Tuesday, December 14, 2004
frosty the swamp rev.
It appears the weathercritter may be right tonight. Ya'll up there where you've already had your boots full of slush, ignore me! Less than a week ago it was in the mid 80's, skeeters were getting in their last big feed, and tonight I wouldn't be suprised if the dawn low will be around 17. Since I haven't repaired or re-skinned the greenhouses, lots of greenery got brought in and the outside unprotected plumbing is drained. That wind whistling down here from the Great Plains this afternoon kept the outside fixin's going at a brisk rate. Tonight I'll evict the summer spiders from my boots. May need them tomorrow.
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Today's "Day by Day" is a cute cartoon kinda illustrating my thoughts the other day about Humvee armor!
I should have gone to the milblogs for information about the armor situation. As to be expected, lots of good (and bad) stuff over at the Mudville Gazette.
Up Your Armor III
"Joe Galloway (of "We Were Soldiers" fame) gives a great overview of the realities behind the recurring "armor shortage" story. Galloway (disclaimer: we've never met) is a reporter whose views I disagree with frequently and respect tremendously, but his report on the background reinforces several of the concepts introduced here and here last week. Excerpts follow, but as always, read the whole thing."
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I can't find a way to link directly to the below c&p from Mickey Kaus and I'm not a huge fan of his but this was kinda cute:
"Even if the latest allegations about Marc Rich--that he helped broker Saddam's oil-for-food deals--prove accurate, that won't be the main reason Clinton's pardon of the fugitive financier was scandalous. Saddam could presumably always get someone to broker his lucrative schemes--if not Rich, then another high-level operater. The Marc Rich pardon was scandalous mainly because it taught a generation of young Americans that you could buy your way out of punishment. ... But buy with what? ... Here's an instance where the convenient case for public figure privacy in matters of sex--made most conveniently by Clinton himself, but also by Jeffrey Toobin,*** Andrew Sullivan, etc.--completely breaks down. It turns out to be fairly important whether Clinton was or wasn't not having sexual relations with Denise Rich, Marc's glamorous ex-wife, who lobbied for the pardon. It's hard to explain Clinton's gross error any other way. (Lord knows I've tried!) ... Someday some historian will focus on this interpersonal causal chain and win a National Book Award for his provocative thesis--as Philip Weiss memorably put it, "Follow the nookie." But if reporters had been more irresponsible in reporting on Clinton's personal life--and less cowed by the Stephanopouloses and Carvilles--actual voters would have had this highly relevant information in real time when they made their decision in 1992. ... P.S.: Do Democrats really want to elect the woman who let all this happen under her nose? Just asking! ...
*** When defending Clinton, Toobin ludicrously declared that a politician's sex life "tells you absolutely nothing about their performance" in office. Marc Rich might disagree. ... 12:21 P.M."
You'll have to click on the link and scroll down to catch all the link and accent goodness in the article. Quite amusing actually.
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Well, it appears amongst other peccadillos, Bernard Kerik seems to have had his knob polished by a couple of other gals whilst being married. Don't know why that should be a problem, Saint JFK got some good stuff and Saint Billy-Bob had no chrome on his bumper hitch at all. Hell, from just the admitted files it's a wonder Chelsea was conceived. Must have been a off night. But then we have to think about Hillary. She's the first white trash that has occupied the White House in my lifetime (got too damn close to having rich white trash with the Heinz-Kerry critter). Hillary has such a wonderful opinion of others.
"You know, I'm going to start thanking the woman who cleans the restroom in the building I work in. I'm going to start thinking of her as a human being"
This is from Peggy Noonan's book, "The Case Against Hillary Clinton", page 55.
Yeah. She's a real contender. I was on the "internet" for the first time (darpanet) in 1971. Had it been as functional in '92 or '96, even 2000, can you imagine the changes? 2004 is the first time NOBODY can hide. 2008 is gonna be golden.
I hope I'm still alive!
* * * * * *
Today's "Day by Day" is a cute cartoon kinda illustrating my thoughts the other day about Humvee armor!
I should have gone to the milblogs for information about the armor situation. As to be expected, lots of good (and bad) stuff over at the Mudville Gazette.
Up Your Armor III
"Joe Galloway (of "We Were Soldiers" fame) gives a great overview of the realities behind the recurring "armor shortage" story. Galloway (disclaimer: we've never met) is a reporter whose views I disagree with frequently and respect tremendously, but his report on the background reinforces several of the concepts introduced here and here last week. Excerpts follow, but as always, read the whole thing."
* * * * * *
I can't find a way to link directly to the below c&p from Mickey Kaus and I'm not a huge fan of his but this was kinda cute:
"Even if the latest allegations about Marc Rich--that he helped broker Saddam's oil-for-food deals--prove accurate, that won't be the main reason Clinton's pardon of the fugitive financier was scandalous. Saddam could presumably always get someone to broker his lucrative schemes--if not Rich, then another high-level operater. The Marc Rich pardon was scandalous mainly because it taught a generation of young Americans that you could buy your way out of punishment. ... But buy with what? ... Here's an instance where the convenient case for public figure privacy in matters of sex--made most conveniently by Clinton himself, but also by Jeffrey Toobin,*** Andrew Sullivan, etc.--completely breaks down. It turns out to be fairly important whether Clinton was or wasn't not having sexual relations with Denise Rich, Marc's glamorous ex-wife, who lobbied for the pardon. It's hard to explain Clinton's gross error any other way. (Lord knows I've tried!) ... Someday some historian will focus on this interpersonal causal chain and win a National Book Award for his provocative thesis--as Philip Weiss memorably put it, "Follow the nookie." But if reporters had been more irresponsible in reporting on Clinton's personal life--and less cowed by the Stephanopouloses and Carvilles--actual voters would have had this highly relevant information in real time when they made their decision in 1992. ... P.S.: Do Democrats really want to elect the woman who let all this happen under her nose? Just asking! ...
*** When defending Clinton, Toobin ludicrously declared that a politician's sex life "tells you absolutely nothing about their performance" in office. Marc Rich might disagree. ... 12:21 P.M."
You'll have to click on the link and scroll down to catch all the link and accent goodness in the article. Quite amusing actually.
* * * * * *
Well, it appears amongst other peccadillos, Bernard Kerik seems to have had his knob polished by a couple of other gals whilst being married. Don't know why that should be a problem, Saint JFK got some good stuff and Saint Billy-Bob had no chrome on his bumper hitch at all. Hell, from just the admitted files it's a wonder Chelsea was conceived. Must have been a off night. But then we have to think about Hillary. She's the first white trash that has occupied the White House in my lifetime (got too damn close to having rich white trash with the Heinz-Kerry critter). Hillary has such a wonderful opinion of others.
"You know, I'm going to start thanking the woman who cleans the restroom in the building I work in. I'm going to start thinking of her as a human being"
This is from Peggy Noonan's book, "The Case Against Hillary Clinton", page 55.
Yeah. She's a real contender. I was on the "internet" for the first time (darpanet) in 1971. Had it been as functional in '92 or '96, even 2000, can you imagine the changes? 2004 is the first time NOBODY can hide. 2008 is gonna be golden.
I hope I'm still alive!
