Hello Good People:
I hope everyone is happy and smiling today. If so, make a note of it in your Journal or Diary. Now I haven't look up the exact definition of those two words, but I take them to mean as follows:
Journal. A book wherein you post the random coming's and going's of your daily life, and can include anything you care to enter , but is not "Calendar Specific", you can jot down anything you wish, for your own edification or that of your descendents. Thanks to the Journals of a lot of Historical figures, we have, as a people, learned a lot about our America and our Antecedents. Journals are , or can be, a very important part of your life. I wish mightily I had started keeping a Journal at an early age, as memory fades, but the written word endures, if preserved. I also wish my Father had kept a Journal, although I am positive that he never gave a thought to such an endeavor, being more occupied, as he was, in the "daily grind" of earning a living for his family, at which endeavor he never paused. But if he had kept a Journal, I would treasure it. I know my Father had been a Cavalryman , in fort Bliss,Texas, during the time when Mexicans such as Pancho Villa were making cross border raids. When the Army found out that he had run away from home, at the tender age of 15 to join the Army, and his Father had appealed to his Congressman for help in finding his wayward Son, he was promptly discharged. But instead of returning home as the Prodigal Son, He and another guy hopped a freight train, to Alamogordo, New Mexico, where they took jobs as cowboys. I have a picture of him, taken during his sojourn on the ranch where he worked, in his Stetson Hat and high boots, which I treasure. After sometime, I never knew how long, because I didn't ask, my Dad next joined the Navy, and served on the Minesweeper U.S.S. Swallow. Dad finally came home, embellished with Tattoos, all of a Nautical theme, on both arms and his chest. In later years of his life, he said many times He wished he had never gotten them, but his Grandchildren loved them, and would often sit on his lap, trace the "Tats' with their fingers, and ask Dad what they were, and Dad would always explain them. (Compass Rose, Fouled Anchor, Eagle, and the like.
Diary. As mentioned above, a diary is usually a small book, based on a "calendar", with a page or more for each day of a given year, and are usually constrained by the parameters of its capacity. What is one to do if so much occurs in your life, that the designated page or pages for that day do not allow enough space for all you wish to notate? This instance, I think, speaks in favor of a Journal over a Diary. But that's just my opinion. Use whichever forum works best for you, but for all means, give one or the other a try. I think you'll like the results.
So the purpose of this lengthy explanation is just some of the reasons I wish I had kept a Journal during my lifetime.
I kept a diary when I was in High School, during the 1950's, filled mainly with writings about my Girlfriend, who later (Blessedly) became my Wife, due to a probable lapse in judgement. Thankfully, 55 years later, she is still my Wife, and my Treasure.
Diaries, are usually for a given period of time, usually one year, and as such will no doubt have many blank pages, leaving one later wondering what they did on that day, or did not do, to occasion such a blank page.. Other pages might include such entries as "another Day another dollar, or "just an ordinary day.
So.... My prejudice, if I may have one, is in favor of the Journal. Guys, if you don't already utilize a Journal, you ought to give serious thought to starting to keep one. In my case, at least, If I had kept a Journal, there wouldn't be so many blank spots in my memory.
I Think the operative word in all this is Kept. When something is kept, the inference is something, an occurrence, an idea, a story, a retelling of a tale, the list is almost endless, but all of these things, if preserved, will someday be of interest, and probably of value, to a later generation. Perhaps it's just the tiny bit of historian in me, but I value highly the "pieces of History" that my wife and I possess. Some are of family (photos-letters & etc) some are books, some are pieces of "Antique" furniture, and some are just memories, and as memories often are, are someday lost. So don't have your memories lost to future generations. Preserve them to the best of your ability for those who follow us to cherish.
Try it, Later you'll be glad you did,or someone will.
cheers, TOP
Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Intelligence vs Congress
Hello Good People:
I would presuppose that you will be confused by the Title of this piece, after all when you mention Congress and Intelligence in the same sentence or title it then becomes an oxymoron.
But..............
The past couple of days I have had occasion to reflect on the ongoing dust up between Congress and the Intelligence Community.
Said conflict, I think, illustrates just how plain dumb and self serving our Congress is.
Currently Congress collectively has their knickers in a knot, because they believe that the CIA has (gasp) lied to them . Now this brings up an interesting conundrum, Liars are not supposed to lie to Liars. Do we want an effective Intelligence Gathering arm of the Government, or a vociferous and publicity-loving (read self serving) Congress , I think it is obvious that we cannot have both .
Jimmy Carter (The Futile One) learned , or should have, the fallacy of "Defanging" our Intelligence Apparatus, in his curtailment of the operations of the CIA, with the gleeful aid of the Church committee , well known at the time for its conflation of witch hunting and publicity.The resultant laming of the CIA was to the enjoyment of our cold-war enemies. The Journeyman President was deeply hurt, and astounded by our opponents lack of good will and Christian Charity. But...the damage was already done and it took too long a time to mend the rents and tears in the organization we rely on to keep an eye on those who would do harm to America.
There is a legion of idiots in Congress who think that this arm of the government should know every single thing that every single Government Employee is doing at all times, and are heedless, and mindless, in this pursuit. They (The Pols) don't really care what the real outcome of their blustering turns out to be, just as long as it gets them some "face time" and usually some large contributions to their campaign coffers. Anytime there arises a subject ,which the Congress thinks the public might be interested in, they (Congress) jump on it with both feet, after first removing said feet from their collective mouth's, wherein the feet usually reside.The fact that very, very, very, few of our elected representatives know one dang thing about the in's and out's of the deadly Spy Business, which is NOT a game, not to mention their learned inability to keep their mouths shut about anything. If they (Congress) are not telling their Mistresses, they are solemnly spilling their guts to the News Media.
It seems like one moment the Congress is outraged (properly) as regards the 'outing" of a CIA operative, and then in the next breath, as time flits by, they, Congress, wants to publicly air all possible information about our Intelligence Community. I can well imagine that V. Putin is hugely enjoying the stupidity of speaker Pelosi (Fancy Nancy, or the Tits that roared). He (Putin) is probably thinking "Tell me more, Madame Announcer, I'm all ears.
Folks, Thomas Jefferson said "All Tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent". I wonder, should he have added, "While fools rave"?
We are engaged in a world-wide conflict with the forces of evil on all fronts, and we simply cannot offer them Ice Cream while they continue their pursuit of a Theocratic Dictatorship for all.
Intelligence, and its gathering, is by definition, an infinite and ongoing task. We can be "Nice" to prisoners who quite probably have knowledge that would help us in our pursuit of terrorists, treat them all as honored guests, and fail miserably in the struggle in which we are engaged, or we can use some stringent and unpleasant methods to gain information to save lives, American and otherwise, PERIOD.
Regardless of the methods of interrogation we have used, I haven't heard of one single terrorist being beheaded on Television, nor have I seen one of the Bearded Savages who sponsor the Worldwide epidemic of terror with which we are all faced, go on Television to announce their specific plans,date, location, method & etc for their next vicious act, or to publicize and excoriate one of their goons who got carried away and mistreated anyone or anything other then a pretty Goat.
One of the first rules, even a neophyte should realize, is that effective Intelligence, military or otherwise, is a secret business, and we as the beneficiaries of the actions of the Intelligence Community, have no need, real or imagined, to know everything that said community is doing to protect us. Are there occasions when this "public trust" is misused ?, sure there are , but for the most part these people are professionals, and as such can not even be mentioned in the same breath as Congress, who are, as a body, only concerned with the next Election. So, I, as one single American, who is absolutely not well versed in the Efforts of our Intelligence Community, or their methods; say simply this.............Leave the CIA, The FBI, The NSA, and all the other three letter Intelligence Organizations alone!....or don't offer excuses when another Calamity such as 9-11 hits us, which it positively will!.
Cheers ? Question: Is a tittle a little and a jot a dot?
TOP
I would presuppose that you will be confused by the Title of this piece, after all when you mention Congress and Intelligence in the same sentence or title it then becomes an oxymoron.
But..............
The past couple of days I have had occasion to reflect on the ongoing dust up between Congress and the Intelligence Community.
Said conflict, I think, illustrates just how plain dumb and self serving our Congress is.
Currently Congress collectively has their knickers in a knot, because they believe that the CIA has (gasp) lied to them . Now this brings up an interesting conundrum, Liars are not supposed to lie to Liars. Do we want an effective Intelligence Gathering arm of the Government, or a vociferous and publicity-loving (read self serving) Congress , I think it is obvious that we cannot have both .
Jimmy Carter (The Futile One) learned , or should have, the fallacy of "Defanging" our Intelligence Apparatus, in his curtailment of the operations of the CIA, with the gleeful aid of the Church committee , well known at the time for its conflation of witch hunting and publicity.The resultant laming of the CIA was to the enjoyment of our cold-war enemies. The Journeyman President was deeply hurt, and astounded by our opponents lack of good will and Christian Charity. But...the damage was already done and it took too long a time to mend the rents and tears in the organization we rely on to keep an eye on those who would do harm to America.
There is a legion of idiots in Congress who think that this arm of the government should know every single thing that every single Government Employee is doing at all times, and are heedless, and mindless, in this pursuit. They (The Pols) don't really care what the real outcome of their blustering turns out to be, just as long as it gets them some "face time" and usually some large contributions to their campaign coffers. Anytime there arises a subject ,which the Congress thinks the public might be interested in, they (Congress) jump on it with both feet, after first removing said feet from their collective mouth's, wherein the feet usually reside.The fact that very, very, very, few of our elected representatives know one dang thing about the in's and out's of the deadly Spy Business, which is NOT a game, not to mention their learned inability to keep their mouths shut about anything. If they (Congress) are not telling their Mistresses, they are solemnly spilling their guts to the News Media.
It seems like one moment the Congress is outraged (properly) as regards the 'outing" of a CIA operative, and then in the next breath, as time flits by, they, Congress, wants to publicly air all possible information about our Intelligence Community. I can well imagine that V. Putin is hugely enjoying the stupidity of speaker Pelosi (Fancy Nancy, or the Tits that roared). He (Putin) is probably thinking "Tell me more, Madame Announcer, I'm all ears.
Folks, Thomas Jefferson said "All Tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent". I wonder, should he have added, "While fools rave"?
We are engaged in a world-wide conflict with the forces of evil on all fronts, and we simply cannot offer them Ice Cream while they continue their pursuit of a Theocratic Dictatorship for all.
Intelligence, and its gathering, is by definition, an infinite and ongoing task. We can be "Nice" to prisoners who quite probably have knowledge that would help us in our pursuit of terrorists, treat them all as honored guests, and fail miserably in the struggle in which we are engaged, or we can use some stringent and unpleasant methods to gain information to save lives, American and otherwise, PERIOD.
Regardless of the methods of interrogation we have used, I haven't heard of one single terrorist being beheaded on Television, nor have I seen one of the Bearded Savages who sponsor the Worldwide epidemic of terror with which we are all faced, go on Television to announce their specific plans,date, location, method & etc for their next vicious act, or to publicize and excoriate one of their goons who got carried away and mistreated anyone or anything other then a pretty Goat.
One of the first rules, even a neophyte should realize, is that effective Intelligence, military or otherwise, is a secret business, and we as the beneficiaries of the actions of the Intelligence Community, have no need, real or imagined, to know everything that said community is doing to protect us. Are there occasions when this "public trust" is misused ?, sure there are , but for the most part these people are professionals, and as such can not even be mentioned in the same breath as Congress, who are, as a body, only concerned with the next Election. So, I, as one single American, who is absolutely not well versed in the Efforts of our Intelligence Community, or their methods; say simply this.............Leave the CIA, The FBI, The NSA, and all the other three letter Intelligence Organizations alone!....or don't offer excuses when another Calamity such as 9-11 hits us, which it positively will!.
Cheers ? Question: Is a tittle a little and a jot a dot?
TOP
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Late Michael Jackson.
While it is always a sorrowful thing when someone expires at an early age, one sometimes has to temper ones respectful words with common sense. Once in awhile someone passes away who should just be allowed to go with little or no comment.
Such however, doesn't seem to be the case with the death of Michael Jackson. I for one have had a nauseating sufficiency with the "news"? coverage of this person.
There are his "fans"... and then there are those of us who visit reality.
The man was just a performer. Anyone with any common sense knows that he was a pedophile, convicted or not, he was a freak who tried his darndest to change himself into a white person,he was abusing very strong drugs, and yet the Black People, in the main, seem to think he was sort of a demigod..........Why?
He showed he was not proud of being a Black Man who had accomplished much ,by dint of his own actions and cosmetic procedures. His weirdly absurd behavior and dress seemed to reflect his opinion that he was some sort of royalty, even naming his ? sons Prince Michael I and II.
Enough is enough already. If you choose to mourn someone, mourn those young men and women who have unselfishly served us all in the Military, many of whom have given their lives, or been horribly maimed in the Service to this Nation. They are today's heros, not some--some- performer, if you want to use that word. People.. our value system badly needs a good overhaul . This event has served to illustrate that fact. Why don't we all just use a little common sense.?
I am reminded of three Japanese words, when thinking of the late M.J. and they are Kabuki,Onnagata and Chikan . These words seem to sum it up as regards him.
Cheers TOP
Such however, doesn't seem to be the case with the death of Michael Jackson. I for one have had a nauseating sufficiency with the "news"? coverage of this person.
There are his "fans"... and then there are those of us who visit reality.
The man was just a performer. Anyone with any common sense knows that he was a pedophile, convicted or not, he was a freak who tried his darndest to change himself into a white person,he was abusing very strong drugs, and yet the Black People, in the main, seem to think he was sort of a demigod..........Why?
He showed he was not proud of being a Black Man who had accomplished much ,by dint of his own actions and cosmetic procedures. His weirdly absurd behavior and dress seemed to reflect his opinion that he was some sort of royalty, even naming his ? sons Prince Michael I and II.
Enough is enough already. If you choose to mourn someone, mourn those young men and women who have unselfishly served us all in the Military, many of whom have given their lives, or been horribly maimed in the Service to this Nation. They are today's heros, not some--some- performer, if you want to use that word. People.. our value system badly needs a good overhaul . This event has served to illustrate that fact. Why don't we all just use a little common sense.?
I am reminded of three Japanese words, when thinking of the late M.J. and they are Kabuki,Onnagata and Chikan . These words seem to sum it up as regards him.
Cheers TOP
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Ereading
The subject for today's post is the insidious (to me), latest, electronic device I've noticed. I'm speaking, of course, of the "Kindle" or electronic book. As a lifelong reader of books, this device is an affront to me, and I suspect, Bibliophiles everywhere.
As I understand it, once one buys said kindle for around Three Hundred and Fifty clams, one has to then pay about Ten Bucks or so to download a book. That is problem number one to me. For that amount of money I can buy an awful lot of "Real Books", books printed on paper, nicely bound, with good stiff front and back boards to protect the content. One can also place the book on one's bookshelf, to be read again, or consulted. I suppose one could do the same with a kindle, but, to me, it just wouldn't have the same impact, visually. If you have a commodious bookcase or shelves, your friends will think you are smart even if you aren't. With a Kindle, however, what do you have? ..........A. something that needs batteries and constant attention. I guess some folks probably view the Kindle as a status symbol, but as for me, I'd much rather turn pages than punch buttons. But if gizmos are your thing, then by all means have at it, at least your remotes will have company in whatever dimension they are currently are, but don't step on it, it's probably breakable.
I gotta go. I'm in the middle of the latest Dean Koontz, which I am enjoying hugely, even considering the onerous task of turning pages and using a bookmark.
At any rate, READ.............. Paper or Plastic....... Also...Where's the comments ?, feel free and welcome to comment. I'll be interested in them and learn from them. A one way conversation is no fun.
Stay Well
TOP
As I understand it, once one buys said kindle for around Three Hundred and Fifty clams, one has to then pay about Ten Bucks or so to download a book. That is problem number one to me. For that amount of money I can buy an awful lot of "Real Books", books printed on paper, nicely bound, with good stiff front and back boards to protect the content. One can also place the book on one's bookshelf, to be read again, or consulted. I suppose one could do the same with a kindle, but, to me, it just wouldn't have the same impact, visually. If you have a commodious bookcase or shelves, your friends will think you are smart even if you aren't. With a Kindle, however, what do you have? ..........A. something that needs batteries and constant attention. I guess some folks probably view the Kindle as a status symbol, but as for me, I'd much rather turn pages than punch buttons. But if gizmos are your thing, then by all means have at it, at least your remotes will have company in whatever dimension they are currently are, but don't step on it, it's probably breakable.
I gotta go. I'm in the middle of the latest Dean Koontz, which I am enjoying hugely, even considering the onerous task of turning pages and using a bookmark.
At any rate, READ.............. Paper or Plastic....... Also...Where's the comments ?, feel free and welcome to comment. I'll be interested in them and learn from them. A one way conversation is no fun.
Stay Well
TOP
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