A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day - Weekend...11-09,10-02

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders; tell a few jokes; learn a new word; write poetry; pray for those in need; and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997. I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

TOP: g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett.
MIDDLE: fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17.
BOTTOM: Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

TOP: ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,
dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony
BOTTOM: rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband
poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son;
BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset);
WVNan's husband; ladtx Aunt Eva.

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

GROUP 1A: TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete MIDDLE: T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub BOTTOM: YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

GROUP 2A: TOP: Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet MIDDLE: 4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga BOTTOM: Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

GROUP 3A: TOP: mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette MIDDLE: Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid BOTTOM: gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

GROUP 4A: TOP: porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP MIDDLE: RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian BOTTOM: USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

GROUP 5A: TOP: spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68. MIDDLE: FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797. BOTTOM: usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack.

GROUP 6A: TOP: g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett. MIDDLE: fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick, Leroy S Mort, Mark17. BOTTOM: Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

GROUP 7A: TOP: ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam, dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony.BOTTOM: rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang.

GROUP 8A: TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx. MIDDLE: The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law. BOTTOM: deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

Had to get up to add a log to the fire. Smal herd of elk woke me. Snow has let up, but will be back in the afternoon. Clear sky. 14°F out. No wind. Really beautiful. Coffee perking. Nice to be snowed in for the next few weeks. Expect to see Robert Frost coming up the trail, or perhaps Cobby. God's in His Heaven. All's right with the world.

As to the sad story of the naugas, you are probably unaware that back in the 19th Century there were massive herds of naugas throughout the plains of North America. They were harmless and had no natural ememies since they tasted horribly to the Native Americans and animals. They were rather cute little fellows and their diet consisted of things not wanted by others, thus they were a threat to no one. Native Americans treated them like a white buffalo, something sacred and to be protected.

But, then the hunters came. It turned out a nauga's hide is very much like leather. Like the buffalo for their tongues, naugas were slaughtered by the millions merely for their hides. Furniture covered with their hides suddenly filled waiting rooms throughout the world. The nauga was hunted almost to extention. There are only a few left.

It takes approximately thirty naugas to make sufficient covering for one office chair. The hides are connected via high pressure heat and thus the resulting material becomes seamless. The bodies have no use and are thrown away.

I am internation president of the Save the Nauga Society. We accept no government funds. You may make a donation. Every little bit helps.

As to my post on the crew of the Mobius Triangle, there may have been a minor error or three, but the goal is to confuse the federales in assembling their database, actually a fairly easy task.

Meds? Naw. At my age, reality is merely a crutch.

This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

14°F out.

We don't play that here. At least not yet. It's 66° now, and cloudy. We're on the Gulf side of this front, and the weather geeks are telling us to expect severe storms anytime from about 4 this afternoon on into tomorrow morning.

I'm waiting for my dad to call me back so we can do our picks, then I'll run out to grab a newspaper.

I just finished Charles Barkley's book ("I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It"), and P21 has asked me to do a review on it, so I've got a bit of writing to do.

So it's off to the magic coffee maker and then off to the QuikTrip.

This is the day the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Best words I've heard all day...

Posted on 11/10/2002 1:18 AM CST by kattracks

November 10, 2002 --
DEAR Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz,

I read after the election that you felt the Democratic Party has lost its way and needs to reconnect with voters. As a friendly Republican who believes in the two-party system, I'd like to proffer some advice.

Interestingly enough, I used to be a Democrat myself. I went to Mississippi in 1964, protested the Vietnam War, campaigned for McGovern and generally felt myself to be part of the Sixties generation. Yet, by 1982, I was a dissenter on environmentalism, an enthusiast for free enterprise and more and more fed up with the Democratic agenda.

Was it just a matter of getting old and conservative? I don't think so.

I always trace my conversion to an old girlfriend of mine who was in some Women's Consciousness-Raising Group that was trying to open a restaurant. They met for months on end without ever accomplishing anything. One day she got fed up and said, "To hell with this. I'm going to open the damned thing myself."

Within a month, she had the restaurant up and running. It became very successful.

To a person such as myself weaned on group "activism," it was a stunning revelation. After all, business people were supposed to be the selfish exploiters of the working class. Yet I suddenly realized that starting your own business is an act of courage and initiative. I also recognized there's a certain cowardice in the group-think that says you always have to be surrounded by people just like yourself.

Thus began the unraveling of my "class consciousness." I realized that nothing truly creative ever gets done except by individuals. At best, group effort only leeches off what other people have created.

The economy we live in is not a natural object. It was constructed piece-by-piece by inventive individuals and is upheld every day by people doing hard, fruitful labor. No one gets by simply by making strident demands on others. People who feel entitled to things don't understand how the world works.

Unfortunately, most Democratic politics centers around "entitlements." The elderly are entitled to Social Security, even if it turns out to be a Ponzi scheme. Women are entitled to special treatment because of past discrimination. Blacks are entitled to reparations because of slavery. Illegal immigrants are entitled the full rights of citizens. Children are entitled to abortions, even if their parents don't approve. The only group that isn't entitled to anything is adult white males, and they can probably come up with something if they think about it long enough.

Trial lawyers - now the most powerful constituency in the Democratic Party - are the Ultra-Democrats. They believe everybody is entitled to everything. Scratch your finger and you're entitled to a million dollars. The "class action" is the perfect Democratic metaphor - a million people get $12 apiece and the lawyers walk off with the other $12 million.

I don't subscribe to this stuff anymore, and I don't think the American people do, either. People realize we've got a big country to run here and carping at each other about past or imagined grievances isn't going to get us anywhere.

More than that, we live in a big dangerous world full of people whose sense of grievance and entitlement far exceeds anything we can conjure up. Wringing our hands and lamenting "What did we do wrong?" doesn't help.

Democrats don't want to face these problems. Instead, they'd rather lose themselves in primitive camp revivals, like that one in Minnesota that probably cost Walter Mondale the election.

Take a look at that election-night HBO documentary "Travels With George," made by Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of the likely Democratic House-Leader-to-be, Nancy Pelosi. In 90 minutes of trying to embarrass Bush, Alexandra Pelosi proves nothing except that she has no idea who the president is.

Bush doesn't speak her language or honor her shibboleths. Therefore he must a bobble-head who wants to starve children, maim the environment and execute innocent prisoners just for fun. All Pelosi can do is put him through a catechism ("What about the homeless?"), then ignore his answers.

As the Chinese war manuals tell us, to deal with an "enemy" (as Pelosi calls Bush), you must first understand him.

Now I hear Democrats saying the Bush majority may self-destruct in some Nixonian fashion. Forget about it. The Republicans have a clear agenda. They're going to make America proud, strong and prosperous through the efforts of individuals. Trapped in their herd mentality, the Democrats will find it harder and harder to enlist new recruits

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