MP4: …FS. I do apologize for harshing your mellow this morning, but sometimes I need to get the vitriol out of the way first thing.…
What helps me deal with all the outrageousness, in the wide world and in my personal life, is remembering this philosophical gem from that great thinker, Pogo:
"Don't take life so seriously. It ain't no-how permanent."
Jesus said something similar. 
Bruce With a Wang!: Ms. Magazine…
They're still around? Amazing.
In print or just online a la Newsweak? (Didn't and wouldn't click the link.)
Vic: Ramirez
http://bit.ly/1RPRPQ6
Not up to his usual illustrative standards. Phoned it in, in fact. I thought at first the pic hadn't loaded.
Poignantly true, nonetheless.
Vic: Even more evidence of an imminent ice age…
First read that as an "immigrant ice age." Wondered if that mean we'd put a freeze on the influx, or what?
At least now I have coffee. *pours over head*
Jane D'oh, this two-day painting job - paying by the hour? 
Really funny - in a sad way - to hear about your Marine Corr son on the ROTC float.
Only reading forward from my first comment. Have to go back to figure what some of the conversation's about.
God guide the hands of the surgeons for Carol's friend.
Morning, Glories!
Wild Oklahoma weather yesterday. Powerful winds fanned wide-spread grass fires. Looked like the whole neighboring county was burning. Lots of sirens as emergency folk moved in from all around to fight the conflagration. The highway to the west was closed for hours. The sky was brown with smoke, the air was choking, and this morning inside and out still smells off it.
Welcome back, Vic. Scanned the VNN tidbits, and now will see what everyone else is saying. Oops. I mean, after I feed the pets and start some coffee.
I think this is the third year that I've written up a long comment about my own lack of service and Viet Nam. And every year I don't post it, because it feels like trying to join the parade when I should just be waving a flag on the side.
But this I can relate:
WWI
Dad's Dad's name is on the Memorial Bridge in town. I'm not sure what his service amounted to. He was the young manager of a major local employer, vital industry, so I wonder if he never saw combat.
My Dad's uncle on his mother's side is also named on that memorial bridge. Don't know if he saw combat, but I expect he did.
Mom's Dad caught a whiff of mustard gas on the battlefield. Not fatal, but he was reportedly never quite the same.
WWII
Dad was in the army, but never left the USA, and in fact was never far from home. He helped train pilots for the Army Air Force.
My Father-in-Law actually had an eye put out by a B-B as a child (we told you that could happen!) and so he had to work to get in the service. He taught celestial navigation down in Florida.
My uncle, later my step-Dad (that's as complicated and ugly as it sounds), was a front-line medic in Europe. Minimal training: patch 'em up, send 'em back to the real doctors. Only thing I ever heard of his service was one instance where a soldier had the skin of his head split. As he relates it, with amusement, when he got through stitching him up, there was a big leftover fold of skin. Good enough; leave the pretty-fying for the real docs.
Mom's brother Ed was young enough, he hit Europe after D-Day and didn't see a lot of combat. I've related some of his war stories on here before. After VE Day, he was one of those young boys who was preparing for the invasion of Japan. He's still around, and his great-grandchildren can thank nuclear physics for that.
Viet Nam
My brother-in-law Vince, who died last month, joined the Navy in Viet Nam. He was in "Communications." The secret kind he never could talk about.
Home or abroad, whatever branch, however much they saw of combat, all honor to our military men and women.
For chatting and joking and snarking I have some skills. For sincerity of sentiment I find words fail me. Hope the intended spirit is conveyed:
No thanks this civilian could offer the Veterans, and their families, could be sufficient. I just pray, master Jesus, please, that this nation, even ultimately this whole world, is salvaged and victoriously made worthy of their investment of blood and heart.
Christopher Taylor: Where did random newspaper dude get clothing design skills, and a special non flammable polymer material for capes? I mean, great, Supergirl needs this but, the guy she works with?
That's funny. Milady and I just finished watching that episode (#2). I tuned in here, couldn't get the feed, started reading comments from the end. This is the first comment I can relate to.
Some "Lucy moments," several stupid things, but still better than most of the dark, uberviolent superduper shows. Glad they're having some fun with it.
Something about that S still stands for something heroic, and it isn't the powers. h/t Siegel & Schuster.
/fanboy
"Dead ringer"
I wonder how a little bell with a pullstring into a coffin ended up with the meaning "look's just like"? Just plain "ringer" got conflated with the coffin bell phrase?
Game of Loans by PragerU (5:27)
https://youtu.be/zrd72UtczMg
Why does student debt keep going up and up even as it's harder and harder to find a good job with a college degree? And why does it seem that the more aid the government and colleges give, the less it helps? Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, shows how politicians and universities have saddled students with dangerous debt...and with little to show for it.
Amid Controversy, Muslim Group Participates In Tulsa Parade To Honor Veterans
http://bit.ly/1L8iPVt
Muslim Group = terrorist group CAIR-OK
'Confederate Veterans Lives Matter' Claims Tulsa Parade Unfairly Denied Float
http://bit.ly/1kJLkDD
CVLM "formed this summer after hearing South Carolina banned the rebel flag."
Tulsa: Oklahoma's San Antonio. Or is it our Houston?
Seamus Muldoon: Hjalmar Munsterhjelm? Seriously?
Oddly enough, it's pronounced "Heamus Munjoon."
Survivialism.
When Milady and I moved our family from uptown Chicago back to the old family ranch two decades ago, we had in mind the advantages for surviving some societal breakdown. Which breakdown has come a little faster than we figured, but not a lot faster.
Great-grampaw bought this place (a piece of it, anyway) from the Cherokee to whom it had been alloted in order to drill for oil. He "only" found natural gas, and capped that off. I have a clue where that pipe might be, but haven't been able to search for it.
Grampaw built a ginormous concrete water tower on ground level, which filled the swimming pool where I spent a lot of my youth. After Dad died, the executors destroyed the pool, but even before that Dad had the big water tower destroyed and built a smaller metal one on stilts. That one was retired when County water reached us, and it's sat empty and unused for nearly half a century. It's still standing, and might be able to be cleaned up and revived, but it stands there like a big target. Anyway, the line from the artesian well out in the pasture decayed decades ago and now the well is only used to water the cattle in dry times. Supposed to be plentiful and good water; there's photos of cars lined up to it back in the dry days of the '30s.
We'd figured there's always either sun or wind here, so for a little supplemental energy, some solar and a windmill might keep the pumps going when the grid fails, but never got any of that done.
I could go on and on with the litany of planned-to-but-didn't ideas we had. We're not even 30/30 - 30 miles from the nearest city of 30K - more like 7/40.
But the kids all grew up and moved to the urbs, anyway, so what future is there to protect?
At least we have good line-of-sight for approaching zombies. And well-armed neighbors. And it's pretty here. :/
And the art thread is up.
This coffee tastes odd this morning. Checked the bag to see what Milady purchased, and in the "variety" box, there's nothing written. Hmmm. Generic coffee?
* noms chocolate chip cookie from Mom's *
That helps.
I will joyously join in the merry Christmas boycott of Starbux for not putting something Santa-ish on their cups… by spending twice as much there as I usually do, which will be the same amount.
Ah, I see CrotchetyOldJarhead at November 10, 2015 07:09 AM and I share the same cynical humor today.
TrivialPursuer: At least he won't be able to rationalize away his blatant lawlessness anymore…
BWAHAHA! Rationalization? He don' need no rationalization besides "because I said so." Court says, "cannot." The brat in chief sez, "Can too! Can too!" End of argument.
…he risks provoking a backlash from the public.
I'll have what he's smoking. (If I can't sleep, at least I could dream.) The "public" put him there! Twice! We're the only "public" that's backlashing.
Just had to wax cynical over that one. I feel better now.
