I will leave this to post on my blog while I’m tied up with my evaluation. Those who follow the blog know I was told on March 30 to lose 30 pounds by July 12 to qualify for a lung transplant evaluation for my pulmonary fibrosis. I was down 39 pounds on that date—Marine discipline. So they have scheduled me for the evaluation on August 14-17. It will be a complex and somewhat intrusive physical! I’m not sure I’ll go on the transplant list if offered—the five-year survival rate is 50%. But I want the evaluation to gather data and make a better decision.
Political Digest for Thursday, August 16, is below!
Political Digest for Thursday, August 16, is below!
Since I was diagnosed with “Early Interstitial Fibrosis” six years ago, I’ve felt like I was in line at the check-out counter. Lucky for me, I always seem to pick the slow-moving line. My birth mother died of Pulmonary Fibrosis in 1995, about four-five months after diagnosis.
Well, July 2012 is in the books. Another month of confounding the collectivists and annoying my enemies by continuing to breathe. Life is good.
Every morning on the Military History Channel, while using my rowing machine, I see ads for the latest miracle diet pill, Lipozine. When a woman giving a testimonial says, “You just cannot do it on your own,” I want to scream at her that I lost 44 pounds between 3/31 and 8/1 all on my own, on a diet I created myself. (I cut fat, alcohol, sugars and carbs way down, increased protein, vegetables, fruits and fiber. This is not rocket science.) Just for giggles, I ran “Lipozine” on Google. There are lots of Scam warnings, so you should make up your own mind. I don’t know. I gave up buying things from TV infomercials anyway, after getting burned a couple of times.
Forty-eight years ago, on August 16, 1964, I reported to MCRD Parris Island, SC to join the US Marines. I've had a lot of success since then, and a lot of titles: senator, president, CEO, executive, chairman. But no title compares to "Marine." And all my success flowed from the self-discipline given me by my Drill Instructors, a pearl beyond price.
Possible October Surprises. 1. Obama backs an Israel attack on Iran Iran
Once more, with feeling. If you forward e-mails without deleting all the previous e-mail addresses in them, and/or send to a group of people without putting their addresses in the “BCC” field instead of the “To” or “CC” fields, you are inviting Scammers and Fraudsters to harvest the e-mails and use your address to pound your friends. Get with the program!
Obama is the candidate of the takers, Romney of the makers. We will see who prevails in November. Looks like a close one, as they have done everything possible to buy votes and increase the number of takers. A disaster long-term, but all Progressive policies are.
Too many conservative pundits are willing to feed the base red meat about issues that won’t impact our survival, but gets them cheers and readers. Focus on the vital, not the distractions.
Regardless of what happens with my transplant evaluation, I am feeling fine about my situation. I’m always aware that, at 66, I have lived longer than 99% of the people who have ever lived. Because I was born in the United States
With my healthcare challenge, trying to balance the needs and interests of the surgeons’ association I manage with my own needs and interests reminded me that people have an unlimited capacity to believe that what is in their personal interest is in the general interest. And to decide that what they want to do is the right thing to do. See related entries for Washington, Congress and politics. I opted for full disclosure with my Board, thinking it was the right thing to do, chips fall where they may. They have been completely supportive, I’m proud to say.
Okay, I’ve read all the conservative opinion pieces saying that Chief Justice John Roberts is playing a brilliant long game, that the 5-4 decision upholding ObamaCare the massive Obama Health Care tax increase is good for conservative principles, etc. My gut tells me that the decision is a disaster for America
But fair is fair. Congratulations to President Obama on his clever deception of getting through the largest, most regressive tax increase in history, after solemnly promising that people making under $250k wouldn’t pay a dime more in taxes. Fooled those suckers, huh? Maybe will again. Step right up and get something for nothing, rubes!
I’m a typical guy. Though I’m spectacularly unhandy, when I walk through a hardware store, I usually see one or more things that I didn’t know existed, that I suddenly need.
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! But anyone who has been faithfully reading The Old Jarhead Blog has a fairly good idea…
When Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman, who belongs to that newly-discovered racial group of White Hispanics, the cries of “racism” were overwhelming. But mobs of black teens routinely beat whites, Asians and Hispanics, often screaming racial slurs, and the media insists it has nothing to do with race, just young people blowing off steam. If a mob of white teens beat and killed an elderly black man, do you think they would say, “Nothing to do with race”?
My "bucket list” is pretty short. 1. Avoid kicking the bucket....
I’m thinking of getting a Speedo bathing suit. Probably buy one right after I’m asked to try out for the Bulgarian Olympic Swimming Team…
You think unemployment is high now, even without counting those who gave up? Wait until Obama is reelected and tens of thousands of laid-off troops hit the bricks, to pay for more food stamps and other liberal vote-buying programs.
Like beauty, Constitutionality seems to be in the eye of the beholder. Objectivity, too.
I find that when I do a task a lot, even a complicated one, it becomes brainless. Then I make brainless mistakes. Sigh.
I’m often accused of being anti-intellectual, a charge to which I can only reply, “Guilty! And why are you saying that as if it were a bad thing?” I make that reply, of course, largely for the outrage it causes. –Tom Kratman, LtCol , USA
“You didn’t build that—the nation did. And thus you don’t deserve your rewards from it. They must be taken from you and shared by all the people.” What Hitler might have said to the Jews or Stalin to the Kulaks.
Pundits keep saying that, given the economy and all else that has happened, Obama’s poll numbers are defying gravity. I think it’s because the media is propping them up. If we had a truly neutral media, reporting the facts straight down the middle without spin, Romney would be up by 15 now.
For infidels, Shari’a Law is the equivalent of the old Jim Crow “black laws” for African Americans in the old South.
The November choice is not between Romney and Obama. It’s between Romney and Greece Greece
Having lost weight, I have discovered again that not all size 38 jeans—or any other pieces of clothing—are created equal.
Obama has been a disaster for the country, but a tragedy especially for blacks. Having the first black president turn out to be a combination of a black Jimmy Carter’s incompetence and a black David Duke’s racism, who sees everything through a racial lends and appoints people like Eric Withholder to put his thumb on the scale for “my people” at every opportunity, has inflamed a sense of racial grievance and entitlement in blacks and encouraged black dependency. And it has aggravated white racism, which was going dormant. A black Ronald Reagan might have really made this truly a post-racial society.
People who believe in Hope and Change and Equality and Justice and Fairness and the Power of Good Intentions always have an electoral advantage over people who believe in Mathematics and Human Nature and History and Results.
I have a throw-away thank you line: “You’re a great American.” A friend brought me up short with the reply, “The standards keep getting lower and lower, don’t they?” Sadly true.
No matter how good and generous to others you are, in this world you are going to get more attitude than gratitude.
I never give money to charities or politicians who send me “free” guilt-gifts, or solicit me by an electronic robo-call, unless I already contribute to them. And I sometimes rethink that. If you want my money, talk to me in person. I use the free address labels, though. It’s not Green to chuck them.
As I think I’ve said before, it no longer makes sense to make a small contribution, $50 or less, to a candidate you support, because the campaign will spend it all begging you for more. This applies to many charities as well.
Zen Question: If there's negative news about Obama, and the media doesn't report it, did it happen?
Bumper Sticker Suggestion: “Want four more years of the Obama Economy?”
“When Duty whispers low, Thou Must, the youth replies, I Can.” But Old Age says, “Look, I’m trying here, but I got a bad back, I’m 20 pounds over my fighting weight, my eyes are shot, my joints hurt, I can’t hear in some ranges, and I need a nap. I’ll give it a shot, okay? Best I can do.”
When the grocery clerk asks, “Paper or Plastic?” I like to mess with their minds. I say, “Whichever is worse for the environment—with the winters here, I’m working in favor of global warming.”
Not sure I’d ever buy a Kia. Who wants a car that’s the acronym for Killed in Action?
I knew a lot of guys in the Marines who just hated to salute officers. It never bothered me a bit. I mean, they had to salute back, right? Part of the privilege of being a Marine, I thought.
The rise of Progressivism in Europe and now the US
Whenever I was staggering along trying to carry too much, when I should have made two trips, my dad would say, “You’re carrying a lazy man’s load.” Yes, I still do it, hauling up to our second floor condo at once what I should have made two trips for. And I think of him every time.
My distressing habit of setting things down and instantly forgetting where I set them is getting worse. Usually it’s my coffee cup. Recently I lost my favorite Marine cap. I thought it was left in a store dressing room, but it turned up on top of my wife’s computer. I have to remember to try to do something about this.
Given that he was born in Hawaii
I wish they’d put all the celebrity marriages, divorces, rehab admissions and other gossip in one section of the newspaper, by itself, so I could toss it in the recycle bin without going through it. I usually do that with the sports section already, due to lack of time and interest in over-paid, bad-behaving athletes.
The rumor that John Roberts switched sides on Obamacare due to media pressure about the image of the court and his confirmation hearings on judicial restraint is of great concern. True or not, look for liberals and their media allies to put a full court political-media press on the justices before future decisions, such as on preventing voter fraud, which the media favors.
Who’s up for going with me to DC to make a Citizen’s Arrest of Eric Withholder? (Just kidding, government goons, just kidding.)
My Marine buddy Jack lives in the country downstate. He doesn’t bother to lock his house. Here in Chicago
Nothing makes a guy feel old like learning of the death of a woman he once dated, who was younger than he is.
Anyone who thinks about it is embarrassed about the stupid things he or she did in youth. Sometimes this includes actions taken last month.
I’ve long thought that, in every presidential election, the names of all nine Supreme Court justices should be on the ballot. No opponent, but if the justice had 50% + 1 voting to remove him or her, the seat would become vacant and that justice barred from serving again. A blank vote would, thus, count for the judge. Nothing recently has changed my mind.
I wonder what percentage of promises made—and not just by politicians—is actually kept? Small, I bet.
To paraphrase an old Communist apologist, "I have seen the future--and it's a flippin' disaster!"
We told my granddaughter that we might have to give away our three cats if I had a lung transplant. "Well," she said, "We need to give them to someone we can get them back from if we want to." "You mean in case I shuffle off this mortal coil?" I asked. "Well, yeah," she said. Always thinking ahead, that one.
There was a time, as recently as the 1970s, when you met a black professional—lawyer, doctor, pilot—you thought the person must be very good to have overcome racism to get to that level. Now many people wonder if even the most competent black folks got pushed ahead with lower standards because of affirmative action. Liberal racism has been worse for black people than Jim Crow. See related entry for Obama, B. H.
One of the problems with getting older is that you have more you need to remember, but your memory, unlike Single Malt Scotch in a barrel, doesn't improve with age.
There are some people in this world who don't have to put up with jerks. We call them "hermits." Having a lot of money might help you fend jerks off, but many more jerks will come at you if you have money. Yes, I was thinking of a different word than "jerks," but this is a family blog. Usually.
When you have leftovers at a meal, the choice is often to waste them...or to waist them.
This helps with my diet: When faced with a choice not on the approved list, I ask myself, "Would I rather eat this now, or see the scale read lower tomorrow morning?"
With some charities and political campaigns you can never get off their begging list no matter how often you don't give.
Progressive Policies: The World's Largest Ponzi Scheme.
I notice that companies are starting to advertise that you can talk to a real person as a selling point. I’ve always insisted on “live answer” at the associations I managed. If someone wants to leave a voice mail for an absent staffer after talking to a real person, fine, but “Please listen carefully as our menu has changed” is lousy customer service. Period.
If your candidate hasn’t been called a liar by a partisan “Fact Checker,” he’s not trying hard enough.
Democrats like to talk about “vote suppression,” while working diligently to suppress the overseas military vote, which unlike the illegal vote, the dead vote and the “repeater” vote, usually goes against them. (“Repeaters” is the political term for people who vote multiple times in one election, using other people’s names. No way to stop them if ID is not required.)
You can’t do “
Everyone says dumb things. The problem with being a politician is you then have to defend it, because if you admit it was dumb, they rip you apart. In 1976 in the debates, Jerry Ford said he didn't think Eastern Europe was under Soviet domination. I was always convinced he was thinking Western Europe , the kind of mental error anyone could make. But he was stuck defending it.
If you want to understand the world, every morning look at yourself in the mirror and say, "Race means nothing, culture means everything." This is why I’d always prefer having a few beers with black or Hispanic Marines, to white wine and brie with white French Socialists, white Russian Communists or white Harvard Progressives. Marines are “my tribe.” Progressives—not so much.
Not feeling enthusiastic about Romney? Repeat after me: “Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder.”
If someone tells you there is real poverty and hunger in America , you can be sure they have no concept as to what things have been like in places like the Sudan or Ethiopia
I don’t think it’s unreasonable of me to curse at my computer when it does what I tell it to, rather than what I want it to. Regardless of what my office colleagues say.
Telling the truth in America
Sometimes I wonder if the folks I work for come across a document on their computer and think, “Shall I trash this, or send it to Bob to print in the agenda book for the next meeting? Better be safe….”
Once a government or movement is powerful enough to do what the powers in charge convince themselves is for the “good of the people,” regardless whether the people want it done or not, it is now powerful enough to do anything that people who get control want to do, under the guise of the public good. When the powerful have “socialist” on their resumes, doing what’s “best for the people” often means exterminating groups of people, Jews in the case of the National Socialists in Germany, Kulaks for the Russian Communists, tens of millions of peasants for Mao’s Red Chinese, millions of third world kids through Malaria to “save the birds from DDT” by the Greens, and in the case of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood, generations of what she called “the unfit”—black babies. You will note that the rulers and their families always live very well while doing these “good deeds” for “the people.”
And this is ever the law: The powerful eat first. (And eat best, of course. “Power” can come from muscles, charisma, skill with a sword, guns, followers, religious devotion, political fanaticism, oratory or wealth. Usually a combination thereof.)
Given the fund-raising totals since the court ruled on Obamacare, we may come to view John Roberts as a Romney bundler.
I suppose everyone thinks they might have been more successful in a different career, given the opportunity. For example, I believe that, born at a different time in a different society, I’d have made an excellent Warlord. You know the drill: obsequious minions, captive concubines, palace intrigues, executions at dawn, plundering rivals. All within my best skill sets, if not my limited-government conservative principles.
My wife and I enjoy bargain hunting. That’s kind of a hobby that often saves money. Unfortunately, it also often wastes money, on more books that I don’t have time to read, more dishes than she can ever use, and more clothes than we can wear.
You may have been born smart, good-looking, and into wealth, but it’s unlikely you will have a good life if you didn’t acquire self-discipline, a work ethic and integrity.
Of course, compared to most of the world, anyone born in America
I don’t notice all those people who loath capitalism packing to emigrate to a non-capitalist country.
Women always want men to share their feelings. Until they do.
Liberals prate about “speaking truth to power.” My heroes are people, despite the conformist pressure of political correctness and the threat of death, who publicly oppose political Islam, speaking truth to murder. Among them are Ayaan Hirsa Ali, Theo van Gogh and the Swedish and Danish cartoonists.
People with strong egos—I look at one when I shave in the morning—need to establish control over them. A strong ego can cost you, from your job to your life. And it’s a constant and imperfect struggle to master it. I’m never sure who is winning.
Our three cats occasionally get into a tussle. So I put a “Coexist” bumper sticker over their litter boxes. I’m sure that will restore peace, harmony and understanding, because they have worked so well with people.
Do you have people and principles you would lose your life defending? How about lose your job, at least?
In Collingswood High school during my matriculation at that institution of education, where I hold the never-to-be broken record for skipping at 41 days my junior year and 34 my senior year, while still graduating in the top 95% of my class, there were two in-groups, the Jives and the Conservatives. (Gangs were a South Philadelphia phenomena; we lived in terror that they might appear in our area. Of course, you were careful when going to football games in neighboring Camden
Despite my abysmal attendance record, I think I came out of CHS better educated than the majority of high school graduates today, and many college graduates.
Unlike most Conservatives, I have no problems with gays serving openly in the military, though I think the more radical gays are making a mistake by being so in-your-face. Though I supported bills prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual preference, from “the love that dare not speak its name, it has become, the love that won’t shut up.” (Not sure who I swiped that line from, but it’s not original with me.) I have more concern about women being assigned to infantry combat, because if they lower the physical standards for them, folks will die. And romantic or sexual entanglements in a combat unit can have the same result. What really bothers me is that most of the folks lobbying for all these politically correct changes have never been under fire, would have laughed at you if you suggested they serve, and would lie down and die in the street to keep their children from serving in the US
If I understand the Barack Obama/Eric Withholder position, illegal immigrants have as much right to vote as the dead in Chicago
Obama talks a lot about business. You might think he'd ever owned one, or even managed one.
When you go on a website, or install a computer program, have you ever read the terms and conditions before clicking on "accept"? Me neither.
Politics is no business for nice guys. I speak as a recovering politician, who was very successful in my career, though not always "nice." But I never lost an election in college or for public office.
I’ve been getting daily e-mail Spam at work from Bon Appetit Food and Wines. They must have a computer program to generate a new e-mail address for each Spam message, so blocking them has had no effect. I note this so you will never buy anything from the scum.
Seems to me to be an open question if Islamists or drug abusers are responsible for more murders worldwide.
The Obama Campaign Theme: Any problem you have is someone else’s fault. Reelect me and I’ll punish them.
Some people are good drivers, but trust themselves too much. If you go a little too fast for conditions, stop at the last minute, cut corners in traffic, all to save a minute or two, eventually you or another driver will make a mistake and you will have an accident. Leaving a margin of error protects you from a lot of grief. This rule applies in other areas as well, from finances to your job.
I don’t always win…but betting against me has caused a lot of folks anguish.
Anyone who texts while driving is begging for an obit that says, “the late idiot is survived by…”
I wonder if it’s too late to have my name legally changed to “Jarhead Stud”? Probably too generic, I suppose.
I read that Rush was called a racist for saying Obama used drugs. Well, I understand in his first book, Obama claimed he used drugs, so is he a racist? But given all the lies and “composites” exposed there, I suppose it might not be true, and that he was just bragging to get street cred with the left.
Like everyone else, we had a heat wave in Chicago
You started a business, worked 18-hour days, skimped and risked your savings, dealt with government regulations and paid taxes, Obama says, “You didn’t build that.” But when US Navy SEALS, having trained hard for years, flying from bases established by the Bush-ordered invasion of Afghanistan
With the Obama money machine in full cry, any day I expect to see, “Raising a child is expensive. Why not have an abortion and donate 10% of your savings to the Obama campaign for making it possible?” Okay, I’m kidding…they’d want more than 10%.
Banks carrying bundled bad mortgages as "assets" on the books reminds me of an association I once took over that included among its booked assets boxes of outdated, thus useless educational brochures in the basement, valued at what they had paid to print them. They were not assets, they were landfill. The Board was shocked after I brought in an independent CPA to get a real accounting.
If you set out to keep the peace, you better be sure the “peacekeepers” you send to do it are armed and prepared for war, or they will fail. They might fail anyway, given human nature and history, but if they go empty-handed for a “meeting of the minds,” they will surely fail. And very likely die.
Question: Is a tee shirt that says, “I’m Pro-Choice—I want to abort the Obama Administration!” going too far?
I saw a photo of a woman holding a great sign: “Hope isn’t Hiring!” They have bumper stickers, too, but $5 seems a tad high.
I tend to dismiss conspiracy theories. I subscribe to, “Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.” Attributed to Nick Diamos. But if there were a huge conspiracy against America
Do you get the idea that some terrorism and murders, depending on the group identity of the perpetrators, are politically correct, therefore must not be criticized no matter how horrific the slaughter of innocents?
I have several friends who, as the saying goes, are “often wrong but never in doubt.” Alas, I am so often both that it keeps me humble. Well, somewhat humble.
Sometimes the stupid is so strong, you can smell it on a fellow before he even speaks.
Far too many people in our society today are uncomfortable or amused talking about Honor. Because they don’t have any. It is one of the trends that suggest to me that the Republic may not survive. Yes, many of them are progressives, but there are also a goodly number of people who would call themselves conservatives whose first and last principle is self-interest.
European progressive politicians for 30 years have said, “To hell with the future, we need to buy votes now with borrowed money. Let the future take care of itself.” Now the future is here, and threatens to spread poverty throughout the developed world, and multiply the suffering of the third world exponentially if (or should I say when?) the Euro and the EU crashes and burns. US politicians, including many who would call themselves “conservatives,” have done the same, but because of the size of our economy, we can still postpone the “future” for a few years. Yet it is coming, as sure as death and tax increases.
A man who tells you he doesn't hold property rights sacred, doesn't hold freedom sacred. All rights depend on the free ownership of property. People who are not permitted to own property are property.
A friend is working as a contract civilian psychologist for the Marines at Camp Lejeune
So, we're in a restaurant and my wife asks, "What was it I liked so well at the diner we went to last week?" Me: "How would I know?" Her: "Well, you were with me!" Me: "You were there too and you ate it and can't remember." Her: "Be that way."
So, we're in Goodwill, and my wife spots a set of six dining room chairs she loves. I reasonably pointed out that the set we had are likely sturdier, in better condition and more comfortable. Her (appealing to her ethnic heritage): "But I like the style--they look so German." Me: "So did Hitler, but I wouldn't want him in our dining room." That got a laugh from the guy next to us, but next thing you know, I'm bungee-cording chairs to the car roof, then hitting them with cleaning spray, old English polish and some super glue for popped rungs. The good news was the whole set was only $24, probably because the last person who re-glued them made me look like a master handyman
The average "poor" person in the United States lives better than the average middle class person in the Third World , or the average rich person anywhere two hundred years ago. Thanks to capitalism.
Recently read this: In 1900, the standard American workweek was 10 hours a day, six days a week. Historian Frederick Lewis Allen notes in a 1952 essay: "If anybody had suggested a five-day week he would have been considered demented."
There was a popular movie that, like most movies, I didn’t have time to see, called, “No Country for Old Men.” If Obama is re-elected, this will be, “No Country for Self-Reliant, Independent, Free Men.”
Any tax increase, on any group, is going to come out of the pockets of average folks. The rich have ways to avoid paying taxes. The poor have no money to pay. So any tax hike will be passed on to you, no matter how the politicians try to sell it.
Democrat: “So, what would Romney do to improve the economy?” Answer: “Replace Obama.”
People say “utilize” instead of “use,” though it means the same thing, because they think it makes them sound intelligent.
I read an article by an economist, who said that his grandfather, an immigrant, had a nice business selling hand-tailored silk shirts on Wall Street. When the stock market crashed in 1929, grandfather said, “Good! Serves those rich bastards right.” Within a year, he was out of business, and never worked full time again. People who went broke in the crash couldn’t buy silk shirts. When the “rich,” lose their money, they can’t spend it in the economy in ways that benefit lots of folks who aren’t rich, from car makers to waiters.
I’ve generally been supportive of gay rights. But if the Obama administration can allow uniformed service members to march in a political gay pride parade, a Republican administration can allow them to march in a pro-gun, pro-life or pro-family parade. Might get a bigger turn-out of troops, too. Think anyone would complain?
I’m getting almost as tired of “Man Cave
It’s possible to support both gay marriage and Chick-fil-A, because you don’t believe people should be punished by politicians or the government for stating their personal views.
One of the problems of working in Washington , DC
I wish people who are optimistic about the future of our country had more evidence to support their optimism. I’d like to be convinced to join them.
Cute cartoon picture going around the Net. It has a picture of a kid, the Obama logo, and the caption, “I see dead people voting.”
Things I’ve learned: Scotch is great, but not real good for hydrating on a hot day.
In many situations, with the right staff, being a “hands off” manager can be very effective. “Eyes off,” or “brain off,” not so much.
Pet Peeve: People who leave a nice, clear voice message, then rattle off their phone number at machine gun speed, so you have to replay the message five times to get it. Maybe not even then.
There are virtually no limits on a person’s needs, and none on a person’s desires, as long as someone else is paying.
I don’t have a real problem with gay marriage, unlike most conservatives. But I have a huge problem with the owner of Chick-fil-A being punished by government for expressing his personal views. I notice the progressives never come down on Muslims for wanting to execute gays.
In the end, there is only duty. And “duty” is what we must do to protect the people we love and the places and institutions we cherish. Often it is as mundane as showing up for work. But there are times when it requires you to sacrifice your life.
*****
For a free PDF of the book, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com
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I appreciate your posts. Praying for your health and continued annoyance of your enemies ;}
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