us “Yea, and one day we were traveling from Soule to another city were the customer had a factory. And all along the road, at every little town, there were cages of cats and dogs along the road”
He continued "I said to my guide “Hey, that’s great, you guys have pets everywhere” And my guide turned to me and said (Tucci said this in his best oriental voice) “Oh, no, Mr. Tucci, that’s what’s for dinner”.
Everybody groaned and felt sick. I looked at Tucci and said “you know, I’m counting the pets when I get back, right?”
And the smoker is some weird sort of dude magnet as well. As people showed up for the party, inevitably, as guys walked in to the back yard, they’d look at the smoker and ask “Oh my god, what is that?”. Like clockwork, I’d have to walk them over, introduce them to our friend, Mr. Tucci, and they’d proceed to pester him like little kids for the next half hour. It was kind of the “ooooh-bright-shiny-object” thing that happens to guys, but in this case is was big, rusting, belching smoke and the smells coming out of it made your mouth water.
Mr. Tucci, who’s been a friend of ours for a few years, can cook. I mean, for Upstate NY, as far a barbeque goes, this shit was to die for. Now, Mr. Tucci lived in Texas for a few years, which is where I think he got his barbequing chops from. So, before any of you Southerners “git yer fur all up in a dander” and start mutter things like “y’all damn Yankees don’t know shit ‘bout barbeque”, settle down there Hoss. Tucci had come over to our house the day before, to start marinating all the meat. You know someone is serious about protecting his “recipe” when he takes all of the garbage back home with him, so no one can rummage through it and steal his secrets.
So anyway…
We’re in the back yard with Tucci, before we leave for the graduation ceremony. The dogs are running wild all over the place, the smell of the smoking ribs and chicken driving them crazy. We were telling Tucci that he could put the dogs in while we were gone, if they were too much of a problem. Tucci replied “No, I love animals. They won’t be a problem. Did I ever tell you that I’ve traveled to Korea?”
We looked at him, and the strange turn in the conversation. “No, you never did”
He says to us “Yea, and one day we were traveling from Soule to another city were the customer had a factory. And all along the road, at every little town, there were cages of cats and dogs along the road”
He continued "I said to my guide “Hey, that’s great, you guys have pets everywhere” And my guide turned to me and said (Tucci said this in his best oriental voice) “Oh, no, Mr. Tucci, that’s what’s for dinner”.
Everybody groaned and felt sick. I looked at Tucci and said “you know, I’m counting the pets when I get back, right?”
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
I'm a sinner, she's a sinner, wouldn't you like to be a sinner too?
For disclosure purposes, let me start off my saying that I like Sarah Palin. A lot. For a lot of reasons. The least of which is how she looks.
That being said, over the last 10 months or so, I’ve grown tired of defending her. Defending her to my wife (who, over time, has become a tentative supporter of her, to my surprise), defending her at work, and defending her to my Scottish brother in law.
And Colin, if you ever read this, I still think you’re full of shit about supporting the media’s right to attach Palin’s daughter. I wouldn’t want anyone attacking my daughter, regardless of what mistakes she may or may not have made, and I certainly would support anyone attacking your daughter. That whole treat other how you’d like to be treated crap, that your atheist ass doesn’t seem to understand.
Anyway, back on topic.
So, when I say the article below on the web, I thought, “great, another fucking attack”, but the title just drew me in. I mean, I just had to see how some wacko leftist from Politico was going to say that Sarah Palin sinned. So I read it.
And I was pleasantly surprised. And I like Roger Simon’s take on Palin’s resignation and the “repercussions” that it’s going to have.
So I decided to share it with you, since I don’t seem to have much to say these days. But more on that later. So, without further adieu, here you go…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090707/pl_politico/24606
The sins of Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin is a sinner. She has violated several commandments and thoroughly deserves the savage beating that she is now getting from political mandarins and media elites.
If it were not for one simple fact, I would say she was through in politics. And that fact is that if the Republicans were picking a nominee today, they would pick Sarah Palin.
No? Don’t believe me? Who would beat her? Tim Pawlenty? Bobby Jindal? Haley Barbour? Mike Huckabee? Mitt Romney?
All of these men might build credible, attractive, even powerful political operations by 2012. But right now? Today? Today, Sarah Palin would be the winner, because more than anyone else, she has won over the hearts and minds of the Republican rank and file. (And tell me that a Sarah Palin-Newt Gingrich ticket would not set conservative hearts aflutter.)
She has done this by sinning, however. Let us list just some of the political commandments she has recently violated:
Thou shalt not surprise the media.
Palin announces she is quitting her job as governor of Alaska, and she catches everybody by surprise. What is up with that?
Where were the leaks and the trial balloons? Why weren’t the media alerted so they could have predicted it?
When you do what the media have predicted, you are “savvy.” You are a “skilled” and “adept” politician.
If you surprise the media, however, you are “out of control” and “bizarre” and even “egotistical.” (Though I have always believed that accusing politicians of being egotistical is like accusing ballerinas of dancing on their toes.)
How badly do some in the media take to surprise? Here is CNN’s Rick Sanchez on Palin’s announcement that she was leaving office prematurely. “Is there anything going on with her that perhaps may lead her to want to make this decision, and the one thing that’s still left out there is, hey, could she be pregnant again?” Sanchez asked.
Could be, Rick. Or maybe it was just her time of month, because, hey, that’s why woman politicians make the decisions they do, right?
But you can see why some in the media were shocked and dismayed. Imagine abandoning your office! Imagine quitting and deserting the voters who elected you!
Though this is what Bob Dole did in 1996, didn’t he? Dole resigned his Senate seat to run for president. I remember it. I was standing right there when he did it. And I don’t recall anybody accusing him of being a quitter. Or of being pregnant.
Thou shalt not upset the pooh-bahs.
The Republican Party likes to nominate the next guy in line. John McCain in 2008, George W. Bush in 2000 and Bob Dole in 1996 were all the next guys in line. They had “earned” their place in the party hierarchy. (Or, in the case of George W. Bush, his father had earned it for him.)
Today, it is hard to see who the next guy in line is, but the party mandarins, the pooh-bahs, are agreed on one thing: Sarah Palin ain’t it.
She is a dumb hick, a nobody from nowhere. She hunts moose with a chainsaw from the back of a snowmobile or something. Just listen to her resignation speech. It was not slick or polished or written by somebody else. She appeared to deliver it off the top of her head as if she were a real person. What a doofus!
Doesn’t she know that the highest form of political communication today is to exactly regurgitate a speech written for you by a speechwriter who has crafted, vetted and polled every phrase, line and word?
But listen to Palin. Listen to how “rambling” and “disjointed” she is. Once upon a time in American politics, this was known as being “plain-spoken,” but that time has gone. An entire industry of political consultants has grown up to make sure politicians are never plain-spoken.
Sarah Palin does not get this. Which is to say she is not very bright. (Or else she is pregnant, in which case, I apologize.)
Thou shalt pander to the few, not speak to the many.
John Weaver, a former McCain aide, told Adam Nagourney of The New York Times that Sarah Palin now has little chance of ever becoming the party’s presidential nominee.
“Somebody has to explain to Republicans how this woman is going to expand her support base,” Weaver said. “Yes, she is the darling of a certain element of our party. But it remains to be seen — in fact, it remains rather doubtful she can grow beyond that.”
She is the “darling of a certain element” of Republicans? It seems to me that with the party collapsing to its most conservative core, that “certain element” could also be called the majority of the Republican Party.
But maybe that is not enough. It is only a “certain element” of the party that finds her energizing, fresh, tough and willing to stand up to the mandarins and the media. Clearly, Palin must “grow” beyond that base to win over ... whom? The McCain wing of the Republican Party? Find it, and maybe she can win it over.
Having said all this, I do not think Palin is being crazy like a fox. I don’t think she has planned out what she will do in 2012. I think she has quit her job, is doing what she wants to do and is reserving judgment about her future.
In doing so, she has made herself an outcast to the mandarins, the pooh-bahs and the elites.
So how can she go wrong?
Roger Simon is POLITICO's chief political columnist.
That being said, over the last 10 months or so, I’ve grown tired of defending her. Defending her to my wife (who, over time, has become a tentative supporter of her, to my surprise), defending her at work, and defending her to my Scottish brother in law.
And Colin, if you ever read this, I still think you’re full of shit about supporting the media’s right to attach Palin’s daughter. I wouldn’t want anyone attacking my daughter, regardless of what mistakes she may or may not have made, and I certainly would support anyone attacking your daughter. That whole treat other how you’d like to be treated crap, that your atheist ass doesn’t seem to understand.
Anyway, back on topic.
So, when I say the article below on the web, I thought, “great, another fucking attack”, but the title just drew me in. I mean, I just had to see how some wacko leftist from Politico was going to say that Sarah Palin sinned. So I read it.
And I was pleasantly surprised. And I like Roger Simon’s take on Palin’s resignation and the “repercussions” that it’s going to have.
So I decided to share it with you, since I don’t seem to have much to say these days. But more on that later. So, without further adieu, here you go…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090707/pl_politico/24606
The sins of Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin is a sinner. She has violated several commandments and thoroughly deserves the savage beating that she is now getting from political mandarins and media elites.
If it were not for one simple fact, I would say she was through in politics. And that fact is that if the Republicans were picking a nominee today, they would pick Sarah Palin.
No? Don’t believe me? Who would beat her? Tim Pawlenty? Bobby Jindal? Haley Barbour? Mike Huckabee? Mitt Romney?
All of these men might build credible, attractive, even powerful political operations by 2012. But right now? Today? Today, Sarah Palin would be the winner, because more than anyone else, she has won over the hearts and minds of the Republican rank and file. (And tell me that a Sarah Palin-Newt Gingrich ticket would not set conservative hearts aflutter.)
She has done this by sinning, however. Let us list just some of the political commandments she has recently violated:
Thou shalt not surprise the media.
Palin announces she is quitting her job as governor of Alaska, and she catches everybody by surprise. What is up with that?
Where were the leaks and the trial balloons? Why weren’t the media alerted so they could have predicted it?
When you do what the media have predicted, you are “savvy.” You are a “skilled” and “adept” politician.
If you surprise the media, however, you are “out of control” and “bizarre” and even “egotistical.” (Though I have always believed that accusing politicians of being egotistical is like accusing ballerinas of dancing on their toes.)
How badly do some in the media take to surprise? Here is CNN’s Rick Sanchez on Palin’s announcement that she was leaving office prematurely. “Is there anything going on with her that perhaps may lead her to want to make this decision, and the one thing that’s still left out there is, hey, could she be pregnant again?” Sanchez asked.
Could be, Rick. Or maybe it was just her time of month, because, hey, that’s why woman politicians make the decisions they do, right?
But you can see why some in the media were shocked and dismayed. Imagine abandoning your office! Imagine quitting and deserting the voters who elected you!
Though this is what Bob Dole did in 1996, didn’t he? Dole resigned his Senate seat to run for president. I remember it. I was standing right there when he did it. And I don’t recall anybody accusing him of being a quitter. Or of being pregnant.
Thou shalt not upset the pooh-bahs.
The Republican Party likes to nominate the next guy in line. John McCain in 2008, George W. Bush in 2000 and Bob Dole in 1996 were all the next guys in line. They had “earned” their place in the party hierarchy. (Or, in the case of George W. Bush, his father had earned it for him.)
Today, it is hard to see who the next guy in line is, but the party mandarins, the pooh-bahs, are agreed on one thing: Sarah Palin ain’t it.
She is a dumb hick, a nobody from nowhere. She hunts moose with a chainsaw from the back of a snowmobile or something. Just listen to her resignation speech. It was not slick or polished or written by somebody else. She appeared to deliver it off the top of her head as if she were a real person. What a doofus!
Doesn’t she know that the highest form of political communication today is to exactly regurgitate a speech written for you by a speechwriter who has crafted, vetted and polled every phrase, line and word?
But listen to Palin. Listen to how “rambling” and “disjointed” she is. Once upon a time in American politics, this was known as being “plain-spoken,” but that time has gone. An entire industry of political consultants has grown up to make sure politicians are never plain-spoken.
Sarah Palin does not get this. Which is to say she is not very bright. (Or else she is pregnant, in which case, I apologize.)
Thou shalt pander to the few, not speak to the many.
John Weaver, a former McCain aide, told Adam Nagourney of The New York Times that Sarah Palin now has little chance of ever becoming the party’s presidential nominee.
“Somebody has to explain to Republicans how this woman is going to expand her support base,” Weaver said. “Yes, she is the darling of a certain element of our party. But it remains to be seen — in fact, it remains rather doubtful she can grow beyond that.”
She is the “darling of a certain element” of Republicans? It seems to me that with the party collapsing to its most conservative core, that “certain element” could also be called the majority of the Republican Party.
But maybe that is not enough. It is only a “certain element” of the party that finds her energizing, fresh, tough and willing to stand up to the mandarins and the media. Clearly, Palin must “grow” beyond that base to win over ... whom? The McCain wing of the Republican Party? Find it, and maybe she can win it over.
Having said all this, I do not think Palin is being crazy like a fox. I don’t think she has planned out what she will do in 2012. I think she has quit her job, is doing what she wants to do and is reserving judgment about her future.
In doing so, she has made herself an outcast to the mandarins, the pooh-bahs and the elites.
So how can she go wrong?
Roger Simon is POLITICO's chief political columnist.
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