I have admittedly not been posting a lot, something I am trying to rectify here in LSU land.

While I have been sick again for the last 2 weeks, as well as being involved in major time consuming product launch at work, the real reason I have taken a little time off is that, in all honesty, periodically I just get tired.

I am tired of the politics at play in DC concerning the stimulus.  I am tired of the most transparent government ever now planning how to stifle criticism.

I am tired of the marriage debate in California.  I am sick of columnists there who desire to define the debate in stilted terms, where anyone who dares hold to traditional family values is demonized as illiterate, mouth breathing and inbred.

I am tired of Speaker Pelosi playing around in China and lecturing them on being green while ignoring they are the world leaders in pollution now.  And why is the Speaker playing foreign policy?  Her job is in congress, not in Asia.  I am sick of her using the world stage to duck complaints about her knowing about water boarding.

I wrote about this movie a few months ago¹ and finally decided to order HBO and view it for myself.

The professional reviews are out there, but here is my take on it.

The movie is the true life account of US Marine Corps Lt Col Michael Strobl, who is escorting the remains of a young Marine, PFC Chance Phelps, who was killed in Iraq.  He is a former combat veteran now fighting his desk instead of the enemy.  His number crunching tasks are surely important and necessary, but he is also harboring guilt at his safe suburban life with his wife and children.  He has also faced some questions as to his decisions due to his lack of recent combat experience.

With his desire to do more at war with his love of his family, he begins seeking an outlet for how he can contribute more.  During an unusually grueling period of high casualties, he sees that one of them was from his home town, and volunteers to escort him home.  His rank makes this a surprise, as a Lt Col is normally much higher than a lowly junior enlisted rates.

Memorial day is never a ‘happy’ holiday for me.  I served in a Military Honor Guard, and while I only participated in honoring those who were long since retired, I still understand the sobriety and respect necessary to interning our fallen heroes, even if those I honored were retired. 

I once was asked during one of our Honor Guard details to ride in the hearse holding the urn of the fallen in my hands to the cemetery site.  I was not prepared for the emotions that short ride gave me.  Was he a hero from WW2?  A vietnam soldier who faced a hostile world when his service was done?

It didn’t matter in the end.  He had served, and he was worthy of respect.

The only funeral to affect me more was my grandmother’s when I was given the chance to honor her as pall bearer.

Also sobering was visiting two special places in Hawaii:  The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Punchbowl and the USS Arizona memorial.  Both should be a mandatory visit for all American’s.

Back to the point, the honoring of our troops particularly those who have fallen, is something I feel strongly about.

Comparisons are inherently for two reasons.  First, if they are honest, they expose the truth.  And if they are not honest, they expose bias and agenda.

Either way, truth is exposed.

Consider the most useless comparisons I can think of:

• (#2)¹  Mac Versus PCs:  This particular battle infuriates me.  Mac users are among the worst snobs on the Internet. I repeat:  Mac users are among the worst snobs on the Internet. I use PC’s by choice, but would happily buy a Mac if their price point was reasonable, and if their marketing would transcend a few particularly irritating limitations which I keep nameless. 
  |
   I  have been embroiled in this one on a religious music discussion board of all places.  My Nemesis there while claiming to be a PC user himself has also branded PC’s as cheap and faulty, making his claims of neutrality a little suspect.  But the big issues is his disdain.  His choice of words implies my choice to be ignorant and stupid, and I can say with years of professional experience,  that it is neither.

  The truth is that both offer advantages, both have limitations.  Each has strengths and weaknesses.  Pick the one that satisfies more of your needs, or if possible, pick both.  But stop bickering.

This guy is my ideal of a political independent.  This is why Red Eye is the best show on TV.  It’s hard to hear, but it is worth the effort.

Trackposted to Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Woman Honor Thyself, Right Truth, The World According to Carl, DragonLady’s World, The Pink Flamingo, and Stageleft, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

No the title is not a misprint.

While most of us recognize that as a reversal of how we deal with a financial crisis, it seems like the government always sees it the other way.  The more they take from us in takes and power, the less they seem to use it for our benefit.

But this week I am dealing with the proper usage.  I am learning a lot about doing more with less.

At my Day Job things have been incredibly hectic.  We lost a member of our team to the economy driven layoffs.  She was an integral team member, a long time heavily experienced operator who was a constant source of knowledge in our space.

And in the stroke of a pen she is gone, victim to the need to appear proactive in a bad economy.  We have to deal with her loss and while it is a great opportunity two show how talented and dynamic our team is, it is also frustrating and stressful waiting for the bomb to drop, meaning what project are we ill prepared to handle now.

My day job intruded tonight with some after hours hi pri stuff, so this will be short.

One of the things that seems to be more and more prevalent is the nannyism of government.  Not just econannies, but also social nannies.

The operative principle of the government right now seems to be “let us do that for you, because you cannot be trusted to do it your self…”

They want to mandate the rules around as many aspects of our lives as they can.

Some of their works are necessary, I have to admit.  But things like the Yard Sale post bring home the fact that in the eyes of our Government, we are too stupid and ignorant to control our own lives.

I personally resent that.  I believe I have sufficient capacity to decide for myself most of the choices I want to make.

One way that really pisses me off in this state is alcohol.  We have to buy any hard liquor we want from the state run liquor stores.  State run means fixed prices, extra taxes and a limited stock and selection., W e get to buy what they think we want.

Have a garage sale, go to jail?

Not quite that bad, but if the story below is true, the potential is there:

Check with the CPSC before putting up that yard sale sign

In Minnesota, the coming of spring means the return of lawnmowers, motorcycles, brats on the grill, and the big American tradition of yard sales.  People do their spring cleaning, toss what’s unusable, and try to sell the rest to bargain-hunters.  Thanks to the new consumer product safety law, though, you now need to download a CPSC pamphlet and start researching each item on your driveway in case of recall:

Thinking of having a yard sale this weekend? Before you do, be sure to consult CSPC Publication #254 [PDF].

This handy 28-pager from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds the American people that, thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (which I have blogged about here and here), the government is totally in charge of your yard sale…

You can’t make this stuff up :

Carbon Neutral Sailboat Rescued by Oil Tanker (H/T Sister Toldjah)

What is it about those Brit’s and their love of extreme danger… Last week we had the Catlin Arctic expedition in trouble and today we have the Carbon Neutral Expedition’s sailboat being saved by an oil tanker (gulp) of all things.

The Carbon Neutral Expedition, consisting of two guys and a 40 ft.sailboat, set off on April19; their goal was to reach Greenland’s polar ice cap and be the first carbon-neutral crossing of that country. But gale-force winds caused the boat to capsize, destroying the solar panels and generator.

Richard Spink, a physiotherapist and Raoul Surcouf , a landscape gardener, set up Carbon Neutral Expeditions (CNE) in 2006 to show how journeys to some of the wildest, untouched places on the planet can be undertaken with minimal impact on the environment. Their Greenland mission was to make the first carbon neutral, double crossing of Greenland by sailing across the North Atlantic in 18 days and then skiing across the Arctic ice cap and back to the boat (over 550 miles). All done under the most horrific weather conditions.

Is this a practical solution to what many believe is the most misunderstood drug on the market?

A budget cure: Marijuana taxes?

Daniel Stein says the salvation of U.S. taxpayers could be marijuana.

As Washington breaks the bank on Wall Street bailouts, President Barack Obama’s stimulus package and other spend-now, pay-later measures, most observers agree that politicians will eventually need to increase revenue or cut spending to cover the federal government’s debts.

So are you suggesting that we can be responsible and cut spending, or we can get stoned? 

Stein believes Washington could begin to balance its books now if politicians would take a serious look at his industry. The owner of two retail outlets that he claims generate $1 million in revenue annually, Stein says he pays around $80,000 a year in sales taxes to the state of California. But the federal government, which does not acknowledge Stein’s sales as legitimate commerce, gets nothing from his business.

In fact, because federal authorities have spent time trying to close his and other medical-marijuana clubs, Washington is losing money on him.