Jack Kemp

"Either we stay as a team or we don't play." Quarterback Jack Kemp, on a road trip with the San Diego Chargers, upon learning that black players were staying in a ratty hotel. 

I once met Jack Kemp and was impressed how down to earth he was. This quote is taken from the book. 

Syria

THE UNITED NATIONS IS TAKING ON SYRIA

Sitting out here in the hinderlands, listening to the President and then to hear Putin saying something like, "American arrogance, policies gone wrong," sounded about "right on" to me. What it looks like is continuing stupidity about Syria as we still are "beating our chest." What the f..k!  

There is no solution in a real sense for Syria. The underlying menace is ISSI, the fanatical Islamic religious idealists who are smart and have no rules. Brutal MFers who can attract immature youngsters by the scores. 

The sad reality is that a couple of hundred Americans have joined them and will most likely forfeit their lives for bullshit. This is an aside but important, what always gets me is that here are these American kids exposed to our way of life, untold basics: food and shelter, limitless opportunities and they give it up it to believe in some fanatical ideology which is opposite of what they have known. How f..king crazy is that!  In an anachronistic way, they join up with a herd of fanatics mired in the 12th Century. In America, they could be out chasing p...y, rather than getting themselves set up to die. 

We apparently will never learn; as historians kn even as far back as the Vietnam "Gulf of Tonkin" sham. LBJ at that time called Vietnam a "pip squeak nation." Well, we know what happened after years in Vietnam--that pip squeak nation drove Johnson from office. 

Iraq, for example, as one of our ill conceived adventures, is like a distant cousin of Vietnam. Vietnam ended up taking the smart path and making use of our screw ups. Not so Iraq and now Syria. 

But, Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Syria; really doesn't make any difference, we keep being arrogant and pushing an American style of democracy that has no chance of succeeding in the Middle East. After the so called, Arab Spring, smart people should have grasped this but as usua, we could f..k up a two car funeral possession. 

 And from listening to the President speak, same old stuff. Let's hope that when Putin and Obama stole away from the cameras, they bullshitted a little. 

"Putin, how's it hanging?" 

"Good and you?" 

"Let's have a drink. Thanks for taking this Syria mess off our hands. You know I don't think you are a bad guy, we have got to say certain things for the benefit of show and politics. And, let's face it, our style of 'democracy' is pretty messy. You got the right wing fundamentalists Republicans who wouldn't know "smart" if it ran over them--not like your country where you can kick a few asses, send a few to prison, take over a country or two. Still, I get it. Thanks again."

Now this is smart. The only other thing to realize is to "get real" about Assad. Core US principle, oust Assad. Bullshit. This is the epitome of stupidity. 

All along, nobody has said the obvious, at least I haven't heard it. Assad has no where to go. He looks around and sees what happened to Kadify, Saddam, Muslim brotherhood, etc. Literally he has nowhere to go--luckily for him, he has Russia, Iran, Iraq. 

Let's make like the shepards  guarding their sheep. They hear noises, possibly a wolf, one looked at the other and said, "let's get the FLOCK out of here." OK, "Merica," let's get the F..K out of Syria. 

"And, they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 

On the Vietnam War Memorial, San Francisco, CA. 

For the record I like the Pope.

Why are you not enamored of the pope?

Actually, I am. I think he is what our world needs right now - do the right thing, care for the poor and hungry, eliminate pain. 

Just for the record, I think the Pope is super duper paratrooper; but I always have trouble with the Catholic Church's theology. That the Pope or priests can forgive sins. Only God can do that. That the Pope is really Jesus on earth (he is really Jesus acting but he isn't Jesus), their stand on terminating  pregnancies. It really is the people whose lives are effected who must make that decision. And, the saddest are those who blindly go along with the anti contraceptive use like in South American countries; mostly Catholic countries where these poor people keep having babies when they can ill afford it. I do like the POPE and his symbolic choices of eating with the homeless, etc. pretty inspiring. 

Some of his closest confidants should talk to him about exercise and weight. We want to keep him around as long as possible.  

OPERATION VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL RESCUE

The rescue operation commenced at 0600 Friday, 25 September. Arriving at San Francisco's Embarcadero and determining that no enemy fire was immediate, the two lone troops reconnoitered the scene. Artists had begun to put up tents, display wares, etc.: surprisingly they did not appear to view us as suspicious. The Captain immediately displayed unusual professionalism, honed by years at the Fire Rescue Department. He supplied buckets, various equipment and immediately issued orders. "Wash the memorial down with a substance of his making. Be liberal in its application." (2) Begin scrubbing. Immediately, it became obvious that one was a "worker" and the other a "looker." However, warding off the artist community was a concern as they could not be convinced that the "rescue" not part of the bureaucratic establishment. One, Maria, who seemed to occupy some status in the Artist community would not let up with her questions. She was convinced that the CITY would disturb the "artists." Finally, after being assured that we would laison with Mayor Ed Lee, she seemed to be appeased and moved on. 

The Captain continued to work as TC  mostly looked as the Memorial transformed from a dingy, dull, illegible surface to one of bright readable names of those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice. This was a good thing we did as nobody dies unless they are forgotten. These on the "Memorial" will be remembered. God bless their families. The Captain actually found a friend whose name was etched on the Memorial. 

What the Rescue Team discovered was that the City had planned to move the Memorial to the Civic Center, a day earlier. In fact they had displaced the Artist community to make ready. However, they failed to show up. The "Operations Timing" was uncanny and, added to the mystery of our "mssion." Operation successfully completed, the two Vets entered their vehicle and departed the area--Rescue Accomplished. 

SPIN GENERALS

General LLoyld Austin said we are making great progress in training a fighting force against ISSI. Obviously, he is a legend in his own mind. 

To fight ISSI, the Generals were recruiting so called moderates to fight. They ended up with about 54 fighters, millions of dollars spent and when the battle came, most all fled. These were the vanguard of America's plan to degrade and destroy ISSI. I don't know how these spin generals keep a straight face. They remind me of a third world country where the generaL became a general because he had a uniform. This is f..king embarrassing if not so tragic. 

YOGI BERRA DIED

It ain't over till it's over. God bless him on his journey.

WHO IS POPE FRANCIS

He is a Christian. Jesus starts out talking about the poor and Pope Francis follows sui. Sounds like Jesus. In Argentina, they called him the Slum Bishop. 

DON'T F..K WITH THE MARINES

The Marines are resisting allowing women to fill combat positions. Let's face it, the Marines are different than soldiers in the rest of the Armed Forces. Their psyche is different. They are somewhat nutso, plain and simple. They are brainwashed early on with Sempi FI. 

I have never known a Marine that would put the "bad mouth" on the Corp, regardless. And, trust me, the leaders are the worse at looking after their soldiers. But, if you are a Marine, you overlook it. In Vietnam, they were sent on operations with radios with no batteries or c-rats for every meal where the Army, even at war, got one "hot" a day. 

Why do soldiers put up with it? They are Marines. My brother, Raz, served the entire war, with the Marines on Guadalcanal . He was actually in the Navy. The Marines didn't have enough men and conscripted some right off Navy ships. My brother, to hear him tell it, was in the wrong place at the right time and was selected to be a Marine. From that time on, just knowing he was a Marine changed  his whole psyche. 

Here's the example of the difference in Marines. Tell the Marines to "take the hill," they don't hesitate. "Fix Baynets." Tell the Army to take the hill, they say, "what are our options?" Get the picture. It isn't a matter of discrimination, bias, whatever. Homophobic, of course. Sexists, sure. It isn't women having to prove themselves, they have already done that over and over. F..k, two finished the roughest course of the military: Ranger School. 

To mess with this fighting force is to be stupid to the max. War is not about equality. It is about fighting, putting your life on the line and you don'f..k with the Force (Marines) that is the best. 

Here is a sad example. The "NY Times" did an exhaustive article on a Marine Unit that had way above average suicides--most  had served in Afghanistan multiple times. The article profiled the 3/7th Marine Regiment in Afghanistan. 

The article is a book. Exhaustive and how suicide has devastated the 3/7. The really saddest stories I've heard. (The VA comes in for a lot of blame but in tragedy we want to find somebody to blame. VA is a ready target. Most of the criticism is justified, I think, for this is real). Still, there is a bigger picture I think. What is it? The cause. Why? 

The article raises questions. The ones they profile are mostly young kids, 19-28. A quote, "Almost seven years after the deployment, suicide is spreading through the 2/7th like a virus. Of about 1200 Marines who deployed with the 2/7th in 2008, at least 13 have killed themselves. Two while on active duty, the rest after they'd left the military. The rate of suicide is four times the rate for young male vets across the board and 14 times that for all Americans." Tragic. The gist of the article are the profiles of those who have done themselves in. 

I confess that I have been a little like Al Pachino in one of his movies, "Sea of Love." Pachino is a police detective and a Korean War vet. He says at one point, something like, "What the hell is all this shell shock (PTSD), I always thought it was part of going to war." 

I've changed my mind.  Here is my belief, based on this superb article. These young Marines, Sempi FI to the max, simply can't cope with the peace. They live these highly charged lives in war. They see, they experience. They return home and try to take up living. For some, it doesn't work. Some do the extreme, it is what Marines do. They kill themselves. 

This is merely an explanation/opinion, not an answer. I don't know the answer. I do know this: If we continue to have a mercenary military and want a force we can count on, we had better not f..k with the Marines. 

THE GREAT AND SAD MIGRATION

Last night, amidst my TV watching and generally good and comfortable life. (God forgive me),  I reluctantly watched the mass migration in Europe. So sad, just not the people but how cruel the police and others were to them. The little kids  crying was heartbreaking. They could have been my grandchildren. They were just crying their little hearts out. We can't solve the problem but we could do more to make sure they have water and something to eat. Even as we speak, we should have a dozen C130s in the air loaded with bottled water and prepackaged C-Rats or something like that. I guarantee you that somewhere in our great country, we have warehouses full of C-Rats from Vietnam. Or, no telling what other stuff. Let's do what we do best: look after the helpless. Sad!!! God bless them. 

BEING SMART

TEENAGER ARRESTED FOR BRINGING CLOCK TO SCHOOL

Well, not quite as simple as that. The clock, the package looked plenty suspicious to me. I think the teacher and police were being prudent. Let a school be blown up or a "lone wolf" target some innocents. See where we are then. 

The package did not look innocent. The parents should have been on top of it. As Law Enforcement said, we no longer can take a chance. The news media loves bullshit like this. They are never interested, relatively speaking, in the truth, rather they want a story/a headline. A poor little science student and the overeating teacher and police. Give me a break. 

This isn't politics. This is where people live. Islamaphobia. Bullshit. I am a left wing Bernie Sanders type but I'm not stupid. Let's wake up and smell the roses. 

The Generals

There is something about generals that honestly make me question how the f..k they got to be generals. Well, I can tell you one thing. Politics. Once a general gets past one star, it is all politics. By far the best military officers don't get to be general.s Listening to this General Allen on some TV program talking about our efforts to arm and train moderates in Syria, was nauseating. By any standards, any attempts we have made in Syria have been an abject failure. We don't even know who the players are. And, the worst part of this whole scene is once "they" (whoever the hell they are) have

 defined some strategy even if it proved bullshit, they want to continue ignoring the failure. The "generals" always want to present they are "winning" when they are hardly in the game. It is that same old thing we know.Something like, "If you continue to do the same old thing you have always done, you are going to get the same results you always have. Like this, "getting rid of Assad." Where is he going to go? He has nowhere. There might have been a time when getting rid of him seemed the smart thing--but now, five years down the road, maybe we need a new strategy. But, trust me on this: the General Allens don't have it. . 

Bernie Samders at Liberty University, made a great point comparing the proliferation of billionaires and millionaires in America to the highest rate of childhood poverty of any nation in the free world. Bernie forget it. Liberty, brainchild of Jerry Falwell, (gone on to his great rewards. Can't help but wonder how his views play now. He, of course, was the ultimate right wing Christian fundamentalist) who pretty much lived by the motto, "Don't Confuse Me With Facts, I Have My Mind Made Up." 

DISAPPOINTMENT

This is the American way and it starts early in my view. I ran into a  7 year old who missed his Karate "green belt;"  probably not up there with most of life's disappointments but still...it will make it sweeter when it comes: reminds me a little of the Giants' Madison Bumgardner missing a no-hitter. Opposing player hit a single off him in the eight inning. 40,000 fans were much more disappointed than Bumgartner showed. (He is from NC). Anyway, he got right up and pitched the rest of the game. The moral of the story: disappointments are a part of our American way of life, (this not quite up there with world refugee issue) whether you are 7 and miss your karate "green belt" or, a baseball pitcher missing your "no-hitter."

NO HITTER

Madison Bumgarner missing pitching a "perfect" game last night hardly is up there with the problems and issues of the world: world hunger, massive migration, terrorism, politics, Donald Trump's hair. But, for us baseball fans, Susan Saradan in the baseball movie, Bull Durhan had it right. She says to Kevin Costner, the aging minor league catcher of the Durham Bulls, quoting Walt Whitman, "Baseball is America's game." It is! When my fellow Notth Carolinian, Madison Bumgarner lost his perfect game when the opposing team player hit a single up the middle, it was the eighth inning. A collective gasp from baseball fans across America. "F..K," nothing else to be said. Baseball is America's game. 

After the hit, the game went on. Great metaphor for America, with setbacks, facing world problems, politics, whatever, we are going after the prize, the no hitter; if we don't get it, we go on. Madison came right out and pitched the ninth inning. Baseball is America's game. 

We have to tip one to our memories of 9-11 and to those memories of our fellow citizens who died. God bless them, even this many years later, on their journey. 

I was in Mill Valley. Rachael, my younger daughter was in Oklamoma. She called and said, "Dad, turn on the TV." And, of course that began the days of being glued to the TV. I said then, not meant so prophetically or original by me, although turned out to be true, "9-11 touched our lives forever. As a country we will never be the same  or those connected to us." God bless us all. 

PASTOR COMMITS SUICIDE

PASTOR OUTED

Possibly because of the Ashley Madison website, he committed suicide. I saw the interview with the family and felt genuinely sad. A bud sent me the link. 

Watching it was like watching our culture. The pastor's suicide was almost beside the point. The video had some pics of the deceased pastor, wife and two older children, up pops a McDonald's commercial--then the media interview, asking those unanswerable  questions. 

I 

 What is so bad that someone like this kills himself? I don't know. Is it only guilt? Is it the condemnation he knows he would have faced? I don't know. None of us know what we'd do. Sinners saved by grace.  ALL. 

Anything related to sex is scandal, scandal, scandal. Way too much. What about getting help. He's the helper. God bless his family. 

My favorite Cowboy, Gus, in the mini-series, "Lonesome Dove" when asked the unanswerable question said, "I don't know. I simply don't know." 

The Racial Reality of Policing

This was an article in the Saturday "Wall Street Journal." The author, Edward Conlon has enormous street cred: In the NYPD for 16 years, mostly in the Bronx. Great article. Best I've seen on the subject. He has authored a couple of books: a memoir, "Blue Blood" and a novel, "Red on Red." I am going to read. He doesn't say it and may not go as far as my belief that the racial issue cannot be solved. He says, "police bias are serious problems but any conversation about reform has to address the epidemic of blacks killing blacks." 

People mainly see what they want to see is his view. 129 blacks killed by confrontation or however by police. This will knock your socks off--in the same period of time, 6,739 blacks were murdered by their own peers. Since 2001, 90,000 black men have been killed by other blacks. 

Here is the most disturbing thing about this article. In his experience, he would arrest some culprit who obviously committed the crime, the murder, usually. Cut and dry. The jury would acquit. Incredulous. Why? On those juries were the little old ladies, the grandmothers of these criminals and they refused to believe their grandkids were guilty. Those kids standing on the corners, selling and doing dope and other things--the Grandmas are thinking redemption.  Read the article. It is worth your time. 

NO REAL ANSWER

The migrant issue is one fraught with an enormous amount of emotion and confusion. We have gone from the idea of pure luck that we were born an American to one of those poor souls on the "trail of catastrophe. " It is a moral calamity and no other way to put it. Hungary has looked barbaric. What the f..K!!!! The flip side of the coin is that it is unrealistic to think that ISSI and Al Queta  are not going to take advantage of this and everybody suffers. But, like much in life, we have no choice. 

FOOTBALL

The Tom Brady case is another example of the gripe football has on America. I have friends, smart, intelligent who live and die for football. What the f..k. Basically, I don't give a rip. 

I heard the author of "Against Football" interviewed the other day, he made a statement that resonated. Something like, "tell me any other business where the participants are assured of sustaining life threatening injuries." 

To be honest, I think that there is a large segment of "mericans," maybe 45%, (Sure hope it is no more) who are stupid and don't care one way or another that football is dangerous to the players that entertain them. 

FORGIVENESS

I like the Pope. I think he's a good man but that is just it. He is a man? Priests are just men. The idea that a Pope can forgive "sin" is biblical bullshit. As one example, The Catholics are saying,  "treminating a pregnancy," is sin. And sin means condemnation. We can spend all day defining sin, etc., let's just accept it as an example 

Only God can forgive sin. (If you have any interest in Christianity) What the f..k. What always amazes me is how intelligent people swallow such basic untruths. Although it is a matter of "faith." You either believe or you don't. 

The news media is somewhat culpable, I think. For instance, The "PBS Newshour" presented a big piece on the Pope in his proclamation telling priests they can forgive sin. They give the impression that the Roman Catholic Church  is "THE" Church. No, they are the Catholic Church. Has anybody heard of the "Protestant Reformation?" I am a somewhat biased blogger who is attempting to set the record straight. Keep this in mind: if you have any interest, you can go straight to God, bypassing the Pope/Catholics. Remember you heard it here. God bless us all. 

Trump

To me, it is never about Donald Trump. Any thinking person realizes that he is an egomaniacal "have" and will say anything to get press. What it truly is about is US. 

ASHAMED

I saw a big advertisement in the WSJ for Dick Chaney and daughter's book. (Don't want to name it. God forbid that somebody might buy it because of me--plenty of stupid 'mericans' that will buy the book).  

You have got to be s..ting me. This f..ker should be sitting in "sack cloth and ashes" for leading a hapless president down a road to shame.  With bad Intell, Chaney was the main cheerleader for the nvasion of a country that has been the open door to Mideast conflict for over 5000 years. (Like we could do something). As my mom would say, "anybody with one eye and half sense would know better." 

How guys like Chaney can hold their heads up is way beyond me. With few exceptions, George W. has at least not tried to put a spin on a colossal mistake and has by in large stayed out of the limelight. Chaney for his part is f..king clueless.