Call me an old softie . . .

. . . but fly-overs during the National Anthem still bring a tear to my eye.

At the NASCAR race in Sonoma, CA today, the fly-over was was a flight of A-10 Warthogs from the Arkansas National Guard. This video is not from Sonoma, but the fly-over is virtually identical.

I suppose they had to come from Arkansas because of the general anti-military attidude that many cities in California seem to embrace.

Well, THANKS, Arkansas! Oh . . . and F*** you, California.

George Carlin had a great line about California: "What ain't fruits and nuts is flakes."

Can I have an "Amen?"

Brits we like . . .

. . . and some not so much.

She . . .

. . . may have been bitten by . . .

They say nostalgia . . .

. . . isn't what it used to be.

I disagree. How can one forget the wonder and excitement on the face of a tiny blogger at something so simple as a little doll?

Or, that there are things that we used to be able to do that we would have a hard time doing today?

Or, that those people who were supposed to be around forever . . . are not?

Eat and run . . .

It seems that Mrs B has become the head duck of our flock. They wander up every day and wait for her to hand out the leftover bread. Except, it's not leftover any more. She's buying a loaf or two of the generic cheapo bread every week to help stuff the ducks . . . as it were.

I'm reminded that "TLK" used to call them "ducklies." Yep, that "TLK."

Gas Prices . . .

. . . a brief commentary.

Why are gas prices so high in the U.S.? Obviously, there are several reasons - speculation, high demand in India and China and gas-eating vehicles (urk . . . I own one).

Generally being a capitalist, and not a socialist, I don't buy the nasty old big oil is getting in our shorts argument. Anyone who has an inkling of knowledge about corporate profit margins (that's MARGINS, not total profits) shouldn't buy it either. However, with our generally liberal, anti big enterprise media (who are, in fact, themselves big enterprises) feeding those flames, I understand why it is otherwise.

In my opinion, the most significant reason for the shortage is that one political party promotes conservation as the ONLY option, while the other is willing to embrace both conservation AND expansion of resources.

We cannot survive this mess without a) lowering consumption and b) increasing OUR OWN supplies. We need vehicles that get better mileage - an approach that the U.S. has put off too long. Unfortunately, we have waited too long, and our fleet is too large for an instant change-over.

To augment our position while we convert to better vehicles, we also need more exploration, more drilling, more refining capacity and more nuclear facilities. Not that we will have nuke-powered automobiles, but nukes will take coal, oil and natural gas-fired power plants off line.

As I said in an earlier rant: "Even the FRENCH use nuclear power, for Gawd's sake."

Some surprising statistics:

- There are estimated to be 86 billion barrels of oil in the U. S. outer continental shelf. That's equal to about 30% of the total reserves in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Government won't allow drilling there - although China and Cuba are drilling just outside our territorial limits.

- The oil-shale fields in the U.S. contain an estimated 1.5 trillion barrels of oil. That's five times the reserves in Saudi Arabia. There are some technology problems with processing, but the U.S. Government won't allow recovery there.

One of our political parties is promoting this approach. One is still hung up on the conservation uber-alles mantra.

To determine who may help us out of this hole, and who may not, I offer the following voting record without further comment.

ANWR Exploration
House Republicans: 91% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed

Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed

Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed

Purple Haze . . .

. . . all in my eyes. Don't know if it's day or night

Well, not exactly purple. More of a smoky gray. For those of you not following the news, while the midwest is flooding, North Carolina is burning. At least 1,000 acres of the Great Dismal Swamp has been consumed by a wildfire over the last week, and the smoke is wafting through Hampton Roads. The entire area smells like a campfire . . . set inside the tent.

In the long run, this type of fire is supposed to be good for the swamp, which is also designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. Unfortunately, it is not very good for those of us who must continue to breathe regularly.

On a sadder note, one of our resident ducks apparently has been injured. We have several ducks show up every day looking for handouts. This female has lost a major part of her upper bill. She struggles to eat the bread and other goodies we leave out for her. I don't have much hope for her survival.