Monday Book Pick: Eye of the Hammer
Eyes of the Hammer (The Green Beret Series) by Bob Mayer
Fast paced military fiction set the 1980s with that late 80s Golden Age of Tom Clancy Techno Thrillers feel. In this case it’s Columbian drug lords being targeted by Green Berets and the rest of the Special Operations Command. The Drug Lords have their moments, but they don’t fair well against in the long run against the U.S. Military. A good read with Good Guys and Bad Guys, and most of the Bad Guys get what is coming to them. There are the standard themes running through that you can pick up in other Military Fiction, typically written by former enlisted or NCOs, including the concept that the only good officers are mavericks.
The Onion nails the left’s bed wetting fear of Rep. Paul Ryan
The Onion posts a “Letter from Rep. Ryan to the left.”
Admit It, I Scare The Ever-Loving Shit Out Of You, Don’t I? By Paul Ryan Candidate for Vice President of the United States August 13, 2012 | ISSUE 48•33
When Mitt Romney selected me as his running mate, I knew the Democratic attack dogs would come out in full force…. But if we’re being honest with each other—if we’re able to put aside the talking points for a few minutes and say what we’re all actually thinking and feeling—I believe we can acknowledge the real truth here.
I’m young, I’m handsome, I’m smart, and I’m articulate. And that scares the ever-loving shit out of you. You can pretend like you have this thing in the bag, but you know good goddamn well that this race just got real interesting, real fast.
It’s okay to admit it. You’re frightened to death of me. It might actually be healthy for you to face your fears now rather than later, when Mitt and I are leading by a few points in the polls and it looks like this thing might end badly for you. Face it: I’m not some catastrophe waiting to happen, like a Sarah Palin or a Dan Quayle. On the contrary, you have the exact opposite fear. I’m a solid, competent, some might say exceptional, politician.
Did you get nervous when you read that last sentence? Is it because you know in your heart of hearts that it’s 100 percent true? Is it because, even if you strongly disagree with my beliefs on Medicare, Social Security, women’s rights, and marriage equality, you know my talent as a speaker and my well-thought-out approach to these issues—no matter how radical and convoluted you find them—might just be enough to win over independent voters?
Do you get chills just thinking about how strong my appeal actually is?
Obama Economy Chart of the day
Nothing fancy, just tracking inflation and GDP for the first half of 2012 to see how our Dear Leader’s economic polices have been working out.
As you can see, what money you have left after taxes is loosing value at a faster rate than the economy has been growing.
The only positive thing about this illustration is that it shows inflation is on the decline. Which is good for you the tax paying, goods consuming citizen, and bad for our Dear Leader and his economic team. They actually want inflation to rising, not falling. Look it up, their plan was a sharp spike in inflation so they could pay off the massive government debt (currently $15.9 Trillion and rising) with money devalued by inflation. Their greatest fear is deflation, where the currency actually gains value.
The decline in GDP is a clear indication that the American people should not repeat the economic policies of Barack Hussein Obama, which has put the country in the worst economic “recovery” since the Great Depression.
Quote of the Day
Filed under: American History, Barking Moonbats, History, Politics, Space Tech, Technology
“Is it gonna go to where the astronauts planted the flag?”
Texas democrat and member of the US House of Representatives, Sheila Jackson Lee while being shown video of the Curiosity rover on Mars during a visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
I was going to post this without comment, but frag it, statements that stupid deserve comment.
The democrat from Texas, representing the district the Johnson Space Center is in, is so bloody ignorant of not so distant American history, that she doesn’t know that in 1969, Americans walked on Earth’s moon, not Mars.
This is beyond the level of ignorance so called “tolerant” liberals accuse Republicans in their fantasies. If anyone with a “R” behind their name, every news talking head would be leading their broadcast and the propagandists at NBC “News” would special graphic and running it constantly.
Since the Congressperson in question is a far left extremist liberal democrat, you can count on hearing crickets chirping before CNN runs this.
Obama Economy Chart of the Day
Let us review just what this chart illustrates.
Our Dear Leader promised the American people that if his massive “porkulus” bill was passed, unemployment levels would drop much faster than if the government did absolutely nothing to try and improve the economy. A government driven unemployment rate of 5.6% was promised by July 2012, instead of the to be feared 6.0% rate of no government action.
Now to inject reality into our Dear Leader‘s “planned economy” model. The reality is that unemployment went up from 8.2% to 8.3%. The United States is 2.3% worse off than if the federal government had done nothing! According to Obama’s own metrics, his attempts to “improve” the economy has actually made things worse!
Now, one could cut the President some slack, since he has extremely limited experience with the private sector, and trusted academics with absolutely zero private sector experience for his economic advice. That is if he was willing to admit the error of his ways and come clean with the American people that he made mistakes, very large mistakes, that stole money from pockets of the American worker, and is now willing to try concepts that are new to him, but have improved the economy in past recession recoveries.
Ya, I know, that scenario just is not going to happen. Our Dear Leader and his ‘advisers’ are doubling down on their failed policies and trying to tell Americans who have seen their net worth go down while the price of food and fuel go up, that his plan is “working.”
Seriously, he is blowing so much smoke up the collective asses of America that his speeches should come with a cancer warning.
Sunday SciFi: Ringoverse/Warehouse 13 crossover
John Ringo has slipped a non-subtle Warehouse 13 reference in his latest book, Queen of Wands.
OK, it’s more of a ‘guest appearance’ than a reference. Artie and Claudia show up to bag and tag an artifact after Barbara Everette, and an Opus Dei strike team, finish wiping out the nest of evil people who wanted to use it to raise a demon. If you have read the first Special Circumstances book, the only spoiler there concerned Artie and Claudia.
Apparently, John Ringo is a fan of the show.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
This second outing in the Ghost Rider francise is B-Movie making at it’s B grade average. Shot in Eastern Europe, primarily to keep the costs down, but it also gave some great location shots. Nicholas Cage turned the crazy up a few notches in his deliverance of the cursed and soul tortured Johnny Blaze. The level of bad guy was turned up a few notches as well. Ciaran Hinds can play the bad guy quite well. An OK movie for a rental at home with popcorn and bourbon.
Crazy for Covers
I’ve been a Kate Bush fan for a long time. How long? I’ve got a good chunk of her work on vinyl.
So a cover album of Kate Bush tunes would definitely catch my ear. It’s called I WANNA BE KATE: The Songs of Kate Bush
No big name artists, just musicians tipping their own style of hat to Kate Bush, who, like Sinatra, definitely did it her way.
One of my favorites is The J Davis Trio rendition of “There Goes a Tenner.”
Kate Bush has done just a couple of covers, but my favorites is her version of Rocket Man on this tribute album: Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Thank Our Troops Day
Monday Book Pick: Red Shirts
Red Shirts by John Scalzi
Scalzi takes a humorous, and also deadly serious look at one of the most famous themes of Television SciFi. Why Ensign Ricky doesn’t beam back up with the ship’s command crew. At the same time, he has fun with the topic of his earlier book, “Agent to the Stars”, the day to day work of Hollywood. As the author points out in the book, the theme is not new, but he does have an interesting take on it. One thing I did find interesting was that in list of “world as myth” examples, he left out “Number of the Beast.”