Thor’s Hall

Life has been intruding lately and I have been absent from meaningful posting.  Apologies.  Even though it is very near the holidays, and demands on the “spare time” are high, I am working to remedy my absence.

We start with the POTUS address last night.  I will wind up sending you to another blog that has dissected the address more carefully than I have, and brings you many of the same observations that I would.

Here are some of my knee jerk reactions:

1.  West Point, with and audience?  WTF?  Is this a presidential address or a campaign stop.

2.  Did you see the cadets?  Not a lot of enthusiasm from them to be there, or to provide applause.  I think perhaps BHO would have been better with a traditional oval office address.

3.  A TIMELINE??  It is great to have a goal but, to announce a definitive timeline for withdrawl that is just fucked up.  If I were the enemy, I would be celebrating my victory today.  Step 1, ratchet down operations and plays opposum for the next 24 months.  Concentrate on recruitment, training and planning.  December 2011, all hell breaks loose in Afganistan, Pakistan, Europe, and the US.

3a.  Alternatively, if BHO just lied outright and has every intention of fighting this thing to the finish.  Bringing UBL to justice, dismantling Al Qaida and the Taliban, and leaving a politically strong Afghani government in place then my hat is off to him for superb disinformation, deception, and comprehensive strategic approach to one of our greatest security threats.

Given 3 and 3a — which do you think is most likely.

As a leader POTUS is providing direction and leadership.  It has taken too long to make a decision, and in my opinion he has gone for a compromise decision.  The fence sitting decision if you will.  This is a long term “holy war” that has been hot and cold for centuries.  We are again in a hot phase, and have the opportunity to tip the scales and push it back into a cold phase.  It takes determination, fortitude, perseverance to complete this action.  When it is complete, all that will have been accomplished is a return to a colder phase of a centuries old conflict.  Our current course may result in a short term feeling of success but, the rebound from that initial success is going to be extreme and more painful than if we had done the job right the first time.  For the sake of this country, I hope that I am terribly wrong.

Take a few minutes to head over to Cdr. Salamander’s for his reactions.

UPDATE:  An interesting piece over at Hot Air.  I particularly liked this, “…Obama has made opponents more or less irrelevant, since he seems to be opposing himself.”

A little bit of schooling that POTUS should be getting

The beer summit is over, and it is amusing how the entire event was stage managed.  The most interesting thing to come out of the entire event, is that someone at the White House posted this picture on the official White House site.

This is another one of those photos that tells more about the character of the individuals than folks expect.

Draw your own conclusions, then slip over to American Thinker and see how your analysis compares to theirs.

There is no rocket science to this one, even I grasped the obvious.

Today we take a look at some of the lighter aspects of the presidency that are being reported across the country.

Item 1 – Beer selection

The upcoming Presidential Summit between POTUS, Prof. Gates, and Sgt. Crowley features a variety of beers.  The selections being reported by the MSM are:

For Obama: Bud Light, owned by Belgian beverage giant InBev

For Gates, Red Stripe, Jamaica-brewed and owned by premium drink behemoth Diageo

For Crowley, Blue Moon, owned by MillerCoors.

Draw your own conclusions.

Item 2 – Scouting Report, and Pitch Comparison

I draw your attention to this post (since I can’t possible do it justice).

Once you are done enjoying the comparison, you can draw your own conclusions.

Your list may vary….

He has…..

1. Offended the Queen of England .

2. Bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia .

3. Praised the Marxist Daniel Ortega.

4. Kissed Hugo Chavez on the cheek.

5. Endorsed the Socialist Evo Morales of Bolivia .

6. Announced we would meet with Iranians with no pre-conditions.

7. Gave away billions to AIG also without pre-conditions.

8. Expanded the bailouts.

9. Insulted everyone who has ever loved a Special Olympian.

10. Doubled our national debt..

11. Announced a termination of the space defense system the day after the North Koreans launched an ICBM.

12. Despite the urgings of his own CIA director and the prior 4 CIA directors, released information on intelligence gathering.

13. Accepted without public comment the fact that five of his cabinet members cheated on their taxes and two others withdrew after they couldn’t take the heat.

14. Appointed a Homeland Security Chief who quickly identified as “dangers to the nation”, groups including veterans of the military, and opponents to abortion on demand, and who ordered that the word “terrorism” no longer be used but instead referred to such acts as “man made disasters”.

15. Circled the globe so he could openly apologize for America’s greatness.

16. Told Mexicans the violence in their country was because of us.

17. Politicized the census by moving it into the White House from its Department of Commerce origins..

18. Appointed as Attorney General the man who orchestrated the forced removal and expulsion from America to Cuba of a nine-year old whose mother died trying to bring him to a life of freedom in the United States and approved the pardon of Marc Rich so Clinton could let the felon go free.

19. Salutes as heroes three Navy SEALS who took down three terrorists who threatened one American life and the next day announces members of the Bush administration will likely stand trial for “torturing” a terrorist, who had played a part in killing 3000 Americans, by pouring water up their nose.

20. Flew Air Force One over New York City causing panic at a cost of $400,000 to get a photo you can make with Photo Shop for less than a dollar.

21. Sent his National Defense Advisor to Europe to assure Europe that the US will no longer treat Israel in a special manner and they might be on their own with the Muslims

22.Began the process of nationalizing the Auto Industry and the Insurance industry.

23 Announced that for intent and purposes the Health Insurance Industry will be nationalized.

24 Sided with Hugo Chavez instead of the Rule of Law as Honduras legally deposed Zelaya and installed Roberto Micheletti as President. It must be noted that the army did so following a lawful order of the Honduras Supreme Court.

And just think only 3 1/2 years to go, if we have anything left.

And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America, having lost their morals, their initiative, and their will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as The One. He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He hypnotized the people telling them :

“I am sent to save you. My lack of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence. For I shall save you with Hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who preceded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed.”

And the people rejoiced. For even though they knew not what The One would do, He had promised that it was good; and they believed.

And The One said “We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Change is good!”

Then He said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,”—-

And the people said “Sock it to them!”

“—- And redistribute their wealth.”

And the people said, “Show us the money!”

And then He said, “Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody”

And Joe the plumber asked, “Are you kidding me? You’re going to steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??”And The One ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe’s personal records were hacked and publicized.

One lone reporter asked, “Isn’t that Marxist policy?”

And she was banished from the kingdom!

Then a citizen asked, “With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with radical terrorists?”

And The One said, “Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!”

Then The One said, “I shall give 95% of you lower taxes.”

And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don’t pay ANY taxes.”

So The One said, “Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Show us the money!”

Then The One said, “I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!”

And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.

And He said, “I shall mandate employer-funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every person unlimited health care and medicine and transportation to the clinics.”

And the people said, “Gim’me some of that!”

Then he said, “I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.”

And the people said, “Where’s my rebate check?”

Then The One said, “I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!”

And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don’t care for that part about higher electric rates.”

So The One said, “Not to worry. If your rebate isn’t enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!”

Then He said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let’s grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bilingual signs and guaranteed housing…”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!!” And they made him King!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever- higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff. The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support

Then The One said, “I am the The One – The Messiah – and I’m here to save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!”

But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, “Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more…”

And the people said, “Wait a minute. That is unfair!!”

And the world said, “Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist State and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!”

And the people cried out, “Alas, alas!! What have we done?”

But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon The One and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change The One had given them was as like unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, “Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!”

But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.

For those that have not seen today’s Day By Day, make a point of reading it.  Oh boy, this is the way to start the day…

I have been trying to stay way from Presidential politics since the election.  I haven’t been 100% successful but, the goal was to provide some opportunity for the administration to find their way.  Set forth a plan that perpetuated the values that this country was founded on.

Unfortunately, we have (and continue) to see:

a.)  Missteps from the executive branch

b.)  Exploitation from the Congressional branch

c.)  Degradation in the principles, and values that helped this nation achieve an unparalleled level of success and way of life.

It is time to weigh in on some of these issues.  It is time to start swaying opinions, and start preparing for the next set of elections.  Many of the folks in office today are not seeing the reality of life, or the consequences of their actions.  Why is it that so many on the outside are able to quickly point out the risks and issues inherent in the proposals on the table.

Road Trip!!

Somehow it was funnier in Animal House…I want to stay home.

Being an engineer my mind tends to focus on hard things, not the soft warm fuzzy kind of things that make up a great portion of what drives people in their day to day processes.  Don’t get me wrong, I can motivate a team, and drive them to levels of performance that they didn’t think they could achive.  But that is an explicit, transparent action playing to their values and desires.   There are so many in this world that understand the subliminal.  Everytime I run across an article or a conversation that breaks something very simple down into alternate messages and goals, it is fascinating.

Recently, the White House released a photo of the VC-25 flyby in New York.   I saw the image and thought “No, wonder it wasn’t released look at the canopy glare.  Another tax payer boondoggle, those photos would not be used for anything useful”.  But on some level, the image was bothersome to me.  It didn’t insipre me or send that patriotic chill up my spine that many things do.  Now, I have seen Air Force One coming through the clouds and dropping in for a landing.  It is an inspiring aircraft, just something about it as an icon for America.  But this image, just doesn’t convey that.

At American Thinker, Victor Massad has taken the image and broken down the subtext.  This is why I was bothered by it.

The message and its purpose could not be clearer: we must reset our priorities.  Now that the democracy is at last headed by this magnificent and elegant man, we must put the federal government and its needs ahead of our paltry individual freedoms.  Of what value, after all, is the property Americans have spent their lifetimes to acquire, or one’s right to defend oneself with a firearm, or even the privilege of living in an upwardly mobile society that used to be the envy of the rest of the world, in comparison to the Leader’s magnificently powerful icon, glistening like a phoenix in the sun?

The question is whether, in the absence of any mainstream reporting as to the symbolic purpose of the photo, its wide dissemination will actually have the originally-intended effect?  In psychology, this is referred to as the “perpiheral route to persuasion.”  It refers to the phenomenon whereby an audience is more affected by symbols in a message than by the logic of the message itself.  It is most effective when the audience is passive, such as the state of mind of the average television viewer.  It is a technique that is commonly used in advertising (for example, when the man running on the beach throwing a Frisbee to his dog is shown as the announcer recites a drug’s perilous side effects).