The Liquor Talking

It’s Friday, August 28, 2009 and not a moment too soon! Gad, but what a trying week.

Seems that the anniversary of 9/11 is now to be a “National Day Of Service.” Here are the facts:

1. We were attacked by a foreign foe on our soil
2. 2,974 people were killed. Another 24 remain missing
3. 55 active duty military members were killed in the Pentagon attack (here’s the act of war)
4. More than 90 countries lost citizens in the WTC attacks
   
5. 411 emergency workers died in the WTC attacks

And how did that work out, hmmmm? We’re back to calling it the “War on Terrorism” again because nobody gives a damn (especially terrorist) about “Overseas Contingency Operations” when terrorist still appear to be able to operate at will.

“War on Terror” is thought to be derogatory against Muslims. So what?

You want to convince me that Islam is a religion of peace? How’s about rounding up these so-called mullahs that call for violence against anyone/anything that’s not Muslim? I mean under Muslim law, heresy is to be punished by (not punishable by) death. If Islam is a religion of peace and these guys are preaching terror, then shouldn’t they be put to death? Maybe if I saw more of these guys swinging from cables I’d be convinced. But for now, I’m thinking a little profiling (calling a spade a spade) might just be the right thing to do.

So like the chains we’re coming to believe in, you can keep your “National Day of Service.” I’m gonna spend my time remembering what was done to us. I’m gonna spend time being mindful of and praying for the families who lost loved ones on that horrible day. I’m gonna spend time being mindful of and praying for the men and women serving the cause of Liberty, both here and abroad. I’m gonna beg God to continue to rain His abundant grace upon us and that we will somehow, prove worthy in at least some small measure.

A National Day Of Service? No sir. No thank you. My anger burns yet. It will not be attenuated by craven word games. Call it what you will if you want to forget. I choose to not forget. I choose to remember.

In other news, sometimes, searching the Internet evaporates my hopes:

I’m just looking for someone in Billings, Montana who is not an ignorant hillbilly. Yahoo cannot find one, not even me (Shucks!) and suggests I move. I called the wife and she said not to take it personally. She also said that I tend to hide my light under a bushel, so this is why Yahoo didn’t notice me. This, ladies is how you get extra foot messages. Well, if you’re my wife it’s how you get them. If you’re not, then I don’t know how you get them. I just know you don’t get them from me.

In other news, seems that California’s Other Senator, Montana’s Max Baucus will be holding a teleconference “town hall meeting” with members of AARP. Other’s can tune into the teleconference by joining AARP.

Seems that Max just can’t be pulled away from his attempts to come up with something we can all approve of (yeah, good luck with that) long enough to at least breath the same air. With a nice, safe teleconference, you can allow only the people who will agree with you and can mute or disconnect anyone who wants to call you low-down.

But it seems the good senator has forgotten over the past 31 years exactly who it is he represents. I mean what’s the point of reelecting this guy, getting him more and more seniority if that never translates into Montana having a bigger voice? How is his being chairman of the finance committee resulting in anything extra for the people of Montana? It seems to me that we don’t have his ear and he’s SUPPOSED to be a Montana Senator.

This just in from our “Smoke a Pack a Day Desk” — A Dillon rancher lost 120 buck sheep last week to wolves. True to form, the wolves simply killed most of the animals, the only ones that were eaten were eaten by some lucky bears that just happened upon the carnage.

The timing is right in that there is a motion before federal judge Donald Molloy to halt the commencement of legal sport hunting for wolves. Since their “reintroduction”, the wolf population has grown to an estimated 1,350 wolves. This is more than 4 times the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s original recovery goal of 300 animals. In spite of such a tremendous recovery, the enviro-talilban insists wolves remain threatened and that hunting could help drive them again toward extinction.

Look, wolves became extinct in these parts because they, like ALL organisms that are selected for extinction, could not adapt to changes in their environment. Yeah, one of the changes was humans killing them at every opportunity. The environment changed, wolves could not adapt, so they became extinct in these parts. It’s pretty much the way God (Mother Nature if you prefer) does things.

But no. Some knuckleheads decide we need to restore some “natural order.” These all-knowing (Even more so than God) select a date on the environmental timeline, a date where there were wolves in these parts, as the proper date for the “natural order.” Why they didn’t select a date 100 years before or after remains a closely guarded line of bullshit secret. Now we have wolves who’s “natural” environment includes artificial protection from the top predator here abouts, namely humans. So, naturally they are going thrive.

Thrive to 4 times the number necessary to be considered “recovered.” But it’s never enough with these people. We could be up to our scalps in wolves and it wouldn’t be enough. The lesson here boys and girls is to never, ever negotiate with terrorists environmentalist.

We close out with just a tad bit of grandfatherly bragging.

Last Saturday, I took my 6 year-old granddaughter shopping for school clothes. Yes, yes, she’d already been with her mom and with her gramma and was adequately set up for school. But, when she shops with me, SHE gets to pick what she wants and not what someone else likes or thinks is practical. I’ll admit to liking being the good guy.

Now, when we went shopping for summer clothes, we worked out that it was important that each piece of an outfit worked with each piece of every other outfit. By doing so, you get n^2 combinations, where n is the number of outfits.

So it was that we set out to get a total of 3 outfits. This was soon negotiated to 4 outfits and her logic was flawless: 3 outfits means 9 possible combinations. 4 outfits means 16 possible combinations. So by adding just one more outfit, we (the royal “we” in this case) get 7 additional combinations.

Hmmm…. 6 years old and already understanding this. I’m not sure if someone is teaching her math or teaching her how to manipulate men.

In any case, we settled on 4 outfits. Plus a dress. Plus a pair of shoes for the dress.

Oh and some socks too.

Safe and pleasant weekend for everyone. I will be preparing my world-famous brisket for a barbecue on Saturday. Other than that, I plan to spend the weekend practicing my advanced sloth techniques.