Piggin Out

  

Supplemental Pork

This was a comment that I posted on a forum where I participate:

The emergency spending bill should be renamed the Hog Trough.

There is a slop bucket of oinking at high decibels, especially by Mississippi Senators and this feat of moving the goal posts, i.e. relocating railroad that has already had multiple millions spent on doing it, now they want to spend more placing it elsewhere, sort of smacks of the trailer/modular homes blundering.

I am beginning to wonder if it isn't strategy to avoid putting these requests into the budget process just so the opportunity is created to overstuff the bird with pork dressing because of the must pass nature of the beasts.

The next big import?

  

Two in every garage?

FUEL EFFICIENT CAMELS?

Today, Sunday the 30th of April 2006, I am listening as usual to a morning menu of cable and network weekly television news shows. It starts with Washington Journal on C-Span, then Meet the Press, This Week, Face the Nation and then CNN.

Right now I am up to This Week. Each of them are copycatting the topic, the price of gasoline. This is the hot item on the agenda because in most areas the price per gallon has soared to over three dollars.

Every season within memory the price has escalated in concert with the summer vacation motoring activiy. Yet there is universal denial that the oil companies are manipulating anything. And there is equally vehement objections to citing the record breaking reported profits as an indication that these are at windfall levels. Adding another type of fuel to the fire is the recent revelation that a retiring CEO is being given a three hundred million dollar golden handshake plus other embellishments.

Redundant old chestnuts that were batted back and forth with the predictable comments were a) supply doesn't increase as fast as demand and laying the increased demand on a country that the administration wants to paint negatively--China, b) it's the Democrats fault: translation there are more enviromentalists in that party and they have prevented construction of new refinery facilities and/or drilling in ANWAR; c) if the government would just increase the CAFE requirements we wouldn't be having this problem,d) nothing will be done because there are two oilmen at the position of president and vice president, e) Americans are spoiled by the low prices of the past and they might as well get used to higher prices as Europeans have.

Whenever the latter defensive comment is made, there is this missing element: most European countries have extensive public transporatation systems that residents can rely on to get to their jobs, do their errands or keep medical appointments. Not so in America, we are much more dependent both on the economic and social dimensions of the addiction.

Never, never, ever is it mentioned that we are spending those billions of military budget dollars on a force that will become impotent when the oil resources are gone. Nor is it mentioned what drain the present deployment has placed on supply. Those Humvees, fighter planes, destroyers, aircraft carriers, tanks etc. aren't fuel efficent vehicles either.What sort of a dead-end is this? Will the end of petroleum supply mean the beginning of peace. A peace dividend.

Some of the hated environmentalists can probably tell you that after the petroleum shortage has had its way the next resource we will find in short supply for the global population needs is water. But this is again just one of those pesky subjects it is best to pretend isn't on the horizon, after all the Darfur genocide can be ignored so don't get your undies in a twist - things will be okay if you will just be a docile unquestioning consumer. Oh, come to think of it how are all those products outsourced all over the globe going to get back to our malls when the sea and air commerce gets diminished by the oil depletion and the prices become higher than if they were domestically produced with labor earning a livable wage? Better not think too long term or you might have visions of walking to the mall and being limited to buying only what you can lug home -hmm wonder how refrigerators and mega sized televisions can be strapped to dollies and wheeled home when replacements are required, now the futurists must have some answers to this but I don't see them on the week-end talk shows touting aircraft that fly by peddling.

Are we headed for two camels in every garage - or at least back to having a horse and buggy rig? Will this resolve in five years, or ten? I insist on living until this plays out, I've got to know the ending.

Two for every garage?

Nick Anderson's Cartoon Commentary

 


He needs to be assigned to permanent R&R.


graysmoke 

Rummy on the Defensive

Just wondering, is this how many times he told them to "SHOVE" it?

snip

Senior military leaders "are involved to an unprecedented degree in every decision-making process" in the Defense Department, according to the memo. Rumsfeld, it said, had met 139 times with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and 208 times with combat commanders from 2005 to the present.

end snip
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/16/AR2006041600665.html?referrer=email&referrer=email


These retired generals are old enough to speak for themselves. General Myers showed his true colors by the job he just took in the corporate-military-industrial complex.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2006/03/former_top_us_g.html


Frank is not going to go down in history with any pluses either, he reportedly kow-towed - remember shock and awe.Wasn't that supposed to be the effect on the demonized enemy and not on our own?

graysmoke

Take Time to Smell The Roses

 

These are perfuming the front courtyard. 

Spring Has Busted Out All Over

  

Find The Hummingbird

  

Cactus Easter Hat Bloom

  

Easters Past & Present

What a difference half a century makes! During the early years of marriage and with having our four children all during my twenties, mainly because the middle two were only fourteen months apart (for which I joked with my OB/GYN about his creating business by distributing defective diaphragms)(this was long before birth-control pills became the norm-in fact it was circa late forties through fifties) - a number of weeks in spring were jammed with the additional project of seeing that all had spiffy new Easter outfits.

With our income limitations, this was a huge challenge for the budget and the only way to solve it was to apply my sewing skills to creating as much of the clothing as possible. During those years, I made many of our wardrobe items, tailored corduroy jackets for my husband even. I was self-taught mainly, because I opted out of home-ec sewing class out of boredom! This may have been because my only paternal aunt who was a registered nurse but also a skilled seamstress with marvelous taste and had made many items of clothing for me over my schoolyears. Especially poignant in my memories are the dresses she made for my piano recitals, the only positive aspect in relation to that agony. I was shy and sure that every one had much more talent than I, the music teacher included all students regardless of ability or experience, in those tortures. But back to Easter outfitting.

Dictates of the budget propelled these projects forward into years when my daughters thought I was Marquesa de Sade when I still created Easter outfits and school wardrobes for them long after their willingness to wear them . It is doubtful that their memories are positive. In retrospect, I wish I had photo'd all my creations for a scrap book.(My skills eventually included slip-covering and lined pleated draperies too.)

Time, too much of it, would be consumed looking through the pattern books (these were the size of major urban yellow page directories and found in the yardage/fabrics departments) of McCall's and Simplicity for just the right style then the hunt for the perfect material and colors. Hours spent laying out the pattern, cutting, pinning, basting, sewing, fitting, trimming etc. - this at least on the outfits for the two girls and myself. The boys fared better, maybe I would include a jacket for them but they always had store-bought trousers. I am sure the girls thought this was quite unfair. In spite of the additional time added to the the usual domestic housekeeping and parenting duties for a family of six, I, recall the experience as a creative outlet for me. And as a result of the penny-squeezing aspect, I could usually purchase Easter bonnets for the girls. One year I even remember making dresses and a co-ordinated duster-type coat for them.We were living in Los Angeles at the time so no heavy coats were needed.

And what is going to be memorable about this year? Packaging torture of a very different kind!! Wardrobe considerations have long since been discarded, but I did decide to get part of a ham - which is somewhat traditional for the season. I have a particular brand that I like and the favored supermarket was having a good promotional price so I found one but just bought on past experience because it was shrouded in black nylon netting (is that supposed to be sexy for a ham?)-then under that was a gold foil-like heavy wrapping. Nothing visible to confirm there was meat under there but I am not that paranoid so tossed it in the basket, brought it home, heaved it in the frig. Then the other night I decided since I will have a problem using this six and a half pounds of meat - I would start early and make myself a ham sandwich. (it is one of those "fully-cooked" types). (One of my bridge buddies was lamenting the fact that she had trouble finding any that weren't - and she preferred yet to cook her own.)

So I pulled the ham from the frig and started the derobing process. First sturdy scissors were needed to cut the nylon netting, okay - then apply them again to cutting through the industrial strength gold foil.Even then the ham resisted birthing from this placenta like cover. I am not sure just which household tool is best for the next challenge. Perhaps a scalpel and a surgeons skill. The ham - visible at last- was encased in a skin of air-tight plastic that seemed strong enough to stop a bullet. Why is packaging going to these extremes.[ I have been having recurrent skirmishes with various purchases - armored in protective films that give no edge to the purchaser in opening these defiant objects, a small index-finger sized pc thumb drive took several efforts to release it from its bondage. Same with replacement batteries, when did they stop using paper/cardboard for packaging?] After exhaustive effort the spiral-cut ham was finally revealed. Good thing about the pre-slicing, I had no energy left for that!

My recollection is that these packaging materials are petroleum sourced - no wonder the world is running short, but after we exhaust this resource just what are we going to face? No basis for road rage or packaging rage. Peace at last.

And there must be an answer there too for the port security concerns. Cocoon those containers this way.

Ham Sandwich anyone?

  

Plucking a Daisy

Will he, or won't he, meaning Rummy stay as Defense Secretary?

The generals have found their voices. The press is pressing the issue, there are many sources out there repeating the postions now being revealed by an increasing number of military officers.

Will all of it be for naught? Given "w"'s personality - that is probably going to be the case. His prompt issuance of a statement regarding his unwavering support of Rummy demonstrates his deaf ear.

What will it take for him to realize how much jeopardy he is placing the troops over there in? This month is another record breaking one for fatalities of our service personnel. I just finished watching The Nightly News Report on PBS which is one place that regularly publishes the list of those making the supreme sacrifice and tonite they had sixteen that the Pentagon had released names and other information about.All were so terribly young, nineteen year-olds up to early twenties. Other broadcasts seldom make any mention of the KIA individuals. How different this is from other wars.In WWII you couldn't walk a block without noticing in practically every home the window - hung with a blue flag with a gold star, maybe about six by eight inches, indicating a member in the service, or more than one family member in many cases.

Currently I am reading a book that is a memoir written by Alvin M. Josephy and in it there are several chapters about his experiences in WWII - first as a civilian radio employee involved in programming and other features of radio at that time - then he enlisted so he could be a combat correspondent. Reading those chapters, revived many memories since the war took place during all my years of high school. Those who did not live through those events don't have as much contrast in relating this AUMF to war, most are using their lenses of experience from either the Korea or Viet Nam police actions. I would recommend that if you weren't in your teens or older through WWII that maybe reading some history would provide a glimpse into how that war soaked itself into every area of daily life. We were dependent on radio and the print press, that alone gives it intense contrast. But without the visual impact offered by television and video coverage, there was a greater sense of personal involvement. In fact, I think televison's 24/7/365 coverage has probably desensitized the general public, that plus the culture of violence in much of pop
tv and film.

One has a responsibility to try to find the truth amongst all the spin, disinformation, manipulation, misrepresentation. It becomes a time consuming search, best advanced by using C-Span and PBS and books for sources. The one I am refering to is "A Walk Toward Oregon" - start around Chapter 10 for the WWII memories, you may find a lot of surprises. Like learning what OFF was, that later became OWI etc.
Or how the Japanese military was so underestimated and how tough the battles were in the Pacific because of that. And how propaganda was dispensed under that era.

Put it all on the scales and you will realize why this is an AUMF - a deadly one true, but this fight is so different, that all the comparisons are for naught, so when you hear some of the blab about "we did this then" etc, please remind the person that this AUMF is in a new class. Terrorists are not going to be defeated militarily, they thrive on violence and what for them is martyrdom and in my opinion that is the trap this administration has fallen into and doesn't know how to extricate itself. But none of the promulgators of this misadventure have the ability to admit this, now it is up to the officers to exhibit the courage to speak up.
Thankfully this is happening at last.

Better now than after two or three more years of this. Let's hope it doesn't turn into a terrible trap for the troops.

Rummy, where is your soul?


graysmoke

more beach scenes