Whatsthatsmell?

Why does this seem so current?

I've been going through my MP3 collection making playlists for syncing to my brand new MP3 player...Came across this old gem from Camper Van Beethoven which kind of seemed to strike a chord about the current politico-economical scene, it reminded me of  Barack Obama for some reason:

The Ambiguity Song

Everything seems to be up in the air at this time
Everything seems to be up in the air at this time
One day soon, it'll all settle down
Everything seems to be up in the air at this time
All across the nation, people are gettin' together
From many ideas they form a single goal
Some people are gonna benefit
And others gotta sacrifice
But everything seems to seems to be up in the air at this time

Duh!

So I'm driving along, got the MP3 player on shuffle and this kick-ass blues tune comes on.  

"Wow," says I to myself, "this sounds almost like it could be the Allman Brothers Band, but not quite, good guitar-playing, though..."

So I get to a safe place where I can take my eyes off the road, briefly to see what's playing...

"Keys to the Highway" by Derek and the Dominos

 

 

Doh!

A Reprise of one of my Remembrance Day Favourites

May as well bring this one back, I wrote it a couple of years ago and re-print it each year:

 

 

Yesterday morning the wife, the daughter, and I were down in town, and it just so happened that the mayor was presiding over an act of remembrance at the war memorial in front of the town hall in honour of Remembrance/Armistice/Veterans’ Day.

Whilst waiting for it to begin, my eyes were caught by the following poem (hat tip to Steve for publishing it):

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


Well, once my eyes were caught, they started leaking like no one’s business, and my daughter jumped up and gave me a big hug, her little hands patting my back.

Beginning in 1992, I spent six years in the US Navy. In the first three years of serving in the Navy, I was probably the most conscientious sailor one could hope to meet. I loved the Navy, I loved its history and I was damned proud to be seen in my crackerjacks. But something happened to me, gradually. Many of the goals I set for myself, and for which I thought I was punching all the right tickets were not coming to fruition. I was beginning to get a little burnt out on being so squared away for my first three years, with no – apparent – return other than a job well done.

After that point, I couldn’t wait to get out. Not that I actively tried, but I could have really left the Navy at the first chance presented.

I served the rest of my time, maybe not as conscientiously as I should have, but probably better than many of my colleagues, nonetheless. Looking back now, I’m a little bit ashamed of the fact that I didn’t necessarily give my best to the Navy, and by extension, my country. Back then, I could justify it by the fact that I was such a good boy, but Santa still wouldn’t bring me presents.

I may not have been proud of my service then, but I am definitely proud of it now.

You see, I have shared the experience of wearing a uniform in the service of my country with some of the greatest souls to ever grace this planet. Men who were definitely better men than I. Men who did not know what was in store for them when they signed that dotted line and received the queen’s shilling or that paycheck from Uncle Sam. Men who gave up their youths and their freedom so that the rest of us could enjoy our own. Many men whose remains now lay on the fields in which they were mowed down, or the watery graves where their ships lie.

Yes, it’s true, some of us join/ed the military because it was a way out or a way up from whatever circumstances may have been going on (I initially walked into the recruiting office because I was running away from something.) But no matter the reasons for joining, the sum total of the efforts of my predecessors, colleagues, and those who came after me was that this world is just a little bit better than it may have been had we not done our “duty”.

My father served in the Navy for 20 years. My uncle just retired from the Navy, himself. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII, one in the British Army and one in the US Army. And I am proud of all that they did.

I may have said that after my first three years I didn’t get anything from the Navy. But the truth is, my whole experience gave me the world.

Thanks to all those people with whom I shared that world and those experiences, and whose boots I could never fill. I am truly humbled when contemplating the greatness that came before, and that follows, my brief stint of service.

I didn’t see any action, and I am grateful I didn’t have to. But then, as they say, I was standing on the shoulders of giants.

Disappointed...

Still digesting the election results.  A few thoughts, some possibly contradictory:

The GOP pi**ed all over the reason independents would vote for them in the first place by becoming big government types.  Give people a choice between two big government parties and they will choose the one that makes them feel better about themselves.

One the one hand, universal racism being accepted as an excuse for black underachievement in America may now be a thing of the past.  On the other hand, any criticism of Obama will probably be seen as racism.

Talk radio in America will definitely be a lot more interesting over the next couple of years, and if the Dems try to pass a Fairness Doctrine, it will be all-out information war.

I underestimated the power of the media and the gullibility of the American populace, but then, Obama only won by about 5 Million votes, which is not a complete popular landslide.  Then again, maybe I haven't underestimated the power of the media - a $600 Million war chest and a popular media that is 90% in the tank for him still only got him a 6% popular advantage.  As some people pointed out: we knew within 48 hours all about Sarah Palin's family, but they only just discovered Obama's illegal alien aunt last weekend?  If McCain had an illegal alien relative, we would have known by at least last March.

I hope and pray that Obama will govern as the moderate he said he would be, but I won't hold my breath either.  He doesn't have to with a Dem majority in Congress.  The only upside might be that we can have a repeat of the 1992-4 when the Dems over-reached and delivered a Republican Congress in 1994.  I hold out hope, though, for the sake of America, that the Dems don't overreach.  But I won't hold my breath.

Does moving to the "center" help the Republicans?  McCain was arguably, next to Giuliani, the most moderate candidate going.  

Did Palin lose it for him?  No.  I think the McCain campaign mishandled her which made her look like the idiot she clearly is not.  The significant bump she gave to the McCain campaign proves her popularity.  Do we see a Palin-Jindal ticket in 2012?

I do hope that when pushed to the wall on the world stage that Obama will behave as an American president should, and look out for America.  Which means he wouldn't be doing things that ingratiate him to the BBC or the Guardian.  If Obama is doing his job as a head of state, anti-Americanism among the world's elites will continue.  It is better to be right than loved.

Well, that's it for now.  I, for one, will try not to suffer from Obama Derangement Syndrome.  But he's not going to get a pass if he, for instance, fires the US Attorney in Chicago or anything else that smacks of Chicago machine cronyism.