Sandbox - 21jun15

[I am writing this moments from when the earth's northern hemisphere tilts maximally in its summer nod to the sun.  And it's also Father's Day, a day when our young'uns take notice and tell us they really did appreciate our being around as they were growing up.  I've always thought of Father's Day as being a consolation prize bestowed so as not to leave the blatant worship of mothers and Motherhood in too stark of a contrast on the calendar of annual family observances - giving the old man a nod now and then goes a long way to complete the picture.  I invite readers to share a paragraph or two about how their own dads bent the twigs of trees now grown - I'll start.

My own dad was his parents' firstborn on the family farm, soon followed by a brother and sister.  His dad (after whom I am named) was a gruff man with little education and a lot of energy and courage - a veteran of both the Russo-Japanese War and the Estonian Revolution.  The farm was supposed to go to my dad, but he had been drafted, served in the Estonian Army's Signal Corps, seen the bright city lights, and was discharged as a skilled journeyman electrician.  No farm life for this son of the sod.

With a friend he started an electrical contracting business in Viljandi, married mom, and was surprised when I came soon after Hitler and Stalin had started dividing up Europe.  My dad's wisdom, recounted elsewhere in these pages, saved our collective hind ends when he got us out of Estonia before the Red Army invaded.  During the war he was a hero many times over, saving us and others to enjoy our lives in post-war displaced persons camps and then emigrate to freedom.

My dad knew how to do everything - he was also an artist and artisan, but that's another story.  The Rebanes climbed the economic ladder by working any and all kinds of jobs available, and buying and rebuilding fixer-upper homes.  As a consequence my youth was filled with lots of work after school - that was not unusual, in those times it was the norm.  Starting at the age of 11, my dad taught me to do everything needed to build a house.  He was just following in his dad's footsteps, and let me know that I was starting out a little late.  On the farm he already knew all the stuff I was just learning.  Imparting gratuitous self-esteem was not his strong suit.  By the time I was fourteen, dad had taught me to build an entire house from laying the foundation, through framing, roofing, drywall, electricity, plumbing, and painting.  My proudest moments were when he came home from work, looked over a piece of work I had done after school, and said "That'll do." before laying out tomorrow's jobs.  And then after mom (who also worked) had cleared supper, dad would get to work on the next building task.  I grew up in a construction zone.

But my dad never thought for a moment that I would follow in his footsteps, he made sure my Job One was getting an education because I would be going to college, the first in our family to do so.  After getting some years under my belt I would look back and see that everything he did was to enable me to have a better life than he and mom did.  And then, without first checking with me, he died when I was 31.  He left too early, and I still miss him.  gjr]

Comments

[Jon]

Very nice story. So sorry you had limited time with your Dad- age 31 is much too young. Was able to enjoy my Dad's friendship well into his 90s. Happy Fathers Day George!

[fish]

I think it's probably because the original Spiderman was white and straight......but I'm sure that is only the "system" enabling my crypto-racism!

I'm so ashamed!

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/sony-hack-peter-parker-spider-man-white-straight-1201524150/

[Todd Juvinall]

Nice recap GeorgeR. I still miss my dad to this day. He died in 1982 of cancer and I was 32.

He was born in Spokane Washington in 1920 and had ome brother. They moved to Venice California in the mid 20's and he graduated from Venice high in 1938. He was attending college when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He and his brother went down and volunteered the next week. Both served in the Navy during the whole war. When mustered after the bomb he came to Colfax where his folks lived. The little house on the southside of Winner Chevy is still there. He then came over to a dance in Grass Valley and liked it more. So he took his money saved during his service and bought 289 acres on You Bet Road in December 1945. He started a Construction business which he held until 1978. He raised six kids and supported three families of relatives. He was a relentless working man.

He was a well liked man in the community and people still ask about him to this day. Just a fine, typical American who liked everyone. Never said a bad word about anyone. He taught me to thank America for the privilege of being born here and I don't think I ever heard him utter a bas word against FDR!

[Bill Tozer]

Dad was quite a guy. Wasn't my friend, my business partner, nor my drinking buddy. He was just Dad, the way it ought to be. Never bought into my bull puckey and he wasn't given a manual on how to raise 4 teenagers in the 60's. Not the hugging type, but he was always there when I needed him, always, albeit those occasions were few; but when I needed him, he was there no matter how many years passed. And just as consistent to his solid beliefs at home, at work, at play, he would be the first to tell the judge to let me rot in jail if I was in the wrong. That was my Dad.

https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkingDeadAMC/photos/a.169719483054218.51327.110475388978628/1247990915227064/?type=1&theater

[Gary Smith]

My dad died 2 years ago at 93 and I had 59 wonderful years with him. He came to California with his parents in the 1930s to LA. When WW2 broke out he enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a pilot and was a 'Flying Sargent". He flew B-25 Mitchell bombers and excelled so well they never deployed him. He got retained as a trainer, and checkout pilot for delivery planes and finally as a test pilot for the B25 development program. Not liking authority he enjoyed teaching flight school and having all the officers stand and salute him when entered the classroom. Being a dashing young single pilot my guess is he was busy in his off time. He taught me many good qualities like your word is very important, never break your word in saying your going to do something for someone. If you lie and don't have your word, you have nothing. He was a very hard worker and never expected anything to be given to him and passed that on to us kids. I miss him terribly.

[Gregory]

Enjoy Father's Day, each and every dad out there. I lost mine a decade ago, and if all goes as nature intends my boy will lose his. He is home for a few days and I'm delighted he's followed his parents footsteps and going further than we chose to.

Paving the way without having to factor in Nazis or the Red Army is easier, kudos to your Dad, George. Compared to that, Whole Math and Whole Language (the former back with a vengeance in Nevada County schools) is a walk in the park but parents with kids now in Nevada County Schools should not be surprised when math achievment hits another brick wall.

Holly Hermansen's latest op-ed in The Union shows she's following the lead of the state superintendent and dropping Common Core. The whole math other Constructivist Common Core drivel is still there, along with the Common Core testing... she's just not calling it Common Core State Standards anymore... it's been rechristened the California State Standards.

Fathers, and Mothers, can't just send their kids to school and close their eyes to what the teachers and administrators are doing.

[Walt]

Dad was one hell of a man. A self made one at that. He had me at the age of 62, and taught me the old ways of doing things. Work smart, AND hard.

My kids knew just what to give dear ol' Dad today.. Ammo and targets.
We just got back from the gun range across the Co. line. Seems many a family was there.

About 50 people were there all shooting safely with no one running the show. No range master. But having fun in a safe manner. The kind of thing a certain political faction says just can't happen. ( There MUST be control!)

I can't recall the last time there was even a reported accident at the Spencerville range. ( But shooting must be unsafe)
And plenty of those evil "black guns" that scare people.
I sure put the hurt on a gallon milk jug @ 300 yards. The wind was pretty bad today. So a bullet or two missed.
Thanks kids, You Dad sure enjoyed his Father's day gifts.

[Don Bessee]

Happy Fathers Day!

[Account Deleted]

My father was pretty typical of his generation. Came of age during the depression, and enlisted in the army when the war broke out. Married mom in 1946 and settled in Sacramento, where we kids were raised.
He was always working around the house with various improvement projects, including adding on to our small house. He rarely spent a moment of time for just himself. Family came first, and he volunteered a lot with Y-guides and later Boy Scouts. He made sure I had a good background in basic tool use and I sure learned a lot about camping, the outdoors and growing up straight and honest. He detested waste and littering with a lot of emphasis on making do with what you had.
There were plenty of years that saw our relationship fray with the typical generation gap and my youthful attitude. Once I was married and had kids, our friendship grew back even stronger.
He died peacefully in his own bed at age 93 with a lot of the family at his side. He certainly lives on through his love for his family and the values he passed on to us all. I was totally blessed to have him as my father.

[Todd Juvinall]

ScottO, very touching. My POP only made it to 62. He was a lot like yours in knowing how to make or fix just about anything!

Regarding littering. That was also something we were taught. Keep the place clean and neat. Ann Coulter's new book, Adios America, has a whole chapter on littering.

[George Rebane]

ScottO 219pm - Well shared Scott. And I was blessed to know you dad as my friend John with whom I had many rewarding conversations about science and faith. I envy the years you and your family had him, and am thankful that I also knew him in the years before his passing.

[George Rebane]

Holman Jenkins in the 20jun15 WSJ points out to our True Believers that President Obama's arguments to dun our economy for the sake of stopping AGW result only in costs with absolutely no discernible benefits. Little heralded by the lamestream (and local self-declared experts on climate change) is NOAA's continuing (GCM model) revelations that given the most draconian measures to destroy America's economy, the resulting impact on earth's temperature will be negligible. Quoting Georgia Tech climatologist Judith Curry who explained: “One argument that President Obama hasn’t tried to make explicitly is that the U.S. commitments to emissions reductions will actually slow down warming in a meaningful way. If you believe the climate models, the U.S. emissions reductions would reduce the warming by a fairly trivial amount, that would get lost among the natural variability of climate.”

[Russ Steele]

Remembering my dad Bert Steele:

When I was born in 1938 my mom and dad were building the white house on the hill behind the swimming pool at Pioneer Park in Nevada City. Dad was a miner at the Murche Mine. We take our grand children to the Empire State Park and show them his picture with all the other miners. During the early days of WWII dad was a welder, building ships in Bremerton Washington and then as a swing shift welding foreman at Colberg Boat Works in Stockton, California, building minesweepers for the Navy.

But, building minesweepers was not enough, he wanted to get into the action and enlisted in the Army Air Corp Cadet Program to become a pilot. He was a B-26 Instructor pilot in Texas. He never saw combat, the Air Corp decided he should be a B-26 flight instructor, teaching Chinese pilots how to fly the B-26. When the war was over, Dad wanted to stay in the Army Air Corp, but he would be stationed in Germany and my mother was concerned about the schooling of her three boys, and baulked at a military career for Dad. When the Korean Conflict started, he tried to reenlist in the Air Force, but at top of the age limit with a family of three children the Air Force said no way, we have enough young pilots. He was crushed.

After the WWII Dad built a logging truck out of a surplus Army 6x6 and started hauling logs, eventually starting his own logging business, selling logs to local mills. When he brought the 6x6 home he brought a jeep that had come back from the Pacific as ballast on a returning Liberty ship. It had a big shrapnell hole in the back of the jeep. Dad put it in the yard, and told me, age 11, and my two brothers, 9 and 7, that when we got it running we could drive it around the Thomas Ranch. We dismantled the engine and Dad helped us put it back together, and it started! By then we were 12, 10 and 8. My youngest brother could not reach the clutch, brake and gas peddles so we screwed wooden blocks on them so he could drive, and he looked out the missing door to see where he was going.

Dad never attended college, but he was very proud of his Army Air Corp Aviation Cadet Qualification Examination score, top of his class, which the Army used in lieu of a requirement for two years of college. After I had two years of college, I followed Dad and enlisted in the Air Force Aviation Cadet Program for Navigators. He followed my 20 year career with great interest.

Dad finally saw action during the Viet Nam Conflict. He was a Cummins Diesel Specialist working for Tacoma Boat, who build jet powered coastal patrol boats, with auxiliary diesel engines. When crossing the Pacific the spray shut down the jets and the list of the boats was so great the diesel engine's oil pumps could not reach the oil in the engine pan. The Navy sent him to Viet Nam to supervise rebuilding the engines with a modified oil sump to account for extreme list. While he was in Viet Nam his hooch was mortared one night while he as at the Club, and a diver discovered an explosive charge attached to one of the boat hulls under the water.

My dad was known for his resourcefulness and ability to solve complex problems with practical solutions. He was a government concrete inspector on the tallest dam in the US and his expertise in diesel repair and trouble shooting took him to jobs in Wyoming, Utah, Alaska, Chile and Puerto Rico. His two youngest sons built careers in diesel mechanics based on the skills he passed on to them.

My dad died in August of 1980, just a few months after I retired from the Air Force. We had too little time to catch up, to share stories over an adult beverage. I still talk to him in my dreams.

[Gregory]

George 2:42, I think if you dig deeper Curry would point out the trivial amount the reductions would result in is if you take the IPCC's accepted model scenarios at face value. There would be no gain from all that pain if one accepted the views of skeptics like Shaviv, Veizer, Lindzen, Friis-Christensen, Svensmark, Kirkby, et al. Anthropogenic CO2 had very little to do with getting us to where we are and reducing it won't make us cooler. The bad news is that, besides keeping us warm, burning lots of fossil fuels won't do much to reverse the little ice age we may be staring at, either.

[George Rebane]

Gregory 255pm - I thought her quote made that clear. And the non-role of anthropogenic CO2 has been much discussed in these pages. In any event, thanks for the expansion, especially the part about the little ice age that we are most likely entering. Another climatological factor addressed by the CCC.

[Russ Steele]

Now it has come to this, another environmentalist wacko green dream goes red:

WaPo: Green woes on recycling: Most cities in the red – A ‘money-sucking enterprise’

'Almost every facility like it in the country is running in the red. And Waste Management and other recyclers say that more than 2,000 municipalities are paying to dispose of their recyclables instead of the other way around.'

Read more: http://www.climatedepot.com/2015/06/21/wapo-green-woes-on-recycling-most-cities-in-the-red-a-money-sucking-enterprise/

[Bob Hobert]

George, thanks for the Fathers Day forum. We share some interesting parallels in that my father was also the first born on the family farm, which had been homesteaded by his European immigrant ancestors who sought a new and better life in America. He enlisted in the US Navy during WWII at age 22, came home afterward and studied the electrical trade using the GI Bill and eventually established his own successful electrical business. My father was also the first in his family to graduate from high school. He sacrificed much to insure that I was the first in four generations to obtain a college degree. I realize more every day the giant strides my father made to advance opportunities for me and my siblings. My brothers and I could never physically out-work our father, nor exceed his expectations for us. He passed at age 89, having lived stubbornly independent - he drove his car daily until his last two weeks. I hope to do as well for my sons as he did for us in his own inimitable way.

[Bonnie McGuire]

Thanks for sharing the stories about your fathers. Boys who have good fathers learn how to fix and do almost everything, and eventually set this example for their sons.

[joe smith]

Interesting to note that JP wrote a father's day tribute also. While this page is full of rich story, his has not a single response. It appears nobody has responded to any of his articles of the recent past. At what point does irrelevance become relevant in the life of a blogger?

[Todd Juvinall]

Don't know. He may be the first!

[Jon]

Just wanted to say- Good Riddance- to the SC Statehouse Battle Flag. Its done. Its a good and better day in South Carolina.

Almost all major SC conservative Politicos now support pulling it. Just a matter of when it will be pulled down. Burn the sucker.

[fish]

Posted by: Jon | 22 June 2015 at 12:28 PM

Wow.....brought all those dead people back to life too so I guess you consider it an even trade.

[Jon]

not one of your more impressive comments, fish. Conservatives in SC seem to think it matters.

[fish]

Posted by: Jon | 22 June 2015 at 01:20 PM

You started this last week seemingly moments after the crime....the ritualistic "dancing" around the piled bodies....your barely contained glee at their loss because you thought somehow it would advance your "cause".

Today you collected your totem and the dead are forgotten you sad little man.

[Gregory]

In the end it's a gesture that won't buy any votes for GOP officeholders in the Carolinas.

[Todd Juvinall]

Yeah, the flag was put there by a SC democrat governor and legislature. It took a brave GOP woman governor to undue the racist democrat flag waving.

[Jon]

that's right Gregory, could it be possible that they aren't expecting votes for that gesture? But yes, it took a terrorist act in a black church to shake up the inner morality of the SC Republicans.

[fish]

Posted by: Jon | 22 June 2015 at 01:59 PM

Well done jon the collateral damage in South Carolina serves your "higher" purpose.

[Todd Juvinall]

Yes jon, way to go. We can't hardly wait for the next mass murder so you can further your political positions. Awesome!

Republicans may lose the election because of this but I don't think they will. SC voters are moral, God fearing people for the most part and will not punish the GOP for doing the right thing. Only Hillary, the democrat prez wannabee is the real loser here eh jonnie?

[fish]

You'll probably want to "like" this on "Facebook" jon?!

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2015/06/22/facebook-petition-calls-for-national-burn-the-confederate-flag-day/

[Gregory]

Regarding Pelline's piece, all I can say is that had I chosen to call my dad "my valet" my life would have had an inflection point south. My dad wasn't my "best pal", and my son isn't my "best pal". A healthy father-son relationship trancends being "pals".

No, Michael 1:59 it really isn't probable that anything a sitting governor does on a contentious issue isn't with votes in mind. It's what they do and I fully expect she, like all politicians, is always keeping her options open.

The 'terrorist' in this case is a 21 year old with internet and apparently drug addictions who had a hard time choosing between shooting up a college campus (I'll make a wild guess that would be mostly shooting white kids who managed to exceed his 9th grade education) but instead chose the black church as a softer target. The college shooting plans were shared with his black friends (yes, he had black friends who'd known him for years), the shooting of blacks with his white friends. Both sets of friends did a poor job of blunting his plans.

Perhaps someday a horrific event like this one won't be met by those who want snap judgements and political slash and burn expeditions to make sure a tragedy doesn't go to political waste. You should be ashamed of yourself, Mike.

[Jon]

OK then. Best of luck to both of you, and your political allies, on this issue, in 2016 and beyond.

[Jon]

Congrats Gregory for being the only person in America not to recognize the killer's clear, 100% racist intent. And for once again missing the mark on my name.

[fish]

Posted by: Jon | 22 June 2015 at 02:22 PM

Listen to yourself.....SC Conservatives.....political allies....votes.....! Always about the "politics".....9 dead people just props in your neverending political theater.

Almost all major SC conservative Politicos now support pulling it. Just a matter of when it will be pulled down. Burn the sucker.

Make sure you build a nice big fire and make the woo.....woo.....woo sound as you dance around it.

[Todd Juvinall]

Gregory is correct that the killer was considering a college campus shooting spree. I don't see where Gregory is making a claim it is not a racial thing.

The country will soundly reject the left, Hillary etal, in 2016 simply because when compared to a really good GOP woman, she and her etal's are wimps.

[Jon]

Todd, Carly Fiorina by 6 perhaps?

[Gregory]

The killer's clear intent was to kill people, whether in a racist rant or some college boy rant. He seems to have been a homicidal maniac in search of a cause. Time will tell; in the meantime, I'm happy he's behind bars and will be facing justice. I'm unhappy that the usual suspects are again using tragedy to further past, present and future poltical goals.

Given he partied regularly with black friends who knew him for years, it would seem his racist rants were something of a Jeckyll/Hyde thing.

There is a possibility I "missed" your name, but the odds are good I didn't.

[Joe Koyote]

"the collateral damage in South Carolina serves your "higher" purpose."
"We can't hardly wait for the next mass murder so you can further your political positions. Awesome!"

…….and it doesn't further your own political purposes and positions?

Seems to me every mass murder fuels someone's politics. America has a constipated legislative system that is, by design, slow to respond to change. It usually takes some drastic event to get elected officials to make sometimes obvious changes. So one person sees this tragedy as an opportunity to de-emphasize what has long been considered a symbol of racism. To the gun lobby, this is an opportunity to promote self defense gun ownership (the ratio of murders to self-defense killings is 32-1.) To some of the posters here, it is an opportunity to snark on a known "liberal". To me it is an opportunity to point out that some of you folks need to find another hobby before your heads swell up and explode like the non-issues that are often blown way out of proportion that seem to catch people's ire. Only you can prevent forest fires.

[fish]

Posted by: Joe Koyote | 22 June 2015 at 03:22 PM

Don't know how much you followed this weekends festivities Joe but "jon" opened the night of the crime with the following:

Here's a real downer to lighten up your pre-bedtime ritual. An angry white cracker with a gun strikes again killing 9 blacks in a church!

Good luck with this one, boys.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/18/us-usa-shooting-south-carolina-idUSKBN0OY06A20150618

Posted by: Jon | 17 June 2015 at 10:26 PM

Now had "jon" at least waited for a day or so to let a fact or two slip out then I would have to concede your statement. Instead he was practically elbowing the grieving relatives out of the way rhetorically speaking in order to make his "point". That being, a) That the regular posters at RR condoned the actions of Dylan Roof, and b) That because we don't subscribe to the usual leftist "solutions" that we were somehow culpable for the tragedy.

You would think that "jon" might have at least had the good sense to wait a few hours to just make sure the issue wouldn't blow up in his face like the Trayvon Martin and Ferguson fiascos did.

In any case nothing of real significance seems to be coming. He is joyous about the Confederate flag coming down but there will be no attempts at further gun control resulting from this event.

[Gregory]

Here's what JoKe had to say earlier:
Joe Koyote says:
June 22, 2015 at 8:59 am

As big of an issue is how the media portrays this incident. Fox news is calling the murders an attack on Christianity. Racism is not part of the message. Of course this is what the racists who watch Fox want to hear. After all, racism is not problem in America, but the attack on Christmas by liberals and non-Christians is huge problem if you ask the likes of Bill O’Rielly [sic].

I've not been watching Fox at all, I'll leave that to you racists to fact check.

[fish]

Posted by: Gregory | 22 June 2015 at 03:54 PM

Me either. But of course we are racists nonetheless.....Steve Frisch told me so.

[Todd Juvinall]

The libs ghere are just so predictable. I feel bad for them they are stuck in DailyKos and MSNBC-land. There heads have already exploded and nothing is left in the noggins. JoeK and jon are sad sacks.

[Jon]

That's right fish, millions are joyous about the racist flag coming down. Obviously symbols contribute to attitudes which directly lead to terrorist and racist acts like Charleston. Any time we can bury that battle flag, its a really good thing.

I've apologized for the untimely and inaccurate apostrophe at least twice, knew it was a hate crime when I posted it that night, and at that moment was incredibly outraged so I figured I would throw that out there and watch the reaction. As I said, its been fascinating. Those hate groups aren't contributing money to Democrat campaign coffers. They were contributing to the coffers of some of the Repub candidates. What a surprise.

[Bill Tozer]

Fish, if you need a place to fly your Confederate Bars and Stars openly and proudly, you can fly yours alongside mine. I got mine slapping at the breeze right now flying on top of my tank. No worries about some criminal stealing your flag. I got the tank down on the back forty where you can't see it from the county backroad. Well, guess that makes it not technically flying proudly in the open, but whatz wrong with second best? I know, I know, the good is the enemy of the best.

All this Bars and Stars Dixieland talk always makes me proud to be a recovering liberal. Not recovered fully yet, but recoverin' . On my mom's side, there is great auntie Harriet Beecher Stow and Judith Ward Somebody who wrote (stole the tune of course, just like we did to the British).....er...Judith Ward Howell or Somebody wrote the Battle Hymn of The Republic.
It's taken us hillbilly inbreds generations to rid the family of the last vestiges of bleeding heart libbie pinkoism. The family curse I suppose. It's been a long hard journey, but I can see the light at the end of the dank and frightening Leftist Tunnel. Believe you me, it ain't no Tunnel of Love.

[Todd Juvinall]

Yeaj Jonnie, that murdering scum at Sandy Hook was carrying which flag?

[Bill Tozer]

Anybody seen our soaring SkyPilot, M. P. Anderson, that wild and crazy guy? Something about reading these comments keeps bringing him to mind. I hope Mr. Anderson is not our recent troll after all the truthful and hurtful things I have recently compared the polished spittoon to. Anybody know how many days left till Burning Man? Boy, the name Burning Man conjures up images of someone badly needing some Burning Love.
Opps, what is the topic?? Oh goodie, it's why we don't denounce racism more forcibly and we why secretly fly the Stars and Bars of Dixie from our personally owned tanks on the back forty.....again. We are all racists here because we don't blame hate crimes on guns nor stand on our colored friendsbacks to be seen by the cameras decrying some teenage cracker killing Americans in a house of worship known simply as a Black Church.. Not to be confused with the Black Irish, FYI.
I am so proud of the church members who have exhibited such grace and calmness, restraint of tongue and pen in their crushing hour of grief. It's mind blowing how much their faith and prayers to the Creator of the Universe, the King of kings, has met their needs in this dark chapter and had filled them with courage and a inner assurance that they will make it through this and they will not have to walk through the deep abyss alone. Simply mind blowing how these victims and loved ones of victims are practicing what they preach. God bless them and heal their open wounds.
Compare this one congregation and their pastor who find themselves currently experiencing the crushing jaws of unspeakable grief, sorrow, and shell shock to that of the words of the Reverends Jeramiah Wright, J. Jackson, and A. Sharpton. Contrast of words and actions of Da Revs to the people of love, faith, hope, and courage of that little Southern Gospel Church. No compassion. Different solar systems.
All men and women of Faith find courage beyond human understanding. Hope is the mainstay, but I digress.
Opps, the topic. Oh ya, why are we all racists here on this blog??? Dunno. You should pose that question and your suspicions to The Reverends Wright, Jesse "I should cut Obama's nuts off" Jackson, or directly to the former road manager for the one and only Godfather of Soul, the most famous ambulance chaser in America....let's put you hands together and give a big old fashioned white folk RR welcome to Mr.Bling himself, the Reverend Alan P Sharpton. He will tell us why we are all racists here. Nothing a little tithe to the cause won't solve. Do I hear an Amen? Submit your questions to Reverend Al in the enclosed donation envelop and he will contact you. Come on!, you stiff can't dance honkies on RR, give it up for The Reverend Al! Dig deep and give it up to Rev.Al.

Meanwhile, the little church prays and finds comfort and strength.

[Bill Tozer]

I have posted this a few years ago and Mr. Gregory liked it, Joe K. did not. Only 27 seconds but it asks the age old question "why". My question is directed to jonnie on the spot. Why, my friend, why did you bring us down here?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pxcTpdOZBJU

[Gregory]

I could not care less about flag protocols in the Carolinas. I don't know anyone there, I don't own or care about any of the flags involved.

The usual suspects here are sure the flag in question is racist, but then they're sure that Fox viewers are also racist; that doesn't exactly give one confidence in their good judgement on such things (and they're lousy judgement in the past also casts doubt).

I have heard impassiond defenses of the flag in question, that it's in remembrance of their ancestors who fought under that flag. Are they racist? Might be. But it isn't my job to decide they're the assholes here rather than Jon, Joe and Stevie who I know are assholes. See the moral quandary?

I don't care and if it were not for partisan politics and smelling blood in the water, I suspect the three stooges named wouldn't care much, either.

[Gregory]

Regarding racism... how many of the progressives here think that certain disadvanaged groups need affirmative action in order to have their rightful share of admissions to the University of California, the good ones like Cal or UCLA, not Merced? Without official help, they just can't get in?

Not only blacks and latinos... whites need it too. In fact at Cal, over 40% of the students admitted are now of Asian ancestry despite many with the same ancestry having been put in concentration camps 70 years ago for sharing DNA with one particular Axis population. Personally, I can't help but think the best way to stomp out racism is to stop using race as a factor in admissions and a great many other things. UC admissions is appropriately not race based but many other schools cling to it (Harvard being one, Stanford another).

So what say you, progressives... "Affirmative action now, affirmative action tomorrow, affirmative action forever"?

[fish]

Posted by: Jon | 22 June 2015 at 04:13 PM

Four days and nearly 400 comments later and the best you can do to extricate yourself from "Apostrophegate" is to stick with that same weak assed story? Well done Nixon!

[fish]

Posted by: Bill Tozer | 22 June 2015 at 04:33 PM

No dog in the flag fight William.....just enjoying watching the antics of the murderous left. Hey "Jon" how many souls would you have sacrificed to get the Assault Weapons law reinstated.....90.....900.....9000? What about fully socialized medicine....a million....10 million?

Just trying to figure out what we're dealing with here!

[Bill Tozer]

[email protected] 7:13 pm, you don't seem like the Sherman Tank type anyway. Maybe you got a little Panzer in the Hilter Memorabilia Racist Woodpile your dogs hide under when they hear thunder, but still, probably not your cup of tea or stout when all things considered. Still, the offer stands. BYOF....bring your own flag. Old Glory will work just fine or even one of those tattered Betsie Ross 13 star hand sewn flags will suffice, if you got one of them locked and secured in the attic with Crazy Aunt Tulip, the crazy single cat lady. Or not.

[Jon]

You mean the facts don't fit the narrative? Oh my.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/tally-of-attacks-in-us-challenges-perceptions-of-top-terror-threat.html

[fish]

Posted by: Jon | 24 June 2015 at 07:32 AM

“Law enforcement agencies around the country have told us the threat from Muslim extremists is not as great as the threat from right-wing extremists,” said Dr. Kurzman, whose study is to be published by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security and the Police Executive Research Forum.

A couple more Dylan Flood incidents and you might get to build the "Joycamps" for which the left always pines!

I think you would make a fine camp guard "jon".

[Todd Juvinall]

How many military were murdered by the the Muslim scum in Ft. Hood?

[George Rebane]

Jon 732am - Can you analyze the NYT report and show why its inferred conclusion is specious?

[fish]

Fortunately the guy in this story wasn't carrying a confederate flag.....he was just showing New Yorkers his new machete.....thoughtful actually when you think about it....sharing and caring.

No crime though.....move along.....nothing to see here!

http://pix11.com/2015/06/23/woman-slashed-with-machete-near-bryant-park/

[Todd Juvinall]

Just wondering about flags. The left burns the American Flag, showing the underlying country is in their scopes and that is just fine with them. Freedom of Speech you know. But Hillary and Bill fly the Confederate Flag and waved it all the time and that is under attack! Is there a liberal DNA disconnect with this?

[Todd Juvinall]

I think all this is out of the Alinsky playbook. The left is trying to start a race war at the worst and a disassembling of our country's underpinnings at best.

[Walt]

Yes.. It IS odd. Democrats out to ban their own flag. Hell they attack the flying of Old Glory all the time. LIBS have dissed anything American lately.
How dare kids wear "red white and blue" on a Mexican holiday that Mexico doesn't even really celebrate.

[Jon]

Walt, give it up on the racist Confederacy stuff. Its over. Just hope you stocked up before stores in America shut it down.

But please do cite examples of Dems attacking the flying of Old Glory. Thanks.

[Jon]

"a disassembling of our country's underpinnings at best".

The Confederate battle flag and other southern racist symbols was one of our country's underpinning? Seriously?

[Jon]

George 8:29- do not find it specious. But seems we clearly are not putting the same LE energy into the monitoring and pro-active actions toward home grown terrorism.

[Todd Juvinall]

Jon, Thomas Jefferson was from Virginia the home to the future capitol of the Confederacy. Apparently you libs aren't stopping at the flag but now are considering tearing down his monument in DC. You see jonnie, you people are never satisfied. Unless of course it is yours. As you demolish the country just like your brethren, the Taliban do and ISIL, who will remember what the past was all about?

[George Rebane]

Jon 1047am - It may come as a surprise, but there is a fundamental characteristic of nature in our universe called the Law of Diminishing Returns (almost totally unknown in progressive circles as evinced by their public policies) that makes the cost of "pro-active actions toward (the solo) home grown terrorism" not only prohibitively expensive, destructive of our liberal society, but also essentially impossible. Professionals like our FBI director are now attempting to communicate this reality to the nation with very little success as you can witness through examination of your own sentiments on the matter. Liberty and security are two more social concepts at the opposite ends of a see-saw.

[Jon]

Todd 11:34,
who is YOU PEOPLE, who are YOU libs? And WTF are you talking about in your 11:34? Have no interest in tearing down Jeffersonian monuments. I probably visited all of them as a kid. Monticello was incredible too.

[Russ Steele]

How to create a well managed government seems to escape the Obama administration:

AP Reports:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A CIA-backed technology company has found logins and passwords for 47 government agencies strewn across the Web - available for hackers, spies and thieves.

Recorded Future, a social media data mining firm backed by the CIA's venture capital arm, says in a report that login credentials for nearly every federal agency have been posted on open Internet sites for those who know where to look.

According to the company, at least 12 agencies don't require authentication beyond passwords to access their networks, so those agencies are vulnerable to espionage and cyberattacks.

The company says logins and passwords were found connected with the departments of Defense, Justice, Treasury and Energy, as well as the CIA and the Director of National Intelligence.

Your average six grade hacker would not have a problem hacking the government's critical files. This what happens when you have to hire from the bottom of the barrel.

[Gregory]

BS, Russ, there's been incompetence in Federal IT circles since IT began and it has little to nothing to do with affirmative action, and no, the "average six [sic] grade hacker" would have problems hacking even those files.

Government employment doesn't typically attract "A Team" applicants.

[Jon]

Russ, so do you support upping the pay and benefits for Federal IT employees, to try to be more competitive with the private sector?

[Todd Juvinall]

Jonnie, you know what i said.

Regarding pay, the government employees now make more than the private secrtor for the same jobs.

[Jon]

That's right Todd, I saw the idiotic statement you made about the Jefferson Monument. All the battle flags are falling like dominos all over the South today. Dustbin of history! If you don't think that's a good thing, there is no hope for you.

[Jon]

Todd states that government IT employees make more than the private sector for the same job. Lets say thats true, so under free market principles, why wouldn't those jobs attract better candidates than in the private sector?

[Walt]

Just what are you smoking now "jonnie reb"? It's you Lefty's that have the stuff in the closet.

Speaking of LIBS,, Ca. has struck again in the "banned" dept. You can't buy refrigerant to add to your car's air conditioner. I was at the hardware store 2 hours ago, and it was there. I went back to pick up a can, and GONE ! I enquired.. " Sorry,, the state has pulled it off the shelves." Batards.....

[Jon]

That's right Walt, many if not most progressives have a secret stash of Confederate memorabilia sitting in the closet. That makes total sense.

[Russ Steele]

[email protected]:55

Why would a sixth grade hacker have problems hacking government files if "logins and passwords for 47 government agencies strewn across the Web - available for hackers, spies and thieves." OK, maybe it would take an 8th grade hacker to find the log ins and passwords. I did not mention anything about affirmative action. My point was the Obama administration, white, black and green have had six years to address the hacker challenge, and it does not appear that much was done, even after the problem was identified.

When I was in the AF and had sensitive security clearances and computer terminal access, I had to change my password every six weeks, and the password had to be 12 nonsense letters, numbers and one symbol. Has to sit in security office and memorize, could not leave the office until the PW as committed to memory. Three tries and users were locked out and had to get a new PW, same routine. Back in the 1970s security was a very big deal. Not sure how the attitude changed.

[Russ Steele]

[email protected]:32PM

Why?

[email protected]:29PM

Have you ever worked for the government? The rules are stifling, all designed to make sure no new ideas come forward as the bureaucracy does not like change.

[Todd Juvinall]

Jonnie, not my idea about the Jefferson Memorial. Msnbc or CNN, wherever Don Lemon yaps, he said it. He is a black commentator. Live with it Jonnie, you just can't make this stuff up. Your commie ilk is too much.

[fish]

...and people wonder why Sugar Frosted Barry O's wants to import not just the 3rd but the 4th and even 5th worlds to live at the pleasure of the taxpayer.

http://www.politico.eu/article/labour-hamas-london-ira/

Wonder what could it be?

[Todd Juvinall]

Just finished Adios America. Jonnie will not have a job pretty soon. Some Qatrian will have.

Government jobs were always less pay in the past because they included other gimmees like pensions and medical and tenure and civil service. When the unions were allowed (the greatest mistake Jerry Brown is responsible for) all things changed. Don't be lazy jonnie, do your homework, we will wait until you catch up.

[Jon]

Todd, your paranoia about our changing world is not good for you. But I do like the drive down early 60s-era Cold War memory lane with your "commie ilk" descriptions for Paul Emery and me. Did you hear that there is no longer a ballistic missile threat from Cuba?

[George Rebane]

Jon 330pm - For the readers not up to date on latest developments in weapons systems. Any missile attack from locations as close as Cuba would employ cruise missiles. These missiles would arrive without the fanfare of 1962 deck-loaded ballistic missiles, and would be essentially impossible to detect their arrival and deployment in, say, Cuba. Flying subsonically on a deceptive track at about 100ft AGL, they would be extremely hard to detect, classify, locate, and intercept. And they would also be launched in salvos that would overwhelm any known defensive system that might be able to successfully cobble together the aforementioned functions.

This just describes the art of the possible without making any claims about the evil intentions of Russia, China, or Iran through the good offices of the Brothers Castro.

[fish]

Posted by: Todd Juvinall | 24 June 2015 at 03:03 PM

I can usually decipher your typing Todd....not today....what the hell is a "Qatrian"?

[Todd Juvinall]

Oops, Qatarian, sorry fish.

Jonnie, you must be a chili fry eater if you don't believe America is having some problems with other countries. Do you read the news? I think George's explanation about your diminished concern about nukes has put you in your place.

What jonnie, no smart retorts to the government jobs facts? Come on man/gal, do better next time.

[fish]

Oops, Qatarian, sorry fish.

Whew.....sounded like something much worse!

Todays installment in the "Useless Journalists" category. Enjoy!

http://fusion.net/story/154553/how-a-16-year-old-tricked-the-new-york-times-into-reporting-that-dylann-roof-was-a-my-little-pony-fan/

I guess they should have "dug deeper"™.

[Gregory]

Russ, try tasking a few "six grade hackers" with breaking in and get back to us and while you didn't mention "affirmative action" you did write "This what happens when you have to hire from the bottom of the barrel" and I don't know what other hiring guideline you could have been referring to.

And now for something completely different... there's a glut of propane on the market, thanks to its being a byproduct, of, among other things... shale oil production.

This week's spot wholesale price per gallon is 35 cents, a third of what it was last year at this time, if you can send one of your rail cars down to Texas for a fill up. Having my own 500 gallon tank is going to be sweet this year.

[Don Bessee]

Did anyone hear about the massive pot raids in the emerald triangle targeting water diversions and environmental harms? It seems Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity Counties are conducting what the growers are calling the raid of the decade. It is reported that in this raid being politically active is not immunity from the rules we all have to live with. WATER FOR THE PEOPLE!

[fish]

Wow....Bruce Levy link blitzing poor Ben over at Porklines.....brutal.....I mean the poor quality of the Trotskyists links!

[Don Bessee]

The Center for Security Policy just released a poll that showed; 51% of muslums in the US believe they should only be governed by sharia law- US population 86% Constitution. 25% of muslums in the US believe violence against Americans here is justified as part of global jihad. Well, well that no background check refugee thingy is working so well in assimilating jihadis into our small towns. THANKS 0! and you too HRC madam secretary!

[Todd Juvinall]

When you see what is happening in Europe, I would suggest the western world is under siege.

[Paul Emery]

Don

What the heck is the Center for Security Policy? What do you know about them?

[Todd Juvinall]

DonB don't engage him he never answers ours.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 829pm - FYI http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/

[Jon]

Its a right wing wacko tank. Planet Paranoia. Its the modern version of the Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming. Great movie if you haven't seen in a while.

[George Rebane]

Jon 1015pm - Don't know where you got that assessment, but are you saying that they committed fraud by publishing fabricated poll results?

[Jon]

George, no, I don't believe the poll. All polls have some bias, but on the face of this website and organization, this particular outfit is not a group I would particularly trust with a poll. Its a souped up version of Faux News with a pseudo academic front.

[Paul Emery]

George

You can do better than that

[Todd Juvinall]

We feel the same way about the polls the libs believe so I guess we are even. LOL!

[Michael R. Kesti]

Todd Juvinall 25Jun15 06:29 AM

We? For whom do you presume to speak?

[fish]

I'm sure that this will be met with vigorous approval in some circles......because Science!

http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/21/is-epa-helping-green-groups-raise-funds-in-exchange-for-favorable-research/