Drift Compatible Podcast

Hey folks, due to one of us being actually concerned about things like filing dates and deadlines, Alex and I weren’t able to get together for a podcast this week.

I’ll give you a moment to get yourself together.

Ok, so that means no podcast this week unfortunately. The previous weeks are still up, obviously, and if you haven’t gotten a chance to give them a listen, now is the perfect time.

We’ll be back next week and ready to go.

World Series….Game 7!!!!

Strap on your cups and your cleats one last time boys and girls. It’s the final World Series post.
Again, before we get started on the series itself, there are a couple of baseball related news items I’d like to hit.
First, the weirdest headline that no one is surprised by: Jose Canseco accidentally shoots off finger
Really, I don’t even need to add anything to that. But just for grins, here’s the money quote by Canseco’s live in girlfriend (who once had a restraining order on him), Leila Knight:
“I have to go home and clean up the blood and mess,” said Knight. “It’s been a long day.”
Honey, you’ve hitched your wagon to Jose Canseco. You’ve got a lifetime of long days ahead of you.
Second story I wanted to touch on was last night’s rendition of God Bless America performed by Tennessee Air National Guard Technical Sergeant Angie Johnson.
To begin with, she knocked it out of the park. Beautiful performance. Absolutely killed it.
Now, TechSgt Johnson was a contestant on NBC’s The Voice a couple years ago. Upon seeing her and hearing her, my wife immediately dubbed her “Sergeant Hottie”. Apparently, several members of the Kansas City Royals agree. I didn’t know it was possible to be that hot dressed in fatigues (unless you’re a female IDF soldier), but Johnson managed it.
After she finished singing, the cameras panned the KC bench and caught Lorenzo Cain yelling out “Man she’s hot!” Eric Hosmer apparently agreed.
Here’s the video of her performance, which is worth watching just for her God Bless America. Cain and Hosmer are at the very end of the clip.
And now, with that out of the way………
GAME 7!!!
This is the first Game 7 since 2011 and only the fourth since 2001. Since 1909 there have only been 36 World Series Game 7s. Of those 36, only 6 were decided by 5 or more runs. What’s that mean? Buckle up folks, history tells us that tonight is going to be fun.
How did we get to Game 7? The Royals were all out of bubble gum when the showed up for Game 6.
The Royals came out of the gate like lightning, scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. They knocked around Jake Peavy until he was pulled and then destroyed Yusmeiro Petit.
Kansas City went on to add runs in the 3rd, 5th and 7th innings to push the score all the way to 10-0. The Royals racked up 15 hits in the game with all 9 starting offensive players recording at least one hit. They were led by CF Lorenzo Cain who ended his night with 2 hits, 2 walks, 3 runs batted in and 1 run scored. Five other players recorded 2 hits.
The Giants had two chances early in the game to score, but failed to capitalize on either. Hunter Pence stroked a 1 out double in the top of the 2nd, but a strikeout and a fly ball stranded him there. In the top of the 3rd, Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura walked 3 hitters to load the bases. Buster Posey, perhaps, got a little over aggressive and swung at the first pitch he saw. That resulted in an inning ending double play.
Other than that, Ventura dominated for the 7 innings he pitched. Taking the mound with a tribute to his friend Oscar Tavares written on his hat, the young man pitched the game of his life. He went 7 strong innings and only allowed 3 hits. The only blemish on his night was that he walked 5 batters. But you can get away with that when no one is hitting the ball. Ventura came up big, likely bigger than anyone was expecting him to.
With the World Series on the line, the Royals handed the ball to a 23 year old who had just lost a close friend. Ventura didn’t blink. With mechanics, and hair, reminiscent of a young Pedro Martinez, Ventura’s blazing fastball, which he threw for 81 of his 100 pitches and as high as 100mph, gave the Royals the results of a young Pedro and a Game 7.
So, what will we see tonight?
Hell if I know. This series has been all over the place. History tells us that we’re likely to see a game decided by just a few runs. However, only one game in this series has been decided by fewer than 5 runs. We’ve seen dominant pitching performances and pitchers knocked out in the 2nd and 3rd innings.
The Giants will call on veteran righty Tim Hudson. Hudson will become the Series oldest Game 7 starter at 39 years of age. The Royals send 10 year veteran Jeremy Guthrie to the mound.
Game 7 will be a rematch of Game 3 in which Hudson went 5 2/3 innings giving up 3 runs, while Guthrie went 5 innings and surrendered 2 runs. I think that both teams would be very happy if they can get the same kind of production again. There are two HUGE question marks going into Game 7 and they both involve pitching. The first is which KC bullpen will show up. KC’s bullpen of Herrera, Holland, Davis and Finnegan (you could throw Duffy in as well) has shown itself to be alternately dominating and extremely vulnerable.
The second question mark is the Man Beast Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner will be in the pen for the Giants tonight, but you have to wonder how much he’s got in the tank. He’s had just two days rest since his historic domination in Game 5.
Two of the people who are likely to make their presence felt and have a huge impact won’t even be on the field. Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy and Royals’ manager Ned Yost. We’ll focus on them tonight.
Bruce Bochy is in his 8th year as the manager of the San Francisco Giants
Bochy
After spending 10 years as a catcher in the majors, Bochy went into coaching and ultimately became the San Diego Padres manager in 1995. He managed there through the 2006 season and had the most success of any Padres manager. He holds the team record for most wins, won NL coach of the year in 1996 and led the Padres to the World Series in 1998.
In October of 2006, Bochy signed a deal to become the manager of the Giants. He’s since gone on to become the 19th manager in MLB history to reach 1,600 wins, as well as winning the 2010 and 2012 World Series. Bochy has been here before and knows how to win. I wouldn’t expect any big screwups from him tonight.
Ned Yost is in his 5th season as the manager of the Kansas City Royals.
Yost
Yost played for 6 seasons in the major leagues before going into coaching. He was the Atlanta Braves bullpen coach from 1991-1998 and then moved to the third base coach’s box (where in my opinion he sucked mightily) for the 1999-2002 seasons. Yost was named the Milwaukee Brewers head coach for the 2003 season and stayed there through 2008. While Yost brought about a much improved organization, he also couldn’t maintain it with any consistency. His inconsistencies, including a collapse that blew an 8 1/2 game lead in 2007, ultimately lead to his firing in 2008. He was hired as the Royals manager in May 2010. He went on to manage the Royals to their first winning season in a decade in 2013 and their first playoff berth since 1985 this year. Yost’s ups and downs as a manager lead me to wonder if he’ll make it through tonight unscathed.
That’s all I’ve got Rons and Ettes. I’ve had a helluva good time writing these posts and talking baseball with all of you. Thank you to CBD for starting this thing off over the weekend and thank you to Ace for allowing me to post here. Most of all, thanks to you, Horde, for the warm welcome and spirited conversation. I hope you enjoyed the posts and I hope you enjoyed the Series even more.

World Series Game 6

Grab a cold beer and a sausage dog. Slather that sucker up with some mustard, onions and peppers and take a seat. It’s the World Series post.

Before we jump right into looking back at Game 5 and then forward to 6, there are a couple stories I wanted to hit on real quick.

The first is Aaron Lewis. I did not see the Anthem before Game 5, but I’ve seen tons of stories that Lewis flubbed one of the opening lines. Instead of singing “what so proudly we hailed, at the twilight’s last gleaming” he sang the second half as “were so gallantly streaming.” He’s getting absolutely ripped for it. I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other on it. I’m not going to rip the guy mercilessly like some are, but I’m not going to just give it a pass either. What I did want to do, was make sure you guys saw the statement he put out later that night.

“All I can say is I’m sorry and ask for the Nation’s forgiveness. My nerves got the best of me and I am completely torn up about what happened. America is the greatest country in the world. The Star-Spangled Banner means so much to so many, including myself. I hope everyone can understand the intensity of the situation and my true intent of this performance. I hope that the Nation, Major League Baseball and the many fans of our national pastime can forgive me.”

The other news item is a very sad one. Cardinals rookie Oscar Taveras, along with his girlfriend, was killed in car accident on Sunday in his native Dominican Republic. TMZ Sports (who knew there was such a thing and no, I’m not linking TMZ) has a story up that no alcohol is suspected in the crash. Fast car, wet road.

Manager Mike Matheny released a statement and, maybe it’s just me, but I could almost feel the pain and sorrow coming through his words. The whole article is worth a read, but especially Matheny’s comments.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/99707820/st-louis-cardinals-rookie-outfielder-oscar-taveras-killed-in-car-accident-in-dominican-republic

Taveras was, by all accounts, an amazing talent with a very bright future ahead of him. He was considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball and the Cardinals had said that he was the best hitting prospect to come through their organization since Pujols.

A sad story of a life gone too soon.

oscar-taveras

Ok, enough of the bad news, on to more fun stuff. Game 5.

My. God. Jim.

Madison Bumgarner. I’ve been watching baseball a long time. What Bumgarner did in Game 5 was one of the most impressive pitching performances I’ve seen. I played for a long time. I know what it takes to go 9 and I know what it takes to shut another team out. That performance truly was special and magnificent and all those other words we normally roll our eyes at when big headed, cheesy voiced announcers gush them out. But last night they were deserved.

When I think of “dominating post season pitching performances”, two games come to mind. One is Tom Glavine’s Game 6 in the 1995 World Series against Cleveland. (Sorry/not sorry Alex) Glavine threw 8 shut out innings and then turned the ball over to Mark Wohlers to close out the 9th and the Series. The other is Curt Schillings’ infamous “bloody sock game” in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS. Schilling went 7 innings and only surrendered one run while being obviously injured. (Shut up truthers. It was not ketchup or red dye.)

Bumgarner put both of them to shame. He’s now thrown 30 innings in his career in the World Series and he’s given up one run. One. Single. Uno. That’s insanity. That’s an ERA of 0.29. That simply doesn’t happen. Certainly not in today’s baseball culture. I’m begging for a Game 7 so I can see him come back on short rest.

Two things were lost in Bumgarner’s domination: 1) James Shields came back and had a strong outing. He threw very well and had given up two runs through 6 innings. Normally, that would be enough. 2) KC’s bullpen, which was one of the biggest strengths of the team, got knocked around again. Herrera and Davis gave up three runs in their two innings pitched. I believe I have this right, KC’s bullpen has given up 11 runs in their last 6 innings. That has to be corrected or tonight’s game will be it.

So what are we going to see tonight in Game 6?

Kansas City calls on Yordano Ventura to extend this Series and their season. Ventura threw fairly well in Game 2, giving the Royals 5+ innings and surrendering 2 runs. Honestly, with the recent woes of the KC bullpen, they’re going to need better from him. They also need their bats to fire up again like we saw in Game 2. They broke out for 7 runs there, but we haven’t seen a whole lot from them since. Maybe the trip back home will inspire them. More than anything, the Royals need Huffy, Davis, Finnegan and Herrera to get their acts together. That bullpen simply must be firing on all cylinders if the Royals want to compete.

The Giants look to veteran Jake Peavy to finish the Series off and give them their 3rd World Series in the last 5 years. Peavy got touched up pretty good in Game 2, giving up 4 runs in 5+ innings. Peavy doesn’t need to be Bumgarner good, he just needs to give them a quality start. In this instance, I’m defining that as 5+ innings and 3 runs or less. Yes, I know that’s not really “quality”, but SanFran’s bats have averaged over 7 runs in their 3 victories. If Peavey can keep it close, the Giants offensive power will have a chance to close things out tonight.

Who are we looking at tonight?

For San Francisco, it’s Buster Posey.

Buster

Yes, he looks 15. No, I don’t think he can shave. BUT, he was the starting catcher for the Giants in the Series victories in 2010 and 2012. He’s an All-Star, a Rookie of the Year and an MVP. He is, undoubtedly, one of the leaders of that team. He’s an excellent defensive catcher and, typically, an outstanding hitter. However, this World Series has not been his best. He’s hitting just a bit over .200, has just 2 runs batted in and only 1 run scored. If the Giants’ offense comes alive tonight and Posey’s bat wakes up, look for some serious offensive fireworks.

For Kansas City, watch for Lorenzo Cain.

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Cain is only in his second full year as a starter for the Royals, but his speed and skill in center field have already made him a standout. Add to his defensive prowess the fact that he’s hitting the ball very well in the postseason and Cain becomes a huge part of the Royals’ success. The 2014 ALCS MVP is hitting above .300 in the postseason and has scored 12 runs. He’s getting on base and he’s coming around to score. Batting in the 3rd spot, he’s also setting up those guys behind him. Cain’s offense and defense are critical to the Royals getting a victory.

That’s all I’ve got for tonight folks. As always, I hope you enjoyed the post and I hope you enjoy the game more.

The Narcissist in Chief

According to the Mayo Clinic:

Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:

  • Believing that you’re better than others
  • Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
  • Exaggerating your achievements or talents
  • Expecting constant praise and admiration
  • Believing that you’re special and acting accordingly
  • Failing to recognize other people’s emotions and feelings
  • Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
  • Taking advantage of others
  • Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
  • Being jealous of others
  • Believing that others are jealous of you
  • Trouble keeping healthy relationships
  • Setting unrealistic goals
  • Being easily hurt and rejected
  • Having a fragile self-esteem
  • Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional

Mayo Clinic – Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Does this, perhaps, sound familiar at all to anyone?

But wait, you’re saying, he’s not really narcissistic, he’s just supremely confident and maybe has a touch of ego. Just like all politicians!

Yes, pretty much all politicians hit quite a few of those symptoms, but does it rise to the level of being a disorder? Does it affect seemingly irrelevant areas of life? Does it cause that person to view themselves as wholly and completely the center of attention at all times?

Let’s take a little peek at something, shall we?

Remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor:

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The Anniversary of the assassination of JFK:

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Rosa Parks:

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Neil Armstrong:

proxy

Are we sensing a pattern? A common link? No? Then allow me to continue.

His Chief of Staff’s birthday:

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Vice President Biden’s birthday:

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Hey, at least the supposed subject is actually in that one. Here’s another one….THE END OF COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAQ:

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Perhaps even more laughable, or delusional, is the insertion of Barack Obama into the bios of every President since Coolidge (minus Ford)….

  • On Feb. 22, 1924 Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
  • In a 1946 letter to the National Urban League, President Truman wrote that the government has “an obligation to see that the civil rights of every citizen are fully and equally protected.” He ended racial segregation in civil service and the armed forces in 1948. Today the Obama administration continues to strive toward upholding the civil rights of its citizens, repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, allowing people of all sexual orientations to serve openly in our armed forces.
  • In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.

Obama Name Drop

Had enough yet? No? Ok, this actually isn’t the worst of it. The worst of it was so bad that Slate, yes, Slate, called out Obama for his narcissism.

The President was in Hawaii and attended the memorial service for Senator Daniel Inouye. He was supposed to deliver the eulogy. Instead, well, I’ll just let Slate tell the story:

“Someone needs to tell Barack Obama—it must get particularly confusing this time of year—that his own birth is not Year One, the date around which all other events are understood. His much-noted, self-referential tic was on cringe-worthy display Friday when the president gave his eulogy for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye…

…President Barack Obama’s remarks at Inouye’s funeral service were a bizarre twirl around his own personal Kodak carousel.

When Obama was 11 years old he went on vacation with his family, and those paying their respects to Inouye got to hear a long description of this amazing trip, from Seattle to Kansas, from Disneyland to Yellowstone. They heard of the young Obama’s happiness whenever the motel had a pool or an ice machine. And finally, as the people must have been twitching in the pews wondering where this was all going, we get back to the late senator.”

Obama’s Eulogy to Inouye All About Obama

In President Obama’s world, everything revolves around Barack Obama. Events don’t have significance in and of themselves, they are given significance in the manner in which they affect Barack Obama.

I could take the time to hit each one of the symptoms that the Mayo Clinic lists, and there are multiple instances of the President displaying each, but we don’t have that kind of time and I’m not into self-flagellation. I think this Lilliputian look at the Lilliputian President more than demonstrates the President’s emersion in narcissistic tendencies.

But, I’m not BARACK OBAMA, so what do I know?

A Rising Tide of Tyranny

Anyone who’s been at the beach for an incoming tide knows how it goes. The tide doesn’t rush in all at once, it creeps. Every wave just a little higher than the last. Inch by inch, minute by minute, it slowly works its way closer and closer. You think to yourself, “Oh, I’ve got time. The water isn’t that high yet. I’ll move before it gets to the car.”

So you sit, reading a book, drinking a beer, talking to friends, listening to your iPod. And still, the water creeps. “Huh, that water is getting pretty close. But it’s not to me yet, I’ll move before it gets here.”

Next thing you know….

car-in-sea-1

So it is with tyranny. “Yeah, that’s bad, but it’s not the end of the world. Doesn’t even directly affect me.”

The government is the tide, tyranny the sea. Ever creeping, never stopping, slowly pushing closer and closer.

We’ve seen the government encroach more and more on our liberties. We’ve seen the power and reach of government expand in regards to eminent domain, gun rights (although there has been significant pushback here), healthcare, finance and family life. We’ve seen the government involve themselves in the houses we buy, the food we eat, the money we borrow and the most basic choices we make about our bodies.

There are many reasons given….national security, general public health, economic stability, but in the end it means one thing. The water is edging closer.

Now we are at a point where some of our elected officials have said “Stop.” They’ve said that the government is encroaching on our liberty, as well as our wallets. So we have the shutdown.

The response? A temper tantrum that would get my 3 year old spanked.

Memorials closed.

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Monuments made inaccessible.

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Why, even the ocean has been deemed off limits.

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But it doesn’t stop there. Just this week, a group of senior citizens were visiting Yellowstone National Park. Their tour bus was travelling through the park when they saw a herd of bison near the roadside. They did what we all would do, they stopped for pictures.

Almost immediately, an armed ranger came by and ordered them to get back in, saying they couldn’t “recreate.” The tour guide, who had paid a $300 fee the day before to bring the group into the park, argued that the seniors weren’t “recreating,” just taking photos. “She responded and said, ‘Sir, you are recreating,’ and her tone became very aggressive,” Vaillancourt said.

Ah. No recreating due to shutdown. Gotcha. But it’s not over, oh no.

The seniors quickly filed back onboard and the bus went to the Old Faithful Inn, the park’s premier lodge located adjacent to the park’s most famous site, Old Faithful geyser. That was as close as they could get to the famous site — barricades were erected around Old Faithful, and the seniors were locked inside the hotel, where armed rangers stayed at the door. 

http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1442580353/Gestapo-tactics-meet-senior-citizens-at-Yellowstone

And the tide is in. Here we have a group of seniors doing what they have every right to do, visiting and enjoying the countryside that they pay for. What do they get? Treated rudely and then detained at gunpoint.

Let me repeat that.

Detained. At. Gunpoint.

For daring to try and visit Old Faithful.

The Park Rangers had no right, legal or otherwise to detain them. This is the very definition of unlawful detainment/false imprisonment.

restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_imprisonment

Now, is it possible that the Rangers were acting on their own authority? Well, sure, anything’s possible. But can anyone really believe that their orders weren’t just that, orders? I cannot fathom that a group of Park Rangers would take it upon themselves to detain, at gunpoint, a group of senior citizens and confine them to their hotel.

This is tyranny. Tyranny is easily defined as cruel and oppressive treatment of a government over its people. There is an argument to be made for cruel, but it is most certainly oppressive. The leader of the government has decided where and when the people may visit certain public areas of the country.

The tide is rising my friends. The waves are lapping at the hubcaps. Will you ignore it? Delay and think that there will always be enough time to move?

I remember…

I remember standing outside of Kenan Hall at Flagler College and hearing that a plane had crashed into one of the towers.

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I remember sitting in class and an administrator interrupting class to tell us that a second plane had hit the second tower, the country was under terrorist attack and all classes were cancelled.

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I remember sitting in the student lounge and watching the first tower come down.

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I remember sitting with my girlfriend (now my wife) at her house watching the second tower come down.

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I remember the anger and the hurt and the sadness I felt.

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I remember the rescue workers frantically digging.

World Trade Center Terroist Attack  WTC

I remember firefighters carrying their own out of the rubble.

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I remember the panic and heartache of those trying to find their loved ones.

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I remember when “rescue” became “recovery”.

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I remember President Bush standing in the rubble.

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I remember the Pentagon.

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I remember the field in Pennsylvania.

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I remember why we went to war.

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I remember. And I will never forget.

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The Best Indicator of the Future…

…is the past.

The whole country, most of the world even, is currently discussing Syria. Will America or won’t it?

There have been plenty of arguments made for why we should or should not involve ourself in the Syrian Civil War. Allow me, if you will, to point out a slightly different one.

LIBYA.

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Yet now Libya has almost entirely stopped producing oil as the government loses control of much of the country to militia fighters…

Mutinying security men have taken over oil ports on the Mediterranean and are seeking to sell crude oil on the black market. Ali Zeidan, Libya’s Prime Minister, has threatened to “bomb from the air and the sea” any oil tanker trying to pick up the illicit oil from the oil terminal guards…

Government authority is disintegrating in all parts of the country putting in doubt claims by American, British and French politicians that Nato’s military action in Libya in 2011 was an outstanding example of a successful foreign military intervention which should be repeated in Syria.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/special-report-we-all-thought-libya-had-moved-on–it-has-but-into-lawlessness-and-ruin-8797041.html

I almost don’t need to say anymore. But I will. The Middle East is a FUBARed Clusterf*ck. You not only have religious fights, but you can mix in some tribalism as well. This stuff dates back not hundreds, but thousands of years. You’re not going to solve it. I’m not going to solve it. The United States government isn’t going to solve it.

I can’t think of a single example of the US Government stepping in and going hands on with a ME situation and that situation working out to our best interests. Can you?

I was born in 1981, so my range is admittedly limited.

The Shah of Iran?

The First Gulf War?

The Second Gulf War? (I’m sure there are arguments to be made all over the map on the toppling of Saddam and that aftermath.)

Near constant meddling with the Israel/Palestine situation?

Libya?

Egypt?

I’m sure you kind folks can supply even more examples. But as far as I can tell, nearly every single time the US involves itself in the Middle East it ultimately leads to a situation worse for US interests.

At this point, I’m against going into Syria, in any capacity, solely because in the long term we’ll screw it up.

Sometimes, people have to solve their own problems. And you know what? It’s not always pretty. But us sticking our noses in a country’s internal issues is not likely to endear us to either side.

What do you think would have happened had a European country decided to involve itself, in an official military capacity, in the American Civil War?

That’s exactly what the President is suggesting now.

I vote No.

Your Children Belong To The State

Yesterday we saw an article from Allison Benedikt on the education of our youth.

Her end point was that those who chose private education over public education are bad people, bad parents and morally bankrupt. Yes, she used the phrase morally bankrupt to describe those who choose to educate their kids at private schools, no matter the reason.

Religious convictions? Doesn’t matter. Crappy school district? You’re the cause. Want your child to not only succeed, but excel? You’re selfish and a horrible person.

I’m not exaggerating or paraphrasing by the way, you can see the exact quotes here:

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/08/private_school_vs_public_school_only_bad_people_send_their_kids_to_private.html

A few of the high points…

You are a bad person if you send your children to private school.

You want the best for your child, but your child doesn’t need it.

Take two things from this on your quest to become a better person: 1) Your child will probably do just fine without “the best,” so don’t freak out too much, but 2) do freak out a little more than my parents did—enough to get involved.

Reading Walt Whitman in ninth grade changed the way you see the world? Well, getting drunk before basketball games with kids who lived at the trailer park near my house did the same for me. In fact it’s part of the reason I feel so strongly about public schools.

By the way: Banning private schools isn’t the answer. We need a moral adjustment, not a legislative one.

There’s more, a lot more, but if you really want to burst a blood vessel, you’re going to have to click and read for yourself.

So while Allison says she doesn’t want to abolish private schools, that’s exactly the end result she wishes for. And what’s even more evil than private schools?

Homeschooling.

If sending your child to a private school is morally bankrupt, then what must homeschooling be?

If Allison is adamantly opposed to the choice of sending your child to a private school, what must she think of homeschooling? How dare a parent make the choice to remove their children entirely from the education system. Never mind that homeschooled children score significantly higher than those publicly educated in every subject tested. And when I say significantly, I mean 30+ percentage points. Never mind that they have higher college GPA’s, higher college graduation rates and are better at socialization.

http://www.home-school.com/news/homeschool-vs-public-school.php

No, the real point is that The State is God and your children should only be educated by The State.

Well Allison, Germany is ahead of the curve. They’re implementing what you’re suggesting. The State educates your kids. Or else.

Homeschooling parents, and children, have often faced a tough road here in America, both from government bureaucracies and from general public opinion. Apparently it’s much worse in Europe.

Four children, ages 7 to 14, have been forcibly taken from their Darmstadt, Germany, home by police armed with a battering ram, and their parents have been told they won’t see them again soon, all over the issue of homeschooling, according to a stunning new report from the Home School Legal Defense Association.

http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/police-storm-homeschool-class-take-children-by-force/

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Well, I’m sure there’s more to it than homeschooling. The kids were probably being abused or neglected or something.”

Nope.

The shocking raid was made solely because the parents were providing their children’s education, HSLDA said. The organization noted the paperwork that authorized police officers and social workers to use force on the children contained no claims of mistreatment.

“Ok,” you say, “but this was Europe, Germany even! It could never happen here!”

I direct your attention to the Romeike case. The Romeikes were a family from Germany that fled to the US and sought asylum in 2010 because the German government was attempting to force the children to attend public school. An immigration judge here in the US granted them asylum.

“See?! Can’t happen in the U.S. We’re better than that.”

The Obama administration, unhappy with the outcome, appealed and obtained an order from a higher court that the family must return to Germany. The Obama administration has argued in court parents essentially have no right to determine how and what their children are taught, leaving the authority with the government.

I repeat, The State is God.

The State has control over your children. It is their responsibility, and their’s alone, to educate your children.

This is the end result of thinking like Allison Benedikt’s. She argues that there is a moral imperative for children to be educated by The State. Is it really that great a leap from “you should be doing X” to “you must do X”? Liberal moral causes have become legal requirements over and over. Tobacco, abortion, gay marriage, “equality”, salt, trans fat, big gulps.

“You should” becomes “you must.”

It’s just one more front in the War On Everything Not The State.

Miley Cyrus Loses Her Ever-loving Mind…

…and oh, btw, SHE CAN’T FREAKING SING OR DANCE EITHER.

MTV’s 2013 VMA’s.

This happened:

Where to start?

The sexual crudeness I guess. So she touched herself about 27 times a minute. She did everything but mount Beetlejuice (Jason Seaver’s kid) right there on stage. She….did something…with that dancer. She shook, humped, thrusted, gyrated and generally looked like she was having a grand mal seizure while having bad sex. You know, LOTS of singers have pushed the envelope. Madonna of course springs to mind. But there always seemed to be a point. This just appeared to be crudeness for the sake of crudeness. If you’re going to shock me, you need to at least entertain me.

The, I guess we’ll call it dancing. What. The. Hell?? Did I already mention seizures? I did. Ok. She appeared to barely keep in time with the song. I’m pretty certain the closest thing I saw to a well executed dance move was her waving her arm over her head. She attempted, about 2,893,719 times, a dance move called “Twerking”. She failed. Utterly.

Remember the video from just a minute ago? Of course you do. It’s now seared into your brain. I’m not gonna describe the move, I’m sure you either know it or can go look at youtube. It involves a wide stance and…uh…a lot of booty bouncing. Miley failed at that move. Hard.

The music. Let me be clear, it sucked. And it didn’t suck because I’m all “Get Off My Lawn You Hooligans!” No, it just sucked. Neither Miley nor Seaver’s kid can sing at all if that performance was any indication. Seriously, either one of them would be laughed out of my church and probably booed at most karaoke bars. The lyrics were ridiculous and poorly performed. If I wanna hear nonsense sung badly, I’ll get my 3 year old. She’s at least cute.

Ok, we’ve hit the crudeness, the dancing and the singing. The big question is “Why?” Why on earth would she do this?

Booze is always a good guess. Drugs as well. A psychotic break isn’t out of the question. But really, I think it’s easy. Attention. She wanted attention. She wanted everyone talking about her. It doesn’t matter what they’re saying, as long as they’re talking. She grew up being the center of attention, being the Star. Well guess what? She’s not a teeny bopper with a show anymore and now she doesn’t know how to get the attention fix she needs. It was always provided for her. Here are your lines for the tv show that’s been scripted and set out. Here are your concert dates and your appearances and your merchandising and the entire Disney machine is behind you. Now she has to go out and do it on her own. And I don’t think she knows how.

The only even marginally rational explanation I have for why this,

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turned into this,

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is one almighty cry for attention. And you know what? I’m looking at you Billy Ray and former Mrs. Billy Ray. That’s your daughter out there making a fool of herself.

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Will, I feel ya man.

A Series of Bizarre Events…..aka My Lunch with Gangsters

So. Yeah. That just happened.

This is confusing, so stick with me.

I have an on site work meeting for a project that starts tomorrow. I get done with the meeting and since I’m not far from my church, I swing by to drop something off for the Pastor. I think to myself, “Hey, the Taco Bell is only like two blocks away and I like really bad mexican fast food. I’ll eat there and take a break for a few minutes.”

I go inside and I notice that there are two scruffy looking white artist guys milling around, talking loudly and waiting for their food.

Think, these guys….

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…only not as clean cut and wholesome.

I ignore whatever they saying, grab my horsemeat tacos and sit down.

Skinny artist dude (let’s call him Jay for clarity’s sake) starts rambling on about his “rapping.”

Cue the tatted up asian guy (we’ll call him Jet) that I hadn’t noticed sitting a couple tables over to my right.

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“You rap?? Lemme hear something.”

This was not a request, btw.

Jay goes from Grungy Artist Guy to YoYoYo Thug Life in .76 seconds and pimp walks over to Lee and proceeds to spend the next 20 seconds spitting out….something…faster than I knew was possible. I have no idea if any of it was English. If you put a gun to my head I couldn’t repeat a single word of what he said.

Jay gets done and now Jay and Jet are just staring at each other. Neither says a word. Then Jay turns around and pimp walks back over to Bob.

I’m just sitting there….”W..T..F..just happened?”

Jay and Bob then leave. Jet’s buddy, tattooed Asian dude #2 (Lee) comes over and sits down. They begin talking. While I’m not actively eavesdropping, they’re not being quiet and they’re sitting less than 10 feet from me. It becomes very obvious, very quickly, that Jet and Lee are gang members. I hear things like “flying the colors”, “prospects”, “he had his knucks with him” and “somebody’s trying to put something on me and that sh*t ain’t gonna fly”.

Awesome.

Then I hear Jet say “Ah sh*t, check this out.”

Lee looks over and snickers. I glance over and see two white guys and a black guy (Ashton, Justin and Will) come through the door.

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Now Jet, Lee, Ashton, Justin and Will are all just kind of eyeing each other.

*head down, eating tacos*

So Ashton heads up to the register to order some food and Justin and Will decide to sit down. Two tables to my left.

Jet and Lee are two tables to my right and Justin and Will are two tables to my left. Jet and Lee are openly snickering.

This. Is. Just. Splendid.

*ducks lower, continues eating tacos*

Ashton turns around and sees where Justin and Will are sitting, looks at Jet and Lee and then loudly says to Justin and Will, “Go sit over there” and points across the restaurant. They get up and move.

Jet and Lee now loudly begin discussing various prospects, fights and other totally awesome gang stuff.

*not even tasting the tacos at this point*

Neither of these two groups of guys is looking directly at each other at this point, but they’re still eyeing each other. I’m wondering if the Taco Bell tables will stop a bullet when flipped up on their side.

Finally I finish my tacos and Haul Ass. Jet and Lee are still talking loudly and seem very pleased with themselves as I calmly run out the door.

Now, what’s the point of all this? There isn’t one. It was just the most bizarre 15 minute lunch I’ve ever had and I felt the need to share. You can thank me later.