What does non-partisan really mean?

As you already know, there are multiple organizations that are geared for getting young people to vote. One is called “Rock The Vote”, which I think is somehow tied with P-Ditty’s “Vote or Die”, and there’s another one called “Choose or Lose”. Rock The Vote is claimed to not be part of MTV, but there is an icon on their Choose or Lose website. They claim it is a non-partisan drive with the goal of encouraging younger citizens to vote, and because it is non-partisan, it is tax-exempt. I’m not quite sure how that works, and maybe someone that understands tax law can give me the skinny. The claimed concept is that if young people choose not to vote, then their concerns and issues won’t need to be addressed. That makes sense and is a good noble thing to do. It doesn’t matter which candidate you vote for, as long as they most closely represent you.

In their own words: “Rock the Vote is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, which mobilizes young people to create positive social and political change in their lives and communities. The goal of Rock the Vote's media campaigns and street team activities is to increase youth voter turnout. Rock the Vote coordinates voter registration drives, get-out-the-vote events, and voter education efforts, all with the intention of ensuring that young people take advantage of their right to vote.”

Is MTV really non-partisan? Remember the grilling Bob Dole took on his MTV interview aboard a train about gay marriage? Contrast that with Bill Clinton’s interview questions. “Boxers or briefs?” Bob Dole was expecting a light and fluffy MTV interview. Nope. They were out to get him, and they got him.


There’s a “non-partisan” blog on the Rock the Vote site. Here are some of the articles and links.

1. News alert: Bill O'Reilly thinks Daily Show viewers are uninformed!
2. Young Adults without health care:
3. Save the Whales Remix:
4. Chasing Ghosts: (about iraq and afganistan)
5. 12 Reasons Why Privatizing Social Security is a Bad Idea
6. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
7. Draft Women?
8. Government Spying on Student Activists
9. Officials respond to assertions about a draft.
10. Ronstadt Booted from Las Vegas Hotel for Praising Michael Moore
11. A Soldier's Take on the Draft
12. Congress to Debate Gay Marriage Ban
13. Military Conscription Around the World
14. Rumsfeld to Military Draft: "I Just Can't Imagine It"
15. Op-Ed Calls for Military Draft
16. Bush campaign targets young voters on web (note the word “targets”)
17. Can’t afford an Escalade? No worries, you may be rolling in a Humvee in no time. (Because you’ve been drafted)

Yes, there were a whole lot of articles about the draft. I think I’m going to institute a strictly adhered to policy of crotch kicking for anyone that even mutters the word “draft”. Could it be the ........draft? *WHA-BOOM* (I’m joking. It takes more than that to earn a kick from me.)


I just watched the video of John Kerry supporters outside MTV. They are actually MTV employees, that came out of the building from work. I’m guessing the video is from 2004, but I’ve seen a few Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers this year, so it’s hard to tell. You can clearly hear the John Kerry supporter say “I hope your wife gets raped and can’t get an abortion!” I’m not sure that a pro-rape platform is good for a political candidate, but apparently it’s popular in some circles. As you watch it be sure to think "non-partisan".

I used to think I knew what “non-partisan” meant, but now I see that I have to change my definition. I wonder how they can actually say “non-partisan” with a straight face. Maybe they’re smirking when they say it. Just remember, if someone is trying to explain something to you, and they use the words “non-partisan”, it’s actually a ruse. It’s a cunning attempt to trick you. They really want to seize political power, and ensure that your wife gets raped.

Tight Groups and Fantasy Football

This weekend, my better half and I went to the rifle range for some training. We went over the safety rules and some of the PMI stuff I remembered. (No I am not a PMI). We took our little .22 out there and did a little sight alignment, sight picture, breath control, squeeeeeze. Fun was had by all. We had our hearing protection, and The Mrs. even bought some of those amber shooting glasses. We shot for a couple of hours in the afternoon and we did the same test as before. It’s a 4 inch target with a 1 inch bulls eye, at 25 yards. We shoot 20 rounds, and it’s scored. 30, 15, 10, 5. A perfect score it 600, which is supposed to be hard. Here’s the target. You can print it out at shoot it up at your local range. Please tell me your score. I’m calling a score of 400 “good”, and anything less than 100 “not so good”. We shoot 10 on each target because the paper gets torn up and it’s hard to count. If we used a higher caliber weapon we’d probably have to go 5 shots per target. We shoot from a bench, but we don't use one of those contraptions. You can only use your elbows for support.



The first week we shot
Him: 250 Her: 15

Second time:
Him: 380 Her: 105

Him = left side, Her = right side





The Mrs got over 7 times better! The improvement is the most important thing. So now we at least have a way to measure if we’re getting better, and it’s good clean family fun.

I heard a rumor that someone is eyeballing a Winchester 357. Looks like some good honest rifle training is on the horizon. Now that's a puurrdy weapon.




Switch Gears!

OK, tonight was our fantasy football draft. Years ago, The Mrs and I shared a football team. I picked the players and the starters, and we sort of talked about the correct pics. She began to get way too pushy about who should play, so I said “If you want to be so bossy, why don’t you get your own team?”.

Well, last year she got her own team. She played in a league with all men, and we had 14 teams which is a lot, so there are slim pickin’s. There is a $100 buy in, and you have to pay the normal $5 for trades and stuff. 1st place wins about a thousand, 2nd gets about 400, and 3rd gets some small amount of money. It is fun with a capital “FU”. Anyway she finished second place which was really a terrible/wonderful thing because getting second feels like crap. The four hundie was nice though. I think I finished about 6th place. I made it into our playoffs, but I got kicked out by my wife, and I was fairly disappointed with my mediocre choices. Well, this is the year I’ll turn it all around. At the begining of the season everyone’s 100%! Tonight we had a little “date” at the computer listening to Smoothbeats.com, drinking Placido Chianti, and making our wise predictions for the upcoming football season.

Last year my team name was the “Destroyers”, but because we did so poorly, I decided to upgrade to the “Battleships”. Hopefully that will do the trick. Here’s my lineup:

QB Peyton Manning IND
QB Mark Brunell WAS MIN Probable (Groin)
RB Brian Westbrook PHI Probable (Foot)
RB De'Shaun Foster CAR
RB Deuce McAllister NO Probable (Knee)
RB Travis Henry TEN
WR Chad Johnson CIN
WR Donte Stallworth PHI
WR Terry Glenn DAL
TE Vernon Davis(r) SF
TE Marcus Pollard DET
PK Shayne Graham CIN
Def Colts, Team Defense IND
Def Chiefs, Team Defense KC

Let’s just hope that Manning and Johnson don’t get hurt, cause the rest of my team is just backup.

Actually I’m really exited about watching Chad Johnson act a fool this season. He was very successful last year, and would do some sort of tom-foolery in the endzone to make everyone laugh. That stuff is only funny if you’re awesome.


He would do silly stuff like putt the football with the endzone marker.


Or he spun the ball, and pretended to warm his hands on it like it was a fire.


And who could forget the time he pretended like he was proposing to one of the cheerleaders.


And every time he did something silly he got fined by the NFL, so he had to celebrate this way.


I love that garbage just as much as the next guy, and yes, he has the right to brag. But if your game slips at all, you have to put that shenanigans on the back burner. Work first. Funny times second. Right now he’s the best receiver in the game. Well, maybe Steve Smith is as good. It’s hard to tell. Chad sure draws more attention to himself.

Peyton Manning doesn’t celebrate much. He’s just plain awesome. He’s the best quarterback in the NFL. Period. Actually he’s sort of an overgrown boyscout, but that’s why I love it when he wins. I’ve watched too many 80's movies. I love it when the good guy wins.

Last year he was only really good, but he was still the best. 28 touchdowns and they call it a “slump”. I expect him to be dazzling this year. Watch me eat my words.

Holster Sniffer

Yeah, I joined the local American Legion. It's good. I've met some cool old cats, and drank some $1.50 beers. I really enjoyed talking to those older guys, because their stories are so similar to mine, except their's are better. They talk about the food, and the rain, and how word changes and you have to scramble and get your gear. One guy crewed an ONTOS. One guy served on the USS Firedrake. One guy said that Koreans stole a truck by dismantling it. One guy worked on Redstone missiles during the cold war. I did a lot of listening and not a lot of talking. Good stuff to hear about over a cold one.

Well, I guess there is also a group of people called "Sons of the American Legion" or SAL. The old cats call it SOL for "shit out of luck", which I thought was pretty funny. Those SAL guys are Vietnam age and younger, but not as young as me. And those SAL guys are some grade-A holster sniffers.

It's like they all have something to prove and what to be cool in the eyes of the military guys.

Well, this one guy starts talking to me about this friend he has that was a Marine. His friend was in recon, of course, and is now in a special forces mercenary job. He is living right outside of Gaza, and does solo incursions undetected. They also pay him a quarter million a year. He carries an M4 that "will blow a hole in a door", is 6 foot 3, and has "arms bigger than yours". But he is the first American to infiltrate the Gaza strip undetected because he wears the local clothes and "has a beard". He was undetected for 90 days, and if "there's violence, then he's there". His old team was called the "Blackhawks", but 9 out of 11 got killed so they had to disband it.

Just in case you haven’t detected it yet, this guy is talking nonsense.

Guess what I said to this guy?

Not a damn thing. Well, actually I asked a few probing questions, which of course he couldn't answer. I asked if he was still in the service or if he was with a civilian company? He said that his buddy was in a civilian company, but he didn't know the name. I then listed a few possible companies, which was a mistake, because those names will just show up in the next telling of the story. I didn’t call him out, and I’m not quite sure why. It didn’t feel right. It started bothering me a couple of hours later, but I’m not sure why.

If I would have called this guy out, it would have been really embarrassing for everyone at the table, including me, so I just sat there and nodded, hoping he would shut up. But when he saw that I wasn't going to stop him, he really poured it on. It was weird. He didn't miss a beat, like it was really, really rehearsed. I thought he was fucking with me at first, but he was dead serious.

I think that's the last time I listen to garbage like that, but Paul said that I should probably just let it slide.

I thought it would be fun to talk about my friend the Marine. I have a friend that is 6'7", and that shot a 2 thousand on Edson range in bootcamp. He then went to scout/sniper school and finished it in 6 days. Then he went to Grenada just to crack some heads, after which he went to a monk temple to learn their fighting style, including the Dim Mok He learned it in 7 days, single handedly drank a keg of beer, and arm wrestled all the ninjas in the world for 1 billion dollars. He won and had it deposited in a Swiss bank account. Then he became fluent in 75 languages. After which he defeated all the Ghurkas in mountain fighting. They formed an elite 7-man fighting force called “Wiley-X”, but his whole team was wiped out by some piranhas, except for his radio operator, who was the only woman Navy SEAL to have climbed Mt. Everest. My buddy carried her out and gave her a blood transfusion, but she died. They formed a new team called “Brigade Quartermasters”, and they are running infiltration missions into the Kremlin. His whole team carries howitzers, but sometimes they might use a SAW the way a normal man might use a pistol. Yeah, he’s pretty awesome.

Non-conformity

Have you ever noticed that the people that claim to be the most non-conformist are the most conforming of all?

Take for example the emo trend. If you’re going to put so much stock on dressing and acting like an individual, then why does it look like you’re wearing a uniform? “I reject society” doesn’t fly if you conform to precisely what the group is doing. Everyone belongs to some group. When someone tells you that you should “be more individual”, what they actually mean is “You should reject your group and join mine.”


As Americans we value our individuality. We want to be part of a group while simultaneously claiming that our group is special and not mainstream. Being part of “The Establishment” is generally frowned upon. The fun part is figuring out what “the establishment” is, because it is very open to interpretation. We also want to perceive ourselves (and our sub-group) as smarter, more savvy, braver, cooler and just generally better than the population as a whole. We also like to perceive our sub group as wrongly persecuted.

Think of how you think of yourself. By what loose affiliations do you root your identity? Race? Religion? Absence of religion? Political affiliation? Core Concepts? Sports Team? Nationality? It can even be which 40k army you play. There can be more than one. It doesn’t matter what it is, but I guarantee you the you perceive the sub-group you’re in as being intrinsically better, and being held back by your lessers, or by some unfair chain of events.

Some people are dishonest about where they root their identity, while others will wear it on their sleeve. A good test is wether or not you feel attacked if the group is challenged. I admit that every time I see a Dark Angel’s helmet on an Ork war banner, I feel a little twinge of insult. It may seem goofy, but it’s true. I once had a coworker that would beat up his shed with a baseball bat every time that Green Bay lost. Saying “Favre threw 4 interceptions yesterday”, would send him over the edge, although it’s completely and objectively true. I get a little wrapped up in Iowa Football too, but I think that’s harmless fun.

Sometimes when I’m arguing with someone over some particular point, I wonder if they have actually gone insane. To me, I’m simply stating facts, but to them I’m saying “I’m good and you’re bad. I’m cool and you’re not cool.” And there’s no way that someone will accept that.

If someone roots their identity in a religion, and there is some glaring flaw, there is no way that they will say that it’s false. Even if there is overwhelming evidence. No way. Don’t even try to argue it, because they will kill you for it. Especially the ones that claim to be peaceful.

I have a friend that wanted to talk about voter fraud in the 2000 elections. I mentioned that the democratic party disenfranchised members of the military (of which I was a member), by not counting non-postmarked absentee ballots. He shook his head ‘no’, and said “Prove it”. We were standing in someone’s living room, and I didn’t have the resources to prove it right there, so I guess it was a non-issue. He felt that I was attacking him, and I felt that I was attacking voter fraud, which is the topic he said he wanted to discuss. His identity was rooted in the democratic party, so to him the discussion was (Rep vs. Dem), while I thought the discussion was (voter fraud vs. clean elections). My mistake.

People freak out when their identity is attacked, including me. I have 2 or 3 things that I root my identity in, and a handful of lesser things. We try to avoid situations where we have to choose between things we value. (Moral Dilemma) Have you ever had to choose between Honesty and Loyalty? That’s a fun one.

When you see that something you have rooted your identity in is wrong, or incorrect, or just not all that cool, you must either reject or ignore the facts, or say that it’s an outlier, or change your identity. And changing your identity is very, very hard. I haven’t been wearing too many Green Bay shirts lately.

Lazy Blogger’s Best Friend

YouTube. This Video is all the hype today. Maybe it will be a bit of a distraction from the daily grind.



That “All Your Base” thing really had legs. It was old when I first heard about it, years ago. RW showed the original one to me, back at Travis’ old place by the dental building, and I am forever in his debt.

I have to say that this is still my favorite “All Your Base” picture.

Cub Scouts and the Pine Wood Derby

I was in the Cub Scouts as a kid, which is sort of a Jr. Varsity Boy Scouts. I was in for about a year or so, and I think that I was in the second grade. Some of the stuff we did was cool, and some of the other stuff I hated. We went around the neighborhood and picked up trash, which I loved because I felt that I was singlehandedly saving the world. We also did a bake sale, and raised money for upkeep on the statue of liberty. There were a couple of incidents that I really didn’t like.

Pine Wood Derby

For those of you that don’t know, the pinewood derby is a competition where each child gets a little block of wood, and some little nails and wheels. Their job is to make a little car that will coast down a little track. They have drag races to see who made the best car. The concept is that the car should be aerodynamic and heavy. We also got instructions that we were to do it ourselves. Our parents could help, for safety reasons, but we were to make the cars. What I didn’t understand, what that it was actually a competition between the dads, and that dads can make fast cars.

I came from a single parent home, and my mom refused to help me because it was “against the rules”, so I went over to my gramdma’s neighbor and asked him if he would help me out. We go to his shop and he hands me a saw and says “Get to work.” He sees me struggling with the saw for a few minutes, and tells me to draw the lines on the wood, so he can cut it with a circular saw. I draw the lines exactly like the picture on the box, because the car on the box looks fast. It was not aerodynamic. It was stupid. Our neighbor also drilled a hole in the bottom and glued a sinker into the body of the car. This was going to be our “extra edge” over the other competitors. I was sure that I would win. I then took the time to paint my car blue, because the car on the box clearly showed that it was supposed to be blue, and then I lovingly put on the decals that were included.


I show up at the competition clutching my prize car, and I notice that the everyone else is putting graphite on the wheels to reduce friction, and that their cars look nothing like mine. They look professionally made, and mine looks like a second grader did it. I start to feel sick to my stomach. They make us weigh our cars on a kitchen scale to ensure that nobody is cheating. There was a maximum allowed weight, and I notice that all the cars are weighing in scant fractions of an ounce below the limit. When they weigh my car, it is many ounces underweight. It doesn’t look like that sinker is going to do the trick. The adult doing the weigh-in frowns and suggests “You might want to add some weight to that.”

“Well, how the hell am I going to do that?” I frantically think.

We do the competition, and I was, of course, soundly defeated. I even had to compete in the “losers bracket”, which was horrifying. What a great idea. Let’s see who is the absolute worst. I saw a couple of other standard blue cars in the losers bracket too. Man, that sucked.

Anyway, we stuck around to watch the awards ceremony, where the children accepted prizes for their proud fathers. Then I rode home with my mom, and got to hear her complain to me about how unfair the competition was. The whole time I was thinking, “Yup, I don’t need you to explain to me how much that sucked. I was sort of there.”

Boy Scouts to the Rescue

Check out this story. These are the stories that I really like, because it conjures up powerful images that are as American as apple pie.

OMAHA, Neb. — A troop of Boy Scouts on a camping trip saved an 18-month-old girl who had fallen in a river upstream from them and was floating face down, officials said.

Article here.


Does it get much cooler than that? Boy scouts saving a drowning baby girl out of a river? When I was in the Cub Scouts, all we did was pick up trash and have pine wood derbys. We didn’t save baby girls. I wonder what sort of badge you get for that?

I’m not sure what troop those 2 boys were from, but I found two different troops in Omaha. Troop 412 and Troop 444. The boys are 11-year-old Christian Nanson, and 9-year-old John Fitzgerald. Nicely done, gents.

Backdoor Action

I’m going to quickly post about this before Paully sees it and goes apeshit.

He will probably say two things.
#1. It ain't a "draft".
#2. It ain't "backdoor".

Just remember: Backdoor Draft! Oh my God! Backdoor Action! Did you forget about the draft? Draft! Draft! Draft! Involuntarily Recalled. Stop the presses because they are being “forced back into service”. Bukakie Draft. I’d literally like to draft the Bush daughters and send them to fallujah! Yes, actual slavery! Britnay Spears too. DVDA Draft! BDSM Draft! AaaaaaaaaaaandDraft.

Let me get this straight

This is a short one. I just read an article about the Hezbolah/Israel ceasefire. The defense minister of Lebanon made some statements on Sunday, and I’d like to think that he was misquoted or something was lost in the translation.

Here’s the quote.

"We consider that when the resistance (Hezbollah) is committed not to fire rockets, then any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory would be considered collaboration with Israel to provide a pretext (for Israel) to strike,"

Please someone tell me that isn’t what he actually means.

Let me get this straight. The official stance of “Country A” is that, if “Country A” fires rockets into “Country B”, it is actually “Country B” firing missiles at itself.

He also said that

"the Lebanese army will decisively deal with" any attack on Israel and that anyone arrested for violating the truce "will be considered by the military tribunal as an agent of the Israeli enemy."

This is not a conspiracy theorist. This is the actual stance of a recognized nation. I’d like to apply that logic to my personal life.

I must have misread that, because it still isn’t sinking in. If he actually means what he's saying, then I have to question his sanity. That's awesome.

Cooking and Eating

At the Brandodojo you sort of know what to expect. It’s some combination of :
1. Robert Heinlein Dogma
2. Food tastes good
3. Liberals hate the military
4. Monkeys, Movies or Movies with Monkeys
5. Uninsightful social commentary.

This weekend I had a fairly nice time. It was sort of my last hoorah before I tear into the Java2, and VB.net. I made dinner for my wife, and I think I did a pretty good job. I made ravioli, with tomato sauce using canned tomatoes from my mother in law’s garden. I hand made the pasta and stuffed it with ground beef, onions, garlic, fresh spinach, Romano and Swiss cheese, and some salt, pepper, and thyme.




I also made a monster ravioli with the extra stuff.

It turned out pretty good, and I was happy. I also made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread, which is a sort of rough bread with no yeast. Buttermilk and soda make the magic happen. It tastes great and is nice and heavy. It’s also absurdly easy and cheap to make.

The real kicker of the evening was that I made a chocolate souffle. It was my first time, and it turned out pretty good. It was a little bit too gooey, and I could have cooked it for about 5 more minutes. Anyway, I’m always my own worst critic when it comes to food. I made WAY too much and we had to throw a lot out, but it was still fun to make.






The ravioli was excellent though. I hit a home run with that. I should freeze about 8 of em and give it as a gift. Boil it for 10 minutes and you’re off to the races.

On Friday I went to a restaurant and ate a filet with garlic mashed potatoes and drank a half a bottle of Italian red. I enjoy a wide variety of foods, but if I had to pick a last meal, it would be those 3 things. It is by far my favorite thing in the world to eat. If I had it every day I would probably get tired of it, but I don’t have it every day. The first couple of bites make me weak in the knees, every time. Yeah, there’s a reason that I’m about 20 pounds overweight.

On Saturday I had also went to a restaurant and had a Trigger Fish, with a lobster and shrimp sauce. I was surprised by how good it was. Mild white fish with a lot of paprika, and it had a cream based sauce with a little bit of tomatoes I wish I lived on the coast, then I could really get some good seafood, but living in Iowa I can get cheap beef and cheap pork.

And I’m sippin’ on some Courvoisier right now. Yeah, I know it’s french. It was a gift.

Hey Cory, I am formally extending an invitation to you and your Mrs to come over. I’ll cook for you and completely destroy your calorie counting diet. It’ll be awesome. We’ll melt Hagendas ice cream and have races of who can drink it the fastest.

Flag Code

I’m not a huge stickler for flag etiquette, but I still notice some violations. I think some of the rules are a bit dated, but I understand the intent behind them. If some store owner has a flag in their window and the blue field is in the upper right corner, I notice it, but I don’t run into the store and tell them. They’re trying to show respect. They’re at least displaying it. I don’t have a problem with people displaying it for advertising, as long as it looks nice and neat, and isn’t draped all over the ground. And they can’t have their wares stacked up on it.

My wife drove by a house on her way to work that didn’t maintain their flag in their yard. I saw it a couple times, and it really looked like pure ass. They should square that away a little better. I don’t really care if people wear it for clothes as long as it doesn’t look like they’re going to a Pink Floyd concert. Everyone pointed their finger at Kid Rock, and yes, that was a blatant flag etiquette violation, however it’s clear that he’s all about the US. His heart’s in the right place. Oh, and hot gals can wear it all they want. Yeah, it’s against the rules, but it seems a-ok.


During the summer of 2003, there was a serviceman that died in Iraq from a heat stroke. His hometown of about 20K, flew the national colors at half mast. Flying the flag at half mast is a metaphor that the nation is in mourning. It would be more appropriate to lower the city or state flag if the governor gives the OK. But not really the national flag. How does one mention it without sounding terribly callous to the man’s death. I have great respect for the fallen and for the flag. Stand back from the situation and think of what’s more correct. I didn’t say anything to anyone, except my wife, because there’s no way to enforce it, nor should there be. Government officials could be more aware of the proper respect for the flag, and should avoid actively disrespecting our symbol.

I was driving in Iowa City this week, and I saw that the old capitol building was flying the national colors at half mast, but when I came back to my town, I saw that no one else was doing it. It looks like they did the same thing. I saw in the paper that this morning that one of the professors at the school had died. Professor Van Allen. Yeah, like the Van Allen Belts.

I bet that’s who their doing it for. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a bit unsettling and it seems like they are doing it on purpose. It would be like going to a 5 star restaurant and sitting down and seeing your knife on the left, your fork in your water glass, and your bread plate balanced on the waiter’s head. It’s like that but with an extra helping of disrespect, and to the 3rd power. I don’t know who gave the go-ahead on that, but I doubt it was an executive order.

Speaking of the president. Perhaps he should give the flag etiquette guidebook a good once over too.


Enjoy your weekend gang.

Chicken, Spinach, and Mushroom Crepes

Here’s a recipe for an excellent dinner. It’s called Chicken, Spinach, and Mushroom Crepes.

There is a certain skill for making crepes, but the rest of the recipe is easy as can be.

The Mrs. made it for me the other night, and it’s one of her best dinners. The first thing was making the crepes. We use a saute pan that makes some smallish crepes, but it works just fine. You can make a lot of them, and freeze them between sheets of wax paper, to be used later for things like ice cream. They keep just fine.






Then you make the stuffing, using spinach, butter, 2 kinds of onions, mushrooms, and pepper jack cheese. The recipe calls for diced chicken breast, but we just used one of those little roasted chickens from HyVee. It’s just as fresh, and it has more fat, and it tastes great. Those rotisserie chickens have a lot of flavor.





For a salad, Kim used fresh spinach, tomatoes, romano cheese. She also just made a quick balsamic vinaigrette. I like it when the side has the same type of flavors as the main dish. Same yet different.



For wine we actually had a couple of bottles open. We drank a merlot by Fat Bastard from France (boooo), and a chard by Fetzer from California. Both were tasty.

After I stuffed myself, I filled up my glass and retired to the couch to watch Land of the Dead, and the Mrs. made her trademark dessert. It’s single serving Chocolate Cake with a gooey center. Just garnish it with a strawberry and a healthy scoop of Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla ice cream, and you’re all set to watch Asia Argento and John Leguizamo kill zombies.



I'm the luckiest dude in the world.

Dr. Pinero and the gang

I’m always talking about Heinlein cause he’s one of my favorite authors. I generally agree with his world view and positive can-do attitude, but mostly his stories just kick so much ass, and it’s at a 6th grade reading level, so I can read it before I go to bed. I’m trying to read all of his short stories and books, and I think I’m close, but there always seem to be a couple more. I got to thinking about which characters I like best, and so I’m making a list, which I may change or improve as you help me remember them.

1. Mike from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
2. Mr. Harriman
3. Lazarus Long (he’s the main thread)
4. Minerva
5. Lt. Col. Jean V. Dubois
6. Major Reid
7. Jubal Hershaw

Man, now that I’ve been thinking about it I realize that I should be reading RAH instead of yapping about it.

But just to whet your appetite, I’ll treat you to another quote from the oracle RAH.

“...Think about it. Politics is just a name for the way we get things done... without fighting. We dicker and compromise and everybody thinks he has received a raw deal, but somehow after a tedious amount of talk we come up with some jury-rigged way to do it without getting anybody's head bashed in. That's politics. The only other way to settle a dispute is by bashing a few heads in... and that is what happens when one or both sides is no longer willing to dicker. That's why I say politics is good even when it is bad... because the only alternative is force -- and somebody gets hurt.”

Apple Brats Down My Pants

I went to a birthday party today. It was actually more of a birthday BBQ, which is even better. It was a handful of people I knew, and even more people that I didn’t. We had burgers and apple brats (which are awesome), and a bunch of other salads and things all lined up in the kitchen. I tried to put some mustard on my burger, and didn’t have quite enough room on the counter top, and ended up dropping brats and things down my front. I tried to catch them, and looked really stupid in the process. I actually pinned the food between my crotch/belly and the front of the counter. My wife later told me that she was pointing out who I was to someone about a second before I did that. I love it when a plan comes together. I then belched really loud, peed on the food, puked on the ceiling, took a dump on the middle of the floor, and dove out of a stained glass window. She said “That’s my hubby.”

So there were a couple of old vets there, and I get a huge kick out of hearing their stories. I think they were both in the Air Force. One served in 53 and the other one was career starting in 68 or so. The older guy was telling me about all of these WWII bases he served on that were brand new, and it was sort of cool to think of this guy as a kid. A young pup tooling around these bases, doing his thing. The way he was talking about himself, it seemed as though he actually was 20 again. It sort of made me sad about the idea of getting older, because it seemed like the guy thought of himself as a youth.

I found a RAH quote to fit the situation.

“An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl she used to be. A GREAT artist can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is, and force the viewer to se the pretty girl she used to be, more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo see that this lovely young girl is still alive, prisoned inside her ruined body. He can make you feel the quiet endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older that eighteen in her heart.”

Honor, Reputation, and Cost

This is a heavy post, so please pay close attention.

In the first chapter of every text book, they take a moment to define terms. This is important, so everyone can use the same terminology, and apply the same concepts. I consider these to be universal concepts, but not everyone has been formally introduced to them. Once I spell them out, I’m sure that you will realize that you understood these concepts your whole life. There is a difference between Honor and Reputation, although I’d like to think that there is a strong correlation.

Honor
Honor is internal. It isn’t your ability to convince others of things. It’s your ability to look in the mirror. Many Christians say that the highest authority you have to answer to is God. That’s not true. It’s yourself. Honor isn’t something that can be taken from you; it must be given away. You have to sacrifice it for something. That’s the wonderful thing about Honor. It’s one of the things that they can’t take away from you. How much regard you have for yourself is reflected by how high a standard you hold yourself to. You know when you’ve sacrificed your honor. It sucks, and you must do anything in your power to get it back.

Reputation
Reputation is your ability to convince others of what is true. It’s something that resides in others. It is simply the public’s perception of your integrity. It is a very valuable thing and very easily damaged. The best way to keep your reputation intact is to keep your honor intact. The idea is that people will see you act in an honorable way, and will perceive of you accordingly. Having a good reputation can be very useful, and is the tangible reward for keeping your honor intact.

Your word is one of your greatest resources. Imagine the ability to guarantee something with just your word. That’s the ability I have. I’m sure your first instinct is to recoil at the thought that someone would be so arrogant, but I’d like you to reconsider. I have many flaws. It’s simply that integrity isn’t one of them. I expect and demand that I’m believed when I speak. Yes, demand. You don’t have to accept my world views, you don’t have to accept my predictions, but you do have to accept my assertions of fact. I even insist that you hold them to the same or higher standard than your own observations. After I make an assertion of fact, and a listener states “Well, that may be true.”, I wince a little bit. “May?” If I’m in doubt, I rarely speak. I have actually burned myself a couple of times, and forced myself to ask for forgiveness, which has always been granted.

Let’s assume that I were to say that I went hiking last week and saw a black bear eating raspberries, and that I ran up and kicked it in the face.

Although that would seem highly unlikely, you would know it’s true, simply because I stated it. You could even tell others about the event with 100% certainty, knowing that I’m the source. The truthfulness of the claim wouldn’t even be up for debate. It’s nice. And I extend the same respect to my friends. If one of my friends says “I ate 15 cheeseburgers yesterday.”, I might ask “Wow, that sounds like a lot. Are you sure it was 15?”, and they might answer “It was about 15, but I’m positive it was 13.” I could then repeat with absolute confidence that my friend ate at least 13 cheeseburgers. If they burned me with a lie, then they wouldn’t be my friend for very long, because I wouldn’t want to be associated with them.

Let’s say that you tell a great lie and nobody knows but you. What’s the consequence? You’ve sacrificed your honor, but your reputation is intact. I think that would be horrible, and I’m convinced that you would feel that it’s horrible too. People would believe stuff that you say, but every time you look at yourself when you’re shaving your mug, you get to know that you’re a farce.

Let’s imagine the opposite example. You’re have your honor intact, but someone has slandered you, and your reputation is in shambles. You’ve lived a life of restraint, and been careful about what you’ve declared, yet through no fault of your own, other people’s perception of you is that of a dishonorable man. This is a bad situation, but not the worst situation. You get no use out of your honor, but at the end of the day you can take comfort that you haven’t betrayed yourself.

Hopefully Honor and Reputation are closely tied. When one is up, the other is up. When one is down the other is down. I’d like to think that people perceive others the way they really are, or fairly closely.


Cost
Both of these terrible lopsided scenarios involve a certain cost. Cost is an important factor in self restraint. If you sacrifice your honor, the cost is that your personal shame kicks in. The cost for throwing away your Honor is high, and most of us are unwilling to part with it. The high cost of lying and cheating helps remind us to restrain ourselves. Some people call it a conscience. I think of it as having a positive self image, and striving to earn your self worth every day.

But some people have no sense of self worth. They lie and cheat, and don’t expect better behavior from themselves. The cost is not inflicted. It seems hard to imagine, but I promise you, that these people exist. If someone harms you with an integrity violation, you can try to appeal to their sense of honor, but if they don’t value their honor you’re not going to get much traction So what is in place to help remind them to restrain themselves? Reputation.

If you sacrifice your honor to someone to cheat or steal from them, then they get to tell everyone what you did. They have an obligation to warn everyone about the threat. They get to trash your reputation. Even the liar understands the usefulness of reputation. Once you get a reputation as a liar, nobody will listen to you.

Voice
Once a man relinquishes his ability to guarantee things, he loses his voice. This point is important, and the consciences are horrible. If a man is a liar, he no longer has the ability to make claims. Making a statement is like writing a check, if there is no money in the account, the check is no good. These people will continue to pretend that their claims have merit.

I value my ability to guarantee things. Some people don’t.
Exposing a liar will often get a predictable response. The liar almost always makes a counter accusation, that the person exposing him is actually the liar. They will try to guarantee it. They often try to make assertions to your character. It is basically a ploy to try to trash your reputation, as they perceive that they are being wrongfully “labeled” a liar. Remember, if the label is true, it really isn’t a “label”, but merely an assertion of fact.

I’ve recently had experience exposing a liar. This man is incorrigible, and repeatedly insists that lies are truth, and that truth are lies. He is a villain, that has slandered me, and shouldn’t be trusted by anyone. What I’m trying to do is get his reputation to match his honor, which is nothing. He is the type of person that you would feel disgraced to have in your family.

Read the post about it. Understand that when the Liar’s claims contradict my statements of fact, it may seem like a debate, but it isn’t. My statements of fact are undebatable.

Hero

This is a going to be a difficult topic for me. I need to be careful to get across a certain concept, without being perceived as saying things that I’m not trying to communicate. I’ll do my best to be clear, and you can do your best to catch what I’m throwing out.

The concept of Hero is something of which I have a fairly solid idea. I believe what most people think of when the hear the title “hero”, is the young Beowulf fighting against the great monster, or the man that risks life and limb to rescue orphans out of a burning building. Seeing something good and noble that needs to be done, and doing it with little regard for your physical safety. A triumph of the spirt, and stoic emotional control. That’s not an absolute definition, it’s just a basic concept. The heroic deed is usually something physical, dangerous, and where some other person reaps the benefits. Rescuing a family from an overturned car, seconds before it explodes, would be a good one. The hero should also have grim determination, be highly virtuous, and above all, have an unquenchable warrior spirit.

For more examples, read the awards presented to Medal of Honor receptiants. They’re really motivating to read, and it’s hardly believable that these people actually exist. It would be really humbling to be in the presence of one of these men. These folks are heros.

Capt Scott O’Grady was a really big deal in America. If you don’t remember, he was an Air Force F-16 pilot that got shot down over Bosnia, and had to evade capture for 6 days, until he got rescued by some Marines from the 24th MEU. Alright, here’s the part where I need to be clear. I’m not making shit about Capt. O’Grady. He got to mix it up a little bit, and training and strong survival instinct brought him through. And some Devil Dogs. All that’s good to go. What I’d like to draw attention to is that the American public and media really loved him as an icon. He was called a Hero. Saving yourself is not heroic. His story is pretty neat, but it lacked a certain warrior virtue.

The Jessica Lynch story is similar. I don’t fault her, and she’s been through a lot. What I’m drawing attention to is Jessica the Icon. America really drove her Icon to heroic proportions, and her story is about mere survival, and not about winning. It’s a victim’s story, not a hero’s story. She was a pretty blond white girl that was rescued by others. Her story is harrowing, interesting, and convoluted. But it isn’t quite a hero’s story.

The same thing energized America for about 2 weeks when hiker Aron Ralston became pinned under a rock, and amputated his own arm with a pocket knife to free himself. Very cool, but not heroic. It’s a survival story, not a “defeat the enemy” story. Or a self-sacrifice to complete the mission type of story.

The thing is that actual heros exist. I’ve even met a couple, and their stories are not being told, or are told in such a way to downplay the concepts of winning, violence, or danger.

Ok. It may seem like I’m splitting hairs, or that I should just be happy with an interesting story, but there is something going on here. I’m not saying it’s on purpose. I’m not saying that anyone is behind it. I’m not blaming liberals. Or baby boomers. I’m blaming myself for not being more vocal pointing out a trend in our society.

Here’s my thesis: For whatever reason, in America, Hero is a term that is more often used for a victim’s story, than for an unrelenting warrior spirit. Our iconic heros are the wrong people. I think that’s odd and noteworthy. I’d like to think that “way back when”, the title “hero” was reserved for actual heros. And I don’t think that our country is going to continue to be successful unless we value winning. Maybe we now think of danger or violence as obscene. Or that putting a battle hero up on a pedistal, glorifies war, which of course is a huge no-no in the minds of a lot of people.

John McCain wrote a book called “Why Courage Matters”. In his first chapter he talks about Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez. Read it here and you will know what a real American hero is.

Mealey-Mouthed

I’ve been reading waaaaay too much Michelle Malkin lately, but it’s just so addictive. The beauty, the sarcasm, the Reuters. Cory accused me of being “in love” with her recently. Maybe those weren’t his exact words, but close enough. Anywho. I’m in love with my wife. She made Chicken Marsala tonight, and she lets me be me.

So anyway, I saw this video on MM’s website. I feel like this video is made for me. There is a democrat that I completely side with named Joe Redner, that was called a liar. He’s the guy with the ponytail. The dude that called him a liar is a republican named Tony Katz. He’s the fat guy. He throws a chair. I absolutely love Redner’s argument. Throwing a chair is stupid and weak. Redner should have called him out, so they could figure it out for good. Call a man out. Don't throw a chair, you pussy.

The problem I have is that we don’t get to see if Joe actually lied, or if Tony actually called him a liar. But I really want to believe that. Joe seems to believe that he’s really not a liar. I’ve already watched it four times.

Just in case you don’t know me. If someone calls you a liar, and you’re not, that person should be picking up their effin teeth. Let these mealey-mouthed folks know what’s up.

Just for old time's sake, let's watch Buzz. The Greatest Generation is right.

They might not all be bad

Three or four days ago some bloggers caught Reuters doing something naughty. It was on some major news programs today. I think it’s cool with small time bloggers raise the BS flag and it has real effect. You can read about it here or here. I’ve accepted that the media has a heavy left wing slant, but you have to keep it in bounds. There are a thousand underhanded tricks that can be used to persuade people without outright lying. Just keep screwing us with those things.



You can’t flat out make up stories.

You can’t use false damning pictures.

You can’t have pretend firefights.

Don’t print hearsay as fact.

In Reuters’ defense, I’d like to take note that they’ve fired the photoshopper, and promised that only senior editors will screen mideast photos. That’s really about the only thing they can do. The only thing that a news service has is it’s reputation, so we’ll see if it gets better.

A statement from Reuters said this

"This doesn't mean that every one of his 920 photographs in our database was altered. We know that not to be the case from the majority of images we have looked at so far but we need to act swiftly and in a precautionary manner."

Well that’s great. So you’re telling me that it’s not proven that everything you say is false. Good, good. I feel better now. This weekend when I was arrested for beating up a couple of six year olds, I said to the cops "Whoa whoa, hold on there. It's not proven that I beat up every single child in the whole school."

The cartoons from Cox and Forkum.

Travel Bugs and Jeeps

As many of you know, I really enjoy Geocaching. There are some excellent hiking trails in Iowa, and the climite here is just great. When I travel I try to grab a geocache or two, and pick up some travel bugs.

What's a travel bug, you ask?

A travel bug is an item that you find in a geocache, but you don't get to keep it, as it belongs to somebody. You must place it in another geocache. It's completely on the honor system, which I get a big kick out of. I like to see how many I can find. Well, Jeep has released 5000 little jeep TBs in the US, and for some reason they are extremely fun to find. You get a little green jeep symbol in your geostats, which is absolutely meaningless, but I don't care. In 2005 they released white ones, and in 2004 they released yellow ones. It's like the best advertising ever. Thank you Jeep Corporation for giving my life meaning. I love you and all your little jeep toys.

Sometimes other geocachers leave little signature items that are also fun to collect, although they don't show up in your stats. This is what I have so far.

Wooden Nickels
GeoScouting North Star District
HappyKraut
Iowa Geocachers Organization (IGO)
Los Lonely Boys (#104)
Shadow Cachers (#258)
SteveMachine
Team Stajihaha
The Weasel
Welch

Cards
2golfers
BlackBrownDog (2005)
Blorenge
Celtic Cache Trio (2006)
Cigarmonkey (with band-aids)
DinoDuo
Doc29 (2006)
Four Bears
Geopigs
Gila 666 Devil Dog
Grumpier99
Hike!
IDRATHERBEINTHEWOODS
JimmyGPS and Corky
Lost Scouts 2006
ManGenGho
Pitt Caleb
RedheadBasset
Red Rose (with pony)
Scook
SueBO6
Summitt Dweller
Team Genesis
Team Maddog
UNIGeoFam
Welch

Poker Chips
Bam n Juice – blue
Hobo Dude - red
Richmra - green

Magnets
Noltingnavigators
Nomad and the Librarians

Other Items
Digital Fish
Grey wolf and Momcat - handmade macrame bracelet
Jestjuggle - Balloon Animals
KCMOSE – biner, orange
Mt. Walker – small pin
PilotWI Team - mini glider
Shadow Cachers - mini white token
Team Waddy – Shrinky Dink
The Def Mob - mini origami santa
Welch – chip, plastic, green
Welch – soap, blue
Zirk67 - monkey, red

It's almost time for me to go on another geo-adventure.

Six years of hell

This weekend my better half and I celebrated our 6 years of marital bliss. Friday night we went out for beer and pizza, then watched Lady in the Water. That M. Night sure does make films with a certain feel to them. I liked it, but Unbreakable was my favorite. This one still has Ron Howard’s daughter, and she’s still enchanting, and she still doesn’t use contractions.

On Saturday we ate our at a Thai restaurant called “Thai Spice”. For apps we had A-cho (vegitarian egg roll), with a spicy fruity sauce. The sauce is what made the dish. For our main meal I had a stir fried beef, with big pieces of onions, sliced peppers, basil leaves, peanut oil, and hot Thai BBQ sauce. They served it with loads of sticky rice, and a I also had a couple of Thai beers. It was scrumtrelessecnt. Nice big flavors. None of this lemongrass. I want big flavors and I want to know I'm eating something. My wife also had beef, but hers had more subtle flavors, and was somewhat sweeter.

Then we went over to my old stomping grounds, the Iowa River Power Restaurant. They have a really nice lounge for relaxing and having cocktails. I did have a new drink which I thought was pretty good. A “white cactus”. It had tequila (Don Julio), a splash of 7up, and a splash of lime juice, garnished with a lime. It was like a really clean margarita.

We also had some dessert. They make most of their desserts at the restaurant (not Sisco), and they had some good stuff to choose from, including a bread pudding. We ended up getting a Bailey’s Cheesecake, that they decorated up nice. It also tasted great.



I also had to get a B&B up, because sometimes I like sweet things with some stink to em. They even heated it up for me, so it was extra stinky.

We hung out and talked to some folks, and I started getting into my cups. Rusty Nail, Dirty Martini, 3 rounds of shots, etc. I was already feeling fine, then I decided it would be a good idea to drink 3 more top shelf Long Island’s. That was fun. I should have drank more water (or less booze). Oh well. If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough. Seriously though; We had a blast.

We stayed at a local Bed & Breakfast called “Da Woods”. It was really cool. For breakfast the lady made little thick pancakes called hollands. They tasted great, and are good “stick to your ribs” breakfast. One or two are pretty filling. She made about 15. She also made bacon, eggs and coffee. I recommend the place. They have games and a pool table, and a nice porch, and also a some cool walking trails. You could spend a weekend there, and not ever leave their area. They are also really warm and pleasant people. You really feel like you belong.

Then after we moseyed out of there, we went to the rifle range. Here's Kim getting her "Natural Point of Aim". The Mrs. and I shot up some targets and honed our skills, and made a pretty nice afternoon of it. We went through about 100 rounds of firing, unlocking, extracting, ejecting, cocking, feeding, chambering, locking. I’ve found that’s the best way to do it.

So all-in-all, it was a pretty good weekend for the record books.

Trailer

I gotta mention this. The movie about 9/11 comes out very soon. It’s arguably the single most pivotal event in US history in the last 50 years. We all remember what we were doing on that day. I sure hope they did a good job on this movie. Can you believe that I ain’t even never been to NYC? It’s pretty much the new Rome.

Have a good weekend everyone. It’s my our 6 year anniversary tomorrow, so the Mrs and I are going to go do family stuff, and stay at a bed and breakfast. I’ll have a food post early next week.

Meet me halfway

One of my favorite parts of Sci-Fi movies is where they explain the gadgets. In James Bond movies, they always have some spring loaded, radio controlled, aerosol poison dart, that looks like a pen. If they take a second to show it, then you know that our hero is going to use it. The trick is to make the unbelievable seem completely reasonable and possible. Star Trek TNG was awesome at this. They’d throw in some technobabble about the deflector dish, or a quantum singularity, or readjusting the phase inversion buffer array. I always bought it hook, line and sinker. After Jordi explained it to me, I’d be the first one to say “It’s a long shot, but it just...might...work.” It’s completely plausible that you can control a planet’s plate tectonics with a phaser blast, but only if you get the harmonics and timing just right.”

Sometimes it’s done really well, and other times it is done less well. When it’s done poorly, it feels as though they are personally trying to insult me. If there’s magic in the movie, give hints on how it works. Have you seen Krull? It has a cyclops. It has horses that can run in the air. It has a giant spider. Did I also mention that it has laserbeams?! Yup. Cyclops and laserbeams in the same movie. You might as well just have Bozo the Clown, the Devil from Legend, and the Quisp Mascot all mudwrestling for the King of the Universe award. At the end of that movie, I felt like they were making fun of me.

Today’s most insulting scene is in Blade 3 “Trinity”, where the red haired gal from American Pie explains the gadgets. I was actually looking at the floor when that was going on. I was embarrassed for them and for myself. Everything has a super-retarded name, and is usually in a difficult to deploy form. They had wacky stuff like Super Sun Bolt Arrows, and Silver Glow-in-the-dark Bullets, and Garlic/UV/laser staff of anti-vampire. They could have come up with some sort of jibber-jabber for how their weapons work (or who manufactures them). I’m not asking for much, and I really want to believe it. I’m already sitting in the theater, so just meet me halfway. Throwing the phrase “essence of” before something doesn’t make it magical.


That being said: I did actually like the movie although it was absurd that normal humans can fight on par with vampires. I guess that whole “daywalker” bit isn’t really needed anymore. Regular people can handle it. Annnnnnnnnd POST!



Jessica Biel wasn’t too hard on the eyes and I liked Ryan Reynold’s sarcasm and over the top swearing. Parker Posey was good in it too. Well, let me rephrase that. Parker Posey was in it. I like Parker so I guess that counts for something.

The Gate of Ishtar

Rounds about 2580 years ago, there was a city named Babylon, and in that city they had a big nice gate made out of glazed brick. It was like 50 feet high. I guess it was the cat’s meow. Anyway, in 1902 some Germans dug it up and reconstructed it in Berlin. Although we were deployed in the Babel Provence, we didn’t get to do much sightseeing. It would have been cool to tool around some ruins without folks trying to kill you.

At the end of my deployment in Iraq, one our terps, Martian Lawrence, gave me an inscribed plate featuring the Ishtar Gate, and a note thanking us for our sacrifice. It made me feel really good. Our other terp, Lloyd Banks, met us as we left the base for our trip home. He gave us all hugs and got all teary. That made me feel really good too. We all just sat on the 7 ton trucks, smoked cigars, and enjoyed the evening. I felt really guilty about leaving, because the Iraqis I knew still had so much work to do. For us it was a fun adventure. For them it was a daunting task of building a new country.

Anyway. That plate is one of my most prized possessions, mostly because it was a gift, and what it represents to me. Maybe sometime I’ll get to Germany and have a look-see at the real thing.

Here’s the claim I refute

Robert Heinlien’s Starship Troopers is pro-fascist and pro-gestapo.


This is a very talked out topic. People have been saying this silly thing ever since Robert A Heinlien published his masterwork in 1959. The claim has been squashed plenty of times in the last half century, however it’s sort of the lie that will never die. I’ve recently read someone’s comments that still holds this to be true. Paul Verhoven’s 90210 in Space movie didn’t help at all. I’ve read that in the special features of the commentary, Mr. Verhoven starts denouncing fascism (implying he’s denouncing Heinlien), and admits he never finished reading the book. That movie is a gigantic reeking pile of feces, and if RAH were still alive he would have throat punched Paul Verhoven.



Instead of just telling folks how wrong and dumb they are, I think I’m going to try a different tactic. I’m not going to put a lot of effort into refuting the claims, but rather I’ll just echo the naysayer’s position, and irremovably tie that position to them. Honestly, the first stage of an argument is listening to the other position, and truly understanding what they are literally saying.

You can play along too. Here’s what you do.

Step one: Read the book. Not just read it, but understand the concepts. It’s not just a Sci-Fi book. It’s social commentary about civic duty, and voluntary service. A way to help flesh out this concept is to read Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan. Just as a hint. I’ve read nearly all of Heinlien’s books, and I can assure you that he is most certainly for small government, and individual rights. In his democracy, all citizens can vote. The difference is that Heinlein defines “citizen”, differently than Americans do. (Anyone "...who is 18 years old and has a body temperature near 37 ̊C.")

Step two: Know the actual definition of the word “Gestapo”. When someone says “Gestapo”, they are talking about a very clear and precise thing. I refuse to accept it when people use the word “Nazi” or “Gestapo” as a loose metaphor. That is a very horrible way to run a government, and we don’t want to repeat that. Words have meaning. Sort of like when the stupid 11 year old says “My mom made me clean my room. She’s a Gestapo.” Don’t do that. If you do, I will simply say, “Actually, she isn’t a Gestapo. Only the Gestapo are Gestapo. Now go choke yourself.”

Step three: Know the actual definition of the word “Fascism”. This one is a little more vague. Actually a lot more vague. This is an example where the word has been misued so much that it has become a slippery non-word. Most of the definitions deal with the trimmings and trappings of fascism, and not the prerequisites. It’s rarely used as a way to describe an actual form of government, and often used as a vague derogatory term that references Nazi Germany or Mussolini’s Italy, and having almost no meaning. It’s pretty much Godwin’s Law.

The basic definition is a form of government, where power is completely centralized to one person, who has absolute control of all armed forces and police, with no restriction on how they are used. A completely totalitarian government, with no checks and balances. A dictator can be fascist. A monarch can be fascist. An emperor can be fascist. A democracy cannot be fascist. A federation cannot be fascist.

Alright. My main point for refuting this claim is that according to SST, if you are in the military, not only can you not hold office, you can’t even vote. That’s the supreme irony. The military man that volunteers to place himself between danger and rest of the people sitting on their hands, never gets to make any decisions of policy for that society. If he stays in his whole life, he never gets to vote! That’s fascism? Get real.

Heinlein illustrates his concept that the military doesn’t run the society. It protects it. Citizens run the military, and not the other way around. As it should be. That’s not fascism. That’s the opposite of fascism.


Loads of other people have refuted this claim in great detail and I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, and loads of other people have continued blab nonsense. I wish that this post would end it, but the myth will certainly continue for another 50 years. If you wish a more precise explanation go here or here or here. If you have ever learned even the smallest thing about infantary tactics, read this awesome review of that turd of a movie. You'll like it. I promise.


OK. Now here is the part I really like. Saying that SST is a fascist book is untrue. We've put that to rest. Lets figure out why people automatically use words like “Nazi”, “Gestapo”, “Fascist” when they hear about people volunteering to protect others. This is now more about real life than the book. When someone uses those words to describe patriotism or civic virtue, and they actually read those vile concepts in a book where they don't exist, the only possible place it exists is in the mind of the accuser.


Recently someone called CounterProductive tried to say that the “Nazi/Gestapo” concept from SST was an illustration of the United States today. Yeah, that’s a big leap, and really weak. Sort of like the French saying that GW Bush was Darth Vader. (I think they actually believed this) If they see anything that has anything to do with a military, they will vehemently pair it with fascism, although it's factually untrue. It’s sort of like a little kid gesturing to a mud pie, declaring it’s your face, and stomping on it. Nedric would call it false analogy (too many relevant differences). I call it madness. There’s a faction in our country that tries to demonize their protectors, and they rarely let truth or logic get in their way.
I wish I could tell you why they do it, but I don’t understand it.

RAH said “the P.B.I., the Poor Bloody Infantry, the mudfoot who places his frail body between his loved home and the war's desolation — but is rarely appreciated... he has the toughest job of all and should be honored."

Other Americans have a different view.