Saturday Morning

Away we go.

Comments

[daddy]

Good Morning!.

Beautiful day here in Memphis. Just arrived, and caught a very nice sunrise about an hour ago on the way in. It is now a very warm and sunny 39 degrees and s'posed to climb up to the 50's by the time I wake up.

G'nite.

[clarice]

Great here in L.A. Having lots of fun with the wolverine and the rest of the family. She's written her own musical version of Romeo and Juliet which includes such classics as "I love you Romeo, hug me" and "Moms love their kids to much. If she catches us she'll put us in the dungeon in separate cages so we'll never be able to see or talk to each other again."

No column tomorrow..sleep late.
XOXOXO

[MarkO]

With the June Taylor dancers?

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Fight on!

[rse]

Lovely here in ATL where the Christmas tree lots are surprisingly busy. Red wanted to help with lights before returning to college.

Guess it will be a 6 week decorated tree this year.

Everybody be safe getting home.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Give me a Wolverine and a place to stand and I will move the world.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Bright and sunny here, headed for a high of 74.

This bids fair to be a long day for the Wolverines.

[narciso]

Of that I have no doubt, Ignatz;

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/11/the-weekly-winston-the-happy-warrior-of-squandermania.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+powerlineblog%2Flivefeed+%28Power+Line%29

[jorod]

Get rid of the income tax. Apply term limits.

[narciso]

The world is seriously crazy enough, that this editorial need to be written;

http://www.nysun.com/editorials/murdochs-israel-tweet/88085/

[Jack is Back]

narciso,

He could also tweet "Why are America's major newspapers so anti-American values such as limited government, balanced budgets, free market enterprise and private health care?"

[Jack is Back]

Very sunny, cloudless Saturday on the First Coast.

Today's beach photo looking South:

Mayport shrimpers are back out. Count 4 just off our shore about 2 miles out.

[Threadkiller (Get off your couch and leave the GOP!)]

Many questions...

http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2012/11/24/patrick-fitzgerald-and-the-kabuki-dance-of-the-valerie-plame-thing/

...few answers.

[narciso]

And some insights from the cruise;

http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/2012/11/23/long-lileks-genn-interview/

[Threadkiller (Get off your couch and leave the GOP!)]

Letter sent by Air Force Brat over at CW:

Republican National Committee 310 First Street, SE Washington, DC 20003

Re: Change in Voter Registration

To Whom It May Concern:

Be advised that this communiqué will contain some strong language.

Effective immediately, I am changing my voter registration from Republican to Independent. It may interest you to know why. If not, “Tough titty said the kitty”; here it is anyway.

In the aftermath of the (stolen) election, I was forced to re-evaluate many things. Given the vote fraud reported in multiple states; the disenfranchisement and suppression of the military vote for the second presidential election in a row; and the RNC doing absolutely nothing about any of it, I knew something was rotten in Denmark, but was unsure what that something was.

It did not take much research to find out about the Consent Agreement of 30 years ago between the DNC and the RNC, legally prohibiting the RNC from challenging vote fraud or trying to ensure future election integrity. I have never seen a bigger pile of crap outside the pachyderm house at the zoo. The RNC’s feeble attempt to vacate the Agreement, and its whipped-cur acceptance of the inevitable denial by a Democrap appeals judge, were about as impressive as the famous photo of Obama hanging curtains in the ‘hood.

A few other things. 1) Four Americans were murdered in Benghazi; 30 more barely escaped. What are the Republicans actually DOING to find out who the hell gave the “stand down” order? 2) Obama has been caught in more than one “open mic” moment (not to mention other manifestations of his contempt for America and Americans) that would have a Republican or white president impeached or charged with treason inside a week. Where are the Republicans? 3) Obamacare has been forced on a nation that DOES NOT WANT IT. Where are the Republicans? Speaker Boehner has caved in, as he does every single time. The others seem to be MIA. 4) We have now lost that incomparable warrior Allen West, one of the very few Republicans in Congress who would fight for what’s right, and who does not need to go to a billiard shop in search of balls. Where was the RNC when he was fighting the Democrap fraud machine all by himself? 5) And what is this crap I’ve been seeing about the Republicans being urged to move LEFT in order to get a few votes from whatever minority group du jour yaps the loudest? Quit pandering to every swinging dick in town! Why not just change “R” to “D” and be done with it?

The only conclusion one can draw from everything outlined above is that the Republican Party is either: 1) Clueless; 2) Cowardly; or 3) Complicit. Any of the three are damning. Remember the Whigs.

Never in all my life did I dream that I would read of 675,000 people signing secession petitions. And it horrifies me that many others have begun to use the word “revolution”. Those poor souls honestly believe that they have no recourse. They are enraged because Obama wipes his butt with the Constitution and does as he pleases, regardless whether it’s allowed by law or not. The Democraps break the law more often than most people change their underwear. And the Republicans either talk tough and then cave in, or just forego the Kabuki theatre altogether and start right in with things like “Well, our hands are tied, there’s nothing we can do”, or “The Senate will never pass any legislation we introduce”, or “Well, that’s just the way they do things here”. Give me a break. Is every last Republican being threatened and/or blackmailed? C-4 in the sushi, maybe?

To be perfectly honest, I doubt I’ll ever vote again. What would be the point? Why look for light at the end of the tunnel when there isn’t any? One last thing: Scuttlebutt on the Internet is that Obama is seeking a way to either repeal the 22nd Amendment, or pull a Stalin and go around it. If such a thing comes to pass, what will the Republicans do? More brave speeches, “investigations”, and strong statements of condemnation? Yippee skip.

I miss America, the only home I have ever known. But barring a miracle, it is too late to bring her back from the edge of the abyss, and we are on a bullet train to chaos and untold horrors. Does the “establishment” think they’ll somehow be shielded when the shit hits the fan? Read your history books – that’s not how the fall of a country works.

Sincerely,

http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/obama-benghazi-lies-exposed-in-print-in-nc-rhino-times-november-21-2012-obama-in-the-midst-of-an-election-didnt-risk-sending-in-air-support-or-ground-troops-spontaneous-protest-lie/#comment-265638

I guess I'm not alone...

[narciso]

And what do you think you will accomplish with this futile gesture,

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2012/11/23/Benghazi-Gate-Now-Cover-Up-Of-Cover-Up

[narciso]

I wasn't that crazy about his take on Wolfe, then again I've lived there,

http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/12/1112/112312.html

[Jack is Back]

As narciso would say, Bread and Butter and these people know who own it.

[narciso]

I know it's only pixels, but it's a waste of electrons;

http://www.chicagonow.com/easy-as-riding-a-bike/2012/11/gop-election-loss-may-force-sarah-palin-to-pander-to-emigrants-from-hispania/#/

[narciso]

The sole republican on that list, was the one who ran and won against Krystal Ball, the Rush
boycotting, pundit,

[pagar]

From Narciso's 02:16 link.

"Democrats don’t hold an exclusive on empathy, but it is a core value."

IMO, Democrats hold no core values.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Oh, sure they do, Pagar. Core values of the Democratic Party:

Rich people have infinite money.

Disincentives don't deter rich people.

You never have to pay the piper.

George W Bush did it.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Krystal Ball, the Rush boycotting, pundit...

I've always thought she had a prima facie case against her parents for child abuse.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Speaking of "Bush did it" I heard a Dem today say that taxes had to go up to pay for Bush's Iraq War.

[Jack is Back]

Well, Charlie, with that kind of reasoning, they should then come down now since the war is over, right?

[rse]

ChaCo-good list. I am probably not the only one stunned at the Attitudes of the 20 something nieces, nephews, cousins, who resent working, resent having student loans, have no interest in figuring out how the entrepreneurial relatives did it. Luckily I was not in the room when Red's cousin complained that a 15K gift from his GF after he finished college and grad school was preventing him from qualifying for food stamps. And he thought he deserved the help and that was his retirement money.

The really sad part is he has a good mind and that could stake him but he believes "jobs are something someone gives you and you have a right to a middle class wage."

I didn't have the heart to tell him what bernanke was doing to his nest egg.

I swear that generation is just waiting for the magic wand to make everyone equal. Totally unaware how often phone calls come at 3 AM with a must take care of problem that comes with the entrepreneurial bent.

Which of course doesn't interest them because they want their sacred time off. And Equity to boot.

[MarkO]

Herewith the Democrats' core value: Just Win Baby.

[AliceH]

On a lighter note... I just put up my 3-foot tall-comes-with-lights fake tree, and am now baking Christmas cookies.

[bgates]

I heard a Dem today say that taxes had to go up to pay for Bush's Iraq War.

Casting about for an older example of Republican warmongering debt that only today's Democratic fiscal stewardship can rectify, I came across Chester A Arthur's wiki:

He presided over the rebirth of the United States Navy but was criticized for failing to alleviate the federal budget surplus that had been accumulating since the end of the American Civil War.

It goes on to explain that while there was a debate about reducing tariffs to eliminate the pesky surplus which had been building up for nearly a generation,
Congress attempted to balance the budget from the other side of the ledger by spending on the 1882 Rivers and Harbors Act that contained the then-unprecedented expenditure of $19 million for internal improvements. While Arthur was not opposed to internal improvements, the scale of the bill disturbed him, as did its focus on "particular localities," rather than on projects that benefited a large part of the nation. On August 1, 1882, Arthur vetoed the bill to widespread popular acclaim. In his veto message, he wrote that his principal objection to the bill was that it appropriated funds for purposes "not for the common defense or general welfare, and which do not promote commerce among the States."

[jimmyk]

Carrying over the discussion about culture and government from the last thread: One of the reasons I'm conflicted about immigration is that one of the big forces sustaining the culture was from the immigrants who came here for the opportunity to make it by their own hard work. That was destroyed by the welfare state, which necessitates limiting immigration. But I'm not sure the culture survives without the steady influx of people like many of our parents and grandparents who fled oppression and had to learn how to survive here with no safety net. Instead we have a generation of 47% parasites (whether immigrants or not).

[Jack is Back]

Gators v. Noles just started. Gators received. Should be a hard game.

[Gus]

TK great letter. Guess what the GOP did with that letter upon it's receipt??

YEP.

They SHITCANNED it. I will NEVER call myself a Republican.

[Gus]

bgates. where did you hear the LIBTARD nonsense. How are we paying for Obama's AFGHAN war??

[Jack is Back]

Gus,

Florida is not an open primary state so as an independent I won't be able to vote for the best GOP candidate (conservative, limited government, no tax, no spend, strong national security) and run the risk of getting squishes. I'd love to send a letter like that to the GOP and may just tell them to stop sending me their handwringing complaints and begs for more money (to do what with?).

Now, if we could replace the current Duke and Duke crowd with a Ted Cruz/Marco Rubio/Sarah Palin kind of leadership then maybe I'd even consider putting money where my heart and mind reside.

[Gus]

We don't have to declare our party here in Wisconsin. I will vote for Republicans. I have a choice. And the Democrats scum. The Republicans are merely wimps.

[henry]

Well Gus, it appears the teacher's union is toast here. WAEC 's PAC only spent $1,374 in this cycle, and it lost 1/3 of its members. This union guy sums it up With Act 10, that whole model is obliterated. It seems government unions in WI do not have a happy future, while WI as a whole may.

[narciso]

Really, henry, maybe they ought to take up a bake sale or something, so 'how did they swing
the cat' this time around?

[narciso]

Lileks does have a great spin on things, that why the fact the Tribune's sales rep, the Flagship of the McClatchy line, doesn't know if they carry his column tells you something,

[rse]

henry-did you see the story on Big Blue's Smarter Commerce data mining of purchases at various vendors?

Apparently participating vendors wish to remain anonymous. With an aspiration like Data for Central Eco Planning I am not surprised.

[matt]

well, with global warming Wisconsin just may be liveable after all, then.

Very frustrating argument with an ill informed liberal on geopolitics this morning. He was of the opinion that "it's all our fault". I reminded him that the Cold War was played out all over the globe and that at times it was pretty hot.

"We could have reached out to Ho Chi Minh", "There were only 40 Russian missiles in Cuba", "We brought the Iranian revolution on ourselves". "We engineered the coup against Allende" It was a real litany of bullshit. This is what we are dealing with. They have no sense of history nor even a sense of honest inquiry.

The Left is writing the history in our high schools and universities and have corrupted intellectualism and from that our politics.

[henry]

rse, didn't see that one. Anything with Big Blue requires reams of NDAs, unless its your privacy at issue.

[narciso]

It would be pointless to point out, that Khomeini's mentor, Ayatollah Kashani, participated in the '53 uprising because they thought Mossadegh was too secular, the latter was basically reduced to relying on the Communists (the Tudeh), and things of that nature.

Consider that rather exceptionally dense, cobalt 60 apologia for Susan Rice, they think they are sticking it to the GOP, but there is an underlying reality, a group like Ansar Al Sharia, who takes one diplomatic post, will be emboldened to 'kick up their game'

[Jack is Back]

Gators 13, 'Noles 0.

ACC meets the SEC. Welcome to hurt.

[Jack is Back]

narciso,

Morsi already has "kicked up his game" - world record 90 yard field goal.

[fdcol63]

Time to pull EJ Manuel out before he throws another interception. LOL

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Is there any reason why the republicans can't insist that they will sign no deal until the democrats pass a budget?

[rse]

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2012/11/24/the-pharoahs-curse/?singlepage=true is quite good. Hard for the realities of the ME that go boom not to come back to lying about Libya to make reelection more likely.

henry-I get the Digital Literacy daily email now and it is just a treasure trove of info.

And that title is the brand name they came up with.

[narciso]

With the likes of Chambliss rolling around, offering to fall on his sword, however, we got
Cruz and Fischer in the bargain,

[pagar]

Jane, I agree.

[narciso]

Ah I pass on Tom Friedman, and I raise you Nick Kristof, who doesn't understand the need for generators on Long Island, Cecil Rhodes mutters bitterly, I should have just opened up another mine, inthe Transvaal,

[Jack is Back]

Jane,

We'd have to party like it was 2009:)

[narciso]

There is also news of one of Carlos Slim's other dancing squirrels, Roger Cohen;

http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/11/dear-generator-owning-homeowners-do-not-invite-nick-kristof-over-next-time-there-is-a-hurricane/

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I must speak up to denounce bgates's unwarranted provocation of TK at 3:28PM!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--It would be pointless to point out, that Khomeini's mentor, Ayatollah Kashani, participated in the '53 uprising because they thought Mossadegh was too secular...

More info I didn't know from narciso the human flash drive.

[henry]

rse, i get so many tech newsletters, I barely have time to delete them. Yesterday's scan & delete included a seminar invite on "managing emotional learning". At least one customer CEO sent a pick of his 14 yo daughter's first deer! That is real, the rest is marketing.

[Jack is Back]

Uh oh, Gators intercept then turn it back to the Noles and are now looking to get scored on. Spoke to soon?

[narciso]

Got it from Taheri, the two key groups are the mullahs and the merchants (bazaeris) the Shah forgot that lesson, when he ticked off the latter with his land reform plan, and the former
with his social emancipation strategies,

[matt]

first they came for the generators, but I did not speak out because I had no generator.

Then they came for the solar panels, but I did not speak out because I had no solar panels.

Then they came for the hand held survival radios, but I did not speak out, for I had no hand held survival radio.

Then they came for my book of matches, and there was no one left to speak for me.

[Jack is Back]

Kristof is a typical left wing idiot. Give your money to a public power authority who has already blown the money you give them in the highest electric bills in the country. The answer is always the individual taking care of himself instead of waiting for the public authority/government to do it. I give you the Rockaways and Staten Island. Read the stories. The people who are not waiting or waited for the government are the ones better off now.

[Jack is Back]

Looks like I have jinxed the Gators. Sigh!

[Extraneus]

Kristof isn't dumb enough to believe that power outages are caused by marginal tax rates. Obviously, he has determined that storm victims and others who may feel vulnerable are a potential source of votes. Like his fellow propagandists, his job is to craft an argument that fools can parrot back to themselves and to each other when deciding how to vote.

It makes no difference whether he believes his arguments. Plame was a top secret agent and Cheney was a tool of Halliburton. Tea partiers spit on the black congressmen and called them n*ggers. Etc.

Voters lap this sh*t up.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--the Shah forgot that lesson, when he ticked off the latter with his land reform plan-

I remember Tom Bethell harping on this at the time.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Twenty consecutive unanswered points in a row.

[rse]

Yes, henry, but it is useful to me to see what is being marketed. So much of what is going on is to get that state monopoly without acknowledging that is what is up.

It is interesting to add it in to the ed/eco/statism mix going on.

[Jack is Back]

you mean 17 unanswered points if you are talking about FL vs. FSU, right?

[Jack is Back]

DoT,

Correction, you're right. I was sleeping during the last FG.

[Jack is Back]

Mike "the sneak" Gillieslee in for the score. Gators back up.

23-20. EJ Manuel is hurting big time. Major hit.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Kristof, short version: because the government hasn't seized enough money in taxes, there are still people out there who provide for their own power, their own security and the education of their children. This is intolerable.

[Jack is Back]

DoT,

Not only sleeping but delirious. 17 unanswered points since 1/2 time was 13-3.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

So if the target is low information voters we have to do a propaganda blitz - starting with Harry reid cannot be re-elected as senate majority leader because he is a pederast.

[Jack is Back]

Gators score, Gators score.

Cheer for the Orange and Blue
Waving forever pride of old Flor-i-da
May she droop never.
We'll sing a song for the flag today
Cheer for the team at play
On to the goal We'll fight our way for Flor-i-da
Go Gators!

[Melinda Romanoff]

Porch-

When you get a chance, here's Sil Austin and Red Prysock which needs some viewing.

Early R&R, for those interested. Red was Alan Freed's theme music performer.

[Extraneus]

India Finance Minister: July-September Growth Likely 5.5%

"When growth declines to 5.5% as it has in the first quarter (April-June) of this financial year and when the growth is likely to be around 5.5% in the second quarter of this financial year, it goes without saying we are facing a difficult situation," Mr. Chidambaram told a bankers' conference in the Western Indian city of Pune.

We haven't seen that kind of growth since 1985.

[cathyf]

Public service message: last night my brother's best friend's in-laws were killed in a house fire. Please test your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, and make sure that you have enough detectors in the house to match the layout.

[Barbara]

Interesting website: Barack O'Fraudo.com
Exposing how the democrats stole the 2012 election

http://www.barackofraudo.com/

It leads off with a map of the 2012 election that blacks out Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and Virginia. They are "states won by Obama fraud."

See map of U.S. with typical Red and Blue states. Black states (NRI*) represent those where voter fraud is suspected. Click on the state to find the details on why fraud is suspected.

Like I said, it's interesting.

*NRI = No Racism Intended

[Barbara]

Oh, cathyf, how awful!

Thank you for the reminder.

[matt]

next they will want to close the Catholic school districts because they preach religious voodoo, but Sidwell Friends and all of the other indoctrination centers and fast tracks into the halls of power and wealth will stay open.

They have been strangling faith based health care and charitable institutions and demonizing faith in general.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--*NRI = No Racism Intended

Posted by: Barbara | November 24, 2012 at 07:34 PM--

Of course it's not intentional; it's in your genes.

[Da Beers]

Rahm, "9.5 fingers", Emanuel has a plan for Chicago and America!

WaPo via Drudge:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rahm-emanuel-its-time-to-rebuild-america/2012/11/23/178624bc-340a-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_print.html

[jimmyk]

Michael Ledeen had a more optimistic perspective on things a few days back:

http://pjmedia.com/michaelledeen/2012/11/19/were-doomed-again/

[rse]

Oh, cathyf, how traumatic. We so easily forget this can still happen.

matt-when you read one I will get up next week, your stomach will turn on what you are rightfully concerned about.

OMG and then some.

[narciso]

That's terrible news, Cathyf,

I recall I may have read that in Bethell, and subsequently in Wanniski's 'the WAy the World works' Ignatz, even back then, the Spectator held what are even now a little unorthodox views
on issues like Bosnia, I first heard of the kultursmog, that has become the hive mind of the Journolist

[moxieman]

"Give me a Wolverine and a place to stand and I will move the world."

----------------------
Trust a wacko conservative to confuse animals with fulcrums. Nevermind the planks.

[narciso]

Tactics like this, will not incur support, rather quite the opposite;

http://israelmatzav.blogspot.co.il/2008/12/sorry-bibi-and-moshe-you-just-lost-my.html

[narciso]

That's some good stuff, melinda,

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

*NRI = No Racism Intended

Love it!

I'm so sorry Cathy. The day the clocks spring forward and fall back is supposed to be the reminder to check your smoke detectors.

[moxieman]

"Casting about for an older example of Republican warmongering debt that only today's Democratic fiscal stewardship can rectify, I came across Chester A Arthur's wiki"
-------------------------------
Funny how you must have skipped over FDR's meeting at the very beginning of WW2 with America's barons of industry and finance about how to pay for the war. The assembled agreed that notwithstanding FDR being a traitor to his class, that the federal government should raise taxes to whatever level it needed to pay for the war, and they would make it work.

Compare that to the Shrub's going on TV to tell us that fighting islamic terrorists was an "existential threat" and yet the financiers and industiralists of 2001/02 said "don't raise our taxes."

And you go back to 1882? Sorry kiddies, but edited history is just that: edited. Try the complete and unexpurgated next time.
So much more accurate.

In fact, start with some Republicans. Let me suggest Teddy Rooseveldt. Want to go further back? Try Lincoln and the land grant universities.

Ah, yes, Lincoln the socialist: Freeing all that private property. And TR, thinking of American society and not himself. FDR? The reprobate wanted to defend America and pay as much as possible presently -- AND THE INDUSTRIALIST (Communists, all) AGREED!!!!!!!!

1882. Do you have A-N-Y idea how idiotic you are when that is the best you can come up with?

[narciso]

Before the Nye Committee, there was no widespread revulsion toward American intervention in Europe, it's not surprising
one of the staffers who ran the operation, was a young Alger Hiss, before he transitioned to State,

[narciso]

Matt, I was really surprised, that the fellow, actually made the statement, only forty missiles, usually they would say the Bay of Pigs
provoked the thing, although Kruschev had already
threatened to put missiles as of the summer of 1960, that shows persistent moonbattery.

[Gus]

Narciso. You are very very intelligent. How much revulsion was there to the MARSHALL PLAN??
Was it DERISIVE, was it DIVISIVE?? Did the MARSHALL PLAN.....BOW and apologize to Europe??? When O'Flap ears is finished, which European nation will REBUILD US/U.S.?

[narciso]

Well there was probably some, mostly from the left quarter represented by the likes of Henry Wallace, and Frank Davis, but probably some from
the right, but it was considered necessary to reinforce Western Europe, from Soviet encroachment

[Gus]

Yes, we paid to rebuild it, and we protected it whether that is politically correct now or not. And we did it for our reasons, and for altruistic reasons too. What have MARXIST NATIONS ever done for humanity??

[narciso]

Well Anne Applebaum, who I have some reservations about some of her politics, described how their counterpart, the Iron Curtain, destroyed and supplanted societies from Trieste to Riga,

[narciso]

It's rather striking how they don't see '1984' not as a cautionary tale, but as a how to guide;

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/11/24/jaws-12/1

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Trust a wacko conservative to confuse animals with fulcrums. Nevermind the planks.

Posted by: moxieman | November 24, 2012 at 08:47 PM--

Trust a humorless dope to be...well, what else? A humorless dope.

[daddy]

Can we talk? (Drunken rant to follow:)

Am a tad inebriated, but the other day I was paired with a young, cute as pie, wonderfully natured, gorgeous gal--way prettier than Paula Broadwell. What a lot of fun to work with such a competent, cute gal in this business, who drives a very good airplane. I mention this for the discussion of what is to follow...

Via talking to the in Laws in Snoqualmie, Washington over this same Holiday weekend, (they have opposite political opinions) it became apparent they have little experience of dealing with the Affirmative Action folks that they talk about, in any sense in which they or their objects of conversation could be personally judged. This struck me as worth mentioning---that in our modern culture, unless somebody actually does anything, nobody can ever be judged legitimately on what they actually do or fail to do.

Fer instance, if my co-pilot is awful, it is easily evident to anybody watching and ourselves, if he/she does something awful, it is obvious we have dicked up from what we were trying to accomplish. But if he/she is a diplomat or politician or speechmaking bureaucrat , or almost any other job in America where their actual physical skills are not put into practice and are able to be competently judged, regardless of performance, then they are all able to be painted as "credentialed moron's, geniuses, marvelous diplomats, etc, and you would never get an inkling if anyone was competent or incompetent in what they do unless they were written about in an Editorial expressing an opposite opinion, in which case the actual truth of he/she's personal competence no longer applies once it has hit the "Spin Cycle'. This "fact" I observed in my beloved In-Laws.

So overall what I mean to say is this (and if I have to fight against the racism/sexism charge, so be it)---In the plane it is easily observed by performance if somebody is competent or incompetent. It is simple and it is relatively obvious. Regardless of race, gender, etc, if the guy/gal is a mess in the cockpit it comes thru. I am not trying to be pompous or anything about my job etc, but am just simply saying that in my job I have a unique opportunity to observe performance and to see who is competent and who isn't. Apparently few else in America have that opportunity.

I will say this---the folks I fly with nowadays, who previously were or would have been considered AA hires, are now completely competent, if not much better than me. We had our share of incompetent hires in the early days of the EEOC Hiring booms, including our AA who tried to kill us, but it is good to see that as we progress over time, after the loss of an airplane or 2, we are now dealing with cute competent employees and not just cut employee:). My overall point remains the same after 30 years of this business---the difficult part of my job is not doing it (that part's easy), but being given the opportunity to show that you can do it. That' the hard part.

BTW, Did I mention that my co-worker was cute? Yowwzah!

[daddy]

BTW, Was Captain Hate or somebody calling for a JOM rendezvous in Nor Cal in the near future? Just asking. Thx for any info.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--BTW, Was Captain Hate or somebody calling for a JOM rendezvous in Nor Cal in the near future? Just asking. Thx for any info.

Posted by: daddy | November 24, 2012 at 10:45 PM--

Said he would be in Santa Cruz/Bay Area the week after T-Giving, daddy.
Last I heard his plane was a bit messed up so don't where he is at the moment.

[DrJ]

daddy,

I sent the good Cap'n an email message with how he could reach the NorCal JOM people. I included your email address and that of ManTran because both of you fly in here on occasion.

As Iggie mentioned, he had some flight troubles (Detroit, natch) but beyond that it is up to him.

[cathyf]

97% graduation rate.

12-0.