what the troops are sayin

Hattip Wizbang!

i should be asleep

I have a fitness test and a full day of work ahead of me tomorrow, but I can't go to sleep yet. I just watch The Last Kiss with Zach Braff, among others. The crew of the Relevant Podcast warned it was shallow and whiny, but I loved Garden State so much, I had to give it a chance. I am sad to say they were not wrong. And the movie made me angry. Angry at how petty our lives have become, that we can throw love away, or not fight for it, or take advantage of it. The characters whining annoys me, that their lives, with significant others, good jobs, and children is so horrible. I think the thing that made me the most angry though was that I feel like that is what I am becoming. I complain about being single or that my job was not my first choice. I am a pilot for goodness sake, how much do I need? Ok, so its not a Viper, but I still get to be up there in the wild blue and pull Gs on a daily basis. There are dudes that I know on the other side of the world that worry about getting shot at on a daily basis and I am depressed over a few Saturday nights in front of the tv instead of a date over dinner. It almost makes me sick. I apologize to you soldier, airmen, and hope that someday soon you can have trivial worries once again.

remember

Captain Ed over at Captain's Quarters remembers the Apollo I fire that happened 40 years ago today.

Here are NASA'a bios of Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. Without their sacrifice, the United States would never have won the race to the moon.

"If we die, we want people to accept it. We're in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life."
-Gus Grissom (John Barbour et al., Footprints on the Moon (The Associated Press, 1969), p. 125.)

how do you enter holding?

From my friend Paul. Thanks for the laugh dude!

UPDATE: My students started instruments last week, so this quite appropriate. Especially when I have seen holding patterns not to far off....

one small step (back) for women

So much for high powered women over at the AP...


I guess that's the picture they want to send to the world about what is most important. Now I'll go back to training tomorrow's warfighters...

Here's the link.

back from baghdad

Michelle Malkin is back, with video. When it gets to YouTube, I'll include that too. Seems like the Iraqis want us there and the US servicemen doing the fighting want us there.... Too bad some unnamed congressmen are not getting the message. Here are photos and long post about conclusions of the trip.

how appropriate

This cartoon from Cox & Forkum is fairly close to my perception sometimes.... And the sports analogy is perfect. President Bush is more the coach on the sidelines with the headphones though.

burned by boxer

Mark Steyn has a scathing article about Sen. Barbara Boxer's comments to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as well as comments on the ego trip of Boxer's fellow Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Alas, not every Democrat has got the lioness-with-cubs routine down quite so pat. On Thursday, Sen. Barbara Boxer advanced the notion that Condoleezza Rice can't understand ''the price of war'' because she's childless. ''You're not going to pay a particular price,'' she told the secretary of state, ''with an immediate family.'' In other words, her childlessness means she will never have to experience any personal loss for the decisions she makes. ''You can't begin to imagine how you celebrate any holiday or birthday,'' Boxer continued, accusingly.

Hmm. What I can't begin to imagine is a Republican senator getting away with
hammering, say, Gloria Steinem for her childlessness. But, after 12 years in the barren wilderness, the left is overjoyed at the Fecund Coming. Over at Ms. magazine, I expect they're rolling their eyes while admiring the cynicism.

Read the whole thing.

The transcript of the exchange between Boxer and Rice is here via the NYT. Here it is word for word.

Now, the issue is who pays the price, who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, within immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families, and I just want to bring us back to that fact.

Its a good thing for Sen. Boxer that we do not criticize her the same way on Iraq. "Sen Boxer, how can you vote on Iraq when you have never been there?" It is a good thing that single women are the least likely to vote, because Sen. Boxer won't have their support anyway...

Here's a take from Mark Daniels.

Tony Snow says, "I don't know if she was intentionally that tacky, but I do think it's outrageous. Here you got a professional woman, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Barbara Boxer is sort of throwing little jabs because Condi doesn't have children, as if that means that she doesn't understand the concerns of parents. Great leap backward for feminism," (Emphasis mine) Source.

Tammy Bruce is not happy either.

The video is here via Hot Air.

snl may not be so bad

The Shins are one of my favorite bands since I first heard them on the Garden State Soundtrack. I managed to keep my eyes open long enough last night to catch them on SNL. I could not find the clip of their SNL appearence on YouTube, so here is their latest video. The new album drops on Jan 23.

And I may not agree with his politics (definatly not with his sister's) or his choice in movie roles, but Jake Gyllenhaal is really hot, and good singer to boot. This was one of the better intros I have seen on SNL in a while.


UPDATE: Stereogum has a less then complimentary opinion about The Shins performance, but liked Jake's effort. Atleast I'm one for two with the experts...

weekend boredom

My roommate went cross country, to Key West no less, I have already cleaned the house and I'm putting off going for a run, so here's how I'm procrastinating...

Airlines are warning their investors to hold back despite lower fuel prices. I am glad to see American should be back in the black, as they employ my father. Source.

Heimlich cautions that fuel prices are probably not in a long-term downward spiral. Oil for February delivery has dropped to $51.88 a barrel -- the lowest level since May 2005 -- and a dip into the 40s is predicted by many analysts. But Heimlich notes that most experts predict higher prices in the second half of this year. Overall, ATA projects a $60/barrel oil price for 2007, with the average jet fuel price down slightly from last year to about $1.80 per gallon.

I have been very interested in how the new U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has not been entirely loyal to the standard U.N. talking points. John Bolton has an interesting article in today's Washington Post Online. There are definatly some encouraging developments. Secretary Ban defended member states right to have the death penalty, created a public financial disclosure report, called for the resignation of 60 senoir secretariat officials, but he parroted U.N. policy concerning Isreal and Palestine. Still, I am encouraged by what I am hearing, and apparently so is Mr. Bolton.

No one of these four incidents, nor all of them together, tell the complete story of Ban Ki-moon. Where he has followed his instincts -- deferring to member governments, supporting U.N. reform and demonstrating personal integrity -- he has done well. When he has followed the conventional wisdom inside the U.N. bubble on First Avenue in New York -- on matters of U.N. theology such as the death penalty and the Middle East -- he has not. In Washington this week, the president and others will again have the chance to take his measure.

Based on what we have seen so far, I hope they encourage him to let Ban be Ban.

And soon you could be through airport security in a flash. A program is already in existance in Orlando, soon to expand to Indianapolis, Cincinnati, San Jose, and New York's JFK. The shoe scanner gets those that pay $100 per year through security in an average of 4 seconds. Hattip Dennis Collins at the Daliy Aviator.

i'm back

I know blogging has been a bit lighty this week. I ment to post some interesting articles, but by the time you get home after 12 hours of work and working out, my brain just did not have enough juice. Hopefully this week will be better...

stuck again! travel woes....

My plane to Dallas was delayed four hours for a hydraulic leak. Now if I was flying myself, this wouldn't happen. I guess that means more time to blog and a few less hours at work tomorrow. Oh well! One thing that really bothers me is how much people blame travel delays on those who have no say or control of aircraft and where they go. I hear comments like, "I'm never flying American again, I always fly Southwest anyway. This never happens with Southwest." Are you kidding me? I guarentee Southwest has mechanical problems also. Would you rather they fly malfunctioning aircraft? You would not drive a car that was leaking break fluid now would you? Those of you who are not pilots, just remember the reason you are delayed is probably not the fault of the pilot, the stewards/esses, and mostly not the airlines either. Weather happens, malfunctions happen. Your good attitude will probably translate into nice attitudes from everyone serving you and help your delay to be less painful. Alright, off the soap box...

A shoutout to the bros: Michelle Malkin highlights Milbloggers at work

Movies I'm going to rent: Bloggers share the best of the year, via Instapundit

I watched the last quarter of last night's amazing Fiesta Bowl from a sports bar about half a mile away (they have my favorite beer, among about 100 others). It was glorious, well played boys, well played.