...how this BraveNewObamaWorld thing is working out.
Mr. and Mrs. OldSouth had a couple of errands to run--pick up Mrs. OS's car from the shop, purchase a tarp from the farm supply place, even got a lunch at the diner for all that driving around. Life is good today...
NPR was on the radio--always interested to hear what the nation's most enthusiastic Kool-Aid drinkers are up to. And, it is interesting, more interesting now than ever. It's dawning on a few of them that maybe (just maybe!) they've been had, and The One is actually doing more harm than good, and they are His useful idiots.
Since the early 70's, the NPR spiel has been predictable: There's this terrible situation involving (fill in the blank), caused by all those greedy WASP's determined to enslave and starve the victims of (fill in the blank). If only we had another government program, and raised taxes a teeny-weeny bit more, why this problem could be solved. OS used to be able to time the final thirty seconds or so of each presentation, because right after the erudite opinions of Professor (fill in the blank) of (fill in the blank) State U, came the inevitable assertion that more government and more spending were our only solution and salvation.
Today was different: The report on Obama's attempt to shut down the Gulf Coast oil industry points out in stark terms the massive (and permanent) dislocation that will result if Himself prevails (and sho'nuff, He's in court, tryin' to locate a judge who will collude with Him--do I smell an appointment to the appeals court quietly being proffered?)
It's not pretty--and pretty unflattering to The Winner of the 2010 Noble Peace Prize.
The second feature was an interesting conversation between BP's COO Doug Suttles and NPR's Melissa Block, who took the opportunity to really to skewer him. He took it in stride, and unlike The One, never lost his temper, or became petulant. Further, NPR knew how to locate BP's COO and actually have a conversation with him. Suttles was willing to endure a long interview with someone from an organization known for its hostility to the private sector. That's more than Obama ever bothered to do, on either count.
Suttles held his own, with uncomfortable questions peppered at him. On the whole, he displays a lot more qualities of leadership than The Beloved Leader. BP really screwed the pooch in the Gulf. He admits it, and talks in specifics about what is being done to remedy their screw-up. OS invites you to listen, and compare him to the Corp of Engineers and EPA dolts who are preventing Gulf Coast communities from saving themselves. OS was surprised to hear the interview aired, with no introductory or trailing vitriolic comments.
Remember, ya'll: BP has no upside in a huge disaster--they have to pay for it. Obama and company are presented with a huge opportunity to seize power and bleed BP dry if things truly come unwound. Where does the moral hazard lie?
Again, the signs are subtle, and there are more examples, but slowly slowly slowly, the doubts are beginning to surface, as NPR presenters talk with authors about the reality of evil, school board members in small towns about the impossibility of paying for compliance with Federal mandates while keeping the doors open, about pension funds that are eroding, violence on the border, unemployment as a way of life, businesses shuttering. After all those years of shilling for the Left, NPR is now stuck with reporting the results.
Their discomfort is becoming palpable.
OS just grins and drives.
'Chicken, meet roost'...
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The 'Slider Effect': White Castle Predicts ObamaCare Will Result In Job Losses
Again, ya'll: Don't take OldSouth's word on these things. Check with the people on the ground. It's beginning to feel like ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings are deliberately attempting to push the culture (and the economy) over the cliff.
This item in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
HT to Marathon Pundit.
This item in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
HT to Marathon Pundit.
Don't Take My Word For It: Listen To The Voices In Louisiana
From Pat Austin yesterday in Shreveport:
The federal government has thrown another stone in Louisiana's path to protect its shores from the encroaching oil from the BP well explosion.
The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has rejected the state's plan to build rock dikes in the passes leading into Barataria Bay, an area known for fishing and wildlife. As expected, Governor Jindal is furious, saying, "“Only a government bureaucrat would say rocks are more harmful to our water than oil.”
The Advocate has the story this morning as well as a report of oil now moving into Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans.
The best quote in The Advocate's piece comes from Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle who said,
“I say, let’s go. If we can come up with the money, let’s bypass the federal government. Let’s protect our people.”
Camardelle needs to come up with $25 million to build the dikes anyway. BP has already purchased the rocks for $16 million and they're sitting on barges ready to go.
At this point, I think Camardelle is correct. It appears that the only way Louisiana will be saved will be for state officials to do whatever it takes to save it and quit waiting weeks for Corps approvals, permits, and reports. Quit waiting for Obama to make a decision because he's already made it, haven't you noticed?
He's decided to take the path of criminal negligence.
Again, if the locals raise the money and proceed, what's Obama gonna do? Send the Coast Guard to fire on the locals? Send in the National Guard to seize the island?
The federal government has thrown another stone in Louisiana's path to protect its shores from the encroaching oil from the BP well explosion.
The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers has rejected the state's plan to build rock dikes in the passes leading into Barataria Bay, an area known for fishing and wildlife. As expected, Governor Jindal is furious, saying, "“Only a government bureaucrat would say rocks are more harmful to our water than oil.”
The Advocate has the story this morning as well as a report of oil now moving into Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans.
The best quote in The Advocate's piece comes from Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle who said,
“I say, let’s go. If we can come up with the money, let’s bypass the federal government. Let’s protect our people.”
Camardelle needs to come up with $25 million to build the dikes anyway. BP has already purchased the rocks for $16 million and they're sitting on barges ready to go.
At this point, I think Camardelle is correct. It appears that the only way Louisiana will be saved will be for state officials to do whatever it takes to save it and quit waiting weeks for Corps approvals, permits, and reports. Quit waiting for Obama to make a decision because he's already made it, haven't you noticed?
He's decided to take the path of criminal negligence.
Again, if the locals raise the money and proceed, what's Obama gonna do? Send the Coast Guard to fire on the locals? Send in the National Guard to seize the island?
Shaking One's Head In Disbelief: Charles Bolden Of NASA
[Cue the music!!!]
Yemen! The Final Frontier!
These are the voyages of the Starship Obama, on its four-year mission to completely gut the space program of its last fifty years of progress.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.
Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.
John Kennedy, without a doubt, is rolling in his grave.
Yemen! The Final Frontier!
These are the voyages of the Starship Obama, on its four-year mission to completely gut the space program of its last fifty years of progress.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his "foremost" as the head of America's space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.
Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA's orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.
John Kennedy, without a doubt, is rolling in his grave.
Heaven Have Mercy On The Gulf Of Mexico: The US Army Corp Of Engineers Permitting Process
This from Planet Gore.
Now, remember, as Louisiana is forced to jump through all these hoops, submitting and re-submitting plans, complying with all those laws and their attendant regulations--
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
The shrimping industry harvest has been reduced by 84%.
Oil has been found in Lake Ponchatrain.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Obama demands votes for his Cap-n-Trade bill as a prerequisite for addressing the disaster.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
And here's a special detail, buried toward the bottom of the document:
23. Cultural Resource Protection: Consultation required, and work must cease if new historic/prehistoric cultural resources discovered.
24. Historic Protection: Reporting of unknown historic or archeological items.
25. Tribal cultural materials: Area is aboriginal Chitimacha homelands, tribe contact required if cultural materials are discovered.
If they dig up pottery shards of unknown provenance, work must cease.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Now, remember, as Louisiana is forced to jump through all these hoops, submitting and re-submitting plans, complying with all those laws and their attendant regulations--
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
The shrimping industry harvest has been reduced by 84%.
Oil has been found in Lake Ponchatrain.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Obama demands votes for his Cap-n-Trade bill as a prerequisite for addressing the disaster.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
And here's a special detail, buried toward the bottom of the document:
23. Cultural Resource Protection: Consultation required, and work must cease if new historic/prehistoric cultural resources discovered.
24. Historic Protection: Reporting of unknown historic or archeological items.
25. Tribal cultural materials: Area is aboriginal Chitimacha homelands, tribe contact required if cultural materials are discovered.
If they dig up pottery shards of unknown provenance, work must cease.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
Thousand of barrels of oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico daily.
The Obama DOJ v. The State Of Arizona (And The Rest Of The Country)
John Lott's page provides a link if you wish to download a pdf of the lawsuit.
It's twenty-five pages of assertion that the Federal government in general, and the President in particular, reigns supreme over the states in any matter involving illegal immigration. More breathtakingly, it asserts that the President essentially has the discretion to enforce, or not enforce, the federal law. It all depends on whether he and the Federal government think it is in their best interests.
Sound incredible? HellsBells, ya'll, don't take OS's word for it, read the legalese these scoundrels filed today:
[paragraph 19]
In crafting federal immigration law and policy, Congress has necessarily taken into account multiple and often competing national interests. Assuring effective enforcement of the provisions against illegal migration and unlawful presence is a highly important interest, but it is not the singular goal of the federal immigration laws. The laws also take into account other uniquely national interests, including facilitating trade and commerce; welcoming those foreign nationals who visit or immigrate lawfully and ensuring their fair and equitable treatment wherever they may reside; responding to humanitarian concerns at the global and individual levels; and otherwise ensuring that the treatment of aliens present in our nation does not harm our foreign relations with the countries from which they come or jeopardize the treatment of U.S. citizens abroad. Because immigration control and management is “a field where flexibility and the adaptation of the congressional policy to infinitely variable conditions constitute the essence of the program,” U.S. ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 U.S. 537, 543 (1950) (internal citations omitted), Congress vested substantial discretion in the President and the administering federal agencies to adjust the balance of these multiple interests as appropriate – both globally and in individual cases.
But, as always: Wait, there's more!
[end of paragraph 4]
It will conflict with longstanding federal law governing the registration, smuggling, and employment of aliens. It will altogether ignore humanitarian concerns, such as the protections available under federal law for an alien who has a well-founded fear of persecution or who has been the victim of a natural disaster. And it will interfere with vital foreign policy and national security interests by disrupting the United States’ relationship with Mexico and other countries.
In other words, this is about keeping the Mexicans happy! That dog-and-pony show at the White House for Calderon wasn't for nothing, ya'll!
Holy frijoles, Paco! The place has been run by one set of criminals or another since 1919, and conditions are getting worse, not better. The place is a disaster, and Obama worries about what they think about us!
The lawsuit wants to overturn this law, based upon predictions of what might happen, not based on anything that actually has happened. The law's not even in force yet, nothing has been done in the course of the enforcement of this law, and the Obama DOJ wants it overturned!
In the end, it's all about power, Obama's power. If he chooses to enforce the law, fine and dandy. If he doesn't, you're screwed, and have no recourse, 'cuz he's theBoss President.
Of course, there are ways and means of 'inducing' The One to offer 'protection'...
'Nice little state you got here. It would be a shame if it were to be overrun by illegal aliens drug smugglers. Isn't that right, Gino and Vito?'
'Yeah, Boss, dat's right. It would be a real shame. YaKnowWhuddIMean? Maybe we should offer 'em some protection, boss! But ain't protection expensive? Whooz gonna pay for it?'
We all live in Chicago now, with Gino and Vito standing in the shadows.
It's twenty-five pages of assertion that the Federal government in general, and the President in particular, reigns supreme over the states in any matter involving illegal immigration. More breathtakingly, it asserts that the President essentially has the discretion to enforce, or not enforce, the federal law. It all depends on whether he and the Federal government think it is in their best interests.
Sound incredible? HellsBells, ya'll, don't take OS's word for it, read the legalese these scoundrels filed today:
[paragraph 19]
In crafting federal immigration law and policy, Congress has necessarily taken into account multiple and often competing national interests. Assuring effective enforcement of the provisions against illegal migration and unlawful presence is a highly important interest, but it is not the singular goal of the federal immigration laws. The laws also take into account other uniquely national interests, including facilitating trade and commerce; welcoming those foreign nationals who visit or immigrate lawfully and ensuring their fair and equitable treatment wherever they may reside; responding to humanitarian concerns at the global and individual levels; and otherwise ensuring that the treatment of aliens present in our nation does not harm our foreign relations with the countries from which they come or jeopardize the treatment of U.S. citizens abroad. Because immigration control and management is “a field where flexibility and the adaptation of the congressional policy to infinitely variable conditions constitute the essence of the program,” U.S. ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 U.S. 537, 543 (1950) (internal citations omitted), Congress vested substantial discretion in the President and the administering federal agencies to adjust the balance of these multiple interests as appropriate – both globally and in individual cases.
But, as always: Wait, there's more!
[end of paragraph 4]
It will conflict with longstanding federal law governing the registration, smuggling, and employment of aliens. It will altogether ignore humanitarian concerns, such as the protections available under federal law for an alien who has a well-founded fear of persecution or who has been the victim of a natural disaster. And it will interfere with vital foreign policy and national security interests by disrupting the United States’ relationship with Mexico and other countries.
In other words, this is about keeping the Mexicans happy! That dog-and-pony show at the White House for Calderon wasn't for nothing, ya'll!
Holy frijoles, Paco! The place has been run by one set of criminals or another since 1919, and conditions are getting worse, not better. The place is a disaster, and Obama worries about what they think about us!
The lawsuit wants to overturn this law, based upon predictions of what might happen, not based on anything that actually has happened. The law's not even in force yet, nothing has been done in the course of the enforcement of this law, and the Obama DOJ wants it overturned!
In the end, it's all about power, Obama's power. If he chooses to enforce the law, fine and dandy. If he doesn't, you're screwed, and have no recourse, 'cuz he's the
Of course, there are ways and means of 'inducing' The One to offer 'protection'...
'Nice little state you got here. It would be a shame if it were to be overrun by illegal aliens drug smugglers. Isn't that right, Gino and Vito?'
'Yeah, Boss, dat's right. It would be a real shame. YaKnowWhuddIMean? Maybe we should offer 'em some protection, boss! But ain't protection expensive? Whooz gonna pay for it?'
We all live in Chicago now, with Gino and Vito standing in the shadows.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Weekend Insight Into The Unemployment Numbers
It has become a ritual.
The 'numbers' are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the end of every month. They suck. By any reasonable standard, they just, well, suck. OS can tell you tales of his unemployed/underemployed friends and family; highly accomplished, energetic, ambitious people who now struggle in a culture and economy that has gone as limp as a sails on a windless day. But, you know those same people. You're surrounded by them. Perhaps you are one of them.
So, instead, OS has another story to tell. He has struck a friendship with a family in his small town that has opened a little restaurant, and blessedly, it is doing well. These folks have three generations of 'little restaurant' in their background, so they know the drill. It's wonderful to see.
The twenty-something son, who is a kid OS would adopt in a heartbeat, shared a story over breakfast Saturday:
He has a friend with a successful small business that provides a very good service throughout the South. It employs a lot of people, because it's one of those enterprises that requires a lot of people to run. In other words, this guy's firm is a job engine, and it can't be outsourced to Mexico or China.
He could expand his business by 50% next week, except--he's looked at the tax code. He's reached the limit of earnings he can take home from his business. Every dollar past what he's doing essentially goes away in taxes. In addition, his payroll costs, workman's comp, Social Security and Medicare costs, health and liability insurance costs, and his administrative costs and complications soar. If he expands, he exposes himself to a lot of risk, and almost no reward.
Soooo...that jobs engine sits idling.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Replicate his story a few thousand times in every state of the Union, stir gently, and you get the BLS numbers at the end of every month.
And you get to watch Christina Romer or some other flack from ObamaLand cheerily assure you that things aren't all that bad, and besides they're getting better, and if they suck it's because those mean Republicans won't let us borrow another trillion to drop from the helicopter and you're being mean by pointing out that we promised this wouldn't happen and you aren't smart enough to understand what I'm saying anyway 'cuz you didn't go to Harvard like I did and we know how to take care of little unwashed people like you I've got to go now and talk to someone else and tell them the same things see you at the end of next month.
The 'numbers' are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the end of every month. They suck. By any reasonable standard, they just, well, suck. OS can tell you tales of his unemployed/underemployed friends and family; highly accomplished, energetic, ambitious people who now struggle in a culture and economy that has gone as limp as a sails on a windless day. But, you know those same people. You're surrounded by them. Perhaps you are one of them.
So, instead, OS has another story to tell. He has struck a friendship with a family in his small town that has opened a little restaurant, and blessedly, it is doing well. These folks have three generations of 'little restaurant' in their background, so they know the drill. It's wonderful to see.
The twenty-something son, who is a kid OS would adopt in a heartbeat, shared a story over breakfast Saturday:
He has a friend with a successful small business that provides a very good service throughout the South. It employs a lot of people, because it's one of those enterprises that requires a lot of people to run. In other words, this guy's firm is a job engine, and it can't be outsourced to Mexico or China.
He could expand his business by 50% next week, except--he's looked at the tax code. He's reached the limit of earnings he can take home from his business. Every dollar past what he's doing essentially goes away in taxes. In addition, his payroll costs, workman's comp, Social Security and Medicare costs, health and liability insurance costs, and his administrative costs and complications soar. If he expands, he exposes himself to a lot of risk, and almost no reward.
Soooo...that jobs engine sits idling.
Lather, rinse, repeat. Replicate his story a few thousand times in every state of the Union, stir gently, and you get the BLS numbers at the end of every month.
And you get to watch Christina Romer or some other flack from ObamaLand cheerily assure you that things aren't all that bad, and besides they're getting better, and if they suck it's because those mean Republicans won't let us borrow another trillion to drop from the helicopter and you're being mean by pointing out that we promised this wouldn't happen and you aren't smart enough to understand what I'm saying anyway 'cuz you didn't go to Harvard like I did and we know how to take care of little unwashed people like you I've got to go now and talk to someone else and tell them the same things see you at the end of next month.
Possible Progress In The Gulf, In Spite Of The Federal Government
The Wall Street Journal reports that tests are being run on a giant oil skimmer, a tanker retrofitted by it Japanese owners.
Now, compare and contrast.
This is the entrepreneurial approach:
The day the Deepwater Horizon exploded, TMT CEO Nobu Su ordered the A Whale, a brand-new $160 million cargo hauler, to start sailing west from China, while he commissioned Hyundai engineers to devise a plan to covert it into a skimmer. The plans were worked out by the time the ship made it to a Portugal shipyard, where it was modified.
After water is ingested through the ship's vents, it is pumped into a series of containers, where oil rises to the top of the water over several days. The oil is then siphoned into a separate container, before being transferred to a tanker. In Portugal, the ship tested its intake process on water sprayed with fire foam, since using oil was out of the question. It proved effective, the company said. TNT has two more ships, B Whale and C Whale, that are in the process of being turned into skimming vessels.
This, on the other hand, is the Obama Federal Government approach:
EPA guidelines require that the discharged water contain no more than 15 parts per million of oil—a difficult standard to meet, said Prof. Overton. The federal on-scene coordinator can exempt the discharge from the Clean Water Act standard.
In other words, the EPA has decided it would rather let 50k barrels of oil per day not be cleaned up, rather than have equipment in place that cleans up, say ninety percent of the problem. Does this make sense to any sane person that actually wants the problem solved?
But wait, there's more!
One deterrent to getting more skimmers to the Gulf is a federal requirement under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that both the U.S. Navy and state jurisdictions around the country had to have a certain number of skimmers on hand in the event of an oil spill.
Earlier this week, the Coast Guard and EPA issued a temporary rule relaxing the federal skimmer requirements through December, freeing up the number of skimmers available to be used in the Gulf. But some politicians still decried how long it took to get the change approved.
"The president and his administration need to be moving heaven and Earth to get those ships there tomorrow," Sen. George LeMieux (R., Fla.) said in an interview Friday. "In fact, they should have been there 50 days ago."
In other words, we've got lots of equipment on hand, but we're not going to use it, and we're not going to consider using obvious common sense. Let's fight a three-alarm blaze with a garden hose only--that pumper truck in the firehouse might be needed for fire hydrant maintenance and local parades.
Only two conclusions can be drawn: Either this Administration is completely inept, or...they don't want a solution, because they want to use this tragedy as a means to seize more power. Given the anecdotes of recent encounters between Obama and senators Kyl and Lamar Alexander, OldSouth suspects the latter scenario.
He truly, sincerely hopes he is mistaken.
Now, compare and contrast.
This is the entrepreneurial approach:
The day the Deepwater Horizon exploded, TMT CEO Nobu Su ordered the A Whale, a brand-new $160 million cargo hauler, to start sailing west from China, while he commissioned Hyundai engineers to devise a plan to covert it into a skimmer. The plans were worked out by the time the ship made it to a Portugal shipyard, where it was modified.
After water is ingested through the ship's vents, it is pumped into a series of containers, where oil rises to the top of the water over several days. The oil is then siphoned into a separate container, before being transferred to a tanker. In Portugal, the ship tested its intake process on water sprayed with fire foam, since using oil was out of the question. It proved effective, the company said. TNT has two more ships, B Whale and C Whale, that are in the process of being turned into skimming vessels.
This, on the other hand, is the Obama Federal Government approach:
EPA guidelines require that the discharged water contain no more than 15 parts per million of oil—a difficult standard to meet, said Prof. Overton. The federal on-scene coordinator can exempt the discharge from the Clean Water Act standard.
In other words, the EPA has decided it would rather let 50k barrels of oil per day not be cleaned up, rather than have equipment in place that cleans up, say ninety percent of the problem. Does this make sense to any sane person that actually wants the problem solved?
But wait, there's more!
One deterrent to getting more skimmers to the Gulf is a federal requirement under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that both the U.S. Navy and state jurisdictions around the country had to have a certain number of skimmers on hand in the event of an oil spill.
Earlier this week, the Coast Guard and EPA issued a temporary rule relaxing the federal skimmer requirements through December, freeing up the number of skimmers available to be used in the Gulf. But some politicians still decried how long it took to get the change approved.
"The president and his administration need to be moving heaven and Earth to get those ships there tomorrow," Sen. George LeMieux (R., Fla.) said in an interview Friday. "In fact, they should have been there 50 days ago."
In other words, we've got lots of equipment on hand, but we're not going to use it, and we're not going to consider using obvious common sense. Let's fight a three-alarm blaze with a garden hose only--that pumper truck in the firehouse might be needed for fire hydrant maintenance and local parades.
Only two conclusions can be drawn: Either this Administration is completely inept, or...they don't want a solution, because they want to use this tragedy as a means to seize more power. Given the anecdotes of recent encounters between Obama and senators Kyl and Lamar Alexander, OldSouth suspects the latter scenario.
He truly, sincerely hopes he is mistaken.
Homer Hickam Shares Wisdom From Coalwood, West Virginia: We Are Not Afraid
Homer Hickam is a wonderful author, whose subject is the American culture and spirit. If you have read Rocket Boys, you know his story. If you have ever seen the movie October Skies, you've seen the Hollywood version.
Homer's story is an inspiration, and continues to this day.
Today, he shared his remarks upon receiving the Audie Murphy Patriotism Award, in which he repeats his core message: We Are Not Afraid.
He goes on to share what he learned from his hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia, who taught him to not be afraid.
We are proud of who we are.
We stand up for what we believe.
We keep our family together.
We trust in God but rely on ourselves.
His remarks may be found here, and come highly recommended. He closes with the story of Reverend Richard, a local clergyman. Only a heart of stone could be unmoved by his words.
Have a blessed Fourth of July, wherever you are. It is such a blessing to belong to this wonderful country, and to be a Southerner to boot.
Rocket Boys
October Sky
Homer's story is an inspiration, and continues to this day.
Today, he shared his remarks upon receiving the Audie Murphy Patriotism Award, in which he repeats his core message: We Are Not Afraid.
He goes on to share what he learned from his hometown of Coalwood, West Virginia, who taught him to not be afraid.
We are proud of who we are.
We stand up for what we believe.
We keep our family together.
We trust in God but rely on ourselves.
His remarks may be found here, and come highly recommended. He closes with the story of Reverend Richard, a local clergyman. Only a heart of stone could be unmoved by his words.
Have a blessed Fourth of July, wherever you are. It is such a blessing to belong to this wonderful country, and to be a Southerner to boot.
Rocket Boys
October Sky
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