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Rob

The days of “Kick the tires, light the fire, first one up’s the leader” are long gone, but all the things it takes to be a fighter pilot remain, except one - mass quantities of excess testosterone.

One great thing about the military aviation community is that performance wins the day and how you look only counts for the squadron photo.

Student Pilots make it through training or they wash out. Few sneak by the unforgiving environment for long. I know what the Naval Aviation Training Command was like when I was a Navy flight instructor - skills and good headwork won the day.

Now women are joining the men in the Navy, Marine Corps (same training background) and the Army and Air Force. 30 years ago the guys scoffed at the possibility. Now it’s a reality. The one thing I’m sure of, these “Fighter Chicks” wouldn’t be strapping on these high performance jet aircraft if they hadn’t proven they have what it takes.

Bravo Zulu to the gals!

Here’s a recent update. 

I always appreciated Tony Snow. He had reasoned arguments for his points of view, always added a dash of humor to his comments and he was always walking on the sunny side of the street. I’m going to miss him.

 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381250,00.html 

“We in Denmark cannot figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election.

On one side, you have a bitch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, and a lawyer who is married to a bitch who is a lawyer.

On the other side, you have a true war hero married to a woman with a huge chest who owns a beer distributorship.

Is there a contest here?”
 

“Landing on an aircraft carrier was the most fun I’d ever had with my trousers on. And the 24 hours that I spent aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt–the “Big Stick”–were an equally unalloyed pleasure. I love big, moving machinery. And machinery doesn’t get any bigger, or more moving, than a U.S.-flagged nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that’s longer than the Empire State Building is tall and possesses four acres of flight deck. This four acres, if it were a nation, would have the fifth or sixth largest air force in the world–86 fixed wing aircraft plus helicopters.”

P.J. O’Rourke is a guy with a gift for reporting serious subjects with a touch of humor. He recently spent 24 hours with the men and women of the USS Roosevelt. As a former Naval Aviator with 2000 hours of jet time and 300 carrier landings, I’m still powerfully drawn to anything regarding these floating “bird farms” as they’re called.

Here’s a link to the story which also says some good things about John McCain in comparison to his dem rivals.

Thanks to the Weekly Standard and Lucianne.com for printing it.

U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the DC handgun ban saying it was a violation of the second amendment. For the first time in years a court held that the second amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Defenders of the second amendment have been working hard for just this moment in history for years.

Last Friday, the United States Solicitor General filed formal briefs asking the Supreme Court not to affirm the lower court’s decision. This is just outrageous. The Solicitor General is the Federal Government’s lawyer. So, now we have the federal government using our tax dollars to argue for a delay on a ruling concerning our fundamental rights.

Take action today - sign this petition to let the government know that you value your second amendment rights. Together, we can ensure that your rights are protected. For the first time in years we have the opportunity for the Supreme Court to clearly say that the second amendment applies to all Americans and that no government can ban all handguns.

Let your voice be heard - sign the petition.

Here’s a good summary of what John McCain stands for. If you’re interested, you’ll find this article interesting.

I’m not sure there’s anyone in the Republican race that I can get fully enthusiastic about.

How about you?

The “Chuch of the Warming of the Globe” now has more vocal dis-believers willing to question the conventional wisdom that the earth will continue to warm and that it’s our own fault.

The reason I keep commenting on the issue is that this is a classic example of how we human beings add our interpretation to events and then consider our opinion to be the truth. I’m just as prone to doing this as anyone else. I can see where it’s cost me in my life. (I notice that I have a predisposition to see this issue in the way I do even now.)

Something happens, we say something about it, and what we say about it become fact - to us. The problem is, that after just a little of this, we start living out the cliche of the wise guru sitting cross-legged on the mountain and saying, “Life is an illusion.” Our life is no longer a response to facts, but to our own story about the facts. 

Life then becomes a soap opera that looks like non-fiction, double underlined truth to us. After all, ”If it was some other way, I’d know it, wouldn’t I?” We soon forget that we made it up and we defend our opinion like a part of our body.

Al Gore and the whole global warming movement underline and highlight this tendency for all of us to see. Is there global warming? Did human beings cause it? Is it really greenhouse gasses (carbon dioxide, etc.)? Some reasonable questions, but it’s likely some conclusions were reached prematurely, then all contrary opinions were demonized.

Al Gore didn’t say, “It looks this way to me at the moment, but I’m going to check the facts.” Al said, “I am convinced of how it is, and I’ll find the facts I need to support my belief.” One reason for this is that global warming theories fit nicely with Al’s personal need to find an issue that would make him feel important once again.

Here’s the latest for your consideration.

Will a cold spell soon replace global warming? A vocal Russian scientist says it will. He also says those who point to greenhouse gasses as the cause of the current warming cycle are using erroneous thinking. The earth is about to cool off now that a warming trend has reached its peak.

Someone please smack Al Gore for me.

“Earth is now at the peak of one of its passing warm spells. It started in the 17th century when there was no industrial influence on the climate to speak of and no such thing as the hothouse effect. The current warming is evidently a natural process and utterly independent of hothouse gases.

The real reasons for climate changes are uneven solar radiation, terrestrial precession (that is, axis gyration), instability of oceanic currents, regular salinity fluctuations of the Arctic Ocean surface waters, etc. There is another, principal reason—solar activity and luminosity. The greater they are the warmer is our climate.”
Here’s the rest of the story. 

Wishes for You in 2008 :

May peace break into your house.

May thieves come to steal your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills.

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires.

May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.

May the problems you have forget your home address!

In simple words …………May 2008 be the best year of your life!!!

Rob