Category Archives: Birthdays

Happy Birthday!

Posted on by

I missed a birthday yesterday. I knew about it, was going to say something and then…I forgot. It happens.

I’m going to make up for it today. Quoting Lewis Carroll, “Happy Unbirthday!”

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/US_Navy_031029-N-6236G-001_A_painting_of_President_John_Adams_(1735-1826),_2nd_president_of_the_United_States,_by_Asher_B._Durand_(1767-1845)-crop.jpg

John Adams, 2nd President of the United States

Who, you ask? Why John Adams‘ birthday, the second President of the United States, Washington’s Vice President, first Ambassador to Britain, President during the United State’s first, undeclared war, and father to John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Abigail_Adams.jpg

Abigail Adams, 2nd First Lady of the United States

John Adams is also known as the husband of Abigail Adams. Their relationship would make modern romance novelists envious. But little recognized today is Abigail’s support of her husband and her thoughts on government and the nature of man in general that contributed to the creation of our nation. Her correspondence to John in the period leading to the Declaration of Independence provides insight to their characters.

Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, 27 November 1775

November 27 1775

Tis a fortnight to Night since I wrote you a line during which, I have been confined with the jaundice, Rhumatism and a most violent cold; I yesterday took a puke which has releived me, and I feel much better to day. Many, very many people who have had the dysentery, are now afflicted both with the jaundice and Rhumatisim, some it has left in Hecticks, some in dropsies.

The great and incessant rains we have had this fall, (the like cannot be recollected) may have occasiond some of the present disorders. The jaundice is very prevelant in the Camp. We have lately had a week of very cold weather, as cold as January, and a flight of snow, which I hope will purify the air of some of the noxious vapours. It has spoild many hundreds of Bushels of Apples, which were designd for cider, and which the great rains had prevented people from making up. Suppose we have lost 5 Barrels by it.

Col. Warren returnd last week to Plymouth, so that I shall not hear any thing from you till he goes back again which will not be till the last of nextthis month.

He Damp’d my Spirits greatly by telling me that the Court had prolonged your Stay an other month. I was pleasing myself with the thoughts that you would soon be upon your return. Tis in vain to repine. I hope the publick will reap what I sacrifice.

I wish I knew what mighty things were fabricating. If a form of Goverment is to be established here what one will be assumed? Will it be left to our assemblies to chuse one? and will not many men have many minds? and shall we not run into Dissentions among ourselves?

I am more and more convinced that Man is a dangerous creature, and that power whether vested in many or a few is ever grasping, and like the grave cries give, give. The great fish swallow up the small, and he who is most strenuous for the Rights of the people, when vested with power, is as eager after the perogatives of Goverment. You tell me of degrees of perfection to which Humane Nature is capable of arriving, and I believe it, but at the same time lament that our admiration should arise from the scarcity of the instances.

The Building up a Great Empire, which was only hinted at by my correspondent may now I suppose be realized even by the unbelievers. Yet will not ten thousand Difficulties arise in the formation of it? The Reigns of Goverment have been so long slakned, that I fear the people will not quietly submit to those restraints which are necessary for the peace, and security, of the community; if we seperate from Brittain, what Code of Laws will be established. How shall we be governd so as to retain our

Liberties? Can any goverment be free which is not adminstred by general stated Laws? Who shall frame these Laws? Who will give them force and energy? Tis true your [Resolutions] as a Body have heithertoo had the force of Laws. But will they continue to have?

When I consider these things and the prejudices of people in favour of Ancient customs and Regulations, I feel anxious for the fate of our Monarchy or Democracy or what ever is to take place. I soon get lost in a Labyrinth of perplexities, but whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the Stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted, by patience and perseverance.

I believe I have tired you with politicks. As to news we have not any at all. I shudder at the approach of winter when I think I am to remain desolate. Suppose your weather is warm yet. Mr. Mason and Thaxter live with me, and render some part of my time less disconsolate. Mr. Mason is a youth who will please you, he has Spirit, taste and Sense. His application to his Studies is constant and I am much mistaken if he does not make a very good figure in his profession.

I have with me now, the only Daughter of your Brother; I feel a tenderer affection for her as she has lost a kind parent. Though too young to be sensible of her own loss, I can pitty her. She appears to be a child of a very good Disposition — only wants to be a little used to company.

Our Little ones send Duty to pappa and want much to see him.Tom says he wont come home till the Battle is over — some strange notion he has got into his head. He has got a political cread to say to him when he returns.

I must bid you good night. Tis late for one who am much of an invalide. I was dissapointed last week in receiving a packet by the post, and upon unsealing it found only four news papers. I think you are more cautious than you need be. All Letters I believe have come safe to hand. I have Sixteen from you, and wish I had as many more. Adieu. Yours.

Happy post-birthday, John Adams. May you and Abigail not be forgotten.

Facebook

Da-Dump!

Posted on by

Da-Dump? That the sound of someone being tossed under the bus and the wheels pass over the body. Anyone close to DC should be familiar with the sound, it’s happened enough around the White House.

It is now being heard elsewhere, Hawaii for instance. In this case it is a long-time democrat pol being thrown under the bus during a primary election. The democrat establishment candidate for US Senator is losing in the primary by 1,600 votes. Two precincts weren’t able to vote due to storms that knocked out power and blocked roads. Those two precincts will vote today, despite an attempt to postpone voting to give her more time to deluge the two precincts with last minute campaigning. The Judge wouldn’t play along.

Da-dump!

DECISION DAY IN HEATED HAWAII VOTE
Pacific Business News: “A Hawaii judge on Thursday rejected a request by U.S. Rep. and Senate candidate Colleen Hanabusa [D-Hawaii] to delay opening the polls on Friday in the areas of the Big Island where voters were unable to vote in the primary election because of Tropical Storm Iselle. Hanabusa, who trails U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz [D-Hawaii] by 1,635 votes in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, had filed for a temporary restraining order Wednesday in the 3rd Circuit Court in Hilo, seeking to stop the state Office of Elections from holding the election Friday for the two precincts in Puna that were unable to vote in Saturday’s primary because of power outages and blocked roads caused by the storm the day before. … 3rd Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura rejected Hanabusa’s argument and ruled that the election should proceed as planned.” Polls close at midnight (ET). — FOXNewsletter, August 15, 2014.

***

http://www.rushimg.com/cimages//media/images/obamahillarypix/1290729-1-eng-GB/ObamaHillaryPIX.jpgA number of recent news stories have been circulating this last week with a common theme: the US has no foreign policy. If there is one, it must be, “let’s wait and see what happens?” That lack was covered yesterday on Rush and other news sites. Hillary is jumping in as well trying to distance herself saying that the White House made policy and she was just the powerless front man. No one believes her, either.

Clinton versus Obama on Syria and foreign policy

By: streiff (Diary)  |  August 14th, 2014 at 03:00 PM

The kerfuffle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is all in the news right now. Clinton, who sees her coronation as Democrat presidential candidate for the 2016 as a done deal, is trying to establish some daylight between herself and her former boss on foreign policy. There is a good reason for that. Other than coasting through 2009 with an “I’m not George Bush” strategy (which we’re seeing play out in the long run as a “I’m an incompetent boob”) this administration has had no identifiable foreign policy. For a while it seemed to embrace the feel-good but impractical Responsibility to Protect doctrine. This was abandoned before the first Syrian chemical attack and since that time the administration simply staggered from one crisis to the next failure.

The conflict comes from an interview Clinton gave The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg titled Hillary Clinton: ‘Failure’ to Help Syrian Rebels Led to the Rise of ISIS. It is unusual not because of any insights we gain into what passes for foreign policy in the Age of Obama but we see a secretary of state disavowing herself from the foreign policy she formulated and carried out. The key pull quotes follow:

Well, his former secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, isn’t buying it. In an interview with me earlier this week, she used her sharpest language yet to describe the “failure” that resulted from the decision to keep the U.S. on the sidelines during the first phase of the Syrian uprising.

“The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against Assad—there were Islamists, there were secularists, there was everything in the middle—the failure to do that left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled,” Clinton said.

As she writes in her memoir of her State Department years, Hard Choices, she was an inside-the-administration advocate of doing more to help the Syrian rebellion. Now, her supporters argue, her position has been vindicated by recent events.

…

…At one point, I mentioned the slogan President Obama recently coined to describe his foreign-policy doctrine: “Don’t do stupid shit” (an expression often rendered as “Don’t do stupid stuff” in less-than-private encounters).

This is what Clinton said about Obama’s slogan: “Great nations need organizing principles, and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.”

When one looks at the record one is strained to conceive how what Clinton says in the interview actually differs from her actions. In fact, her concern that aiding the Syrian opposition could result in arming al Qaeda was, and is, spot on. In fact, by September 2013 it was being reported that Syrian opposition fighters were rallying to the al Qaeda because the al Qaeda were actually fighting.

The real problem on this is that the only source we have for this disagreement in policy on Syria between Obama and Clinton is that it is based on alleged “behind the scenes” discussions, they are non-falsifiable. The non-falsifiable nature of Clinton’s assertions are further complicated by the fact that both principles and their inner circles are enthusiastic and inveterate liars. All things considered, it is difficult to see how arming any of the opposition groups earlier and more aggressively would have produced a better or different outcome. The other alternative is that Clinton means by “ help build up a credible fighting force” a significant US military presence to bolster our chosen faction. That idea, in the context of Obama facing an election in 2012, is so farfetched as to not merit discussion.

The column continues at the website. In essence, Hillary is blaming Obama for the lack of policy while Obama continues to blame, “the previous administration.” Both Hillary and Obama created our current mess, both were/are incompetent, and both are equally culpable. It’s laughable seeing the two trying to throw others; Hillary, in particular, throwing Obama under the bus.

Da-dump!

***

In closing, I present this little positive item, off topic, Phyllis Schlafly is 90.

Facebook

Traditions

Posted on by

My wife reminded me this morning that it’s time to comply with a family tradition—the First Robin Party! The tradition is, when the first robin of the year is seen, we have pizza. My wife  saw two robins in our neighbor’s yard this morning. Pizza for supper.

This family tradition started when my daughter was small. A friend of hers said her mother made a cake for their First Robin party. After a bit of consultation, my wife and daughter decided to substitute pizza for the cake.

Works for me.

Families follow and create traditions all the time for various reasons. Following those traditions help build family cohesiveness and solidarity.

When I was in college, the guy across the hall from my dorm room was an orphan. I can’t remember his name after all these years. We, in the dorm, called him Baby Huey after a cartoon character. He stood well over six feet and weighed accordingly. He had a twin sister and they were raised together in the same orphanage. She lived in another dorm across the street.

In Illinois, at that time, they were both wards of the state until they reached age 21. In practice, once they graduated high school, they were on their own. These two managed to acquire rull-ride scholarships so they could remain together. While still living at the orphanage, they decided they were a family and decided to create a family tradition…their common birthday party.

They both had full-ride scholarships, but the scholarships didn’t cover a lot of expenses. As wards of the state, they were allowed to live in the college-owned dorms at 25% of the standard rate. The two of them still had to cover the remaining 75%, plus the usual expenses for clothes, laundry, and personal items that aren’t free.

That meant they had to work. They opened a common bank account, both deposited their paychecks and they both created a budget and shared the costs. It was preparation for life for they knew in a few years they would be separated. It was the time of the draft. He knew he would have to enter the military on graduation…or skip off to Canada, an unrealistic choice.

One common expense both agreed upon was their birthday party. They called it their Family Day. Both were well known and liked. If I remember correctly after all these years, they decided to have a large party for their 20th birthday because it was likely to be the last one before graduation and the military for him.

They had been saving for some time. They hired a hall from one of the local churches, ordered a large cake and sent invitations to a hundred close friends including the Chancellor of the University, in whose office she interned, and the Deans of both their colleges. She was working towards a degree in government and history, he in accounting.

I was invited but didn’t go. My mother was terminal with cancer and I had obligations at home the weekend of their party. I did see photos in the college paper the following week and stories from those who were able to attend.

The Chancellor and both Deans attended the party. The invitees filled the hall. People talked about the party for months. The two of them, sole members of their family, affirmed a tradition to last their lifetime.

They graduated that year and I lost track of them. Baby Huey, as expected, entered the Army. His sister became a staffer for a local Congressman. I’ve often wondered what happened to them.

Traditions are important. I expect Baby Huey and his sister still celebrate their common birthday together. It was a tradition they created when all they had was each other. I wouldn’t be surprised if their family has grown in the last fifty years, and still celebrate Family Day, a foundation tradition  created by a pair of orphans.

Facebook

Friday Follies for June 21, 2013

Posted on by

I was going to make a FB post yesterday and was distracted. It’s a little thing, personal only to me and my sister. Yesterday was my father’s birthday. If he were still alive, he would be 111.

Happy birthday, Dad.

***

An item was disclosed this week about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that appears to violate the Constitution’s 4th Amendment.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. — 4th Amendment to the US Constitution.

It now appears that FISA modified part of the 4th Amendment.

Authorized by Section 702 of the amended Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the program did away with the traditional individual warrant for each foreign suspect whose communications would be collected in the United States. In its place, the FISA court, which oversees domestic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes and whose proceedings are secret, would certify the government’s procedures to target people overseas and ensure citizens’ privacy. — The Washington Post.

Instead of individual warrants as required by the 4th Amendment, NSA was given a blanket certificate—a hunting and fishing license, so to speak, that allowed them to search anyone, everyone, whether hard evidence for probable cause existed, or not.

A comment posted on the Washington Post article above said, “I’m beginning to think the FISA court was set-up by the executive branch to rubber stamp all executive branch demands. The world’s most secret self-licking ice cream cone.” (Panhandle Willy, 6/20/2013 8:03 PM CDT)

 

***

Today is the anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution. It received its 9th approving vote 225 years ago today by New Hampshire.

On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. — www.history.com

Virginia and New York followed New Hampshire later in June but New Hampshire’s vote was sufficient to actually getting the new government running.

***

The Tea Party was out in force, yesterday, with a rally in Washington DC to protest the actions of the IRS. A number of Congressmen attended as well, Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and Dave Camp (Mich.). The question now is whether any of our Missouri Senators and Representatives were there?

I’ve not seen any of the Missouri delegation post about their presence at the rally. I’ve asked Vicky Hartzler and Jason Smith that question but I’ve received no answers yet.

We must remember those absences when the primaries come next year and candidates want Tea Party endorsements.

***

Unsatisfied with the bureaucrats in your state and federal government? That makes you a terrorist says a Tennessee bureaucrat.

Unsatisfied with the quality of your water and eager to let the government know about it?

You might be a terrorist, according to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

“We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,” deputy director of TDEC’s Division of Water Resources Sherwin Smith told a baffled and outraged audience in Maury County, Tennessee. “But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there’s no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.”

Audience members saw the official’s answer as a means of deterring complaints from the public, according to a report in The Tennessean. — The Daily Caller.

Facebook

Happy Birthday, Marines

Posted on by
Happy 236th Birthday, United States Marines!

Passages

Posted on by

My birthday was yesterday. I’ve now lived longer than my mother. She died five months short of her 64th birthday.

***

Utah is considering bring back silver and gold backed currency. Nixon stopped backing our currency in silver and gold. Perhaps it’s time to go back to a commodity based currency? Only problem…there’s not enough gold and silver in the world to cover our debt.

***

I mentioned last week that I traded off my Chevy Equinox for a Chevy Tahoe Z71. Old NFO wanted a photo. Here it is. This is for you, NFO.

2005 Chevy Tahoe Z71

The Tahoe has an unusual color—it’s Blue-Green. Outside it looks blue with green metallic specks. Inside it looks green. The title says green but to me it’s blue.

I traded in a 2005 Chevy Equinox on this 2005 Tahoe. The Tahoe has more miles than my old Equinox. The Equinox got 19-20mpg in town and 25-26mpg on the highway. I don’t know yet what mileage the Tahoe will make but I’m confident it won’t be that of the Equinox. Why would I make this trade? It Equinox was just too cramped. Any drive of more than an hour or two would nearly cripple me. I prefer something larger than a roller-skate on rubber tires.

***

Mediocrity prevails. The Dayton Police Department is lowering their admittance standards because not enough blacks passed the tests. Worse, they’re being forced to do so by the Feds.

DAYTON — The Dayton Police Department is lowering its testing standards for recruits.

It’s a move required by the U.S. Department of Justice after it says not enough African-Americans passed the exam.

Dayton is in desperate need of officers to replace dozens of retirees. The hiring process was postponed for months because the D.O.J. rejected the original scores provided by the Dayton Civil Service Board, which administers the test.

Under the previous requirements, candidates had to get a 66% on part one of the exam and a 72% on part two.

The D.O.J. approved new scoring policy only requires potential police officers to get a 58% and a 63%. That’s the equivalent of an ‘F’ and a ‘D’.


That’s what we want for our Police—the bottom of the barrel of applicants. Our FedGov strikes again.

Passages

Posted on by

My birthday was yesterday. I’ve now lived longer than my mother. She died five months short of her 64th birthday.

***

Utah is considering bring back silver and gold backed currency. Nixon stopped backing our currency in silver and gold. Perhaps it’s time to go back to a commodity based currency? Only problem…there’s not enough gold and silver in the world to cover our debt.

***

I mentioned last week that I traded off my Chevy Equinox for a Chevy Tahoe Z71. Old NFO wanted a photo. Here it is. This is for you, NFO.

2005 Chevy Tahoe Z71

The Tahoe has an unusual color—it’s Blue-Green. Outside it looks blue with green metallic specks. Inside it looks green. The title says green but to me it’s blue.

I traded in a 2005 Chevy Equinox on this 2005 Tahoe. The Tahoe has more miles than my old Equinox. The Equinox got 19-20mpg in town and 25-26mpg on the highway. I don’t know yet what mileage the Tahoe will make but I’m confident it won’t be that of the Equinox. Why would I make this trade? It Equinox was just too cramped. Any drive of more than an hour or two would nearly cripple me. I prefer something larger than a roller-skate on rubber tires.

***

Mediocrity prevails. The Dayton Police Department is lowering their admittance standards because not enough blacks passed the tests. Worse, they’re being forced to do so by the Feds.

DAYTON — The Dayton Police Department is lowering its testing standards for recruits.

It’s a move required by the U.S. Department of Justice after it says not enough African-Americans passed the exam.

Dayton is in desperate need of officers to replace dozens of retirees. The hiring process was postponed for months because the D.O.J. rejected the original scores provided by the Dayton Civil Service Board, which administers the test.

Under the previous requirements, candidates had to get a 66% on part one of the exam and a 72% on part two.

The D.O.J. approved new scoring policy only requires potential police officers to get a 58% and a 63%. That’s the equivalent of an ‘F’ and a ‘D’.


That’s what we want for our Police—the bottom of the barrel of applicants. Our FedGov strikes again.

Facebook