Bravery On The High Seas

I stated in earlier posts after the election that Barack Obama would get a fair shake here at PYY, much fairer than the Left gave to GWB. But this doesn't mean I cannot criticize him and if you've read this blog with any regularity, you'll know that I've been highly critical on most of what we've seen from his administration, so far.

Naturally, if it's fair to argue against the bonehead policies and interventions assumed so far, it's also fair to give praise, when actions and implementations warrant it. This is but one moment, where a good job was done.

From the outcome, we can ascertain that this was handled well. There was no politicizing of this situation. The President's people were tight-lipped, as they should have been. They knew the situation and Obama had the guts to give the Navy authorization to execute the operation, as they saw fit. As an inexperienced Commander in Chief, he wisely allowed those who knew what they were doing, to do it without micromanagement.

We can surmise that time was getting short. The pirates and their hostage were out on the sea for quite awhile in just a lifeboat. Essentials (like drinking water) were probably getting scarce and the opportunity for action was becoming a shrinking window, by the hour. Add to this the imminent danger to the Captain and we have the makings of one of those split decisions that you cannot get back, once made,

As this story unfolded, I was only privy to the information available through the media. I didn't have any inside knowledge of anything, I just had my intuition. And like many, I probably would have acted a bit sooner with just as much authority, strength, and determination. But allowing the pirates to weary in the elements for a little while had its value, and in the aftermath shows that it was the wisest thing to do.

It will be interesting to see how future events like this are handled. We know that there will be future acts of piracy, because there many more out there just lurking and waiting for a victim. It's what they do for a living. The pirates have already sworn revenge and we must take them at their word.

So let's not kid ourselves here. We will have to be ready for some measure of retaliation. They will see this as a challenge and will most certainly up the ante next time. If I were the Administration, I would not hesitate to show others who are part of this discipline of criminals a thing or two. I would let them know rather swiftly, what is at stake if this kind of thing continues.

At this juncture in time, this kind of thing is merely a distraction from other more important issues. Right now, it's just a pesky fly that could cause us to not pay attention to those other issues. And it's one that must be swatted down. But if left unchecked, it will become a larger problem that will take more resources than what may be prudently available.

After all is said and done, the Captain who was held captive by these thugs is the real hero. At least to the crew of his ship, he is. Volunteering to be taken so that his crew could be left alone is an act of bravery, from an individual that represents what this country used to be all about. Not enough can be said about this man and I doubt that there are many like him left in the world.

Happy Easter

To: All readers of PYY.

Here is my my Easter wish:

May the spirit of this day renew us all in hope, faith, and vision; and may we live our lives accordingly.


Happy Easter

Another Blast From The Past

During the 90s there was brief period where I saw a certain musical renaissance. Not all artists from that era were grungers of the Pearl Jam or Nirvana mold, a mold that was heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin and other 70s bands. Many were very talented and managed to capture an entire genre unto themselves.

This weekend we salute some very talented gals that represent this genre as good as any, starting off with a band that started the career of Hope Sandoval.



This is a Canadian band, headed by a husband and wife team. They always had such a crisp classy sound.



Finally, we have two numbers from an enormously talented lady. I cannot begin to describe how gifted of a songwriter she is. I have little doubt that she will be a huge influence on female singer/songwriters for years to come. These two tunes are off of the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy CD, which I think is by far her best. (And they are all pretty good.)





Enjoy.

Conflict Resolution: The French Model

I guess, in France, it's becoming fashionable to kidnap the boss when workers don't want the company to lay off -- even during a down-turned economy.

Recently, we learned about a poll that reflected 45% (of those polled) approved of such tactics. Yesterday we learned, it has happened again.

Now before we get to far into this, let me say, I don't claim to completely understand the French. I don't think the French completely understand themselves, in many instances. But historically speaking, the French are often credited with perfecting the art of mob rule, and for good reason. So it should come as no surprise that this is now happening in the modern age.

Don't get me wrong here, the French Revolution was a necessary thing at the time of its occurrence . The monarch was out of touch, the people were fed up with the institution of divine right, and the fruits of liberty had firmly taken seed in America. The spirit of freedom was in the air. So understandably, they wanted it and had just as much right to it as anyone.

But what started out as a noble endeavor, quickly turned into an out of control mob that began one of the bloodiest purges in European history. It was deemed such a success that it became a standard-bearing model of regime change in later years. The Bolsheviks used it, the Iranians used it, Cuba used it. The plan was simple, eliminate all enemies and take no prisoners. Do this, and your enemies cannot rise up against you despite the fact that you will kill much of your innocent brain power in the process.

Obviously, the overwhelming majority of French do not advocate using this method anymore. But deep within French society's collective psyche, there still appears to be a lawless element that wants to raise hell, when they do not get their way.

Because of this, we see business diplomacy and overall problem solving skills quickly eroding, not only in France but around the globe. It's easier to incite a riot and stir up the public, than to have a discussion. It's far simpler to unleash angry fury and acts of intimidation, than to utilize the art of persuasion to achieve an objective.

No wonder pirates are the reasserting their lawless authority on the high seas. It's hard to condemn the practice of hijacking ships and taking officials hostage, when a significant percentage of a leading civilized populace has an affinity for mob rule. It's also a pretty tough sell, when the government cannot get an internet piracy law passed.

Needless to say, I am disappointed. I thought the French wanted to be an example to the world. And believe it or not, with the current inept, corrupt, and morally bankrupt leadership in the U.S. government, the world needs a leader right about now. But if this poll is correct and 45% of the French people really do support illegal acts in these kinds of instances, I guess I thought wrong.

Conversations With Mustang

Based on a true story.

My cellphone rings one evening recently, while working on a post.


LA: Hello.

Mustang: Hey buddy, how's it going?

LA: Hey, what's up?

M: I am glad you asked that, because I have been thinking and I wanna run something by you, something I have have really been thinking about. Now just hear me out, okay?

LA: Okay.

M: Now like I said, just hear me out because there's a lot to this and I want you to get the entire picture of what I want to try and sell, er....uh, I mean I want to persuade you to....well not really persuade either, but here's the thing......

LA: Alright, out with it.

M: I am glad you are showing some interest in this. Okay. You have a daughter right?

LA: Yes.

M: Well you see I have been thinking.....

LA: Okay Mustang, you have said this already. Let's have it. Out with it.

M: I was wondering.... since your daughter isn't married, and neither is my 38 year old son....What I mean to say is....How about we fix them up? What better way for us to become closer....in fact, we would be family. What do you say?

LA: What does you son say about all of this, have you even asked him?

M: No problem... he'll do what I say. I tell him what to do. He'll listen to me.

LA: Well.....okay...but there's this problem. You don't know my daughter very well. She has an independent streak just like her mother (the ex- Mrs Sunsett) and I doubt she would like it very well if she knew I trying to fix her up with someone. In fact....if there is someone I didn't want her to marry, the best way to put the kibosh on something like that would be to suggest that I think someone is a nice guy. She's guaranteed to run, if she thinks I think this is a good idea. You know?

M: But...but...

LA: Now wait a minute, before you start your stammering and stuttering tap dance, just listen to me a second. There is a great distance between them. Your son lives down in Florida with you and my daughter lives here in Indy, not with me but still...I mean there is no way for them get to know each other if they are so far apart.

M: I can have him there first thing in the morning. What time can you pick him up at the airport?

LA: Stop. Wait. Time out here....what the hell....?

M: Now I know what you are thinking, LA. But think of this....we will be family.

LA: I know. You said that already. Do you hear what you are saying right now?

M: Yes. Yes I do. Like I said I can have him on a plane to Indy within a few hours and if you want, I will even give him taxi money to your house, so you won't even have to go to the airport.

LA: (Big Sigh) You are not getting this, are you? I just can't....

M: (Moves head away from phone to speak to someone in the distance) Honey..... he's not buying any of this.

(Garbled Female Voice In Background)

M: Now you have done it. She's mad at me, because I promised her that you would be a stand up guy and help facilitate this. You came down here, ate our food, slept in our spare bedroom, used our electricity, and breathed our air. You little ungrateful bastard, I hope you get a rash.

(Click...Dial tone)

I look at the clock.

Yes. It's way past suppertime, when sundowners kicks in.


Next Morning.

Phone rings.


LA: Hello

Mustang (Like nothing ever happened): Hey buddy, did you see my post today?

LA: No. It just so happens I am at the computer right now, let me check it out.

I click into Social Sense. This was the post.

Bumbling Barney

What we see here in this video is the ability of one intelligent young man to cause Barney Frank to spin his answers so fast, I don't think even Frank can follow his own lies:

Link:

Note how he blames the right wing for his ineptitude as an elected official, the right wing this and the right wing that. Note how the student has to keep redirecting Frank back to the question, which is a rather simple one and even has it explained to him by giving him some possible answers. Even so, he still cannot answer the question.

Barney Frank is a liar, a crook, and very incompetent. I cannot understand how his district in Massachusetts is so utterly blind to the BS that just naturally rolls out of his mouth. Anytime he faces the slightest bit of adversity, it's everyone's fault but his. He NEVER does anything wrong, he NEVER makes a mistake. It's always someone else.

Essentially, what we see in this video is the ability of a young college student to psyche an experienced liar right out of the game. Normally, Barney is an idiot that no one dares to challenge, lest they be labeled as a homophobe. This is a tactic very similar to race-baiting. But this young man had the guts to challenge him, maybe he should be the Representative in Congress and Frank should be back in school.

Generation Landslide

When I read something like this, I must wonder what it will take to get people to react against the current onslaught of private sector nationalization. Let's look at the words of Stuart Varney:

I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California. This isn't much when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk down Wall Street's black hole. So why no cheering as the cash comes back?

My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell 'em what to do. Control. Direct. Command.

Yes sir. What a difference a generation makes.

As I think back to 30 years ago, a day when Chrysler was bailed out by the federal government, I have to shake my head. Lee Iacocca borrowed money from the government. He used it to rebuild the company from the ground up and because this endeavor was so successful, he repaid the money early. This is the kind of value system that Mr. Iacocca's generation had. Paying back a loan carried far greater honor than "beating the man".

Today, we have a bunch of self-absorbed little brats who think the world owes them something. They think the government should be the nurturer and government is more than willing to do it. And sadly, there are many from my generation who are responsible for this.

Part of it is because many of my cohorts have refused to grow up. The other part is many have learned and honed their parenting skills using Dr. Spock's model of early childhood development, where the objectives are to teach mob rule. In short, many of us wanted to be their kids' friends instead of parents and because of that, we are watching many Generation Xers and Yers blow everything our parents worked so hard to give us.

Well .... we sowed it and now we are reaping it. Mob rule is here.

So unless someone gets serious about turning this country back from its imminent collision with future consequences, this is what we can expect (nothing more, nothing less). Now that the government has its greedy little hands in things it knows nothing about, they are not willing to allow people the leeway to become self-sufficient, again. And why should they? There are many who are more than comfortable with this arrangement, they even wear this as a badge of honor because they like to "beat the man".

Even during the Great Depression when suffering was far greater than today, people were not happy about taking government handouts. In fact, many refused and suffered more abject poverty, as a result of their pride.

Today, we have many on the public dole who feel no remorse for lounging around in bed until noon on a daily basis, and taking whatever government assistance they can hustle up. They use government welfare checks and food stamps to supplement their drug selling money, or other illegal activities which afford them the luxuries that the rest of us have to work for.

But, what can we say, other than these are just the ramblings of a paranoid delusional cynic, who will not give Øbama a chance? What will the naysayers say, when the dollar is replaced with an even more worthless currency for international use, and we witness the collapse of what was once the most economically sound nation in the entire world?

A Prophet Has No Honor

The full scripture said: A prophet has no honor in his own country.

From the beginning of time, there have been men (and women) who have felt an impending sense of doom. There have been men who kept these things to themselves, only shared them privately, or opted to take their thoughts and predictions public, despite the public scorn and ridicule that is almost always certain to occur.

Many times, they (who are in a position to react to such information) are apt to disregard such things unless there is irrefutable evidence. There must be acceptable proof or it will usually get ignored. But what happens, when the people who have the authority shut down the voice of the ones who warn others?

An Italian scientist predicted a major earthquake around L'Aquila weeks before disaster struck the city on Monday, killing dozens of people, but was reported to authorities for spreading panic among the population.

The first tremors in the region were felt in mid-January and continued at regular intervals, creating mounting alarm in the medieval city, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Rome.

Vans with loudspeakers had driven around the town a month ago telling locals to evacuate their houses after seismologist Gioacchino Giuliani predicted a large quake was on the way, prompting the mayor's anger.

Giuliani, who based his forecast on concentrations of radon gas around seismically active areas, was reported to police for "spreading alarm" and was forced to remove his findings from the Internet.

It's one thing to ignore the warnings, and in many ways it is certainly understandable to want to reserve some judgment on anyone claiming the sky is falling. But if you ask me, it's quite another thing to actively and willfully seek a way to silence people who have what they believe to be pertinent information, which could affect people's health and well-being.

How hard is it to allow the man to tell his story, and then add a caveat? How hard is it to let people hear both sides of any issue, and allow them to decide for themselves if they want to heed advice?

The reason for my argument is not necessarily a call for castigation. I do not doubt the experts, when they say there is no 100% foolproof method of predicting quakes. But there are times when it can be said that conditions are right. One thing I have always been told is, watch the behavior of wildlife. Birds do not sing and other animals act scared.

Apparently this man had a belief that the radon levels were consistent with seismic activity. Apparently, the intelligentsia believed him to be wrong and wanted show him a thing or two.

Today, we know who was right.

Today, there are others speaking of their impending sense of doom. There are those who are convinced the nation is going down the wrong path because of many of the decisions currently being made by the "so-called" American intelligentsia. These are they, who think they know more than we do. But what will they say when they are shown to be as wrong as those people in Italy, those arrogant elitists who stifled a man's freedom to warn his fellow countrymen of an imminent danger?

Sunday Reflection: The Value Of Health

My mother always used to say to me as a child, "if you have your health, you have everything". Of course most children are concrete thinkers and are not able to properly analyze abstract statements very well. So, I would file the thought away and go out to play. Life was good.

As I have aged, the reality of my mother's statement has become better known to me.

Other than some minor issues here and there, my health has been great. But this past January, I had a brief moment of chest pain at work. It went away rather fast, but my co-workers ganged up on me and made me go to the ER for an evaluation. I didn't want to, but they were relentless; so just to shut them up, I went.

Labs were drawn and sent, an EKG was taken, it all went so fast. To make a long story short, the cardiac enzymes were stable and the subsequent stress echo was negative. But some of the other labs were not normal. And after several more follow-up lab tests were performed, I was told I have a chronic illness that will never go away. That, within itself, was enough to depress a comedian. Other than the brief episode that landed me in the ER, I didn't feel sick. And I still don't.

If that wasn't enough, at the time I was being worked up for the illness, a second potentially dangerous problem was discovered. It's not serious at this time and I do not expect it to be any time soon. But who can say for how long? We can only control so much of our destiny.

So here I sit today, finally able to assign the proper value to health. Health is something that we cannot take for granted, because in one instant our status can be changed. But do not fear, I plan on being here for a very long time. I am doing everything the doctors are telling me to do. That which I can control, I am. That which I cannot control is out of my hands.

One of PYY's good friends, Amerloque, understands this of which I write. If you have not had a chance to read his story, you can read it here.

So, the reflection this Sunday is simple. If you have not been to the doctor in awhile, I say it is a good thing. If you have not had a physical in awhile, maybe you should get one. Both of my issues were diagnosed incidentally and likely would not have been discovered early enough, had my co-workers not been more presistent and stubborn than me. As Barney Fife used to say: Nip it, nip it in the bud.

Another Blast From The Past

The cliche of "capturing the hearts and minds" of people gets used much these days. It is my opinion that many people have fallen captive of the current President, to the degree that the analytical programming in their minds ( the one which is responsible for independent thinking) has been successfully disabled. Nothing we can do, it is futile to resist.

Therefore, this weekend our musical theme is mind control.

From 1973's Mystery To Me LP:



Pink Floyd's lead guitarist David Gilmour doing a little blues classic:



Now for the culmination of such an endeavor, where the master of mind control becomes the all-seeing eye that Orwell referred to as Big Brother:



Enjoy (The music, not the mind control)