The Wall Street Journal reports that BP may have achieved a static kill of the well.
By GUY CHAZAN
LONDON—BP PLC said it has scored a "significant milestone" in its efforts to plug its blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well as a procedure to subdue it with heavy drilling mud appeared to be working.
BP may now move to seal the well for good by cementing it shut, if it gets the go-ahead from government scientists and officials. But the company has stressed that the only permanent solution is a relief well, which will be completed by the middle of this month.
BP said that over the course of eight hours on Tuesday, its engineers pumped hundreds of barrels of heavy drilling mud into the runaway well from vessels on the surface, pushing the oil back into the reservoir.
And, interestingly, this bit ends the announcement:
BP last week posted a loss of $17.15 billion for the second quarter, stemming from a pretax charge of $32.2 billion to cover future and current costs from containment, cleanup, compensation and fines relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
In other words, BP has already taken its hit on its books, out front, unlike the creative accountants at firms like GM, Chrysler, most US banks, and the US Federal Government. Thirty-two large. And they're selling stuff off to raise money to pay for the mess they admit they created.
Unlike the creative types listed above--especially the last one on the list.
Blessedly, the damage, although bad, could have been much worse.
And, it is noted, there have been other bad oil spills, and the world did not come to an end.
OS has a prediction to make:
There is a competition underway to decide which party is competent to address this sort of disaster, repair the damage, and survive long into the future. Who will emerge from this piece of history with their credibility intact?
OS thinks BP, with all its many failings, will be around and thriving long after Obama and Company are out of office and public favor.
And justly so.
Update:
BP's press release regarding the static kill, dated 4 August.
BP's technical update, delivered by Ken Wells on 3 August.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Chicago, Chicago, Obama's Hometown: Murder Rate 2x LA, 3x NYC
Sorta' makes you want to stand up and cheer, knowing we got us a whole passel of Chicago pols installed in the White House, knowhuddImean?
It’s a shame that the public has to be reminded of this from time to time, but any cop can testify to this inescapable fact of police work: Where there is no punishment for criminal behavior, crime will flourish.
Nowhere has this been demonstrated with greater clarity lately than in Chicago, where the Sun-Times has taken notice and sounded the alarm. In a three-part series that concluded Tuesday, reporters Mark Konkol and Frank Main examined the violent incidents that occurred over a single weekend in Chicago two years ago. During that 59-hour period, from April 18 -20, 2008, forty people were shot in the city, seven of them fatally. Stop and consider that for a moment: one city, one weekend, seven people murdered, and 33 others shot but still alive.
As it happens, not a single suspect in any of those shootings has been convicted of a crime. One accused shooter, says the Sun-Times, awaits trial for killing his boss. The other six murders remain unsolved, as do nearly all of the non-fatal shootings that occurred that weekend. In 2009, Chicago detectives “cleared” 30 percent of the murders and 18 percent of the non-fatal shootings they investigated. But, as in any city, a “clearance” in Chicago does not necessarily mean a suspect was arrested, charged, and convicted, but merely that one was identified to the satisfaction of investigators. In some cases detectives are reminded of one axiom of big-city police work: today’s suspect is tomorrow’s victim. Police sometimes come across evidence identifying someone as a murder suspect only to discover he himself has been gunned down, either in retaliation for the earlier murder or merely as a consequence of his engaging in a high-risk lifestyle.
In response, this essay has been making the rounds in Chicago, penned by a officer in the police force. It is not, shall we say, a flattering assessment.
Everyone in Chicago knows it. Almost everyone in America knows it. In fact, a lot of people throughout the world know. Chicago is a city at war with itself - fast tracking to anarchy.
Leading us there have been two major root causes - public violence and public corruption. While Chicago has been under attack with its people fearful and hiding, its police department was twisted into paralysis by organizational decimation, incompetent leadership, self-serving politics and corruption.
After three dead cops in less than 60 days, the men and women of the Chicago Police Department are saying, "Enough!!!" We are sickened that our world-class police department has deteriorated into ruin in only a few short years. We are tired of a leaderless department. We are angry at an unsupportive mayor.
We must rise up together to take this city back from the thugs, gangs and rogues that infect our city. The good people of Chicago must also take a stand against the corrupt politicians and their cronies that have bled our city and police department dry.
And that's just the beginning of the essay!
Weren't we assured of the competence, vision, and moral clarity of The One, so successful in transforming the rough neighborhoods of Chicago as a community organizer?
It’s a shame that the public has to be reminded of this from time to time, but any cop can testify to this inescapable fact of police work: Where there is no punishment for criminal behavior, crime will flourish.
Nowhere has this been demonstrated with greater clarity lately than in Chicago, where the Sun-Times has taken notice and sounded the alarm. In a three-part series that concluded Tuesday, reporters Mark Konkol and Frank Main examined the violent incidents that occurred over a single weekend in Chicago two years ago. During that 59-hour period, from April 18 -20, 2008, forty people were shot in the city, seven of them fatally. Stop and consider that for a moment: one city, one weekend, seven people murdered, and 33 others shot but still alive.
As it happens, not a single suspect in any of those shootings has been convicted of a crime. One accused shooter, says the Sun-Times, awaits trial for killing his boss. The other six murders remain unsolved, as do nearly all of the non-fatal shootings that occurred that weekend. In 2009, Chicago detectives “cleared” 30 percent of the murders and 18 percent of the non-fatal shootings they investigated. But, as in any city, a “clearance” in Chicago does not necessarily mean a suspect was arrested, charged, and convicted, but merely that one was identified to the satisfaction of investigators. In some cases detectives are reminded of one axiom of big-city police work: today’s suspect is tomorrow’s victim. Police sometimes come across evidence identifying someone as a murder suspect only to discover he himself has been gunned down, either in retaliation for the earlier murder or merely as a consequence of his engaging in a high-risk lifestyle.
In response, this essay has been making the rounds in Chicago, penned by a officer in the police force. It is not, shall we say, a flattering assessment.
Everyone in Chicago knows it. Almost everyone in America knows it. In fact, a lot of people throughout the world know. Chicago is a city at war with itself - fast tracking to anarchy.
Leading us there have been two major root causes - public violence and public corruption. While Chicago has been under attack with its people fearful and hiding, its police department was twisted into paralysis by organizational decimation, incompetent leadership, self-serving politics and corruption.
After three dead cops in less than 60 days, the men and women of the Chicago Police Department are saying, "Enough!!!" We are sickened that our world-class police department has deteriorated into ruin in only a few short years. We are tired of a leaderless department. We are angry at an unsupportive mayor.
We must rise up together to take this city back from the thugs, gangs and rogues that infect our city. The good people of Chicago must also take a stand against the corrupt politicians and their cronies that have bled our city and police department dry.
And that's just the beginning of the essay!
Weren't we assured of the competence, vision, and moral clarity of The One, so successful in transforming the rough neighborhoods of Chicago as a community organizer?
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Even NPR Won't Propogandize Anymore
If they wish to keep their listeners, with donors writing checks to local affiliates, they must eventually tell the truth. Even liberals notice the smell, when you lie to them long enough.
And they report: No economic growth in June.
The pace of consumer spending stalled in June and personal incomes failed to increase, further evidence that the economic recovery slowed in the spring.
Personal spending was unchanged in June, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the third straight month of lackluster consumer demand. Incomes were also flat, the weakest showing in nine months.
The lack of growth for spending and incomes shows the economy ended the second quarter on a weak note. Many analysts believe growth will slow further in the second half of the year as high unemployment, shaky consumer confidence and renewed troubles in housing weigh on the year-old economic recovery.
Americans appear to be preparing for tough times. The personal savings rate rose to 6.4 percent of after-tax incomes in June, the highest reading in nearly a year. The savings rate is now about three times the 2.1 percent average for all of 2007, before the recession began.
Consumer spending is closely monitored because it accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity.
Note to The One: If you ram through outrageous federal takeovers of entire portions of the economy (like health care), demonstrate your incompetence and venality when an oil well blows up (by not picking up the phone to call the oil company...), put 39 million people on food stamps, and generally create anxiety about the Brave New World you have planned for us all, guess what?
People lose faith in the future, and sit on their cash. Given events of the past sixty months, what sane person would finance a car for the next sixty?
Even NPR, lead cheerleader for The One, can't keep up the pretense anymore.
You on yoh' own thea, Missah Prezident.
And they report: No economic growth in June.
The pace of consumer spending stalled in June and personal incomes failed to increase, further evidence that the economic recovery slowed in the spring.
Personal spending was unchanged in June, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the third straight month of lackluster consumer demand. Incomes were also flat, the weakest showing in nine months.
The lack of growth for spending and incomes shows the economy ended the second quarter on a weak note. Many analysts believe growth will slow further in the second half of the year as high unemployment, shaky consumer confidence and renewed troubles in housing weigh on the year-old economic recovery.
Americans appear to be preparing for tough times. The personal savings rate rose to 6.4 percent of after-tax incomes in June, the highest reading in nearly a year. The savings rate is now about three times the 2.1 percent average for all of 2007, before the recession began.
Consumer spending is closely monitored because it accounts for 70 percent of total economic activity.
Note to The One: If you ram through outrageous federal takeovers of entire portions of the economy (like health care), demonstrate your incompetence and venality when an oil well blows up (by not picking up the phone to call the oil company...), put 39 million people on food stamps, and generally create anxiety about the Brave New World you have planned for us all, guess what?
People lose faith in the future, and sit on their cash. Given events of the past sixty months, what sane person would finance a car for the next sixty?
Even NPR, lead cheerleader for The One, can't keep up the pretense anymore.
You on yoh' own thea, Missah Prezident.
Alexis De Tocqueville, 1840: Organized, Peaceful, Gentle Enslavement
Following upon OS's previous post, and with a large and grateful bow in the direction of the Acton Institute, the words of de Tocqueville, published in 1840:
Thus, the ruling power, having taken each citizen one by one into its powerful grasp and having molded him to its own liking, spreads its arms over the whole of society, covering the surface of social life with a network of petty, complicated, detailed, and uniform rules through which even the most original minds and the most energetic of spirits cannot reach the light in order to rise above the crowd. It does not break men’s wills but it does soften, bend, and control them; rarely does it force men to act but it constantly opposes what actions they perform; it does not destroy the start of anything but it stands in its way; it does not tyrannize but it inhibits, represses, drains, snuffs out, dulls so much effort that finally it reduces each nation to nothing more than a flock of timid and hardworking animals with the government as shepherd.
I have always believed that this type of organized, gentle, and peaceful enslavement just described could link up more easily than imagined with some of the external forms of freedom and that it would not be impossible for it to take hold in the very shadow of the sovereignty of this people.
Does this sound familiar?
Thus, the ruling power, having taken each citizen one by one into its powerful grasp and having molded him to its own liking, spreads its arms over the whole of society, covering the surface of social life with a network of petty, complicated, detailed, and uniform rules through which even the most original minds and the most energetic of spirits cannot reach the light in order to rise above the crowd. It does not break men’s wills but it does soften, bend, and control them; rarely does it force men to act but it constantly opposes what actions they perform; it does not destroy the start of anything but it stands in its way; it does not tyrannize but it inhibits, represses, drains, snuffs out, dulls so much effort that finally it reduces each nation to nothing more than a flock of timid and hardworking animals with the government as shepherd.
I have always believed that this type of organized, gentle, and peaceful enslavement just described could link up more easily than imagined with some of the external forms of freedom and that it would not be impossible for it to take hold in the very shadow of the sovereignty of this people.
Does this sound familiar?
Right On Target, And Missing The Point: Krugman's 'Defining Prosperity Down'
Paul Krugman, that Lion of The Left, The One's Personal Homeboy, Never Saw A Gubbermint Spending Program Too Lavish--that guy--has contributed a well-written essay to the current debate on OS's favorite subject--the culture that shapes the economy.
And, to lead off, he is exactly on point:
I’m starting to have a sick feeling about prospects for American workers — but not, or not entirely, for the reasons you might think.
Yes, growth is slowing, and the odds are that unemployment will rise, not fall, in the months ahead. That’s bad. But what’s worse is the growing evidence that our governing elite just doesn’t care — that a once-unthinkable level of economic distress is in the process of becoming the new normal.
And I worry that those in power, rather than taking responsibility for job creation, will soon declare that high unemployment is “structural,” a permanent part of the economic landscape — and that by condemning large numbers of Americans to long-term joblessness, they’ll turn that excuse into dismal reality.
He is dead-on, and expresses so well OS has been attempting to verbalize in his halting fashion. (That's why Krugman gets paid well for his words, and OS still writes as a hobby...craft matters.)
OS spent a week on business in Northern Kentucky and Louisville, which are favored places in his world. Heartbreakingly beautiful is the description that comes to mind about the scenery and small towns on the south side of the Ohio River. And yet, there is another sort of hearbreak that overtakes him as he visits: It is evident that these towns were once profoundly prosperous, and have been gutted over time, by one recession after the other, each one playing a cruel game of musical chairs with the souls that inhabit them. The music stops, and another slice of people become the 'structurally unemployed', living in subsidized housing or trailers, shopping at the Walmart and Dollar Tree-type stores with their SNAP cards, because no new businesses arose from the ashes of the ones that died. They raise children who eke by in the public school, and seem adrift. OS had to make a late-night trip to Walmart, and was struck by the number of kids just 'hanging out', at their poor physical and mental condition. Depressing. One town on the route in particular, Carrollton, featured lovely Victorian homes with dismal trailers next door, empty storefronts in a downtown that had once obviously thrived. The connector road to the interstate completed the scene with trailer parks, a closed car dealership, weedy lots, etc. It's like the wind just died in the sails.
Krugman is right. The powers-that-be may have decided this is just the way things will be, with a very prosperous layer shopping-til-they-drop at St. Matthews Mall on Louisville's east end, and a vast semi-underclass huddled together in neighborhoods not too far removed, hanging on for dear life, hoping the music doesn't stop for them as well.
But then, bless him, he proposes that the solution is to have the gubbermint increase the pace of its borrowing and spending, as if much more of the same policy since January '09 will put the economy back up on its feet.
What's needed are businesses. In order to have businesses, entreprenuers are required, willing to risk. If they turn profits by meeting needs, they create wealth, which is distributed to the owners.
Gubbermint can't do that. It's not set up to do that. It can't be in the wealth-creation business. It's in the taxing and making rules business. That doesn't create wealth, and tends to destroy it over the long haul.
Still, Mr. Krugman is well worth the time invested, if for no other reason than to see how the liberal mind functions.
And, to lead off, he is exactly on point:
I’m starting to have a sick feeling about prospects for American workers — but not, or not entirely, for the reasons you might think.
Yes, growth is slowing, and the odds are that unemployment will rise, not fall, in the months ahead. That’s bad. But what’s worse is the growing evidence that our governing elite just doesn’t care — that a once-unthinkable level of economic distress is in the process of becoming the new normal.
And I worry that those in power, rather than taking responsibility for job creation, will soon declare that high unemployment is “structural,” a permanent part of the economic landscape — and that by condemning large numbers of Americans to long-term joblessness, they’ll turn that excuse into dismal reality.
He is dead-on, and expresses so well OS has been attempting to verbalize in his halting fashion. (That's why Krugman gets paid well for his words, and OS still writes as a hobby...craft matters.)
OS spent a week on business in Northern Kentucky and Louisville, which are favored places in his world. Heartbreakingly beautiful is the description that comes to mind about the scenery and small towns on the south side of the Ohio River. And yet, there is another sort of hearbreak that overtakes him as he visits: It is evident that these towns were once profoundly prosperous, and have been gutted over time, by one recession after the other, each one playing a cruel game of musical chairs with the souls that inhabit them. The music stops, and another slice of people become the 'structurally unemployed', living in subsidized housing or trailers, shopping at the Walmart and Dollar Tree-type stores with their SNAP cards, because no new businesses arose from the ashes of the ones that died. They raise children who eke by in the public school, and seem adrift. OS had to make a late-night trip to Walmart, and was struck by the number of kids just 'hanging out', at their poor physical and mental condition. Depressing. One town on the route in particular, Carrollton, featured lovely Victorian homes with dismal trailers next door, empty storefronts in a downtown that had once obviously thrived. The connector road to the interstate completed the scene with trailer parks, a closed car dealership, weedy lots, etc. It's like the wind just died in the sails.
Krugman is right. The powers-that-be may have decided this is just the way things will be, with a very prosperous layer shopping-til-they-drop at St. Matthews Mall on Louisville's east end, and a vast semi-underclass huddled together in neighborhoods not too far removed, hanging on for dear life, hoping the music doesn't stop for them as well.
But then, bless him, he proposes that the solution is to have the gubbermint increase the pace of its borrowing and spending, as if much more of the same policy since January '09 will put the economy back up on its feet.
What's needed are businesses. In order to have businesses, entreprenuers are required, willing to risk. If they turn profits by meeting needs, they create wealth, which is distributed to the owners.
Gubbermint can't do that. It's not set up to do that. It can't be in the wealth-creation business. It's in the taxing and making rules business. That doesn't create wealth, and tends to destroy it over the long haul.
Still, Mr. Krugman is well worth the time invested, if for no other reason than to see how the liberal mind functions.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday Night In Louisville
End of the business trip drawing nigh, and Mr. and Mrs. OS hosted a dear friend from distant parts to dinner in Jeffersonville, across the river from Louisville. It was lovely to see the lights on the Ohio, good food and friendly servers at the Montana Grill. Breathtaking huge portions. Memo to self: Order from the 'modest portions' menu next time.
Just to let our guest see downtown a bit, OS took the Clark Bridge into across the river after dinner. A few blocks in, we're at a corner light. Liquor store on the left, a car pulls up in front of it, blocking lanes both ways. That fight-or-flight reaction kicked in--get out of there before the guns get pulled. Thankfully, the way forward was clear, and as we hot-footed it out of there, OS was relieved to not hear gunfire.
One reaction could be: Well, what does one expect, driving through the city late at night?
Another reaction could be: Wait a second. Why shouldn't we be able to drive through the city on Sunday night without fear of violence? We're the good guys, the solid citizen types. Why should we surrender the street to the thugs?
Yes, it is an idealistic and self-righteous position to take. But the thought did run through OS's mind as he floored the accelerator...
Please, don't misunderstand. Louisville is one of OS's favorite places on the planet, for a long long list of reasons. He loves it when he gets to visit, and has even explored moving there. It is a wonderful place, for so many reasons.
He just wants it to stay that way. That's all.
Just to let our guest see downtown a bit, OS took the Clark Bridge into across the river after dinner. A few blocks in, we're at a corner light. Liquor store on the left, a car pulls up in front of it, blocking lanes both ways. That fight-or-flight reaction kicked in--get out of there before the guns get pulled. Thankfully, the way forward was clear, and as we hot-footed it out of there, OS was relieved to not hear gunfire.
One reaction could be: Well, what does one expect, driving through the city late at night?
Another reaction could be: Wait a second. Why shouldn't we be able to drive through the city on Sunday night without fear of violence? We're the good guys, the solid citizen types. Why should we surrender the street to the thugs?
Yes, it is an idealistic and self-righteous position to take. But the thought did run through OS's mind as he floored the accelerator...
Please, don't misunderstand. Louisville is one of OS's favorite places on the planet, for a long long list of reasons. He loves it when he gets to visit, and has even explored moving there. It is a wonderful place, for so many reasons.
He just wants it to stay that way. That's all.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
James Corum Asks The Relevant Question: Why Do Our Soldiers' Lives Matter So Little To Our Elites?
James Corum is a sober, thoughtful voice in the ongoing debate about peace and war, and how each should be waged.
OS enjoys reading his thoughts, and hopes his readers will take a few moments to ponder them as well.
This time, he discusses the massive WikiLeaks scandal, abetted by the Yew Nork Times.
He asks the cogent question:
Take a hypothetical situation. In 1943 some British and American military intelligence personnel decided that the public had a right to know how the war was really going. They gave the documents to the New York Times and Guardian, who published them in accordance with “the public’s right to know”. Along with the routine reports, the media published thousands of pages of low level intelligence documents including documents that mentioned army staff meetings. The media blacked out the names of the sources and some details – but a clever enemy could quickly figure out which meetings had been compromised and who had likely compromised them. They would also have likely figured out which information had come from signals intercepts – and would then quickly change their procedures and codes to shut off intelligence to the Allies. As a result of the compromise, many Allied soldiers would likely die.
What would be the response of the British and US governments to such a leak of classified information?
And, more to the point, he poses a sharper question at the end
[W]hy were soldiers lives considered valuable in 1943 and not even considered at all by the political and media elites in 2010? The answer is that the liberal elites who think leaking documents is worthy of praise appear to have no regard at all for the lives of the soldiers they send to war, if such lives get in the way of their momentary ego gratification. Our elites are making it very clear that their moment of fame, of self-righteous glory, and their moral posturing far outweigh the lives of our soldiers.
It's a question that goes to the heart of our culture, and needs to be addressed head-on.
Now, by contrast, OS is on a business trip in Northern Kentucky this week. The local paper is covering the funeral of a local young man killed in service of his country. Ambushed in Afghanistan, leaving behind a widow and three children. The accounts are, well, heartbreaking.
Carroll County and neighboring county residents are encouraged to attend a community memorial service on Friday, July 30, to “honor the life of Staff Sgt. Chris Stout.” The announcement was made on Monday, July 26, by Carroll County Judge-Executive Harold “Shorty” Tomlinson.
Stout was among three soldiers killed on July 13 when their unit came under attack by insurgents in Kandahar City, Afghanistan. Stout was assigned to 1st Batallion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, N.C. He served much of his career as a rigger with the 782nd Main Support Battalion and other quartermaster units on Fort Bragg. It was during this time that he sang with the 82nd All American Army chorus. Stout reclassed to become a chaplain’s assistant in September 2006.
“This is a service not only for the people of our Carroll County community,” Tomlinson said, “but for neighboring communities as well. We need to make sure our younger generation realizes that there is a real cost for the freedoms we enjoy.”
Plans were still incomplete at press time regarding who would be the speakers and other active participants in the service, Tomlinson said.
Stout grew up in the Worthville community and attended Carroll and Owen county schools. He resided in Fayetteville, N.C., with his wife Misty and daughters Audreanna and Kristen. His oldest daughter Jacqueline resides in Bedford, Ky. Stout is the first chaplain’s assistant killed in action since 1970 during the Vietnam War.
It is maddening to see the disconnect between the outpouring of sympathy for this fine young man, and the cynicism of the elites whose reckless behaviour leads to these tragedies. Not just the loss of a soldier's life, but the lives forever altered by his death. It matters not a whit to the soulless editors seeking that next Pulitzer by climbing over the corpses they create.
If we are going to set this culture back on track, we must begin to speak with clarity, repeatedly and loudly, that this sort of travesty is not acceptable.
Condolences to the family and friends of Sgt. Stout.
May an incurable pox afflict the editorial staff of the New York Times.
OS enjoys reading his thoughts, and hopes his readers will take a few moments to ponder them as well.
This time, he discusses the massive WikiLeaks scandal, abetted by the Yew Nork Times.
He asks the cogent question:
Take a hypothetical situation. In 1943 some British and American military intelligence personnel decided that the public had a right to know how the war was really going. They gave the documents to the New York Times and Guardian, who published them in accordance with “the public’s right to know”. Along with the routine reports, the media published thousands of pages of low level intelligence documents including documents that mentioned army staff meetings. The media blacked out the names of the sources and some details – but a clever enemy could quickly figure out which meetings had been compromised and who had likely compromised them. They would also have likely figured out which information had come from signals intercepts – and would then quickly change their procedures and codes to shut off intelligence to the Allies. As a result of the compromise, many Allied soldiers would likely die.
What would be the response of the British and US governments to such a leak of classified information?
And, more to the point, he poses a sharper question at the end
[W]hy were soldiers lives considered valuable in 1943 and not even considered at all by the political and media elites in 2010? The answer is that the liberal elites who think leaking documents is worthy of praise appear to have no regard at all for the lives of the soldiers they send to war, if such lives get in the way of their momentary ego gratification. Our elites are making it very clear that their moment of fame, of self-righteous glory, and their moral posturing far outweigh the lives of our soldiers.
It's a question that goes to the heart of our culture, and needs to be addressed head-on.
Now, by contrast, OS is on a business trip in Northern Kentucky this week. The local paper is covering the funeral of a local young man killed in service of his country. Ambushed in Afghanistan, leaving behind a widow and three children. The accounts are, well, heartbreaking.
Carroll County and neighboring county residents are encouraged to attend a community memorial service on Friday, July 30, to “honor the life of Staff Sgt. Chris Stout.” The announcement was made on Monday, July 26, by Carroll County Judge-Executive Harold “Shorty” Tomlinson.
Stout was among three soldiers killed on July 13 when their unit came under attack by insurgents in Kandahar City, Afghanistan. Stout was assigned to 1st Batallion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, N.C. He served much of his career as a rigger with the 782nd Main Support Battalion and other quartermaster units on Fort Bragg. It was during this time that he sang with the 82nd All American Army chorus. Stout reclassed to become a chaplain’s assistant in September 2006.
“This is a service not only for the people of our Carroll County community,” Tomlinson said, “but for neighboring communities as well. We need to make sure our younger generation realizes that there is a real cost for the freedoms we enjoy.”
Plans were still incomplete at press time regarding who would be the speakers and other active participants in the service, Tomlinson said.
Stout grew up in the Worthville community and attended Carroll and Owen county schools. He resided in Fayetteville, N.C., with his wife Misty and daughters Audreanna and Kristen. His oldest daughter Jacqueline resides in Bedford, Ky. Stout is the first chaplain’s assistant killed in action since 1970 during the Vietnam War.
It is maddening to see the disconnect between the outpouring of sympathy for this fine young man, and the cynicism of the elites whose reckless behaviour leads to these tragedies. Not just the loss of a soldier's life, but the lives forever altered by his death. It matters not a whit to the soulless editors seeking that next Pulitzer by climbing over the corpses they create.
If we are going to set this culture back on track, we must begin to speak with clarity, repeatedly and loudly, that this sort of travesty is not acceptable.
Condolences to the family and friends of Sgt. Stout.
May an incurable pox afflict the editorial staff of the New York Times.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
In Remembrance Of J.S. Bach: July 28, 1750
Pastor Peters, a fabulous Lutheran pastor and writer in Clarksville, Tennessee, shares words of wisdom about our culture, especially the culture of the American church in our day.
Soli Deo Gloria... It was not a slogan for Bach. It was his lifeblood. If we would honor Bach and glory in the fact that such musical genius, rich spiritual life, and dedication to his craft were formed in a Lutheran piety steeped in Word, Sacrament, and worthy music... then let us work to make sure that we are working to implement these in our parish life today... Whether the music comes from the 17th or 18th centuries or the 21st century, it needs to be our best, it needs to speak the Word and serve as musical handmaid to that Word, and it needs to glorify God and not entertain the human heart... or our remembrance of Bach will be like the uncovering of a footnote in history instead of a light that shines throughout the generations....
The entire article linked above is well worth the time invested.
OS concurs wholeheartedly. The music of Bach is a gift of divine grace to our weary world. Here's hoping OS's readership will take a moment to listen to a bit of Bach's music, and give thanks.
Soli Deo Gloria... It was not a slogan for Bach. It was his lifeblood. If we would honor Bach and glory in the fact that such musical genius, rich spiritual life, and dedication to his craft were formed in a Lutheran piety steeped in Word, Sacrament, and worthy music... then let us work to make sure that we are working to implement these in our parish life today... Whether the music comes from the 17th or 18th centuries or the 21st century, it needs to be our best, it needs to speak the Word and serve as musical handmaid to that Word, and it needs to glorify God and not entertain the human heart... or our remembrance of Bach will be like the uncovering of a footnote in history instead of a light that shines throughout the generations....
The entire article linked above is well worth the time invested.
OS concurs wholeheartedly. The music of Bach is a gift of divine grace to our weary world. Here's hoping OS's readership will take a moment to listen to a bit of Bach's music, and give thanks.
KLM...How Not To Run An Airline
OS's dear friend, referenced a couple of days ago, finally arrived in the US. The ordeal began Saturday morning, and still hasn't ended.
She arrived in one city, her bags arrived in another...at least she's safe and in one piece.
It isn't that KLM does major things badly, it's just that they do all those thousand-and-one inane small things that allow Murphy to ride along with every passenger, and make every journey a crap-shoot.
There's a solution to this problem...but it would involve firing lots and lots of people.
OS won't be holding his breath.
She arrived in one city, her bags arrived in another...at least she's safe and in one piece.
It isn't that KLM does major things badly, it's just that they do all those thousand-and-one inane small things that allow Murphy to ride along with every passenger, and make every journey a crap-shoot.
There's a solution to this problem...but it would involve firing lots and lots of people.
OS won't be holding his breath.
Monday, July 26, 2010
The Sound Of Desperate Back-Pedaling: The Nashville Tennesseean, Front Page Saturday 7/24
The tone has begun to change, perhaps, at The Nashville Tennessean. The most loyal Democrat paper ever published, they've never seen a idea to expand government or spend more tax dollars they don't just love. All the ills of the world exist because Republicans are allowed to exist. AlGore cut his teeth there (how did that happen? Maybe his daddy made a couple of phone calls?), and is their patron saint.
They've stuck to the Party Line, even as their circulation shrinks, and their readership lets them know how unhappy they are. Ni modo, ya'll. We're the Tennessean, we know better!
Last month, it was this:
It's all them tax breaks--that's why the gubbermint is in trouble. We needs us more taxes! That'll fix our problems!
The back-pedaling may be finally beginning, as reality is setting in.
Now, this:
Only OS found this on the front page of the paper on Saturday. It's an AP story, not generated locally. But the editors exercised the choice to put it on the front page, and to leave that little nugget in the fourth paragraph--that little 'should he seek re-election' zinger. This from the folks who breathlessly covered every word and detail of The One's historic salvation of our poor nation, etc. etc.
WASHINGTON — New estimates from the White House on Friday predict the budget deficit will reach a record $1.47 trillion this year. The government is borrowing 41 cents of every dollar it spends.
That's actually a little better than the administration predicted in February.
The new estimates paint a grim unemployment picture as the economy experiences a relatively jobless recovery. The unemployment rate, now averaging 9.5 percent, would average 9 percent next year under the new estimates.
The Office of Management and Budget report has ominous news for President Barack Obama should he seek re-election in 2012: a still-high unemployment rate of 8.1 percent. That would be well above normal, which is closer to a rate of 5.5 percent to 6 percent. Private economists don't think the unemployment rate will drop to that level until well into this decade.
Hello, there!
"The U.S. economy still faces strong headwinds," the OMB report says. They include tight credit markets, a high inventory of unsold housing and retrenchment by state governments bound by balanced-budget mandates. The European debt crisis has also had an impact.
"Despite these headwinds, the administration expects economic growth and job creation to continue for the rest of 2010 and to rise in 2011 and beyond," the report says.
The report lands squarely in the middle of a raging election-year Washington debate about spending and taxes. With millions of Americans still unemployed and with tax cuts enacted during George W. Bush's presidency expiring at the end of this year, Republicans and Democrats are fighting intensely over how to create jobs while saving money.
Both parties are certain to seize upon the new numbers. Republicans have
consistently bashed Democrats for what they call out-of-control spending on things like Obama's stimulus package and the health-care overhaul. Democrats counter that the health-care bill and other initiatives will actually slash the deficit over time and create jobs.
Although the gaping deficits are of increasing concern to voters, Obama and Democrats controlling Congress are mostly taking a pass on deficit reduction this year as they await possible recommendations from his deficit commission.
While there's a slight improvement in the deficit for the current year compared with the administration's February forecast, next year's predicted $1.42 trillion worth of red ink — 37 cents of borrowing for every dollar spent — is looking worse. It's about $150 billion more than previously predicted because of still-slumping tax revenues.
The current record holder is the $1.41 trillion deficit for 2009.
Economists agree that the most important measure of the deficit is against the size of the economy. Many say a deficit of 3 percent of gross domestic product is sustainable since it would stabilize the overall debt when measured relative to the economy.
The report puts the deficit at 10 percent of GDP this year and 9.2 percent of GDP next year. It would never reach the 3 percent figure under Obama's predictions — which underestimate war costs and depend on assumptions of tax hikes that may not materialize.
OMB Director Peter Orszag said the numbers represent a "fiscal situation that requires attention."
Well, yes. Even behind those hallowed desks on Broadway in Nashville, where reality hasn't paid a visit in a long, long, time.
They've stuck to the Party Line, even as their circulation shrinks, and their readership lets them know how unhappy they are. Ni modo, ya'll. We're the Tennessean, we know better!
Last month, it was this:
It's all them tax breaks--that's why the gubbermint is in trouble. We needs us more taxes! That'll fix our problems!
The back-pedaling may be finally beginning, as reality is setting in.
Now, this:
Only OS found this on the front page of the paper on Saturday. It's an AP story, not generated locally. But the editors exercised the choice to put it on the front page, and to leave that little nugget in the fourth paragraph--that little 'should he seek re-election' zinger. This from the folks who breathlessly covered every word and detail of The One's historic salvation of our poor nation, etc. etc.
WASHINGTON — New estimates from the White House on Friday predict the budget deficit will reach a record $1.47 trillion this year. The government is borrowing 41 cents of every dollar it spends.
That's actually a little better than the administration predicted in February.
The new estimates paint a grim unemployment picture as the economy experiences a relatively jobless recovery. The unemployment rate, now averaging 9.5 percent, would average 9 percent next year under the new estimates.
The Office of Management and Budget report has ominous news for President Barack Obama should he seek re-election in 2012: a still-high unemployment rate of 8.1 percent. That would be well above normal, which is closer to a rate of 5.5 percent to 6 percent. Private economists don't think the unemployment rate will drop to that level until well into this decade.
Hello, there!
"The U.S. economy still faces strong headwinds," the OMB report says. They include tight credit markets, a high inventory of unsold housing and retrenchment by state governments bound by balanced-budget mandates. The European debt crisis has also had an impact.
"Despite these headwinds, the administration expects economic growth and job creation to continue for the rest of 2010 and to rise in 2011 and beyond," the report says.
The report lands squarely in the middle of a raging election-year Washington debate about spending and taxes. With millions of Americans still unemployed and with tax cuts enacted during George W. Bush's presidency expiring at the end of this year, Republicans and Democrats are fighting intensely over how to create jobs while saving money.
Both parties are certain to seize upon the new numbers. Republicans have
consistently bashed Democrats for what they call out-of-control spending on things like Obama's stimulus package and the health-care overhaul. Democrats counter that the health-care bill and other initiatives will actually slash the deficit over time and create jobs.
Although the gaping deficits are of increasing concern to voters, Obama and Democrats controlling Congress are mostly taking a pass on deficit reduction this year as they await possible recommendations from his deficit commission.
While there's a slight improvement in the deficit for the current year compared with the administration's February forecast, next year's predicted $1.42 trillion worth of red ink — 37 cents of borrowing for every dollar spent — is looking worse. It's about $150 billion more than previously predicted because of still-slumping tax revenues.
The current record holder is the $1.41 trillion deficit for 2009.
Economists agree that the most important measure of the deficit is against the size of the economy. Many say a deficit of 3 percent of gross domestic product is sustainable since it would stabilize the overall debt when measured relative to the economy.
The report puts the deficit at 10 percent of GDP this year and 9.2 percent of GDP next year. It would never reach the 3 percent figure under Obama's predictions — which underestimate war costs and depend on assumptions of tax hikes that may not materialize.
OMB Director Peter Orszag said the numbers represent a "fiscal situation that requires attention."
Well, yes. Even behind those hallowed desks on Broadway in Nashville, where reality hasn't paid a visit in a long, long, time.
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