Our Excellent Adventures

To me it seems that most forget or put into the very back of their mind the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nothing new actually as I think most have been doing that since the beginning.

I don’t think those that have served and their families will ever forget and if you watch this clip (which came via the Special Forces network) and help with some supplies, you won’t forget that you personally helped people in Iraq. It will make you stand just a littler taller -  I promise!

This is a volunteer clinic, staffed by military and civilian contractors in their off time. It is known as a premier location for the treatment of burn injuries, with patients coming there from many areas in Iraq. That in itself is no small feat.  Many times Iraqi hospitals lack the supply of painkillers and antibiotics and other equipment that the clinic offers but the clinic can use your help.

It is real easy to send US mail to Iraq. Go to the post office and pick up several of their flat rate boxes. They are free. You pay when you mail.  You can fill this with as much weight as it will take (cost is the same no matter how much weight), seal it, address it and take it back to the PO. Fill out a very short customs form and that is it.The list of what they need is at the end of the film. No checks or cash and please send supplies to:

Jimmy Compton
SOC
CSC Scania
APO AE 09331

for more information email jimmycompton@gmail dot com

Filled up lately? No, not just $40 worth but fill ‘er up. If I am on reserve I can expect to drop a “C-note” and some change. That hurts more than walking away from a slot machine you played all day and watching a new guy come up and win the jackpot.

These energy prices are hurting us in ways we don’t know yet. One person said everyone is just charging it and paying the monthly minimum. We won’t get the full impact until a couple of years from now when every one’s credit is maxed out.

Here, there are many more people riding mass transit but the freeways are still full. I don’t think the prices matter to a lot of folks. They still do 75-85 on the freeway. I still see those jack-rabbit starts at the red light. Must be a lot of rich people around here. Their usage (demand) actual helps to increase prices. I try to run at 60-65mph. If I hit 70, my mileage drops fast. You try 65 mph on the freeway and see how many really are not in pain yet.

If the government was serious and really wanted to do something they’d be more serious than those $600 dollar checks.

Are you kidding? That will fill many tanks only about 6 times. What do we do for the other 46 weeks?

If the government was serious and really wanted to do something they would bring back the 55 mile an hour speed limit.*

Bringing back the 55 mile per hour speed limit would reduce consumption and *reduce green house emissions. We need something on the order of the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act but broader.

If the government was serious and really wanted to do something they would freeze retail prices right now by declaring a national emergency because that is what it is.

Freezing prices would give us time to reach consensus on what must be done to protect our economy. The Senate has no real idea what is happening. When do you think Senator Kennedy or Senator Rockefeller last bought gasoline? I’m willing to bet that half the Senate doesn’t even drive anymore.

If the government was serious and really wanted to do something they would disband the “futures” market.

This false layer of profits takers decides what crude and gasoline will be priced at - they never touch it. They never see it. They never take physical possession of it. They just set the price based upon how they see the world. They do the same with grain, rice, corn - you name it - they are taking a slice off the top right out of your wallet.

If the government was serious and really wanted to do something they would freeze ethanol production.*

This false market created by Presidential mandate has driven up the price of food. More forests are being burned and cut back to grow more corn - not to eat but for fuel. *Ethanol is not necessarily bad but it is having effects on green house gasses we didn’t predict. So ease off on the throttle. See what’s around that curve ahead.

If the government was serious and really wanted to do something they would start a Manhattan project on an alternative to gasoline.*

Not alternative energy. Yes, that would be good but really what do we need right now? Something to replace gasoline. It is never going to get better as long as we and the rest of the world are fighting for the limited supply of crude to produce gasoline. *This would also help the green house gasses we are so concerned about. So focus, not coal or solar or nuclear or natural gas. Just gasoline.

If the government was serious and really wanted to do something they would institute a windfall profits tax on oil companies right now. 

Yes, just like we did in the 70’s but instead of messing with crude, tax gross profits.  Oh I know, they have all those stock holders . . . Do you really think any of this money is making its way back into the economy? Is anyone building any new refineries? Is anyone expanding oil or natural gas pipeline? See a lot of new drilling going on? No, no, no and no. The money is just going into some gigantic vault like Scrooge McDuck used to play in. We can use that money for the economy. Help pay for the war (I thought we went to war for oil?). Fund the new Manhattan Project. Reduce taxes. Anything but leave it sitting in McDuck’s vault.

But they aren’t serious. Too much oil money going to campaigns. Too cozy with the Saudi’s. Too many special interests to keep satisfied. Not willing to step up. More wise than we who have to have gasoline. Blah, blah, blah . . . I hope we can afford $8 dollar gasoline. It’s just around the next corner.

I don’t have a lot of friends. Especially close friends who would drop everything and come to my aid if I needed them - maybe 3 or 4 like that. I think one should pick and choose friends wisely.

We are judged by the company we keep (at least that’s what Mom said). Would I have a friend who protested in the 60’s or fled to Canada or participated in crimes against the government - no.

It is a fact in America we are quick to forgive and forget.  Partly because we really don’t teach history but mostly because we are always looking to the future. Not necessarily a bad thing.

But some, like me, don’t find it easy to forgive and forget some things. I think it is because of the time I spent in the military. Bill Ayers (a legend in his own mind), shown here in a photograph from Chicago Magazine, would not be my friend. Not only do I see him as a weak coward, I am mad he is teaching, writing and making a profit from being a revolutionary.

”I don’t regret setting bombs,” Bill Ayers said. ”I feel we didn’t do enough.”

Oh really. That is exactly how I feel. I don’t feel like we did enough to squash worms like him.

And now, Ayers is making money from his days of crime. He is not really a true rebel. He was and is that way only when it is convenient. When it brings him attention. When it strokes his ego. Otherwise he wouldn’t just be talking about it from his comfy college job with his Starbucks in hand. He would be out there blowing something up. (How brave to stomp on a flag with no one about except the photo crew.)

And sadly, some people are drawn to idiots like this - even those running for political office. That is their mistake and I am not likely to forget that either. In fact, because of their association with Ayers, I am willing to conclude that they share some of his beliefs. Not something I would want in a President.

The leader of Hamas said Monday that his Palestinian militant group would offer Israel a 10-year “hudna,” or truce, as implicit proof of recognition of Israel if it withdrew from all lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East War.

At the same time the leader of Hamas offered Israel 100 million square miles of land with no conditions on the dark side of the moon and tickets for everyone in Israel to see The Land of Oz.

Now that former President Carter has recognized Hamas, and after reading his tea leaves at night,  he will tell you anything is possible.

Carter said that Hamas is prepared to accept the right of Israel to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.”

On his next unauthorized, unwanted, unneeded and uneventful trip, he will be talking to little green men about sharing their time travel technology.

Obviously, no one at American or at the FAA have heard of risk mitigation or something else is the real agenda. In risk mitigation you have to balance the chance of a certain event happening against the cost/inconvenience of defending against it.

American estimates that more than 100 passengers would have been on each canceled flight. That means a quarter-million people have been inconvenienced this week.

American officials said the safety of their planes was never jeopardized, and the FAA said no serious incidents have been blamed on poorly bundled wires.

The wires had been bundled. They use spacers around the bundles to hold them away from the surface and the spacers were there. Problem - there was too much room between the spacers. So the FAA flunked AA fixes and there you go.

Could the FAA given them more time thus allowing a semi-orderly fix without effecting so many people? How far down the line was the decision made?

Could American Airlines have appealed through the courts or political channels? Or is this a chance to cause the FAA many problems?

I can hardly wait for the Congressional hearing on this.