COLLECTIVE MADNESS
“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
To those that paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we enjoy I salute you.
ReplyDeleteI have a flag, folded in my office, from someone dear to me that has passed that paid with his blood.
I will not forget.
I approached the wall, long and dark at 1st.
ReplyDeleteI had many a negative feelings towards this wall. preconceived.
But then I ask where do I find?
A docent from the wall directed me to a book...
I looked up a name.
Just a name of course..
just words..
But there is was...
Then I walked the wall... Starting at the start of the "conflict"...
saw the "names" grow as the months and years went by...
then I found the panel...
scrolled down to the right section...
6, 7, names in? there it was...
carved in stone...
a name...
Just on of 58 thousand names, but this name was not just a word. It was personal..
it was real..
I took a piece of paper and a pencil and scrolled over the name creating a inverse image of the name...
the name....
the tears did not stop of 20 minutes....
no one bothered me, no one approached me...
But I did see others, just like me....
and then I left...
I remember this day and it's reasons...
That wall turned out to be one of the best monuments ever constructed.
DeleteA dignified memorial.
DeleteTo all the Vets - good and meaningful and memorable Memorial Day to you all.
ReplyDeleteb
Thanks, although getting beat up in the Army, or losing body parts on the farm was nuthin compared to this.
DeleteDon't know what I'd do with myself if I didn't have Max and Reefer to kick around.
Understand.
DeleteHow many fingers you got, Doug?
Dad had all ten, but three on one hand were bent over to his thumb, result of a hay baler.
I came out pretty well unscathed except for a spinal disc which no longer exists.
First thing they always notice on the x-rays.
b
I screwed up my back in the Army on an International Harvester!
Delete(Later, I had an IH Trike Deathrap given to me by a friend for the Farm... Drove it all the way back on the road from above Hearst Castle to our farm 7 miles up Toro Creek From Moro Bay [now I can't believe that really happened, but it had to get here, or there, rather, from there. Two other guys were involved, maybe I drove my Corvair Van and let them drive the Trike? Helluva torquey inline 4, tho]]
Anyway, back to the Army:
I was at a Nike base outside of Olathe, Kansas, Tornado alley for short.
We got our rations from Olathe NAS, so that was the best grub I ever had in the Army.
Liver and Onions one of my faves that I got a taste for in Ko..rea. Mighta been Dog Liver.
...anyways, back to my back (so to speak) and the Army, and the Nike Base:
Inside the security fence was a big field that had to be mowed now and then.
As head of the Motor Pool, I took care of the Harvester Trike and the 6 foot PTO Driven Rotary Mower, and for some reason I, rather than my assistent who happened to be Black, got to mow the field.
...now I remember: He drove our Ford Stakebed all around that part of the two states picking up supplies, and such.
I accompanied him to Leavenworth once:
That was scarey!
We were in an underground laundry, and the Cons were manning a giant howser (had more girth than their dicks) attached to a giant pulley above, and connected to a wire cage elevator, so that's how the laundry moved up and down there) Reminded me of Frankenstein or Zombies, or somethin from my past, or future.
Back to my back, (again)
Soo...
I mowed and I mowed, all day long.
At the end of the day, I was dozing off a bit, and the right axle of the trike caught the cyclone fence, which immediately pivoted the front of the trike into the fence.
Now this was no Greg Weldon Indycar experience, but it was a waker upper.
...so to speak.
That night I had night watch duties at HQ, all nite, which I figured called for a little time on the vinyl couch.
Unfortunately, I again dozed off, this time with my head propped up on one end, and my feet on the other, which woulda been fine, but I was on my tummy, which meant that my back was arched backwards.
When I got up upon awakening, I immediately fell on my face, all day bouncing around on the trike, the chance encounter with the fence, and sleeping backwards being just too much for my young old back)
So where were we?
he guy we were working for had a Walnut Orchard.
DeleteHis nephew drove a D-6 with a shaker rig on the front.
Nephew said uncle was once pulling one of those spring harrows around, fell off, got harrowed, and lived to tell about it.
I'd bet that would be a harrowing experience, don'tcha think?
Anyhoo, that shaker rig had a inch and a half/2 inch cable with a hook on the end, which I would attach to a canvas harness that I drapped around the Walnut Tree Trunks.
Nephew would then back up a bit to stretch out the cable, turn on the shaker, and down came the Walnuts for the Mexicans to pick up.
No such low life job for me, I manned The Hook!
Problem was, the harrowing guy and the nephew cooked up a little harrowing experience for me:
Uncle welded a broken hook back together, and nephew slipped slightly down the hill right after I hooked up the harness.
The cable stretched, the hook snapped, and it was like an F-18 taking out a restraining cable, and all Hell broke loose, as well as the flying half-hook.
...except I happened to be standing there.
Needless to say, Mayhem ensured, but I told Trish all the Gory Details, so if you missed that, tough shit.
You got your problems, I got mine.
I will say the plastic surgeon had me at the front of a picture album as I looked as I showed up at the Hospital.
...the Before shots, don'tcha know, and I was the star of the show.
I asked them to remove my pics so I wouldn't have to confront them at the front desk the next time I came in.
Where were we?)
Oh well, What the Hell!
Crap!!!
DeleteWhile I was pretending to be Hemingway, the water in my wife's like-new Revere Ware Pan went away, leaving to stove to have at the pan.
She used it 40 years, I use it 3 months...
...where's the reset button on my so-called life?
This one's on you, Bob!
Delete...although I realize Max or Reefer might set you up.
"mighta"
DeleteAfghanistan War
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama paid tribute Monday to the men and women who have died defending America, pointing to Vietnam veterans as an under-appreciated and sometimes maligned group of war heroes who remained true to their nation despite an unwelcome homecoming.
ReplyDeleteLINK
What is interesting is the 10,000 and counting comments. The Limbaugh Slut Incident went north of 16,000 (I think or very close.)
Aside from Red State and Daily Kos, which tend to be divided into more sections (diaries and various things), is there another blog site with that kind of participatory readership?
There's only so many morons to go around.
DeleteThumbs up for you paticipating here also,
you multitasking moron.
Maxine the Multitasker...
DeleteHa, I didn't say it.
Meanwhile back in the Real World of TRUTH:
DeleteBarry the Crackhead, Dorhn, and her husband reviled the Vets and wouldn't have really minded if several had been bystanders some of the times they were blowing up cops.
Not Doubt Rev Wright had more than a few relevant sermons including vets.
Just the atmosphere in which to bring up two little girls.
Red Panty Babies.
Barry's not exactly GI Joe, but neither was GWB Homecoming King.
DeleteThe bending of ROE began under Bush. Remember Fallujah II?
I'm also ambidextrous, and marginally psychic, which means, as I was informed in San Diego, that I'm Everywhere at Once. Not much you can do.
Oh God, not another psychic.
Delete:(
Lord, help us.
And ambi too.
"I'm Everywhere at Once.
That helps, on the cost of air travel at least.
And no TSA tomfoolery.
b
You can run but you can't hide.
DeleteI see Alan Simpson's little rant got 10,000 plus comments as well.
DeleteI'm guessing it's probably roughly the same 10,000 but not necessarily, which is interesting in itself.
Arianna really found her niche - after a bumpy ride.
Breitbart did all the work to get her where she is.
DeleteDoesn't suprise me you're on ambi's...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/28/houla-massacre-us-military-warns
ReplyDeleteHell, Barry could probly get re-elected if he'd just sent in the Specters and the A-10s and take out all of Assad's Tanks in two days.
Guess I have to hope those folks'll just have to continue to take it in the ass.
Some of 'em are Christians, after all.
They deserve it.
Just ask Reefer.
Mom! They Ruined my bedroom!
ReplyDeleteDomestic US political conditions have also shifted since the Libya campaign. With an election in November, the president may not want to embroil US forces in another Middle East conflict when he is trumpeting getting the US out of unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ReplyDelete---
Can't blame him for wanting to take the Credit for Two More Losses in our Long-War post WWII days.
All his heros as a young crackhead took credit for giving Ho and Pol Pot and the rest of the boys the win.
Here's something for Reefer to smoke if he's hungover.
ReplyDeletehttp://raysweb.net/specialplaces/pages/flag.html
Good Native American medicine.
We found some out on the farm today and looked it up. Seems it is having trouble in Canada but down this way seems to be doing well.
b
"Aboriginal peoples have used the western blue flag for medicinal purposes. The rootstock was added to a smoking mixture to induce nausea or chewed raw to relieve headaches."
DeleteWell maybe not to smoke it, but rather chew it raw, take the headache right away.
b
Time for the bees to play 'follow the arrows'.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the picture at the very bottom, lower left.
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/iris/blueflag/iris_missouriensis.shtml
Never occurred to me that the colors and patterning on a flower could serve such a purpose.
But, it makes perfectly good sense.
b
WTF else did they not teach you at that so-called University?
DeleteDid you have Huskies for Professors?
What a fuckin Dog of an educayshun!
Now you got Ruf believin you thot the Birds and the Bees were made on Day 4.
DeleteFuckin Simpleton like the Founders with their so called backward-ass "religions"
Mohammadism is the wave of the future, baby.
Darwin's Theory tells me so.
I tried growin some color of Morning Glory after I read the seeds had an LSD like substance.
DeleteExperience taught me that such high-end endeavors were best left to folks that were up to the task:
Our Afghan Brothers.
Carolla's on a field trip lookin for a flower that looks like J-Lo's Pussey.
DeleteHe is one douchey douche,
that's for sure.
I forgot, the so-called farmer is a poet.
DeleteA Douche Major for sure.
You shoulda led the band:
The Douchey Drum Major.
Download this Puppy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/IntermtSemiDsrtDesertrx4FINAL.pdf
Nice resource.
DeleteSUPPORT THE POLLINATORS!
FREE THE BUTLER!
b
"bastard toadflax"
ReplyDeleteNamed in honor of the Reefer after he "Went Green"
Kermit and the Bastard Toadflax.
DeleteGreen to the core.
Fallujah II
ReplyDeleteA couple of days ago I was thinking Falluja I was THE turning point in the War.
Richard was doing a beautiful job of describing the beautiful job just a relative few Marines were doing flushing out the insurgies, and cornering them up in the northwest corner of the city.
Almost antiseptic.
Like Special Forces Work.
Then, just when the were ready to go in for the kill, the fuckin Pols stepped in and stopped them!!!
All of us with any common sense knew this was fucked, but Richard tried to describe their way out of it.
Next thing you know, years pass and The Regulars are Sent in to level the place just to show 'em good.
Fuckin Losers.
Meanwhile, that little pot bellied dude had his guys pickin off our men with snipers in a fuckin cemetary.
Freaking Brilliant.
“MONARCH
ReplyDeleteBUTTERFLIES
NEVER FAIL TO
CATCH THE
VISITOR’S EYE
AND ALWAYS
LEAD TO
A TEACHABLE
MOMENT.”
-- LOGAN LEE,
PRAIRIE SUPERVISOR
MIDEWIN NATIONAL TALLGRASS PRAIRIE
That reminds me:
We took a hike down Toro Creek Rd from the farm to the Beach. (all dirt)
At the begining of the flat, fertile farmland that the portagies used for Dairy Farming was a Eucalyptus Grove (and some orange and wild plums)
The monarchs would hang in Masses 2 feet across and 6 feet tall on the Eucalyptus.
Truly Awesome
You could feel the heat from their little biological reactor core.
Mom liked to grow purple Irises.
ReplyDeleteTiger Lily
The Humbolt Tiger is one of my favs.
Lily and Tiger Lily
:)
Deleteb
Crime Always Pays
ReplyDelete