Even MSNBC Can't Hide It

MSNBC has been pretty much All Obama, All The Time since before the election. The network and it's alleged reporters bolstered his campaign and took a lead role in attacking his opponents.

However, they apparently can't cover for him completely,

Poll: Obama loses ground on health care

WASHINGTON - Despite his public-relations blitz over the past two weeks to promote his plans to reform the nation's health-care system — including holding two town halls on Wednesday — President Barack Obama has lost ground on this issue with the American public, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Pluralities now say that the president’s health care plan is a bad idea, and that it will result in the quality of their care getting worse. What’s more, just four in 10 approve of his handling on the issue.

The poll also finds that Obama's overall job-approval rating has dropped to 53 percent. And it shows a public that has grown increasingly concerned about the federal government's spending as the administration defends its $787 billion economic stimulus and supports a $1 trillion-plus health-care bill.

Of course being MSNBC, they do have to try to spin the results a bit.

And despite the decline in his numbers, Obama is the most popular politician measured in the poll. Vice President Biden’s favorable/unfavorable score is 38-36 percent; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s is 25-44; former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s is 28-20; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s is 53-31; and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s is 32-43.

No word on the methodology used in the poll, so we don't know if it's all adults, registered voters, or likely voters. The latter being generally considered the most accurate group to poll.

Rasmussen Daily Tracking Polls are generally more accurate because they use likely voters. Click on the link for a slightly different perspective on the President's popularity.

Email From My Daughter

Police: Escaped Snakes Cause Car Crash
Pet Snakes Escape From Man's Pants Pockets

POSTED: 1:27 pm EDT July 28, 2009
*HARTFORD, Conn. -- *Police say pet baby snakes escaped from a 20-year-old man's pants pockets as he was driving, leading to a multi-car crash in Hartford. City officers say Angel Rolon of New Britain lost control of his SUV Monday when the snakes slithered near the gas and brake pedals and he and a passenger tried to catch them. Police say Rolon's SUV overturned and had heavy front-end damage. At least three other cars were involved. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was injured. Rolon faces charges that include reckless driving. There is no public telephone listing for Rolon. It could not immediately be determined if he has a lawyer. Animal control officers caught the snakes.

Really? REALLY? He thought the best place to put snakes was in his PANTS?
What. An. Ass. My head almost exploded from the levels of stupidity that guy achieved.

Nope, no need to do DNA testing to determine paternity here.

Iowahawk

He hardly needs my lame linkage, but Iowahawk is one of the funniest blogs out there. You need to take some time to read most of his posts, but his wit is rapier sharp. I can't fathom where he gets his ideas from, unless it's a deeply disturbed mind. Which I completely understand.

Cambridge Police Profiling Still A Grim Reality for Harvard Faculty Assholes

If you've ever met the type, and I have, you'll see the humor in this post immediately. If you have never had the pleasure, believe me, he is completely accurate.

We have a saying around here. "You can always tell a Harvard man, you just can't tell him much".

In the end it wasn't Gates race that caused him trouble, he'd have ended up arrested if he was as white as Robert Byrd displaying the attitude he did.

I don't think that Iowahawk aka David Burge appropriated the Irish-beer line from me. Rather I'd like to think that great minds think alike.

Eventually my arrest record was expunged and I agreed to meet the loathsome arresting officer at President Faust's office for a conciliatory off-record "beer chat." As the University Counsel had predicted, the lure of free limitless alcohol proved irresistible to the simpleminded Irishman, and he was soon happily signing confessions of guilt and abject apologies. Still, even after he was fired, I was left to pick up the pieces of my shattered psyche.

I don't know if Burge has ever been to Harvard or Cambridge, but he certainly has nailed the attitude.

Read the whole thing.

Kennedy Country

I live in what can best described as "Kennedy Country". That is the political family, often dubbed the "Royalty of America" hails from the northeast segment of the nation. Massachusetts specifically, but a couple of generations of Kennedy's have shown a willingness to carpet bag to whatever part of the nation in which they can steal a Congressional or Senate seat they can nobly serve. Since the noted anti Semite Joe Kennedy Sr. made his money allegedly running rum importing liquor, engaging in stock market activities that today would get him a cell in the Bernie Madoff wing of Club Fed, and so on, no Kennedy has actually, you know, worked for a living.

Joe Junior was supposed to be the President, but World War II intervened. He was a pilot and during an experiment with robotically controlled bombers the bombs detonated prematurely. Joe, the plane, and the rest of his crew were vaporized.

Which left John, who was a hero in his own right during World War II. There's not a hint of sarcasm or irony in that comment, he was in fact a hero. After which he entered politics and became President. All of which you know. He was idolized before Lee Harvey Oswald murdered him and more so after. He started the program which would put men on the moon in 1969. The 40th anniversary of which just happened and in part inspired this post. What is lost in the adulation is that he also embroiled us in the Vietnam War, although many have speculated that he would have done a better job of it than Pres. Johnson did. Personally, I'm not so sure. After all, it was JFK who took responsibility for and authorized the Bay of Pigs invasion. Originally it was conceived during the Eisenhower Administration, but Kennedy perpetuated it. You can read about that unfortunate affair in a number of places on the Internet. Not exactly a shining moment in US foreign affairs. Nor was the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's bad when Nakita Kruschev is seen as the calm headed one in a situation.

Speaking of affairs, I won't. Who he did what with didn't matter much then, and matters not at all now since all of the major players are dead.

What I will mention is the end of younger brother Edward's (Ted)Presidential aspirations. Coincidentally, that also happened about 40 years ago. Ted was driving home a young aide and campaign worker by the name of Mary Jo Kopechne. Under circumstances still not fully known to this day, the car Ted was driving went off a bridge over a shallow salt water pool on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Ted survived, didn't report the accident for several hours, and skated with a small fine. Miss Kopechne was not as lucky and drowned in the submerged car while Ted swam away. Eleven years later Jimmy Carter had the ill manners to bring that unfortunate incident to light during the Democratic Primary Season. Thus ending Ted's campaign, guarantying the nomination to Carter, who lost to Ronald Reagan.

Why do I bring this all up so many years later? Because for some reason the Lame Stream Media seems to have forgotten these incidents in their orgy of Kennedy adulation. No mention of JFK's general incompetence as a President, no mention of Ted's abject cowardice when faced with a situation that put someone elses life in danger.

I'll skip the other sordid details of the Kennedy Clan's sordid history. Allegations of rape, a cousin convicted of murder, statutory rape, and so on. Books can and have been written about the Kennedy's and their travails.

Just excuse me if I don't join in the general Kennedy worship that is so endemic in the northeast.

To me, they are just wealthy scoundrels who deserve nothing but our scorn. Certainly not our votes.

Take THAT, Borepatch!

I'm an embarrassment to Barack!


I only scored 15 on the Obama Test

Gatesgate

I was out of town when all of this happened, so I missed the first round of commentary on it. Which of course won't stop me from adding my own.

It seems that the police did their job as they were trained to and properly handled the investigation.

The problem here seems to be with Professor Gates. Like many people, of all ethnic backgrounds, he seems to be imbued with a sense of entitlement. In his case it's because of his race, but others have other reasons to feel as if the world revolves around them.

Gates didn't like how the police treated him. I understand that, as no one likes being questioned and having to produce identification, even more so if they are in their own house. Just not liking something doesn't mean it's wrong or criminal.

The problem here is that Gates isn't used to someone telling him what to do. It would seem he's spent his life telling others what they are going to do... for him. Whenever someone would start to tell him no, he's whip out his entitlement card and they'd just faint away. After which, they'd do as they were told for fear of being labeled.

Only this time it didn't work. The police sergeant he ran into has a clean record on race relations. In fact, he teaches classes on racial profiling to other police officers. He knows the law and the do's and don'ts of interacting with the minority public.

Nor is the police department acting as Gates expected. There is no immediate suspension of the officer, no press conference with abject apology from the Mayor and Police Chief. In fact, the city seems to be standing behind Sergeant Crowley. Public opinion doesn't seem to be falling the way Gates expected either. Seems that most of the public is siding with the police. In fact I think the only mistake anyone has made has been dropping the Disorderly Conduct charges against Gates.

It didn't start out that way. Gates made his public statements and the lackeys in the media dutifully printed and aired them. All seemed to be on track for the public crucifixion of Crowley. Why the President of the United States of America even said that they police acted "stupidly". When this President speaks, well everyone damned well better fall over themselves agreeing with him.

Only that didn't happen. Obama's poll numbers took a hit, the media is actually dealing fairly with the controversy, Sergeant Crowley is still at work, no one has apologized to Gates or offered him restitution for his suffering. Still Gates persists in demanding an apology. He just doesn't seem to understand that the same tactics that worked for years and years, the ones that likely got him a professorship at Harvard, aren't going to work this time around. As the old saying goes, "You can always tell a Harvard man, you just can't tell him much."

Obama has backpedaled almost since he made his "stupidly" remark. Which was stupid in itself. Now he's offered to have Gates (his long time friend) and a "typical white person" in the form of Crowley come to the White House to have a beer or two. Because we all know how cops, especially white Irish cops, like nothing better than to sit around drinking beer when they aren't oppressing minorities.

I detect racism in this incident, but it's not on the part of the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley. It seems to be emanating from a certain house in Cambridge and another one in Washington, DC.

I'm Back

I just realized that I haven't posted since Monday. I've been busy with travel and teaching, so I lost track of time.

Just a few quick hits.

That whole Cambridge, MA police kerfluffle. Completely stupid, and President Feckless shows off his complete lack of gravitas by commenting on it. The whole race card thing is getting pretty tedious, with luck that particular Golden Goose will finally die. The tapes, if released, should make for interesting listening.

While I'm somewhat on the subject, why do elite liberal arts colleges have to make up majors, endow chairs, and give tenure to people who have no real body of knowledge? Certainly the only real use of any such course of study is to give jobs to people who have no real skills, con young men and women into spending exorbitant amounts of money on degrees which will teach them no real skills, and making the people who run those elite schools feel good about themselves.

The Red Sox seem to have forgotten how to win, but that will get better. I hope.

There is nothing like standing out on the interstate at 0 Dark Thirty in the pouring rain while the FD tries to figure out how to cut a guy out of a rolled over car. It seems that someone might have installed the Gore Tex in my raincoat backwards as the inside of the thing was wet by the time we were done.

It's damned cold for July, more like April. Seems like we might have a year without a summer up in the northeast. No doubt it's George Bush and the evil Republican's fault.

Could it be that the luster is fading for President Feckless? Obamacare seems to be losing momentum, his popularity ratings are dropping rapidly, he can't seem to get the Congress, which is controlled by his own party to play ball.

Speaking of which, he throws like a girl. John Kerry would have done a much better job at throwing out that first pitch, and that's not saying much.

I see that the late night so called comedians have taken to making fun of Sen. John Thune's nation wide carry legislation. Which must mean that someone is afraid it might pass. We can't have a rational debate on this, can we?

That's all for today, more to come as I get back into the swing of things.

I'll Shed No Tears

Walter Cronkite has died. The orgy of media adulation is bound to reach proportions similar to when a President (or singing pedophile) dies, but it won't include me.

Cronkite was an unabashed leftist, who did his best to undermine the US military effort during the Vietnam War. And succeeded. Jane Fonda was more blatant about it, but Cronkite flat out lied in 1968 when he told the world that the Tet Offensive had been a defeat for the US and a victory for the Viet Cong. The truth is that the Viet Cong suffered over 40,000 losses and ceased to be an effective fighting force trying to seize Hue and other key South Vietnamese cities. After Tet, the major fighting was carried out by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), not the VC.

Old Uncle Walther helped the Communist forces seize victory from the jaws of defeat by timely reporting that it was hopeless to continue to fight in Vietnam.

Just as his successors tried to do in Iraq and will no doubt do shortly in Afghanistan. Well, they tried in Afghanistan back in 2001 and 2002, but had to rush off in 2003 to try to assure defeat in Iraq.

No doubt they'll be back on the job in Afghanistan shortly.

No, I'll shed no tears for this old dead fraud and neither should you.

Nationwide Concealed Carry

Senator James John Thune has introduced an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that would mandate full reciprocity for concealed carry permits and licenses. Presumably, this would include states where currently no one can carry concealed.

Gun control advocates fret over Thune move to expand concealed carry

Of course they do.

Thune submitted an amendment this past Thursday to a Defense appropriation bill that would allow individuals who have permits to carry concealed weapons, including firearms, to enjoy that same right in other states.

I wonder what other concealed weapons the author was thinking of?

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a major gun control advocate, said that bill would "override state law."

Of course overriding state law is OK when it's for an assault weapons ban, or micro stamping ammunition, or even "one gun a month" legislation.

Not only are the Brady Bunch anti freedom, they anti freedom hypocrits. And liars, but you knew that.

They aren't even entertaining any more.

I don't know if this will go anywhere, in fact I would think it won't given who controls the Senate. Still, it's interesting.

Goodbye to NAEMT

For those of you not in EMS, that stands for the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. Founded about thirty years ago to improve EMS and the lot of EMTs in this country. Without being a national union, because that might involve, uh, actual work.

My renewal notice came while I was away, but I've decided to save the $40.00 per year that they charge for membership. For which you get..., well if anyone knows what we get, let me know. Mostly it seems we get self promotion from the good old boy club that runs NAEMT. And a lot of "me too" announcements when they tag along with someone else on some national issue.

What they don't seem to do it represent in any way or fashion, EMTs and paramedics who work on ambulances or in other venues. At least not in any way or fashion that makes a difference.

I had high hopes about three years ago when a guy named Jerry Johnston was President. During his two years, he instituted some serious reforms that might have made a difference. Sadly, his successor seems to have done his best to undo them and put the usual suspects back in positions of power.

No doubt someone will write in to tell me about the wonderful PHTLS, AMLS, and other merit badge courses that they offer. All of which merely highlight the failings of EMS training in this country. Which NAEMT should be fighting to improve, but it might cut into their bottom line.

I'll put the $40.00 into some fine cigars. Maybe some Rocky Patel Edge cigars. I can get six or seven for that price. I'm reasonably sure that I'll get far more return for my money than giving it to the NAEMT.

Saying Goodbye To Facebook

After a minimum amount of soul searching and consideration I've decided to dump my Facebook account. It's and enjoyable time waster, but I find that the politics of the people who run it are just too unpalatable for me to stay there. It's not that the founder and CEO was a big supporter of President Feckless and used his social networking site to help get him elected. I could live with that, even though I think President Feckless is doing a craptastic job as President. It's that the powers that be at FB have eliminated sites, groups, and accounts of pro Israel members and groups while at the same time allowing the sites, groups, and accounts of anti Israel groups and Holocaust deniers. If FB wanted to be non political, that would be one thing, but they aren't. It's also been reported that they are eliminating pro Republican groups, accounts, and sites as well.

If you want to read the details of some of this, head on over to Atlas Shrugged.

I'm not in the business of telling other people what to do, but I did want to let my readers who know my real identity to understand what I'm planning to do.

Destination Moon

Destination Moon was a "juvenile" science fiction novella by the late, great, Robert Heinlein. It was released in 1950, even before I was born. Yeah, wise guys, they had movies back then. Heinlein served as one of the technical advisers and insisted that the physics of the movie be as accurate as possible. In one of his books, Heinlein writes the back story of how the movie was made and made to be realistic, given the state of scientific knowledge at the time. The story was interesting and I've wanted to see the movie for several years.

As it turns out, it's available on DVD, but even better Turner Classic Movies will be showing it on July 20 at 1:00PM. I'll be in the air (again), but when I get home from vacation, I plan to set my DVR.

I thought I'd mention this for the science fiction geeks (Bore Patch, JayG, and others) that visit the blog.

Not Clear On The Concept

Once again the enlightened administration of President Feckless disappoints those who thought they'd be soooo much different than the evilllll Bushitlerchimpymchalliburton one. This time the New York Times is rehashing the old complaint of it and "human rights" groups that Bush didn't do enough to stop executions of Taliban fighters by Afghanistan resistance groups back in 2001 when the Taliban were tossed out of power. Not deterred by the mere fact that the US had no jurisdiction to investigate activities by one foreign group against another foreign group in a foreign land, The NY Times called for an investigation by the FBI and US Military into executions allegedly ordered by Afghan Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostrum.

Here is the article.

Obama admin: No grounds to probe Afghan war crimes

Asked about the report, Marine Corps Col. David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said that since U.S. military forces were not involved in the killings, there is nothing the Defense Department could investigate.

"There is no indication that U.S. military forces were there, or involved, or had any knowledge of this," Lapan said. "So there was not a full investigation conducted because there was no evidence that there was anything from a DoD (Department of Defense) perspective to investigate."

A Justice Department official said the FBI had no jurisdiction to investigate. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Separately, Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to comment.

Apparently the NYT and the do gooders at Physicians for Human Rights still have the wet dream ideal that Obama is going to order a war crimes investigation and arrests of Bush and our Dark Lord VP Cheney. I'd give both of these organizations some credit if they had ever demanded the investigation of Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, et al for their war crimes. Not that I'm going to hold my breath since I'd end up as blue as the ocean here in Paradise.

Morons.

No, worse than that. Hypocritical morons.

Just Checking In

Thanks to everyone for the comments on the posts. Mrs. TOTWTYTR and I have been relaxing in Paradise since late Tuesday afternoon. The time difference is considerable, when I'm waking up, most of you are almost done for the day. Makes communication with friends and family back home interesting.

I see that the Red Sox are continuing their winning ways. Well, except for dropping one 8-6 to the KC Royals. WTF is up with that?

Anyway, I'll check in later on in the week. Despite President Feckless doing his best to ruin the country and the lick spittle media just playing along. I'm not at all motivated to comment beyond that.

I see that Micheal Jackson is still dead.

Oh well, enjoy yourselves, because I certainly am.

Oh, one more thing. Apparently TOTWTYTR the next generation is about to premier. Seems I'm about to be a grand father. How did THAT happen?

Say Hello to Underachieving

Which is the title to this NY Times. Which I don't read as a rule, but thought this interesting. It sort of brings this post to mind, since the demographics are similar.

ERIN McAULIFFE had a vision for this summer. A 20-year-old junior at Bowdoin College, she had lined up an internship at a New York publishing house and imagined stimulating days leafing through manuscripts, and evenings of sparkling conversation with friends at downtown cafes.

She ended up starring in a real-life version of the movie “Adventureland” instead. In that recent comedy, a recent college graduate is forced by economic hardship to work at a suburban amusement park.

Life is imitating art for Ms. McAuliffe. With her parents unable to help bankroll three months of unpaid work in Manhattan, she gave up the internship offer and moved home to Andover, Mass., where she took the one job she could find: working 12-hour days at an amusement park. For $7.80 an hour, she tends bumper cars and the big swing, and endures the many carny jokes of her friends.

I suppose we are supposed to feel pangs of sympathy for Ms. McAuliffe. Instead of lounging around in a do nothing internship, abuilding a boffo resume so that she can get a do nothing paying job, she's *GASP* working for a living. Just as my kids had to do when they weren't in school. For that matter when they WERE in school.

To a high-achieving generation whose schedules were once crammed with extracurricular activities meant to propel them into college, it feels like an empty summer — eerie, and a bit scary.

High achieving in a meaningless kind of way, I think.

“Parents have really put a lot of pressure on the kids — everything has been organized, they’re all taking A.P. courses, then summer hits and they’re going to learning camps,” said Peter A. Spevak, a psychologist in Rockville, Md. Now, he said, with opportunities for achievement at a minimum this summer, “there is something to be said about sitting out on a warm evening and looking at the stars — they need more of this contemplation and self-evaluation.”

Or maybe they could get their self-evaluating and contemplating asses out of the house and find jobs that involve, hold on to your hats, physical labor. No doubt the calluses and chipped nails, on the entitled of both genders, would be a psychological shock to these future ne'er do wells.

There are jobs out there, not a lot of them, not high paying, not glamorous, but they will put some money in your pocket. Don't want to live with mommy and daddy? Believe me, bunky, a lot of them aren't thrilled to have you back under their roofs either. Remember all those jobs that Americans didn't want to do and we absolutely had to have illegal immigrants for? Well, those jobs are still out there if you're willing to swallow your pride and look for them. Again, not the sit in your office and make decisions that screw up other people's lives jobs that you've pined for all these years, but still jobs.

Maybe Ms. Germano, now that she is of legal drinking age can pitch in an help her dad at that bar. I'm sure that although he will give the obligatory pro-forma denials, he'd be more than happy to have you help out.

Two last grumpy observations. Not one of these kids is studying for or has a degree in something like Engineering, Math, or Science. Every last one is too smart for that and chose some variation of Political Science, the Arts, or History. Oh, and to a person, the voted for President Feckless and hoped for change. Well, they got it, but no one said that change had to be positive.

Light Blogging Alert

I'll be away on a well deserved vacation for the next several days. Not a completely secret location, but blogging will probably be light as I'm only bringing along a netbook, I don't know about a WiFi connection, and it's a long, long way from here. Which means it's an expensive trip and we have a lot of activities planned. All of which should be fun, but won't leave a lot of blogging time.

I'll try to put up some quick posts, but I don't want my vast legions of readers to think I've deserted them.

I might even up load some pictures so you can share the fun. Well except for the part where you won't actually be there.

EMS Humor

Is often dark, often sarcastic, mostly dry in nature. Much like military, police, or fire humor. It has to be given the nature of what we do. The big challenge is to keep is light and humorous and do it out of earshot of most of the public. Especially patients and their families. Sometimes you can make a funny comment to the patient, but never at their expense. It's a tricky proposition and I fight the urge to do that.

All of that being said, I saw this shirt on a guy the other day and took a quick picture while his back was turned. He does not work for the agency named, he works in EMS somewhere else. He saw the shirt and thought it was funny, so he got one. I wish I had thought to ask him, because I'd like one too. Apparently it is, or was at least, available from the Tahoe T-Shirtery, in Tahoe City, CA. I couldn't find a website, but I'm going to give them a call when I have a chance and see if they still sell them.

There's a line under the four white ones that doesn't show up in the picture. It says, "We thank you for your support".

Anyway, here is the shirt. Judge for yourself if it's funny.

Another Socialized Medicine Success Story!

From the Daily Mail comes this gem of a story,
Hospital patient so shocked at dirty ward she climbed out of bed to clean it herself

The sick 48-year-old was so disgusted at the conditions after three days on a 'filthy' ward that she grabbed the antibacterial fluid dispenser at the end of her bed and some hand towels from the bathroom.

This could be a key component of Obamacare. You get a discount if you clean your room yourself. Saves on those pesky house keeping environmental services, jobs. Of course, chances are that the cleaners union will file a grievance and threaten to sue Ms. Tosbell.

The Patients' Association yesterday said what Miss Tosbell had experienced was 'nothing unusual'.

Its director Katherine Murphy said: 'Where there should be round-the-clock cleaners there will be one who is going round three or four wards and can only skim the surface.'

Should be, won't. England, like so many other socialized networks has built an incredibly expensive, complex, and patient hostile system that delivers third world care at first world prices. I'd expect that the hospital that PM Gordon Brown would be admitted to if it were necessary is much cleaner, has better staffing, top notch doctors. The peasants don't get that.

A Colchester Hospital University NHS spokesman said: 'In the annual health check ratings for 2007-2008 we scored maximum marks for safety and cleanliness and we have also been praised for our very low levels of infections such as C. difficile and MRSA.'

Let me run this through the bureaucrat translator for you.

Since we know when the annual health check is going to be, we clean the crap out of the hospital, make sure that all procedures are followed, all paperwork in order, and that the staff has their happy faces on. This fools the inspectors, who know that they are being fooled, but are paid to inspect, not fail, facilities. Oh, we leave a couple of minor things wrong so the inspectors can write up that they found and corrected deficiencies. After all, if they never find anything wrong, someone might figure out that they are full of shite. It's all a game, intended to perpetuate the system, prove that all is well, and protect our phoney baloney jobs. Oh, and fool the taxpayers into thinking we give a shit about them.

Then, when the inspectors are gone, the new curtains are put away until next time, staffing is cut back to normal, the place gets filthy until next time the inspection is due.

I know that sounds cynical, but I've seen the same thing here in the US when JCAHO inspection time rolls around. Fresh paint, where needed, taped signs pulled off walls, notebooks all in place with check lists, and so on. When the .gov is in charge it will be more of the same, only worse.

National Healthcare: The efficiency of FEMA, the compassion of the IRS.

Independence Day 2009

I can't improve upon what I said last year. Take a few minutes to read and absorb the meaning of those words. Unlike so called leaders of today, those men meant what they said.

In some ways it seems like we are further than ever from those ideals, in other ways it feels like it's getting closer to the conditions that existed back then.

That aside, enjoy your holiday if you're lucky enough to be off from work. If you're a shootie sort, go to your favorite range and send some lead down range. The Founding Fathers will smile upon you, because that's the reason for the whole thing.

Totally NOT BS

Disco tune saves man's life

Debra Bader was taking a walk in the woods with her 53-year-old husband one morning when suddenly he collapsed. At first she thought the situation was hopeless.
Debra Bader was prompted to perform CRP on her husband, Christopher, after recalling a public service ad.

"I looked at him and said, 'He's dead,' because he wasn't moving or making any sounds at all," Bader remembers. "But I pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and called 911, and then a public service announcement I'd heard on the radio popped into my head."

The one-minute PSA from the American Heart Association instructed listeners, in the event of cardiac arrest, to perform chest compressions very hard to the beat of the 1970s Bee Gees song "Staying Alive."

If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid. I'm glad she was successful and her husband is alive and healthy.

That being said, I will steadfastly refuse to wear a polyester leisure suit uniform now and forever.

And in the "don't do this if you are in EMS" department, there is this quote,

Bader says doctors at the hospital where her husband was treated have an alternative song. "They told me they do CPR to 'Another One Bites the Dust,' which also has about 100 beats per minute," Bader says. "Doctors have kind of a dark sense of humor."

They do indeed. And they can probably get away with this. You? Not so much. If you do at the least you'll violate the Second Rule of EMS. Which is: You don't want a rule named after you. Because they only make rules when people do something stupid.

Send In The Marines!

While much of the American public and legacy, trivial, increasingly irrelevant Lame Stream Media is obsessing over the death of the Singing Pedophile, there are some important things going on in the world.

The American military, in the guise of the United States Marine Corps is launching a major offensive in Helmund Province, Afghanistan. Via Foxnews.com comes this story, U.S. Military Launches Major Afghan Offensive. I'm glad Fox News was able to break away from the latest Singing Pedophile story to tell us about this. I'll post another time about why I think Fox News is a second rate (at best) news operation.

This is not the type of USMC operation as most people think of it. First of all, there is no ocean to launch from. Second, this is not a kill them all, let God sort them out, full on combat assault.

"Where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces," Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson said in a statement.

This is known as "clear and hold" in counterinsurgency (COIN) operations. This was what turned things around in Iraq. The "surge" facilitated clear and hold by adding enough troops to make it work.

I'm not a military expert, I never served. Nor do I play one on cable news. However, I have read about this a bit and know a bit about the theory. I'll recommend two books and a blog to my readers. Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife by Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl exams counterinsurgency during the Malaysian Emergency (1948-60) and during the Viet Nam War. The first succeeded, the second failed spectacularly. LTC Nagl compares the British approach the that used by the US in Viet Nam. If you have any interest in this subject, this is a must read. Once caution. This was LTC Nagl's Master's Thesis. It is not a light read. It is, however, incredibly informative and has valuable lessons for fighting and winning today's wars.

The second book is the USMC Small Wars Manual published by the Department of the Navy. I've linked to the on line version, which was initially published in 1940. It's not widely known now (at least to non Marines) that up until World War II, the primary purpose of the USMC was to serve as infantry to conduct counter insurgency operations in many places where the US had interests in maintaining organized governments. Part of that was combat operations against insurgents, part of it was civil affairs. After World War II, that sort of thing fell out of favor and until recently was not a primary mission for any branch of the US Military. Much of the information in the original is still pertinent today. Maybe not the part about how to exam and buy mules locally, but then again, maybe that is relevant. Also, there is no mention of inserting and extracting troops by helicopter, as they hadn't been invented yet. You can buy the Small Wars Manual in print (or Kindle) from Amazon.com. Again, not light reading, but well worth the effort.

OK, three books. While searching for the Small Wars Manual, I found The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual. I've ordered this, but haven't received it yet, so I can't review.

Finally,SMALL WARS JOURNAL is a blog about, well small wars. It's worth checking frequently as there are some very good posts and discussions.

Back to the Helmand Operation,

The operation aims to show "the Afghan people that when we come in, we are going to stay long enough to set up their own institutions," Pelletier said.

Once on the ground, the troops will meet with local leaders, hear their needs and act on them, Pelletier said.

"We do not want people of Helmand province to see us as an enemy. We want to protect them from the enemy," Pelletier said.

As part of this operation the Marines will build bases in the villages and stay to protect the inhabitants. They will also engage in civil operations to build infrastructure.

The Washington Post has some details.

Once Marine units arrive in their designated towns and villages, they have been instructed to build and live in small outposts among the local population. The brigade's commander, Brig. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, said his Marines will focus their efforts on protecting civilians from the Taliban and on restoring Afghan government services, instead of mounting a series of hunt-and-kill missions against the insurgents.

Early efforts in Iraq and most of the operations in Viet Nam failed at the second part. As a result at night the enemy would move back into the just liberated villages, rob the inhabitants of food and other items and kill any suspected collaborators. Which served to terrorize the villages and make them hate the US troops. Not exactly conducive to victory. The US Military learned the wrong lessons in Viet Nam and spent the next 30 years avoiding COIN operations. This continued during the first few years in Iraq and almost caused that theater of operations to be lost.

The hard learned lessons from Iraq are being applied in Afghanistan, hopefully with the same result.

Take some time out of your busy day to think about the Marines now risking their lives in Afghanistan and say a prayer or two for them and the success of this operation.