Archive for the ‘Observations on Life’ Category

Arrogance

14 April 2009

There has been a lot of media play of late about the President of the United States apologizing for the United States being an arrogant country. If one takes the time to look at our past history all the way back to 1776, I think we have every right to be arrogant. Let me provide a few examples:

First, in 1776, we declared our independence from Great Britain and the “Empire upon which the sun never sets.” While the British didn’t take to kindly to this, loss of revenues and such, they decided to come on and as they say today “bring it.” While they came and marched in beautiful formations, our Minutemen met them on the field of battle and kicked some British army tail. Not to say it was easy, but we had the fortitude to see it to the end.

Next, in 1812, the British decided they wanted a second helping of Colonial Whip A@@. They got so far as to burn Washington DC. Of all the government buildings, only two survived, the Patent Office because one man stood tall and convinced the British commander that it was a building worth saving, and the Marine Barracks. Yes, my friends, even the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave was burned with Mrs. Madison escaping with the portrait of George Washington at the last possible moment.  U.S. – 2UK – 0

Let’s jump ahead a few years to a place called the Alamo. A small band of patriots stood off a larger better equipped Mexican army under the command of General Santa Anna, for about a week. Name such as Davey Crockett and James Bowie among others less known. Rumor has it that when informed of her son’s demise at the Alamo, Bowie’s mother stated that there was not a single wound to his back.

In 1860, we fought a little skirmish amongst ourselves, or as Sons of the South would call it “The war of Northern Aggression.” Not about slavery, as you were no doubtly told in school, but about whether states could just decide to leave the Union. In a place called Gettysburg, over the course of three days in July 1863, more men fought and died than any other place on American soil. Just so you know, General Robert E. Lee had 75,000 men that stood toe to toe with General George G. Meade’s 97,000. Neither army could gain the advantage over the other.

Moving into the 20th Century, we sent young men not much older than the cadets at the various Military Schools to Europe to help our allies fight off the Germans. Unfortunately, we had to do it again about a quarter century later. All we ever asked for in return was enough land to bury our dead.

What do you think; do we have a right to be arrogant? Who is it that steps up to the plate when there is some sort of natural disaster? A Tsunami in Indonesia, food shortages in Kenya, earthquakes in Mexico. We are the most giving nation on the face of the Earth today, and we have a President whose wife has stated that “America is a mean country.”

To those that think I agree that we are an arrogant country, you didn’t read the post closely enough. I only stated that we had every RIGHT to be, not that we were. We are a proud country and we welcome those that want to share in that pride with open arms.

Take a look around you. If you live in a military town, you can tell who the military members are. Not by the haircut, but by how they carry themselves. Especially Marines.

If you want to see arrogance, watch the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Every time he speaks, he is speaking down his nose. Watch him. Here is a man that won an election, but hasn’t stopped campaigning. He has been called a “gifted” speaker. But if you take away his teleprompter, he can’t put a coherent sentence together.

Of Country and Language

23 March 2009

First, I am not anti-immigrant.  But, when someone comes to this great nation that I served for 20+ years and refuses to learn the language, there is a problem.  I am not for ballots or signs in any language but English.  Our Constitution and all of our governments business is conducted in English.

Over at Barking Moonbat, there is a post about what happened to an immigrant that took to his adopted country with zeal and then was punished for doing the country’s business, and insisting others do as well, in the language of the land.

Folks, if you don’t think it can’t happen here, you are in denial.  Between the Command Post and a friend’s home, there is a billboard that has not one word of English on it.  It is starting here and unless we work to stop it, we will see the same thing happen here that happened to our immigrant friend above.

Sarge, Out

Cat Fishin’

8 March 2009

GuyK over at Charming Just Charming has a post up about catching catfish and what the best bait and tackle to use.  Good read.

His piece brought back some memories of when I was growing up in the mid-west.  We fished several of the lakes and rivers around St. Louis and always brought in a passel of channel catfish.  We used almost exclusively chicken liver and always had enought to freeze.  We went for the ones down in the cold water so we would set our hooks about 3 feet off the bottom.

Dad always got rid of the dorsal fin first and then would bleed them.  To skin them, cut a slit around behind the head and grab with a pair of pliers and pull.  Dad would take his skinning knife and stick through the head to hold the critter down for this step.  When the skin was pulled all the back to the tail, cut off the tail and discard the skin.  Dad would then cut off the head and then fillet the cat by just slicing right down the spine.  Nice thing about channel cat is that all the bones are along that route and there was none to interfere with the eating step.

Now the most important part, after catching of course, is preparation for consumption.  Cornmeal.  Roll them in cornmeal and pan fry.  And as close to the water as possible.  Catch, skin, roll, fry is what I am talking about.  Unless you get the frozen in time, the will degrade, though your milage may vary.

That, folks, is good eats.  And sure brings backs a memory or three.

Sarge, Out

Downsizing

1 August 2008

Don’t know if there is a correlation to this or not, but since the federal minimum wage went up this past week, it has been reported the 51,000 people lost there jobs and many more have had their hours curtailed.  While I certenately feel for those that are now seeking employment elsewhere, I have to wonder how many of them were making minimum wage and the company they were working for decided that they couldn’t afford to pay them any longer?

Sarge, Out

Don Imus in hot water for racial comments

23 June 2008

I normally tend to steer away from stories like this one, but this is so ridiculous that it is almost funny.  The only thing that I can surmise from this story is that Imus doesn’t follow football or more specifically, the Dallas Cowboys.  Go, read.

Don Imus in hot water for racial comments – Media- msnbc.com

And, while the Race Baiting Poverty Pimp Al $harpton sees Imus as racist, I saw nothing racist in Imus’ comments.  He simply asked a question, and when the answer was given, stated, “There you go. Now we know.”

If you want to “solve” the race problem in this country, here is what you do.  First, strip Je$$ie Jack$on and Al $harpton of the title “Reverend.”  The same with the likes of Jerimiah Wright.  These three self-proclaimed men of G-d, have done more to hurt race relations than any person alive today.

Sarge, Out

Sounding Off

17 May 2008

The local fishwrap has a regular column called “Spout Off” that is published most days and a selection of them are posted in the online version.  This morning I see this one and just had to comment:

To everyone who eats in a restaurant and doesn’t know how to tip: Gas prices are high for us, too. We have bills, also, and tips are they way we keep from living off the system, so here is a tip for you: If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to go out to eat. Stay home and cook. That way you will save your 2 percent tip and you will save gas.

Now, I don’t know who this spouter is, nor do I really care.  I do, however, care that this person decided it would appropriate to chide those of us who tip on the basis of the service given.  Most people I know, tip well for good service and will reduce said tip if service is not so good.

Hey waitstaff, think about this.  If your tip is small, how about taking a look at the service you have provided.  We, as the customer do not care if you are having a bad day.  We don’t care if you have to pay $4.00/gal for gas, we really don’t care if you have three kids and they all need braces.  We do care that we get good service from a friendly server that puts a smile on his/her face.  Being a waiter or waitress can be tough, but I have known some that have had bad days and still managed to provide the service expected by the customer and earned a good tip.

Here is a tip for you, provide better service to your customers, and you will see bigger tips.  Provide sucky service and I can guarantee that you will drive customers to the competitor down the street.  A restaurant can have the best food, but if the service sucks, you can bet that I, for one, will not be a repeat customer, but that is a post for another time.

Sarge, Out

Are you an Angry White Man?

15 February 2008

I am. The editor of the local fishwrap found this at the Aspen Weekly Times. Go forth and read it here, I’ll wait.

Done? While the editor of the local fishwrap doesn’t agree with 100% with Mr. Hubbell of the Aspen Weekly, I find his observations to be very poignant and right on target. While, at least to your humble scribe, Mr. Hubbell only mentions white men, I don’t think that he intended to restrict that description to those of us that are pigment challenged. I see him looking around at the men he knows and seeing not the color of their skin, but the true men with the spirit that made this a great country. We all know men such as those described in this piece and, we also see not the color of their skin, but what is truly in their heart. Kim also has a few comments on the article and The Mrs provides a ladies point of view that makes quite the companion piece. Please go and visit the du Toits and tell them Sarge sent you.

Sarge, Out

Same Sex Marriage

30 December 2007

One of the staff at the local fish wrap post a blog about same sex marriages and it generated quite a bit of discussion and drew out the MBs in a big way. Well, over at Gribbit’s Word , Gribbit has a story up about a federal judge granting an injunction preventing the state of Oregon from allowing same sex marriages over the wishes of the people.  Need I state the party of the governor that signed this bit of trash?  Of course it is a dim.  One of the things this would have permitted was that inmates of the state correctional facilities would be able to be housed in the same facility and even the same cell.  This same “right” would not have been granted to heterosexual couples who were guests of the state for a period of time.  Folks, this is getting serious and we as Americans MUST stop it.  Florida has a measure scheduled to be on the November ballot to amend the state Constitution defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.  We need to make sure this is passed and we send a very loud and crystal clear message to these people that we will not permit them to destroy our family values.  As a country, we are headed down a slippery slope and need to take action state by state to keep this from happening.  It is time to take a stand.

Sarge, Out

Running with Scissors

27 December 2007

Yep, I’m a child of the 70’s and 80’s.  Phrases such as “your face is going to get stuck that way” and “you’ll put an eye out” were common around my mom’s house.  There were a good number of us that hung out and it was nothing to see a dozen rolling around the neighborhood playing some game or building some structure that on at least one occasion flooded the yard.  Running with scissors? that was the least of our worries.  We were known to shoot off fireworks with no parental supervision (ask SIT if I let him do that), our mothers didn’t need to call our friends mother, they just handled it.  And we only wore shoes under protest.  We were known and in some cases feared only because of sheer numbers.  Yes sir and no sir were common responses.  Head over to Mostly Cajun and see the list again and reminisce about  the good old days.

Sarge, Out

Lock and Load: Government Run Amok and the Death of the English Language (and Liberty)

27 December 2007

AmericanIcon has a this post up at his place and for those of you adhering to standards, it is a good read.  Head on over to his place and give it a read and let him know what you think.  Mind your p’s and q’s and remember that proper sentence structure is a must if commenting.

Lock and Load: Government Run Amok and the Death of the English Language (and Liberty)

Sarge, out