The Pacific Slope

Taking a Break

2012-01-28T14:33:00.002-07:00

As you've noticed, things have been a bit quiet here lately. Life has managed to drain me of any desire to write, let alone write well. So, I'll be taking a break. Back in a while.

Beautiful Day

2012-01-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

"Beautiful Day," U2.

New Year's Day

2012-01-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

"New Year's Day," U2.

Elevation

2011-12-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

"Elevation," U2.

Hallelujah Chorus

2011-12-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hark The Herald Angels Sing

2011-12-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

Do You Hear What I Hear

2011-12-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" Bing Crosby

O Holy Night

2011-12-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

"O Holy Night," John Denver

Cowboy's Christmas Ball

2011-12-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

"Cowboy's Christmas Ball," The Killers.

Christmas For Cowboys

2011-12-21T14:24:00.002-07:00

"Christmas for Cowboys," John Denver

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

2011-12-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," Barenaked Ladies & Sarah Mclachlan

Fairytale of New York

2011-12-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

The Pogues, "Fairytale of New York."

A New York Christmas

2011-12-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Rob Thomas, "A New York Christmas."

If Men Were Angels

2011-12-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself."

James Madison, Federalist No. 51, 1788

Don't Shoot Me Santa

2011-12-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

"Don't Shoot Me Santa," The Killers.

"AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL"

2011-12-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Another bright, beautiful Hawaiian morning; it was also Sunday, so everything was even more relaxed than usual. One could hardly be farther from the winter snows back home.

Granted, things were not as blissfully peaceful as they appeared; war was raging in Europe, and some felt the U.S. couldn't stay on the sidelines much longer. Britain was surviving, but the Soviets were reeling, the Nazi blitzkreig driving them ever back. And everything else in Europe, save neutral Switzerland and Sweden, lay under Axis hegemony.

The Pacific was deceptive in its quiesence as well; in China, Imperial Japanese troops continued their atrocity-laden campaign. The U.S. sanctions against them were appearing to sting, and American forces had fallen back from China to the Philippines in case Japanese words turned to actions, and in the fall American forces had increased their readiness... only to wane as the months dragged on. Now the brass worried more about sabotage and not provoking any trouble.

But as of the 6th, the diplomats were still talking, so nothing to worry about, right? As long as they're talking there won't be any fighting, regardless of what those paranoid ninnies in the signals intelligence section say.

Those would be just a few of the illusions shattered that Sunday morning, 70 years ago today.

The Cowboy Christmas Ball

2011-12-02T12:31:00.000-07:00

"The Cowboy Christmas Ball," The Killers.

Walkin' On The Sun

2011-11-18T11:59:00.000-07:00

Smashmouth, "Walkin' On The Sun."

I Wanna Be In The Cavalry

2011-11-11T16:45:00.001-07:00

11-11-11 goes to 11

2011-11-11T15:34:00.001-07:00

Something lighter for the weekend.

The Eleventh Day

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

It took over four years of toil, sorrow, blood, and waste before the guns fell silent across the western front.

Since then, other wars have been fought; sadly, more will be fought; it is in our nature. Freedom and liberty do not sprout unaided; these blessings must be cultivated and defended. All too often, that requires sacrifice. All too often, it is necessary for men and women to stand "between their loved homes and the war's desolation."

To those that have served, and to those that do serve: for the freedoms that I am able to enjoy, for the peace in which I dwell, thank you. All I can do is thank you, and remember.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Clarifying the Stakes

2011-11-05T11:18:00.001-06:00

Mark Steyn on Occupy Oakland and their riots this week:

I don't "stand with the 99%," and certainly not downwind of them. But I'm all for their "occupation" continuing on its merry way. It usefully clarifies the stakes. At first glance, an alliance of anarchists and government might appear to be somewhat paradoxical. But the formal convergence in Oakland makes explicit the movement's aims: They're anarchists for statism, wild free-spirited youth demanding more and more total government control of every aspect of life – just so long as it respects the fundamental human right to sloth. What's happening in Oakland is a logical exercise in class solidarity: the government class enthusiastically backing the breakdown of civil order is making common cause with the leisured varsity class, the thuggish union class and the criminal class in order to stick it to what's left of the beleaguered productive class. It's a grand alliance of all those societal interests that wish to enjoy in perpetuity a lifestyle they are not willing to earn.

Why Political Gridlock Is A Good Thing

2011-11-01T12:45:00.000-06:00

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the beginning of October:

Of course, it’s just words on paper, what our Framers would have called a “parchment guarantee.” And the reason is that the real constitution of the Soviet Union — you think of the word “constitution” — it doesn’t mean “bill” it means “structure”: [when] you say a person has a good constitution you mean a sound structure. The real constitution of the Soviet Union - that constitution did not prevent the centralization of power in one person or in one party. And when that happens, the game is over, the Bill of Rights is just what our Framers would call a “parchment guarantee.”

So, the real key to the distinctiveness of America is the structure of our govenment. One part of it, of course, is the independence of the judiciary, but there’s a lot more. There are very few countries in the world, for example, that have a bicameral legislature. England has a House of Lords, for the time being, but the House of Lords has no substantial power; they can just make the [House of] Commons pass a bill a second time. France has a senate; it’s honorific. Italy has a senate; it’s honorific. Very few countries have two separate bodies in the legislature equally powerful. That’s a lot of trouble, as you gentlemen doubtless know, to get the same language through two different bodies elected in a different fashion.

Very few countries in the world have a separately elected chief executive. Sometimes, I go to Europe to talk about separation of powers, and when I get there I find that all I’m talking about is independence of the judiciary because the Europeans don’t even try to divide the two political powers, the two political branches, the legislature and the chief executive. In all of the parliamentary countries the chief executive is the creature of the legislature. There’s never any disagreement between them and the prime minister, as there is sometimes between you and the president. When there’s a disagreement, they just kick him out! They have a no confidence vote, a new election, and they get a prime minister who agrees with the legislature.

The Europeans look at this system and say “It passes one house, it doesn’t pass the other house, sometimes the other house is in the control of a different party. it passes both, and this president, who has a veto power, vetoes it,” and they look at this, and they say (adopting an accent) “Ach, it is gridlock.” I hear Americans saying this nowadays, and there’s a lot of it going around. They talk about a disfunctional government because there’s disagreement… and the Framers would have said, “Yes! That’s exactly the way we set it up. We wanted this to be power contradicting power because the main ill besetting us — as Hamilton said in The Federalist when he talked about a separate Senate: “Yes, it seems inconvenient, inasmuch as the main ill that besets us is an excess of legislation, it won’t be so bad.” This is 1787; he didn’t know what an excess of legislation was.

Unless Americans can appreciate that and learn to love the separation of powers, which means learning to love the gridlock which the Framers believed would be the main protector of minorities, [we lose] the main protection. If a bill is about to pass that really comes down hard on some minority [and] they think it’s terribly unfair, it doesn’t take much to throw a monkey wrench into this complex system. Americans should appreciate that; they should learn to love the gridlock. It’s there so the legislation that does get out is good legislation.

The Constitution was never about efficiency - it was about liberty.

Hat tip to Patterico.

2011-10-31T15:01:00.000-06:00

When hinges creak in doorless chambers,

When candles flicker, where the air is deathly still...

This is the time when ghosts are present...

Happy Halloween...
And beware of hitch-hiking ghosts!

From Doombuggies.com

Ghostpix.com

The Shadowlands
The Moonlit Road
Halloween Ghost Stories
Doombuggies.com
Haunted Mansion

The Phantom of The Opera

2011-10-28T16:58:00.000-06:00

(overture)

For our Halloween revels this dark night, The Pacific Slope proudly presents one of the most frightening depictions of The Phantom committed to film: The Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Cheney Sr. as The Phantom.

Good night... sleep well, if you can.

After all, it's only Halloween...

Grim Grinning Ghosts

2011-10-28T15:09:00.001-06:00

For more Haunted Mansion fun, check out Doombuggies.com!

The Value of Cynicism

2011-10-25T11:59:00.000-06:00

Moe Lane, in an offhand comment today:

Don’t underestimate the value of cynicism, by the way. The current system we have allows us to trade off power between political factions on a regular basis without the need for automatic weapons fire. Based on the historical record, that’s actually… very impressive, really.

The Eternal Struggle Remains

2011-10-17T13:25:00.000-06:00

In light of this reporting by Kevin Williamson, Jonah Goldberg adds this observation:

...I’ve got to say there’s something truly refreshing, even reassuring, about the all of the Marxist twaddle coming out of these protests. These Red goons, buffoons, ruffians and tatterdemalions didn’t spring forth ex nihilo. They’ve been living among us all of this time.

Both articles are worth your time.

Pushing Buttons

2011-10-05T17:01:00.000-06:00

From Day by Day, Oct. 4, 2011.

It is interesting how the "hot-button" issues of the day change...

Intellectualism vs. Intellect

2011-10-05T12:31:00.000-06:00

Instapundit had this to say yesterday, and it struck me as something worth passing along:

...Intellectualism, in today’s society, isn’t about intellect. It’s just a pose, like hipsterism or faux-redneckism. Most of those people who self-identify as intellectuals aren’t especially bright, they’ve just adopted a lifestyle that’s littered with what they think are markers of intelligence.

Deadwood Mountain

2011-09-30T14:31:00.000-06:00

"Deadwood Mountain," by Big & Rich

A Nation of Adults - or Children?

2011-09-30T11:15:00.000-06:00

From Bill Whittle:

Quoting John Stark: "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils."

Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind

2011-09-30T08:01:00.000-06:00

Apologies for the lengthy silence this past week; been traveling for work and pleasure through Montana and the Black Hills. More on that this weekend.

The Rising

2011-09-12T12:57:00.000-06:00

I don't know about you, but this is the tune I had going through my head all weekend.

Bruce Springsteen, "The Rising."

I know it's since been appropriated for dozens of other causes and beliefs; but this performance stands out. Coming just before the first anniversary of 9/11, this raw and heartfelt performance struck a chord in the heart of a battered and mourning nation.

Onward and Upward

2011-09-11T06:46:00.000-06:00

CoxandForkum.com

Of all that ten years since 9/11 brings to mind, this is the truth that I want to remember: no matter how bad it is, there are always those who breathe deep and head in, trying to do as much good as they can while they can.

Where such men an women come from - what it is that creates them - I can't say. But how wonderful it is that nevertheless they are here, among us. They may even be you.

The Sliming of Cheney

2011-09-07T12:31:00.000-06:00

Victor Davis Hanson, writing today at National Review Online:

By 2011 a gaunt and ill former vice president Cheney was the constant butt of late-night comedians and derided almost weekly by smug columnists. But how and why that metamorphosis had come about was never explored. It was as if Cheney was now and always had been Darth Vader, a man who liked to shoot his hunting pals and who sat in retirement with ill-gotten Halliburton riches. Few reminded us that for nearly 30 years Dick Cheney was a centrist fixer, praised by liberals as fair-minded, bipartisan, and sober and judicious in his rhetoric. He supported Ford over Reagan, tried to cut lavish weapons systems at the Pentagon, and brought a Wyoming humbleness to his Washington power-brokering. Then suddenly this all vanished with cries of “war criminal,” as the puerile Ronald Reagan Jr. recently exclaimed on MSNBC.

Yet if one were to carefully collate Cheney’s positions after 9/11, both domestic and foreign, the caricature seems almost inexplicable. He opposed the nomination of Harriet Miers; he thought appeasement of North Korea would not work; he thought the automobile-company bailouts would ultimately be too costly or counterproductive; he was one of the earliest proponents of the surge; and he pushed hard for almost all the protocols that Barack Obama now embraces.

The charges against Cheney seem to rest on the waterboarding of three confessed terrorists who had had a hand in the planning of 9/11 — and on Cheney’s unabashed defense that such harsh interrogation saved lives and that he would most certainly do it again if we were in similar dire circumstances. The decision remains controversial, as does the opinion of many high-ranking intelligence officials (including many now serving in the Obama administration) and apparently of Khalid Sheik Mohammed himself that valuable information — some of it life-saving — was gleaned from such harsh interrogations.

Somehow bloggers and op-ed writers have established by their selective outrage a narrative that it was immoral of Cheney to approve the waterboarding of three confessed terrorists like KSM, but quite moral of Obama to expand fivefold the Predator targeted-assassination program that served as judge, jury, and executioner of suspected terrorists — and of any living thing in their vicinity when the Hellfire missiles obliterated their compounds. It is apparently the nature of a therapeutic culture to demonize one of the architects of the present anti-terrorism policy of renditions, tribunals, Guantanamo, etc. only to apotheosize one of its chief critics — while quietly assuming that Cheney so convinced Obama of the utility of these protocols that the latter adopted nearly all of what he inherited.

The horror of 9/11 resulted in a number of subsequent enigmas, but to this day most are seldom discussed and apparently better forgotten.

This Is Why We Fight

2011-09-02T11:01:00.000-06:00

"This Is Why We Fight," The Decemberists.

Remember Why You Left California

2011-09-02T09:04:00.000-06:00

Tired of the ever-increasing taxes and regulations? Tired of the ever-growing state government that, as it grows, is capable of doing less and less?It's never easy to leave - I've visited enough to see its virtues - but there are plenty of places to make a new home.

Just do your new neighbors a favor. In the words of Moe Lane: REMEMBER WHY YOU LEFT CALIFORNIA IN THE FIRST PLACE.

First Taste of Fall

2011-09-01T08:01:00.000-06:00

Cool this morning. Going to be warm today, but this morning had that first taste of fall...

Cleaning Up After Irene; Transportation Challenges in Vermont

2011-08-31T18:01:00.005-06:00

The enormity of the flooding is now clear; the long arduous task of cleaning up the mess has started.

Irene created the worst flooding Vermont has seen in over eighty years - say anything in Vermont about how Irene was overblown and you'll wake up in the ER.

One under-reported item I wanted to call attention to was the damage to Vermont's rail network. The rail system is starting to work again, but took a major pounding (just as the Vermont road network did). Most notably, the New England Central Railroad and the Green Mountain Railroad (part of Vermont Rail System) are out of commission on their main lines, with numerous washouts and knocked-out bridges. For train nerds like myself, this is the story I'll be watching - will the damage be too much to justify both of their rebuildings? Flooding in New England was the doom of several rail lines in the 1930s. Hopefully, I'm way off base here.

I'm wrapping up my own following of news from waterlogged upstate New York and Vermont; but here are some places to keep tabs on how recovery efforts are going:

For Vermont:

Burlington Free Press

Rutland Herald

Vermont Public Radio (Irene-specific links here and here)

For New York:

Albany Times-Union

The Watershed Post

For Rail news:

Google News Search: "Vermont railroad Irene"

VRS and Rutland RR Yahoo! group

New England Central Railroad Yahoo! group

Irene's Soggy Finish

2011-08-29T17:01:00.003-06:00

By Sunday night, what was left of Irene crossed into Canada, and was no longer tropical.

The intervening hours were not as kind.

The good news: Irene's wind and storm surge damage ended up being lighter than expected.

The bad news: Lighter, however - not light. Some mild coastal flooding in North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. There was a lot of wind damage in NC, Virginia, and New Jersey, and extensive power outages in Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

The ugly news: Vermont and upstate New York got dumped on; extensive flooding is wreaking havoc in the Catskills and Adirondacks, and every - every - major highway in Vermont has flood damage. (And not just roads.) That part of Irene's legacy is still emerging.

Here Comes Irene

2011-08-26T17:01:00.000-06:00

Latest forecasts put her ashore in NC this evening, then trailing her coat along the Mid-Atlantic states until reaching New York City Saturday night and New England Saturday night and Sunday morning.

The good news: the storm is weakening.

The bad news: her forecast path will still cause significant coastal flooding and put high winds and a lot of rain on top of a lot of people, just because of the densely populated region the hurricane will be hitting. New York City is evacuating hundreds of thousands, and just the transportation disruptions will last well into next week.

Going to be a long weekend.

Down By The Water

2011-08-26T12:15:00.000-06:00

"Down By The Water," The Decemberists.

Not Reassuring - Hurricane Irene's High Flooding Potential

2011-08-25T15:31:00.004-06:00

UPDATE:

And it's official: hurricane warning for North Carolina; hurricane watch issued for almost the entire Chesapeake Bay and extending on up the Delaware and New Jersey coasts to New York City.

ORIGINAL POST:
The National Weather Service's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (basically, the group that predicts flooding) put out this statement this afternoon, that reads in part:

PRELIMINARY EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION
NWS HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PREDICTION CENTER CAMP SPRINGS MD
948 AM EDT THU AUG 25 2011

VALID 12Z MON AUG 29 2011 - 12Z THU SEP 01 2011

...MAJOR HURRICANE IRENE TO STRONGLY AFFECT THE EAST COAST FROM NC
INTO THE NEW ENGLAND THIS WEEKEND...

THE LATEST NUMERICAL GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO ADJUST WESTWARD AS HAS
THE LAST SEVERAL NHC TRACK FORECASTS WHICH NOW HAVE EYE OF IRENE
COMING THRU THE NORTH CAROLINA OUTER BANKS LATE SATURDAY BEFORE
GRAZING THE DELMARVA AND NEW JERSEY THEN MOVING INTO THE NORTHEAST
ON SUNDAY. THIS POTENTIALLY COULD BE EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE WITH
MASSIVE DISRUPTIONS TO SOCIETY AND COMMERCE ALONG ITS ENTIRE TRACK
WITH VERY HIGH WINDS/STORM SURGE/OCEAN OVERWASH/BEACH
EROSION/SOUND AND BAY SIDE COASTAL FLOODING AND EXTREME TIDE
POTENTIAL. WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINS IN THE 6-10 INCH RANGE WILL BE
COMMON WITH GREATLY INCREASED INLAND FLOOD POTENTIAL. REFER TO THE
NHC FOR THE LATEST FORECAST OF IRENE ALONG WITH LOCAL NWS
WARNINGS/STATEMENTS AND ADVISORIES FROM NC INTO NEW ENGLAND.

The phrase "COULD BE EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE WITH MASSIVE DISRUPTIONS TO SOCIETY AND COMMERCE ALONG ITS ENTIRE TRACK" does not inspire calm.

In short, Hurricane Irene should not be taken lightly.

The Weather Nerd has the latest here and at his Twitter feed.

Hurricane Irene Heads for NC; NYC, New England Next?

2011-08-25T12:15:00.001-06:00

The National Hurricane Center's current forecast is not a pleasant one for the Mid-Atlantic and New England. After two quiet hurricane seasons, 2011's season is apparently set on making up for lost time.

So humor me as I engage in my weather nerdery again and follow this storm.

By the way FLHurricane.com has put up an excellent page of North Carolina news links so you can get the latest local news (rather than the recycled stale news the national networks tend to put out).

Zombie, by The Cranberries

2011-08-19T15:05:00.002-06:00

With Guest Stars...

2011-08-12T12:03:00.003-06:00

Off to visit some family this weekend, but here's a clue...

"The Streets of San Francisco"

Have We Forsaken Them?

2011-08-09T18:36:00.003-06:00

I commend to you this remembrance by Robert Morrison of the Churchill-Roosevelt summit of 1941.

What I wish to leave with you are these closing lines:

This 70th anniversary of the first summit comes just as the U.S. Air Force has backed down ignominiously when challenged by a small, militant group of atheizers. For 20 years, Air Force chaplains have been offering training to those who might be called upon to launch nuclear missiles in the event of a Doomsday scenario. In the course, the Air Force chaplains dared to invoke biblical imagery and offer quotes from Scripture.

Britain’s normally conservative Daily Telegraph hooted at the now-banned course, dubbing it “Jesus Loves Nukes.” Banned as well is anything taught by Augustine of Hippo. His philosophy served for 1,600 years as the basis for just-war doctrine. It is to Augustine we looked to know why the Holocaust was wrong, why the builders of the Gulag were an evil empire. In place of Augustine, we will be directed to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, where slaughterers of innocents outvote the craven representatives of once-civilized states.

They were the kind of nations whose chosen leaders met at the first summit. Would Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill recognize the world their successors are making? Have we forsaken them and all they did for our freedom? Are we yet men of strength and courage?

How can that world seem so much farther than seventy years away? Oh, the false gods we have built for ourselves...

And they seem to be demanding their reckoning.

Kissin' In The Rain

2011-08-05T12:39:00.006-06:00

Great song off Toby Keith's Bullets In The Gun album. Just audio so far...

"Kissin' in the Rain," Toby Keith.

Late and Unlamented

2011-08-02T20:31:00.000-06:00

When you really want the first-class snark, your first choice should be Moe Lane. From his post on the debt deal:

RIP: Neo-Keynesianism, 2007-2011.

Mourners please omit flowers. Or public urination on the graveside.

You shouldn't tempt somebody like that, Moe.

Takin' Care of Business

2011-07-29T19:32:00.003-06:00

What a day! (What a week!) Spent the day hustling to get product shipped out the door. So this fit...

"Takin' Care of Business," by Bachman Turner Overdrive.

Countdown

2011-07-22T12:01:00.002-06:00

"Countdown," Rush.

Welcome Home, Sorry To See You Go

2011-07-21T12:50:00.000-06:00

From Space.com

In the predawn hours Atlantis returned home from space for the last time, safely bringing her crew of four back and ending the space shuttle program.

All things must end; that I understand. But I have a hard time seeing this as a happy ending, for I see now an excuse to end the American space program, not a reason to move ahead.

James Lileks sums up well how I feel:

NASA is keen to tell you there’s a still a future for sending Americans into space, but there’s a general cultural anomie that seems content to watch movies about people in space, but indifferent to any plans to put them there. This makes me grind my teeth down to the roots, but I suppose that’s a standard reaction when the rest of your fellow citizenry doesn’t share the precise and exact parameters of your interests and concerns. That’s the problem when you grow up with magazines telling you where we’re going after the moon, with grade-school notebooks that had pictures of the space stations to come, when the push to Mars was regarded as an inevitable next step.

Just got hung up on the “why?” part, it seems. Also the “how” and the “how much” and other details. I can see the reason for taking our time – develop new engines, perfect technology, gather the money and the will. It’s not like anything’s going anywhere. But it’s not like we’re going anywhere if we’re not going anywhere, either – when nations, cultures stop exploring, it’s a bad sign. You’re ceding the future. If you have a long view that regards nation-states as quaint relics of a time in human history when maps had lines – really, you can’t see them from space! We’re all one, you know – then it doesn’t matter whether China or the US puts a flag on Mars. It’s possible a Chinese Mars expedition would commemorate the first boot on red soil with a statement that spoke for everyone on the planet, not a particular culture or nation. It’s possible. But history would remember that they chose to go, and we chose not to.

So what’s the attachment, really? Childhood attachment to Star Trek fantasies, geeky fascination with spaceships, adolescent marination in sci-fi visions of rockets and moon bases and PanAm shuttles engaged in a sun-bathed ballet with a space station revolving to the strains of Strauss, phasers and warp six and technobabble and the love of great serene machinery knifing through clouds of glowing dust? Probably. It’s not over, I know – but it’s like watching the last of Columbus’ ships return, and learning they’re cutting up the mast for firewood, and no one’s planning to go back any time soon. At first you look at the ocean and imagine what’s out there, because that’s what you’ve been doing all your life – and then you lean to stop wondering, because it reminds you of the day you saw the last ship leave.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi... Thus passes the glory of the world.

The Last Ride - Bon Voyage, Atlantis

2011-07-08T09:15:00.001-06:00

At 11:30 AM EDT, Atlantis will blast off into space for the last time, and will be the last space shuttle launch.

Godspeed, guys.

235 Years.

2011-07-04T07:01:00.001-06:00

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America

WHEN in the Course of human Events,

it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

An American's Prayer

2011-07-03T23:28:00.001-06:00

How well are we keeping this sacred gift we have been given?

Not well, not well. Old Ben Franklin told us of the government they created in 1781: "A Republic, if you can keep it." With that the great American experiment began - can a people govern themselves?

Now we stand at a crossroads, where despite a burgeoning debt, nearly half us pay no tax at all. And the untaxed are all too willing to vote to raise taxes still higher on the half that do, and have plenty of ideas on how to spend the borrowed money.

That way lies tyranny. Not the military-industrial complex, or corporations, or conspiracies vile; no, if this Republic falls her own people shall kill it, and they shall do it in the name of Paying Your Fair Share.

It is easy to blame politicians, or parties, or others; but the cruel truth is that the real fault lies in ourselves. We have not demanded of ourselves the virtues that a republic demands of its citizenry; for it is much more fun and diverting to argue over what is truth? and who says that is true? than to take the actions that accepting truth requires. For taking actions, denying the self, and making a stand - those are hard.

The time for hard things has come. I know not the best way forward, but honest plans and ideas are out there. None of the serious plans are pleasant.

All I know for certain is that I can no longer do nothing. I must get off the sidelines and go to work for what I believe. Granted, I'm not going to accomplish anything notable by myself. But if enough do... who knows?

Please, my dear Father in Heaven, grant me the strength to stand, and the courage to speak, and to act.

For I must now labor to keep this Republic.

Carolina Blues

2011-05-27T13:01:00.001-06:00

"Carolina Blues," Blues Traveller.